Past radio playlists: washington dc

I found this over at the blog Substandard Poodle. This was yet another greatest songs countdown that the station did over Labor Day Weekend in 1994.

At first I was a bit annoyed that the author didn't post a text list but rather just pictures of the list, and it was really hard to read when I zoomed in. Then I noticed there was a feature where I could blow the picture up to its actual size, and now I'm able to transcribe the list.

I have to say, I'm really impressed with the variety of this list. There's a lot of big songs from the early '90s of course, but also a healthy amount of songs by artists like Patti Smith and Nick Lowe- neither of whom I think I've ever heard on an alternative station. Plus, there's a lot of B-sides by The Clash, so this is already better than these lists tend to be.

I don't have the time to list every song right now, so bear with me as I do these in increments.

1. Violent Femmes- Blister in the Sun

2. Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit

3. Modern English- I Melt With You

4. R.E.M.- It's the End of the World as We Know it

5. Pearl Jam- Alive

6. The Smiths- How Soon is Now?

7. Smashing Pumpkins- Today

8. U2- Bad

9. Peter Gabriel- In Your Eyes

10. Nails- 88 Lines About 44 Women

11. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Under the Bridge

12. The Cure- In Between Days

13. Jane's Addiction- Been Caught Stealing

14. Depeche Mode- Master and Servant

15. Pearl Jam- Jeremy

16. Soft Cell- Tainted Love

17. 10,000 Maniacs- These are Days

18. Elvis Costello- Alison

19. U2- One

20. Nine Inch Nails- Head Like a Hole

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Bonus: WHFS' top 99.1 songs of 1993

99.1. Ween- Push Th’ Little Daisies

99. Bjork- Human Behaviour

98. P.M. Dawn- You Got Me Floatin’

97. Butthole Surfers- Who Was in My Room Last Night?

96. Bob Geldof- The Happy Club

95. Mighty Mighty Bosstones- Someday I Suppose

94. Tripping Daisy- My Umbrella

93. Pure- Blast

92. OMD- Stand Above Me

91. Ethel Meatplow- Devil’s Johnson

90. Pogues- Tuesday Morning

89. Flaming Lips- She Don’t Use Jelly

88. X- Country at War

87. Mona Lisa Overdrive- Stuck

86. Plan B- Life’s a Beat

85. Afghan Whigs- Debonair

84. Belly- Gepetto

83. Therapy?- Screamager

82. Fishbone- Unyielding Conditioning

81. Boy George- The Crying Game

80. Dramarama- Work for Food

79. Bettie Seveert- Kid’s Allright

78. Suede- Metal Mickey

77. An Emotional Fish- Rain

76. Adam Sandler- Lunchlady Land

75. Velocity Girl- Audrey’s Eyes

74. Snow- Informer

73. Primus- My Name is Mud

72. The Cure- Purple Haze

71. Sting- Fields of Gold

70. Stone Temple Pilots- Creep

69. U2- Lemon

68. Deep Forest- Sweet Lullaby

67. Midnight Oil- Truganini

66. Black 47- Funky Ceili (Bridie's Song)

65. Machines of Loving Grace- Butterfly Wings

64. Connells- Slackjawed

63. Terence Trent D'Arby-She Kissed Me

62. R.E.M.- Everybody Hurts

61. Mazzy Star- Fade into You

60. Aimee Mann- I Should've Known

59. Shaggy- Oh Carolina

58. Pet Shop Boys- Can You Forgive Her?

57. Dada-Dim

56. US3- Cantaloop

55. Dinosaur Jr- Start Choppin'

54. King Missile- Detachable Penis

53. Blind Melon- Tones of Home

52. Paul Westerberg- First Glimmer

51. The Juliana Hatfield Three- For the Birds

50. Pearl Jam- Crazy Mary

49. Tasmin Archer- Sleeping Satellite

48. Gin Blossoms- Mrs. Rita

47. Stereo MC’S- Step it Up

46. Judybats- Ugly on the Outside

45. Soul Asylum- Black Gold

44. Duran Duran- Ordinary World

43. Depeche Mode- I Feel You

42. Cranberries- Dreams

41. Goo Goo Dolls- We are the Normal

40. 4 Non Blondes- What’s Up?

39. Cracker- Low

38. Ocean Blue- Sublime

37. Rage Against the Machine- Killing in the Name

36. Midnight Oil- Outbreak of Love

35. Nirvana- Heart Shaped Box

34. Posies- Dream All Day

33. Counting Crows- Mr. Jones

32. World Party- Is it Like Today?

31. Gin Blossoms- Found Out About You

30. Smashing Pumpkins- Disarm

29. Matthew Sweet- Ugly Truth

28. Depeche Mode- Walking in My Shoes

27. 10,000 Maniacs- Because the Night

26. R.E.M.- The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite

25. The The- Dogs of Lust

24. New Order- Regret

23. Beck- Loser

22. Tears for Fears- Break it Down Again

21. James- Laid

20. U2- Numb

19. Catherine Wheel- Crank

18. Lenny Kravitz- Are You Gonna Go My Way?

17. Lemonheads- Into Your Arms

16. Breeders- Cannonball

15. Porno for Pyros- Pets

14. Living Colour- Nothingness

13. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Soul to Squeeze

12. Spin Doctors- Two Princes

11. Stone Temple Pilots- Plush

10. Stereo MC’s- Connected

9. Gin Blossoms- Hey Jealousy

8. Nirvana- All Apologies

7. Smashing Pumpkins- Today

6. Blind Melon- No Rain

5. Belly- Feed the Tree

4. Cranberries- Linger

3. Pearl Jam- Daughter

2. Radiohead- Creep

1. Soul Asylum- Runaway Train

Friday, August 7, 2015

Bonus: WHFS' top 99.1 songs of 1991

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have a close personal connection to WHFS. Before I moved to the Bay Area, it was my station of choice. Unfortunately, I was too young to have been listening during alternative rock's peak period of popularity, so I've always been curious about what the station sounded like in those days. For the longest time, my resource for that kind of thing has been Rocklists.com, which has year-end countdowns from several important modern rock stations, including KROQ in L.A., 91X in San Diego, Live 105, and yes, even HFS.

This site contains the year-end list for 1992, as well as every year from 1994 to 2004 (The station became defunct in 2005, but has resurfaced on at least two occasions and can currently be heard on 104.9 in Baltimore.) While it is great to see what the station was like musically each year, the lack of 1993 is disappointing as is the lack of any year before '92 (especially 1991, the year that Nirvana's Nevermind catapulted alternative into the mainstream). To make matters worse, Rocklists.com hasn't updated with any new lists since 2008, so I don't know how active it still is.

The good news? I recently came across a site called Einstein's Legacy, which features downloadable files of every one of HFS' year-end countdowns from 1991 to 1999. From its selection of songs to the various IDs, deejays, and commercials, it truly is a wonderful throwback for those who experienced HFS in the '90s and a great curio for anyone who just wants to know what it was like. Now the 2 lists I always wanted to see on Rocklists.com can be found on the Internet. If you want to experience the tapes in all their glory, I strongly suggest going over to Einstein's Legacy. If you just want to see what songs made the list in text form, you've come to the right place. I'll be posting the 1993 list tomorrow.

(Songs are in reverse order.)

99.1. Jeannie’s Diner (Parody of “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega)

99. Northside- Take Five

98. They Eat Their Own- Like a Drug

97. John Cougar Mellencamp- Love and Happiness

96. Meat Puppets- Sam

95. Right Said Fred- I’m Too Sexy

94. Chapterhouse- Pearl

93. Julian Cope- Beautiful Love

92. Gang of Four- Don’t Fix What Ain’t Broke

91. Judybats- Daylight

90. Ratcat- That Ain’t Bad

89. Disposable Heroes of Hypocrisy- Television, the Drug of the Nation