Song #90: "Hanginaround" by Counting Crows

The countdown of the Top 100 Songs of the 90s continues and this time it's "Hanginaround" by Counting Crows. "Hanginaround" is another song that just snuck into contention for the countdown. It was released in 1999 off of their third studio album, This Desert Life. This single, along with their already existing fan base, propelled the album to platinum status in early 2000. This is just one of many popular singles they have released over the years, but personally one of my favorites. The lyrics are so universal and almost everyone can relate to them at some point in their life.

This is the first time the Counting Crows have been featured on the countdown but I have a feeling that it won't be their last appearance. They had quite a run during the '90s which continued well into turn of the century. They have sold over 10 million albums and have charted 8 singles on the US Modern Rock Charts. They are currently touring in Australia after releasing their fifth studio album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, last year. While their sales numbers have declined over the years, they have such a strong fan base, I doubt they will hang it up anytime soon.

As for the music video, its not quite as good as the song. As with most music videos, it shows the band performing the hit single. Lead singer, Adam Duritz, is seen sitting on a bench at a bus stop where he sees some rather strange things. Check it out and let me know what you think.


Interested in other songs from the countdown? Check out the other Top Songs of the 1990s here.


Popular Rock Music Of The 90s - The Songs That Defined A Decade

Rizzo Music is back with a new article from the "Popular Music of the 90s" series. Last week I made a list of some of the best pop music of the decade and today I am going to share with you my list for the most popular rock music of the 90s. Out of all the lists and playlists I have created in the past, this was by far the hardest to come up with. There are so many great artists and songs that originated in the 90s and deciding on just 5 songs for every year was tough. I tried to get representation out of all the key rock artists and hopefully I didn't forget anyone.

After much debate I was able to compile this list of 90s rock music. There are so many songs that I really enjoy that could not be included due restrictions on space but there are 50 great singles here for your enjoyment.

How it works:
For each genre of music I will rank the top 5 singles from each year in the 90s. I will provide a link for each song (either imeem or youtube, depending on availability) for your listening pleasure.

Disclaimer: These rankings are based on my personal preferences, not on actual popularity. I think of these lists as recommendations. Hopefully these songs will bring back some good memories, and if you have never heard them before, maybe create some new ones.

Interested in 90s Pop and Rap as well? Be sure to check out these lists as well.
90s Pop Music
90s Rock Music

Starting with the year 1999:
1. "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit
2. "Jumper" by Third Eye Blind
3. "Scar Tissue" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. "The Chemicals Between Us" by Bush
5. "Heavy" by Collective Soul

1998:
1. "Inside Out" by Eve 6
2. "The Way" by Fastball
3. "Sex and Candy" by Marcy Playground
4. "Shimmer" by Fuel
5. "Closing Time" by Semisonic

1997:
1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve
2. "Push" by Matchbox Twenty
3. "Everlong" by Foo Fighters
4. "The Freshman" by The Verve Pipe
5. "Everything to Everyone" by Everclear

1996:
1. "1979" by Smashing Pumpkins
2. "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers
3. "Counting Blue Cars" by Dishwalla
4. "What I Got" by Sublime
5. "In the Meantime" by Spacehog

1995:
1. "Lightning Crashes" by Live
2. "Wonderwall" by Oasis
3. "Glycerine" by Bush
4. "Name" by Goo Goo Dolls
5. "Good" by Better Than Ezra

1994:
1. "When I Come Around" by Green Day
2. "Shine" by Collective Soul
3. "I Alone" by Live
4. "Self Esteem" by The Offspring
5. "About a Girl" by Nirvana

1993:
1. "Rooster" by Alice in Chains
2. "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows
3. "Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms
4. "No Rain" by Blind Melon
5. "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine

1992:
1. "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam
2. "In Bloom" by Nirvana
3. "Drive" by R.E.M.
4. "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica
5. "Creep" by Radiohead

1991:
1. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana
2. "Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains
3. "Enter Sandman" by Metallica
4. "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M.
5. "Right Here, Right Now" by Jesus Jones

1990:
1. "Hunger Strike" by Temple of the Dog
2. "Kool Thing" by Sonic Youth
3. "Head Like A Hole" by Nine Inch Nails
4. "Stop!" by Jane's Addicton
5. "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC

Well there you have it. The top 5 songs from each year of the 90s. Thanks for listening and enjoy.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to share your opinion by making a comment below.


Counting Crows' New Album "Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings"

One of my favorite bands, Counting Crows, is set to release their new album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings on March 28, 2008. This is the band's first studio album since Hard Candy was released back in 2002. It has been about six years in between albums, but the Counting Crows still have a strong following since they first released "Mr. Jones" in 1993.

Adam Duritz had this to say about the new album, "Saturday night is when you sin and Sunday is when you regret. Sinning is often done very loudly, angrily, bitterly, violently." The album is split up in to two halves, the Saturday night half and the Sunday morning half.

The Counting Crows are allowing fans to get a little preview of the new album. They recently released two of their new songs, "1492" and "When I Dream About Michelangelo". You can visit their website countingcrows.com or you can click here to download these songs for free. This is a great treat to loyal fans. Neither of these songs are set to be their first single but it gives us a little taste of the album as a whole. "You Can"t Count On Me" will be their first single, set to be released on February 4th.

It is time to get excited about the Counting Crows again.


Top 100 Songs of the 90s

After watching VH1's Greatest Songs of the 90s, I was inspired to start up a series of posts with my picks for the Top 100 Songs of the 1990s. I am going to skip out on the rap songs since I am not that big of an expert on that field of music. I am tempted to include some pop from the 90s but we will see if any of it actually makes the list. I am going to set out a few ground rules for the list and link back to this post for every entry.

Rules (subject to change):
1) An artist can only have up to a maximum of three songs on the list.
2) No rap, Hip-Hop, or R&B will be included on this list.
3) Only singles will be considered for this list.
4) I will accept suggestions but this list is in no way comprised of results from a poll or any form of voting process. It is strictly the opinion of Rizzo Music.
5) And obviously the song must have been released between Jan 1st 1990 and Dec 31st 1999.

Each song will get it's own post with a little history of the song (chart positions, band trivia, song trivia ect.) and the music video. I will constantly update this post with links to each post so that this article may be used to find any song on the list. With each article I will link back to this article so to provide easy access to each song. I hope to write about 1 article pertaining to this list a week so that should set a preliminary completion date for the list on August 20, 2009. It would be nice to finish the list before then but that seems like a realistic date for the amount of work required for this sort of project. Comments? Suggestions? I would love to hear them. Thanks!

Links (More Coming Soon)
Songs 100-91
Song #100: "Take A Picture" by Filter
Song #99: "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn
Song #98: "How Bizarre" by OMC
Song #97: "Meet Virginia" by Train
Song #96: "Down" by 311
Song #95: "Found Out About You" by Gin Blossoms
Song #94: "Greedy Fly" by Bush
Song #93: "The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Song #92: "Don't Go Away" by Oasis
Song #91: "Touch, Peel and Stand" by Days Of The New
Songs 90-81
Song #90: "Hanginaround" by Counting Crows
Song #89: "Man on the Moon" by R.E.M.
Songs 80-71
Songs 70-61
Songs 60-51
Songs 50-41
Songs 40-31
Songs 30-21
Songs 20-11
Songs 10-1

Be sure to sign up for email updates or subscribe with your favorite feed reader to stay up to date with all of the latest additions to the list. If you are having any trouble with this, feel free to email me at "web at rizzomusic dot com".


Summer Hits Playlists

The summer is just around the corner and I will be posting a lot more often, updating you with music news, reviews and more playlists. For this playlist I wanted to give you a little taste of summer as the school year is almost over and hopefully this cold April weather is going to heat up this week. These ten songs might seem very random but they are some of my favorite songs and either have something to do with summer or just remind me of the season. I would just like to point out one song in particular, "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)" by Jason Mraz. This song really has nothing to do with summer but I can remember listening to it constantly just a few summers ago and it seems that it is a song that might have been forgotten. I thought I would bring to light some classics like OMC and some songs you might not of heard of like "Just watch the Fireworks". Thanks for listening and I'm looking forward to a productive summer.

Top 10 Songs You Should Know
1. Steal my Sunshine - LEN
2. How Bizarre - OMC
3. Pinch Me - Barenaked Ladies
4. Run-Around - Blues Traveler
5. American Girls - Counting Crows
6. Summer Skin - Death Cab for Cutie
7. The Remedy (I Won't Worry) - Jason Mraz
8. Just Watch the Fireworks - Jimmy Eat World
9. Sunshine - Keane
10. Blinded (When I See You) - Third Eye Blind

Here's the link for the whole playlist: Summer Hits Playlist Part II

Looking for more playlists? We've got plenty.


Top 10 Songs You Should Know Playlist: Week #9

It's time for another weekly playlist. I know I promised an album review and/or a music video tribute but I was really busy last week. This week I will guarantee both of them. This playlist has no real theme to it other than greatness. Enjoy and thanks for listening once again.

Top 10 Songs You Should Know - Week 9 - Jan. 15-21 2006
1. Everybody's Changing - Keane
2. Get Ready - Live
3. Free to Everyone - Hootie & the Blowfish
4. On Her Mind - Duncan Sheik
5. Conversation - Eagle Eye Cherry
6. Then the Morning Comes - Smash Mouth
7. Landslide - Smashing Pumpkins
8. Long Way Down - Goo Goo Dolls
9. Stop Crying Your Heart Out - Oasis
10. Rain King - Counting Crows

Looking for more playlists? We've got plenty.


Top 10 Songs You Should Know Playlist: Week #4

It is once again time for for another playlist. This time I tried to stick to introducing artists I have not mentioned before, but I don't know how long this will last. I tried to mix this playlist up a little with some really famous artists, some not so famous artists, and lead it off with one of my favorite songs even though it was fairly popular when it was released. "Fast Car" kind of goes against what this playlist is all about, since it was her one of her most famous songs but since it came out eighteen years ago, you might not of heard it yet. These are some of my favorite songs of all-time so please at least check some of them out. It is so hard to choose a favorite from this list but if you are only going to listen to one of them, I would have to go with "Compliment" by Collective Soul. This song is just too good to pass up.

Top 10 Songs You Should Know - Week 4 - Dec. 4-10 2006
1. Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
2. Compliment - Collective Soul
3. Lucky Man - The Verve
4. My Big Mouth - Oasis
5. Stealing Babies - Our Lady Peace
6. Swallowed in the Sea - Coldplay
7. Change Your Mind - The Killers
8. With a Bullet - Sam Roberts
9. Gone to the Movies - Semisonic
10. Have You Seen Me Lately - Counting Crows

Looking for more playlists? We've got plenty.