Here are 10 songs I strongly associate with my years as a student disc jockey, production guy, newscaster, sports commentator (!?!?) and other stuff at SUNY Brockport’s mighty 89.1 WBSU (now the Point). This isn’t a Top 10…it’s just 10. And you’ll notice it’s a lot of one-hit-wonders and stuff. I obviously remember playing huge artists like Smashing Pumpkins, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, etc etc etc. But I find that to really bring on the nostalgia, you have to go with the one-hit-wonders.
Aimee Mann, “That’s Just What You Are”
The former lead singer of Til Tuesday. This was one of the earliest songs I played on WBSU-FM. Everybody started out on WBSU-AM which was heard on speakers in dining halls and plug-in radios in the dorms. When I got the bump to 89.1 a fellow who now calls himself Justin Tyme trained me on the ways of FM.
“This Is How We Do It,” Montell Jordan
“It feels so good…in my hood..tonight.”
“I Believe”, Blessid Union Of Souls
I’m probably only including this one because it was playing at our local pizza place and I identified it to Kalin Krohe within the first 5 seconds. I generally score about 90% at identifying songs at Sam And Louie’s, which is a better skill than it appears to be because they never have the same music playing in there twice.
“Roll To Me”, Del Amitri
A one-hit wonder I believe…a snappy, peppy little tune…
“I Love You Always Forever”, Donna Lewis
“You’ve got…the most unbelievable blue eyes I’ve ever seen.” We’re getting into 1996 which was the summer that I played sidekick to future CNN Washington Correspondent Ryan Nobles (“and his posse”) on the WBSU morning show. Despite the fact that I have hosted a morning radio program for 20 years (with or without sidekicks), I still feel like I make a better sidekick than lead man.
“Breakfast At Tiffany’s”, Deep Blue Something
Another one-hit-wonder, and another huge song from ’96.
“Semi-Charmed Life”, Third Eye Blind
Doot doot doot. Doot doo doo doo, doot doot doot, doot doo doo doo.
“Closing Time”, Semisonic
For somebody who virtually never drinks, this song got stuck in my head pretty quickly.
“Truly Madly Deeply”, Savage Garden
Billboard’s #4 song of 1998, my last year at Brockport.
“When I Come Around”, Green Day
Including this for a couple of reasons. We played a lot of Green Day on WBSU, but also I remember my dear friend Pat Adriance had a Green Day T-shirt. He wore it frequently in 1995 which was the year we first started to be chummy. Which brings me to…
BONUS TRACK: “Piss Up A Rope,” Ween
Pat introduced me to this track from Ween’s album “12 Golden Country Greats.” For some reason I lump Ween’s country album in with the deranged guy who sang 22 second songs with titles like “Rock and Roll McDonald’s.” Probably because we listened to both artists in the music room, deep in the back of the WBSU Studios.
NOTE: This track contains naughty words. A LOT of them. Parental Discretion Advised.
Well, where do we go from there? Uh…well, I will at some point do a sequel with songs from community college radio days. So stay tuned for that. And in the meantime, what songs represent 1994-1998 to you? Share them in the comments!
Since Behr stole Kenny Wayne Sheppard, I will thief her Royal Oil…
Thank you for including Ween and Green Day in your selections. I have absolutely no memory of that t-shirt, but that’s not saying much. This blog stirred up a lot of great memories for me, especially the hours spent just listening to new and unusual tunes in the back room. That was like paradise to me!