So the other night, I was flipping through my Music Choice channels and Spin Doctors’ "Two Princes" (below) was playing on the ’90s station. I froze: Had enough time passed that I could enjoy the song again, or, 16 years after its release, were the damaging effects of extreme overplaying still present? While I won’t be retrieving Pocket Full of Kryptonite from the bottom of the CD stack, where it currently resides, I did sind along. And there might have been some overhead clapping when they broke it down near the end. What’s your verdict? Can you listen and enjoy it? (Like, I’ve been told, Brian Posehn recently did, covertly, on The Sarah Silverman Program. I also hear that a recent episode of Carpoolers revolved around Dougie winning tickets to a Spin Doctors concert.) Maybe this Sesame Street version of the song will be your antidote?
What’s the longest you’ve banished a song from your personal airwaves due to overplaying?
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Two Princes is a great tune, and it’s still in regular rotation for me due to the overall love I have for the Pocket Full of Kryptonite (What Time is It? tops my list..) and Turn it Upside Down albums (check out Cleopatra’s Cat and Biscuithead. Love it!) I just have a weakness for the old SD’s…except that Here Comes the Bride album….blech.
I never liked “Two Princes”, but once I like a song, I usually like it for life. Here’ some examples of songs I still love after all these years that others might be embarrassed to admit they love (or not):
- Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees)
- Carry On Wayward Sun (Kansas)
- Ebony Eyes (Bob Welch)
- Rock With You – Michael Jackson
- Vehicle (Ides of March)
- Godzilla (Blue Oyster Cult)
- Mr. Roboto (Styx)
- Seperat Ways (Journey)
- Heat of the Moment (Asia)
- You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ – Judas Priest
- Run to the Hills – Iron Maiden
- Here I Go Again – Whitesnake
- Jump – Van Halen
- Love Will Find a Way – Yes
I only really liked the Sesame Street version – thanks for linking!
Yes. Great song, but it was way overplayed.
To The Beat of the Rhythm of the Night by DeBarge. There was a point in time where they played that thing every hour, and I got to the point where I would RUN to the radio to turn the station. I never, ever, ever, want to hear that song again. EVER.
I hate that song. Thanks. Now it’s going to be playing in my head for the rest of the day. Arg.
This song will never be allowed back in my presence. It was the WORST EFFING SONG of the 1990s and I get a literal rash when I hear it.
I once liked the song “Somebody to Love” by Queen. But my local classic rock station in New York has overplayed it so damn much, that I’ve grown to really dislike it!
I used to love the song Smooth (Santana and Rob Thomas) but then mainstream radio got ahold of that one and really killed it for me. Now I can listen to it maybe twice a year without gagging.
“Pocket Full of Kryptonite” is practiaclly the soundtrack for my college years!
When the Spin Doctors came to play at SUNY Plattsburgh in 1991 (as the opening act for Pauly Shore no less) they were informed that one of their songs (I can’t remember if it was “What Time is It?” or “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong”) was number one on our college radio station (then WPLT). They got real excited and said it was the first they’d been number one anywhere.
“Pocket Full of Kryptonite” was inevitably played at just about every party we ever had.
I love Two Princes! I had it as a ringtone on my phone for a while. Every time the phone rang it would say “If you want to call me baby…”
I listened to radio ALL THE TIME in the 80s and I never got burned out on songs back then like I do now. I don’t think I’ll be able to listen to “Hollaback Girl” or “Hips Don’t Lie” until at least 2050 – talk about burnout.
I heard Santan’s “Smooth” too much, too…and I never liked it! I prefer to remember Santana for their early rock material with Gregg Rolie, who co-founded the band with Carlos. He co-founded Journey, too.
Stay (I Missed You) by Lisa Loeb, Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer, Only Wanna Be With You by Hootie and the Blowfish, and I’ll Be by Edwin McCain (yeah, I listened to a lot of radio in the 90s) remain banished. I’ll listen to most every other song ever done by all those artists, but I can’t stand their biggest hits anymore.
well, thats the catch. Some of the “great rock songs” like , say, hotel california are songs we’ve all heard 25,000,000 times. Trouble is, except for nickleback there just arent any good rock bands out there producing new music.
well, thats the catch. Some of the “great rock songs” like , say, hotel california are songs we’ve all heard 25,000,000 times. Trouble is, except for nickleback there just arent any good rock bands out there producing new music.
nickleback is a good rock group? uhhh yeha all there music sounds the same.
Eric and Rob, that is my single biggest issue with the classic rock stations. With a gigantic song pool from the 60s, 70s and 80s, they inevitably play “Satisfaction,” “Hotel California” and “Comfortably Numb.” Not that these are bad songs, but you’d think they could go with some of the less known stuff out there. (Although, truth be known, I could happily go without ever hearing “Hotel California” again.)
This was the first CD I bought. I got my first CD player on Christmas morning and went to buy this later that day. I say spin it. It has been a loooong time.
Rob – thing about “Hotel California” is that, overplayed or not, it’s one of those legendary rock songs that stands the test of time and never sounds old (at least not to me). It’s right up there with the likes of “Hey Jude”, “Light My Fire”, “Brown Sugar”, “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, “Sunshine of Your Love”, “Smoke on the Water”, “Roundabout”, “Comfortably Numb”, “Tom Sawyer”, “Rock and Roll All Nite”, “More Than a Feeling” and “Stairway to Heaven”.
I know there are many rock bands and pop artists out there who are popular as sh*t, but how many of them are writing the songs that will be played and enjoyed by future generations?
Very few, I imagine.
Martha, believe it or not, I completely agree with you! Many stations refuse to dig into the archives of rock and roll and play the obscure (yet still very popular) rock tunes. Wouldn’t it be just great to hear full-length album classics like “Echoes”, “Close to the Edge”, “2112″ or “Terrapin Station” on the radio?
A local DJ talks about everyone’s favorite band “LinkinNickelbackofMudd”- I laugh everytime because they do all sound the same. Not a fan.
Somebody call the ROck Band people! I need this song in my game. It’s time.
Hey, my blood is really pumping on this subject…
Okay, people, you’ve all heard this question before…if you were stranded on a desert island, what TEN (and only ten!) cds could you not live without? Here are mine:
1. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
2. Led-Zeppelin IV
3. The Who – Who’s Next
4. The Beatles – Abbey Road
5. Yes – Close to the Edge
6. Rush – Moving Pictures
7. Steely Dan – Aja
8. Asia (first album)
9. Journey – Escape
10. Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (No joke! I grew up with that album. Couldn’t stand to lose the memories.)
What are your ten?
There’s something about this song that I’ve never gotten tired of. When it comes on the radio in my car, I crank it and roll the windows down. Some of the music that’s on now, though, is way overplayed. I wish there was more variety so I didn’t get to where I hated the songs so much they made me want to vomit (*cough* Nickelback–though, they just suck in general. Playing their tuneless garbage repeatedly just makes it worse.)
“Hey Ya” by Outkast was a song I initially liked, but grew to dislike after the radio played it about every hour. Too bad.
I saw that same show…in Iowa. Spin Doctors and Pauly Shore….awesome 90s night!!
Hotel California is easily the most overrated song in the history of rock. I’ve always hated ‘2 Princes’ and now I can’t get the stupid chorus out of my head!!
Ugh – Far Behind by Candlebox. I was in high school. It was on ALL THE TIME and I HATED it. And it STILL is on ALL THE TIME! What is THAT about???
“Hey There Delilah”. If I never hear that song again it will still be too soon.