TERRY HOKNES - MY FAVORITE SONGS OF ALL TIME !  hoknes@hotmail.com   

2881

OMD

SO IN LOVE

1985

2882

PRINCE

TAKE ME WITH U

1985

2883

BALTIMORA

TARZAN BOY

1986

2884

WHITESNAKE

HERE I GO AGAIN

1987

2885

BEATLES

I AM THE WALRUS

1967

2886

ABBA

THE PIPER

1980

2887

BADFINGER

DEAR ANGIE

1970

2888

BASIA

DRUNK ON LOVE

1994

2889

BLUE CHEER

OUT OF FOCUS

1968

2890

10CC

GOOD MORNING JUDGE

1977

2891

ABBA

HOLE IN YOUR SOUL

1977

2892

BEATLES

BABY IT'S YOU

1963

2893

SLADE

MY FRIEND STAN

1973

2894

SYD BARRETT

WORD SONG

1988

2895

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

HANGING TOUGH

1989

2896

PAULA ABDUL

PROMISE OF A NEW DAY

1991

2897

WHITNEY HOUSTON

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU

1992

2898

TOAD THE WET SPROCKET

FALL DOWN

1994

2899

CRASH TEST DUMMIES

MMM MMM MMM MMM

1994

2900

TOM PETTY

MARY JANE'S LAST DANCE

1994

    ORCHESTRAL MANEUVRES IN THE DARK - SO IN LOVE (1985)
So in Love" is a song by the band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, released in 1985 as the first single of the album Crush. The artwork, designed by XL Design, and the promo video were both influenced by the Mexican Day of the Dead festival.

Although "So in Love" was the first single from Crush, it was one of the last songs written for the album. It was originally dropped until band member Martin Cooper persuaded Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys to make a demo for the song. Andy McCluskey said it was about the painful end of a relationship. It was their first hit in the United States, after five years of trying to "break" in the States.

The first approximately 50,000 copies of the 7" singles were released as a limited edition double-pack in a gatefold sleeve. There were four different 12" singles released, and one of these was also released as a picture disc. The first issue had the normal version of the song on the A-side, with an extended version of "Concrete Hands" on the B-side.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (often abbreviated to OMD or O.M.D. ) are a British New Wave/synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England. OMD were originally assimilated in the greater New Wave batch of synthesizer-based acts of the late 1970s/early 1980s.

The group was founded in 1978 by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys who remained, and were perceived as, the core members. Adding sidemen Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper by the end of 1980, this quartet (with occasional line-up fluctuations) was the live concert line-up until 1989, when Humphreys, Cooper and Holmes all left OMD to found The Listening Pool. McCluskey then retained the OMD name and continued to record and tour as OMD with new line-ups until 1996.

    PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - TAKE ME WITH U (1985)
Take Me with U" is a song by Prince and The Revolution, and the final U.S. single released from their album, Purple Rain. It is a pop song notable for the drum solo and finger cymbals that open the song and repeat again toward the end.

The song is sung as a duet with Apollonia Kotero, and was originally intended for the Apollonia 6 album, but was pulled for the Purple Rain soundtrack. A result of this addition, Prince made cuts to the suite-like original "Computer Blue", which circulates amongst collectors in an extended version (a portion of this second section of "Computer Blue" can be heard in the film Purple Rain as Prince walks in on the men of The Revolution rehearsing.) The original version of the song was about a minute longer.

The single was released with an edit of album track "Baby I'm a Star" as its B-side, and reached #25 on the top 40 chart in the U.S. In the UK, the song was issued as a double A-sided single, coupled with "Let's Go Crazy", reaching #7 in February 1985.

Lisa Coleman sang underneath Apollonia's vocals to add fullness

The Revolution was an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1979 by Prince. Although widely associated with rock music, the band's sound incorporated heavy metal, pop, funk, R&B and hard rock elements. Before their official break-up, The Revolution had released one studio album, two soundtracks, and two videos. The band is known for its many members, varied in race and gender.

    BALTIMORA - TARZAN BOY (1986) hit #12
Tarzan Boy" is the title of a song recorded by Italian-based act Baltimora. It was the group's debut single, released in April 1985, from its first album Living in the Background, on which it features as first track. The song was re-recorded in 1993 and was covered by several artists throughout the years.

The refrain uses Tarzan's cry as a melodic line. The song is rhythmical, with an electronic melody and simple English lyrics.

The song is best known in the United States for the use of its refrain in early 1990s commercials for Cool Mint Listerine.

The song was re-recorded in the 90s for two films: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III and Beverly Hills Ninja.

The guitar riff from the James Bond Theme is adapted for the song.

"Tarzan Boy", released in the summer of 1985, was a huge success, debuting in the top 5 of the Italian charts and performing well in many other European countries, including Denmark, Germany, and The Netherlands. "Tarzan Boy" found its great success in France, where it topped the chart for five consecutive weeks. In the United Kingdom, it reached number three in August 1985. The single had similar success in the United States (where it was released on EMI), with the single remaining on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six months and ultimately peaking at number 13 in the early spring of 1986. Baltimora performed on the American TV show Solid Gold, which helped further their success in America.

    WHITESNAKE - HERE I GO AGAIN (1987) hit #1
Here I Go Again" is a #1 hit song recorded by Whitesnake. Originally released on their 1982 album, Saints & Sinners, the song was re-recorded for their eponymous 1987 album Whitesnake. The song was re-recorded yet another time that year in a new "radio-mix" version. The 1987 album version hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on October 10, 1987, and number nine on the UK Singles Chart on November 28, 1987. The 1987 version also hit number one on the Canadian Singles Chart on October 24, 1987. In 2006, the 1987 version was named the 17th Greatest Song of the 1980s by VH1.

The song was written by lead singer, David Coverdale, and former Whitesnake guitarist, Bernie Marsden. The most notable differences between the original and revamped version are the style of the music (blues-rock versus hard rock) and a slight change in the lyrics. The chorus of the original version features the lines:

"An' here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known
Like a hobo I was born to walk alone"

In an interview, Coverdale claimed he changed the lyric because he was afraid people would think he was saying "homo" instead of "hobo".

The music video for the song was directed by Marty Callner, who directed most of Whitesnake's videos in the 1980s. It became memorable due to actress Tawny Kitaen's appearance wearing white lingerie. In the video she is seen prancing on the hood of Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale's Jaguar XJ and massaging him while he is trying in vain to concentrate on driving. Kitaen would later become Coverdale's wife for a brief period.

    THE BEATLES - I AM THE WALRUS (1967)

Album:  Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

I Am the Walrus" is a 1967 song by The Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Lennon claimed he wrote the first two lines on separate acid trips. The song was in the Beatles' 1967 television film and album Magical Mystery Tour, and was the B-side to the #1 hit "Hello, Goodbye".

Lennon composed the song by combining three songs he had been working on. When he learned that a teacher at his old primary school was having his students analyse Beatles' lyrics, he added a verse of nonsense words.    The walrus is a reference to the walrus in Lewis Carroll's poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter" (from the book Through the Looking-Glass). Lennon expressed dismay upon belatedly realising that the walrus was a villain in the poem.

The genesis of the lyrics is found in three song ideas that Lennon was working on, the first of which was inspired by hearing a police siren at his home in Weybridge; Lennon wrote the lines "Mis-ter cit-y police-man" to the rhythm and melody of the siren. The second idea was a short rhyme about Lennon sitting in his garden, while the third was a nonsense lyric about sitting on a corn flake. Unable to finish the ideas as three different songs, he combined them into one.

    ABBA - THE PIPER (1980)

Album: Super Trouper (1980)

I had known this song since the album came out right in 1981 at age 10.  A great anthem to close off the album.   I used to use my Smurfs and Star Wars figures to pose concerts at this time and this song was likely one of the "performances".  My mother bought the album in spring of 1981 but then we had an exchange named Lena stay at grandmas house for the summer and she gave us another copy of the album as a gift.

Super Trouper is the seventh studio album by Swedish pop group ABBA, first released in 1980. It features the No.1 singles "The Winner Takes It All" and "Super Trouper". The album became the biggest-selling of 1980 in the UK.   Led by the international hit "The Winner Takes It All", Super Trouper was the group's sixth chart-topping album in the UK. It was also the best-selling album in Britain for 1980. Super Trouper was first released on CD in 1983 by Atlantic Records, again in the 1980s by Polar International, and in the 1990s by Polydor in the USA. The album has been reissued in digitally remastered form four times; first in 1997, then in 2001, again in 2005 as part of the The Complete Studio Recordings box set and as a Deluxe Edition (containing a bonus DVD) in 2011. The previous year's divorce between Björn and Agnetha was explored in "The Winner Takes It All", and the members' lives in Stockholm high society circles coloured the lyrics for "On and On and On". Other well-known songs on the album include the hit single title track "Super Trouper", as well as the electro-dance of "Lay All Your Love on Me".  Probably due to the disco backlash of the time, the album saw ABBA returning to a more straightforward pop sound, as opposed to the preceding (and noticeably more dance-oriented) Voulez-Vous album. The album closed with "The Way Old Friends Do", which was recorded live a year earlier during their 1979 concert tour.
 
    BADFINGER - DEAR ANGIE (1970)

Album: Magic Christian Music (1970)

My friend Zender Millar had this album at his house when we grew up.  It is one of the first records I ever heard around age 8 or 9.   He eventually gave me the record about 10 years later but in the meantime due to the Beatles connection Badfinger would be one of the first bands I was exposed to and really loved.   For a long time I said they were truly the worlds greatest "rock and roll" band. 

Badfinger were a British rock band consisting originally of Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans; active from 1968 to 1983, and evolving from The Iveys; formed by Ham, Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales, in the early 1960s. Joey Molland joined the group in 1969, following the departure of Griffiths. Signed by The Beatles' Apple label in 1968 as The Iveys, they adopted the name Badfinger in 1969. Badfinger had four consecutive worldwide hits in 1970 and 1971: "Come and Get It" (written and produced by Paul McCartney), "No Matter What", "Day After Day", and "Baby Blue". The Ham/Evans-penned Badfinger song, "Without You", became a Billboard number one hit for Harry Nilsson.

Magic Christian Music is an album by band Badfinger, released in early 1970 on Apple Records. Three tracks from the LP are featured in the film The Magic Christian, which also gives the album its title. However, Magic Christian Music is not an official soundtrack album for the film

 

    BASIA - DRUNK ON LOVE (1994)

Album: The Sweetest Illusion (1994)

The Sweetest Illusion is the third studio album by Polish jazz and pop singer–songwriter Basia, released in the United States on May 3, 1994 by Epic Records. It was her final major-label release of the 1990s, though a live album and a greatest hits collection followed. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 14, 1994 for sales in excess of 500,000 units within the U.S., and earned Basia her first (and so far only) chart-topper on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart with "Drunk on Love".

Basia Trzetrzelewska (born September 30, 1954) is a Polish singer-songwriter and record producer. She established a successful international recording career featuring characteristically Latin-flavoured jazz-pop crossover songs during the late 1980s and early 1990s and the late 2000s and 2010s, particularly in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan. She is noted for possessing a wide vocal range, approximately three octaves that span from contralto to soprano tessituras, as well as her singular jazz-influenced stylings and multi-layered harmonies

    BLUE CHEER - OUT OF FOCUS (1968)

Album: Vincebus Eruptum (1968)

October 7th 1988 - my #1 favorite daily song for 3 days at age 17 the fall after graduating high school.

Vincebus Eruptum (the first word is pronounced 'win-kay-bus') is the debut studio album by American rock band Blue Cheer. Released in January 1968, the album was the first to feature the band's classic lineup of vocalist and bassist Dickie Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stephens and drummer Paul Whaley. A commercial and critical success, Vincebus Eruptum peaked at number 11 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and spawned the top-20 hit cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues". It is lauded as one of the first heavy metal albums.

Blue Cheer's debut album was recorded in 1967 at Amigo Studios in North Hollywood, California. In an interview with StonerRock.com, frontman Dickie Peterson explained that "Some songs I wrote have taken 20 years to really complete. And there are other songs like “Doctor Please” or “Out of Focus” that I wrote in ten minutes." On "Doctor Please" in particular, Peterson explained that "when I wrote the song (in 1967), it was a glorification of drugs. I was going through a lot of “Should I take this drug or should I not take this drug? Blah, blah, blah.” There was a lot of soul searching at the time when I wrote that song, and I actually decided to take it. That’s what that song was about and that’s what I sang it about, sort of a drug anthem for me." On the band's cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues", Peterson noted that "We kept changing it around and adding/taking bits away. It also has to do with large doses of LSD."

Blue Cheer's debut album has widely been held in high regard by critics. Writing for music website Allmusic, Mark Deming described Vincebus Eruptum as "a glorious celebration of rock & roll primitivism run through enough Marshall amps to deafen an army", praising the band's "sound and fury" as one of the founding movements of heavy metal.The album has also been identified as an "All Music Guide Album Pick", denoting that it is one of the top albums recommended by the Allmusic critics. Pitchfork reviewer Alexander Linhardt gave the album nine out of a maximum ten points, although noted that the album was less structured and more experimental than its successor Outsideinside. Sputnikmusic offered the song an "Excellent" rating of four out of five, with reviewer Joe Katz praising the album as "one of the heaviest blues albums in existence", noting the "Raw production and quality [which] keep it fresh in the world of squeaky clean classic rock sounds."Online music service Rhapsody included Vincebus Eruptum in its list of the "10 Essential Proto-Metal Albums", suggesting that the band "not only inspired the term 'power trio,' they practically invented heavy metal."

    10cc - GOOD MORNING JUDGE (1977) hit #5 in UK

10cc are an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians—Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme—who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name in 1972.

For the most part, 10cc featured two strong songwriting teams, one 'commercial' and one 'artistic', but both teams injected sharp wit into lyrically dextrous and musically varied songs. Stewart and Gouldman were predominantly pop-song-writers, who created most of the band's accessible songs. By way of contrast, Godley and Creme were the predominantly experimental half of 10cc, featuring an Art School sensibility and cinematic inspired writing. Every member was a multi-instrumentalist, singer, writer and producer. Most of the band's albums were recorded at their own Strawberry Studios (North) in Stockport and Strawberry Studios (South) in Dorking, with most of those engineered by Stewart.

 
    ABBA - HOLE IN YOUR SOUL (1977)

Album:  Abba The Album (1977)

ABBA: The Album is the fifth studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released on 12 December 1977 through Polar Music. The album was released in conjunction with ABBA: The Movie, with several of the songs featured in the film.

The album contained the singles "Take a Chance on Me", "The Name of the Game", "Eagle" and "Thank You for the Music" which has been called ABBA's "goodbye" song even though it was released five years before the band officially broke up. It also features the song "Hole In Your Soul", which was performed as the last song at many ABBA concerts, including their final 1979 tour, and two other songs, "One Man, One Woman" and "I'm a Marionette".

The album offers three songs from ABBA's mini-musical "The Girl With The Golden Hair". These songs are "Thank You for the Music", "I Wonder (Departure)" and "I'm a Marionette".

ABBA: The Album was first released on CD in 1984. The album has been reissued in digitally remastered form by PolyGram/Universal Music four times; first in 1997, then in 2001, in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set and again in 2007 as a two disc 'Deluxe Edition'.

Due to the Cold War, Western music was actively discouraged throughout Eastern Europe at the time. Despite this ABBA: The Album sold an unprecedented one million copies in Poland in 1977, exhausting the country's entire allocation of foreign currency. In Russia, only 200,000 copies were permitted to be pressed. However, demand within the USSR indicated they could have sold 40 million copies

 
    THE BEATLES - BABY IT'S YOU

Album: Please Please Me (1963)

"Baby It's You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach (music), and Luther Dixon (credited as Barney Williams) and Mack David (lyrics). It was recorded by The Shirelles and The Beatles, and became hits for both. The highest-charting version of "Baby It's You" was by the band Smith, who took the song to number five on the US charts in 1969.

The Beatles performed "Baby It's You" as part of their stage act from 1961 until 1963. They recorded it on February 11, 1963 for their first album, Please Please Me, along with "Boys", another song by the Shirelles. American label Vee-Jay Records included it on Introducing... The Beatles and Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles. Capitol included it on The Early Beatles.

The Beatles released a live version on Live at the BBC in 1994. The song was issued as a CD single and a vinyl single in 1995 in both the UK and the US, their first in nearly a decade. Both versions have four tracks, making it an EP instead of a regular issue single. It reached number seven in the UK and number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.

    SLADE - MY FRIEND STAN (1973)

I first heard Slade's early hits when I got the record compilation Slade's Greatest in 1984 at age 13 after they made a breakthrough at that time in North America.

My Friend Stan" is a single from glam rock band Slade which appeared on Slade's 1974 album Old New Borrowed and Blue. The single was written by lead singer Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea. The single was released in late 1973 and peaked at #2 in the UK, spending only 8 weeks on the chart which compared to Slade's eight previous singles was a disappointment. The single originally entered the charts at #4. It did stay in the top #10 for 5 weeks. The single marked a change from their previous records with the single being more piano based, sounding more like a novelty track.   Despite only reaching #2 in the UK, the single sold the same amount as the previous single "Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me".   The single was certified UK Silver by BPI in October 1973.

At the time, Lea was persuaded to complete this song by manager Chas Chandler who'd heard him playing the melody on the piano at his home. Holder's lyrics were full of innuendo which was quite risque for the time. During recording, drummer Don Powell was walking with the aid of a stick and had to be lifted on to his drum kit.  Shortly before release, Polydor records had to import 100,000 copies of the single into the UK, due to the phenomenal demand of the record.   Subsequent to its original release on Old New Borrowed and Blue, "My Friend Stan" has appeared on several Slade compilation albums, including Greatest Hits, Wall of Hits, Slade Smashes, Slade Greats and The Very Best of Slade

    SYD BARRETT - THE WORD SONG (1988)

Album:  Opel (1988)

Syd Barrett was the original lead singer and songwriter for Pink Floyd in the 1960's.  My best friend Zender Miller was a huge Floyd fan and the last christmas gift I ever gave him was in 1987 when I was 16 and he was 18.  I bought him a bootleg vinyl record called Vegetable Man by Syd Barrett that I bought at Records On Wheels when it was located in the bus mall downtown Saskatoon.   The bootleg was expensive I think about $18.00 which was lots for me at that age so I took it home and recorded a copy for myself on cassette before giving it to him.  I landed up becoming a bigger fan of Syd's solo demo's than that of Pink Floyd.

Opel is an album released in 1988, compiled from recordings made by former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett between 1968 and 1970.  While Barrett only released two albums in 1970, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, the existence of unreleased studio work was widely reported. After years of demand from Barrett's considerable fan base, Opel was compiled and released. Syd approved the new release. It consists of 8 previously unreleased songs and alternate versions of six already released songs.
 

 

    NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK - HANGING TOUGH (1989) hit #1
Hangin' Tough" is a 1989 single from New Kids on the Block. The lead vocals were sung by Donnie Wahlberg. The fourth single from the group's second album of the same name, it peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart on September 9, 1989. It also topped the UK singles chart and the song also became the first number one single of the 1990s.

There are two distinct versions of the song: The original album version which includes a keyboard solo and the remixed version, which is arguably more recognizable and commonly appears on Greatest Hits albums, which includes a guitar solo. The song was used in the 1989 film The Wizard as well as the Regular Show episode "High Score". Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for their 1991 album The Chipmunks Rock the House.  

New Kids on the Block (also initialized as NKOTB) are an American boy band from Boston, Massachusetts, assembled in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr. The band consists of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood.

New Kids on the Block enjoyed success in the late 1980s and early 1990s and have sold 80 million records worldwide. They won two American Music Awards in 1990 for Favorite Pop/Rock Band, Duo, or Group and Favorite Pop/Rock Album.

After having disbanded in 1994, several attempts were made to get the group back together, all of them unsuccessful. After secretly reuniting in 2007 and recording a new CD, the group released that new album and embarked on a concert tour in 2008. The album, entitled The Block was released on September 2, 2008. New Kids on the Block was enlisted number 16 as one of the Rolling Stone's Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments.

    PAULA ABDUL - PROMISE OF A NEW DAY (1991) hit #1
The Promise of a New Day" is the second single (and lead-off track) from American artist Paula Abdul's album Spellbound. The song was written by Peter Lord and V. Jeffrey Smith. The single was released to radio while the hit "Rush Rush" was still at the top of radio airplay and the pop charts.

The song hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 14, 1991, becoming Abdul's sixth chart-topping single, and her last #1 hit to date.

The video for the song was recorded in front of a green screen in Hawaii. However, since Abdul was unable to film the clip due to other commitments, she shot the necessary scenes elsewhere, which were then edited into the video.

The video caused controversy when originally aired mainly because it appeared to make Abdul look thinner than she actually was. However, on Pop Up Video, VH1 (and Abdul in a filmed segment) secured that the clip had been edited in such a way as to make the dancers appear closer together.

In that same episode, Abdul admitted that she fell in heels during filming of the dance sequences.

 

    WHITNEY HOUSTON - I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU (1992)  hit #1

Album:  The Bodyguard soundtrack (1992)

February 17th 1993 - my #6 favorite daily song for 20 days at age 22 in 4th year University.  Whitney had 7 different #1 songs on my daily chart and she to this date holds the record for the most #1 weekly top 40 songs with 9 different songs and total count of 50 weeks which is also a record to this date after 30 years!  Whitney Houston has been my favorite singer of all time now for 25 years.

In 1992, singer Whitney Houston recorded the song for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard, her film debut. Houston was originally to record Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" as the lead single from The Bodyguard. However, when it was discovered the song was to be used for Fried Green Tomatoes, Houston requested a different song and her co-star Kevin Costner brought her Linda Ronstadt's 1975 version of "I Will Always Love You" from her album Prisoner in Disguise. Houston and producer David Foster re-arranged the song as a soul ballad. Her record company did not feel a song with an a cappella introduction would be as successful; however, Houston and Costner insisted on retaining the a cappella intro. The tenor saxophone solo was played by Kirk Whalum. Whitney Houston's recording is not the only version of the song featured in the movie. In a scene where she dances with Kevin Costner, a version by John Doe can be heard playing on a jukebox.    Houston's version was a massive worldwide success, appearing at number 68 on Billboard's "Greatest Songs of All Time
    TOAD THE WET SPROCKET - FALL DOWN (1994) hit #33
Fall Down" is a single by alternative rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket. The song is included on their 1994 album Dulcinea. "Fall Down" was co-written by Glen Phillips and Todd Nichols. The music video for the song was directed by Samuel Bayer.

It reached number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in June 1994 and remained there for six weeks before being supplanted by The Offspring's "Come Out and Play" in July. The single helped to make Dulcinea Toad the Wet Sprocket's first top 40 album on the Billboard 200.

Toad the Wet Sprocket is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss. The band enjoyed chart success in the 1990s with the singles "Walk on the Ocean", "All I Want", "Something's Always Wrong", and "Fall Down", among others. The band broke up in 1998 to pursue other projects but in 2006 began touring the United States as a band in small-venue, short-run tours each summer. In December 2010, the band announced their official reunion as a full-time working band and have started writing songs for their first new studio album since their 1997 Columbia Records release Coil.

 

    THE CRASH TEST DUMMIES - MMM MMM MMM MMM (1994) hit #4
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" is a single by the Canadian folk rock group Crash Test Dummies, featured on their 1993 album God Shuffled His Feet.

Each verse describes the isolation and suffering of a child, two of whom have a physical abnormality; a boy whose hair has prematurely whitened from shock and a girl covered in birthmarks. The third child is a boy whose parents take him with them to their church, where they 'shake and lurch' on the floor. His situation is said to be worse than the other children's.

An alternative version sometimes performed at live concerts replaced the third verse with one concerning a boy whose mother disposed of his tonsils after a tonsillectomy, thus depriving him of the possibility of bringing them to show and tell.

Although highly successful when it was released, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" has since been frequently included on lists of bad songs. The song was number 15 on VH1's 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever, named by Rolling Stone the "15th Most Annoying Song" and ranked at number 31 both on Blender's list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever" and, most recently, on AOL Radio's list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever (Matthew Wilkening called the song "Not only bad but amazingly monotone and depressing," and "Absolutely the last song to play for your sad friends"). In 2011, VH1 named "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" the 31st greatest one-hit wonder of the '90s.

In a 1994 essay in which he makes the case that modern life is better than life in the past, humorist P.J. O'Rourke wrote "Even the bad things are better than they used to be. Bad music, for instance, has gotten much briefer. Wagner's Ring Cycle takes four days to perform while "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by the Crash Test Dummies lasts little more than three minutes."

The track received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, which it lost to "I Swear" by All-4-One.

    TOM PETTY - MARY JANE'S LAST DANCE (1994) hit #14
Mary Jane's Last Dance" is a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was recorded on July 22, 1993 while Petty was recording his Wildflowers album, and was produced by Rick Rubin, guitarist Mike Campbell, and Tom Petty. The sessions would prove to be the last to include drummer Stan Lynch before his eventual departure in 1994. This song was first released as part of the Greatest Hits album in 1993. It rose to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his first Billboard Top 20 hit of the 1990s, and also topped the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart for two weeks.

Asked if the song was about drugs (since "Mary Jane" is a common nickname for marijuana, and marijuana is said to kill pain), Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell said, "In the verse there is still the thing about an Indiana girl on an Indiana night, just when it gets to the chorus he had the presence of mind to give it a deeper meaning. My take on it is it can be whatever you want it to be. A lot of people think it's a drug reference, and if that's what you want to think, it very well could be, but it could also just be a goodbye love song." In the rest of the interview, Campbell said that the song was originally titled "Indiana Girl" and the first chorus "Hey, Indiana Girl, go out and find the world." He went on to say that their producer, Rick Rubin didn't agree singing about "hey, Indiana Girl," so Rubin changed it a week later

Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty (born October 20, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr. and Muddy Wilbury.