Was 1994 crazy or what?!?! Generation X lost its voice when it was announced that Nirvana singer/songwriter/guitarist Kurt Cobain had committed suicide back in Seattle after disappearing from an LA drug rehab facility. Next, you throw in the Olympic skating scandal after American ice princess Nancy Kerrigan was knee-capped by some bumbling associates of American figure skater Tonya Harding. And to top off the craziness of the year, O.J. Simpson, America’s sports hero of the Seventies, was arrested in the grisly murders of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ronald Goldman in what many thought was a passion killing involving a steroids and cocaine rage. And those events all took place by the end of June!
Of course, the music of 1994 reflected this insanity. Things were all over the place. Alternative music was running out of steam at this point and beginning to mutate in many different directions. Also, hip hop was coming out of its gangsta rap and jazz-influenced stage and moving into the era of the East Coast versus the West Coast. From the time that N.W.A burst onto the scene in the late-Eighties, rap was dominated by the sounds emanating from the West Coast thanks to Dr. Dre and the whole Death Row crew put together by Suge Knight. Yet, back on the East Coast, particularly in New York City where the whole phenomenon started, Bad Boy Records and its founder/producer/impresario Sean “Puff Daddy” (or is it “Puff,” “P Diddy,” “Diddy,” whatever!) Coombs picked up the reigns with Mary J. Blige and The Notorious BIG. All of a sudden, the hangers-on of the two scenes began a beef that would end tragically in a couple of years.
All kinds of other genres were competing for the mighty US dollar. Phish and the Dave Matthews Band were selling out concerts with their jam band sounds. Punk finally went mainstream in the US with Green Day and a whole bunch of pop punkers in their wake. Heavy sounds were being made in electronic music in the hands of The Prodigy. Plus, there was teeny bopper pop, metal, nu metal, power pop and post grunge music all becoming popular. Hell, even country music was flexing its muscles as it began to incorporate classic rock sounds into their formulas, explaining the success of acts like Garth Brooks.
Perhaps the biggest sign of the schizoid nature of 1994 was the out-of-nowhere success of Hootie & the Blowfish. The band consisted of some genial college buddies who played commercialized music influenced by all the right artists such as R.E.M., Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket. Their music was a terrific pop/rock mix that offend few, not unlike The Doobie Brothers back in the Seventies. Unfortunately, the boys were only able to touch the zeitgeist once and have not been anywhere near the Top 40 ever since. But, in 1994, Hootie & the Blowfish captured lightning in a bottle and subsequently gave America just the tonic it needed during its Lollapalooza hangover.
As I said, 1994 was a crazy year. In my household, I finished up my student teaching assignment at a small rural high school in central Indiana in the spring, clearing the last hurdle in my attempt to change careers. In August, I took my first teaching job at another rural high school to teach biology, botany and environmental science, which I did there for two years before switching over to chemistry. But the insane part of this career change was that I took a 50% annual salary pay cut, all the while putting in WAY more hours of work as I coached three sports. All of a sudden, I went from a well-paid 7-to-3:30 laboratory job to teaching teens biology then coaching cross country, basketball, baseball or track for a few hours after school. Still, the change saved my sanity even though I did not get to stay in the field as long as I hoped I would.
And, there you have it, a small taste of 1994 from my perspective. Now, let’s check out my Top 50 albums for the year.
50. Dave Matthews Band – Crash
49. Pink Floyd – Division Bell
48. Sebadoh – Bakesale
47. Pantera – Far Beyond Driven
46. Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
45. Brandy – Brandy
44. The Prodigy – Music for the Jilted Generation
43. The Black Crowes – Amorica
42. Korn – Korn
41. Blues Traveler – Four
40. Veruca Salt – American Thighs
39. Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible
38. Portishead – Dummy
37. Bush – Sixteen Stone
36. Live – Throwing Copper
35. Morrissey – Vauxhall and I
34. Pulp – His ‘n’ Hers
33. The Rolling Stones – Voodoo Lounge
32. Aaliyah – Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number
31. Neil Young – Sleeps with Angels
30. Oasis – Definitely Maybe
29. The Offspring – Smash
28. Seal – Seal
27. Tori Amos – Under the Pink
26. Alice in Chains – Jar of Flies
25. Boyz II Men – II
24. Madonna – Bedtime Stories
23. OutKast – Southernplayalisticadillicmuzik
22. Blur – Parklife
21. The Cranberries – No Need to Argue
20. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Let Love In
19. Beck – Mellow Gold
18. Jeff Buckley – Grace
17. Mary J. Blige – My Life
16. Stone Temple Pilots – Purple
15. Pearl Jam – Vitalogy
14. Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral
13. Hole – Live Through This
12. Hootie & the Blowfish – Cracked Rear View
11. Nas – Illmatic
10. The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready to Die
9. R.E.M. – Monster
8. TLC – CrazySexyCool
7. Soundgarden – Superunknown
6. The Velvet Crush – Teenage Symphonies to God
5. Tom Petty – Wildflowers
4. Beastie Boys – Ill Communication
3. Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York
2. Green Day – Dookie
1. Weezer – Weezer [a.k.a. The Blue Album]
If My Records Could Talk 