Written on February 16, 2010 at 9:33 PM by Chuck Norton

Editorial: The Curious Case of the Missing ’90s

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Moist's album Silver was one of the forgotten treasures of 1994

Saturday night, I posted a set list via Twitter (@_DeadJournalist) containing 21 songs that even the most ardent music fan surely has forgotten.

The songs, which spanned from 1992 to 1998, were primarily college/alternative/indie artists with a few dark wave tracks at the end. Among the artists I played were The Dambuilders, dada, Adam Schmitt, Schtum, Ass Ponys, etc. (For a complete set list, go to the bottom of this post.)

It was great pulling out albums from my collection – some of the songs I hadn’t heard in at least a decade – but it reminded me of a re-occurring thought that I’ve never fully put into an article.

Whether the forgotten ’90s?

Now that we are a generation removed from the time-frame, it seems that most music-heads, journalists and fans seem to focus on Grunge, Brit-Pop or Indie/College Rock of the era. But why does no one remember (or play) the other great music from that time-frame?

It’s what I call the Alterna-pop, the songs that may have gotten radio play, but never really had a genre to call their own.

Who are these artists?

They range from the North Carolina artists that seemed to dominate the early ’90s. Artists like The Connells, Dylon Fence, The Grapes and The Ocean Blue.

Or how about the singer-songwriters, the most popular of which was surely Matthew Sweet, but also included the likes of Schmitt, Jonny Polonski and even Abra Moore.

British artists aren’t immune. While many people only remember Oasis or Blur, what about Catherine Wheel, Suede and Lush?

I could go on and on …

I realize it is impossible for every artist and song to stay relevant, but even with satellite radio, internet radio, etc, there still isn’t a home for these artists – and dozens more like them – whose music deserves more than to be completely forgotten; especially when many sound as fresh and current as many of today’s artists.

I will most likely try to feature videos by these artists this weekend, but given the restrictions many of the videos of the era have on them, I’m unsure of the success I’ll have posting them.

All I can ask is that you dig through your collection and see what you have hiding the archives.

Saturday Night Obscure ’90′s Set List
1. Remy Zero – “Prophecy”
2. Ruby – “Paraffin”
3. Moist – “Machine Punch Through”
4. VAST – “Touched”
5. The Dambuilders – “Shrine”
6. Tripping Daisy – “I Got A Girl”
7. Ass Ponys – “Little Bastard”
8. The Bloodhound Gang – “Fire Water Burn”
9. David Garza – “Disco Ball World”
10. Howlin’ Maggie – “I’m A Slut”
11. Afghan Whigs – “Honky’s Ladder”
12. Spacehog – “In The Meantime”
13. Lazlo Bane -”Overkill”
14. Sponge – “Plowed”
15. Magnapop – “Slowly, Slowly”
16. Schtum – “Skydiver”
17. dada – “Diz Knee Land”
18. Adam Schmitt – “Felt So Cool”