Ramsayings

What? You were expecting “Summer Babe?”

I spent the better part of the day talking about how funny it’d be if the top 20 of their list were just crammed with tracks like this. The memories came flooding back. Remember Dishwalla? Could “Tubthumping” make the top 20?

For my money, it’s a shame that they won’t. If nothing else, the ’90s were a wonderfully eclectic decade musically. Sure, everyone remembers the boy band tyranny that bookended the decade and the post-grunge void in between, but some really nutty music cracked the mainstream. Would Crash Test Dummies even be possible today?

Part of me wishes this would top the list. The song was freakin’ inescapable! (I’m aware that that’s not a testament to its cultural value, but it’s undeniably more a part of America’s cultural memory than most of the songs on that list.)

Lest you think I’m a total weenie for admitting that I liked some maudlin tunes, my first indie rock album was Codeine’s The White Birch. I bought it at Repo Records after running two miles from Haverford College in the middle of a track meet. I ran four miles round trip to buy a Sub Pop album. You don’t know how easy you have it today!

That album led me to write the band. Would you believe they wrote me back and told me to check out Gastr del Sol? That’s how my lifelong addiction to music began.

My first indie rock LP? That’s easy. Bought Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s Orange at Young Ones in Kutztown. I didn’t even have a proper turntable at the time! Fell in love with this record so much. Still can’t get enough of it.

It’s not a social good in and of itself.

I also wonder if folks who are all development uber alles still concern themselves with things like “sustainability,” which seems to be a watchword among the gentrifying classes.

The knee-jerk reaction to build things like music venues in blighted areas is tantamount to “drill, baby, drill.” Do you really want to be associated with that?

Anthony Miccio and I have rhapsodized this song at great length. Heck, I even wrote about Secret Samadhi once for Stylus.

If you grew up anywhere in Pennsylvania in the ’90s, Live were inescapable. Think of it as a post-grunge Dave Matthews Band. You know, the sort of band that believes they are saving the word with each awkward rhyme. It was awful.

Worse? I’m guessing this post has just made me number one for “Lakini’s Juice” SEO. I guess that feeling I’m mistaking for pride is really just schadenfreude.

I’d been waiting to write how awestruck I’ve been by this, but I can’t contain myself any longer. This list has been facemeltingly perfect, at least from the perspective of anyone who’s been reading Pitchfork since the days of dial-up. I can hardly be bothered with the snooty critic’s picks, but what fascinates me are the entries for the corporate rock entities that defined a generation who thought they were rebelling against corporate entities.

Favorites of the moment include the entry for Oasis’ “Live Forever” and the Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony,” to say nothing of New Order’s “Regret,” the song that introduced me to their entire catalogue. Those opening strains still stop me in my tracks.

Am I a little bummed no one has out and out shocked the readership by including the Verve Pipe? Am I amazed that neither Live nor Dave Matthews Band have made an appearance? Which U2 song will make the list? I hope they pick something from Zooropa. The ’90s weren’t perfect and neither were we. I hope they acknowledge that somehow.