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Song of the Day #1,340: ‘Hold My Hand’ – Hootie & the Blowfish

Best 90s Artists – #3 – Hootie & the Blowfish

Hootie & the Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View was the best-selling non-country, non-soundtrack album of the 90s. That seems like a lot of qualifiers, I know, but coming in fourth to Garth Brooks, Shania Twain and The Bodyguard isn’t too shabby.

Cracked Rear View sold more than 16 million units, a number unimaginable today. Consider that Adele’s current amazing yearlong streak has amounted to about 7 million sales and you’ll get an idea of how much different the landscape is now.

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Song of the Day #1,339: ‘Daughter’ – Pearl Jam

Best 90s Artists – #4 – Pearl Jam

Die-hard Pearl Jam fans would likely be insulted to see them labelled as a 90s band. After all, Pearl Jam has released four albums since 2000 (all of which went Gold in the U.S.), they are currently recording another and they have toured consistently and successfully for over two decades.

But there’s no denying that, along with fellow Seattle rockers Nirvana, Pearl Jam defines the grunge era.

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Song of the Day #1,338: ‘Stupid Girl’ – Garbage

Best 90s Artists – #5 – Garbage

Garbage isn’t strictly a 90s band like some on this list. They released albums in 2001 and 2005 and apparently have a long-awaited fifth record on the way in just a couple of months.

But their first two — and best — albums were released in ’95 and ’98 and that’s when I felt the biggest impact.

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Song of the Day #1,337: ‘She’s My Kind of Rain’ – Tim McGraw

I think the tiny people who live inside my iTunes library and pick the random songs must be country music fans. Today’s track means almost a third of my Random Weekend selections have been by country artists even though country makes up maybe five or ten percent of my collection.

I have almost as many Bob Dylan songs as I have country songs (and a few that are both) and yet Dylan has yet to make an appearance here. Ah, the whims of chance.

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Song of the Day #1,336: ‘Me & Charlie Talking’ – Miranda Lambert

I keep waiting for these Random Weekends to turn up something truly horrible or embarrassing, a song so pathetic that is forces my loyal readers to second-guess my value not just as a music lover but as a human being.

Hasn’t happened yet, which I guess speaks well of my music collection. But I’m only a month or so into this, so I know that moment is lurking out there.

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