I grew up in a town big enough to have a few radio stations but small enough that most every station was effectively "mainstream." The nuance of "alternative rock" on the radio for me was non-existent; indeed, alt rock was played alongside pop pretty regularly. So I have to ask if I lived in your alternate universe, because a good chunk of these songs *were* mainstream hits in my market.
In fact, I'm really surprised they weren't everywhere. I couldn't escape "Do You Sleep" if I tried (not that I'd want to, as I still have a crush on Ms. Loeb to this day). "Long Way Down" was attached to the soundtrack to "Twister," so it got ridiculous airplay. "Misery" and "Strange Currencies" were equally omnipresent.
And while they didn't play much in my hometown, FM 96 based in London, Ontario, played the hell out of Matthew Sweet and Hum, so those tracks were also always on.
I know the Telecom Act of '96 destroyed a lot of these regional variations, but it's still fascinating to point out these differences.
Were you all in larger markets during this time? Smaller? My hometown is about 120,000 people, so hardly a bustling metropolis, but small enough that mainstream included a fair amount of alternative rock.
It's all relative. While many of these songs were played, there were others that were played much much more. So what if Hum was bigger than Smashing Pumpkins? What if Long Way Down was bigger than Name? What if Pulp had two major hits in America in 1995?
The list is compiled from all our panel members who lived in various parts of the country (Wisconsin, Cleveland Ohio, Buffalo NY, Atlanta, Los Angeles) and reacting the billboard hot 100 and modern rock charts.
Fair points. I find the topic fascinating, especially in the 1994-1996 range. That's when I started really getting into new music, so it's personal for me, but it's also a massive time of change and upheaval in how music was consumed and curated.
In my article about Beck and "Loser" a few weeks back, I pointed to a shift in the way Billboard magazine charted hits. Prior to spring 1994, the Modern Rock charts were dictated by a handful of radio stations and programmers, so it makes sense that the biggest "hit makers" of the time were legacy British and Australian acts, largely past their commercial prime. When Nielsen data started being used in '91 on the Hot 100 and '94 on the Modern Rock charts, the alternative charts flipped to U.S. based rock acts, or British/Australian derivations of that sound (like Bush or Silverchair).
The Hot 100 was unique in this time, too, since record labels weren't releasing commerical singles, so strong album cuts weren't charting.
I'll pay attention to the Modern Rock chart peaks of the songs you all listed when I get there chronologically on my newsletter. As for a list of "alternate universe" hits: I can't really say off the top of my head, since at least half of what's in your alternate universe was my lived experience. I heard more Lisa Loeb in 1995 than Smashing Pumpkins on the radio in my market, more "Long Way Down" than Red Hot Chili Peppers. I suspect if you performed this exercise using 2000 as your baseline, our lived experience would overlap a lot more given how homogeneous music became when radio distribution started merging nationwide.
This was a fun article and great thought experiment! Appreciate your collective insights and the interesting discussion!
I'm a fan of those Matthew Sweet and Lisa Loeb songs. They were both on heavy rotation for me in '95.
Same here!
I also liked Stars and Army of Me - if only!
I grew up in a town big enough to have a few radio stations but small enough that most every station was effectively "mainstream." The nuance of "alternative rock" on the radio for me was non-existent; indeed, alt rock was played alongside pop pretty regularly. So I have to ask if I lived in your alternate universe, because a good chunk of these songs *were* mainstream hits in my market.
In fact, I'm really surprised they weren't everywhere. I couldn't escape "Do You Sleep" if I tried (not that I'd want to, as I still have a crush on Ms. Loeb to this day). "Long Way Down" was attached to the soundtrack to "Twister," so it got ridiculous airplay. "Misery" and "Strange Currencies" were equally omnipresent.
And while they didn't play much in my hometown, FM 96 based in London, Ontario, played the hell out of Matthew Sweet and Hum, so those tracks were also always on.
I know the Telecom Act of '96 destroyed a lot of these regional variations, but it's still fascinating to point out these differences.
Were you all in larger markets during this time? Smaller? My hometown is about 120,000 people, so hardly a bustling metropolis, but small enough that mainstream included a fair amount of alternative rock.
It's all relative. While many of these songs were played, there were others that were played much much more. So what if Hum was bigger than Smashing Pumpkins? What if Long Way Down was bigger than Name? What if Pulp had two major hits in America in 1995?
The list is compiled from all our panel members who lived in various parts of the country (Wisconsin, Cleveland Ohio, Buffalo NY, Atlanta, Los Angeles) and reacting the billboard hot 100 and modern rock charts.
What's your list?
Fair points. I find the topic fascinating, especially in the 1994-1996 range. That's when I started really getting into new music, so it's personal for me, but it's also a massive time of change and upheaval in how music was consumed and curated.
In my article about Beck and "Loser" a few weeks back, I pointed to a shift in the way Billboard magazine charted hits. Prior to spring 1994, the Modern Rock charts were dictated by a handful of radio stations and programmers, so it makes sense that the biggest "hit makers" of the time were legacy British and Australian acts, largely past their commercial prime. When Nielsen data started being used in '91 on the Hot 100 and '94 on the Modern Rock charts, the alternative charts flipped to U.S. based rock acts, or British/Australian derivations of that sound (like Bush or Silverchair).
The Hot 100 was unique in this time, too, since record labels weren't releasing commerical singles, so strong album cuts weren't charting.
I'll pay attention to the Modern Rock chart peaks of the songs you all listed when I get there chronologically on my newsletter. As for a list of "alternate universe" hits: I can't really say off the top of my head, since at least half of what's in your alternate universe was my lived experience. I heard more Lisa Loeb in 1995 than Smashing Pumpkins on the radio in my market, more "Long Way Down" than Red Hot Chili Peppers. I suspect if you performed this exercise using 2000 as your baseline, our lived experience would overlap a lot more given how homogeneous music became when radio distribution started merging nationwide.
This was a fun article and great thought experiment! Appreciate your collective insights and the interesting discussion!
We go much deeper in the podcast episode that inspired the mixtape https://open.substack.com/pub/digmeout/p/songs-of-1995-roundtable?r=3h3n0&utm_medium=ios