Modern Rock Tracks, 4/3/93

The second weekend of March 1993 was notable on a couple of levels. Up and down the east coast, it’s remembered for the late winter Storm of the Century/”bomb cyclone,” a massive low pressure system that formed over Florida and spent a couple of days wreaking havoc as it headed north. Lexington was relatively spared, though travel east and south were well nigh impossible due to snow and high winds.

More locally, I had a blind date that Friday evening, arranged by a friend from college. We met at a record store in the mall, drove to a nearby restaurant for dinner, and wound up renting a movie and watching it back at my apartment (Sister Act, I believe). On Saturday, I was able to drive north on I-75 amid the flying flakes to attend the afternoon wedding of a(nother) college friend.

The date went well enough; she and I wound up seeing each other with varying frequency for a little more than a year. She was certainly nice, but in retrospect it should have been–and maybe was–clear pretty early on (to both of us) there was insufficient long-term compatibility. For whatever reason, it took more time than it should have (at least for me) to fully acknowledge that. I think we more or less made a successful transition to “just friends” before completely losing touch.

Anyway, on to the MRT chart from earlier this month:

29. Dada, “Dim”
I like this driving track much better than “Dizz Knee Land.” Gotta love a line like “Can’t this car go ’cause I can still see where I am.”

28. Ween, “Push Th’ Little Daisies”
I’m on record as being a fan of Pure Guava‘s “The Stallion Pt . 3.” A little of these guys does go plenty far in my world, though.

27. The Candyskins, “Wembley”
Another British troupe that came and went so quickly I didn’t quite notice. Fun little number, I will say.

22. The Tragically Hip, “Courage”
You know, it’s a blot of my record that I know essentially nothing about the Hip. That’ll be changing soon.

18. World Party, “Is It Like Today?”
Right or wrong, I didn’t get into Bang! the way I had the excellent Goodbye Jumbo. I probably like “Give It All Away,” which won’t be discussed in a future installment, better than “Is It Like Today?”

17. David Bowie, “Jump They Say”
Black Tie White Noise was Bowie’s first solo release in six years, a reunion collaboration with Nile Rodgers. At the least it wasn’t nearly the commercial success they’d enjoyed a decade earlier with Let’s Dance.

14. Hothouse Flowers, “Thing of Beauty”
If I heard this thirty years ago I don’t remember, and that’s a shame. “Thing of Beauty” describes the song itself, an uplifting, joyous romp. Hothouse Flowers didn’t come close to getting the Stateside attention they should have.

12. Tasmin Archer, “Sleeping Satellite”
I bought only three of the albums represented in this post–those from World Party, Belly, and Tasmin Archer. That feels a little low for this series?

I think my friends Greg and Katie were the ones to put me on to “Sleeping Satellite.” Really nice tune, and it even went Top 40, reaching #32 in early June.

10. Lenny Kravitz, “Are You Gonna Go My Way”
One of the more memorable opening riffs from this period, and maybe the song among those mentioned here (it’s either this or #4 below) that’s best remembered today?

6. Living Colour, “Leave It Alone”
Vernon Reid and compatriots were back for a third time with Stain, which would turn out to be their last album for a decade. “Leave It Alone” is a more-than-worthy entry in their canon.

4. Sting, “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You”
Don’t know why but it felt to me like it’d been only about a year since The Soul Cages, instead of two. Here’s another sign that my sense of what makes a Top 10 hit was out of kilter, as I would have pegged this as reaching higher than #17 on the Hot 100.

2. Belly, “Feed the Tree”
Easily my favorite song in this post. Tanya Donelly showed, at least for a few shining moments, why she deserved attention outside of her work with Throwing Muses.

1. Depeche Mode, “I Feel You”
Speaking as someone who only knows DM singles (so take what I say with an appropriate amount of salt), “I Feel You” didn’t impress nearly as much as the stuff on Violator. My sense is that Songs of Faith and Devotion was their first post-peak release; you’re welcome to tell me how wrong I am.