Revisit the 1998 Hottest 100

[screech]

As announced (https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/hottest-100-1998-replayed-double-j/), they will be replaying the 1998 count on Double J on Monday 28th January.

This count is personally significant as it is the first time I can remember voting (I think it was the first year of online voting), this was before the maximum of 10 votes was in place so I certainly did not have the level of scrutiny that I have had in later years. A few years ago I worked my way through old emails (for the later ones) and handwritten notes and managed to piece together most of my voted songs going back to 1998. It is interesting to look back and see how your taste has changed, which songs have stood up to the test of time, and which ones just sound dated.

So similar to the "Redo the xxxx draft" threads, with 20 years of hindsight and listening, with the current 10 song restrictions, what would be your 10 songs you would vote for if you had another crack at 1998?

 

[screech]

This is what I reckon I would do now, those in bold I know I voted for at the time, the rest have been added based on what I consider iconic at the time, or are songs I still enjoy today (and ignoring what made the count, or would be likely to):

Voting list (top 10):
The Cardigans - My Favourite Game
Liz Phair - Polyester Bride
Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
Marcy Playground - Poppies
Mike Oldfield - Man in the Rain (feat. Cara Dillon)
Regurgitator - Black Bugs
Snout - Circle High and Wide
TISM - There's Gonna Be Sex Tonite
The Watchmen - Stereo
The Whitlams - Charlie No. 3

Shortlist/Honourable Mentions:
Happyland - Hello
Air - All I Need
Antenna - Come On Spring
Catatonia - Road Rage
Bodyjar - You Say
The Whitlams - Melbourne
Powderfinger - The Day You Come
Powderfinger - Already Gone
No Fun At All - Should Have Known
Scott Weiland - Where's The Man
Massive Attack - Teardrop
VAST - Touched
Bad Religion - The Same Person
Smashing Pumpkins - For Martha
Neil Finn - Sinner
Rancid - Bloodclot
Eagle-Eye Cherry - Save Tonight
Fear Factory - Resurrection
Primus - Scissor Man
Korn - Got the Life
Elliott Smith - Waltz #2 (XO)
Hole - Malibu
Belle & Sebastian - The Boy with the Arab Strap
REM - Daysleeper
Refused - New Noise
TISM - Whatareya?
TISM - The Men's Room
TISM - Professor Derrida Deconstructs
TISM - Ya Gotta Love That
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression That I Get
Pearl Jam - MFC
Propellerheads & Shirley Bassey - History Repeating
The Superjesus - Saturation
They Might Be Giants - Dr. Worm
Grinspoon - Just Ace
Happyland - Don't You Know Who I Am
Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
Pearl Jam - Wishlist
Not From There - Sich Offnen
The Offspring - Have You Ever

 

[Roobs321]

Great news!

That was the first Triple JJJ Hottest 100 I was hyped for (had just turned 10, so knew enough of what would appear). Don't think I actually voted until maybe 2005 or 2006 though.

Of those in the 1998 top 100, I'd vote for these 10 now:
Got the Life - Korn (loved it at the time, remains one of their best singles)
! (The Song Formally Known as) - Regurgitator (Regurgitator stan at the time, remains one of their best singles)
Second Solution - The Living End
Sex & Candy - Marcy Playground (loved it instantly then)
Teardrop - Massive Attack (classic from classic album)
The Impression That I Get - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (never really gets old)
Given to Fly - Pearl Jam (one of their best singles)
No Surprises - Radiohead (the video dipping into the Rage top 50 was my first exposure to Radiohead, still great)
Music Sounds Better With You - Stardust
Shimmer - Fuel


But really, about 80% of that list would slay what ever appears in the 2018 list (despite a great year for music, JJJ tastes have changed).
Also, on release Save The Day was my favourite song for a little bit, Brick likewise for my younger brother. Remember dad loving The Day You Come.

Fave albums from 1998:
1. Mezzanine (Massive Attack)
2. Is This Desire? (PJ Harvey)
3. Without You I'm Nothing (Placebo)
4. Ray of Light (Madonna)
5. Mermaid Avenue (Billy Bragg & Wilco)
6. Yield (Pearl Jam)
7. Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli)
8. Compass Heart (Scala)
9. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel)
10. The Living End (The Living End)
HM: Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, You've Come a Long Way Baby, LP5, Sumo

 

[Cleavy]

was 1998 the peak of Australian 'alternative' music with bands like You Am I, Jebediah, Something for Kate, Powderfinger, Regurgitator, Grinspoon, The Living End, T.I.S.M., The Superjesus etc.?

 

[revo333]

VAST - Touched

Wow, 20 years ago!

I know a guy who was obsessed with the album this song was on.

I must admit looking back it sounded ahead of it's time.

 

[Papa G]

Pretty weak list to be honest.

Always thought the new millennium was the mark the death of good popular music, but it might have been 1998.

 

[thewitness]

This count is personally significant as it is the first time I can remember voting (I think it was the first year of online voting), this was before the maximum of 10 votes was in place so I certainly did not have the level of scrutiny that I have had in later years.

1997 was the 1st year of online voting, it was also the 1st time I voted.

 

[GroggSquad]

was 1998 the peak of Australian 'alternative' music with bands like You Am I, Jebediah, Something for Kate, Powderfinger, Regurgitator, Grinspoon, The Living End, T.I.S.M., The Superjesus etc.?

Berlin Chair is one of the greatest Australian songs ever, but how good were most of those bands really when you take away the nostalgia factor? The 90s overall were a pretty weak decade for Australian music IMO.

In the 1980s we had The Church, Midnight Oil, The Go-Betweens, Icehouse, The Triffids, Hoodoo Gurus, Paul Kelly & INXS releasing music that could be considered somewhat alternative. I would personally say that was the peak.

2015-2016 was also pretty strong with Tame Impala, The Avalanches, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Courtney Barnett & The Drones releasing great albums in that period.

 

[thewitness]

To pick 10 from the H100 of 1998 because right now I can't think beyond that I'd go with these:
Harpoon Jebediah
Heavy Heart You Am I
Teardrop Massive Attack
Intergalactic Beastie Boys
Pure Morning Placebo
Melbourne The Whitlams
Father of Mine Everclear
The Unforgiven II Metallica
Cinnamon Lip Pollyanna
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next Manic Street Preachers


I'll also put my hand up and admit that I was one of those who actually originally voted for Pretty Fly

 

[DIG]

was 1998 the peak of Australian 'alternative' music with bands like You Am I, Jebediah, Something for Kate, Powderfinger, Regurgitator, Grinspoon, The Living End, T.I.S.M., The Superjesus etc.?

Add Silverchair, Spiderbait, Magic Dirt etc and it really felt like there was such a wave of quality acts coming thru during that time before pokies killed so much of the pub scene.

Some cracking festivals back then too like the early Big Day Outs and Homebush. The festivals themselves are better today but in those early days was still great to see so many top local and foreign acts together.

 

[GroggSquad]

The 10 from 1998 I would vote for now (in alphabetical order, with songs that actually made the 1998 H100 in bold):

AIR - All I Need
Beastie Boys - Intergalactic
Beck - Nobody's Fault But My Own
Boards Of Canada - Roygbiv
Gang Starr - Moment Of Truth
Madonna - Drowned World/Substitute For Love
Massive Attack - Teardrop
OutKast - SpottieOttieDopaliscious
Refused - New Noise
Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

Triple J’s Hottest 100 Of 1998

74 Foo Fighters – My Hero
4 Hole – Celebrity Skin
41 Placebo – Pure Morning
21 Marcy Playground – Sex And Candy
73 Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You
12 Ben Folds Five – Brick
14 Blink 182 – Josie (Everything’s Gonna Be Fine)
98 Foo Fighters – Baker Street
49 Hole – Malibu
9 You Am I – Heavy Heart

 

[Mootsy]

The decade for Bands! Musicians!

 

[atlas1]

What I would've voted for:

• The Offspring – Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)
• Ben Folds Five – Brick
• Blink 182 – Josie
• The Living End – Second Solution
• Marcy Playground – Sex And Candy
• The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – The Impression That I Get
• The Mavis’s – Cry
• The Offspring – Gone Away
• Rage Against The Machine – No Shelter
• Fuel – Shimmer

 

[Shai]

As announced (https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/hottest-100-1998-replayed-double-j/), they will be replaying the 1998 count on Double J on Monday 28th January.

This count is personally significant as it is the first time I can remember voting (I think it was the first year of online voting), this was before the maximum of 10 votes was in place so I certainly did not have the level of scrutiny that I have had in later years. A few years ago I worked my way through old emails (for the later ones) and handwritten notes and managed to piece together most of my voted songs going back to 1998. It is interesting to look back and see how your taste has changed, which songs have stood up to the test of time, and which ones just sound dated.

So similar to the "Redo the xxxx draft" threads, with 20 years of hindsight and listening, with the current 10 song restrictions, what would be your 10 songs you would vote for if you had another crack at 1998?

There are a lot of songs I don't like on that list.

My top 10 in no particular order -

4 Hole – Celebrity Skin
6 Regurgitator – ! (Song Formerly Known As)
11 U2 – The Sweetest Thing
51 Pearl Jam – Given To Fly
62 The Offspring – Gone Away
67 Metallica – Unforgiven II
74 Foo Fighters – My Hero
78 Fuel – Shimmer
84 Green Day – Time Of Your Life
94 The Smashing Pumpkins – Perfect

Songs that I would have included in the top 100; again, in no particular order -

Matchbox Twenty - Toss up between 3AM & Push
Sheryl Crow - My Favorite Mistake
Goo Goo Dolls - Slide
Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away
Aerosmith - I Don't Want to Miss a Thing
Eagle-Eye Cherry - Save Tonight
New Radicals - You Get What You Give
Semisonic - Closing Time
The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
Powderfinger - Already Gone or Passenger
Grinspoon - More Than You Are
Jebediah - Harpoon

 

[JackOutback]

Berlin Chair is one of the greatest Australian songs ever, but how good were most of those bands really when you take away the nostalgia factor? The 90s overall were a pretty weak decade for Australian music IMO.

In the 1980s we had The Church, Midnight Oil, The Go-Betweens, Icehouse, The Triffids, Hoodoo Gurus, Paul Kelly & INXS releasing music that could be considered somewhat alternative. I would personally say that was the peak.

2015-2016 was also pretty strong with Tame Impala, The Avalanches, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Courtney Barnett & The Drones releasing great albums in that period.

Well, Powderfinger, Silverchair and You Am I are three of Australia’s biggest ever bands, regardless of nostalgia value. Bands like Something for Kate, the Whitlams, Spiderbait, Regurgitator, Jebediah and the Living End all stand up. Bands like Grinspoon and TISM were more flash in the pan.

The ‘90s was indie rock and grunge whereas the ‘80s was straight up rock, so whatever floats your boat personally. But it holds up and certainly wasn’t weak. I have it well above the ‘80s but then I don’t rate bands like INXS and Icehouse.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

TISM, a flash in the pan. Yeah nah. 80s were not straight up rock also. The underground scene in Sydney around the Darlinghurst area and in the gay clubs produced brilliant music. Ditto Melbourne in St Kilda. The 'Great Sell in' of major record labels trying to suck the well dry with alternative music after Nirvana meant we had to deal with Something for Kate and a heap of other middling bands.

 

[Papa G]

Not that I was a fan but I'd argue Grinspoon were not a flash in the pan and were way more popular/enduring than the likes of Jebidiah, Something for Kate, Regurgitator and Spiderbait.

 

[JackOutback]

TISM, a flash in the pan. Yeah nah. 80s were not straight up rock also. The underground scene in Sydney around the Darlinghurst area and in the gay clubs produced brilliant music. Ditto Melbourne in St Kilda. The 'Great Sell in' of major record labels trying to suck the well dry with alternative music after Nirvana meant we had to deal with Something for Kate and a heap of other middling bands.

Every decade ever has had underground scenes with a variety of music. It seemed we were definitely talking commercially successful though.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

It was described on some book I read about the deals that were signed didn't mean they will make money.

I.E. Spiderbait signed a deal with polydor for $300,000. That money is for them to buy chocolate microscopes, record, tour and do videos etc. All of that has to be made back though the sale of units before the band see a cent. A lot of those 90s bands fell in to debt with their labels and were ultimately screwed. It happened to the Fauves and it's shown in that doco about them when the label calls the lead singer in the recording studio demanding payment. Beaverloop did a song (buy me a phoney?) about it too.

 

[00Stinger]

1. Rage Against the machine - No Shelter
2. Marilyn Manson - Dope Show
3. Foo Fighters - Baker Street
4. Korn - Got the life
5. Massive Attack - Tear Drop
6. Metallica - Unforgiven II
7. Pear Jam - Do the evolution
8. Offspring - Gone Away
9. Rob Zombie - Dragula
10. Josh Abrahams & Amiel Daemion – Addicted To Bass

 

[JackOutback]

It was described on some book I read about the deals that were signed didn't mean they will make money.

I.E. Spiderbait signed a deal with polydor for $300,000. That money is for them to buy chocolate microscopes, record, tour and do videos etc. All of that has to be made back though the sale of units before the band see a cent. A lot of those 90s bands fell in to debt with their labels and were ultimately screwed. It happened to the Fauves and it's shown in that doco about them when the label calls the lead singer in the recording studio demanding payment. Beaverloop did a song (buy me a phoney?) about it too.

Yeah, I remember reading an article that described an unnamed but seemingly successful band where the members took home an average $60,000 or $70,000 for the year after expenses. I mean, still a better way to make money than the rest of us, but hardly the rock star lifestyle we all imagine.

 

[DIG]

You can like the 80’s more but it’s preposterous to say the 90’s were a weak decade for Aussie music. So much good stuff.

The Badloves were another terrific one. Then there’s all those bands that straddled both decades like the Hoodoo Gurus, Boom Crash Opera and Crowded House (they’re ours aren’t they!).

 

[Shai]

You can like the 80’s more but it’s preposterous to say the 90’s were a weak decade for Aussie music. So much good stuff.

The Badloves were another terrific one. Then there’s all those bands that straddled both decades like the Hoodoo Gurus, Boom Crash Opera and Crowded House (they’re ours aren’t they!).

Too bad this 1 was from '97 but yes, had the same discussion with a co worker who said the 80's were crap for Aussies.

 

[DEVO]

1998 marked the decline of listenable, interesting music. But there were still a few songs from the list that I liked back then, and still like now.

32 Regurgitator – Black Bugs
35 Harvey Danger – Flagpole Sitta
57 Garbage – I Think I’m Paranoid
62 The Offspring – Gone Away
75 Rob Zombie – Dragula
87 Garbage – Push It
99 Superjesus – Saturation
100 Not From There – Sich Offnen