Wednesday, August 31, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Back to Life - Soul II Soul

What is Soul II Soul
Um, yeah, well we're a sound system...

Image result for back to life acapella

Way back in the early 90's, a production team came out of England called Soul II Soul that created a whole new sound that became a prevailing one in the years that followed.  The combination of great backbeats and melodies, combined with sweet lyrics and equally tasty vocals by singer Caron Wheeler, made them an act to be reckoned with.   In the end, Soul II Soul made only two albums, but each and every track from those two records still gets plays off my iPod.

My favorite song from Soul II Soul is this one, Back to Life.  It not only fits my situation today, as I return to work after a great summer, but it is probably in the top ten of my all time favorite songs. You probably know it from the radio version, which I've placed below this original album cut here, which is done in acapella.  The harmonizing in this version is splendid, but the best part comes around at about the 2:44 mark, when everything crescendoes into an absolutely chill-inducing drum outro.  On the album, the song blends into the set's final cut, Jazzie's Groove, which is equally stunning.  I wish there were a video for the two tracks together, but alas there is not.  I guess you'll just have to buy the whole album to find out.  In the meantime, here's Back to Life...






Tuesday, August 30, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Nobody's Supposed To Be Here - Deborah Cox

Image result for nobody's supposed to be here remix deborah cox

We're winding down I Love the 90's Month with a dance anthem to end all dance anthems.  Back in the late 90's, Canadian singer Deborah Cox looked like she's become the next Whitney Houston.  She had the looks, the voice and made some fierce dance tunes out of ordinary ballads, like this one. Nobody's Supposed To Be Here is one of those songs that everybody knows and loves and still jams to when it's played today.  Check it out and have a great Tuesday! 



Monday, August 29, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Miami - Will Smith

 Image result for miami will smith

It's my last full day in the sunshine state and me and my pal are heading down to Miami, so what other song from the 90's would be more perfect?  Somewhere in between Fresh Prince and blockbuster movie icon, Will Smith had a quite successful, yet relatively short, period of making big hits and this one from 1998 samples the Whispers' And the Beat Goes On pretty nicely and was a pretty big hit for Mr. Smith.  Enjoy...  



Sunday, August 28, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Ride on Time - Black Box

Gotta get up
Gotta get up
Gotta get up

Image result for ride on time black box

Early on in the 1990's, a whole new, big genre of dance/pop music hit the scene.  Acts like Black Box, Livin' Joy, La Bouche and more scored with a formulaic type of song with strong lead female vocals and big big beats.  Black Box was among the first and most popular to record this kind of stuff and here's one of those big tunes from their debut set, Dreamland...






Saturday, August 27, 2016

Friday, August 26, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Mr. Personality - Gillette

You're so ugly, I heard that when you were born
The doctor slapped your mamma
Ooh, that's ugly!

Image result for mr personality gillette

Here's another one of those Twenty Fingers tracks from a Latina chick who had not one, but two of those fast-moving, funky and very adult dance hits in the decade. This one, Mr. Personality, is pretty funny actually and a lot cleaner than her other hit, the equally humorous and fun Short D**k Man. Enjoy...



Thursday, August 25, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Wannabe - Spice Girls

Oh, I'll tell you what I want
What I really really want...

Image result for wannabe spice girls

Back in 1996, a group of 5 British girls literally took the world by storm, and it all began with this song, which just celebrated its 20th Anniversary on July 8th.  The Spice Girls were a big thing for the latter part of the 90's, and though they stopped making music together a long, long time ago, their popularity remains to this day.  So check out Wannabe and have a great day!




Wednesday, August 24, 2016

I Love the 90's Song of the Day - Lick It - 20 Fingers, featuring Roula


Back in 1995 I bought this album bu dance entity 20 Fingers that I absolutely loved!  At the time, I hadn't realized it was a singular entity behind all of those sexy, very adult, dancey jams...I thought it was just another of the many dance compilations out there at the time.  Anyhow, a song off the record called Lick It, featuring a sultry, sexy vixen by the name of Roula, was one of the more popular tunes in the set.  Though I could have looked harder for it, the original, more adult version that would have been perfect for Hump Day was not found.  So here's a watered down form of the classic, though still jammin' and still fun!   





Tuesday, August 23, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Set You Free - Planet Soul


The 90's was an awesome time for dance music and one of the bright spots to come along in the middle of the decade was this duo from Miami.  Planet Soul released only one album, 1996's Energy & Harmony, and this funky jam was their one big hit, though I had the whole album and loved it! Check out Set You Free.... 




Monday, August 22, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - MMMBop - Hanson


Just less than twenty years ago, three young and talented brothers from Tulsa, Oklahoma put out their first album, Middle of Nowhere, and scored a monster hit with its debut single.  Back in the years 1997 and 98, the nonsensical and irresistible MMMBop was truly everywhere...on radios, on television, at parties, events and just about everywhere music is played.  The tune reached #1 in many countries around the world and was even nominated for two Grammys.  Check out Hanson and MMMBop...  





Whilst searching for the video to MMMBop around the Internet, I came across this recent, acoustic performance of the song by the brothers.  Pretty cool to see them all grown up and still doing their thing.  Check it out...


Sunday, August 21, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - That's the Way Love Goes - Janet Jackson

Like a moth to a flame, burned by the fire
My love is blind, can't you see my desire


In May of 1993, Janet Jackson released one hell of a monumental record, surely one of her all time best.  The album, janet, is a 28-track set full of a wide assortment of R&B jams, groovalicious grooves, and sometimes sensual, sometimes playful interludes.  This, the first single off the album, hit the #1 spot on the charts and stayed there for eight weeks, making it one of the biggest hits of the year.  Check out the smooth That's the Way Love Goes...




Saturday, August 20, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Free Your Mind - En Vogue



Once upon a time, before anyone ever heard of Destiny's Child, there was a group of four funky divas known as En Vogue. These four beauties, each with equally stunning voices, made some hits whilst harmonizing and having fun and all the while we loved it.  Here's one of their funkiest...




Friday, August 19, 2016

I Love the 90's Song of the Day - Land of the Living - Kristine W

I've got a mirror, a bottle, and a pen
The mirror is cracked
The bottle is empty
And my pen I don't know where to begin

I've got a picture, a letter, and a song
The picture is torn
The letter is worn
And my tune has been sung before...


The years was 1996 and this powerhouse singer from the state of Washington came out with an album, her debut, and I was immediately hooked.  The first single to come out with the album was a tender ballad made extra soothing by Kristine W's. beautiful voice, yet the beats made it a chill song, too, even before chill was chill.  That song, One More Try, was so good I had to pick up the entire record where I found lots of other gems and became a lifelong fan.  This one, the title cut to Land of the Living, is my absolute favorite.  With those pipes, the lyrics and the heavy bass beats, the tune just screams "diva," and I always said that if I had ever done drag, this would have been my signature song.  Unfortunately the video version is a little glossed over compared to the album cut, but still pretty darned good!  Check out Land of the Living... 



Thursday, August 18, 2016

New Stuff from Gaga, Britney, Katy and P!nk Coming Soon!

After a spring and summer with not much excitement going on in the music world, it looks like fall will be a time to get down.  Four iconic pop/dance divas have all announced plans to release brand new albums, and this blogger couldn't be more excited.  Katy Perry, Britney Spears, P!nk and now Lady Gaga have all been stirring from long slumbers to reawaken our senses with some brand new stuff. Here's the scoop:


Ga - Ga- Oh La La

Of all the announcements made over the past few weeks, none is as welcome as Lady Gaga's unofficial announcement via Instagram yesterday that she'll be releasing a new single, Perfect Illusion.  It's been a long, long time since Gaga has put out anything her Little Monsters could sink their teeth into, Her last pop record, 2013's ARTPOP, was lackluster in comparison to her previous efforts, though there were some bright spots on that album.  In between, Gaga's been busy with other projects, getting her acting on in FX's American Horror Story (the new season, starring Gaga premieres September 14th) and showed her vocal range on an album of standards, called Cheek to Cheek, with the legendary Tony Bennett.

It'll be interesting to see where she goes with this new project.  All that is known so far about the new project is that she's worked with celebrated producers Mark Ronson, BloodPop, Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, Giorgio Moroder, RedOne, Diane Warren, and Nile Rodgers,  The album is said to be a mix of "classic music and futuristic music" and is partially inspired by the singer's time on AHS.  For whatever it's worth, I am so looking forward to this one!  Perfect Illusion is to be released sometime in September and the album, dubbed LG5, should be out soon after.  Read more below:

Billboard

Entertainment Weekly


abcnews

Perry Rises Again

This coming October/November, we will be treated to the newest set from Kay Perry. The record will be her first since 2013's stellar Prism album.  Though the singer put out a new song, Rise, for the Olympics, don't expect too many Firework-type anthems like this one on the new set.  The singer told 97.1 Amp Radio that she's doing a lot of experimenting and taking chances this time around.  That's welcome news indeed, as I felt she did some of that to great success on Prism and I am looking forward to hearing new stuff dishing on her tiff with Taylor Swift and relationship with Orlando Bloom.  We shall see.  Take a closer look into Katy Perrys new album below:





You Better Work B**tch

Fans of Britney Spears, like this blogger, are already jumping for joy at the prospect of a new album. Her last record, Britney Jean, can be classified as lackluster at best, especially following the energetic and delicious Femme Fatale record.  Well, after the release of a mid-tempo gem called Make Me, the sultry vixen has been teasing us with new tracks from her upcoming Glory record and they're kinda sorta all over the map.  Private Show is another mid tempo-ey pop song, while Clumsy is vintage Britney dance floor sugar, and the latest glimpse into Glory, Do You Wanna Comer Over, is culled a new anthem to the catchphrase Netflix and Chill.  The singer is set to perform at MTV's VMA's for the first time in ten years at Madison Square Garden in New York this Sunday and Glory drops...tomorrow.  Yes!  Here's Make Over...



Glory Glory Hallelujah - P!nk Returns

Last, but certainly not least, after a four-year hiatus since the release of one of my all-time favorite albums, The Truth About Love, P!nk is said to be releasing a set of new material sometime in November.  Very little is out there on the record, and I'll bet the singer/songwriter is under a lot of pressure to match the greatness of the last album, but this is the one I am looking forward to the most. I can't wait!  Stay tuned... 

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Vibeology - Paula Abdul


Back in the late 90's a well-known choreographer by the name of Paula Abdul broke out onto the music scene in a big way with a hit album.  Forever Your Girl, released in 1988, produced six singles, four of which reached the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100.  Instantaneously, Paula became a household name and by the time her second album, Spellbound, hit the stores 1991, the anticipated sophomore effort was an instant hit, as well.  Here's one of my favorites from that record, a funky, frenzied sort of number that's a lot of fun.  Check out Vibeology... 



Wednesday, August 17, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - What Is Love? - Haddaway


The early 1990's saw a resurgence in the dance music genre.  Acts like Black Box, Livin' Joy, and this guy, a Trinidadian-German singer, all lit up radios and dance floors everywhere back in the day. Here's Haddaway, who scored big in 93 with this tune, one of the biggest dance hits of the decade. Check out What Is Love...



Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Madonna in the 90's



In honor of Madonna's 58th birthday and the fact that we are celebrating the 90's here on John's Music World, here is a refurbished re-post of a piece I had written back in 2012. It's a great way o meld the two topics together, along with pictures, videos and remembrances. I hope you enjoy!

Many musical acts from the 80's really came into their own in the 90's. Artists like Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, and George Michael were artists who'd first made waves in the previous decade and crossed that line from star to superstar in the 1990's. But there's only one of these artists who's popularity and legacy have endured and remain strong today and that is the iconic Madonna.


Goodbye 80's, Hello 90's

Entering into the 1990's, Madonna was already at the top of her game following the highly successful Like a Prayer album, but that would be the last of 80's Madonna as the superstar would once again reinvent both her music and her image into something that would lose her some fans, yet gain her even more, pushing the envelope once again amidst seas of controversy.

Blond Ambition was Madonna's third world tour, performed in support of the Like a Prayer CD. It was this tour that would set a new standard for concert tours from then on, as the entire show was performed in a series of carefully choreographed vignettes that were highly entertaining and visually stunning. A critically acclaimed documentary film, Truth or Dare, accompanied the tour and showcased what would be one of Madge's all-time best tours...named the greatest concert tour of the 90's by Rolling Stone Magazine.


One of the most inventive, and controversial, scenes in Blond Ambition was Madonna's performance of her standard, Like a Virgin. Lying on a bed surrounded by two male dancers with cone-shaped breasts, the singer works her way through a slowed down, erotic version of the old pop tune, coming to a climax, literally, at the end. In the film, this particular performance almost got her into a heap of trouble in the "fascist state of Toronto," hehe. Check it out:



Strike a Pose

Madonna began the 90's with a brand new film and her second compilation album. She was cast as temptress Breathless Mahoney alongside then-boyfriend Warren Beatty in the film version of the cartoon detective Dick Tracy. Though she didn't win many accolades for her performance in the film, the soundtrack, I'm Breathless, included a song that would end up being one of the top songs of the decade.

Grouped together among all of the periodic and campy songs on that album was the song Vogue an homage to a dance craze that had become popular in the gay dance clubs of New York. Vogue was also included on the Immaculate Collection and quickly became one of Madge's all time greatest and most loved hits and of course, she still performs it.



A few months after the release of Dick Tracy came what we'd call her "sex" period. Starting with the release of her Immaculate Collection album, Madonna entered a new realm of electronic, bassy music, with many of the songs featuring risque themes. For the collection, the singer added two new songs, one of which became her unlikeliest of number ones, soaring to the top through a cloud of controversy.

Justify My Love is a bass-driven song full of sexual themes, and its video was considered too racy for MTV and thus banned. Ever the entrepreneur, Ms. M had the video packaged as a DVD single just in time for Christmas and voila! The video became the highest-selling such DVD in history and the song hit the top of the charts, but that was only the beginning...


In October of 1992, Madonna entered what would end up being one of the oddest periods in her career, a time when backlash against her would work to lose her a lot of respect and fans, although the music of the album, Erotica was among her best to date. Coupled with the new CD, whose title song featured explicit themes of homosexuality, bondage, water sports, you name it, came Sex, a coffee table book featuring explicit photos of the singer and others in all their glory. Sex was by far the singer's most controversial project to date, and it unfortunately cast a shadow over a wonderful album.

The backlash, as one could imagine, was huge. That was the point in time where fans of the singer in the 80's were lost for the most part, yet hardcore fans like me grew stronger in their appreciation for her artistic prowess. In all, Erotica spawned six singles, three of which hit the top twenty (the title cut, #3, Deeper and Deeper, #7, and Rain #14). The album is chock full of great stuff, from beautiful, tender ballads to hard-driving, sexually charged club songs and intelligently-written mid-tempo stuff.
To me, it's still one of her all time best!


The Girlie Show

In September of 1993, Madonna hit the road once again with The Girlie Show, a tour in support of Erotica. It's one of the few Madonna tours I missed, but that could be because she only played five dates here in the US (due to the low sales resulting from the backlash against Sex and the album!). I did watch the show on DVD, however, and it wasn't my favorite.

The Girlie Show was part circus act, part burlesque, and a little too much sex for my taste. The show did not include many of her earlier hits, except for a select few, but much of the fantastic Erotica album was covered. Check out a Girlie Show performance of Bye, Bye Baby, one of my favorites off Erotica:


This is not a love song...



I'm gonna tell you a story




Next up for Ms. M was the much overlooked Bedtime Stories album. Released in October of 1994, this one carried on where Erotica left off, only this one was less sexual in nature. The lead single was the smooth, rhythmic Secret, for which a beautifully shot black and white video was made. The song hit number three on the charts, followed by the tender Take a Bow hitting #1.

In March of 1995, Madge held a Pajama Party to introduce the video to the title track, Bedtime Stories, an expensive masterpiece unto itself. The party was broadcast live on MTV from Webster Hall in NYC, with superstar DJ Junior Vasquez on hand. During the show, Madonna told a bedtime story, Miss Spider's Tea Party, cajoled with the fans, and did an interview with then MTV correspondent Kurt Loder. Check out a clip from the show...



Evita, Evita

In late 1996, Madonna landed a role she'd been yearning to play, that of Argentine First Lady Eva Peron. Though she never won accolades from her acting before, this performance was by far her best, earning her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. The soundtrack was splendid and included an original song, You Must Love Me, which hit #18 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Here's a clip of one of my favorite tunes from Evita, the tender and sad Another Suitcase in Another Hall:



After an almost four-year absence between studio albums, Madonna came back with a vengeance in March of 1998 with her Ray of Light CD. Once again, the singer reinvented herself into a new kind of electronica, employing the talents of well-known DJ/producer William Orbit.

The first single was a dark masterpiece called Frozen, and its mystical video, in which Madonna portrays a witch-like creature, is equally wonderful. In all, the album spawned five singles, three of which would hit the top twenty: Frozen (#2), Ray of Light (#5) and Power of Goodbye (#11)), and one, Nothing Really Matters hit the #1 on the dance charts (along Frozen and Ray of Light!).



Here's my favorite track off of Ray of Light, one that inspires me and has been my driving theme to life and this blog. Check out the ethereal Sky Fits Heaven...

Traveling down, this road
Watching the signs as I go
I think I'll follow the sun
Isn't everyone just 
Traveling down, their own road
Watching the signs as they go 
I think I'll follow my heart
It's a very good place to start


Beautiful Stranger

The last thing Madonna would do in the 90's was a song for the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Beautiful Stranger is a fun song that remains as one of the singer's best. The singer looks great in the video and of course, with Mike Myers' Austin Powers, you can't hep but get a few chuckles in, too. Check it out...



So there you have it, Madonna in the 90's! It's hard to believe that the icon is currently in her 4th decade of creating and performing music and still going strong. If she came out on fire in the 80's, it was the 90's that cemented her status as a world-class superstar. Beyond that, well, there's been plenty more. I hope you've enjoyed this little trip down Madonna memory lane and look for profiles of the singer's activities in other decades, as well. In the meantime stay tuned for more 90's stuff. Oh, and Happy Birthday Madonna!






I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Deeper and Deeper - Madonna


All week-long, Madonna fans have and will be celebrating the life and work of their queen, whose 58th birthday is this very day.  Any of my followers know that I've been a Madonna fan for, um, eons, from the time I lived in the Bronx in 1983 and the mysterious dance singer hit the NY airwaves of Kiss FM, WBLS and The Hot One, 92 KTU with abandon.  Madonna is most definitely the main artist in the soundtrack of my life and I feel so fortunate to have lived during her time.  Here's a favorite from 1992's excellent Erotica album.  Check out Deeper and Deeper...



Monday, August 15, 2016

I Love the 90's Song of the Day - This Is How We Do It - Montell Jordan


The year was 1995 and a L.A.-based rapper named Montell Jordan delivered a rap/dance tune that is probably the most identifiable and celebrated song of the movement.  Nothing but pure dancing fun! Enjoy...



Sunday, August 14, 2016

I Love the 90's Song of the Day - I Want You Back - NSYNC


Okay, so I couldn't post the Backstreet Boys without posting NSYNC, too.  After all, when you think of boy bands in the 90's, these are the two most think of first.  Here's their debut single from way back in 1996 that first put them on the radar.  Look at how young they look, especially Justin Timberlake, lol. Here's I Want You Back...




Saturday, August 13, 2016

I Love the 90's Song of the Day - Everybody (Backstreet's Back) - Backstreet Boys


A look at the 1990's wouldn't be complete without an inclusion of the boy band craze of the decade. It seems that virtually every decade has its share of this entity known as the boy band, usually four or five cute teen-aged boys dancing and singing and making little girls swoon with songs of love and devotion and all that stuff.  In the 80's we had New Kids on the Block, Menudo and New Edition while in the new century acts like One Direction, The Wanted, and the Jonas Brothers all made their marks on the music charts.  

The 90's probably was the biggest decade for boy bands.  Acts like NSYNC and 98 Degrees, Boyz II Men and Take That, LFO, Hanson, and these guys, the Backstreet Boys, all took the music world by storm in the 90's.  But as formulaic as their acts usually are, so too is the life of a boy band.  Group members are usually first assembled by music producers for their talent and their looks, a record is made, choreography is created, songs released.  They have a few hits, garner millions of fans, usually teenage girls, and eventually breakup, with the more talented of the bunch going off on their own (see Justin Timberlake, Nick Jonas, Zayn Malik, etc.).

The Backstreet Boys, along with NSYNC, were two of the most successful boy bands of the decade, and most likely of all time.  Backstreet broke on to the scene in 1996 with hits like brash We've Got It Goin' On  and the sweet Quit Playing Games (with My Heart), and returned the following year with their debut single, the title cut, of their sophomore album, Everybody (Backstreet's Back).  Check out the fun, monster-themed video right here...



Friday, August 12, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - One More Time - Britney Spears


What a long way she's come!  Ha ha, just watching and listening to Britney Spears' debut single is kinda fun.  It brings back so many memories and I admit I never would have predicted just how big she would become from this one song.  It's funny that even though the tune is pretty primitive compared to the sound she has today, she did start out as a little vixen.  Check out Baby One More Time... 



Thursday, August 11, 2016

I Love the 90's Song of the Day - Human Nature - Madonna

Express yourself
Don't repress yourself


In 1994, Madonna released an underrated album called Bedtime Stories, most likely due to a continuation of the backlash she received during the S.E.X. book/Erotica album period that came right before.  The album was successful, though, as it produced four singles, the smooth, bluesy Secret, the tender Take a Bow, the title cut, and this one, whose video is incredibly choreographed.  The song itself was an answer to that backlash of about three to four years prior, and the icon answers her critics directly and succinctly;

You wouldn't let me say the things I want to say
You didn't want to see life through my eyes
You tried to shove me back inside your narrow room
And silence me with bitterness and lies

Did I say something wrong?
Oops, I didn't know I couldn't talk about sex
(What was I thinking?)
Did I stay too long?
Oops, I didn't know I couldn't speak my mind
(I must've been crazy!)

And I'm not sorry
It's human nature
And I'm not sorry
I'm not your bitch don't hang your s**t on me
It's human nature

Here's the very cool vid...one of my favorites of all time!



Wednesday, August 10, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - I Want You - Savage Garden


Aussie pop duo Savage Garden, consisting of vocalist Darren Hayes and instrumentalist Daniel Jones had a pretty good run in the 90's, serving up several hits from their only two studio albums.  I Want You was their first, back in 1996 and I remember people in my circles a lot of people calling it the Cherry Cola song.  Good stuff!   


Tuesday, August 9, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette

I want you to know, that I'm happy for you
I wish nothing but, the best for you both


Any look at the 90's would not be complete without the inclusion of one Canadian artist named Alanis Morissette, who burst open brand new doors back in 1995 with a little ditty of a record called Jagged Little Pill.  One of the best all around albums of the decade, this 13 song set garnered the singer five of nine Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, and made Rolling Stone's list of the top 500 albums of all time, coming in at #327.  The album, and especially this lead single, was a huge departure for Morissette, who had put out two pop/dance records in Canada previously.  More on the grungier, rockier side, and full of feminine power and angst, the song, and the album, are ones for the ages.  Check out  the classic You Oughta Know...   




Monday, August 8, 2016

I Love the 90's Song of the Day - Do You Know What It Takes - Robyn


When I first discovered Robyn back when she put out her incredible three-disc set Body Talk in 2010, I kinda sorta remembered her from a long way back.  Turns out she did have a couple of earlier hits that reached chart status here in America back in the 90's.  The 1997 song Show Me Love, and this one, Do You Know What It Takes, from a year earlier, were both hits here in the States.  That was really it for the fabulous Swede here until her big year in 2010 and beyond.  Both of her 90's songs were quite tame compared to her later stuff, but still good, quality pop nonetheless.  Click play below and see if you remember this one..  




Sunday, August 7, 2016

I Love the 90's Song of the Day - No Scrubs - TLC


I woke up this morning to a random text from a friend quoting TLC's No Scrubs.  At first I was confused by it, but then I got to thinking, hey isn't that from the 90's?  Here's TLC.  Happy Sunday!



Saturday, August 6, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - My Love Is Your Love (Remix) - Whitney Houston

If tomorrow is Judgement Day
And I'm standing on the front lines
And the Lord asked me what I did with my life
I will say, I spent it with you


Towards the end of the 1990's, Whitney Houston had one of the most popular albums of her career, worldwide.  It had been only her fourth studio album of her career and her first in eight years, and it produced several hits, including It's Not Right, But It's Okay, Heartbreak Hotel, I Learned From the Best, and this one, my all time favorite Whitney Houston song.   There are actually two fantastic versions of My Love Is Your Love, a reggae-tinged ballad and a glossy dance remix, and I love both of them.  Co-written by Fugees veteran Wyclef Jean, who also produced the ballad version, the lyrics of this song profess complete unconditional love and are beautifully written.  Since it is summer and a Saturday to boot, I chose the dance remix, to which unfortunately there is no video.  That's okay, though!  Just hit play and enjoy...



Friday, August 5, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Jump Around - House of Pain


Here's one of those dance/rap songs from the 90's that was simply a monster hit.  I actually heard it at a club just a couple of weeks ago and the dance floor was packed!  Enjoy and Happy Friday...  



Thursday, August 4, 2016

New P!nk Music Coming!?!!!


Okay, okay, so I saw this post on Facebook by a page I follow called P!nk Junkies.  The headline said P!nk Sets November Release Date For New Album.  Well, I had to check out the link and it looks as if there was a small advertisement somewhere in France announcing the record.  This is very exciting news indeed!  God, it seems like forever since The Truth About Love!  So stay tuned and in the meantime, here's P!nk...




I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana


It's hard to believe that 25 years have gone by since Nirvana put out their monumental Nevermind record and set off a whole new movement in the music scene.  Grunge music, a subgenre of alternative music, emerged out of Seattle in the late 80's and really flourished in the early to mid-nineties.   Bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and more found great success in the genre, but it didn't really last too long.  Here is the lead single from Nevermind that set it all off.  To this day it's still difficult to understand the lyrics, yet it's oh so irresistible to listen to.  Check out Smells Like Teen Spirit...



Wednesday, August 3, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - 3 A.M. Eternal - KLF


One of my favorite musical movements of the 1990's began in the late 80's and really started to flourish towards the beginning of the decade and beyond.  The rap dance movement was an offshoot of the ever-popular hip hop music that had been so popular at the time and was first introduced to great success by the likes of M.C. Hammer and artists like him.   The combination of raps set to a dance track was something that became so popular that many artists, like Montell Jordan, Snap, Soul II Soul, and others made names for themselves specifically in the genre.   Here's a classic rap dance jam by a British musical act called The KLF and it's got all of the ingredients of a great rap/dance tune: energetic dance beats, raps, and a background female vocal.  Definitely one for the ages! Check out 3 A.M. Eternal... 



Tuesday, August 2, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Praise You - Fatboy Slim

We've come a long long way together
Through the hard times and the good
I have to celebrate you baby
I have to praise you like I should...


We remain in the year 1999 today with a song that I remember thinking was Paul Simon singing when I first heard it.  Well of course it wasn't, as British deejay/musicican/producer Fatboy Slim had mastered the art of sampling and he took a vocal by female Camille Yarbrough on a tune called Take Yo Praise and mixed it with a piano riff from another tune called Balance and Rehearsal and some other little snippets of songs to create this wonderful piece of music called Praise You.  And as if the song weren't cool enough, throw in this entertaining video of a group of average Joes and Janes performing an impromptu choreographed dance to the song at the entrance to a movie theater in California.  Check out Fatboy Slim's Praise You...



Monday, August 1, 2016

I Love the 90's Month Song of the Day - Bills, Bills, Bills - Destiny's Child


Welcome to I Love the 90's Month here on John's World.  You know, the 90's are one of the best decades ever for music, full of awesome dance beats, the birth of alternative and grunge, the height of the dance/rap movement, and a whole lotta other stuff!  During the month of August, I'll be featuring some of my favorites from that decade, and I hope you all will enjoy.  

First up is Destiny's Child with an early hit from back in 1999.  Back then there were four of them and this record, from their breakthrough sophomore album, Writing's On the Wall, helped propel the gals into what they eventually became...oh, we know the rest, don't we.  Anyway, here's the funky, in-your-face Bills, Bills, Bills...