Nostalgia for '97
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
In the summer of 1997, Hanson heated up the charts with "MMMBop," the Spice Girls were at the peak of their stardom, and the music industry was flush with money. Ten years later, albums barely sell a quarter of what they did back then. The Spice Girls are reuniting. And the Hanson brothers have gone indie. Journalist and author David Browne joins us to revive that summer and to explain why the industry went downhill in 1997.
Are you nostalgic for 1997? Has music improved or gotten worse? Tell us why in comments:
Comments [8]
It's interesting to see all these comments about hearing music in "alternative" outlets - whether a scary women's festival in Michigan or MTV-Asia in Nepal. I first heard Radiohead's "OK Computer" that summer - not on the radio, but on a special in-flight channel on Virgin Airlines, flying back home to NY from London. Guess our nostalgia (or lack thereof) for the music from the summer of 97 depends on where we were all getting that music in the first place...
I am listening to WNYC in Nepal, South Asia.
I just wanted to say that MTV at that time here in Asia was actually actively pushing rock music, as were the young FM stations. Not to say that pop was dominant.
I recall listening to The World Chart Show which actually had a bit of rock hits, including singles from Pearl Jam's No Code album. Also, Australian grunge group Silverchair was also a regular feature on MTV. The local music scene it self was teeming with rock outfits here in Nepal at the time, kind of a ripple effect to the grunge era. Wasn't Third Eye Blind out sometime then too?
Kashish,
Nepal.
I have two comments to make:
1. Since '97 I have been exposed to much more "international" music through the internet.
2. Now when I do go to the record shop, I tend to by vinyls instead of CD's. Then I go online and download the tunes for use on my ipod. The reason is that LPs sound better to me and the art is much nicer.
It was a HUGE year. It was the reincarnation of MTV as a musical force. TRL was huge and introduced so many acts into the cultural mainstream. It has lost so much cache since this "golden era".
I love the way it is now. I can surf Realplayer, etc for music I like. If I like only one song, I download it. If I like the album, I buy the CD online and it shows up in my mailbox 3 days later. I can explore alternatives with ease now.
the summer of 97 i drove with my friend to the michigan womens festival.- a music festival- bands like Tribe 8 played amongst a sea of women. while the music was intense, the environment even more so, as the sounds were cast into a crowd of thousands of nude women. as a policy, they allowed no men into the event and dont even want casette tapes of male vocalist in the car. That was my 1st and last visit. it was one of the strangest events ive ever attended.
Just tuned in, but don't forget Radiohead's opus "OK Computer" and its 1997 blow up release.
http://www.stereogum.com/okx/
The industry went downhill because of pop singers in 1997. Because they were so bad people started realizing spending money on pop CDs is wasting their money. Hanson Sisters? Spice Girls from the register at a mall? Come on.. what nostalgia? What did you smoke back then? You still smoke the same thing? I don't think.
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