Wasn't this the year GRUNGE took the music scene by storm? You can't tell it looking at the final tally of Top 40 songs for 1991!

1991 was the biggest year for me personally since 1986. It was the year I embarked on a 5-year relationship and moved out of the house!

There's a lot of crap on this list, but some gems scattered about too.


1. (Everything I Do) I DO IT FOR YOU Bryan Adams

2. BLACK OR WHITE Michael Jackson

3. RUSH RUSH Paula Abdul

4. EMOTIONS Mariah Carey

5. GONNA MAKE YOU SWEAT (Everybody Dance Now) C & C Music Factory

6. THE FIRST TIME Surface

7. I DON'T WANNA CRY Mariah Carey

8. JUSTIFY MY LOVE Madonna

9. BABY BABY Amy Grant

10. CREAM Prince & New Power Generation

11. ALL THE MAN I NEED Whitney Houston

12. SOMEDAY Mariah Carey

13. I ADORE MI AMOR Color Me Badd

14. COMING OUT OF THE DARK Gloria Estefan

15. MORE THAN WORDS Extreme

16. I LIKE THE WAY (The Kissing Game) Hi-Five

17. ONE MORE TRY Timmy T

18. UNBELIEVABLE EMF

19. WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN Michael Bolton

20. SET ADRIFT ON MEMORY BLISS PM Dawn

21. ROMANTIC Karyn White

22. LOVE WILL NEVER DO (Without You) Janet Jackson

23. GOOD VIBRATIONS Marky Marky & the Funkybunch

24. YOU'RE IN LOVE Wilson Phillips

25. JOYRIDE Roxette

26. I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT YOU Londonbeat

27. THE PROMISE OF A NEW DAY Paula Abdul

28. IT'S SO HARD TO SAY GOODBYE TO YESTERDAY Boyz II Men

29. I WANNA SEX YOU UP Color Me Badd

30. DO ANYTHING Natural Selection

31. TOUCH ME (All Night Long) Cathy Dennis

32. P.A.S.S.I.O.N. Rythm Syndicate

33. RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW Jesus Jones

34. CAN'T STOP THIS THING WE STARTED Bryan Adams

35. EVERY HEARTBEAT Amy Grant

36. IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER Lenny Kravitz

37. FADING LIKE A FLOWER (Every Time You Leave) Roxette

38. MOTOWNPHILLY Boyz II Men

39. HIGH ENOUGH Damn Yankees

40. HOLD YOU TIGHT Tara Kemp

2. BLACK OR WHITE Michael Jackson -- The song is okay but I *really* liked the video, especially the melting/melding faces at the end!


5. GONNA MAKE YOU SWEAT (Everybody Dance Now) C & C Music Factory -- You gotta hand it to C & C MF for bringing aerobics-class music to the top 40! I guess that image is what kept them from giving scale-tipper Martha Wash credit at first and got 'em in "Milli Vanilli"-style hot water!


6. THE FIRST TIME Surface -- I still pull out my cassette single of this once in a blue moon.


8. JUSTIFY MY LOVE Madonna -- Didn't Lenny Kravitz write this? Hmmmm....


9. BABY BABY Amy Grant -- the sweet flipside to "Justify My Love".


12. SOMEDAY Mariah Carey -- Guilty pleasure when I'm feeling sassy.


15. MORE THAN WORDS Extreme -- Okay, I liked this a lot, very sweet and the 2 long-haired dudes were hella-cute. They had another song, "Hole Hearted" which I also liked.


18. UNBELIEVABLE EMF -- This has to be THE ultimate 1-Hit Wonder song!


20. SET ADRIFT ON MEMORY BLISS PM Dawn -- For my money, PM Dawn did the finest sampling I've ever heard (Spandau Ballet's TRUE) and this feel-good song is a favorite of mine even today.


22. LOVE WILL NEVER DO (Without You) Janet Jackson -- WOW! Janet looked SO hot in this video!


23. GOOD VIBRATIONS Marky Marky & the Funkybunch -- Loved, loved LOVED this. What a fun song and Marky was/is UNGODLY hot!!!

31. TOUCH ME (All Night Long) Cathy Dennis -- Okay, but I preferred Dennis' "Just Another Dream". Note: Dennis co-wrote CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD which was a big hit for Kylie Minogue recently.


33. RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW Jesus Jones -- Great tune, sadly recently bastardzed for a commercial but I guess Jesus needed the cash.


36. IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER Lenny Kravitz -- A VERY sexy first single for Lenny.


39. HIGH ENOUGH Damn Yankees -- LOVE this!

1. (Everything I Do) I DO IT FOR YOU Bryan Adams

Adams had some better-than-average rockers earlier in his career ("Summer of '69," "Run To You," etc.). But this just shows that wimping out can be very profitable indeed.

2. BLACK OR WHITE Michael Jackson

I agree, Lash. Okay song, better video.

19. WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN Michael Bolton

Percy Sledge sizzled on the original. Bette Middler sizzled on the 1980 remake. But this version just barely got lukewarm.

25. JOYRIDE Roxette

The only other Roxette song (besides "The Look") that I enjoyed. They had a way of making very catchy, breezy songs about nothing.

36. IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER Lenny Kravitz

Kravitz puts out either really good rockers ("Are You Gonna Go My Way") or execrable ones (his remake of "American Woman"). This pastiche of Motown is somewhere in between: A respectful homage that's instantly forgettable once you've heard it.

39. HIGH ENOUGH Damn Yankees

I wanted to like Damn Yankees. I really did: On paper, it sounded unbeatable: Ted Nugent, Tommy Shaw of Styx and Jack Blades of Night Ranger. But this sounded like a watered-down version of its members' former bands.

A very, very bland year, indeed. Bring on the Grunge!

Hey now! Actually this was the only decent song on that list. And I only say that because I was singing it to Caroline in March of the next year (1992) while we were driving down to Fillmore, Utah to get married. I'm surprised that she didn't jump out of the car.

LOL!

Scott that's equal parts sweet, romantic and cheesey!

(an unbeatable combination-- she knew what she was doing!)

The only song I like from this sorry bunch is No. 26. "I've been thinking about you" by Londonbeat. And I like that song a lot.

STILL amazed at the lack of Nirvana on that list.

I thought Nirvana didn't explode onto the scene until '92?

My pre-1996 memory is a little hazy. I know most of the songs on this list scared an elementary school Cobie (I was 10 years old), and throughout the next few years, I would gradually come to love the music of the mid-1990's. Kids like me, who were pre-teens and teens in the 90's, were generally horrifed of the music from 1985 - 1991.

Although Boyz II Men, and my ability to recall their songs in college, did help score me my g/f! Every college girl loves a little Boyz II Men!

ehh 91 wasn't that bad a year "hair metal" was finally laid to rest, (mostly, except for maybe Guns-n-Roses' use your Illusion's 1&2) and we had that slight buffer zone before we got deluged by that little nuisance from the seattle area. and that "gansta" stuff from the west coast buy folks that hadn't realized that jeri-curls had gone the way of brake dancing.

According to Rock Stars Encylopedia, by Dafydd Reese and Luke Crampton, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" hit # 6 on January 11, 1992, so Nirvana's first hit was still moving up the charts in late '91. As these surveys typically ran from November of one year to November of the next, it's not surprising that Nirvana had to wait another year to be listed.

This song has been going on in my head all night. It's very cute IMO.

"Just Another Dream" is a favorite of mine. I was really into the AC stations in 1991, even though I was only 17.

"Can't Get You Out of My Head" was a good song, but I don't think I'll ever forgive Cathy Dennis for writing Katy Perry's voyeuristic and exploitive "I Kissed a Girl."

Ulp.

I confused "Just Another Dream" with "Too Many Walls."

Little blonde moment there, even though I haven't been blonde since 2006.

SURFACE "The First Time":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gBP63bev30

I kinda miss sweet stuff like this and Atlantic Starr

Lord God almighty this brings the memories coming back... *dabs tear*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AOVf9p9ht4

Me, too. Ahh, the good old days...

Nevermind was released in '91 but didn't catch on until after that. Same with Badmotorfinger, though I remember rockin' out to "Jesus Christ Pose" on New Years.

Semi-related: "1991: The Year Punk Broke" the Doc that follows Sonic Youth and Nirvana on tour, is FINALLY coming out on DVD/Blu-Ray. Nothing like being timely.

With all due respect, anything that samples "True" by Spandau Ballet does nothing to endear the music of 1991 to me or convince of of that era's originality.

I still haven't heard very many of these songs. I think I'll keep it that way.

Hey, c'mon. It's not like I lied to you all about being a great big snob.

HOLD YOU TIGHT Tara Kemp
http://youtu.be/BeZ3QV_IJXc

i remember jamming to this and blasting it loud on the old Alpine.

Revisiting some top 91 tuneage.

Awww, shut up. It's adorbz.

18. UNBELIEVABLE EMF &

33. RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW Jesus Jones

were the two li'l thothkins liked a great deal from the list.

There's a bit of a gap to...

5. GONNA MAKE YOU SWEAT (Everybody Dance Now) C & C Music Factory &

Then there's a bit of a cliff.


26. I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT YOU Londonbeat are at the bottom of it, for reasons that escape me. I think they may have looked genuinely surprised at their success.

But the water at the bottom of the cliff is an abyss where most of the rest of the list are. Large boulders chain Bryan Adams albums to the bottom. But, to their credit, they are piled on top of Color Me Badd and Roxette.