late 90s mediocrity continued

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the worst aspect of the "alternative" "boom" was efinitely the smorgasbord of lame promo material sent to radio stations, etc. Springing to mind immediately:
the mini moose head accompanying the first US release by...Moose
Judybats flowerpot w/satellite dish growing out of it ("Down in the Shacks Where the Satellite Dishes Grow")
Geldof salad dressing ("The Vegetarians of Love")
can it get any worse? let's find out!

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Uhm... Radiohead suck?

― Stupid (Stupid), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:22 (twenty-two years ago)

90s mediocricity was not mainly found it "alternative" music, it was rather found in all the throwaway crap that came out of the hip-hop, R&B and boy/girl band scenes.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the idea of there being a boyband "scene". Like clubs are springing up where all the pioneering artists perform, and lots of scenesters standing around posing in their baby-pink t-shirts and garish trainers. "Dude, Take That are, like, the new Pixies. Seriously."

― Stupid (Stupid), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Following Take That and East 17, there was definitely a boyband scene in the UK during the 90s. Only that it was backed by Smash Hits and The Sun rather than NME :-)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:28 (twenty-two years ago)

D-efinitely

nah, i was just focusing on mediocre promo stuff...hey! Radiohead don't suck!
"...throwaway crap that came out of the hip-hop, R&B and boy/girl band scenes..."
WHAT???
Perpetuated by SCANDINAVIANS for the most part. Ace of Base, Aqua et bloody al. to thread in that case.

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:31 (twenty-two years ago)

yes the NME preferred to focus on proper music scenes like Camden Lurch and Post-Grunge

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, those too. Other than Lene Nystrøm (and, later, Stargate), not a lot of Norwegian contributors to all that crap though :-)

And, in a way, Aqua were fun. I mean, hardly masterpieces, but at least they had proper melodic tunes, and they usually kept clear of those oh so sentimental "You mean so much to me I will stay with you for my entire life and I will never leave you" ballads that the boybands tended to make too.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Hmmm. How could I forget about one fifth of A1 when I have even been his athletics coach and everything ;)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

there's a reason why you guys have the highest suicide rate in the world :O (oh, snap!)

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Hmmm. How could I forget about one fifth of A1 when I have even been his athletics coach and everything ;)

This...sounds wrong.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

WHO PUT THE BATTERIES BACK IN THE GEIRBOT?!?

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Is still a fact. Also, my mum was the teacher of Christian of A1 for seven years. And as weird as it may seem, it is true ;)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Please visit my (all-singing, all-dancing, all-black) family in South Carolina, where my 6"5' brothers and dad will be happy to kick the living scheisse outta you while whistling "Dixie" (so you can enjoy the Western melodic tradition on the way out). Thanks.

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

DONNA IS MY NEW HEROINE!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Seems she doesn't accept other people having other opinions on music.

(and btw, the boy/girl band genre is mainly a "white" genre, but still crap)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes yes I think the key fact is being lost here.

How could I forget about one fifth of A1 when I have even been his athletics coach

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't accept white people having opinions on music which totally discount the idea of music being made by non-whites, she replied

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:52 (twenty-two years ago)

who is Donna Brown? and can we crown her?

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't accept white people having opinions on music which totally discount the idea of music being made by non-whites, she replied

Ever heard of Jimi Hendrix? Lenny Kravitz? Arthur Lee?

(And with "R&B" I was mainly speaking of 90s R&B, I love a lot of the more melody-oriented stuff that Stevie Wonder did in the 70s, for instance, and the Quiet Storm genre was also generally a good thing)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:55 (twenty-two years ago)

also, late-90s mediocrity is OWNED by DJ Spooky--his rhetoric, his theoretical convolutions, his music that was so lost in the slipstream it was impossible to remember while it was playing, his excessive use of echo to disguise his inability to line up a beat and/or scratch. (as a friend once put it, "DJ Spooky couldn't mix water.")

and yet I like that new Sub Rosa mix CD of his, so what do I know?

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey, don't you watch "Chappelle's Show"? Lenny Kravitz is all-Jewish now, homey. And your big ups to Quiet Storm are quite incongruous for someone who doesn't seem to get out much to meet a woman/man/other to enjoy the Quiet Storm with!

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:58 (twenty-two years ago)

oh yeah--he's good with drones. that's what I know.

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:59 (twenty-two years ago)

The main point about Quiet Storm isn't dancing, it is melodies. Like the main point about all good music.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Foolish me, I thought the point was babymaking.

― Andy K (Andy K), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:02 (twenty-two years ago)

you sound like the proverbial broken record :). Can you get off of "melody" for two seconds? It seems to be your crutch.
Making me ashamed I saw Travis, you are.
Signed, The Only Living Black Chick in Seattle

"...babymaking"- EXACTLY!

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Lenny Kravitz?

― Gear! (Gear!), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Odd '90s-promo tchotchkes/white elephants: Alice in Chains jar of flies; Tori Amos "Cornflake Girl" cereal box; Saigon Kick lizard to promote an album called The Lizard; some Lemonheads putty-type object used to promote Come on Feel the Lemonheads.... more will come to mind...

― Andy K (Andy K), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:05 (twenty-two years ago)

oh, "crutch" is understating it considerably. also: Seattle represent!

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Pearl Jam porch mat... Pearl Jam basketball...

― Andy K (Andy K), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

in the hizzouse

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I received a Coldplay CD that came with a stale cracker.

― Gear! (Gear!), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:10 (twenty-two years ago)

much like Chris Martin, actually

― Gear! (Gear!), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:10 (twenty-two years ago)

whereabouts? I just moved to Eastlake. been back about six months. bunch of Seattle folks on this board hang out--you should say hi sometime.

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Cracker crackers (cracker-ass!). I was hungry; I ate them. Coulda gotten a shitload on Ebay if I'd only exercised self-restraint.

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm on Cap Hill (by the liquor store!) let us do drinks or some such

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Donna's in Seattle? Rah! Another new NW person to meet when I'm there next!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:12 (twenty-two years ago)

the dj spooky mix he did for that home decorating magazine = 10x as good as the one he did for adbusters.

― vahid (vahid), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:12 (twenty-two years ago)

awesome! I'll email you, Donna.

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:15 (twenty-two years ago)

"(and btw, the boy/girl band genre is mainly a "white" genre, but still crap)"
like the Supremes? And the Jacksons? AND Shaznay writing all the songs in All Saints?

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:16 (twenty-two years ago)

And Boyz-II-Men? And Blackstreet? And ad nauseam to infinity...

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:18 (twenty-two years ago)

The way I see it, the boy/girl band trend started with New Kids On The Block. They may have had influences (and several of those were black), but they were still the first of that "let's have an audition and design a slickly produced pop bands for the teenage girls" thing).

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:22 (twenty-two years ago)

What about New Edition????

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Thank you, I was about to post that!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Maurice Starr to thread!

― Kounterklockwiseologist (Andy K), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

New Edition existed for several years without any followers until New Kids On The Block. They were never part of a trend, really.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Keep digging that hole

― Kounterklockwiseologist (Andy K), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:24 (twenty-two years ago)

And, I mean, indie has black influences too. All recent popular music does. Varies whether those influences are pre-funk or not though.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

without any followers

Hm.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

NKOTB didn't have a significant hit until '88. By then, New Edition had about... more than a dozen.

― Kounterklockwiseologist (Andy K), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh my bad -- we're talking about followers, not hits.

― Kounterklockwiseologist (Andy K), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Also, naturally, NKOTB didn't influence anybody at all until the early 90s. By then, New Edition was the now disbanded ex-band that Bobby Brown used to be in.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Because nobody knew who Bell Biv Devoe were. Or Johnny Gill. Or Ralph Tresvant.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:29 (twenty-two years ago)

And, the boy/girl band thing later turned into mainly a UK thing (Backstreet Boys and *N'Sync were later). And I am in doubt about Musical Youth having that much influence on Take That or East 17, really...

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Is This the End, Candy Girl, Popcorn Love, Jealous Girl, Cool It Now, Count Me Out, Lost in Love, Mr. Telephone Man, Kind of Girls We Like, My Secret, A Little Bit of Love, With You All The Way, Once in a Lifetime Groove, Earth Angel, Helplessly in Love, If It Isn't Love, You're Not My Kind of Girl -- all of these charted before or during '88.

― Kounterklockwiseologist (Andy K), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Color Me Badd?

Boyz II Men?

BBD?

the east coast family?

― Gear! (Gear!), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Sorry, Gear!, I think we hallucinated all those, as Geir sez so.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:32 (twenty-two years ago)

that Geir is poison

― Gear! (Gear!), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Berry Gordy owns your black ass, Geir.

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:33 (twenty-two years ago)

POISON!!

― Gear! (Gear!), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Lookin’ for a mellow fellow like HonGro

― Kounterklockwiseologist (Andy K), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:36 (twenty-two years ago)

"Kounterklockwiseologist" is pretty funny but I think I prefer another of your bad creations, "Manuel Gottbling"!! What happened to him anyway?

― Broheems (diamond), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Because nobody knew who Bell Biv Devoe were. Or Johnny Gill. Or Ralph Tresvant.

Evidently not. You see, you need a man with Stromsgodsetivity...

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Thursday, 29 January 2004 21:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Gottbling gott up 'n' left, I suppose.

If there's anyone who should get the new alias, it's you, broheems.

― Kounterklockwiseologist (Andy K), Thursday, 29 January 2004 21:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I know, the joke is way stale. Can I have Manuel Gottbling?!

― Broheems (diamond), Thursday, 29 January 2004 21:32 (twenty-two years ago)

You could've had it if you hadn't knocked my current alias!

― Kounterklockwiseologist (Andy K), Thursday, 29 January 2004 21:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Okay... You can have it as long as you use the umlauts over the 'o'.

― Kounterklockwiseologist (Andy K), Thursday, 29 January 2004 21:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Remember the Caroline compilation named after the MTV show Amp? They sent out soap-on-a-rope with that one. I still to this day don't know what that means.

Another one: Kid Rock styrofoam #1 hands, but with the middle finger up.

― scott m (mcd), Thursday, 29 January 2004 21:37 (twenty-two years ago)

― Broheems (diamond), Thursday, 29 January 2004 21:37 (twenty-two years ago)

NOFX's blow-up sheep, complete with, ahem, 'orifice', to promote Heavy Petting Zoo. eww!

― Hayden Nicholls (Pop the Weasel), Friday, 30 January 2004 06:00 (twenty-two years ago)

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