I grew up in Chicago and was living there throughout the 1990’s. These were good years. I had a job as an entry level graphic designer, a little money in my pocket and the energy to stay up late and go out often. In that time, the Chicago alternative music scene was kind of a big deal. Seattle exploded and every label was looking for the next scene. There was a lot happening in Chicago, there always is, it’s a seminal music city. However, there weren’t any big rock & roll success stories out of Chicago for a while. Then along came the Smashing Pumpkins. They exploded and a feeding frenzy of bands out of Chicago signing with major labels was underway. Many of these bands were really good. All of these bands were chewed up and spit out by their label and even the biggest of them all, the Smashing Pumpkins started giving their music away for free. The Chicago scene featured many good bands, but it also clearly defined this was the beginning of the end of the music industry as we all knew it. In the beginning of the decade the scene was propped up and somewhat manufactured, by the end of the decade, there was no longer a local music scene anywhere because the digital age of distribution was here.
The second hour of the show was dedicated to the music scene I experienced first hand, the 1990’s Chicago alternative music scene.
Here’s the playlist:
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Violet Eyes – Meat Puppets
Sick And Tired – Everclear
Million Dollar Man – Ammonia
Talkin’ – Ty Segall
Tranny Takes A Trip – Salem’s Pot
World Corp – Filthy Lucre
Urethane – Fu Manchu
Small Talk – The Ponys
Mouthful Of Air – Catherine Wheel
Sound Of Her Laughter – Sugartooth
Appalachian Springs – The Verve
You On The Run – The Black Angels
Siva – Smashing Pumpkins
Revved Up – Triple Fast Action
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around – Loud Lucy with Louise Post
Drown – Smashing Pumpkins
Tin Foil – Urge Overkill
What Girls Want – Material Issue
Songs About Girls – Catherine
I Know You Love Me – Smoking Popes
Never Said – Liz Phair
Goodbye To Guyville – Urge Overkill
Volcano Girls – Veruca Salt
Quiet Storm King – Fig Dish