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.
It was one of, if not the most ubiquitous song of the summer of 1993. You heard it blaring out of car windows. Stacey King and Scott Williams chanted the chorus during the Bulls’ championship rally in Grant Park. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Whoomp! (There It Is) by Tag Team was everywhere.
While Tag Team never had another hit, this one has been a consistent money maker for the group over the past thirty years. It has appeared in movies such as Elf, Addams Family Values, and D2: The Mighty Ducks. It has been a constant at sporting events. To this day, it plays at Wrigley Field when a Cub hits a home run. Not that it needed it, but the song got a resurgence in December of 2020 when the members of Tag Team appeared in a Geico add spoofing their song, changing the lyrics to be about ice cream.
I’ve heard the song live twice. In 2015, Tag Team showed up to 90s Night at the United Center and performed the song at halftime. They made a similar performance in 2021 before a White Sox game at Guaranteed Rate Field, where they played not just the original, but also the ice cream themed spoof. Thirty years in, the song shows no signs of slowing down.
Volume 10 covers the spring and summer of 1993, following my freshman year of college, and features the top rap and alternative hits of the summer, along with some pop and the last remnants of hair metal.
Side A
Pearl Jam – Black
iTunes stats: 14 plays, most recently on 11/23/2022
Hitting #3 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart despite the band’s refusal to release it as an official single, the song was only listened to three times in the past four years.
Def Leppard – Two Steps Behind
iTunes stats: 21 plays, most recently on 7/8/2021
The big hit from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bomb Last Action Hero, originally recorded from The Blaze during a nightly song battle, garnered just four additional listens over these last four years.
UB40 – Can’t Help Falling In Love
iTunes stats: 27 plays, most recently on 7/30/2022
After going unheard for three years, the track, featured on the Sliver soundtrack, picked up 19 plays since 2015.
Aerosmith – Cryin’
iTunes stats: 21 plays, most recently on 11/1/2022
The first installment of Alicia Silverstone’s video trilogy, which finished as the 60th biggest single of 1993, picked up five new plays over the past four years.
TLC – Get It Up
iTunes stats: 8 plays, most recently on 6/16/2021
This cover of a hit by The Time created for the Poetic Justice soundtrack doubled its listens over the past four years.
4 Non Blondes – What’s Up?
iTunes stats: 27 plays, most recently on 6/1/2022
The 50th biggest single of 1993 picked up eight listens for the ubiquitous debut from 4 Non Blondes.
Tag Team – Whoomp! (There It Is)
iTunes stats: 62 plays, most recently on 12/8/2022
The unofficial theme to the Bulls third straight NBA championship in 1993, Tag Team, who showed up for 90s night at the UC for a game I attended in February of 2015, added 19 new listens over the past four years, thanks to its use by the Cubs when someone hits a home run.