Musical memory lane: The ultimate throwback playlist

C’mon, you know you love them. These are the songs that take you back to the days of VHS, Gameboys, Kid Pix, Bop It, awkward school dances, Blockbuster and book fairs. They roll back the years to a time before everyone had smart phones and still listened to music on Walkmans, CD Players and MP3s. Maybe they’ve been on your iTunes as your not-so-guilty pleasures that make you sing and smile at some memory they bring back whenever the first note hit. Or maybe these are the songs that have simply sat forgotten in the back of your mind for all these years. Whatever the case, here are my picks for the ultimate throwback playlist (with a few songs in Spanish for all my Latinos out there).

1990-1995

I don’t have many songs between the years of 1990 to 1995 because I wasn’t born yet, but I’m including some that managed to stick throughout the last half of the 90s. They include:

• “Pump Up The Jam” (1990) by Technotronic (If you haven’t seen the music video, you really should.)
• “Ice Ice Baby” (1990) by Vanilla Ice (UNDER PRESSUR — Oh wait…)
• “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1991) by Nirvana (Probably the most iconic song to come out of the ‘90s.)
• “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (1991) by Elton John (It was in the Lion King, of course I have to mention this song.)
• “Fields of Gold” by Sting (Sting’s not stalker-ish love song.)
• “Wonderwall” by Oasis (The song every boy who knows four chords on the guitar has tried to use to pick up girls at some point.)

1996 – 2000

The latter half of the 90s and the early 2000s had some real gems as well. I’ll never forget dancing to “Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of…)” by Lou Bega as it played on the jukebox every Friday at a local pizza place close to where I lived. Here are the rest of the songs I always think of from around this time:

1996

•      “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer (I always crack up remembering dance parties with my friends when I was little where this song would be playing in the background)
•      “No Diggity” by Blackstreet (Ed Sheeran’s cover brought this song back for me, but nothing beats the original)
•      *“Macarena” by Los del Rio (Goes hand in hand with the “Cha-Cha Slide” for song most often played at school dances)

1997

•      “Mo Money Mo Problems” by The Notorious B.I.G. (I don’t care if i was born the same year this song came out, I’ll still play it like I grew up with it on the radio)
•      “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve (The song that never gets old, no wonder it has 167 million views on youtube)

1998

•      “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith (I always imagine someone singing this full blast as they sit alone in their car in the rain)
•      “Iris” by Goo Goo Dolls (This still plays everyday in the “refreshing, light music while you work” radio station from back home)
•      “California Love” by Tupac Shakur (USC’s other theme song)
•      *“Suavemente” by Elvis Crespo (The song that somehow always makes you want to get up and dance no matter how many times you hear it)

1999

•      “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears (Back in the golden age of Britney Spears)
•      “All Star” by Smashmouth (Shrek)
•      “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” by Eiffel 65 (Fun fact: it was nominated for a Grammy for “Best Dance Recording, the same award Clean Bandit won this year for “Rather Be”)
•      “All The Small Things” by Blink 182 (If this song ever comes on I will sing it at the top of my lungs and I won’t feel ashamed)
•      “I Want It That Way” by Backstreet Boys (Weird Al’s version, “Ebay,” forever changed how I heard this song)
•      “Livin’ La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin (Seen as the catalyst that helped other Spanish-speaking artists like Shakira and Enrique Iglesias transition into the English-speaking market)
•      “Californication” by Red Hot Chili Peppers (Based on how much I listen to this song you’d think it would’ve come out just last year)
•      “Drive” by Incubus (I’m not gonna lie, first time I heard this song was in the movie “Surf’s Up.” Yeah, the one with the surfing penguins. Still doesn’t detract from the fact that this is an awesome song)
•      “Ms. Jackson” by Outkast (I dare you not to sing this chorus)
•      *“Fruta Fresca” by Carlos Vives (A required song in every Latino’s ipod)

2000

•      “Beautiful Day” by U2 (The song American Idol used as background music for people who passed the first phase)
•      “The Real Slim Shady” by Eminem (There’s a reason “21 Jump Street” used this song in a flashback to the early 2000s)
•      “Oops!… I did It Again” by Britney Spears (I couldn’t leave out any of Britney Spears’ early hits in this list)
•      “Bye Bye Bye” by ‘N Sync (‘N Sync will always be better than One Direction, that’s right I said it)
•      “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston (The song that makes everyone cry if sung on X Factor. Also the one from the viral video of the girl screaming.)
•      “I’m Like A Bird” by Nelly Furtado (Where did Nelly Furtado go? This song was a keystone growing up)
•      *“A Puro Dolor” by Son by Four: The song I thought I forgot the words to until I started singing it.

2001 – 2006

2001

• “Hero” by Enrique Iglesias (One of his first hits in English-speaking countries and the start of a long, successful career)
• “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World (Jimmy Eat World’s breakout hit)
• “Drops of Jupiter” by Train (When I learned that this one was about Pat Monahan’s deceased mother it made me appreciate it that much more)
• “Fatlip” by Sum 41 (Anyone else have this song on replay during their punk phase? Sum 41 recently said that they are going to release a new album this year!)
• “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child (The line “Even in my years to come, I’m still gon’ be here” pretty much foreshadowed Beyonce’s success)
• *“Atreve-Te-Te” by Calle 13 (Guilty pleasure)
• *“Suerte (Whenever, Wherever)” by Shakira (This song was on Shakira’s first album that was recorded in English)
• *“Color Esperanza” by Diego Torres (The song that would play in the background of video montages during weddings or quinceañeras)

2002

•      “Sk8er Boi” by Avril Lavigne (I bet most of you have had an Avril Lavigne phase, don’t deny it)
•      “This Love” by Maroon 5 (John Mayer heard this song from guitarist James Valentine and liked it so much that he invited the band to open for him in his 2003 tour; this song put Maroon 5 on the map)
•      “Hot In Here” by Nelly (For some reason this always reminds me of the dance scene from that Chris Rock movie “Head of State” where everyone starts doing the electric slide)
•      “Clocks” by Coldplay (This song beat “Hey Ya!” and “Crazy In Love” for Record of The Year in the 2003 Grammys; Chris Martin said it was inspired by Muse’s sound)
•      “Lose Yourself” by Eminem (Look up “Mom’s Spaghetti” on youtube, you won’t regret it)
•      “Cry” by Mandy Moore (The song from “A Walk To Remember”)
•      “Soak Up The Sun” by Sheryl Crow (This upbeat song has a deeper meaning as the writers were thinking about Columbine while they were working on it, but because of the music video for everyone else this is simply a classic summer song)
•      “Work It” by Missy Elliot (Back in the day when Timberland was constantly working behind the scenes with almost every artist)
•      *“Caraluna” by Bacilos (The band was formed by three University of Miami students and this song won them a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album)
•      *“A Quien Le Importa” by Thalia (My friend would always have this playing whenever I went over to their house after school)
•      *“Torero” by Chayanne

2003

•      “Ignition (Remix)” by R. Kelly (First heard this a couple years ago and didn’t realize it was written twelve years ago)
•      “Numb” by Linkin Park
•      “Reptilia” by The Strokes
•      “I Don’t Want To Be” by Gavin DeGraw (One Tree Hill, anyone?)
•      “Ocean Avenue” by Yellowcard
•      “Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains of Wayne (The song still played in every frat party)
•      “Crazy In Love” by Beyonce
•      “Suga Suga” by Baby Bash (The best song ever created)
•      “In Da Club” by 50 Cent
•      “Toxic” by Britney Spears
•      “Hey Ya!” by Outkast
•      *“Rosas” by La Oreja de Van Gogh

2004

•      “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand (Best guitar riff of 2004)
•      “Tipsy” by J-Kwon (Yeah, I definitely didn’t know what this song was about when I first heard it.)
•      “One two Step” by Ciara
•      “Somebody Told Me” by The Killers (Stephen Colbert tried and failed to make sense of the chorus when he had The Killers on his show a few years ago)
•      “Beautiful Soul” by Jessie McCartney (There was no way I could leave this one out of the list)
•      “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson (This song reminds me of “Princess Diaries 2”)
•      “Yeah!” by Usher (feat. Lil Jon and Ludacris) (If you’ve seen the movie “Hitch” with Will Smith, this is the song that plays during the dance lesson scene)
•      “Where Is The Love?” by The Black Eyed Peas (The first song I learned all the lyrics to back in elementary school)
•      “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield
•      “Drop It Like It’s Hot” by Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell Williams
•      “Cha-Cha Slide” by DJ Casper (what played in every middle school dance- ever)
•      *“Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee (the song people STILL play at parties as if it just came out)

2005

•      “We Belong Together” by Mariah Carey
•      “Gold Digger” by Kanye West
•      “So Yesterday” by Hilary Duff (Back during the Lizzie McGuire days)
•      “You And Me” by Lifehouse
•      “Soul Survivor” by Young Jeezy (Feat. Akon)
•      *“Ven Bailalo” by Angel y Khris
•      *“Rompe” by Daddy Yankee
•      *“Rakata” by Wisin y Yandel (Back when Wisin y Yandel were still together)
•      *“La Tortura” by Shakira (The song that got everyone more interested in belly dancing)

2006

•      “Too Little Too Late” by JoJo (Another artist lost in time; on twitter she joked about this earlier this year by posting “What is JoJo even doing?” “Is Jojo even alive?” “You guessed it!”)
•      “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley (My third grade anthem; I didn’t even realize it was Cee Lo Green and Danger Mouse until years later)
•      “Cupid’s Chokehold” by Gym Class Heroes (Apparently Supertramp founder Roger Hodgson was initially annoyed that Gym Class Heroes didn’t ask for permission to use parts of “Breakfast in America” but later admitted there was something “infectious” about the spin they put on it)
•      “Youth of The Nation” by POD (This song is actually inspired and based on the 2001 shooting at Santana High School in California)
•      “Year 3000” by Jonas Brothers (When Nick Jonas still had flowy curls and sang about flux capacitors instead of jealousy in relationships)
•      “SexyBack” by Justin Timberlake (Timberlake’s first number-one single in the Billboard Hot 100, this song won the Grammy for Best Dance Recording in 2007)
•      *“Angelito” by Don Omar (The original Don Omar way before he came out with “Danza Kuduro”)
•      *“Down” by R.K.M. y Ken-Y (Old-school reggaeton)
•      *“Bendita Tu Luz” by Mana (I’ll just end the list with one of my favorite songs of all time!)