When New York power-pop band Fountains of Wayne were nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist in 2004, they’d already recorded three albums. The nomination was on the back of the hit ‘Stacy’s Mom’ – the gimmicky, new-wave flavoured…
Congratulations to EclecticMusicLover, who scored the fastest perfect score in last week’s Signs quiz. There’s just a brief quiz this week, with ten questions: I only answered 8 of those 10 questions correctly – I didn’t recognise a couple…
The streaming era has scattered previously held views on the hierarchy of popular music. Despite a critical pasting, Queen have emerged as the dominant classic rock band. The number one spot on the Billboard 100 in early 2022 has largely…
There are two prominent Sam Phillips in popular music. This list isn’t about the Sun Records producer who worked with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Rather it’s about the idiosyncratic female singer-songwriter who launched her career in…
Despite a dozen years with the 10,000 Maniacs, Natalie Merchant was still in her twenties when she departed for a solo career. She told Entertainment Weekly that she “didn’t want art by committee anymore,” and opted for a simpler sound…
Last week’s US Presidents quiz featured the cover image of Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album Sour. The second single from that album was ‘Deja Vu’, and it’s Deja Vu on the scoreboard this week, with Rich Kamerman and EclecticMusicLover again tying…
Aaron Freeman (Gene Ween) met Mickey Melchiondo (Dean Ween) in their eighth-grade typing class in 1984. They made several homemade albums before their first official release, GodWeenSatan: The Oneness, in 1990. Their fourth album, 1994’s Chocolate and Cheese, marked a change…
The 10,000 Maniacs formed in upstate New York in 1981. They were initially an eclectic new wave outfit, with dub and folk in their sound. By 1987’s breakthrough In My Tribe, it was clear that vocalist Natalie Merchant was the band’s…
Congratulations to Tony, who top-scored with 15/16 in last week’s badly drawn sexy album covers quiz. This week we’re up to the 1990s – can you match the title to the badly drawn image? I scored 19/20 – I…
The 1990s are fondly remembered in hindsight, the decade of grunge, gangsta-rap, trip-hop, and Brit-pop. This list of the 10 best songs of the 1990s is more rock-oriented than I expected, given the diverse nature of the decade. Apart from…
R.E.M. emerged from Athens, Georgia, part of a fertile scene that also produced The B-52s, Pylon, and Matthew Sweet. They played their first gig in 1980 when the four members were attending the University of Georgia. Drummer Bill Berry and…
It’s easy to look back at the 1990s with rose-coloured spectacles, assuming that the charts were dominated by respected and cutting-edge acts like Nirvana and Nas. But like every decade, plenty of less illustrious artists sold truckloads of records. This…
Queen formed in 1970 in London, originally a hard rock band with shades of progressive rock and metal. They adapted as musical fashions changed; they flirted with disco on 1982’s Hot Space and produced stripped-down, synthesizer-fuelled pop hits on 1984’s…
Congratulations to Max from , who scored a perfect 30/30 in last week’s 1970s lyrics quiz, with commiserations to Felix who knew them all but had technical difficulties. This week, same format but in the 1990s: This one’s a…
My first encounter with the music of Paul Westerberg was my sister’s copy of the Friends soundtrack. I wasn’t impressed – his rough-hewn vocals were out of place among slick alt-rock tracks from Hootie and the Blowfish, The Rembrandts, and…
I’m just the right age to have accumulated a collection of friends who were obsessed by The Smashing Pumpkins. One friend went for at least two years where he listened to at least one Pumpkins song every single day. Another…
Congratulations to Tony from Mumbling About… who scored full marks with the quickest time last week while eliminating his options. This week’s challenge is double-pronged – you need to unscramble the anagram of a 1990s vocalist, then match it to…
Los Angeles power-pop band Weezer have pumped out records since 1994, but they’re largely beloved for their first pair of albums; 1994’s Weezer and 1996’s Pinkerton. Both records featured bass player Matt Sharp and were the only records Weezer made…
If you’re not from Australasia, chances are that you’re not familiar with Dave Dobbyn – he’s ubiquitous in New Zealand, but obscure everywhere else. When a panel selected the New Zealand’s best ever popular songs in 2001, five Dave Dobbyn…
Sting’s reputation is a little shaky as a solo artist – after leading The Police to the status of the biggest band in the world in 1983, he pursued a high-brow, jazzy direction in his solo career. When I first…
Jeff Tweedy was the junior partner in alt-country outfit Uncle Tupelo, playing bass and fronting the occasional song. When the group split, Tweedy formed Wilco with other Uncle Tupelo musicians – notably bassist John Stirratt, Wilco’s only other constant member.…
Writing about Dire Straits’ discography this week, I learned that 1985’s Brothers in Arms was one of ten albums nominated in 2010 for the title of best British album of the previous 30 years. I was especially intrigued by a…
Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega emerged in the mid-1980s after serving an apprenticeship in folk music in New York’s Greenwich Village. Her introspective and gentle songs were immediately successful at a time when singer-songwriters weren’t popular. Her first two albums spawned hits…
Faith No More have covered a lot of ground over their career – in particular, 1995’s King for a Day… Fool for a Lifetime utilises a different genre for every track. Mike Patton is one of the most talented vocalists…
