Max Picks …songs from 1995

1995

We have come to the end of the line for Max Picks. I decided to draw the line this year. What a year it was for me in music. I was 2 when the Beatles stopped playing music. I never got to experience a new Beatles song and this was it. It’s still a favorite of mine. I’m going to work up a few Missed Max Picks because of the songs I missed. I want to thank ALL of you for the support and your comments on this series. It was a fun one to do. We started this on June 23, 2023!

Beatles – Free As A Bird

In the 1990s I kept reading about the Beatles Anthology coming out and the three surviving Beatles getting back together to release old never heard before music as well as new. They were going to take a John Lennon demo and add something to it. This was beyond exciting for me. I was too young to remember a new Beatles song coming out.

It had an older feel but sounded modern at the same time. George Harrison’s distorted slide guitar playing brought an edge to it. It even had a strange ending like some of their other songs.

I got an early release of the Anthology CD from a friend of mine who worked in a record store and he said…don’t tell anyone. I sat glued to Free As a Bird because for once I was listening to a new Beatles song… I was one year old in 1968 so I missed them when they were originally out. I liked the song and still do. I have talked to Beatles fans who don’t really like it that much but the song has stuck with me. .

Was Free As a Bird the best song in the Beatles catalog? No not even close but just to hear something new was fantastic. The Anthology videos and CDs jump-started their popularity all over again…and it hasn’t stopped since then. I had cousins who were teenagers at the time who were never interested in them until Anthology came out. All I could say to them was…I’ve told you for years.

Also…my favorite music video of all time

Jayhawks – Blue

This song would rank high among my favorite songs. The Jayhawks were an Alt-Country band with a pop/folk sound formed in Minneapolis–Saint Paul in 1985 and played alternative country rock. They have released 10 studio albums and are worth checking out.

The song was on the album Tomorrow the Green Grass.

They recently backed Ray Davies on his albums Americana and Our Country – Americana Act II. Their 2016 album Paging Mr. Proust was produced by Peter Buck of REM.

They combine country, folk, rock, and pop with good harmonies.

Oasis – Wonderwall

This song is awash in sixties influence…which isn’t surprising by Oasis. It caught my attention in the 90s seeing that it had a mod mid-sixties influence.

This song was supposedly about Noel Gallagher’s then-girlfriend Meg Mathews, who is compared with a schoolboy’s wall to which posters of footballers and pop stars are attached. He said: “It’s about my girlfriend. She was out of work, and that, a bit down on her luck, so it’s just saying, ‘Cheer up and f—in get on with it.’” Noel later married and then divorced Meg Mathews.

Noel also said… “The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media who jumped on it. And how do you tell your Mrs. it’s not about her once she’s read it is? It’s about an imaginary friend who’s going to come and save you from yourself.”

Everclear – Santa Monica

With my big black boots and an old suitcase
I do believe I’ll find myself a new place

Those lyrics hit me for some reason as did the song. It was my first introduction to the band and I loved it. This is one of the few new bands at the time that I followed.

Art Alexaskis formed Everclear in Portland, Oregon, in 1991. Portland in the early 90s had a huge music scene. Everclear broke out first with this song nationally.  Many bands there didn’t think Everclear deserved it over everyone else…there was a lot of competition there at that time.

Santa Monica is a seaside town in California where Everclear lead singer Art Alexakis grew up. He describes it as Like LA but on the coast.

The song peaked at #1 on the Mainstream Rock Charts, #4 in Canada’s Alternative Charts, #27 in New Zealand, and #40 in the UK in 1996.

It was on the 1995 album Sparkle and Fade. John at 2 Loud 2 Old Music reviewed all of their albums in this article. It’s a great review of their recording career.

Ramones – I Don’t Want To Grow Up

This came off of the Ramones’ last album Adios Amigos. This song is a Tom Waits cover. This song actually made the top 30 for the Ramones. Their reputation grew through the years. They probably got more popular after they broke up than they were when they were together. It’s a shame that many of their songs didn’t hit bigger at the time. Their songs are short, to the point, and usually very catchy. You would have thought radio would have loved them.

The album is really good and it was a good way to go out for them.

BONUS PICK… I’m going to break my own rule about only 5 songs since this is the last Max Picks…and I’m breaking another rule by featuring a band twice in one post. Which band should it be?

Beatles – Real Love

This was the second “new” song by the Beatles to be released in the 1990s and it was on the Anthology 2 album. I liked the song but it didn’t resonate with me like Free As A Bird did. Real Love sounded more like a Lennon solo song with the Beatles backing him…but I love Lennon’s solo output so I did like it but it wasn’t as “Beatle-ly” to me as Free As a Bird.

The song was more fully realized than Free As a Bird and didn’t take as much input by the other three shaping it. This is the only Beatles song where the songwriting credit is John Lennon alone instead of Lennon-McCartney or all four Beatles.

Paul McCartney did his best John Lennon’s imitation to help the lead vocal because the recording of John’s voice was low and spotty in some places. The lead vocal is actually a John and Paul duet.

 

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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.

54 thoughts on “Max Picks …songs from 1995”

  3. What a way to wrap up the series! At the time I was quite unimpressed with the ‘new’ Beatles songs, but now I have more appreciation for them even though you correctly point out neither is very high on the list of their greatest works. Funny how ‘Free as a Bird’ people remember but it seems like no one recalls ‘Real Love’. I was more excited for the new one that came out last year but that’s because by now I’ve become a diehard fan of theirs. I’d have to look back at the charts for 1995, but off the top of my head I don’t seem to recall that much stellar music coming out in it… presumably you felt the same and that’s why it’s the last year you’re looking at. By a decade later it might be hard to pick 5.

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    1. Yea after The Beatle excitement my love for radio fell off the table. Oh I loved Free As A Bird when it came out…I think of the three songs they have released that were new…it was the one that really could have been done by them when they were together. George’s slide is awesome also…I also love love love the video…it should have won video of the year… and that is a statement you don’t hear me say a lot….lol
      That is my favorite Jayhawks song as well.

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  7. Thanks for this series, it’s been great to learn about bands that fell under my radar back in the day AND get reminded about bands/songs I loved but forgot about though the passage of time!

    Today you introduced me to the Jayhawks- a name I recognized but I don’t believe I’d ever heard a single song of theirs. I did a quick Spotify sampling and they seem right up my alley, definitely will be going back for a deep dive!

    I appreciate all the effort you put into these posts. I’ll miss them, but they’ve been great!!

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    1. The Jayhawks I missed for a long time…they have some very cool songs. Thanks for coming by man!
      I’ll be doing a few more on the ones I missed…proably covering ten years at a time. 55-64 65-74 ect…
      Thank you!

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    1. OH yes! I found one the last time I watched it that I missed. The blue meanie coming out of the roof. It’s a great video.

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  9. Great picks from 95…Amazing how The Beatles were back with new product. Everclear and Oasis put out solid rock as well but they both seemed to dry up at one point creatively.

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    1. Dude I thought I found my new rock band to follow in this year….I thought Everclear would keep going…they did for a little while and then nothing.

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  10. Well, now that YOU are done with this …. LOL

    I had been thinking about doing this around the time you started it. I had done something similar with movies, so why not music? I continue to toy with what to call it (I have an idea), how many songs to pick, and how often to do it.

    Anyway, thanks for a great series! I’ve enjoyed getting a peak into what songs you chose for each year (and wondering what I might have picked).

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    1. Go ahead and knock yourself out dude!
      All I’m going to do is pick out some songs I missed…but it’s over so I’ll be looking forward to yours.

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  12. Great picks as always Max. I’ll echo comments about how enjoyable this series has been. I have no idea what I would choose from 1995 so im glad it was you doing it. Barely remembered Everclear, Jayhawks we talked about before and can’t argue with the rest.The Beatles of course. I actually had never watched the Free as video. Very cool.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and reading them… That Beatles video is pretty cool…a lot of little things in there about their career… My last time I really listened close to the radio.

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  13. Thanks for sticking with this feature for so long. Lots of good listening. This last batch is no exception. My favorite song in the bunch is Santa Monica. It’s such a fabulous piece of songwriting. Love both Beatles videos but the 2nd one was very difficult to watch through tears.

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    1. I really liked Everclear…I was hoping they would last a long time. Thanks for reading and I’ll have a few of the ones I missed and I’ll close the books on this. It was a lot of fun being able to post songs that I did when I started and no one read lol.

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  14. “Free As a Bird” gave me a case of double nostalgia–both for the 90s song and video (one my favorites ever, as well, Max) and for the Beatles era it evokes. Beatles aren’t just my favorite band ever, they’re my mates, the lads I came of age with!

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  15. Thanks for making me listen to stuff I wouldn’t otherwise. 1995 for me was marked by the death of Jerry Garcia and the debut of Garbage (local boys made good – not that I was a big fan of theirs, but they were neighbors).

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    1. Glad you liked it! Dang I should have mentioned Garcia! I didn’t mention Cobain either the previous year.
      I wanted to ask you something. Next week I’m going to try to do a San Francisco theme during the week starting Monday. For every band I never posted before I try to post the most radio friendly one the artist has…just to get people to listen that first time. Quicksilver Messenger Service….I picked “Fresh Air”…. is that one the most radio friendly you think?

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      1. “Fresh Air” is maybe the most radio-friendly and the best of the Dino Valenti songs. That being said, I consider Dino Valenti (AKA Chet Powers) the worst thing about the band and think their best work was while he was in prison. I’d say their best recorded work is the first two albums, most of which were long pieces. Among the best, “Gold and Silver”, based on Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” (but in 6/8, not 5/4), runs over 6 minutes, but is a lot shorter than “The Fool” at over 12 minutes (with a psychedelic vocal – Freiberg says he came down from an acid trip and found the lyrics in his typewriter – and viola solo by David Freiberg). Neither is a jam. They are definitely compositions. If it were me, I’d go with “Gold and Silver”.

        “San Francisco” and “radio-friendly” (if by that you mean 3-4 minute singles) don’t go well together, though a friend did a SF radio show one New Year’s Eve – I think it lasted about 6-8 hours.

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      2. Ok…thank you…you told me a lot I didn’t know. After I post that one then as you have seen here…I’ll post about anything….I don’t care if it’s long or not. Just trying to get people to listen…after that…the way I look at it is….if one person listens and explores the artist…I have done my job. After that I can post more and people will know them.
        That is what I did with Big Star…it made some people fans and I’ve gone by that rule…it don’t always work though.
        Yea I agree… San Francisco and pop radio doesn’t always go together. I will post a hit by Jefferson Airplane but the rest will probably be more less known. Thank you! You and Jim are the two biggest fans of that era that I know…he likes the Dead a lot and other bands from there.

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  16. All things must pass, including Max Picks…! You ended it on a high note with two “new” Beatles” songs. I wonder how “Real Love” would have sounded, had they had Peter Jackson’s audio restoration technology they used for “Now And Then”.

    From the remaining songs, I think The Jayhawks are my favorite. I’ve really come to dig these guys. The song by Everclear didn’t ring a bell, or should I say was unclear?

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  17. Thanks for a great series! Not sure why, but I prefer ‘Real Love’ to ‘Free as a Bird’, even though the production is a bit ropey and John sounds like he’s underwater. Like Christian, I’d liked to have heard both songs re-mastered when ‘Now and Then’ came out.

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    1. Yea and I would also like them to clean up that video to Free As A Bird with modern technology. But yea I agree…both songs need remastered! Thanks for reading!

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      1. I think we all go through periods of not listening to new music as much. I first started listening to popular music around 2008 when I was a teenager. After 10 years I lost interest and sort of stopped around 2018. A few newer songs stand out, but a lot of artists sound the same now.

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      2. With me…my older sister had records and somehow 8 year old me got into the Beatles way after they broke up….so I always favored old music….but I still listened…but you are right…it comes a time when you don’t as much.

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