33 years ago, during my sophomore year of high school, I put together the first of what would eventually become a nearly 20 volume collection of mix tapes, containing my favorite songs that I had gathered either from the radio, a cassette tape, or (eventually) CD. Today, we revisit those mix tapes for the fourth time and see how, or if, the soundtrack of my youth still resonates in today’s digital world and how much has changed over the past four years.
On October 14, 1994, I hopped in the car with some friends, crossed the Wabash River into Lafayette, and pulled into the local movie theater. I hadn’t heard of the movie before, but I was up for an entertaining time. Over the next 154 minutes, a tour de force was unleashed upon the screen, thanks to John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, and Uma Thurman, among others. That’s right, I had somehow managed to see Pulp Fiction on its opening night.
Over the coming weeks, it was everywhere: quotes flying around campus, songs from the soundtrack on the radio, and its stars all over late-night television. The movie was inescapable. Nearly 30 years later, it still is, in some ways. I can’t tell you the last time I watched it, though I have a special edition DVD sitting on the shelf behind me. But it has permeated pop-culture so thoroughly that it feels like I’ve just seen it all over again.
Volume 16 takes us from the early fall of 1994 towards the end of the year and the first semester of my junior year of college. The song selection is nearly completely alternative, with just one or two hip-hop and pop hits to go along with it.
Side A
Hole – Doll Parts
iTunes stats: 34 plays, most recently on 11/4/2021
The band’s first release after the death of bassist Kristen Pfaff in June 1994 picked up an additional six listens over the last four years.
Live – I Alone
iTunes stats: 21 plays, most recently on 11/23/2022
Ranked as the 62nd best song of the 90s by VH1, the band’s second single added five listens over the last four years.
Deadeye Dick – New Age Girl
iTunes stats: 16 plays, most recently on 12/31/2022
The one hit wonder, featured on the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack, doubled its listens.
Nirvana – About A Girl
iTunes stats: 31 plays, most recently on 10/10/2022
An additional eight listens for this performance from MTV Unplugged, which reached #1 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Aerosmith – Blind Man
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 8/21/2020
The extra B-side thrown onto Aerosmith’s then-current greatest hits package picked up five new listens, despite not being heard in over two years.
Real McCoy – Another Night
iTunes stats: 15 plays, most recently on 10/5/2019
Last heard a good four months before anyone had heard of the corona virus, the international dance hit, ranked as both the 63rd best single of 1994 and the sixth best of 1995, added five new plays to its total since last we checked.
Warren G – Do You See
iTunes stats: 10 plays, most recently on 10/4/2021
A 250% increase in plays for this Warren G release, which failed to make the Top 40 in the US and hasn’t been heard over a year.
Urge Overkill – Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon
iTunes stats: 30 plays, most recently on 11/5/2021
The Neil Diamond cover, featured on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, added seven additional plays over these last four years.
4 years ago, we last counted down the Top 200 songs in my iTunes library. Since my iTunes stats are still intact, across multiple PCs, iPods, iPads, and iPhones, I figured it was time to take another look at my most listened to songs, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2020.