One of the best pop years of my life: the year when every Poppy Bush Interzone tendency, taking its cue from the awkward giant in the White House, walked with a swagger in its step. Received wisdom accepts the #1 placing of Out of Time as a John the Baptizer moment for when Nirvana would fulfill a decade’s worth of Psychedelic Furs and Siouxsie Sioux crossovers the following January; but in my senior year of high school I savored Amy Grant’s nascent secular stardom, P.M. Dawn scoring Soundscan’s first #1 single with another culmination, this one of Daisy Age hip-hop utopias, Roxette amping up their guitars, The KLF and Jesus Jones sharing car stereo frequency space with Geto Boys, and so on. 1991 didn’t stop.
It’s hard to tell from this list, though, besides the inclusion of Jesus Jones, Color Me Badd, and Seal, although “I Touch Myself” and “Black and White” may qualify. Good on Prince for earning his fifth and last #1 with a glam rip; it distracted us from “Gett Off,” a single I like more now than in 1991 when its sexless strut presaged href=”https://humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2017/12/13/worst-songs-ever-prince-and-the-npg-sexy-mf/”>the even worse “Sexy MF” a year later.
Meh
Negativland – U2
Unrest – Yes She Is My Skinhead Girl
Sound, Solid
Prince – Gett Off
Divinyls – I Touch Myself
Prince – Cream/Horny Pony
EMF – Unbelievable
Metallica – Enter Sandman
Anthrax/Public Enemy – Bring The Noise
3rd Bass – Pop Goes The Weasel
Michael Jackson – Black or White
Color Me Badd – I Wanna Sex You Up
Billy Bragg – Sexuality
Jesus Jones – Right Here, Right Now
The La’s – There She Goes
Good to Great
P.M. Dawn – Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
Crystal Waters – Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)
Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
R.E.M. – Losing My Religion
Naughty By Nature – O.P.P.
Londonbeat – I’ve Been Thinking About You
Geto Boys – Mind Playing Tricks On Me
Ll Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out
U2 – Mysterious Ways
Pavement – Summer Babe
Public Enemy – Can’t Truss It
Seal – Crazy
Cypress Hill – The Phuncky Feel One/How I Could Just Kill A Man
Dream Warriors – My Definition Of A Boombastic Jazz Style
Humanizing The Vacuum 