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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

I Don't Want Anybody Else

Christina Amphlett

Twenty years ago, Amy Grant's "Baby Baby" topped the Billboard chart. My first reaction was "Wow! That was really a terrible time for popular music." Honestly, Amy Grant has a pleasant voice and a inoffensive style, but this song is anodyne and forgettable.

Don't believe me? Here the vid for "Baby Baby":






But then I remembered that some of the more interesting music of the era never had mainstream success. Various subgenres of popular music had great creativity going on. Alternative, metal, and dance were undergoing definitive changes at this time.

Here's a charming pop gem from early 1991:






And here's a unique dance hit of the year:






I guess my point in this post is that we need to avoid superficial appraisals. If you just look at the mainstream hits, you're not going to appreciate the fullness of available options. Beneath the popular pablum, there's a lot of interesting music.

Here are some links:

Amy Grant's website and Wikipedia page.

Divinyls Wikipedia page.

Enigma's Wikipedia page.

And here's a list of the Billboard Hot 100 for 1991.

Enjoy!!!

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