Post by Lucky Seven on Sept 3, 2006 10:10:20 GMT -5
1996... That was quite a year. Lots of things (some good, others very bad) happened. Bill Clinton was re-elected, The Onion (which I don't think I've ever read) made it's debut, Sublime's legendary posthumous self-titled album (not their best, but still good) was released, The Ramones played their last show ever during that year's Lollapalooza, 2Pac was killed, An unknown 6 year old named JonBenet Ramsey was murdered and became a big news story (that poor kid! It's so sad she had to die so young.), Duke Nukem 3D was unleashed on the world, my 10th birthday occured, and I don't remember what happened on it, Mr. Big relased their timeless masterpiece:"Hey Man", movies such as Independence Day, Twister, Jerry Maguire, The Nutty Professor, Space Jam, Jingle All The Way, and Mars Attacks! (the second and third of those movies I just mentioned I've never seen, and the first one I don't think I've seen in whole, but I have seen it), Van Halen had released their first ever "Best Of" collection, and a little blue robot video game character by the name of Mega Man (known in Japan as "Rockman"), who I've known about for years and never really got into 'til this moment in time, had changed my life (I do miss those days!). In April of that year, Atlantic Records, the greatest record company of all time, who had released other great soundtrack albums like St. Elmo's Fire, The Crow, and Batman Forever had released a soundtrack album for The Blue Bomber's doomed cartoon show, which I had also gained a new interest in, but didn't know what channel it was on, though I had seen it before. Anyway, I was unaware of this underrated soundtrack's existance until late 1996 (don't remember which month. I think it was October) during a trip to Wal-Mart by my mother's mother's house, and I was looking at video games, and my younger brother told me that mother had found a Mega Man soundtrack, and I was so excited! I couldn't get it then though, and I had to wait. 
I wouldn't get it until Thanksgiving night of that year (after all the guests had gone home). The thing that shocked me was that Atlantic Records had released it, and I had made up a fake soundtrack to a fake Mega Man game I made up (I used to make up a ton of stuff that wasn't real back then. I would draw screen shots and boxes and shit. It was silly, but hey, I was 10, so give me a break!), and I had pretended that Atlantic had released that soundtrack too. Anyway, between those two days, I had found out that the TV show was on Channel 11, and I tried to watch it whenever I had the chance. (I was usually at school most of the times it was on, and it later got moved to early in the morning while I was still asleep, then back to the previous time slot minus thirty minutes.) And I had slowly been building up my fixation with The Blue Bomber whatever ways I could. I had gotten the second Mega Man game for the Game Boy and Mega Man 6 for the old 8-bit NES between the day we went to Wal-Mart and Thanksgiving (I'm not sure if I got MMII before then). Before those two, the only MM titles we had owned were Mega Man 2 and the first Mega Man X title, which my younger brother was hooked on, and his obsession sparked my fixation with the classic MM, which is the only MM I was interested in when it started (I never really got into the X series until the 4th one came out). And I got MM1 like (I think) a week before Christmas, and I was happy, because I finally got to play the game that started it all, and I loved it (it's currently my favorite game of all time). Anyway, on Thanksgiving Day, when I finally got that soundtrack to the cartoon, I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy, and I had discovered the greatness of bands I never heard of before (Skid Row, Sugar Ray, CIV, and others) and two I had known of, but didn't recognize right away (Mr. Big, Inner Circle). I was so obsessed with the CD that I played it so damn much. Sometimes I'd get yelled at for playing this or be told to stop playing it, because I played it so much! I got in trouble a couple of times at school if I remember correctly for singing some of these songs, like Extra Fancy's "Sinnerman" or Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s "Realms of Junior MAFIA Part 2" (the latter was my #1 favorite track on the CD the first day I heard it, and it changed to Sugar Ray's "Iron Mic" the second day), and I had even copied the CD to tape at one point to listen to when I went out in public. I even took it to school with me in a walkman, and had the bus driver play it on the way to school and back home. During this time period, I had also drawn various comic books about Mega Man (most of them remain incomplete) that I was proud of now, but when I look at them nowadays, I just think their downright silly (not to mention stupid), plus I copied off of other stuff for some of these stories, like the Christmas Special, which I had copied off of "Beavis & Butt-head Do Christmas". And during that time frame, there were some great websites that aren't around anymore. (sigh) Those were the days. I was young, innocent (well maybe not quite), and careless with hardly any worry in the world. I was a happy little boy. Nowadays I worry constantly, and it really sucks, and I don't get the kind of thrills I got back then, although there are times where I try desperately to recapture a certain moment from the old days. I still get great thrills from certain things, but I just don't get the kind I got from late 1996 to part of 1997. Yep, that period of time had some of my greatest memories. I have plans to celebrate my 10 years of being a true fan of MM for the next few months. Sometimes I try a little TOO HARD to recapture a certain moment or so from one of my previous years. I also think that in 1996, I became eager to build up my own musical universe after Mega Man, and not just be into whatever my parents or siblings were into. I didn't watch MTV or VH1 back then, so it was hard (don't really watch either of 'em nowadays, because they both totally suck now), plus I was still shy and nervous around this time. Plus most of the stuff I heard on the radio and elsewhere at that time was all this european dance music that I couldn't stand, and some alternative rock like Matchbox Twenty, and Hootie & the Blowfish, which I didn't really care for at the time, but I would gain new appreciation for them (not all at once) years later. Some of the music I was hooked on at that time included:
Skunk Anansie - Weak (I wonder what ever happened to that Mission:Impossible CD I had that had this song on it. That song was pretty cool. And I don't think I've heard anything else by that group to this day, and I haven't heard the song in 9 years I don't think.)
The Hollowbodies - Driver
Skid Row - Eileen
Smile - She
Sugar Ray - Iron Mic
Junior M.A.F.I.A. - Realms of Junior MAFIA Pt. 2
Machines of Loving Grace - Tryst
Extra Fancy - Sinnerman
CIV - So Far, So Good...So What
Mr. Big - Take Cover
The Bucketheads - Got Myself Together
Inner Circle - Signs, I Can't Take It
Michael Hutchence - The Passenger
Van Halen - Dreams
Underworld - Cowgirl
The Prodigy - Voodoo People
The Prodigy - One Love
Orbital - Halcyon & On & On
Urban Dance Squad - Good Grief
Machines of Loving Grace - Richest Junkie Still Alive (Sank remix)
Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual
U2 - Discotheque
R. Kelly - I Believe I Can Fly
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Green Jellÿ - Three Little Pigs
Various songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic
The Smashing Pumpkins - The End is the Beginning is the End
Moloko - Fun For Me
Alot of the songs I just mentioned I still really love, but some I just don't really care for anymore, preferabally anything techno. There was one point in 1997 where I was obsessed with techno like Underworld and The Prodigy, but kinda hate that kinda stuff now. But I still do have a small liking for house, such as Kenny Dope. There's other good music that came out in 1996 that I either was
A.Never interested in at the time
or B.Never knew about until now
Good music that came out in 1996:
Songs:
Kenny Loggins - For the First Time
Journey - Message of Love
Mr. Big - Take Cover
Phil Collins - The Times They Are A-Changin'
Bad Religion - Punk Rock Song
7 Year ***** - Crying Shame
Roland Gift - That's How Strong My Love Is (yep, the FYC guy)
Afghan Whigs - can't get enough of your love babe (REALLY ROCKIN' cover of this old Barry White tune!)
Bryan Adams - The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You (I like this song despite the silliness of it)
Dru Hill - Never Make A Promise
Hootie & the Blowfish - Sad Caper
matchbox twenty - Real World (what the hell is Rob Thomas doing with his solo career? It sounds nothing like MB20, in fact, it kinda sucks!)
Extra Fancy - Sinnerman
Mr. Big - Take Cover
Poe - Angry Johnny
Rush - Test for Echo
Scorpions - You And I
Stone Temple Pilots - Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart
Sublime - Santeria
Tina Turner - Missing You (great cover, but John Waite's original version is better.)
Van Halen - Humans Being
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Amish Paradise
Ween - Piss Up a Rope
Albums:
7 Year ***** - Gato Negro
Rush - Test for Echo
Various Artists - Mega Man
Various Artists - Space Jam
Mr. Big - Hey Man
Bad Religion - The Gray Race (not the best BR album, but also not by any means bad)
Extra Fancy - Sinnerman
Various Artists - Beautiful Girls
Phil Collins - Dance Into the Light
Sublime - Sublime (not a bad album, but it will never top "40 Oz. to Freedom")
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Bad Hair Day
Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop
Also:A few days ago, I had gone to the Wal-Mart where I first discovered the MM OST's existance, and I had brought my iPod Video and watched some of the MM AMVs I made (three were the Extra Fancy, Mr. Big and CIV ones) to try and remember what it was like on that 1996 day (whatever day it may be, I don't remember), or savor the moment or whatever the expression was. And I had a great time! It felt so good. I think I better stop now. It took a long time to write this, and it drained my energy I think or whatever the term is. BTW:Yes, the majority of the songs I was obsessed with and hooked on from late 1996 to part of 1997 were from soundtrack albums.
Q:So what was the point of this?
A:Nothing really. I was just reminiscing about the old days.
I wouldn't get it until Thanksgiving night of that year (after all the guests had gone home). The thing that shocked me was that Atlantic Records had released it, and I had made up a fake soundtrack to a fake Mega Man game I made up (I used to make up a ton of stuff that wasn't real back then. I would draw screen shots and boxes and shit. It was silly, but hey, I was 10, so give me a break!), and I had pretended that Atlantic had released that soundtrack too. Anyway, between those two days, I had found out that the TV show was on Channel 11, and I tried to watch it whenever I had the chance. (I was usually at school most of the times it was on, and it later got moved to early in the morning while I was still asleep, then back to the previous time slot minus thirty minutes.) And I had slowly been building up my fixation with The Blue Bomber whatever ways I could. I had gotten the second Mega Man game for the Game Boy and Mega Man 6 for the old 8-bit NES between the day we went to Wal-Mart and Thanksgiving (I'm not sure if I got MMII before then). Before those two, the only MM titles we had owned were Mega Man 2 and the first Mega Man X title, which my younger brother was hooked on, and his obsession sparked my fixation with the classic MM, which is the only MM I was interested in when it started (I never really got into the X series until the 4th one came out). And I got MM1 like (I think) a week before Christmas, and I was happy, because I finally got to play the game that started it all, and I loved it (it's currently my favorite game of all time). Anyway, on Thanksgiving Day, when I finally got that soundtrack to the cartoon, I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy, and I had discovered the greatness of bands I never heard of before (Skid Row, Sugar Ray, CIV, and others) and two I had known of, but didn't recognize right away (Mr. Big, Inner Circle). I was so obsessed with the CD that I played it so damn much. Sometimes I'd get yelled at for playing this or be told to stop playing it, because I played it so much! I got in trouble a couple of times at school if I remember correctly for singing some of these songs, like Extra Fancy's "Sinnerman" or Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s "Realms of Junior MAFIA Part 2" (the latter was my #1 favorite track on the CD the first day I heard it, and it changed to Sugar Ray's "Iron Mic" the second day), and I had even copied the CD to tape at one point to listen to when I went out in public. I even took it to school with me in a walkman, and had the bus driver play it on the way to school and back home. During this time period, I had also drawn various comic books about Mega Man (most of them remain incomplete) that I was proud of now, but when I look at them nowadays, I just think their downright silly (not to mention stupid), plus I copied off of other stuff for some of these stories, like the Christmas Special, which I had copied off of "Beavis & Butt-head Do Christmas". And during that time frame, there were some great websites that aren't around anymore. (sigh) Those were the days. I was young, innocent (well maybe not quite), and careless with hardly any worry in the world. I was a happy little boy. Nowadays I worry constantly, and it really sucks, and I don't get the kind of thrills I got back then, although there are times where I try desperately to recapture a certain moment from the old days. I still get great thrills from certain things, but I just don't get the kind I got from late 1996 to part of 1997. Yep, that period of time had some of my greatest memories. I have plans to celebrate my 10 years of being a true fan of MM for the next few months. Sometimes I try a little TOO HARD to recapture a certain moment or so from one of my previous years. I also think that in 1996, I became eager to build up my own musical universe after Mega Man, and not just be into whatever my parents or siblings were into. I didn't watch MTV or VH1 back then, so it was hard (don't really watch either of 'em nowadays, because they both totally suck now), plus I was still shy and nervous around this time. Plus most of the stuff I heard on the radio and elsewhere at that time was all this european dance music that I couldn't stand, and some alternative rock like Matchbox Twenty, and Hootie & the Blowfish, which I didn't really care for at the time, but I would gain new appreciation for them (not all at once) years later. Some of the music I was hooked on at that time included:Skunk Anansie - Weak (I wonder what ever happened to that Mission:Impossible CD I had that had this song on it. That song was pretty cool. And I don't think I've heard anything else by that group to this day, and I haven't heard the song in 9 years I don't think.)
The Hollowbodies - Driver
Skid Row - Eileen
Smile - She
Sugar Ray - Iron Mic
Junior M.A.F.I.A. - Realms of Junior MAFIA Pt. 2
Machines of Loving Grace - Tryst
Extra Fancy - Sinnerman
CIV - So Far, So Good...So What
Mr. Big - Take Cover
The Bucketheads - Got Myself Together
Inner Circle - Signs, I Can't Take It
Michael Hutchence - The Passenger
Van Halen - Dreams
Underworld - Cowgirl
The Prodigy - Voodoo People
The Prodigy - One Love
Orbital - Halcyon & On & On
Urban Dance Squad - Good Grief
Machines of Loving Grace - Richest Junkie Still Alive (Sank remix)
Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual
U2 - Discotheque
R. Kelly - I Believe I Can Fly
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Green Jellÿ - Three Little Pigs
Various songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic
The Smashing Pumpkins - The End is the Beginning is the End
Moloko - Fun For Me
Alot of the songs I just mentioned I still really love, but some I just don't really care for anymore, preferabally anything techno. There was one point in 1997 where I was obsessed with techno like Underworld and The Prodigy, but kinda hate that kinda stuff now. But I still do have a small liking for house, such as Kenny Dope. There's other good music that came out in 1996 that I either was
A.Never interested in at the time
or B.Never knew about until now
Good music that came out in 1996:
Songs:
Kenny Loggins - For the First Time
Journey - Message of Love
Mr. Big - Take Cover
Phil Collins - The Times They Are A-Changin'
Bad Religion - Punk Rock Song
7 Year ***** - Crying Shame
Roland Gift - That's How Strong My Love Is (yep, the FYC guy)
Afghan Whigs - can't get enough of your love babe (REALLY ROCKIN' cover of this old Barry White tune!)
Bryan Adams - The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You (I like this song despite the silliness of it)
Dru Hill - Never Make A Promise
Hootie & the Blowfish - Sad Caper
matchbox twenty - Real World (what the hell is Rob Thomas doing with his solo career? It sounds nothing like MB20, in fact, it kinda sucks!)
Extra Fancy - Sinnerman
Mr. Big - Take Cover
Poe - Angry Johnny
Rush - Test for Echo
Scorpions - You And I
Stone Temple Pilots - Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart
Sublime - Santeria
Tina Turner - Missing You (great cover, but John Waite's original version is better.)
Van Halen - Humans Being
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Amish Paradise
Ween - Piss Up a Rope
Albums:
7 Year ***** - Gato Negro
Rush - Test for Echo
Various Artists - Mega Man
Various Artists - Space Jam
Mr. Big - Hey Man
Bad Religion - The Gray Race (not the best BR album, but also not by any means bad)
Extra Fancy - Sinnerman
Various Artists - Beautiful Girls
Phil Collins - Dance Into the Light
Sublime - Sublime (not a bad album, but it will never top "40 Oz. to Freedom")
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Bad Hair Day
Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop
Also:A few days ago, I had gone to the Wal-Mart where I first discovered the MM OST's existance, and I had brought my iPod Video and watched some of the MM AMVs I made (three were the Extra Fancy, Mr. Big and CIV ones) to try and remember what it was like on that 1996 day (whatever day it may be, I don't remember), or savor the moment or whatever the expression was. And I had a great time! It felt so good. I think I better stop now. It took a long time to write this, and it drained my energy I think or whatever the term is. BTW:Yes, the majority of the songs I was obsessed with and hooked on from late 1996 to part of 1997 were from soundtrack albums.
Q:So what was the point of this?
A:Nothing really. I was just reminiscing about the old days.