As a guy, born in 1981, I love 1980s music, even though I only got to know most of these songs long after the 1980s. The music that I grew up with - besides my father's record collection with 1960s, 1970s and 1980s music - came from the early 1990s though.
Or, to rephrase that, I got my first cassette recorder in 1991 or 1992, as did my twin sister. It was a radio cassette player. From that moment onwards, my sister and I started recording our own little radio shows, at times our younger sister joined in too. Our show were full of jokes and we had loads of fun. But we did not merely record our own stuff, my twin sister and I also started listening to a lot of radio and recorded the many songs that we liked. We then made mix tapes with our favorites and played them again and again and again and again...
I also remember making trips to the record store to buy cassettes ( and later CD's ) and to get our hands on the flyer with the so called 'Top 40' of that moment; the 40 most popular songs played on the Dutch radio. Back then, I still liked most of the pop(ular) songs. I hadn't acquired a taste in music yet.
Anyhow, this write up was triggered by a song that I listened to earlier today. It's called 'Mr. Vain' by the German eurodance group Culture Beat. I remember staying over at an uncle and aunt's house ( with my sisters ) and watching MTV in the living room. Back then, MTV still stood for Music Television. All of a sudden, this song popped up and it really left an imprint on me. I don't remember if I had already heard it before - on the radio - but this was the first time I saw the music video. It was kind of sexy ( although I was just an innocent 11 year old kid ), clearly adult material and I hardly understood English back then ( we had only just started learning English in school. Different times, haha! It was a great song though.
I must have listened to it hundreds of times. And up till today, whenever I give it a listen, I really feel it, deeply, from the very first seconds. The beat, the rap, the voice of the female singer plus a healthy dose of nostalgia. It just makes me feel very good.
I never forgot the grape eating and kissing scenes of the music video. I didn't know what to think of it. Today, I gave the music video another watch and it's definitely not meant for kids. It still puzzles me, but - no matter what - I can't stop but loving this song!
Another song that I remember watch - at what was probably the exact same day at my uncle and aunt's house - was 'Welcome to Tomorrow' by Snap. I must say that it doesn't evoke feelings as strong as Mr Vain, nevertheless, it also makes me feel really good!
What about you? How do you like 1990s eurodance music? Are there any songs that have a special meaning for you? Or did you perhaps grow up in a different decade and do you have a personal - nostalgia induced - music story to share with us? I would love to hear your story...
Mr. Vain by Culture Beat - Original music video:
Source
If you liked the above, make sure to check out this one that I posted 10 months ago:
Everybody is Free to Feel Good - The Wisdom behind a 90s Eurodance Song