Top 1991 Songs – #3: Summertime

Our next song was considered the ultimate summer song of 1991, and it’s still popular today.  You can still hear the song played at summer parties, clubs, and in cars going “2mph so everybody sees you.”  Even when I was listening to these tracks, this tune made me wish it was summertime already.  Coming in at #3 is Summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

Top 1991 Songs – #4: Something to Talk About

This next track might surprise some of you given how high it’s placed here.  It, however, cemented this artist’s comeback after the Album of the Year winning Nick of Time, and it is still considered one of her best songs of the 90s and is also a song I just love.  If nothing else, it gives you Something to Talk About, the #4 1991 song by Bonnie Raitt.

Top 1981 Songs – #4: Tom Sawyer

What many people consider the quintessential song for this band debuted in 1981.  The opening E blows up any speaker system, and after Geddy’s introductory vocal, you’re off on a wild ride.  Time signature changes, iconic synths, and a drum solo that Neil Peart loved doing every time make this the band’s most popular song.  At #4 it’s Tom Sawyer by Rush.

Top 1981 Songs – #5: Don’t You Want Me

We enter the top 5 with another song that holds a firm place in 80s culture based solely on its sound.  It is still a huge song today, almost always in every 80s radio station rotation, and it’s hard not to sing along to every lyric too. Arriving at #5 in my countdown is Don’t You Want Me by Human League.

Top 1991 Songs – #5: Mama Said Knock You Out

We’re entering the top 5 now and holding the bottom is one of my favorite early 90s rap songs.  Later to be used as Mike Tyson’s entrance music, I have no doubt his arrival in boxing helped influence this song, which helped establish this artist’s supremacy in the hip-hop world.  The #5 1991 song is Mama Said Knock You Out by LL Cool J.

Top 1991 Songs – #6: Smells Like Teen Spirit

Now comes the part where a song appears in my countdown that if my wife was making her own countdown she would not touch it with a 10 foot pole.  Still, while I like the song and it’s not my absolute favorite, no one can deny how much this one tune changed the face of rock in ways other songs since then haven’t been able to. Rockin at #6 is Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.