If I Ever Knock On Wood…

So Alyssa tagged me with this music meme, and it’s taken me this long for me to figure out what exactly it is that I’m supposed to do. But I think I’ve got it figured out.

I turned 18 in 1997. And this list makes me realize how my tastes strayed toward indie, or at least away from mainstream, even then. I can’t stand at least half the songs on the list, and most of the rest made no real impression on me one way or the other. But I was able to pull these out from the pile, for better or worse:

1. Barbie Girl by Aqua – Less for the original song than for the German version that I came across in college. The female singer sounds exactly the same but the male singer sounds like and angry version of Reiner Wolfcastle from The Simpsons, and it’s freaking hilarious. Worth tracking down if you can find it.

9. Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews Band – This was the song that turned me off to Dave Matthews Band for good. I was a really big fan of theirs since I saw them at H.O.R.D.E. ‘94, and I loved Remember Two Things and Under the Table and Dreaming, but this song really turned me off for some reason, and it seemed to be an indication of the direction the band was going in, which I really didn’t like. I went to a DMB concert in ‘98 (primarily because Ben Folds was the opening act), and I remember being extremely bored during DMB’s set.

35. The Impression That I Get by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – This is still a great song ten years later, even if it’s more watered down than their usual fare. Right around when I graduated high school, I picked up the very first issue of Maxim magazine, primarily because it came with a CD attached; this was the only song I remember that was on it. I still have that issue of Maxim somewhere in the basement.

72. Hell by Squirrel Nut Zippers – Ah, the swing craze of the late ’90s. What a mess. This was the only song I liked of that whole fad, though even this song wasn’t particularly high on my list. I saw Squirrel Nut Zippers at a music festival that summer, and it was the quintessential one-hit wonder concert; the crowd was pretty much inert until they played Hell, at which point the crowd sprung to life, and then the band ended their set.

So to keep this weird thing going, I’ll tag Charles, AJay, CJ (at the right place this time), Daryl, and Jason. (And I think it’s fair for you to reference Canadian charts if you’d like if you were Canadian at age 18…)