The day was June 9, 1994. And the singles sitting in the Billboard Top 10 certainly represented a wide variety of performers and genres, both with long careers and One Hit Wonders.
You had “Mr. Jones” (Counting Crows), “You Mean the World to Me” (Toni Braxton), “Stay [I Missed You] (Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories), “I’ll Remember” (Madonna), “Baby, I Love Your Way” (Big Mountain) and “If You Go” (Jon Secada) among them. And at the top? “I Swear” by All-4-One.
Beer drinkers and hell raisers (to quote a ZZ Top tune) will likely hear those tracks and scores of others on June 6 during a ‘90s-themed party at Saint Arnold Brewery to mark the 32nd anniversary off the very first keg of beer they shipped on that very same day.
“The ‘90s are so hot right now, everybody loves it. I guess it’s the new ‘70s and ‘80s for [nostalgia],” says Lennie Ambrose, Saint Arnold’s Chief Marketing Officer.
The all-day event will begin with a DJ set from Capt. Millsy spinning ‘90s music from across all genres (2-4:30 pm), followed by live tribute bands covering hip hop/rap (Hip Hop Hooray, 4:30-6 p.m.), country (Silverado, 6:30-8 p.m.) and Selena/tejano (CTS Band, 8:30-10 p.m.). Admission is free.
“This kind of [variety] is how we program things. We try to be a beer garden for everyone regardless of what you’re a fan of. The kind of party you can weave in and out of the music and be familiar with a song,” he adds.
For his party, Capt. Millsy laughs when he sees that Top 10 list on the shared Zoom screen. “I have to tell you, that Jon Secada song is amazing! It was on VH-1 every 30 minutes!”
In terms of music trends and history, the ‘90s really represented the end of the monoculture. In previous decades it seemed that everyone had or was talking about the new albums by, say, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, or Bruce Springsteen. But the early ‘90s saw a splintering into more genres and lanes that listeners tended to stay in.
It also marked the start of pop, dance, and hip hop becoming the dominant (at least in terms of singles) genres that has continued to today. And often from solo performers rather than bands.
For Ambrose—who graduated from high school in 1994, just days before that first beer keg was shipped—it was also the era of flipping CD cases, One Hit Wonders, and “cassingles.” That short-lived format that had two or more songs on a cassette that was to replace the standard vinyl 45.
“I had the cassingle for ‘Deeper Shade of Soul’ by Urban Dance Squad and I played it all the time,” he offers. “But I hear a lot of songs now that could have come out in the ‘90s, like what War on Drugs does. Also, if ‘Deeper Shade of Soul’ came out today, it would be a hit. And even the terrible ‘90s songs are today guilty pleasures.”
DJ Millsy says that no one in the ‘90s could have really foreseen the rise of Nirvana and advent of grunge music. “That was a big moment, and hip hop exploded alongside that to become relevant. It definitely was the death of the monoculture into more One Hit Wonders. Like ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ by Deep Blue Something. We all know that one, don’t we?”
When doing a DJ set, Capt. Millsy says he first builds just a “giant bank” of all the songs he wants to play, but also is aware of how his audience’s mood or vibe can shift, and he adapts to that. To a limit.
“I’m not going to play ‘Closing Time’ by Semisonic at the start of the show. And if someone comes up and says ‘play Bon Jovi,’ I would say absolutely not!”
Not even ‘90s Bon Jovi?
“No. ‘It’s My Life’ was released in 2000. That’s out of there. Richie Sambora can go wanting for another decade!” he says. “And though I know they’re inescapable. I will have to play Creed.”
Just to make the ‘90s party even better, at least in a hypothetical way, we ask both men if they could step into a time machine programmed for the decade, snatch one act, and bring them back to play the Saint Arnold stage, who would it be?
“For me, it would be Van Hagar,” Ambrose says, nodding to the accepted nickname for the second, hitmaking version of the group with Sammy Hagar. “That’s when they came to full glory. Sammy asserted himself into the ‘90s. He’s nearly 80 now and is still out there playing. Definitely someone I want to party with.”
For DJ Millsy, it would be one of those One Hit Wonders. But one in the running for the Most ‘90s One Hit Wonder at that.
“For this show, I would go get Tag Team, just so they could do ‘Whoomp! (There It Is)!’” he says. “That coincided with the Rockets winning. It’s as if the song was written for Houston!”
The Saint Arnold 32nd Anniversary ‘90s Party is from 2-10 p.m. on Saturday, June 6, in the Beer Garden at 2000 Lyons. For more information, call 713-686-9494 or visit SaintArnold.com. Free.
