Max Picks …songs from 1991

1991 was a huge improvement over the prior year.

1991

U2 – One

This is one of my top U2 songs… it was on the album Achtung Baby released in 1991. the song peaked at #10 on the Billboard 100 in 1992. Johnny Cash covered it on 2000’s American III: Solitary Man,..the video is at the bottom of the post.

The Edge talks about when they came up with it: Suddenly something very powerful happening in the room. Everyone recognized it was a special piece. It was like we’d caught a glimpse of what the song could be. It was a pivotal song in the recording of the album, the first breakthrough in what was an extremely difficult set of sessions.

The band wrote this song in Berlin after being there for months trying to record Achtung Baby. The Berlin Wall had just fallen, so the band was hoping to find inspiration from the struggle and change. Instead, they found themselves at odds with each other and unable to do much productive work.

Most of the song was written in about 30 minutes and it rejuvenated the band creatively. When they left Berlin, they had little to show for it except for this song, but they were able to complete the album back home in Ireland with this song as the centerpiece of the album.

Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit

A friend of mine moved to Seattle in the early 90s for a job. He called me at some point and told me about the music scene there and something big was happening. He said he had just seen a band in a dingy club with a left-handed blonde guitar player who had a strong voice named Nirvana.

I was the same age as Kurt Cobain. When this song came out it was more than popular. It was instantly embedded into the culture. I did like the rawness of it but I would have never guessed it would have been so popular. I just didn’t click with grunge music.

When I first heard it…what did I think of? More Than a Feeling by Boston.

Kathleen Hanna, the lead singer of the group Bikini Kill, gave Cobain the idea for the title when she spray painted “Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit” on his bedroom wall after a night of drinking and spraying graffiti around the Seattle area. In his pre-Courtney Love days, Cobain went out with Bikini Kill lead singer Tobi Vail, but she dumped him. Vail wore Teen Spirit deodorant, and Hanna was implying that Cobain was marked with her scent.

Kurt Cobain said that he was trying to write the ultimate pop song. He said he was basically trying to rip off The Pixies.

Matthew Sweet – Girlfriend

Great power pop song by Matthew Sweet. The song reached #4 on the Alternative Billboard Chart in 1991. The song was off of his 3rd album of the same name. The album was Sweet’s breakthrough album.

The song has a little of everything in it…noisy guitar, loud drums but with a pop melody.

Tom Petty – Into The Great Wide Open

I’ve always liked this song and album. I saw them on this tour and it would be the only time I got to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The song is a cautionary tale about stardom and the record business. The album of the same name peaked at #13 in 1991. This was the first Heartbreakers album since Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) in 1987. Tom Petty released his solo album Full Moon Fever two years before this.

The video to the song was well made. Petty later commented that he was approached about making a movie out of the song. The video not only featured Johnny Depp but also Faye Dunaway.

REM – Losing My Religion

I hope everyone is having a happy Monday…at least as happy as it can be.

I heard early REM albums from friends. They really made an impact with college kids and built a following. Then they released The One I Love and the dam burst. This song took it a step higher.

Peter Buck has commented that after this song’s success that the bands popularity soared. He mentioned that R.E.M. went from a respected band with a cult following to one of the biggest bands in the world.

The title is based on the Southern expression “lost my religion,” meaning something has challenged your faith to such a degree you might lose your religion or cool.

REM was surprised when their record label chose this song as the first single from Out Of Time. Running 4:28 with no chorus and a mandolin for a lead instrument, it didn’t seem like hit material, but it ended up being the biggest hit of their career.

Michael Stipe revealed the lyrics about obsessional love were heavily influenced by The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” which he called “the most beautiful, kind of creepy song.”

….

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

85 thoughts on “Max Picks …songs from 1991”

  1. Some epic songs there today, REM and Nirvana of course. I think that album Girlfriend is about the only thing I know from Matthew Sweet, “Evangeline” is my favourite. “Into The Great Wide Open” I have not listened to in a long while and I’ve not seen so many of the videos from that time. While in dad mode I was watching Barney the purple dinosaur or other such gripping drama. As always I learned something about each song, great list.

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    1. Yea I was in Dad mode in 2000 and after…it was The Fairly Odd Parents and more!
      It was a much better year than the previous in music except no Replacements…which for me sucked.

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  2. 3 rock classics there in One, Losing My Religion and Smells Like Teen Spirit – all of which I liked at the time but didn’t LOVE in the sense that it was an oh my word moment. All 3 grew in stature with time passing for me but got there in the end!

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  4. Now that is a list I can get behind, and I agree, much better year for music than 1990 (even though I think Nirvana and especially THAT song are over-rated, it did really change the whole scene so I couldn’t argue with it being included.) I remember ‘Girlfriend’ and did hear it back then semi-regularly on radio; a few years later I bought the album and quite liked it through and through. The Petty song is terrific; love U2 and REM of course. One random bizarre memory of that year and REM – one of my co-workers was in hospital, had surgery I think on his arm. My boss in the store says we should get him some ‘get well’ gift and so we go on a break, start looking around the mall, come to a record store. Well, all of us love music and he was sort of a new wave guy more than say Classic Rock, so I suggest the REM album, ‘it’s excellent, I have it’ type of thing. Boss shakes his head, ‘No, if we got him that it would be sending him a message …’you’re out of time’… like we were thinking he was going to die!’. That boss and I butted heads , I must admit a little embarrassed now, over many, many other things at work.

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    1. It was a great year for music and classics…it was much easier to pick something in this year than last.
      Girlfriend played like a top ten hit here…our station loved that song…our mainstream station…
      LOL your boss was out there! Oh jeez you talk about over thinking something he did! I wouldn’t have got along with him either.

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      1. he was indeed ‘out there’. A lot of arguments came from him refusing to follow corporate policy and say things like ‘you haven’t been to Singapore or Hong Kong . This is normal there’ (about some sort of weird merchandising or carrying random unauthorized stock) to which I just about would explode ‘this ISN’T Singapore or Hong Kong!’. Funny thing is outside of work, after I moved on, he wasn’t a bad guy to talk to – bizarre but pretty OK.

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      2. Who in the hell would even think the market would be the same here? That would be like me saying…rural Russia…lets get what they have.

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  6. My favorite REM song…good choice. And the start of the downfall of Hair Meal..Nirvana. Not really as they were killing their own genre and Nirvana and the like just helped it die more quickly, but that is a whole other conversation.

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    1. It also hurt the regular rock bands like The Black Crowes. Nirvana never appealed to me greatly…I respected them and I liked a few of their songs but was never a huge fan.

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    1. No…it’s some formatting problem…and I’m glad you reminded me…I’ll go and fix the dang thing. I previewed it and it never showed it.
      Yea I was mostly listening to 60s and 70s mostly at this time.

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  8. Yep, can’t disagree- I was less a Nirvana fan than an ‘appreciator.’ I feel the same about Metal, but I can’t sit for hours hearing it. (Is there, or has there ever been a Heavy Metal band named ‘Migraine?) Hey, sorry Metal fans, these delicate ears can only take so much!
    A few weeks ago I had that line ‘bright spotlight’ in my head and damned if I could place it. I really like the song too- just a blank spot in my mind at the time.
    Sweet is good too, but lacks that final little flourish to lift it that last little bit. Boy, I’m being picky!

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    1. Obbverse the critic lol.
      The Sweet song…when I heard it I thought someone combined Jimi Hendrix and power pop…and interesting combination.
      I do like the REM song because that saying in the south has been around forever…. Shut up Jr! You are making me lose my religion!

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      1. To use a bit of the Southern (I think) terminology ‘I’m an ornery critter today.’ But Max, as for being a boss you got a two out of three chance of being a good one. I’d say, if you’re feeling confident, survey the underlings. If not… I had about two real bastid bosses, a couple simply inept and one Supervisor who was Superbitch, pure evil. At least I’ve been able to put her and her bad name behind me now. Having said that she has ruined the Beatles White Album side 2 track 9 for me, sadly.

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      2. I’m think I’m pretty good to work for…in other words I’m a push over! No I treat people like adults…I refuse to micro-manage…that pisses the owner off but I will not do it.
        Oh…cough Julia cough…. anyone who ruins a Beatles song…is not a good person.

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  9. Other than ‘One’, I would have had Petty’s ‘Learning to Fly’, Pearl Jam’s ‘Jeremy’, ‘Even Flow’, Black’ and ‘Alive’, Red Hot Chili Pepper’s ‘Give It Away’, Guns & Roses ‘Civil War’, and Van Morrison ‘Carrying a Torch’. But hey horses for different courses. At least you made the attempt buddy.

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      1. I consider Pearl Jam’s debut album ‘Ten’ the greatest 90’s album hands down and it so distils the awesome alt-rock music to come. There are too many awesome/timeless songs from that record. I know you are not a big fan, but I had to say my piece.

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      8. No you didn’t Matt! Believe me Bailey is the very same way! I’m taking a break on Monday for a couple of weeks not including the weekends…and I’ll see it then.

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      9. Thanks for your understanding. Before I read Bernie’s article, I was willing to hold for the weekend to see it with the kids, but his brilliant review got me on my high-horse to see it first thing. I’m going to see it again Saturday with the gang.
        Sweet man. I hope you like it like we did and that’s putting it mildly haha

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      12. Oh I forgot to add, I was going to do a ‘Friday’s Finest’ of Dune 2 tomorrow, but I realised I could never top Bernie’s outstanding article. Basterd. So I’ll slot him on Monday’s News on the March lol

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      18. Oh my work is about to get really busy. Most of the days I can reply and comment…but coming up I won’t be able to…except on weekends.

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      19. Well you have my articles to keep you out of trouble. Someone told me once they are good for insomniacs.
        When someone has a sh/t load of work to do here in Colombia, the nearly automated response would be ‘Dale que te rinda’, which basically means ‘kick arse at work’.

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      20. yep….I’m fortunate at my job…I get to do whatever I want in a lot of ways like this…but IT is like that…when it’s nothing it’s nothing…but we are like an insurance policy…and when it gets busy it’s all out…perfect phrase you said.

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      22. Well yea…but you will see me comment and then vanish for hours…thats when you know I’ve been called.
        Thanks Matt…yea I’m posting something Monday about it.

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      23. I’m still waiting for your ‘Streets of Your Town’ – Go Betweens post. Haha
        Sorry, my Go-Betweens ‘Finding You’ post got lots of inexplicable hits today and I was reading our comments. You’ve got homework for when you come back. Hehe.

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  11. Another great set of songs. I knew all except Matthew Sweet’s “Girlfriend”. I feel like the U2 and R.E.M. songs were on the radio back in Germany all the time. While as such they haven’t exactly suffered from obscurity, I still not tired of them!

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    1. U2 and REM were so huge at this time. Yea this year was much easier than 1990…that Sweet song is like Jimi Hendrix mixed with Power pop lol .

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  12. Interestingly, I think your choices have swung back around to what was in the charts at the time. Rock did come back to the mainstream in the 90s. Nirvana, REM and U2 all big hits that year!

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    1. Yes they did! I enjoyed that year a lot…much more than the former. 4 more years and then it stops…you can probably guess why I’m stopping in 1995.

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  13. I was in middle school – 7th grade. I remember all of these releases. “One” was played as the slow-close dance song. “Losing My Religion” was a hit, but none of us knew what it was about, and because we were going to a Catholic private school, we had a bad feeling it was “sinful,” haha! But, “Smells Like Teen Spirt” – that was a whole other level, man. Simple, repetitive chords – yes, but angst behind Cobain’s tone quality, the mystery of it all – that was just guilty pleasure. That was the first time I had been a part of a mosh at a pit. Sinful behavior, haha. The best part about being Catholic is breaking the rules.

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    1. Bono is super religious…so it was probably positive lol.
      Breaking the rules! I’ve heard that before! It was a really good year…and this time I had no off the charts things…well Matthew Sweet was mostly on the alternative charts but in Nashville it was a hit on mainstream.

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      4. LOL….I still can’t believe they signed Kris Bryant…for what? You have to build a team before you buy a star player.

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      6. LOL…humidor, humidor….bigger humidor. No star pitchers would want to go there because of that… Mike Hampton tried…and failed miserably…and when you get one that does good like Jon Gray…he vanishes!

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      7. As you know, we often trade what worked for a year or two. We stick to the young farm and hope for another Tulowitzki. I have a cool questions for you: I’m struggling finding stats online that pertain to what pitchers on ANY team have actually pitched well and consistently at Coors Field. Do you know where I could find such information?

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      10. Awesome. I’ll start digging. I remember Aaron Cook was especially good at Coors Field. I’m curious to see… Thanks, Max. Very excited for baseball this year. Only one direction to go for the Rockies…

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      11. That site Bernie if you never have been there…is one of the most nerd sites ever…but I guess I’m a baseball nerd because I love it…it has everything but what kind of hot dogs the Babe ate…and it could have that! And…what inning he ate them.

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      12. I’m loving it so far. Still having issues with Coors Field-centered stats – who pitched the best there both as a Rockie or non-Rockie. I’ll keep looking. Thanks, Max. What a site!

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