1991 has a certain reputation. We remember it as a landmark year in music–the year that launched grunge, pushed hip hop into new territory, and made high fashion out of New Jack Swing.
But it was also the year that Garth Brooks put modern pop-country on the map; that contemporary Christian rocker Amy Grant scored a #1 hit (“Baby Baby”); that adult-oriented ballad belter Michael Bolton absolutely dominated in singles and album sales.
Good for him…
The point is, 1991 was as much a year of triumph for Middle of the Road (MOR) radio programmers as it was for indie labels and their alternative artists.
We’ll dig a little deeper on all of this below. But first, a look back at…
The Year in History
Straight up…1991 was crazy. It was the year the Soviet Union collapsed. After 50 years, the Cold War was over.
Then Iraq invaded Kuwait, the Gulf War began, the U.S. arrived in the Middle East, and we’ve been there ever since.
In sports, The New York Giants shocked the Buffalo Bills with a 20-19 victory in Super Bowl XXV–a game famously decided by kicker Scott Norwood’s wide right field goal attempt in the closing seconds. The errant kick also began an as yet unmatched streak of four consecutive Super Bowl losses for the Bills.
On fortune’s good side, Michael Jordan netted the Chicago Bulls their first of six championships, Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves crushed it at the Academy Awards, and Sonic the Hedgehog was introduced to the world.
And on one particularly busy July 22nd, both boxer Mike Tyson and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer were arrested for…really bad stuff.
Speaking of bad stuff, this was also the year that motorist Rodney King was severely beaten by 6 white Los Angeles police officers. A shocking video of the incident cast a glaring spotlight on race and police brutality.
1991 was messy and chaotic. So was the year in recorded music. But it was also a monumental year. It seems, especially in reflection, that so many landmark musical achievements were concentrated around this moment.
So how did we mark this year on the charts?
By thrusting Canadian rocker Bryan Adams into the top spot of the year with “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”. It was the theme song from another Costner blockbuster–Robinhood: Prince of Thieves. The song is aggressively cloying, unnecessarily long and guilty of using parentheses in a really confusing way. But…I kind of don’t hate it.
In fairness, I was 11 when this came out. Truly, nostalgia is the enemy of good taste.
But hey, don’t judge. This is a safe space.
Anyway, I don’t hate it…but…I do kind of resent it. This treacly slice of adult contemporary was the number one song in the same year that this happened:
You’ve probably seen this meme. It’s not mine. But the point of it is that these albums all came out over a 44 day period in 1991.
If you were a teenager at the time, this was the moment that blew open your doors of perception.
Metal’s Last Hair-ah (sorry)
1991 was a year of transition. As the year began, hard rock, glam, and hair metal still held the rock dominance they had established in the mid- to late ‘80s.
Metallica’s “Black Album” would go on to become the year’s best selling release.
And the only rock song to reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 that year was Extreme’s power ballad “More Than Words”.
Still, if 1991 should be remembered as anything, it is as hair metal’s last hurrah.
Def Leppard (Adrenalize) and Guns n’ Roses (Use Your Illusion I & II) released their last true blockbuster albums just as Nirvana (Nevermind), Pearl Jam (Ten) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Blood Sugar Sex Magik) released their first true blockbuster albums. It was the opening salvo of the grunge and alternative boom that would rush the charts–and MTV–in the coming years.
MTV Moves Units
College rock went mainstream (R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion”). So too did the topic of female self-gratification (The Divinyl’s “I Touch Myself”). And reaching #1 on the charts in October of 1991–a song on the topic of Mark Wahlberg’s self-gratification (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch’s “Good Vibrations”)
The Hip Hop Alt Boom Looms
Beyond the Funky Bunch, Hip Hop continued its expansion into the mainstream, particularly through a new strain of groove-centric alternative rap featuring hyper-cerebral lyrics and MTV-ready performers including A Tribe Called Quest, Naughty By Nature, and Black Sheep.
Pop Royals Rake It In
Of course, the Billboard charts remained a safe place for reliable pop acts. The year’s Top Ten is rounded out by the usual suspects–Michael Jackson (“Black or White), Mariah Carrey (“Emotions”; “I Don’t Wanna Cry”) and Madonna (“Justify My Love”).
Doin’ A Little East Coast Tour
But increasingly, these artists leaned into the beats and rhythms forged by younger artists in emergent spaces like New Jack Swing (Boys II Men’s “Motownphilly”), hip hop (Salt ‘N Pepa’s “Let’s Talk About Sex”) and dance pop (KLF’s “Justified & Ancient”). Speaking of which…if you weren’t there…there is no way to truly convey to you the omnipresence of C&C Music Factory’s “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”.
For all the bombast of metal and the self-importance of grunge, it may not be off base to argue that C & C Music Factory had the song of the year in 1991.
The 50 Best Songs of 1991
And now, in no particular order, the best songs of 1991…
TL;DR
- “Alive” by Pearl Jam
- “Baby, Baby” by Amy Grant
- “Black or White” by Michael Jackson
- “Bring Tha Noize” by Public Enemy and Anthrax”
- “Check the Rhime” by A Tribe Called Quest
- “The Choice is Yours” by Black Sheep
- “Crazy” by Seal
- “Cream” by Prince
- “Emotions” by Mariah Carey
- “Enter Sandman” by Metallica
- “Girlfriend” by Matthew Sweet
- “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” by C & C Music Factory
- “Good Morning, Captain” by Slint
- “Good Vibrations” by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
- “Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog
- “Iesha” by Another Bad Creation
- “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred
- “I’m Your Baby Tonight” by Whitney Houston
- “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” by Lenny Kravitz
- “I Touch Myself” by the Divinyls
- “I’ve Been Thinking About You” by Londonbeat
- “I Wanna Sex You Up” by Color Me Badd
- “Justified & Ancient” by The KLF
- “Justify My Love” by Madonna
- “Learning to Fly” byTom Petty and the Heartbreakers
- “Let’s Talk About Sex” by Salt-N-Pepa
- “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M.
- “Mama, I’m Coming Home” by Ozzy Osbourne
- “Mama Said Knock You Out” by LL Cool J
- “More Than Words” by Extreme
- “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men
- “Movin’ On Up” by Primal Scream
- “Mysterious Ways” by U2
- “O.P.P.” by Naughty by Nature
- “Outshined” by Soundgarden
- “Rhinoceros” by The Smashing Pumpkins
- “Right Here Right Now” by Jesus Jones
- “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss” by P.M. Dawn
- “She’s So High” by Blur
- “The Show Must Go On” by Queen
- “Silent Lucidity” by Queensryche
- “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana
- “Something to Talk About” by Bonnie Raitt
- “Strike it Up” by Black Box
- “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
- “There She Goes” by the La’s
- “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega & DNA
- “Unbelievable” by EMF
- “Unfinished Sympathy” by Massive Attack
- “You Could Be Mine” by Guns N’ Roses