Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
Joining me tonight from the Album Divers podcast
is Trevor Dale. Trevor, thank you so much for
joining me on My Weekly Mixtape. Hey, thank you
for having me. This is awesome. I've been listening
to your podcast. I was following you in your
prior one. I think we've collaborated a little
bit in the past as well, but I really love what
you're doing with this new one. This is great.
Happy to be on. I'm glad to have you, and I get
to start by asking you my first -timer's question,
and that is, Trevor, what does the word mixtape
mean to you? Well, that's a great question. As
a guy that's devoted an entire podcast to the
album format with Album Divers, obviously, I
think song order matters a lot. Since I'm not
somebody that can actually create music, I think
the closest thing I can do is creating a mixtape
for friends. It's something that I grew up doing.
girl in my awkward junior high and high school
years that I couldn't figure out any other way
to communicate with. So creating some sort of
mixtape, I'd put these songs together and go,
I think she knew what I was trying to say with
that one. Did it work? Not very often, but it
was still fun to put that together. So I think
a mixtape for me in short, it's just using somebody
else's art to... create another piece of art.
It's an extension of yourself that you might
not be able to say in a different way. So like
I said, I'm happy this podcast exists and it's
definitely something I did a lot growing up and
still do with the playlist formats in terms of
digital that we have today. And that's what we're
going to do tonight. And tonight we're going
to be talking about a topic that is divisive.
It's fun. And it's certainly one that people
see in a different way. And that is 90s one hit
wonders. And let me start by saying we should
probably define our criteria for a one hit wonder
tonight because everybody sees it differently.
So for tonight, our terminology that you and
I went back and forth with for those that are
listening is the fact that the artist or band
can only have one song if that. That cracks the
Billboard Top 40. Now, with that said, a Top
40 hit isn't a requirement. Because if we're
going back to the 80s, a lot of people remember
Modern English as a one -hit wonder with I'll
Melt With You. That song, as much as everybody
has it in their musical lexicon, only reached
number 78 on the Billboard US Hot 100. But regardless,
they are still... A one hit wonder, even without
a top 40 hit. They're actually a no hit wonder,
which is using our criteria at least. And the
reason we say only one song is because sometimes
there is the lesser known second hit. Two examples
of that would be Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.
Everybody knows Good Vibrations as their huge
hit song. However, they had a follow up single.
Wild Side, which sampled Lou Reed and Wild Side,
that reached number 10 on the Billboard US Hot
100, although it didn't have as much longevity.
Along the same lines, Snow's Informer was a number
one hit, but he had a follow -up, Girl, I've
Been Hurt, and that reached number 19. So it
was a top 20 hit. But for some reason, Snow keeps
making one -hit wonder lists. So I find that
whole part interesting. And then on the flip
side of that spectrum, Patreon mixtaper Chad
LaMassa chimed in saying that he brought up a
90s one hit wonders list and it included the
song Loser by Beck. And his commentary was, what?
How is Beck a one hit wonder? Now, I personally
don't see him as one. However, using our terminology
tonight, Loser is Beck's only song to crack the
Billboard Top 40 because Where It's At, which
was another massive hit, only hit 61. So technically,
technically, Beck is a one -hit wonder. But with
five other songs cracking the Top 100, is he
really, though? Exactly. We were talking about
Sinead O 'Connor by this criteria is a one -hit
wonder and kind of no way, right? I was looking
up the other one that gets tossed around a lot
is if people name off their 90s one -hit wonders,
Spin Doctors is always thrown out. They are technically
not. Little Miss Can't Be Wrong is also something
that charted. So we're a little loose with this,
I guess, is kind of what you're saying. By all
means. And at the end of the day, the term one
-hit wonder is not meant to be offensive. To
me, I consider it endearing because as a songwriter
myself, I would give anything to have one hit.
I mean, Baby Got Back has made Sir Mix -A -Lot
over $100 million. I don't care if there's a
stigma behind it. I think it's an endearing term
because how hard is it to have a hit song? It's
not easy. Think about all the bands out there.
And even if it is only one, that is a monumental
thing. Absolutely. And as we were compiling this,
as I was getting into the 10 that I picked, some
of these songs are some of my favorites. Some
of these artists are still some of my favorites
as well. So yes, it does not demonize them to
just this one particular part of the music shelf
in history. I think there's some amazing music
that we'll get into today. Agreed. And so with
those semantics out of the way, Trevor, what
were you looking for in your bank of songs that
you're choosing from this evening? Yeah. So when
you gave that criteria, I thought, OK, this is
going to be kind of hard because I'm really going
to have to find the ones that meet. And and what
we discovered or what I discovered is there's
a lot that could meet that criteria. So it actually
ended up it opened the door to a lot of choices.
So I felt like instead of just saying, OK, here's
the 10 that I found. I could sort of decide exactly
how I wanted this list to sound. And so I did
personalize a little bit. The caveat for me is
I guess what I would call this is like the Trevor
retrospective on 90s because these are all songs
that I still want to listen to. You're not going
to hear the earworms that I wish never made their
way into the radio streams back in the day. And
get stuck in your head. These are songs that
if I listen to now, and I have been, as I've
compiled this list for the show here, they're
great songs. So that was my only criteria is
that it met the terms that you laid out, but
that I still love it. That's what these are about
for me. Same here. Basically, meeting the criteria,
when we were discussing it, I said, wow, I hope
I'm not setting myself up for hours of digging.
And believe it or not. Within a couple of searches,
I found a list where I was almost overwhelmed
with the amount of songs. So for me, this list
is not only a one hit wonders list. It also kind
of doubles as an underrated artists list. Well
said. People define them as the one hit wonder.
And then they think, oh, there's nowhere else
to go from here. And I think all the artists
that I have in my bank tonight. have a deep catalog
of music that even if you were to just go to
their artist page on Spotify or Apple Music,
you're going to discover a lot more than that
one hit. Well said. You're going to have to stop
me from gushing about a couple of these as we
go here. Well, let's get down to business. Tonight,
as I mentioned at the top of the show, Trevor
and I will be curating the ultimate 90s one -hit
wonders mixtape, and we'll use that old cassette
deck approach. Trevor, as my special guest, will
begin side A with his first song choice, and
then I'll add a song that I feel best follows
up that choice. We'll then flip -flop choosing
songs until we've mapped out 10 songs for side
A. We'll then give our mixtape a proverbial flip,
and we'll map out side B, only this time I'll
kick things off with Trevor choosing second.
Our overall goal for the episode is to craft
the best 90s one -hit wonders mixtape possible
through only 20 songs. At the end of the show,
you can take our conversation to the next level
by visiting the episode page at myweeklymixtape
.com to give our final mixtape a listen. via
the embedded playlist. And if you like what you're
hearing on the show, you can help me out by either
telling a friend, leaving the show a five -star
review wherever you're tuning in, or becoming
a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash
myweeklymixtape. There you can enjoy ad -free
episodes of the show, become a future guest,
and so much more. And a few of the Patreon mixtapers
chimed in with the songs they would use to kick
off our 90s One Hit Wonders mixtape. And I want
to give a few quick shout outs there. Chad LaMassa
chimed in with the Proclaimers' I'm Gonna Be
500 Miles, saying that he had sort of forgotten
about the track. And then when him and his wife
rewatched How I Met Your Mother, and the song
was featured in several episodes, as it was the
cassette single stuck in Marshall's cassette
tape deck, kind of brought it back to the forefront.
This was an interesting pick, Chad, because the
song was actually released in 1988. and charted
at number 11 on the UK singles chart, along with
topping the charts in Australia, Iceland, and
New Zealand, it wasn't until 1993 when Benny
and June made it a hit in the US where it reached
number three. So you are correct, it is a one
-hit wonder of the 1990s, and technically...
the 1980s as well. And the song has some awesome
punk covers by Down By Law and MXPX, but I digress.
Next up, Ben from the Too Vague podcast was savage
with his pick of Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy,
saying that, true story, he used to fill the
jukebox with at least six or more plays with
the song before he and his friends left the pool
hall. He said, I was kind of a jerk back then,
but it made me laugh. The thought of the quote
unquote serious pool players having to listen
to it over and over and over. So that makes me
wonder if that's how the song became a number
one hit in the first place. Tom Hutchinson chimed
in with Bound to the Floor by Local H, saying
he knows it didn't hit the mainstream charts,
but it did clock in at number 10 on the modern
rock charts, and that it was such a heavy, hard
song that has that distinct mid -90s sound through
and through. And by our quote -unquote rules,
a song doesn't have to crack the Billboard Top
40, so totally fair game, and I love that pick.
Philip Bergman chimed in with the dance remix
of December 1963, Oh, What a Night, because technically
it was the one hit for the four seasons in the
1990s. However, he decided to, oh, how shall
we say, piss the Oh, What a Night away and choose
Chumbawamba's tub thumping instead. Seeker chimed
in with Standing Outside of a Broken Phone Booth
with Money in My Hand by Primitive Radio Gods.
Sean Goff chimed in with Disbelief that Linda
Perry is a One -Hit Wonder on the performing
side of the spectrum. And he went with Four Non
-Blondes What's Up, saying this was the song
that had everyone screaming at the top of their
lungs in 1993. And Jen Fink chimed in with a
pick for Missy, The Things That You Do by Gina
Thompson. Or asking if we should go with the
most requested TRL song, Tom Green's The Bum
Bum Song, saying, hey, you didn't say the song
had to be good. And I'm not going to lie, I have
that on several of my 90s playlists. And it was
also talked about on episode 76, the ultimate
guilt -free 90s guilty pleasures playlist with
neat cast Zach Derby. So if you want to hear
more about Tom Green's bum. That's a good place
to start. But with that said, Tom's bum is not
alone. If you know the song, you'll get that
reference because David Owens also chimed in
with that track. Once again, if you want to chime
in for future My Weekly Mixtape episodes, consider
joining the Mixtaper family at patreon .com forward
slash My Weekly Mixtape. So Trevor, with that
musical food for thought out in the atmosphere,
I'm officially pressing the record button on
our mixtape and the floor is yours. Why don't
you dive into the song you chose to kick off
Side A? All right. I think I took this in kind
of a unique way. I've been listening to a lot
of your episodes and I know a lot of times that
first song needs to just knock your socks off.
Totally support that. But I guess the way I would
say it is it's got to draw you in. And that can
do that if the song's got a lot of energy around
it. Number one song on a mix often does that.
This one's a little bit different in the way
it does. And I think it's fitting for ours. It
fits our criteria. I chose Everybody's Free to
Wear Sunscreen off of Baz Luhrmann's 1998 album.
The song actually came out in 97. And so this
is a song, if you've heard it, all about advice
for people. As they're graduating, it starts
off, the very first words are, ladies and gentlemen
of the class of 1999. And then it goes on to
sample some music, lots of good advice in general.
I just think it's a good place to start. If I'm
doing a retrospective of music, if I could send
this back to my 90s self, I feel like not only
is this the music I should be listening to, I
feel like this is the advice I should be listening
to. So this is track one on our mix. Kicking
us off on a positive note, reach number 45 on
the Billboard US Hot 100. The thing about this
song, to me at least, was that it was hypnotic.
I don't ever remember seeking out this song to
say, let me put it on. But when it came on the
radio, it just took over the moment I was in,
driving out with my friends, and it just mesmerized
you to the point where you were kind of taken
back. By the message, because the 90s was very
much a very aggressive decade for music. A lot
of pushback as you got the punk rock attitude,
the grunge attitude. This was a very positive,
uplifting song that musically could have fit
with any of the songs that had the opposite lyrical
perspective. If you think about the mid to late
90s. And to me, that was very refreshing. Obviously,
Baz went on to do amazing stuff with like the
Moulin Rouge soundtrack and all other things.
But this might be one of his finest moments because
it does capture such a unique moment in 90s music.
Yeah, no question about it. This one did make
it on its way to a lot of mixtapes. So 98, if
I may, Brian, when did you graduate from high
school? I was 95. So at that point, this song
would be more of my college graduation single
than high school. There you go. I was a little
after this, but still, this was floating around
on mix. It would be mixed CDs when I was in high
school. So definitely this is one that I had
some memories with as well. And yeah, exactly.
It's in that place in the 90s where your post
-grunge. kind of trying to find footing in terms
of the next place. And I just thought a little
advice is probably a good place to do it. Nice
place to start off. I think a mix of some music
here. Yeah. Now we've got this good feeling going
through our systems and I want to keep that good
feeling going. And I do want to bring it a little
bit more to that nineties rock sound that we're
used to. And I'm going to go with one that I
feel like coming out of. Everybody's free to
wear sunscreen. We'll kick off kind of the fun
atmosphere of the mixtape because we've already
got the positive vibes going. Let's have a little
bit of fun and go off of 1998's Maybe You've
Been Brainwashed 2. And I'm going to go with
the new radicals, You Get What You Give. Just
like Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen, the
track reached number 45 on the US Billboard Hot
100. It was ranked number 37. On Rolling Stone's
50 best songs of the 90s, not even one hit wonders,
just overall songs of the decade. Number 11 on
VH1's greatest one hit wonders of the 90s and
number 64 on VH1's greatest one hit wonders ever.
To me, this song was catapulted largely in part
to the music video. Because a lot of my friends
at the time were talking about, you know, that
song, the guy with the hat. That was kind of
how, because at the time we didn't have the ability
to Shazam a song and have it pop up on our phone.
You had to either wait for the DJ to say what
it was, wait for the video to end to get those
credits, or hopefully one of your buddies knew
the answer. And this one was a song that a lot
of people were talking about. The album exploded.
everybody was rocking this song was all over
the radio and then that was it and i'm always
taken back by that because this song was just
so infectious i'm shocked that the label didn't
push some more songs from the album to try to
get this band to the next level because songwriting
wise this is songwriting perfection as far as
i'm concerned i love this one i don't know how
you can't not love this song i i was just about
to say the music video is the part that stands
out probably the most for me on this one as well.
I would have been 14 at the time this song came
out. So MTV was still something I was kind of
like sneaking around my parents as being on the
TV at our house. And yes, I remember the skinny,
bald, very, very confident guy in the fisherman
hat for the song. In fact, that might be what
I walked into the record store. And like you
said, you couldn't Shazam it in that day. The
guys that worked at these record stores, they
didn't get enough credit for knowing what people
were talking about when they walked in. Okay,
it's this one song, and I saw it, and the guy
had the hat on. I think we did that a lot in
the 90s. And somebody was able to pull this up
for me off of that description. So yeah, what
a great song. Love that you kept the positivity
going. I think this is a great pick for number
two. And I will say, having worked during the
late 90s at a music store, there were more times
that people would come in and just start to hum
a song or drop a line. And one of the ones I
remember for this song specifically, somebody
came in and said, OK, I'm looking for this song.
And the only thing I could tell you about it
is there's some part about Beck and Hanson and
Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson. And I'm like.
I know exactly what song you're talking about.
So love the pick, obviously, because, well, yeah,
I chose it anyway. Moving, heading back now to
you, Trevor, for track three. All right. I'm
going to keep the good vibes going in a certain
way. I will admit that this is one I had to dig
into the lyrics to know that the good vibes were
still going because we're going to transition
a little bit from. good vibes sound and lyrically
to just more on the lyrical side. The sound though
is going to throw back into some of that 90s
grunge sound and that is In the Meantime by Space
Hog. This one is from 1995. And so it's funny
as I'm compiling these songs here, I'm putting
the date of each one here. I think I can pinpoint
exactly when my coming of age years... started.
I think it's like March of 96 or something. So
this particular song, to be honest, is back to
this being a Trevor retrospective. This is one
that I've appreciated since those years. I don't
know when I discovered Space Hog, but this was
not the walking into the record store saying,
what's that music video with the guy with the
hat or whatever's going on with this music video.
So with that being said, I dug into lyrics and
things a little bit later, so different. phase
of mind in analyzing these. And there's a lot
of positivity in these songs. The chorus is talking
about, we love the all, the all of you. We love
the all of you. I think this is kind of a nice
way to segue into what's going to end up being,
you know, a little bit more on the nose with
some 90s moping and angst as it should. But let's
keep those going a little bit longer with Space
Hog. This is an awesome song and I'm glad I got
to put this together as an adult and to kind
of decide what songs really make the cut, this
does. Well, I'll be perfectly honest with you,
man. If you didn't pick this one, I was. This
was a song that I definitely sought out in a
record store. And my criteria for looking for
this song was it starts off with one of the most
ridiculous bass lines, almost a bass solo. To
start the song. And the guy behind the counter
said. I know exactly what you're talking about.
And he actually had it. The CD behind the counter.
And he played it to confirm it for me. And I
bought Resident Alien. Senior year in high school
for me. That bass line just. Captured. I mean
as a bass player myself. As soon as you hear
that opening. You're going my god. This is a.
Is this a funky song? What are we doing here?
And then it goes to kind of this big soaring.
Beautiful vocals, powerful lyrics. I mean, the
song was also used in a nostalgic sense with
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3. So there's
that newer connection that's introducing this
song to younger generations who might not have
been around for its initial run. The song reached
number 32 on the U .S. Billboard Hot 100. So
we're moving up a little bit. And yeah, I mean.
One of my favorite bass lines of the 90s, hands
down. Love the song. And coming out of it, you
did mention that we've been in a kind of a positive
vibe here, but the 90s weren't always positive.
And I'm going to introduce a little bit of that
angst that we talked about, but I'm going to
do it in the most perfect of power pop ways.
Now, this song only reached number 17 on the
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, so it never
even hit. Hot 100. So this most certainly falls
under underrated as far as I'm concerned, because
I feel like super drag should have been a massive,
massive group, especially after 1996 is regretfully
yours and the power pop perfection of sucked
out. I've talked about this song on the show
before. To me, when you get that perfect power
pop song, It stays enduring for generations.
I think about the car's magic. I think about
Fountains of Wayne, Stacy's mom. These are songs
that decades later are going to still make people
smile because there's that sense of rock. There's
that sense of heft and power. To it, there's
a drive, there's an energy, almost a punk spirit
that's woven into a beautifully crafted and well
-written pop song that is hooky, catchy, and
you can sing along with. And Sucked Out just
checks off all of those boxes as far as I'm concerned.
One of my favorites. And I love the story on
this one. So, this is another one that I kind
of discovered later. But, you know, the lyrics,
if you break them down, it's sort of a giant
middle finger to the music industry, which was
sort of ironic. What I didn't realize is this
was like an after fact for them. Their album
was done. They then went ahead and threw this
out at the record industry and they just completely,
the record label rather, I think it was Elektra.
He just completely stopped everything and said,
no, no, no, this has got to be on the album.
Got all this momentum behind it. And sort of
like as a joke, this became, it was sort of art
imitating life, so to speak. Very interesting.
And what a perfectly poetic way to do it too.
But I will say this, super drag is so much more
than sucked out. Please go dive into the rest
of that album and some of the follow ups because
they are just a fantastically wonderful band
that is, again, pigeonholed in that one hit wonder
basket. But I feel there's so much more than
that. Well said. Well, OK, what I'm going to
do then is let's keep a little the irony going
on this. And I will also say this is another
one where please buy more than just this single.
And that is going to be. Harvey Danger's Flagpole
Sitta. Nice. Also from 1997. And this is one,
Brian, where you're probably going to have to
tell me to stop talking because I think of all
my songs on the list. Harvey Danger is probably,
it's one of my favorite bands as a whole. And
I just absolutely love this song. I think anytime
you've got a band that does meet that criteria
with this one hit, but you love the rest of their
music, I think the common phrase that people
throw out is like, that's not even close to their
best song. I will still say, I still absolutely
love this song. Is it my favorite of their songs?
Probably not. But that's not to downgrade this
one by any means. I think Flagpole said about
Harvey Danger, it was so hilarious because back
to the irony, I mean, they're sort of making
fun of the very people that are listening to
and grabbing this music. Pierce my tongue, it
doesn't hurt, it feels fine. I just love the
wit, the sardonic sense of humor that he had,
both in this song and his music as a whole. Harvey
Danger, over the course of several years and
lots of breakups and coming back together, put
out three incredible albums. Absolutely encourage
anybody to dive into this one and their other
two. But Flagpole Seda had to make my list. That
was actually on the first ever, at least in the
US. Now that's what I call music compilation.
So there's a little fun fact for that one. When
I worked in a music store again during that same
time, that song, I vividly remember people coming
in saying, okay, I'm looking for a song, but
hear me out. It's not Rage Against the Machine.
However, it's a happier upbeat song that talks
about. Rage Against the Machine. I said, well,
it's actually saying Rage Against the Machines,
but I know exactly what song you're talking about.
Handed them a copy of Where Have All the Merrymakers
Gone? And it left the store shortly thereafter.
It peaked at number 38 on the US Billboard Hot
100 Airplay chart. And unfortunately, that was
it on the charts for this band and probably shouldn't
have been. Again, this song was so big. I go
to see cover bands to this day. And this song
is still played and everybody in the room lights
up. This song has a timeless nature to it. It's
very endearing. It's very fun. It's pop. It's
angsty. It's got a little bit of the punk vibe.
I've heard people put this on pop punk playlists
and it unironically works there. And I feel like
this is a band that, like you said, people need
to know more about. So I'm glad that that made
the list because. I mean, hell, going all the
way back, New Radical, Space Hog, Super Drag,
Harvey Danger, all underrated. No offense to
Baz, but he had Moulin Rouge. I think he's well
-established as a rated, quote -unquote, entity.
Yeah, Baz is doing all right. Baz is doing all
right. Yeah, and if you do want to know more
about Harvey Danger, I have to at least admit,
my favorite album of theirs is their early 2000s
one. It's called Little by Little. And we were
fortunate enough to have Sean Nelson. No, his
name is not Harvey Danger, lead singer. Sean
Nelson on Album Divers to break down every single
track of Little by Little. So if you'd like to
check that out, that's available too. Fantastic.
And now we talked earlier about art imitating
life. Well, before I get into that. I love the
fact that you brought up the fact that his name's
not Harvey Danger, because I sometimes have to
explain to people that Leonard Skinner is not
the name, nor is Marshall Tucker, nor is Jethro
Tull. And that is definitely a band name that
you could throw into the mix. So that might be
a future episode there. Band names that aren't
actually people. That's a good point. I think
the thick glasses on Sean made him kind of look
like his name could be Harvey. But yes, Sean
Nelson. So now we're going to go into art, imitating
life, imitating art. And I mentioned this band
earlier when I talked about Stacy's mom, and
that is Fountains of Wayne. But Fountains of
Wayne did have more than Stacy's mom. Radiation
Vibe was a hit in the 90s. They have a ton of
stuff. However, Adam Schlesinger, who we sadly
lost at the beginning of COVID, wrote a song
in the 90s that was not performed by him, but
was a... Close to top 40 hit, it reached number
41 on the U .S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, number
22 on the adult contemporary chart, number 18
on the adult top 40 chart, and number 24 on the
top 40 mainstream chart. As well, in 1996, several
oldies stations added this song to their rotation.
alongside of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and
the Dell Vikings. That song being the fictitious
band, the Wonders, not the Oneeders, that thing
you do from the movie of the same name, probably
my favorite movie of all time. The song was nominated
for a 1996 Golden Globe Award, as well as Academy
Award for Best Original Song. On the soundtrack,
it's repeated twice. Again, one of my favorite
movies. Of course, I own the soundtrack. Track
15 is the live at the Hollywood Television Showcase
version that you see in the movie. And as far
as cover versions go, this song has made waves.
The Knack recorded a version for their 1998 hits
collection. Newfound Glory covered it on their
2000 EP From the Screen to Your Stereo. And Billy
Joe Armstrong of Green Day covered this on his
2020. No Fun Mondays. The album was released
on Playtone Records, the quote -unquote label
from the movie, which is actually a real record
label. Playtone Records has distributed soundtracks
over the years, including The Sopranos, both
of the soundtracks from that, Bring It On, Josie
and the Pussycats, Band of Brothers, My Big Fat
Greek Wedding, and a couple of others as well.
So Playtone Records is a legit label. And this
song, to me, Coming out of the energy of Flagpole
Sitta just keeps that kind of boppy energy going.
Awesome pick. I love that this is a fictitious
band supposedly in the 60s with a 90s one hit
written by a guy who had a... one hit in the
2000 this is nice nicely done bringing all that
together this is great and what an awesome song
this is one i would not have even thought of
to put on this list but i think it works so well
but yeah you just don't even think about this
as being a i think of it as the movie i think
about a song for the movie but It fits the criteria,
and I'm so glad it's on here. What an awesome
movie, too. I didn't realize that was your favorite,
but one of my favorite movies for sure from that
era as well. It's tough, man. The 90s and 2000s
were so great. Three of my favorite movies ever
were That Thing You Do, Empire Records, and High
Fidelity. And wouldn't you know it, they're all
centered around music. Almost Famous could be
thrown into that discussion. So yeah, I like
movies based about music. You'd be shocked to
find out. Yes. All right. What are you going
to follow up that thing you do with? All right.
Well, definitely we're going to keep sort of
this dancey vibe going because you can definitely
move to that song. And I'm going to cheat a little
bit. This is a song from 1997. The album was
called When I Was Born for the Seventh Time.
And the name of the band is Corner Shop. This
song is called. Rimful of Asha. Don't ask me
what that means. As I mentioned, I'm cheating
a little bit on this track. This did not make
the top 100 at all. It did make number 16 on
the Modern Rock Charts, number 35 on the US Dance
Singles. And I think the reason I had to put
this on, in addition to just the fact that I
love this song, is... Technically speaking, this
is the first concert I ever went to. And it was
in 1997. I was going to see Oasis. And this is
the band that opened. I was literally that this
song is on my list. And in 1997, I saw Oasis
with Corner Shop opening. And again, this was
one of those songs that at the music store I
worked at, they had a. where you could spin new
albums and everybody kept going to the booth
with Corner Shop on it. This was a weird 90s
single. I say weird in a good way because it
was dancey, but it was rock, but it almost had
this. atmospheric element to it on top of it
all it's very hard to kind of define what brimful
asha is as a song and it charted at 16 on the
modern rock charts and number 35 on the dance
singles charts so it had this weird crossover
appeal and i'm so glad you mentioned the oasis
connection there too because i was i saw that
show when it ran through new jersey Totally.
I mean, talk about pinpointing my coming of age
years. I think I said it was sometime in 96,
but it wasn't that long after here in 97 that
I'm writing from Yakima, Washington, where I
grew up, in my friend's dad's car, because of
course we can't drive yet, wearing clothes that
they really didn't want us to be wearing. I paid
probably way too much for an Oasis t -shirt at
the merch table. So, I just have so many memories
of being at this concert and thinking of this
time where music is starting to seep into who
i am and corner shop of course just sort of battery
rammed its way into that being the opening track
and yes my buddy and i were kind of looking at
each other throughout the opening going what
the hell is this and both of us of course since
have bought the album and and listen to it and
yes weird is is a good description though i will
say they are a band that has continued to put
out music and one of the things that we do on
album divers is the very last episode we pick
our five favorite albums of the year and in 2020
which is the first year we started our podcast
corner shops england is a garden album in 2020
is was one of my favorite albums of that year
and made my top five so they're still doing a
lot of good things here well i'm gonna tap into
that weirdness i think for my next pick and go
with a song that does have a little bit of a
weird feeling to it Definitely an indie vibe,
little bit of punk. It's a song that's hard to
nail down, just like Corner Shop. And it came
out in 1995 on their album, I Am an Elastic Firecracker.
And I'm going to go with a song by Tripping Daisy
and I Got a Girl. Reach number six on the Billboard
Modern Rock Tracks chart did not make the Hot
100. But this band to me was... Pretty iconic
because every time I turned on an alternative
radio station and I went to college in North
Carolina in 1995, but I also graduated high school
a few months earlier in New Jersey. Everywhere
I went from state to state when I was driving
from New Jersey to North Carolina and you'd be
switching radio stations trying to find something
on your car trips, I Got a Girl was on the radio,
always on the radio. There was just something
so endearing about this song. Sadly, after their
lead guitarist, Wes Bergeron, passed away in
1999, the band did break up with a bunch of the
members going on to form the Polyphonic Spree,
which are still out making music. Tripping Daisy
did reunite in 2017 for a few live shows, but
that was sadly it. Hopefully, maybe there's more
on the table. Again, underrated. Definitely comes
to mind here. A little weird, a little fun. I
got a girl, but she's got a guy. Nice to keep
the weird going on that one. Yeah, so back to
the difference between an 11 -year -old and a
13 -year -old. I did not know about this song
in 1995 either. So this is one that I discovered
later. Didn't know about the connections until
just now, you talking about that. polyphonic
spree and everything else. So yeah, this is a
good one. I think this is one where if in 1995
I walked by the album cover in a record store
being an 11 -year -old, I think I probably would
have freaked out and just kept walking. So I'm
not surprised that this is one that didn't jump
into my radar until later. But I'm glad to hear
that it's worth getting back into the album as
a whole because I know the song and I don't know
the rest of their history or anything else they've
put out. So I'll have to do that. Could be a
future Album Divers episode for you because the
album is fantastic. But what are you going to
follow up I Got a Girl With? Good question. Let
me think of what I have left here. So we'll go
a little bit forward here. One year later. This
is 1996. And I think we're just going to throw
a little bit of distortion, a little bit of energy
back into this one. A little more straight up
rock song. I'll harken back to my first list
here with a little bit of, in this case, tongue
-in -cheek advice for you in the 90s. This is
the band Not A Surf and their song, their most
popular song, popular, coming out in 1986. I
cheated again on this one. This one reached 51
on the US radio songs, 11 on US alternative airplay.
But for me in 96, again, I think this is probably
the month that I... decided i was starting to
get into music this was all over the place radio
friends playlists all these different things
i just have a lot of memories with this one right
around high school in the car with friends uh
this is definitely one that i had to put on the
list i think it follows trip and daisy pretty
good oh it certainly does 1996 is high and low
was produced by rick okasik of the cars and there
was something about his production in the 90s
That I just went head over heels for. Obviously
he produced Weezer's Blue Album. He produced
Bad Religions, The Gray Race. And he produced
Not A Serf's Popular. And all it took was for
me to hear that he produced this album. For me
to go out and buy it. Because no matter what
the sound was, I knew he was going to bring something
to it. That resonated with me. I've mentioned
many a times that The Car Self -Titled is my
favorite album of all time. There's something
about what Rick brought to these albums in the
90s. He was forward thinking, but also did enough
elements from the past to make it relevant, but
also engage a wider audience. And that was what
I loved about the car's self -titled album was
because he was pushing grounds forward while
also looking back simultaneously. And that's
how he helped usher in with the rest of the cars,
breaking the new wave into the mainstream. I
really wish Not A Surf had more. quote unquote
popularity after this song, because I think there's
so much more than popular. They've put out a
ton of amazing albums throughout the nineties
and the two thousands, and they're still out
there doing it. And this is a band that I think
people should really dive deep and go through
their catalog and do a dive because they're in
for a treat. No question. Yeah. We'll put that
underrated label on this as well. So to close
outside a, I'm going to choose a song that we
talked about all the way back on episode three,
the ultimate songs of 1993 with Ed Kennard. And
this, to me, I talked about the baseline earlier
that you chose with space hogs. In the meantime,
I'm going to go with another baseline that immediately
grabbed my attention. And that is the breeders
cannonball from 1993 is last. When that bass
line comes in, like, that's all it takes. If
I was on Name That Tune, all I would need is,
and it's like, okay, boom, I'm chiming in. I
know the song. It's that much of an earworm.
And the song is amazing. And I would say, capping
off a side that has a ton of underrated artists,
The Breeders has to be included in that conversation.
Not a top 40 hit, hit number 44. But I think
its impact on music is bigger than its chart
history. I think bands like Veruca Salt, bands
like Garbage, hell, even songs that are outside
of The Breeders indie rock sound, no doubt. Female
rock was alive and well in the 90s, but you had
that side that was more of the Lilith Fair, which
was the Jewel, the Indigo Girls. The Breeders
helped usher in the fact that, no, women are
here to rock too. And they did it with authority.
And I love the fact that they're still out there
playing songs now because they were out touring
with, I want to say it's Olivia Rodrigo, which
how amazing is that for a modern pop? artist
to bring out somebody like the breeders and give
their music and introduction to this generation
and hopefully what we're doing here as well tonight.
So closing outside a cannonball by the breeders.
That what a great choice. Yeah, this is one where
I feel like you cheated on many levels putting
this one on and I'm totally fine with it. I'm
so glad you did that. Like you said, it was 44.
It's not quite on the 40. Fair enough. Close
enough. And then, you know, the breeders, like
we're talking about the extensions into the pixies.
And so there was a part of me that's going, wow,
you know, that's definitely taken some liberty.
But again, I'm so glad you did. I almost put
Hunger Strike on here by Temple of the Dog. But
then I was like, oh, that's, you know, but that's
Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. I can't really mix
that. So now I'm thinking I probably could have
because this fits into that criteria as well.
Such a great song. I'll sound like a broken record
here, but because 93, it's another one that I
didn't discover until later and understand the
connections to the Pixies and all those different
things as well. Yeah, you said it well with that
bass line that starts it off. This is just one
that if you heard it once, you've heard it a
thousand times. And I'm glad a lot of people
have heard it a thousand times. So it definitely
deserves to be on this top hits from the 90s
like we're doing here. Well, there you have it,
folks. Side A of our ultimate one -hit wonders
of the 90s playlist, which kicked off with Baz
Luhrmann's Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen,
New Radicals You Get What You Give, Space Hogs
in the Meantime, Super Drags Sucked Out, Harvey
Danger's Flagpole Sitta, The Wonders That Thing
You Do, Corner Shop's Brimful of Asha, Trippin'
Daisies' I Got a Girl, Not a Surf's Popular,
and The Breeders' Cannonball. Head over to myweeklymixtape
.com to hear all the songs we've discussed in
this mix through the playlist embedded on the
episode page. Now, Trevor, before we flip our
proverbial mixtape over to Side B, why don't
you tell people a little bit about Album Divers
and what you guys have going on over there? Sure.
So instead of baking sourdough bread when the
pandemic hit, I started thinking what I could
spend some of my time doing, and we decided,
a buddy of mine and I decided to start this podcast
called Album Divers. Really, we just decided
it would be kind of a time capsule for our friendship
and a way to revisit old albums. Our only rule
on that podcast is we have to alternate between
a new album and an older, so a new meaning has
to come out in the year that we're doing that
particular podcast. Of course, we're in 2024
now, so... We're doing new albums from 2024.
And then every other episode goes back into something
from the past. And that's been kind of fun because
we're both guys getting into our late 30s, early
40s. And I think the tendency to want to get
pigeonholed into a particular type of music from
your past nostalgia as we're doing here. I'm
glad we're doing that. Breaks me out of that.
So that's what it's all about. Sometimes we get
some artists on there. We break down every single
track from the album because we believe that
the Album format is a holy thing. And we just
have fun talking about it. So we release episodes
whenever we feel like it. So I cannot believe
my weekly mixtape. I'm very impressed every single
time you get an episode out every week. If you
tune in, you'll get episodes here and there.
So that's what we do. Yeah, I didn't think about
that when I named it, that I was basically setting
myself up for an expectation. Hey, it's a good
little bit of structure that forces you to do
it. There you go. Well, moving over to side B,
I'm going to keep the female vibe that we ended
side A with, which was the Breeders' Cannonball.
And I'm going to go with a song that when I say
the band name, yes, it is a one hit wonder. But
the lead person in that band has written so many
songs that are hits. It's almost hard for me
to quantify including this one. However. For
the band Four Non Blondes, What's Up was their
biggest hit song. Reached number 14 on the Billboard
US Hot 100. I think as of right now, that's the
highest chart topping song we've talked about
tonight. However, when you look at her songs
outside of Four Non Blondes, she's written Can't
Let Go by Adele, Candyman and Beautiful by Christina
Aguilera, Danger Zone by Gwen Stefani. Pink's
Get the Party Started, My Love by Celine Dion,
Superwoman by Alicia Keys. Like, Linda Perry's
a massive songwriter. I'm shocked that that didn't
hit more with Four Non Blondes. They're a great
band. If you listen to the Led Zeppelin tribute
album that came out in the 90s, they do an insane
version of Misty Mountain Hop. Her voice is incredible.
The song is fantastic. I know this one could
be a little divisive for some people, but Lainey
Wilson put out a cover on her most recent album,
and that kind of brought it into modern country
flavor now. And I also want to give a shout out
to Patreon mixtaper Sean Goff, who had chimed
in with this one. But yeah, let's kick off side
two with one that everybody's familiar with.
For Non Blondes, what's up? This is one you could
not escape on the radio. You mentioned this one
being somewhat divisive. I'll admit that I'll
probably fall on the I've heard it enough times
side of this one. But I think Linda Perry deserves
to be on this list for sure. And if I just think
about it in terms of true, you know, complete
nostalgia, this being on the radio when I was
a kid, I remember this one as well. I'm surprised
to see it was 1993. I don't know how many weeks
it spent on that Hot 100. But I feel like, you
know, again, my coming of age year has been a
little later than that. I feel like it was still
on the radio all the time. when I was listening
to music mostly in the later 90s. All right,
so following that up, what do you have for track
two? All right, well, let's see. What's Up was
one of the picks by one of your listeners, your
Patreon listeners. I believe I heard you say
this one was as well, and we're going to go forward
a couple years here. This is March of 96, and
that's Primitive Radio Gods. It's standing outside
of a broken phone booth with money in my hands.
I can't even tell you what I love about this
song. I mean, I can tell you, I can break down
all these different elements of it, but it's
definitely one of those greater than the sum
of its parts musical experiences is what I want
to call this even more so than a song. I mean,
you've got the B .B. King sample, you got the
church bells, the piano I appreciated so much
more even just re -listening to this as I compiled
these lists of songs. And then I just even think,
Him coming back in and singing the same B .B.
King sample with his own voice just adds a really
cool element to it. This is almost like just
a meditation from the 90s or something like that.
So I had to have this one on there. In terms
of memories, this is one that I believe was playing
from one of my friend's older brother's stereo
when I was coming over. So I just have memories
of playing with Legos but having this going in
the background. Just a great song. I had to have
it on the list. I first discovered this song
on the soundtrack to 1996's The Cable Guy. That's
right. At least advertised as a slapstick comedy,
but was actually a very dark comedy from Jim
Carrey and Matthew Broderick. And I remember
hearing it in the movie and getting the soundtrack.
And I was so stoked when Rocket finally came
out because I got to kind of dig more into this
group. Reach number one on the Billboard U .S.
Modern Rock Track charts and number 10 on the
U .S. Hot 100 Airplay charts. Love the B .B.
King sample. Like that was something about the
90s. They really dove into sampling great music.
You think about what a tribe called Quest did,
sampling like these iconic jazz bass lines and
jazz movements in their music. And it moved its
way into the rock side of things with groups
like Primitive Radio Gods. And yes, shout out
to Patreon Mixtape Seeker who chimed in with
this one as well. I didn't have this on my list
because. I felt like I hit the weird part of
my spectrum with the Trippin' Daisy kind of stuff.
But I'm so glad that it's being included here
because there is that element of the 90s that's
just inescapable. No question about it. Yeah,
I even think of DJ Shadow introducing all of
that. You're right, the sampling. I didn't think
about it until you brought that together. But
there was a ton of that going on. And this song
brought that to the mainstream. This was on everybody's
radio for sure. I think I'm going to do a song
to follow it up that is a little bit of a pivot.
However, this song was produced by Brian Eno.
And the band originally thought that this song
should have been a B -side. And it was Eno's
pushing that led them to release it on the album,
which was a smart move. It reached number 61
on the Billboard US Hot 100, which again, not
a top 40 hit. But I have never seen a cover band,
at least in New Jersey. And I am one of them
because I love performing the song. Get through
a three set night without strumming the opening
to James Laid from 1993. For people that are
a little older, it was the theme to the American
Pie franchise. And if you saw the movie American
Wedding, the version you hear at the opening
is not James' version. That is actually Matt
Nathanson covering it. However, if you know the
American Pie movie franchise, you're familiar
with this song. The riff is simplistically perfect.
There's something that it's a real simple riff
to play. But as soon as you hear it. People's
faces light up. They love singing along with
it. The falsetto notes, most people can't hit
it, but they try anyway, and it becomes a lot
of fun. And the song, again, underrated, underrated
band. James has the greatest hits album. There
is more to James than just laid. However, this
was their one flirtation with the Billboard charts,
at least in the Hot 100, and I feel like it deserves
a mention here. Good choice. Yeah, yeah. Being
a little bit younger, for me, it was the American
Pie movies that brought this into my awareness
for sure. Yeah, this is like, it's got that kind
of like sleazy lounge sound. It's not just the
lyrics, it's just the way that he sings it, the
kind of pizzazz that he puts on it, the energy
that he does. I was discussing this, my other
job is I'm a physical therapist. I have this
patient that loves music and so I was saying,
all right. While I work on your foot here, what
are your favorite songs from the 90s or your
one hits from the 90s? I mentioned this song
as an idea. And he, being a little older than
me, he said, oh, yeah. He said, I've seen them
live. And he's like, that's what did it for me.
I didn't think much of James until I saw them
that way. And just I love that song ever since.
So if I get a chance to do that, that would be
pretty awesome. All right. What are you going
to follow up Laid With? All right. You know,
I deliberated on some of the other ones here,
but you've set me up here. If we're into the
sexy part of our mix here, we'll keep that part
going. We'll jump forward a few years here, and
we're in 1997, and that is going to be Marcy
Playground off their self -titled, and this song
is Sex and Candy. Nice. We're in that time period
here as the 90s start to close off where it's
that purgatory between that post -grunge. People
aren't really sure what to do after Nirvana and
some of these bands are no longer going here.
But not quite into wherever we get into those
early 2000s. But I think some bands, some songs
did that a little bit better than others. And
Marcy Playground does an awesome job of borrowing
what really worked from... Couldn't agree more.
Reach number eight on the U .S. Billboard Hot
100. So as of right now, our highest charting
song of our discussion this evening. This song
was featured in 1999's Polka Power from Weird
Al's Running With Scissors. So if you're featured
in a Weird Al polka, it was a hit song. And this
is the first Weird Al polka featured song this
evening. So I feel like that definitely deserves
its own spotlight in and of itself. And to give
this song a little bit more of a modern spin.
maroon 5 actually covered the song as a bonus
track on their 2014 album five so if you want
to look up an interesting version they do a pretty
cool job of it i'm not the biggest maroon 5 fan
on the planet but they definitely have moments
where they write extremely catchy tunes and they
did a great cover of it so definitely worth looking
up i saw marcy playground on one of the 90s package
tours i want to say about a decade ago it was
Marcy Playground, Gin Blossoms, Lit, Sugar Ray,
and Everclear. It was a really fun 90s afternoon
of music. But wow, coming out of Sex and Candy,
I'm going to pull away from the sexy time that
we had going on with the last two songs, but
I'm going to stay in 1997. And I'm kind of shocked
we haven't had a number one hit yet, and we're
still not. This song reached number two. But
it's one of those songs that when I say it, you
almost question how wasn't it a number one hit
because of its endless, endless airplay on top
40 stations, on rock stations, on AOR stations.
This just crossed all sorts of genres. And I'm
going to go with Meredith Brooks' Bitch from
1997's Blurring the Edges. Talk about a song
that was completely inescapable no matter what
station you went to. And it was catchy. And it
was infectious. And I never got sick of it. The
song just, as soon as it started, it had almost
that guitar riff that was reminiscent of The
Who's Baba O 'Reilly. But it's done in a poppy
way. And the song just always lured me in. It
never got old. Here we are decades later. And
anytime it comes on, I still dig the song as
much as I did in 97. Shout out to Meredith Brooks.
Again, dive into the album. There's more on that
album than bitch, but this was the one song that
truly catapulted for her. Nice pick. This is
genius, I think, because you got the FCC that's
like, all right, you can't say any bad words
at all, but you can say bitch. Why? I don't know.
You can't say a -hole. You can't say the D word.
All of these things, there might be typical insults
for a man, but feel free to... throw a bitch
out as much as you want. And I think Meredith
Brooks as a woman in the late 90s was like, okay,
you're allowed to say that word. I'm just going
to own that. I'm going to write a song about
it. I'm going to say it over and over and over
again. And you're going to play it constantly.
And she empowered the word too. Exactly. Exactly.
She took charge of it. Perfect pick for this
and very reminiscent of, I think, a woman in
the 90s just grabbing onto something like that
and making it her own. I think that's great.
All right. So, what are you going to follow that
up with? All right. How do I, I feel like there's
some sort of transition here from bitch to this
one. So, we've got a woman claiming the word
bitch, putting out a hit that way. And then we're
going to go to a man and we're going same year
here. This is 1997, putting out a song called
Your Woman. And that is an artist called Whitetown.
And I suppose this could have fallen into the
weird part of our mix. I didn't know we were
going to have a weird and a sexy part and this
women empowerment gender bending part. But here
we are in the 90s with all these different sub
parts of our mix. And I think, yeah, I think
White Town, Your Woman, this is one, 97, again,
I'm 13. I'm not quite super accepting of all
the, you know, there's just a lot of things that
I'm trying to wrap my mind around still as a
13 year old. So this one, I think, stood out
not only for the sound, but also just because,
again, I thought it was strange and you can't
help thinking about and dissecting these lyrics
of this man singing, I could never be your woman.
And it just had this kind of hypnotic. kind of
cult -like sound to it that I just couldn't help
playing over and over again and listening to.
And I think, again, it's one that I remember
from my coming of age years because of that,
but probably one that I've revisited as I've
gotten older and appreciated more and more. I
haven't kept up with what Whitetown did after
this hit, but I just felt like I wanted to cement
this one on our mix from the 90s here. I'm so
glad you did. This was one that fell off my radar
for such a long time. And I want to say, God,
in the last decade, we were in Kohl's or something
like that. Target, one of these stores. And the
song was playing over the Muzak. But we had walked
in just at the end. So all I was hearing was
almost like the Imperial March from Star Wars.
But it's done differently. And all that took
was that little like 10 seconds of earworm. And
for the rest of the day, I was. Walking around
going, like tapping my head. And it started driving
me nuts because I didn't have enough time to
shazam it. And I called up a couple of friends
just humming that part. I'm like, we're going
back to the 90s for this. Any idea? Any idea?
And finally, someone said, oh, dude, White Town,
your woman. And I went and looked up the album
and realized that this song was everywhere. But
just as fast as it exploded. I feel like it sadly
disappeared. And musically, we're bringing back
some of that sampling like we talked about from
older songs like we did on Primitive Radio Gods,
as well as some stuff on Side A, and done in
such a way that just made it feel so modern and
fresh. And it reached number 23 on the Billboard
US Hot 100. And then sadly, that was, you know,
unfortunately, at least in the... mainstream
realm it for white town but such a big statement
and while i don't have anything weird in my list
i can tap into that horn section loop that's
going on in white town and pivot into another
one hit wonder that is definitely going to genre
bend us a little bit here but damn it i think
musically these two are going to work really
cool back and forth and i'm going to go off of
1993's hand on the torch And we're going to get
some jazz sampling from an album that was released
on Blue Note Records. And we're going to go Us
3, Cantaloupe, Flip Fantasia. Reach number nine
on the U .S. Billboard Hot 100. And I want to
say our first song that's incorporating hip hop
into the mix tonight, which is awesome. And this
song, again, genre bending. Yes, it was a hip
hop song. But a lot of top 40 stations and even
some rock stations played it because of the vibe
that the song brought. The energy that the song
brought crossed it over, at least in the New
York market. And I think that is what speaks
to the endurance of a track. The fact that it
could speak equally on different radio stations,
across different airwaves, to different audience
demographics. And this one did it effortlessly.
So coming out of Your Woman, let's get a little
Flip Fantasia in the mix here. Nice little head
jerk on this one. Yeah. Okay. I didn't see this
one coming. 92, right? This was 93. Hand on the
torch. 93. Okay. Okay. So I was nine years old
at the point where this come out. And yeah, I
remember this one not only being on the radio
as a kid there, but. I used to go watch this
CBA basketball team in Yakima, Washington, the
Yakima Sun Kings. And this was like warm -up
song amongst many others that was just playing
constantly. So this takes me back to those memories,
riding the car with my dad, going to these basketball
games and hearing this song. And yeah, what a
great way to follow up the horn section loop
that we've got in White Town. I'm excited to
listen to our mix when it's all done because
I think that's just going to feed in perfectly.
Nice, nice pick. I like it. All right. We're
coming up to the home stretch here. You got two
picks. I've got one. What do you got left? All
right. Yeah, I've only got two left. I know what
I think I have to end with. So that means I'm
slotting this one in after cantaloupe here. I
don't know how the transition is going to sound,
but I feel like that's the 90s. Every year was
a little bit different. So if you don't have
one that sticks out, then it really doesn't encapsulate
the decade. And that's where 1994. Possum Kingdom
by the Toadies is going to slot in here. So this
is one, I mentioned the 96, 97 -ish years being
my coming of age. So I would have thought in
self -reflection on this one that I wouldn't
have remembered it as a child. I didn't remember
it listening to it in 94. I think I was a little
too young for that. But I was young enough. It
probably did pop in for me around 96, 97. And
sometimes one of those songs that though was
big just a few years ago, especially as a one
-hit wonder, passes through. But this one had
a resurgence at least among my friend group.
Even though if we were listening to stuff that
was coming out in 96, 97, 98, a lot of my friends
still went back to 94 to put this song on mixtapes
for me in the 90s. And I don't know, man. This
is just one that you talked about the bass line
for Breeders' Cannonball. That guitar part to
start this, I mean, that just grabbed me immediately.
And then once I got into what the lyrics were
about as an angsty teenager with this weird story
about these vampires, pre -Twilight era, by the
way, if anybody's listening, this is not your
PG version of the vampire story. I just loved
it. So, Possum Kingdom Toadies had to make my
list. Believe this one does meet the meet the
criteria. If not, it was close, but I had to
had to put it on anyways. As far as I'm concerned,
it meets the criteria. It reached number nine
on the Billboard US mainstream rock charts, and
they did have a follow up single away, which
only reached 23 on the mainstream rock track
charts. So in terms of Hot 100. Toadies are actually
a no -hit wonder band. Okay, all right. But that
said, charts be damned because, again, cover
bands, I see Possum Kingdom to this day played
a lot in bar rooms still. That riff is iconic.
It's an iconic 90s opening riff. So sometimes
a hit song is not defined by the level it charted.
It's it's endurance. It's legacy. And Possum
Kingdom has that. No doubt about it. So coming
out of that, I have one song left and I'm going
to go right on the nose with this one with a
band that I feel like because a lot of the bands
I picked was underrated. And this is one that
I think I don't want to say tops that chart,
but is up there with some of the most underrated.
I first saw these guys live in 1998 opening for.
Soul Asylum and Matchbox 20, they were the opening
band. And the one thing I will never forget is
the opening piano part and drums were played
by the drummer at the same time. I had never
seen anything like this in my life, and it absolutely
blew my mind. From 1998's Feeling Strangely Fine,
I'm going to go with Semisonic's Closing Time.
Number one on the U .S. Billboard Modern Rock
Tracks chart. But shockingly, not on the Hot
100. They had other songs, Singing in My Sleep,
Chemistry, that are all amazing tunes, didn't
chart. Semisonic is a fantastic power pop rock
group. Please dive into their catalog. They are
still putting out music. It's still amazing.
Unfortunately, when people hear the name Semisonic,
though... The first thing they think about is
closing time written about a bar room. Maybe
there's been a lot of talk that the song is written
about the birth of a child, which when you listen
to the lyrics through that light, it makes it
a much more powerful song. And I've seen countless
cover bands and shows with this song. Not once
have I seen a band open up set one with it. So
I now put this out as a challenge to all the
cover bands out there listening some food for
thought. Open the show with closing time and
see how it goes over and then let me know because
I want to see the look on people's faces when
the first song of the night is Semisonic's closing
time. That would be a good one. Well, I think
you didn't quite have the nerve to do it higher
up in our list there, but I'm glad you kept it
where it would be here. I couldn't see it coming
out of Baz Luhrmann's Everybody's Free to Wear
a Sunscreen quite as strong as New Radicals did
at that part of the mixtape. You did a good job,
and rightfully so. It ends up here close to the
end here. Yeah, man, lots of memories of this
one as well. Again, 98, I was into the throes
of listening to music, so I bought this album
immediately. I could probably tell you the track
list order if I had to right now off the top
of my head. And yeah, but back to being underrated.
We have a lot on the list. I think Semisonic,
and then I'll just even say Dan Wilson as a...
artist. He's released some solo stuff. He's a
great writer. He's got a lot going on up there
in terms of his writing skills. So I think the
one about Birth of a Child, probably I'm leaned
towards being the meaning of this one just in
the context of how well he writes everything
else. But yeah, what a great band, what a great
album and a great song to end your part. So can
I cap us off here at the end? Yeah, you get to
put the cherry on top of our 90s one hit wonders
mixtape. What are we closing out the night with?
I feel honored. All right. So if we start off,
you know, building the energy from the beginning,
you got something pulling you in a little bit
with Baz Luhrmann and the advice to the 90s.
We're going to fade out here at the end. And
that is Fade Into You by Mazzy Star. Ooh, okay.
This one came out in 93, so true to form. This
is one I discovered later. In fact, I'm embarrassed
to say, much, much later. It's probably a few
years ago that I really understood. I think I
knew this song. I mean, if it came on, I would
hear it. In fact, I was calling this to my podcast
co -host, sort of this... Moby Dick song for
me because I would hear it. It would be on in
the background at work or something. It seemed
like any playlist of any artists that I like,
somehow this also seeped in. And because I feel
like it has a timeless quality, I just assumed
it was a more recent artist. In fact, I think
it was popping up when I was putting in Angel
Olsen or somebody like that. And I could hear
her doing this song. I assumed it was a recent
track. And it wasn't until doing a lot of digging
and asking around that I figured out this is
1993. So one of the fun things about listening
to music today when you can have some of these
algorithms throwing music at you is I don't know
that this one would have creeped back into my
consciousness had I not done it that way. And
I'm glad that I finally caught my Moby Dick and
I'm glad that it's ending this album because
Fade Into You, Mazzy Star in general is an artist
that everybody should know. And you can add me
to the list now. Love the song. Absolutely. I'm
going to just say it. It's a beautiful song.
Reach number 44 on the U .S. Billboard Hot 100
from the album So Tonight that I might see. And
I also want to throw out there, because we talked
about it earlier in the night, just like Harvey
Danger, Mazzy Star, band name, not an artist
name. So just put that out there when we do that
Jethro Tull, Leonard Skinner, Marshall Tucker
episode. Harvey Danger and Mazzy Star will probably
make that discussion as well. But what a perfect
way to close out Side B. There you have it, folks.
Side B of our ultimate 90s one -hit wonders mixtape,
which kicked off with four non -blondes. What's
up? Primitive radio gods standing outside a broken
phone booth with money in my hand. James Laid.
Marcy Playgrounds. Sex and Candy. Meredith Brooks,
bitch. White Town's Your Woman, Us Three's Cantaloupe,
Flip Fantasia, Toadie's Possum Kingdom, Semisonic's
Closing Time, and Mazzy Star's Fade Into You.
Head over to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all
the songs we've discussed in this mix through
the playlist embedded on the episode page. Well,
Trevor, why don't you let people know where they
can learn more about Alvin Divers and connect
with you on social media? Sounds good. We're
on all the social platforms just at Album Divers.
And if somebody out there listening has an album
that you'd like us to dive into and break down,
feel free to write us at AlbumDiversPodcast .com
or just DM us anywhere, Facebook, Instagram,
anywhere like that. And you can stream us on
all of the streaming platforms, Spotify, Apple
Music, all of those places. Well, Trevor, this
has been an absolute blast. Thank you so much
for joining me on My Weekly Mixtape and looking
forward to having you back again soon, man. Sounds
good. Been an honor to be on here, Brian. Thank
you so much for letting me come. Well, remember,
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until next time, enjoy the tunes.