Most of my 90's musical tastes were heavily influenced by that lumbersome behemoth: THE RADIO. My family was never of any great affluence growing up, so vinyls, cassettes, cd's, etc...were very few and extremely far between seen in our domain.

In addition to the prevalence of radio, growing up in the blue-collar, steel worker town of Pittsburgh, PA also was a bastion of power in determining what music I favored. As you'll see below, it was some time before I began favoring dance, hip-hop

Some of the greatest radio stations I recall (most have changed format/genres) from the era are as follows:

WDVE (102.5 DVE)...genre: classic & album-rock

WXDX (105.9 The X)...genre: modern & alternative rock

WKST (96.1 Variety 96)...genre: pop and r&b

WPGB (104.7 The Revolution)...genre: popular alternative rock

Naturally, I had a penchant for the big name bands coming out of Seattle in the early 90's, as well as a hankering for other obscure or "not-so-likely-favorites-you'd-expect-from-a-10-year-old-girl-in-Western-PA." These included: Tom Petty, Kansas, Erasure, etc...

Neither here nor there, all of the above setup was to let you in on how I came to determining some of my choices for my Top 10 Most Underrated Songs of the 90's. Let's do it.





Aerosmith released Nine Lives in 1997, the band's twelfth studio album. There are 3 recognizable songs from the album, but most casual A'Smith fans don't recall the third. Pink was their biggest hit, garnering Aerosmith a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. Hole in My Soul was a passionate ballad that jumped to #1 on the charts for a brief time.

Last, but not least, is Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees). Not to say that this song wasn't a success, (it landed at #1 five seperate times throughout 1997-1998), but it's not the most memorable of tunes. I, for one, absolutely love the song. Now that I'm older and much wiser, I can understand the double entendre of the song's title.

Best lyric: "I'm major in love, but in all minor keys..."



Aerosmith - Falling in Love (is Hard on the Knees)





Smoke was the fourth and final single from Natalie Imbruglia's debut album Left of the Middle. It was released on October 11, 1998 and contained a number of remixes. The single reached #5 in the UK but just missed the top 40 in Australia, peaking at 42.

It found extremely minimal airplay on the US charts and on MTV.

VH1, however, LOVED it.

Best lyric: "Bleeding is breathing, you're hiding underneath the smoke in the room..."




<Natalie Imbruglia - Smoke





The Spice Girls released Say You'll Be There as the second single in Australia and Europe, and became the group's second number-one single in the UK where it was certified platinum. It was also very popular across Europe where it reached the top ten in most of the charts. As a result of its popularity, the song was released in Canada and the U.S., and it entered the top three on both charts, however, soon became the focus of much public lambasting.

The song received mixed reviews, some critics praised "Say You'll Be There" as a catchy song, others dubbed it as merely a bid for credibility.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from All Music Guide said about the song that "what is surprising is how the sultry soul of Say You'll Be There is more than just a guilty pleasure". Meanwhile, Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly called the song "a bid for street cred".

Best lyric: (the chant) "I'll give you everything on this I swear...just promise you'll always be there!"



Spice Girls - Say You'll Be There





Gel is the first single off of Collective Soul's self-titled second album. The track reached #2 for one week on the Billboard mainstream rock music chart, but waded around #14 for the remainder of it's extremely brief tenure on the chart.

Not a whole lot else is known about the tune, and finally locating the video was a pain. Other than that, the song absolutely shreds faces off. Oh, the song was featured in Jerky Boys: The Movie. That is all for this one.

Best lyric: "Let's mingle and make it well. Come together now...yeah let's gel."



Collective Soul - Gel





Given the preface to this entire post, my list would not be complete without adding in some Live. Why, you ask?

Live hails from York, PA. In reality, it's nowhere near Pittsburgh. BUT! In 6th grade, we had a new girl enter our class. And she was from York. I was one of the few who befriended her, and would go over to her house on Saturday afternoons and play Nintendo Summer Games, complete with the PowerPad. All the while, she would keep trying to convince me that this band from her hometown was so good, and they were going to be megastars. We would listen to early Live demos on repeat for hours.

When "Throwing Copper" came out, all I could do was look at Carla Zambito, and shrug. She was right. She rocked, as does the song Selling the Drama.

Best lyric: "...and to Christ: a cross...and to me: a chair...I will sit and earn the ransom from up here..."



Live - Selling the Drama





This one's going out on a limb here. Because everyone only seems to remember Killing Me Softly and Ready or Not off of The Fugees album, The Score, I'm inclined to give love to Fu-Gee-La.

Fu-Gee-La was actually the first single from the album. The song was contains a sample of If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Right by Ramsey Lewis, while the chorus is based on Ooh La La La by Teena Marie. Here's where we get interesting...

It is the highest-selling single from the Fugees, and has been certified gold by RIAA.

Take that, Killing Me Softly.

Best lyric: "See hoochies pop coochies, for Gucci's and Lucci...Find me in my Mitsubishi, eatin' sushi, bumpin' Fugees."



The Fugees - Fu-Gee-La





Human Nature was the fourth and final single from Madonna's 1994 album Bedtime Stories. While Human Nature became Madonna's second consecutive single not to enter the top 40 in the U.S.(peaking at #46), it still was a smash on the dance and club charts.

It contains the angry and confronting line directed towards her critics : "I'm not your bitch don't hang your shit on me." While effective, the profanity would have caused problems for the song to be played on contemporary radio. The radio edit of the song cut this line out, thus reducing the bite the song otherwise would have had. In the "Chorus Door Slam with Nine Sample" version of the song, a door is literally heard slamming over the word "shit".

This was another one of those videos that my sister and I would sneak to watch on MTV when my parents went to the grocery store or simply left us unattended for more than 5 minutes. (we were very sheltered....shows, doesn't it?!?)

Best lyric: "Did I say something wrong? Oops, I didnt know I couldnt talk about sex." (said in the most innocent tone ever)



Madonna - Human Nature">





Gratitude is the 4th track on the album Check Your Head by the Beastie Boys. It was released on April 21, 1992.

The bass guitar uses a distortion pedal on it, paving the way for acts such as Rage Against the Machine, Bush, and other alterna-rock acts to follow the trend set forth by 3 white emcees from Brooklyn.

Although released as a single, Gratitude never made it onto the mainstream rock/rap charts. The success of So Whatcha Want and Pass the Mic clearly outshined the lesser known single, however, it still remains one of my favorite Beastie Boys tracks to this day.

Best lyric: "Things they bounce just like a Spaulding...What'd you think you miss your calling."



Beastie Boys - Gratitude





Tonight, Tonight was the fourth single and second track from The Smashing Pumpkins third album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, and was released in April 1996. Tonight, Tonight was critically acclaimed and commercially well-received upon its release. Additionally, the music video accompanying the song was successful, and has won several awards.

Tonight, Tonight was met with positive critical acclaim. Many critics hailed the swirling and grand, expansive rock anthem, complete with soaring guitars and a 30-piece string section. The use of harmonics whips into a frenzy by hurricane-like strings.

While Tonight, Tonight never approached the chart success of 1979, it was among the most successful singles from Mellon Collie. Its highest position was at number four on Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks.


Best lyric: "And you know youre never sure, but youre sure you could be right...If you held yourself up to the light..."



The Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight





This is probably the most obscure track on my list, and rightfully deserving of the top spot.

Blak Pudd'n was the 6th (6th!!) single released off of SWV's highly successful debut album, It's About Time. The song is a vast departure from their smooth r&b vibe and silky vocals as seen on Weak, I'm So Into You and Rain.

This song, rather, has an early 90's gangsta rap hook and ferocious beat behind the back and forth dialogue vocals.

I cannot find this video anywhere (if anyone can locate, PLEASE pass along my way)

So instead of the video for my #1 Most Underrated Song of the 90's, I'll leave a sampling of the best lyrics. There are way too many to pick just one.

Best lyric 1: "So pull down the shades cause my neighbors are kind of nosy...comfy, cosy, now off with the clothes-y."

Best lyric 2: "I heats up the mic 'til your blood prssure rises...it ain't the kind of pudd'n Bill Cosby advertises."

Best lyric 3: "Undercover lover, in between the sheets...as the bed springs creak, while I rips up the beat"

SWV - Blak Pudd'n