1993: The Year of Popular Music In Review
Published August 08, 2007
1993 definitely wasn’t a groundbreaking year in the pop music world but it wasn’t an awful year either. It’s safe to say that by 1993, alternative music wasn’t quite “alternative” anymore and dance music, for the most part, had retreated back to the underground. The Hip-Hop explosion continued while traditional R&B music took a back seat.
Perhaps 1993 will be best remembered as a year when Michael Jackson, the self-proclaimed “King of Pop,” allegedly became the fallen King of Poop. In a rare Oprah interview, Michael surprisingly turned the bad press he had been getting for the past year around. As a result, his Dangerous album rebounded, turning “Heal the World,” “Who Is It,” and “Will You Be There” into hits. But as the alleged child sex pervert learned, you can only fool the public for so long. Oh, we also learned that if you are rich, you can buy your way out of trouble.
Although dance music seemed to move underground in 1993, Ace of Base started to pick things up with their release of The Sign, the biggest guilty pleasure album of the 1990s. The album didn’t fully catch on until 1994, but “All That She Wants,” the first single, certainly made the rounds of radio stations in late 1993.
The most successful artist of the year was Whitney Houston, whose Bodyguard soundtrack, as well as all the singles released from it, sold by the millions. In March of 1993, “I Will Always Love You” posted its 14th week at number one, a new record that would soon by broken by Boyz II Men. Meanwhile, Whitney clone Mariah Carey also had a successful year with the release of the album Music Box.
After a two year absence, Janet Jackson returned to the pop music world with a vengeance as her Janet album became the biggest international selling album of her career. The once plump Jackson turned into a petite sex symbol and wasn’t afraid to verbalize orgasmic thoughts in her music. It’s such a shame that these days Ms. Jackson is remembered more for a floppy tit than any of her musical output.
On December 16, 1993, Nirvana gave what is often considered the best Unplugged performance ever for MTV. Even though Kurt Cobain would sadly leave us four months later, this performance lives on forever.
Here are my picks for the ten best singles of 1993:
1. “Everybody Hurts” by REM: Out of all the singles REM has released, this is the one that stands out the most. The lyrics are simple, but extremely effective. Michael Stipe’s vocal performance on this single is also extremely impressive. Some of the lyrics include: “If you're on your own in this life/the days and nights are long/When you think you've had too much of this life, hang on.” The song became an inspiration for people to ride out bad times and hang on for better days.
Daryl, who thinks that both Democrats and Republicans are ruining our country, is a freelance writer who writes articles on politics, technology, and entertainment. If you want to send him feedback on any of his articles (good or bad) don't hesitate to email him at report345@yahoo.com.
- 1993: The Year of Popular Music In Review
- Published: August 08, 2007
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Lists, Music: Pop
- Writer: Daryl D
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Comments on this article
Daryl D's personal weblogComments
DAMN! You got me! But I'm not blaming it on myself (lol), but rather the two artists for being named "Robin" and having the title of their song called "Show Me Love." (LOL) NO WONDER WHY THE VERSION I WAS TALKING ABOUT SEEMED SO LATE 1990S!
Ok, now the Daryl haters on Blogcritics are gonna rag on me for this, but they would be right this time.
This article brought back alot of memories-thanks! I think you can be forgiven for your Show Me Love error as Entertainment Weekly once made the same mistake. That said my favorite single of 1993 was "Fields of Gold" by Sting.
Some ok choices. Here are mine-
Best-
1. Two Princes-Spin Doctors
2. Man on The Moon-REM (or was that 1992?)
3. Come Undone-Duran Duran
4. Deeper and Deeper-Madonna (was that 192?)
5. Last Song-Elton John (I may have the wrong title it was the one he did about Aids)
Don't let the haters get to you...You're a good writer...even if you can't tell a Robyn from a Robin S.
argh...
my worst list form that year would include just about all the stuff the Article listed as "the best"
the best from that year?
Sober by Tool from the Undertow album
the album's debut was huge...gold that year, platinum the next..even with all the flack over content and censorship as well as lack of airplay
your mileage may vary
Excelsior?
Gonzo:
My brother looked at the list and he completely agreed with you. I guess everybody has different tastes. But I'll tell you, this article was very difficult to write because the year was so bland, in terms of "popular music." Notice how I even said, in the title, the year of "Popular Music." So, you can't criticize me for not listing unknown acts, although there were probably a lot of good ones.
I'm looking forward to writing my 1994 and 1995 articles because there is a lot more to work with.
lol daryl...
but "unknown" act?
a gold album is unknown?...hitting #50 on billboard at release is unknown?
ah well..i totally agree with you about different tastes, and it was noted by me that you had used "popular" in the title..
so no real Objections, since it's limited to pop songs...
but still....
heh, hope ya enjoyed the video
Excelsior?
All I have to say is:
Death - Individual Thought Patterns!
By and Far the most progressive/pioneering release for 1993! F*ck gold albums & F*ck Billboard because, in my opinion, they are absolutely useless benchmarks in the realm of creative & satisfying... R.I.P. Chuck Shuldiner!!
(No offense Gonzo, I understood your point)
none taken Brian..i grok yer point in fullness
a drummer friend of mine turned me on to Death, good stuff, imo
Excelsior?
and not a word about a great album from 1993...Smashing Pumpkins' "Siamese Dream" :(
oh, well, I guess that's why this is called a review of POPULAR music...and not a review of good music.
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I think you are confusing "Show Me Love" by Robyn with "Show Me Love" by Robin S., which did come out in 1993. The one you mentioned didn't chart until 1997.