Though not a landmark year in terms of the introduction of new sounds, genres or trends, 1996 did give us a lot of good songs. Here are 30 of them.
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Throwback Thursday: 1968
Today’s Throwback Thursday playlist makes a strong case for 1968 being the best year for pop music in the rock era. So many classics hit that year. Yes, I know I didn’t include all of them. I didn’t want to be too classic rock heavy, as other genres produced timeless pieces as well. There’ll be a part 2 one of these weeks. Until then, enjoy!
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Throwback Thursday: 1962
A popular misconception that I sometimes fall into is that the years after The Day The Music Died (early 1959) and before The Beatles hit in America (early 1964) the pop chart was pretty dull. Sure, there was a lot of schmaltz on the Hot 100 – there always is – but there was a lot of exciting stuff, too, as today’s Throwback Thursday playlist will attest. Girl groups, Motown, Ray Charles, James Brown, Frankie Valli, Sam Cooke, The Beach Boys and lots of other good stuff made the top 40. Have a listen to thirty of 1962’s best.
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A Public Enemy Playlist
In some ways Public Enemy’s Chuck D is the Eric Clapton of hip hop. Both are very talented guys who espoused bigoted points of view and spread hatred toward those of populations different than theirs. Eric Clapton said “Get the coons out. Keep Britain white.” Chuck D said about gay people “I think they’re a little confused” and supports the anti-Semitism espoused by his fellow Public Enemy member Professor Griff and Louis Farrakhan. (For more on the Clapton’s racism, check out http://www.tunesdujour.com/eric-clapton-england-is-for-white-people/. For more on Chuck D’s homophobia and anti-Semitism, check out http://www.tunesdujour.com/public-enemy-dont-tell-me-that-you-understand-until-you-hear-the-men/.) In his autobiography Clapton wrote that the lesson he learned after all the pushback he received on his comments was “Since then I have learned to keep my opinions to myself.” Two things about that: 1) I think there was a bigger lesson for him to learn, and 2) He made the news in 2021 by speaking out AGAINST measures to stop the spread of COVID-19. Chuck D went on to co-host a morning show on satellite radio alongside Rachel Maddow. I don’t know if that counts as a mea culpa. Though I have a low opinion of Chuck D (and anybody from an oppressed population that seeks to further oppress those from other oppressed populations), I do enjoy Public Enemy’s first four albums. Hear highlights of their career below. I completely understand if you don’t wish for someone who said such horrible things to make money from your music streaming. I rationalized this for myself by acknowledging that Spotify pays hardly anything per stream and my blog playlists don’t get much traffic.
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