Garth Brooks - Friends in Low Places - 1990
M.C. Hammer - U Can't Touch This - 1990
R.E.M. - Losing My Religion - 1991
Bonnie Raitt - Something to Talk About  - 1991
BeBe& CeCe Winans - Addictive Love - 1991
Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart - 1992
Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You - 1992
*Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit - 1992 (top song of the decade)
Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do - 1994
Boyz II Men/Mariah Carey - One Sweet Day - 1996
Eric Clapton  - Change the World - 1996
Elton John - Candle in the Wind - 1997
R. Kelly - I Believe I Can Fly - 1997
Will Smith - Men in Black - 1997
Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On - 1998
Dixie Chicks - Wide Open Spaces - 1998
Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing) - 1998
Shania Twain - You're Still the One - 1998
Destiny's Child - Bills, Bills, Bills - 1999
Faith Hill - This Kiss - 1999
Tim McGraw - Please Remember Me - 1999
Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca - 1999
Santana/Rob Thomas - Smooth - 1999
TLC - No Scrubs - 1999

Here's the top song of the decade:

Enjoy!

After filming they went on a tour of Europe and without the Internet in those days, they were oblivious to the kind of impact their song was making in the US. They were just happy touring. They were able to see album sales climb and they noticed that Smells Like Teen Spirit was in heavy rotation on the radio and on MTV. They came back to the States in October (after playing clubs in Europe) and they sold out Seattle's Paramount Theater. They had arrived on the scene.

They hated the new fans that they attracted. The "Frat boys" that bullied kids like them were now listening to their music and buying their CDs. After a high demand for new music Nirvana released "Incesticide" which was a compiliation of B-Sides and other rare songs with limited release up to that point. In the liner notes, Kurt wrote a long diatribe about the fans that they did not want. They did not want racist or ignorant people buying their records.

By 1992, Nirvana was on top of the world. Nevermind had been Number one on the Billboard charts knocking off Michael Jackson and they were selling out arenas all over the country. When it came time to make their second record for Geffen, they were in the driver's seat. They wanted to make a record with Fuzz Master Steve Albini who did most of his work for Touch and Go Records recording The Jesus Lizard.

They trekked up to Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota and recorded In Utero. The entire recording process lasted 2 weeks and Kurt laid the vocals down in one day. Early masters were very raw and Nirvana had them remixed by Scott Litt of REM fame. This caused a riff between Albini and Nirvana because while Nirvana claimed that the label balked at the tapes, Albini feel that Nirvana was the ones who did not like it. The album sold well and early concerts sold out. As the year went on crowds became slightly smaller.

Shows were not selling out until the day of the show andsome were not sellingout at all. Sales of In Utero started to decline. In an effort to pick up ticket and album sales, Nirvana agreed to an "Unplugged" concert for MTV. They wanted to take a different route than the previous concerts. Everyone played their hits like it was Madison Square Garden (paraphrasing Dave Grohl) and Nirvana wanted to do something different. They played mostly thier songs, but detoured a bit and played covers like "Man Who Sold the World". They Introduced the world to the Meat Puppets when they covered "Plateau", "Lake of Fire", and "Oh, Me" (all of the Meat Puppets second record titled II). Kurt capped off the evening with a breathtaking version of Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night". Nirvana fever was reborn.

The return to success did not help Kurt at all though. His drug use was heavy and slipped into a coma in early 1994. They canceled a tour in Fbruary of 1994 due to Kurt's laryngitis. Kurt checked himself into a rehab clinic in Los angeles. Sneaked out to get some cigarettes and never came back. His body was discovered in his Seattle homea few days later. He took his own life. He was 27.

Todd

Remember when Courtney Love said that Kurt's ashes had been stolen from her bedside? Well we now know who has them. And yes, she wants to roll them up and blaze.

Australian artist Natascha Stellmach is claiming that she will smoke the ashes of the late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in a spliff as part of an art exhibition. (WTF?!)

Kurt Kobain's ashes were stolen from Courtney Love in May. In a statement Stellmach claimed she had "acquired" the ashes, and would smoke them as part of the Set Me Free exhibition at Berlin's Wagner + Partner gallery.

The smoking of the ashes will take place at what is being billed as the "final act" of the exhibition, which climaxes on October 11.

Stellmach is claiming that the act will symobillically "set free" Cobain from the media circus.

The smoking will be one of various acts undertaken by artists as part of the exhibition involving the dead.

Danish artist Marco Evarissti plans to feed death row inmate Gene Hathorn to goldfish as part of the show.

The claim of ashes ownership has aroused suspicion among fans, who have posted messages online voicing scepticism that the remains are in fact those of the late singer/guitarist.

Asked how she came to have Cobain's ashes, let alone smoke them, Stellmach told the magazine Artworld: "That's confidential and kind of magic. They came to me. And I am setting him free.”

via NME

Smells like teen spirit video:

Kicks Like a Teenage Dirtbag (New York Mix)

Again, this was something I did a while back and something really spooky happened when I was putting it together. It wasn't until I'd almost finished the track that I realised that the three songs I'd decided to segue all had the word 'teen' or 'teenage' in them. How spooky is that? To finish I added the closing bars of two songs featuring New York in the title...don't ask me why!

Here are the artists and songs I included in this mix:

• The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
• Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag
• Nirvana - Smells like Teen Spirit
• Frank Sinatra - New York, New York
• Nasty Rox Inc. - Escape from New York

And that's fun and all, but I think I like this one even better:

Also, want to just take a minute to sing the praises of VH1 Classics.  Hands down, this is the best music television channel in America (and possibly elsewhere).  I know saying that is basically like proving I'm over thirty without having to show a birth certificate, but so be it.  For starters, they show music videos.  Lots of music videos.  And then they also show concerts, documentaries, and music related movies.  Last night they ran the three hour Scorsese-directed Dylan documentary No Direction Home.  It's a great, revealing look at Dylan's attitude about what he was doing when he started more so than even featuring the music itself.  The collected footage from concerts and interviews is pretty astounding and I highly recommend seeing it if you can (I'm sure they'll replay it or it's on DVD).  Here's "Maggie's Farm" from another doc called Festival to get you in the mood:

More tomorrow, beatniks.

10. OK GO - "Here It Goes Again"

9. MADONNA - "Like A Prayer"

8. JAMIROQUAI - "Virtual Insanity"

7. RADIOHEAD - "Just"

6. NIRVANA - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

5. SIGUR ROSS - "Svefn G Englar"

4. BJORK - "All Is Full Of Love"

3. AH HA - "Take On Me"

2. MICHAEL JACKSON - "Thriller"

And are you ready for this?  I mean REALLY READY????  The number one, best music video of all time according to the voters, that is, better than anything Gondry or Jonze directed, better than Go With The Flow, better than Thriller, better than Sledgehammer, better than ANY OTHER VIDEO.

1. DURAN DURAN - "Rio"

Throughout the countdown, the hosts kept saying how awful the first choice was, but I couldn't even begin to guess that.  I thought maybe it was going to be Rick Astley

which would have been AMAZING, but alas, no dice.  I think what happened is that you get a lot of great videos on MTV2 which splits the fans and those videos all end up at the bottom end of the top ten, or not at all.  Then you get artists like Madonna and Michael Jackson, and everyone assumes everyone else will vote for those, so they don't have to.  The you get all the VH1 viewers clicking like crazy on Duran Duran.

I'll give you "Rio" was a moment in time, and that video appealed to a lot of people, but its not particularly well made, its not very artistic, it hasn't got a great vision.  It goes pretty well with the song, but not to the smae extent as something like "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

And what about certain directors who have made music video a real genre?  Chris Cunningham is the only one on here.  No Michel Gondry, no Spike Jonze, no Mark Romanek, no Anton Corbijn, no Jonathan Glazer.  I know I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to these things, but give credit where credits due, if you're voting on the best MUSIC VIDEO, then you are supposed to be taking into consideration what you think is the best marriage of moving pictures and music to ever come accross your tv, not your favorite 1980's boy band.

But all the blame does not lie with misguided viewers.  Voters were "encouraged" by their favorite stations' own top 10 countdowns to vote, and the videos were listed on the site, so certain videos ended up being biased.  The vote also shows the power of the mid-30's to mid-40's crowd, never underestimate the 1980's and how badly they have affected music, fashion and video.

• Is it poor marketing?
• Services too long?
• Not enough revival?
• Not spiritual enough?
• Too theological?
• Not enough outreach?
• Not enough worship
• Too much being fake
• Too harsh
• Too judgmental?
• Too lenient?
• Not enough prayer
• Not prophetic
• Not enough zeal for the House
• Too many meetings

Truth is, I've heard arguments for all the above (which makes me think its often a bunch of armchair quarterbacks who are better at finding problems than fixing them). So it is that, for one of these reasons or others related, people eject from their seats and live lives outside Christian communities - most whom claim it to have been the best decision they ever made. I considered it (briefly) at one point, but chose not to eject for a few reasons.

"Jesus...envisaged that, scattered around Palestine, there would be small groups of people loyal to himself, who would get together to encourage one another, and would act as members of a family, sharing some sort of common life and, in particular, exercising mutual forgiveness. It was because this way of life was what it was, while reflecting the theology it did, that Jesus' whole movement was thoroughly, and dangerously, 'political'. And...the main characteristic of the cells that Jesus called into being was of course loyalty to Jesus himself."

-N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God

I think the reason for all the church shopping is people's Americanized expectation of church. In their conscience, here are questions many think:

• This service had better do something for me. I came to get something out of it.
• That person needs to hear this.
• Don't teach me how to think - tell me what to think.
• I don't want all that theology - just tell me what the Bible says.
• Here we are now. Entertain us.
• I really don't need to read the Bible much because I'm in church all the time.

The first key to understanding how we should "do church" is to stop making it about ourselves.

The Fair Pole is used to curb some of today's workplace boredom, but the overall spirit of this blog was clearly born during the early to mid-90's, which got me to thinking . . .

There are 1950's diners where I can order a tall and tasty malt while doing The Jitterbug to Buddy Holly, 60's-type soul joints where I can sway along to The Temptations, 70's-style discotheques where I can observe older Italians reliving Manero glory days, and renovated 80's palaces where I have no choice but to watch frantic cokeheads dance to glam-metal. Where are all the 90's retro spots?

I'm pretty sure there aren't any waiters doing The Macarena anywhere in America. With culture progressing at such an accelerated pace, and it being almost 2010, isn't it about time for a restaurant/club to pay homage to the 90's?

Just picture this glorious scene: the theme song to Beverly Hills 90210, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and other 90's hits alternately blast over a set of loudspeakers as the restaurant's waitresses are dressed in ESPIRIT jeans, flourescent sunglasses, huge hoop earrings, clunky Doc Martens, and The Rachel haircut. Customers eat cheeseburgers as small TVs located beside their tables play episodes of Small Wonder, Rescue Rangers, and In Living Color. In lieu of commericals, the TVs display CNN news clip spanning the decade. Maybe they could even call the place I Love the 90's and have Joel Stein endorse it or something?

Honestly, would such a time warp not be the greatest thing ever? Despite the fact that this is a horrible, horrible idea, and will never happen, it absolutely needs to.

Meet Spencer Elden. Well, you've already met him. In the quasi-intimate sense. He's the baby on Nirvana's famous "Nevermind" album, floating merrily along reaching for that dolla dolla bill, ya'll.

And NPR (I love love love NPR) did a story on him.

"Quite a few people in the world have seen my penis," he says from his home in Los Angeles. "So that's kinda cool. I'm just a normal kid living it up and doing the best I can while I'm here."

You know what, that is kinda cool. Power to you, man. Wonder what it's like to be him on a daily basis?

"My friend is all like, 'Hey I saw you today.' And I'm like, 'Dude, I was working all day.' And he's like, 'No, I went to Geffen Records, and you're on the floor and you're floating and I stepped on your face. 'Cause I guess they have like a floating thing where people can like walk on me and stuff ... so it's kinda cool," he says.

That's kinda cool too, Spencer. He might just be one of the most non-famous famous kids out there. And he's kind of kickass. Badass too, because his parents sent him to military school for a bit. Here he is now, all growed up:

Read the piece on this kid. He doesn't just smell like teen spirit, he reeks of it. Kurt Cobain would be proud, dude.

[Posted by Kathleen]

Puesto número 45.

Buddy Holly and The Crickets. That'll be the day.

Puesto número 44.

Lynird Skynird. Free bird.

Puesto número 43.

Ray Charles. What'd i say.

Puesto número 42.

The Police. Every day your take.

Puesto número 41.

Nirvana. Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Everett True profiles Hole in Sidelines. Taken from Melody Maker 15th June 1991.

"Courtney in her long and varied history (she's only 24) has lived through more traumas than most of you f***ing lamebrains will experience in your life."

Quite. If only Everett could have known then that she was just getting started. I remember when MM reported those first, very early, barely coherent USENET posts of hers around 1994 and she's still fucking doing it (click Courtney Love -> Blog). Now click into the photos section if you dare. Finally reacquaint yourself with all Courtney's uppers and downers via her extensive Wikipedia entry here.

Was looking around for something Nirvana related just so I could post this (below), which I saw for the first time this afternoon. Presumably this is well known material I've somehow missed but guessing it'll be new to quite a few of you too. File under bizarre.

Highlights at
0.22 - Gary rips the T-Shirt from his hulking frame
1.26 - Gary does the can-can to 'my libido..'
1.40 - Mark, surely not for the first time, drops to his knees and slowly deflates under the pressure of Gary's punishing vocal
2.38 - Jason's crushing Hank Williams style solo perforates every hymen within the first six rows of the stage

(via quomodocumque)

Now isn't that better?

Thanks to Douglas for alerting me to the existence of this.

Recording Nirvana Part 4: Smells Like Teen Spirit. Deconstructed by Butch Vig
July 7th, 2008 by Christian Cummings

The “coupe de grace” that killed crappy metal, this song and the recording of Smells Like Teen Spirit changed the face of music. In part 4, Nevermind producer Butch Vig again solo’s out sections of the multi-track, showcasing the vocals, the solo, and the energy. Truly awesome insight into an infamous song. Also, I dig how Kurt’s voice sounds like he’s been gargling acid by the end of the track.

Even though Pro Tools seems to be up in the mix, I’m glad to see Butch is still working on his SSL.

The video for Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

Abaixo as cinco vencedoras:

1. U2 - One.

2. The Smiths - How Soon is Now?

3. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit.

4. Bob Marley - Redemption Song.

5. Coldplay - Yellow.

A letra traduzida:

One - U2

Um

Está melhorando?
Ou você sente o mesmo?
As coisas vão ficar mais fáceis
Agora que você arrumou alguém para culpar?

Você diz
Um amor, uma vida
Quando é alguém que necessita
À noite
De um amor
Temos que compartilhá-lo
Ele te abandona, querida
Se você não cuida dele

Eu te desapontei
Ou deixei um gosto ruim em sua boca?
Você age como quem nunca teve um amor
E quer que eu continue sem nenhum

Bem, é tarde demais
Esta noite
Para trazer o passado à tona
Nós somos um, mas não somos os mesmos
Temos que carregar um ao outro
Carregar um ao outro
Um...

Veio aqui pra obter perdão?
Veio aqui pra ressucitar os mortos?
Veio dar uma de Jesus
Para os leprosos que você inventa?

Eu te pedi demais?
Mais do que devia?
Você não me deu nada
E isso agora é tudo o que tenho
Nós somos um, mas não somos os mesmos
Nós ferimos um ao outro
E estamos fazendo de novo

Você diz
Que o amor é um templo
Que o amor é a lei maior
Você me pede para entrar, mas depois você me faz rastejar
Não posso me agarrar ao que você tem
Quando tudo que você tem é dor

Um amor
Um sangue
Uma vida, você deve fazer o que você acha
Uma vida
Com um ao outro
Irmãs, irmãos
Uma vida
Mas não somos os mesmos
Nós temos que nos carregar um ao outro
Carregar um ao outro
Um

by [|-DaRio-|]