Not all of these songs were released in 1997-1998, but they were all played heavily enough on Top 40 radio or VH1/MTV in those years that I became familiar with them then. Watching these videos, it's incredible how young some of the artists look, like babies (now that I am older than they were in 1997), and how some of these artists haven't changed much at all (Celine Dion).
My 1997-1998 playlist of 38 songs:
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| Natalie Imbruglia in the late 1990s source: Natalie Imbruglia's Facebook page |
- "Tubthumping," Chumbawamba
- "I Love You, Always Forever," Donna Lewis
- "Barely Breathing" Duncan Sheik
- "Save Tonight," Eagle Eye Cherry
- "Stay," Lisa Loeb
- "I Will Buy You A New Life," Everclear
- "Let Me Love You Down," INOJ
- "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," Green Day
- "I Don't Want To Wait," Paula Cole ... a song that defined half a generation, thanks to one teen show's theme song. I have to press mute when the opening credits hit when I play my "Dawson's Creek." Who remembers the armpit hair controversy? I credit that to her never becoming a Top 40 mainstay.
- "How's It Going To Be," Third Eye Blind
- "Sunny Came Home," Shawn Colvin
- "Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart)," Backstreet Boys
- "Bittersweet Symphony," The Verve (not to be confused with The Verve Pipe below)
- "Breaking All The Rules," She Moves
- "Fly," Sugar Ray ... McG directed this, who knew he did music videos before moving onto bigger and better things?! Better yet, who knew he was an original member of Sugar Ray before Sugar Ray was Sugar Ray?!
- "Torn," Natalie Imbruglia ... I still don't really understand what's going on in this video.
- "The Way," Fastball
- "Building A Mystery," Sarah McLachlan
- "You Make Me Wanna," Usher
- "How Do I Live," LeAnn Rimes
- "The Freshmen," The Verve Pipe
- "Never Ever," All Saints
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| Blackstreet source: Blackstreet Facebook page |
- "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems," Notorious B.I.G.
- "Show Me Love," Robyn
- "Truly, Madly, Deeply," Savage Garden
- "No Diggity," Blackstreet
- "Praise You," Fatboy Slim
- "Together Again," Janet Jackson
- "If You Could Only See," Tonic
- "The Boy Is Mine," Brandy and Monica
- "Semi-Charmed Life," Third Eye Blind
- "I Do," Lisa Loeb
- "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing," Aerosmith
- "Ray of Light," Madonna
- "As Long As You Love Me," Backstreet Boys
- "My Heart Will Go On," Celine Dion
I try my best to approach today's music with an open mind, but really, music just seemed so, so much better back then. Never mind the quality, but it seems like there was just a ton more diversity in music. Alternative still had a steady place on pop charts. The only time I can think of between the late '90s and now when the musical atmosphere was similar to the late '90s was maybe 2004-2005. Of course, by then I wasn't really listening much to the radio and probably gained a pretty skewed perspective of what was being played. A lot of my favorite songs, to this day, come from this period of the late '90s.
And to be honest, I haven't seen some of these music videos before. Like Donna Lewis? Or INOJ. I didn't even know what they looked like until now! Similarly, I didn't realize how attractive some of these artists were until now, simply because I was all too focused on Nickolas Gene Carter and his baby blues back then.
What song defined 1997 or 1998 for you?
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