Thursday, December 30, 2010

Back to the Nineties

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
 
MAN ON THE SIDE By Paul John Caña Back to the Nineties

It was only a matter of time. Sartorial forecasters have been heralding the comeback of the decade fashion forgot (after the 1980s, that is) for quite some time, and while we’ve seen the comeback of plaid and flannel, we couldn’t really say for sure that the Nineties are upon us once again. It wasn’t like how people embraced the 1980s with the fashion and the music. Heck, there was a time not too long ago that every other Christmas party had the 80s as a theme. New Wave made a comeback (as it does every couple of years or so), but the current decade is almost out and we’ve yet to see a true resurgence of the 10 years immediately preceding the new millennium. Until now.
It seems radio stations are taking the lead in ushering in the return of the 1990s. Magic 89.9 plays nothing but music from the nineties every Saturday, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. That’s right, everything from MC Hammer to Nirvana and Britney Spears. I’m not sure how long it took for them to follow suit, but Mellow 94.7 seems to think there’s something to the formula. “Decade: Nothing but the 90s” stretches from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. also on Saturdays. So theoretically, you can enjoy 15 hours of unadulterated, er, “classics” from the Gin Blossoms, The Backstreet Boys, Boyz II Men, The Spice Girls, Guns N Roses and more. Of course, other stations like Rx 93.1 and Magic 89.9 have their weekly dose of all-retro music, but while they stretch quite a bit farther back into the late 1970s and the 1980s, they do play quite a bit of 90s pop and alt-rock. And for a certified 90s kid like me, that’s pretty awesome. Sure you can pop in your CDs or hook up your iPod to your car stereo and enjoy a preset playlist of your favorite 1990s fare, but nothing beats hearing a favorite song at an arbitrary moment and just soaking in all that nostalgia. Here’s hoping we get more programming directed at us 1990s folk this year.
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John Mayer is up for several more Grammys this year to add to his already cramped trophy closet. And he hasn’t even come up with a new album. (Continuum is over two years old.) But evidently, Grammy voters can’t enough of the guy. And apparently, we can’t either. Mark your calendars as the local Mayer fan group hosts Mayer Night at Route 196 on February 17, 9 p.m. Hear your favorite Mayer songs interpreted by some of the best local rock and acoustic acts. Here’s hoping we get to hear the un-cheesy version of “Your Body is a Wonderland.”
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Fall Out Boy, those poster boys for “who the hell cares” power pop-punk will be back in Manila next month, less than two years after sold-out two-night show at the Araneta Coliseum. On the heels of their latest album Folie A Deux, new dad Pete Wentz and his posse once again conquer the Big Dome in their one-night-only return engagement February 13. Here’s hoping all those screaming tweeners have grown up some and just clap along politely to the band’s screaming choruses (Yeah right. Dream on.)
E-mail the author at pjcana@gmail.com.

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