38 – THE NINETIES AND BEYOND

The NinetiesMusically, the 1990's was a continuation of eighties derived styles with few exceptions. Several upstart alternative rock acts had their fifteen minutes of glory and the cities of Seattle and Manchester competed briefly for the title of rock mecca. Some of the new alternative bands provided a refreshing relief from the seemingly endless parade of dance music, cutie pie pop and rap. In rock circles, the vast number of alternative acts had actually dwarfed the number of commercial rock artists to the point where alternative had become the mainstream. Another relatively new trend making waves (actually having its roots in the early 1980's) was industrial music, perpetuated by such groups as Ministry and Skinny Puppy.

Dance music continued to thrive despite its annoying overall repetitiveness, the chief new exponents being DJ Chris Sheppard and dance/pop kingpins Clivilles & Cole who were responsible for the overwhelming success of C&C Music Factory. Remixes of various hits became a growing trend.

There seemed to be a glut of rock classics on the market, needlessly rehashed and trashed. Momentarily, pop music was undecided in its direction and the remaking of standards was a safe avenue for numerous artists. The outspoken Grace Slick once stated that "the music scene of the early 1970's was like pea soup." I tend to view the 1990's in the same manner.

The biggest news in the 1990's was the rise to power of the new country. By 1992, the annual sales of country music albums had escalated to over $700 million. The greatest success story in modern country music history has been the incredible assent of Garth Brooks who single-handedly changed the entire image of country music. He dominated 1991, picking up several Grammy and American Music Awards as well as Country Music Association Awards. His controversial video, "The Thunder Rolls," probably the most revolutionary country video ever was banned in many areas. Both acclaimed and maligned, it dealt simply and honestly with the previously taboo subject of wife-beating with a scenario featuring Brooks in the lead role. Essentially, Brooks has proved that country artists can be as colourful and exciting as rock stars and that their following is as equally fanatical.

Country music began to explode with a whole new crop of young good looking performers who overturned the stereotypical look and sound of traditional country. Muscle-bound Billy Ray Cyrus became the new country sex symbol, creating a mass interest in country line dancing with the success of his achy breaky dance. Now, in the nineties, it certainly is cool to be country.

The realization of country music's strength was clearly verified on May 24, 1991, when Billboard Magazine re-evaluated its sales tabulation. Previously, record, tape and CD sales had been determined by the polling of major record chains. The new, more accurate system tabulated sales automatically at the cash register. An initial 9,000 targeted outlets revealed a significant jump in the popularity of country music. Consequently, with the emergence of powerful pop/country artists such as Shania Twain, the charts changed drastically with positions dramatically rearranged. Now, country music was no longer restricted only to the C&W charts. Big business has finally come to understand what country music fans knew all along - country sells.

Nashville had experienced competition in the past from other country music centres, especially Bakersfield, California. But now in 1992, a new threat emerged in the resort town of Branson, Missouri. It started in 1983 with The Roy Clark Theatre and later, with numerous other attractions like the thirteen million dollar Grand Palace and several hotels owned by major stars, it is currently topping the billion and a half mark in yearly business.

On the concert front, the Lollapalooza concerts faired well and there was an attempt to revive the ideals of 1960's rock concertdom with a 25th anniversary celebration of the legendary Woodstock concert in Aug. 12-14, 1994. Artists taking part included Bob Dylan, Alice In Chains, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Melissa Etheridge, Joe Cocker, Metallica, Blind Melon, Aerosmith, Santana and Crosby, Stills & Nash. However, the resulting concert paled beside the original, with many artists returning to the original site of the concert for a vigil rather than attend the current designated site at Saugerties, New York. The 30th anniversary of the Woodstock concert ended in looting, rape and mob violence.

One of the biggest successes of the 1990's was "Lilith Fair," the series of concerts debuting in Aug., 1997 featuring female artists organized by Sarah McLachlan. In the 1990's, female artists had finally come into full flower with the rise of Alanis Morissette and the numerous so-called angry young women.

By the end of the century, teen oriented pop music was the biggest selling genre, "girl power" reigned supreme with the emergence of teen pop diva Britney Spears, Britain's Spice Girls and a host of imitators. Boy bands (a rather skewed appellation since they were essentially vocal groups) like The Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees and N Sync, consisting of good looking young guys, some with excellent voices dominated the charts. However, once again the teen market was controlled and manufactured by big business just as in the sixties and seventies with The Monkees and The Osmonds. Ricky Martin paved the way for Latin pop, opening the floodgates for many others such as Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias and Marc Anthony.

Overall, excess in the current music scene was rampant. The 1990's as "the more is better era," was reflected clearly in every sector of the industry. Even singing styles were taken to the limit. Gifted vocalists like Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston felt compelled to oversing, packing as many notes as possible into each passage until it was almost impossible for the listener to detect any trace of melody. Each song was maintained at an exasperating high from beginning to end, sung full throttle. Dynamics were often abandoned. The public was constantly bombarded with prima donna virtuosos who felt the need to forever prove their competence. Skill in guitaristry was also taken to the limit, escalating to the multiplicity of notes syndrome rather than artistry, passion or taste. Current musicians seemed to feel the need to top themselves. No longer was there musical foreplay, only a series of shuddering climaxes.

Musically, the 1990's teetered precariously on the edge of a precipice, anxiously awaiting audio salvation.

1990'S PLUS MALE ARTISTS

CHRIS ISAAK

BILLY BRAGG

MARC COHN

JOHN SECADA

A SELECTED LISTING OF OTHER 1990'S PLUS MALES

1990'S PLUS FEMALE ARTISTS

SARAH McLACHLAN

LISA STANSFIELD

SINEAD O'CONNOR

ALANNAH MYLES

CELINE DION

MARIAH CAREY

OLETA ADAMS

MELISSA ETHERIDGE

TORI AMOS

SHERYL CROW

JEWEL

ALANIS MORISSETTE

A SELECTED LISTING OF OTHER 1990'S PLUS FEMALES

1990'S PLUS GROUPS

54.40

BLUE RODEO

SHAKESPEARS SISTER

ROXETTE

THE TRAGICALLY HIP

THE BLACK CROWES

CRASH TEST DUMMIES

HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH

OASIS

1990'S PLUS VOCAL GROUPS

BELL BIV DeVOE

WILSON PHILLIPS

EN VOGUE

BOYZ II MEN

THE SPICE GIRLS

THE BACKSTREET BOYS

N SYNC

A SELECTED LISTING OF RECORDINGS BY OTHER 1990'S PLUS GROUPS

1990'S PLUS DANCE ARTISTS

TECHNOTRONIC

C+C MUSIC FACTORY

BLACK BOX

DEEE-LITE

CLIVILLES & COLE

RIGHT SAID FRED

A SELECTED LISTING OF RECORDINGS BY OTHER 1990'S PLUS DANCE ARTISTS

THE NEW ALTERNATIVE MUSIC

Alternative rock had been gathering momentum for years on independent labels, emerging from the ashes of the late 1970's punk movement. Basically, it fermented in the underground, attracting a following that was disenchanted with the mush presented on commercial radio. Now in the 1990's, alternative music has gone mainstream. It has become big business indeed, as witnessed by the across the board success of Seattle grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

Alternative music is an all encompassing label, serving as an umbrella for numerous styles including grunge, goth rock, thrash, industrial, death metal, jangle pop, UK dance/pop, alternative rap, dream pop and performance art.

At the start of the 1990's, several areas were competing for the title of alternative rock mecca, the two most visible being Seattle, Washington and Manchester, England.

At the end of the 1990's, grunge's popularity had given way to melodic punk pop groups such as Smash Mouth, Chumbawamba, Sugar Ray and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

THE MANCHESTER SOUND

During the mid 1960's, Manchester, England was one of the chief beat boom centres of The British Invasion. And in the 1980's, bands like New Order led the way in the evolution of the distinctive Manchester sound. By 1990, the city had once again drawn world attention with its well defined new sound presented by a fresh crop of colourful, innovative bands.

Essentially a breeding ground for UK dance/pop, the basis for the so-called Manchester Sound is a unique fusion of 1960's Stax/ Volt rhythm patterns, seventies disco and modern techno-pop dance music. The rhythm-heavy sounds are often accompanied by an odd listless, disinterested vocal delivery often augmented by rap. Sixties style psychedelic guitar often adds a considerable edge to the otherwise predictable mix. And although 1960's influences are obvious, the music and attitude are totally nineties.

Visuals include psychedelic lighting effects such as strobes and liquid lights. Also stolen from the late 1960's hippie era is the fluorescent tie-dyed clothing. And from the hip-hop culture, oversized T-shirts, shorts and the mandatory reversed baseball caps complete the uniform of the day. A word to the wise - all of these bands and their followers look incredibly young.

Of course, all of the stereotypical rules do not necessarily apply. There are several Manchester based acts who definitely do not subscribe to the dance/pop trends. The Stone Roses for example exhibit a relatively straight forward punky hard edge sound, not usually equated with the city. Actually, the media hype started in the mid 1980's, reaching its peak by 1990 and gradually fizzling out. Strangely enough, several groups such as EMF and The Soup Dragons have become more representative of the Manchester Sound than any of the indigenous bands.

Major groups from the area include Happy Mondays, Charlatans U.K. and The Stone Roses.

U.K. DANCE/POP

NEW ORDER

EMF

LONDONBEAT

JESUS JONES

THE SOUP DRAGONS

THE SEATTLE SOUND

"Grunge"

Known as The Emerald City in rock circles, Seattle, Washington has become the most talked about rock centre in North America since San Francisco's heyday during the late 1960's. Unfortunately, the area has found it difficult to live up to the hype. The initial reason for much of the attention was a healthy club scene and the modest success of a small independent outfit called The Sub Pop Record Company run by co-owners Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt. Starting in 1986, the company built its reputation on the marketability of its collectable 45's, distributed mostly through mailouts.

The local bands got their initial exposure playing in clubs such as The Vogue, The Central Tavern, The Back Stage, The Off Ramp, The Rainbow and Rock Candy. Alas, by the time the so-called Seattle Sound hype had saturated the media, most of the first wave of key groups had already left the area, leaving both the clubs and Sub Pop with an uncertain future.

Many of the new sounds associated with Seattle owed a great deal to the pioneer alternative groups such as Sonic Youth featuring Kim Gordon, often dubbed "The Godmother Of Grunge."

Since the quadruple platinum success of Nirvana's "Nevermind" LP, Seattle has come to be known as "The Grunge Capitol Of The World" - "grunge" being the designation for a guitar-pummelling punk/metal featuring buzz saw guitars turned up to an ear shattering eleven, accompanied by biting vocal harangues of doom-laden odes. The genre supposedly took hold in Minneapolis during the early 1980's, later migrating to the Pacific Northwest.

SOUNDGARDEN

NIRVANA

PEARL JAM

TEMPLE OF THE DOG

MUDHONEY

ALICE IN CHAINS

L7

JANGLE POP

Take a healthy dose of jangly Byrds style guitar, mix in a dash of Beatlesque folk rock, add some vocal harmonies and catchy choruses and you come up with what has been dubbed "jangle pop." Most lyrics deal with melancholy or downright bleak subject matter. Actually, one of the definitive exponents of the genre was R.E.M. Some of the newest exponents of jangle pop include The Verlaines, Teenage Fan Club and Matthew Sweet.

R.E.M.

THE BANGLES

TEENAGE FANCLUB

DREAM POP

In the late 1980's, a somewhat somnambulant rock style emerged out of Britain. Labelled dream pop, it consisted of post modern new age mood music featuring layer upon layer of distorted high decibel guitars and an almost totally buried vocal track. It was a style so incredibly trippy that dream pop fans were often snidely dubbed "shoe gazers." Major bands include Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Curve and The Jesus & Mary Chain.

THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN

BLUR

INDUSTRIAL MUSIC

Essentially, industrial music is an innovative genre influenced by the effects of the industrial society. It is a hard edge punk/metal often fused with samplings of sounds created by power tools, food processors, street cars, lawn mowers etc. Sometimes actual machinery like power drills are utilized in performance. At other times, the effects are simulated by musical instruments.

It is an extremely angry, often violent style featuring blood curdling vocals set to abrasive hard rock. One pioneer band which exerted considerable influence on the style was the California punk outfit Black Flag whose savage assault on the ears set the pace for things to come. However, the roots of industrial music can be traced directly back to the highly experimental synthesizer dominated Kraftwerk who are considered by many to be the earliest known perpetrators of the genre (see Progressive Rock). Although highly creative and exciting, it can become thoroughly annoying for those not involved in the scene. It is reasonably safe to say that industrial sounds will never dominate the market, and from an underground sensibility, that would be a considerable point in its favour. One young aficionado made it quite clear that it was music expressly designed to "piss off parents."

Industrial music emerged from an early 1980's European movement. Bands such as Einsturzende Neubauten from Berlin, Germany originated the idea of incorporating non musical effects into their sound. During one performance in London, they actually drilled through the stage. In the beginning, the presentation was violent and disturbing, later becoming more polished and watered down with the addition of sampling, drum machines and certain techno-pop elements. One major key to the development and promotion of the industrial scene was Ministry's studio kingpin Alain Jourgensen, who continues to reform and define the genre by experimenting with abstract sounds and new innovative recording techniques.

Major industrial units include Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, Revolting Cocks, Throbbing Gristle, Nitzer Ebb, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Cabaret Voltaire and of course Ministry.

MINISTRY

SKINNY PUPPY

NITZER EBB

OTHER MAJOR ALTERNATIVE BANDS

JAMES

SUGARCUBES/BJORK

JANE'S ADDICTION

THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

THE PIXIES

THE STONE ROSES

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS

UGLY KID JOE

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS

SOUL ASYLUM

GREEN DAY

COLLECTIVE SOUL

ELASTICA

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

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