Happy Thursday with the next installment of a song series that initially was started by fellow blogger Max from PowerPop in June 2023 and spanned the years 1955 to 1995. This continuation picked up from where he left off, aiming to cover the remaining years up to 2024. Max picks one and I pick the remaining five songs. Let’s close out the last century with a look at 1999.
Tal Bachman/She’s So High
This time, we’re starting with one of my picks by Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist Tal Bachman. He’s also the son of Randy Bachman and a member of the current incarnation of Bachman-Turner Overdrive who Randy revived in June 2023. Tal Bachman is best known for his debut single She’s So High, a power pop song released in February 1999. While I bet it may draw mixed reactions, I’ve loved this song right away. It immediately made me get Bachman’s self-titled debut album, on which it appeared. Yes, the lyrics aren’t exactly Shakespeare, but damn, it’s such a catchy song, and I also dig that jangly guitar sound.
Smash Mouth/All Star
California alternative rock band Smash Mouth were formed in San Jose in 1994. After their July 1997 debut album Fush Yu Mang, which included their first and to date highest-charting hit single Walkin’ on the Sun, they released their sophomore album Astro Lounge in June 1999. It yielded another hit that became the group’s best-selling single: All Star. In the U.S. alone, it has sold more than 3 million copies as of May 2020. All Star, Max’s nice pick, was written by the band’s co-founder and guitarist Greg Camp who is no longer part of their current line-up.
Red Hot Chili Peppers/Californication
For this next pick we stay in California with Los Angeles funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. While my knowledge of their music is limited, I’ve always dug the title track of their seventh studio album Californication, which came out in June 1999. It marked the return of guitarist John Frusciante who first had joined the Peppers in 1988 and played on their August 1989 breakthrough album Mother’s Milk. Overwhelmed by the success of the follow-on, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, he quit in 1992. Frusciante released two solo albums and went through drug rehab for heroin addiction before rejoining the Peppers. He co-wrote Californication with the group’s other members, Anthony Kiedis (lead vocals), Flea (bass) and Chad Smith (drums), which is their line-up to this day.
Santana/Smooth
While Carlos Santana had been recognized as one of the best guitarists for decades, by the time he released his 18th studio album Supernatural in June 1999, he hadn’t enjoyed any significant chart or commercial success since 1981’s Zebop! Adopting a more pop-oriented, radio-friendly sound and collaborating with prominent contemporary artists like Rob Thomas, Lauryn Hill and Ceelo Green gave Santana his most successful album to date. With an estimated 30 million sold copies worldwide, Supernatural is also one of the best-selling albums of all time. Undoubtedly, the smash hit single Smooth featuring Matchbox Twenty lead vocalist Rob Thomas played a key role. Thomas also co-wrote the song with Itaal Shur.
John Mellencamp/Under the Boardwalk
This next pick may come as a bit of a surprise, given it’s a cover of a song that first released by doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group The Drifters in 1964. Well, nobody said covers would be off-limits. More importantly, this rendition by John Mellencamp is one of my absolute favorite covers. Co-written by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick, Under the Boardwalk was included on Mellencamp’s 16th studio album Rough Harvest. This collection of alternate, acoustic arrangements of his favorite tracks was released in August 1999. I’ve come to love it, and it’s among my top 3 favorite Mellencamp albums today.
Foo Fighters/Learn to Fly
And this brings me to the final song pick in this post: Learn to Fly, a track off the third studio album by Foo Fighters, There Is Nothing Left to Lose, which came out in November 1999. For the longest time, I ignored Dave Grohl’s post Nirvana rock band he initially founded as a one-man project in 1994. By 1995, Foo Fighters had become a full-fledged band. Today, apart from Grohl (lead vocals, guitar, drums), their core line-up includes Chris Shiflett (lead guitar), Pat Smear (guitar), Rami Jaffe (keyboards) and Nate Mendel (bass). Learn to Fly was credited to the band’s members at the time: Grohl, Mendel and their original drummer Taylor Hawkins who passed away in March 2022 during a Foos tour in South America.
Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify