Whale's not fallen for mini disc players
As our latest Squeamish addition Becky Shepherd has observed the new E4 show My Fat, Mad Diary is worthy of being our new favourite thing on TV. Rae Earl keeps our inner teen alive and, set in 1996, the show comes with a massive dose of nostalgia for those who also navigated the ‘90s and their teens simultaneously. A mean feat considering the ‘90s was a decade that regularly seemed to lose its way style-wise. In recovery from the 1980s we knew we wanted rid of shoulder pads - but how? We didn’t have time to talk about flattering waist lines until 1997 and then were so delighted with hipsters (when the word referred to trousers) (GUYS REMEMBER HIPSTERS?) we took it too far and met the New Millennium with thongs on show. The My Fat, Mad Diary wardrobe is not going to send anyone straight down Miss Selfridge, but the soundtrack? Were this truly the ‘90s we’d all be trundling off to Woolies to rifle through the bargain cassette bin. Rae Earl’s got Oasis, Beastie Boys and Mark Morrison in her ‘90s soundtrack but what would be on ours?
1. The ‘90s took me from being 8 to being 18. I think I would be even stranger than I am if my musical taste had not evolved and changed somewhat over that time. At the start of the decade, I was listening to Kylie (Tears on my Pillow still takes me back to making fake radio shows with my friend where we interviewed Kylie and Jason Donovan about their relationship), Ace of Base and Betty Boo. I'd like to pretend that the embarrassing boy band period never happened for me, but for a year I developed an unhealthy prepubescent fixation on Boyzone, declaring undying love to The One With The Shaved Eyebrow (Keith?) [SHANE it was SHANE. As well you know - Squeamish Kate] and having heated debates at sleepovers about why they were better than Take That (dear 11-year-old me - you were wrong. Take That are a million times better than Boyzone ever were. And they're both a bit shit. Sorry). And then, luckily, before the whole decade was engulfed in a tsunami of nerdiness, I went camping with my Guide group (no, honestly, this is me being rescued from nerdiness). One of the young leaders asked me who my favourite band was and was suitably mocking when I said Boyzone - "don't listen to rubbish like that, you should check out Pulp". So the next weekend, I went down to Woolworths and bought Different Class on tape. And fell in love. It's still one of my favourite albums. I have a Guide leader to thank for making sure I appreciated the ‘90s while they were still happening - from Pulp I got into Suede, Blur, Elastica, the Manics... All the songs that I hear now and take me back to the days of cider and teenage angst. Who says the Guides are uncool? Squeamish Louise
2. Sorry, but I was cool in the '90s. Maybe I peaked too soon, or maybe it was just that growing up in the States meant that I'd never even heard of a boy band, but for me the early '90s was all about shoplifting CDs, spending all the babysitting money on concert tickets, and talking your way backstage afterwards. I'd be hard-pressed to narrow it all down to a soundtrack, though... Do I go for Guns N' Roses era-defining ego opus, Use Your Illusion I & II, or the first tape from my collection that made it to CD, the eponymous Metallica classic better known as The Black Album? Great though they are, when my sister and I waste a morning going through everything '90s we can remember on YouTube, the heavier stuff never seems to make the cut. My soundtrack to the '90s?
Ini Kamoze - Here Comes the Hot Stepper
Warren G - Regulate
Blind Melon - No Rain
Pearl Jam - Jeremy
Sublime - Santeria
Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day
Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
Soul Asylum - Runaway Train
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
Veruca Salt - Spiderman '79
Alice in Chains - Man in the Box
Sir Mixalot - Baby Got Back
Maybe I'm less cool than I thought... F1Kate
3. In the ‘90s I was listening to Swing, not the ‘40s throwing-gals-over-guys-shoulders kind, mind. The ‘90s ‘we-aren't-calling-it-R&B’ kind. My most cherished album was picked up on a Saturday afternoon after watching Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet at Streatham Odeon. In HMV I decided to spend my well-earned babysitting money on the Sisters of Swing album. This may still be the best compilation I ever parted £15 for. SWV Right Here, Brownstone If You Love Me and who can forget Blackgirl 90's Girl? Oh, everyone apparently - but it's good! Squeamish Nicola
4. I was not a child in the 90s. I turned 18 in 1996, so I was legally allowed to create children from 1994! I listened to Pulp and Blur mainly. In fact I listened to the exact same CDs I listen to today - not that I listen to CD these days. Or then even - I had a mini disc player cos even back then I could see digital files were the future of music. Anyway, how can we have a '90s revival? They only just ended a few years back. Shut up - I'm not old! Damned kids. Gareth
5. I began the '90s as a child and ended them as a teenager. I didn’t achieve ‘discerning tastes’ until I hit 19 and London when the '90s were well over. Basically I am trying to defend myself and prepare you for the fact my 90s soundtrack features Billy Joel, eternal and mystery tracks on various mix tapes leftover from my parent’s parties. I wasn’t a Britpop fan, I thought it was OK but hardly seminal. I went to a Britpop night recently and I agree with my ‘90s self, it’s not very impressive. I missed Riot Grrrl; there wasn’t much of an alternative scene at my school. I recall Daniel on the 27 bus giving me a recorded Blur tape. As a teen my friend and I would film ourselves performing hilarious (not hilarious) parodies of the big music videos of the 90s.Torn, Frozen, It’s Like That, (remember the problematic [to me] quotation marks at the beginning of the video, “Jason Nevins” – did it feature Jason Nevins or not?) will all feature heavily in my biopic. As will Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope album and All Saints. Who didn’t stand the test of time like I totally thought they would. I spent a lot of time listening to Randy Crawford, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday and Aquarius (not Hair, just that song). But the song that takes me right back to the 90s, to the Octagon building at my secondary school, lunch time, that makes me unusually nostalgic for school (this never happens; I hated school [please see fondness for Randy Crawford]) is Blink 182’s All The Small Things a gaggle of geeky boys in year 9 covered it in the talent show and became idols of the school. The song signifies the possibility of transformation. And that a guy and a guitar is a cliche for a reason. Squeamish Kate
2. Sorry, but I was cool in the '90s. Maybe I peaked too soon, or maybe it was just that growing up in the States meant that I'd never even heard of a boy band, but for me the early '90s was all about shoplifting CDs, spending all the babysitting money on concert tickets, and talking your way backstage afterwards. I'd be hard-pressed to narrow it all down to a soundtrack, though... Do I go for Guns N' Roses era-defining ego opus, Use Your Illusion I & II, or the first tape from my collection that made it to CD, the eponymous Metallica classic better known as The Black Album? Great though they are, when my sister and I waste a morning going through everything '90s we can remember on YouTube, the heavier stuff never seems to make the cut. My soundtrack to the '90s?
Ini Kamoze - Here Comes the Hot Stepper
Warren G - Regulate
Blind Melon - No Rain
Pearl Jam - Jeremy
Sublime - Santeria
Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day
Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
Soul Asylum - Runaway Train
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
Veruca Salt - Spiderman '79
Alice in Chains - Man in the Box
Sir Mixalot - Baby Got Back
Maybe I'm less cool than I thought... F1Kate
3. In the ‘90s I was listening to Swing, not the ‘40s throwing-gals-over-guys-shoulders kind, mind. The ‘90s ‘we-aren't-calling-it-R&B’ kind. My most cherished album was picked up on a Saturday afternoon after watching Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet at Streatham Odeon. In HMV I decided to spend my well-earned babysitting money on the Sisters of Swing album. This may still be the best compilation I ever parted £15 for. SWV Right Here, Brownstone If You Love Me and who can forget Blackgirl 90's Girl? Oh, everyone apparently - but it's good! Squeamish Nicola
4. I was not a child in the 90s. I turned 18 in 1996, so I was legally allowed to create children from 1994! I listened to Pulp and Blur mainly. In fact I listened to the exact same CDs I listen to today - not that I listen to CD these days. Or then even - I had a mini disc player cos even back then I could see digital files were the future of music. Anyway, how can we have a '90s revival? They only just ended a few years back. Shut up - I'm not old! Damned kids. Gareth
5. I began the '90s as a child and ended them as a teenager. I didn’t achieve ‘discerning tastes’ until I hit 19 and London when the '90s were well over. Basically I am trying to defend myself and prepare you for the fact my 90s soundtrack features Billy Joel, eternal and mystery tracks on various mix tapes leftover from my parent’s parties. I wasn’t a Britpop fan, I thought it was OK but hardly seminal. I went to a Britpop night recently and I agree with my ‘90s self, it’s not very impressive. I missed Riot Grrrl; there wasn’t much of an alternative scene at my school. I recall Daniel on the 27 bus giving me a recorded Blur tape. As a teen my friend and I would film ourselves performing hilarious (not hilarious) parodies of the big music videos of the 90s.Torn, Frozen, It’s Like That, (remember the problematic [to me] quotation marks at the beginning of the video, “Jason Nevins” – did it feature Jason Nevins or not?) will all feature heavily in my biopic. As will Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope album and All Saints. Who didn’t stand the test of time like I totally thought they would. I spent a lot of time listening to Randy Crawford, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday and Aquarius (not Hair, just that song). But the song that takes me right back to the 90s, to the Octagon building at my secondary school, lunch time, that makes me unusually nostalgic for school (this never happens; I hated school [please see fondness for Randy Crawford]) is Blink 182’s All The Small Things a gaggle of geeky boys in year 9 covered it in the talent show and became idols of the school. The song signifies the possibility of transformation. And that a guy and a guitar is a cliche for a reason. Squeamish Kate
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