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The CHIRP Blog
DJ M-Dash writesThe Stone Roses Could Have Been the Biggest Act of the 90s
But time, laziness, and a little arrogance got in the way.
If you listen to their 1989 debut album, you know immediately The Stone Roses had it all: the effortless cool of the Velvet Underground and the technical prowess of Led Zeppelin. And their songwriting boasted the gravitas of early U2 and the catchy melodies of The Beatles.
Even better was their sound. With vocals hooks reminiscent of The Beach Boys, The Stone Roses began to reach pop music fans.
By 1990, radio across the British Isles and U.S. college radio widely played the singles “She Bangs The Drums” and the mighty and dark “I Wanna Be Adored.” By mid-year, The Stone Roses staged their own one-band festival at Spike Island in Merseyside in front of 30,000 fans.
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (Jul 3 - July 9)
Upcoming Events:
- Friday July 7 - Sunday July 9: CHIRP Radio at Square Roots Festival
- Friday July 14: CHIRP Radio welcomes Deerhoof to Lincoln Hall
- Saturday July 15: CHIRP Radio welcomes Le Tigre to the Salt Shed
- Saturday July 15: CHIRP Radio welcomes Altin Gun to Thalia Hall
- Friday July 21 - Sunday July 23: CHIRP Record Fair at The 2023 Pitchfork Music Festival
DJ M-Dash writesDid P. Diddy and the 90s Save Live Music?
Maybe it wasn't all about the Benjamins.
In mid-June, I went to see Lauryn Hill up at Ravinia. Besides the fact that many of us, roving around the grounds with craft beers and even White Claw cans in our hands, were mostly middle-aged people, Gen Xers (‘90s kids as we call ourselves now), I was reminded of one other very ‘90s thing.
Hill came on after dark—easily 9:15 pm. And we weren’t surprised it would be a fabulous but brief show. As Hill trumpeted out tunes from her nearly 25-year-old album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the other flashback that hit was that back then… the short hip-hop show was standard.
In the first half of the 1990s, whether Fugees tipped your consciousness or Digable Planets’ dreamier tales were more your style, live tours were the same. You went to see an act that would come on at least an hour, maybe two hours later than scheduled.
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (Jun 26 - Jul 2)
Upcoming Events:
- Monday Jun2 26: CHIRP Radio welcomes Wednesday + Squirrel Flower to Metro
- Thursday June 29: CHIRP Music Book Club discusses Toni Morrison's Jazz
- Friday July 7 - Sunday July 9: CHIRP Radio at Square Roots Festival
- Friday July 14: CHIRP Radio welcomes Deerhoof to Lincoln Hall
- Saturday July 15: CHIRP Radio welcomes Le Tigre to the Salt Shed
- Saturday July 15: CHIRP Radio welcomes Altin Gun to Thalia Hall
- Friday July 21 - Sunday July 23: CHIRP Record Fair at The 2023 Pitchfork Music Festival
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (Jun 19 - Jun 25)
Upcoming Events:
- Tuesday June 20: CHiRP Music Trivia Night at Beermiscuous
- Friday June 23 - Sunday June 25: CHIRP Radio at the Logan Square Arts Festival
- Sunday June 25: CHIRP Radio welcomes Reverend Horton Heat to the Old Town School of Folk Music
- Thursday June 29: CHIRP Music Book Club discusses Toni Morrison's Jazz
- Friday July 7 - Sunday July 9: CHIRP Radio at Square Roots Festival
- Friday July 14: CHIRP Radio welcomes Deerhoof to Lincoln Hall
- Saturday July 15: CHIRP Radio welcomes Le Tigre to the Salt Shed
- Saturday July 15: CHIRP Radio welcomes Altin Gun to Thalia Hall