100 Greatest Songs of the 90s: 80 - 61

80: I’m Too Sexy/Right Said Fred: Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

79: Bitch/Meredith Brooks: On the outskirts of the Lillith Fair movement, this was one of the few songs of that ilk that had some teeth. Apparently, I adopted it as a mating call for a couple of decades.

78: Are You Gonna Go My Way/Lenny Kravitz: Who knew Helen Willis’s son could rock the fuck out? Great driving song. Derivative, yet awesome.

77: It Was A Good Day/Ice Cube: Because it’s totally gangsta to ask the question “Are we there yet?” Right, pimp?

76: Run Around/Blues Traveler: Harmonicas weren’t that cool since Jake and Elwood. And watching the video, it makes me feel less guilty about midnight trips to Waffle House.

75: Jump/Kriss Kross: If you wear your pants backwards, doesn’t it make it really hard to piss at a ballgame?

74: Believe/Cher: I grew up with the Sonny and Cher variety show, and fondly recall such “classics” as “Dark Lady,” “Half Breed” and “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves (again, apparently a mating call)" For a singer in the post-Sonny era, I sure liked her in Silkwood.

73: Sex and Candy/Marcy Playground: Another of those buy the CD and listen to one song over and over again tunes. Good god, this was a fun song, and one that strongly defines the 90s for me. If I had an Ipod, this would definitely be on it. Add “booze” and “smokes,” and that’s pretty much a biography. And what’s the recipe for “disco lemonade?”

72: One Week/Barenaked Ladies: Funny. Canadian. Catchy. Plus, it had Starsky and Hutch’s Torino and the General Lee in the video.

71: Tennessee/Arrested Development: The show was much better than the band. Come On!

70: Virtual Insanity/Jamiroquai: Quite possibly, my favorite song of the entire decade. Soulful, funky, danceable, quirky. I always break out this CD during drunken living room dance parties. Of course, my living room floor didn’t keep moving underneath my feet. (at least until after the second bottle of Crown) Oddly, the first time I heard this song was in Russia.

69: Freak on a Leash/Korn: I like corn on the cob. Creamed corn. Candy corn. Sex and candy corn. But Korn? Er, no.

68: Getting’ Jiggy Wit It/Will Smith: Yeah, it’s kinda stupid. Yeah, Big Willie is a much better actor. But this is enjoyable, no? And I actually recalled the “sample” from Sister Sledge (I was a spawn of disco in the 70s, and remember “He’s the Greatest Dancer.”).

67: Groove Is In The Heart/Deee-Lite: You can’t sit down when you hear this. Don’t tell me this isn’t totally kitschy psychedelic fucking hot.

66: I’ll Be/Edwin McCain: If Journey, Styx and Foreigner all had kids, and their kids had cavities, and the cavities recorded a song, this would be it.

65: The Humpty Dance/Digital Underground: I don’t like my oatmeal lumpy, nor my girls in the BK bathroom (though Krystal has worked on occasion).

64: Peaches/the Presidents of the United States of America: I’m from the peach state, but really don’t remember this song at all.

63: Mo Money Mo Problems/Notorious BIG with a bunch of “featurings” I don’t feel like typing. The sentiment, of course, is true. Thank god there are hookers, taxes, smokes and football tickets to alleviate those troubles.

62: I Alone/Live: I always wondered about naming your band “Live.” If they release a live album, is it Live Live? Or Live2? Still, this an angry fucking fist pumping, head shaking rock tune. Kids today would say, “wow, this sounds like Daughtry.” An under recognized band from the 90s, and their “Lightning Crashes” is one of my favorites.

61: All I Wanna Do/Sheryl Crow: First time I heard this, I was at a party hosted by an asshat who would become one of the two people to totally ruin my life (self-responsibility, like batteries, not included). Still, it’s fun.