In addition to being a guitarist in Brooklyn-via-Jackson, NJ indie rock band Paper Streets, Stephen Stec is a passionate music fan and, it turns out, an avid CoolDad Music reader (for which I will be forever grateful). We were chatting after a show one evening, and I asked Stephen what he'd like to see on the blog.
"More lists," was his immediate response.
"OK," I said. "Make me a list."
Stephen took to his assignment with all the zeal I'd expect of someone who shares my obsession. He gave me not only a list, but also a short history of his subject. It's a long piece; so I figured I'd do the savvy blogger thing and milk it over the next few days.
We'll start today with Stephen's intro and move into items 10-6 tomorrow. I'll give you Stephen's Top 5 towards the end of the week.
So, without further ado, I turn things over to Mr. Stec.
My Top 10 Number 1 Modern Rock Tracks, Introduction
By Stephen Stec, Guitarist for Paper Streets
September marked the 25th anniversary of Billboard’s "Modern Rock Tracks" (currently known as "Alternative Songs"), consisting of songs now pretty much universally described as Indie or Alternative. The list united separate genres of songs that used to be referred to more specifically as Post Punk, New Wave, Grunge, Electronic, etc. "Modern Rock Tracks" tracked all of the radio plays that these singles accumulated from a designated number of different Alternative-oriented stations.
The Billboard "Modern Rock" started out as a spectacular idea that reaped immediate rewards on a multitude of different levels for a multitude of different reasons. It not only, for the first time, documented the underground; but it also HIGHLIGHTED it. Not only were new underground bands given a platform from which to launch, but the list also rewarded legends from the 70s and early 80s with the recognition they were previously unable to achieve. The bands whose songs repeatedly rose to the top of the charts did not just attain cult status like the top Alternative bands in the early 80s. Instead, supported by high-rotation MTV videos, the Billboard "Modern Rock Tracks" spring boarded bands like Nirvana and The Cure (more than a decade into their career) into the cultural symbols of an era.
The history of "Modern Rock Tracks" accurately reflects Alternative culture throughout three different decades -- from its Gothy, Post Punk beginnings, to the era when Alt became mainstream with the Grunge explosion, to Britpop and beyond (aka when EVERYTHING WENT WRONG for a long time). For every remarkable track released within the first eight years or so of the chart’s incarnation, the last eight years have an otherworldly quantity of songs that are quite legendary on their own terms.
Things got soft and dull around 1995. There was a quick shift from The Cure to Chumbawumba once we didn't know what to do after Grunge and Britpop; and, at the turn of the century, Alternative music was in quite a weird place. I couldn’t really find any #1’s from this time to include on this list. The late 90s / early 00s gave us Alt Rok Classix such as “Butterfly” by Crazy Town, “This Is How U Remind Me” by Nickelback, and “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down. Personally, I can’t see how it was much fun to grow up exposed to Alternative radio during this time. Things are better now, and I think we may actually get past Crazy Town.
I also have a weird, skewed memory of these charts; and, to avoid any arguments, I’m going to leave off the songs that crossed over into the mainstream and of which every self-respecting music fan is no doubt quite aware. First of all, it would be no fun. Second of all, we could sit here all day and debate the merits of era-defining songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Wonderwall,” “Loser,” “Losing My Religion,” “1979,” “Seven Nation Army,” “Somebody Told Me,” etc. That just seems redundant. Let’s get a bit obscure. Isn’t that what this chart was initially all about?
Check back tomorrow for the first half of Stephen's Top 10 #1 Modern Rock Tracks. While you wait, why not watch Paper Streets cover one of their idols, Modest Mouse.
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