Did life get in the way? Not really. I’ve just been preoccupied with other things and not in a space to talk about music, so apologies for a somewhat lengthy lag.

1994’s playlist is up. Do I have fun facts? Well, it was the year I moved out on my own. It was the year I turned 18. It was also the year I met Prince. Or, as he was called then, “—————–“ (I don’t think “The Artist” appellation was a thing at this point). I went to my first concert, which was Me’shell Ndegeocello at Irving Plaza. It was a great show, but what I remember more than the performance was a) the militant poet who served as her opening act and caused several sensitive white folks to walk out before she even took the stage and b) the fact that Me’Shell was NOT in a good head space, and concluded a fiery performance by wondering out loud if she even wanted to perform anymore, unstrapping her bass and letting it slam to the floor.

1994 was also the first year that I had any consistent MTV exposure. So in between catching up on the first three seasons of “The Real World” and nursing a massive crush on Judd Winick, I was spending my days off watching the videos for Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How It Feels” and Stone Temple Pilots’ “Interstate Love Song” played seemingly every 15 minutes. On $6 and change per hour, it’s not like I could do much else during days off. I could barely do laundry! How the hell was I able to afford a cable bill? Pretty sure we stiffed Cablevision pretty hard for a minute.

What else? Kurt Cobain died, which wasn’t exactly a shocker (he’d overdosed weeks before). The golden age of hip-hop albums came to a close (depending on your perspective) with the releases of Illmatic and Ready To Die, the latter of which I still have as a promo CD (I think the only thing that’s traveled from place to place longer is my high school yearbook.) I went to Wigstock for the one and only time (I just remember “100% Pure Love” being played so often that I grew to hate the song). Oh, and Ace of Base was inexplicably popular (two words: Clive Davis).

Anyway, here’s the tracklisting.

Interstate Love Song/Stone Temple Pilots
Bang And Blame/R.E.M.
Get It Together/Beastie Boys w/Q-Tip
Prayer For The Dying/Seal
When Can I See You/Babyface
Can’t Get Enough/El DeBarge
One Love/NaS
Unbelievable/The Notorious B.I.G.
Your Body’s Callin’/R. Kelly
Keepin’ My Fingers Crossed/NKOTB
When We Dance/Sting
Inside/Toad The Wet Sprocket
Spin The Bottle/Juliana Hatfield Three
Miss World/Hole
Locked Out/Crowded House
Outside Your Door/Me’shell Ndegecello
Don’t Say Goodbye Girl/Tevin Campbell
My Wave/Soundgarden
Round Here/Counting Crows
Possession/Sarah McLachlan
Leaving Las Vegas/Sheryl Crow
Regulate/Warren G & Nate Dogg
Mass Appeal/Gang Starr
Flava In Ya Ear (Remix)/Craig Mack feat. The Notorious B.I.G., Busta Rhymes, Rampage The Last Boy Scout and LL Cool J
Before I Let You Go/BLACKstreet
This Is Your Night/Heavy D & The Boyz
Cry For You/Jodeci
Streets Of Philadelphia/Bruce Springsteen
You Know How We Do It/Ice Cube
Loser/Beck
Coming Clean/Green Day
All For Love/Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart & Sting
Out Of Tears/The Rolling Stones
Funk Dat (Why Is It?)/Sagat
Keep Ya Head Up/2Pac
I Never Wanna Live Without You/Mary J. Blige
C.R.E.A.M./Wu-Tang Clan
Cannonball/The Breeders
Vibe/Zhane
Ain’t No Fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None)/Snoop Doggy Dogg feat. The Dogg Pound & Warren G