MTV Top 100 Music Videos of 1990

[Woops]

Atleast the overrated "Nothing Compares 2 U"  video (VMA video of the Year) wasn't #1, the only song from Sinead O'Connor I can tolerate and ironically her only mainstream hit (according to VH1 specials, though


"U Can't Touch This" is one of my favorites, but wouldn't place it at #1.



"Opposites Attract" is a great video, though Janet's "Escapade" should be replaced with "Alright", which pays homage to the 1940's and even features a cameo from Cab Calloway.

MTV's Top 100 Videos Of 1990


100. Phil Collins- Hangin' Long Enough
99. Public Enemy- 911 Is A Joke
98. Living Colour- Type (Everything Is Possible)
97. Bruce Hornsby and the Range- Across The River
96. Taylor Dayne- With Every Beat Of My Heart
95. Iggy Pop (featuring Kate Pierson)- candy
94. Cheap Trick- Can't Stop Falling In Love
93. Johnny Gill- Rub You The Right Way
92. Joan Jett- Dirty Deeds
91. Midnight Oil- Blue Sky Mine
90. ZZ Top- Double Back
89. The Time- Jerk Out
88. Robert Plant- Hurting Kind
87. Sinead O'Connor- The Emporor's New Clothes
86. Eric Clapton- Pretending
85. Queensryche- Empire
84. Nelson- After The Rain
83. Lou Gramm- Just Between You And Me
82. Tesla- Love Song
81. D.N.A. (Featuring Suzanne Vega)- Tom's Diner
80. Rolling Stones- Rock And A Hard Place
79. Darryl Hall & John Oates- So Close
78. Michael Penn- No Myth
77. D-Mob- C'Mon And Get My Love
76. Alias- More Than Words Can Say
75. Janet Jackson- Rhythym Nation
74. Billy Idol- L.A. Woman
73. Winger- Can't Get Enuff
72. Digital Underground- The Humpty Dance
71. Richard Marx- Too Late To Say Goodbye
70. Concrete Blonde- Joey
69. Bad English- Price Of Love
68. Whitney Houston- I'm Your Baby Tonight
67. The Black Crowes- Hard To Handle
66. Maxi Priest- Close To You
65. Phil Collins- Do You Remember
64. Technotronic- Pump Up The Jam
63. Don Henley- The Heart Of The Matter
62. Paula Abdul- Knocked Out
61. MC Hammer- Have You Seen Her
60. Wilson phillips- Impulsive
59. New Kids On The Block- Step By step
58. Warrant- Cherry Pie
57. Dee-Lite- Groove Is on the Heart
56. Janet Jackson- Come Back To Me
55. Motley Crue- Kickstart My Heart
54. UB40- The Way You Do The Things You Do
53. Madonna- Oh Father
52. Billy Joel- I Go To Extremes
51. Heart- Stranded

[Woops]

Top 50...

Noticed several from 1989, though probably still in heavy rotation in early 1990. Though wasn't "Free Fallin" (Tom Petty) released in early/mid 1989 (On a SNL musical performance DVD, it stated that he performed  "Free Fallin"   on May 20, 1989)...  


50. Technotronic- Get Up! (Before The Night Is Over)
49. Damn Yankees- High Enough
48. Depeche Mode- Policy Of Truth
47. Kiss- Forever
46. Roxette- Dangerous
45. Tom Petty- Free Fallin'
44. Alannah Myles- Black Velvet
43. Janet Jackson- Love Will Never Do (Without You)
42. Winger- Miles Away
41. George Michael- Freedom
40. Warrant- Sometimes She Cries
39. Snap- The Power
38. Wilson Phillips- Release Me
37. Inxs- Suicide Blonde
36. Phil Collins- I Wish It Would Rain Down
35. Jon Bon Jovi- Miracle
34. Bell Biv DeVoe- Do Me
33. Rod Stewart- Downtown Train
32. Janet Jackson- Alright
31. Motley Crue- Same Ol' Situation
30. Depeche Mode- Enjoy the Silence
29. Glenn Medeiros (Featuring Bobby Brown)- She Ain't Worth It
28. Aerosmith- The Other Side
27. Jane Child- Don't Wanna Fall In Love
26. Heart- All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You
25. Poison- Unskinny Bop
24. Phil Collins- Something Happened On The Way To Heaven
23. MC Hammer- Pray
22. Roxette- It Must have Been Love
21. Motley Crue- Without You
20. Bell Biv Devoe- Poison
19. Aerosmith- What It Takes
18. Janet Jackson- Black Cat
17. Slaughter- Fly To The Angels'
16. The B-52s- Roam
15. Faith No More- Epic
14. Nelson- (Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection
13. Skid Row- I Remember You
12. Wilson Phillips- hold On
11. Poison- Something To Believe In
10. Motley Crue- Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
9. Janet Jackson- Escapade
8. Jon Bon Jovi- Blaze Of Glory
7. Vanilla Ice- Ice Ice Baby
6. Sinead O'Connor- Nothing Compares 2U
5. Paula Abdul- Opposites Attract
4. Aerosmith- Janie's Got A Gun
3. Madonna- Vogue
2. Billy Idol- Cradle Of Love
1. MC Hammer- U Can't Touch This

MTV 120 Minutes Top 20 Alternative Videos for 1990


bold= on MTV's Top 100 for 1990

20.Happy Mondays "Step On"
19. Iggy Pop "Candy" 95
18. The House of Love "I Don't Know Why I Love You"
17. The Stone Roses "Fool's Gold"
16. The Pixies "Dig For Fire/Allison"
15. Cocteau Twins "Iceblink Luck"
14. The Jesus and Mary Chain "Head On"
13. Nine Inch Nails "Head Like A Hole"
12. World Party "Way Down Now"
11. The Soup Dragons "I'm Free"
10. Concrete Blonde "Joey" 70
9. The Cure "Never Enough"
8. Midnight Oil "Blue Sky Mine" 91
7. The Charlatans U-K "The Only One I Know"
6. The Sundays "Here's Where The Story Ends"
5. Sonic Youth "Cool Thing"
4. Sinead O'Connor "Nothing Compares 2 U" 6
3. Peter Murphy "Cut You Up"
2. Jane's Addiction "Been Caught Stealing"
1. Depeche Mode "Enjoy The Silence" 30

[Woops]

Personal Top 25


25. Depeche Mode "Enjoy The Silence"
24. En Vogue "Hold On"
23. Janet Jackson "Black Cat"
22. Lisa Stansfield "All Around The World"
21. Motley Crue "Same Ol' Situation"
20. Ratt "Shame Shame Shame"
19. Digital Underground "The Humpty Dance"
18. Bel Biv DeVoe "Do Me!"
17. Ratt "Lovin' You's A Dirty Job"
16. Deee-Lite "Groove Is In The Heart"
15. INXS "Suicide Blonde"
14. Jane's Addiction "Been Caught Stealing"
13. Janet Jackson "Love Will Never Do (Without You)"
12. Billy Idol "Cradle Of Love"
11. Madonna "Vogue"
10. Taylor Dayne "I'll Be Your Shelter"
9. Faith No More "Epic"
8. George Michael "Freedom '90"
7. Bel Biv DeVoe "Poison"
6. MC Hammer "U Can't Touch This"
5. Warrant "Cherry Pie"
4. LL Cool J "Around The Way Girl"
3. Janet Jackson "Alright"
2. Debbie Gibson "Anything Is Possible"
1. Paula Abdul "Opposites Attract"


added: youtube links

[Out of the Blue]

Overall 1990 and 1991 weren't bad years in music.  It was after that things got bad in music.  By the middle of the decade it was terrible.  That's when I started buying less and less music.

[Woops]

1990... nearly 20 years ago

TV: "The Simpsons" (as a tv show), "In Living Color",  "Beverly Hills 90210", "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", "Tiny Toons Adventures", and the infamous crime drama/musical  "Cop Rock"

Fox Kids, Fox network's Saturday morning block, made it's debut.



Movies: "Ghost" (Patrick Swayze, RIP), "Home Alone", "Pretty Woman"

Music: Mariah Carey releases debut album


Milli Vanilli wins Grammy, which thankfully was taken away when the world discovered that they lip synced.

For some reason, Vanilla Ice was popular.

"Justify My Love" video from Madonna banned from MTV. (though not the first video to get banned from the network)

Billboard #1 Hits of 1990: The Good, The Bad, and the Cheesy

[Woops]

Looking at the list again, noticed that Mariah Carey wasn't ranked on MTV's list.. Though her debut album, would earn her Best New Artist & Album of the Year ("Vision of Love") on the 1991 Grammy Awards.

Though the rest of Mariah's hits from her debut  would be ranked on MTV's Year End of 1991  with  "Someday" ranking at #5. And that she was an MTV favorite throughout the decade. Not to mention her memorable "MTV Unplugged" performance in 1992.


Not really suprised since the MTV Year End lists tend to have some glaring omissions of songs that were widely popular and even artists.

Especially that "Love Will Lead You Back" is one of Taylor Dayne's biggest & most well known songs, and yet only one song from her was ranked ("With Every Beat Of My Heart", from Fall of 1989, towards  the bottom of the list).

...yet another personal list

Worst music videos of 1990:

10. "Don't Wanna Fall In Love" Jane Child

While it's one of my favorite songs, the video looks odd since her style looks more suited for punk or maybe hard rock...

8. Paula Abdul "Knocked Out" (remix)

Mostly archival footage with random clips of boxers...


9. "Fly High Michelle" Enuff Z'nuff

Mind trippin' randomness with doves, rainbows, the band performing on clouds, and a cute woman floating around holding balloons.


7. "Step by Step" New Kids On The Block

It's easy to rag on them, though the video isn't as bad  compared to 1989's "Hangin' Tough". BTW, I actually find "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" tolerable.



6. "After The Rain" Nelson

A disadvantaged youth dreams of going to a Nelson concert, which looks like a dreamy version of Red Rocks. Actually the video isn't that bad (nor good), though mostly because of Nelson's music being bland.


5. "Have You Seen Her" MC Hammer

Mostly because Hammer is wearing underwear for about a minute...wait, isn't he religious?
 

4. "Pump Up The Jam" Technotronic

While a guy is singing, the video features a female model lip synching in front of blue screen.

3. "Justify My Love" Madonna

Overhyped banned  video (which MTV makes it like it's the first to be banned from the channel...  which isn't) that's very much boring and also that the song is one of Madonna's worst, IMHO.

2. "Nothing Compares 2 U" Sinead O'Connor

While it won Video of the Year at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards, it's practically a boring video that mostly shows the singer's face & scenes of some garden. (Heard it was originally from Prince, but can't find the original version since the artist doesn't allow his music on YouTube)

1. "Ice Ice, Baby" Vanilla Ice

Aside from the song & artist (can't think of anything that hasn't been said/written), the video has the worst lighting since it looks as if it was mostly filmed in the dark (can barely make out what the woman wrote with the spray paint)and the extras  looked bored.

[Out of the Blue]

2. "Nothing Compares 2 U" Sinead O'Connor

1. "Ice Ice, Baby" Vanilla Ice

I've never understood why Sinead O'Connor is so beloved by music critics.  She can sing when she wants to but her songs are usually whining and grating to listen to.  I don't think I even have to say anything about Vanilla Ice.  And no, Deborah never went out with him or was romantically linked to him as some blogs have reported.

[Woops]

Sinead's popularity faded after her infamous SNL performance around 1991/1992. Though I think "Nothing Compares 2 U" was her only Top 40 hit.

[Out of the Blue]

Sinead's popularity faded after her infamous SNL performance around 1991/1992.

Talk about something blowing up in somebody's face, that definately did.

[Woops]

1990 was an OK year for music, though wouldn't say it's good or bad. Though every year has it's share of hits & misses. Though I'd pretty much prefer 1990 over 1999 & even this year.




As for music from the '90's, it depends since rap & R&B were still good until 1993 (with few decent songs around 1994/1995). Never into gangster rap with exception of a very few songs (ie "Nothing But A 'G' Thang" from Dr. Dre).

Rock, probably until 1992 with Guns N' Roses "November Rain" ending an era of hard rock.

Alternative was OK, though only a few bands and songs. Also don't listen to '90's alternative as much, though prefer '80's alternative bands from U2, Depeche Mode & The Cure. Never really into grunge except for a few hits like "Black Hole Sun" (Soundgarden) & "Plush" (Stone Temple Pilots).

[Out of the Blue]

Alternative started creeping into the picture in 1990.  It didn't really gain a foothold until two years later but it was beginning to show up.  The funny thing is that a lot of people just didn't like Alternative but it was pretty muched forced on people.

[Woops]

Several alternative bands from REM & The Cure had a few Top 40 hits during the late '80's (ie The Cure's "Love Song", REM "The One I Love")  and U2 became mainstream with "The Joshua Tree" album.

[Out of the Blue]

It was called "Alternative" for a reason, because it wasn't mainstream.  When I was in high school the only people that listened to it were the disaffected ones, the ones on the outer fringes that pretty much shunned everyone else and only socialized within that group.  They usually wore green or black trench coats, often a beret, black combat boots, and they just reeked with cigarette smoke all the time.

[Woops]

Thee whole "anti-corperate" image is very contradicting considering that the bands were given media exposure (ie radio, MTV, etc), sponsors and are signed to major labels.