At least we can say one good thing about 1996, the year of musician overdoses, arrests and rehab: Hootie and the Blowfish's "Fairweather Johnson" was a flop. No more will the endless cries of "I Only Wanna Be With You," fill our ears ... instead we can rejoice in the new albums from Silverchair and Bush. Our excitement should be uncontrollable.
With the new year came a continuation of the drug overdose trend that had already claimed the life of Blind Melon's Shannon Hoon. This year, similar overdoses claimed Brad Nowell of Sublime and Smashing Pumpkins' tour keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin. Guess those boys from Trainspotting were on the right track.
If not death, arrest was another frequent '96 occurrence. Pumpkins' drummer Jimmy Chamberlain was arrested for heroin possession and fired from the band, Liam Gallagher of Oasis was busted for cocaine (though the charges have recently been dropped) and Stone Temple Pilots' Scott Weiland, arrested in the past for heroin possession and thrown in rehab, has recently canceled his tour in order to, once again, check himself in.
After a somewhat suspicious shooting, questions have been raised as to whether Tupac Shakur is really dead. Instead, listeners should really be asking themselves if society is better off without a man who was a skilled rapper and actor, while still a misogynistic, gun-toting, convicted criminal.
In more pleasant news, after Pulp's Jarvis Cocker antagonized Michael Jackson on stage at the Music Awards, Jackson, perhaps feeling that his masculinity had been affronted, decided to get married ... again. Though Elvis was certain to be rolling in his grave after M.J.'s marriage to his precious Lisa Marie, the real King can now sleep comfortably knowing that Jackson has moved on to a nurse who was rumored to be artificially inseminated with his child. At least Michael Jackson will now have his own kid to play with.
The man who has changed his name from Prince to an unpronounceable symbol (written as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince) has finally settled upon being called merely The Artist. But, it's still unknown as to whether he'll revise his symbol to fit his shorter name. While The Artist did manage to wed this year (she pointed at her symbol necklace as opposed to saying his name), sadly, their first child did not survive. We can only wait for future offspring to arrive so that we may hear the titles bestowed by the Purple One. Now that should be interesting.
Those who thought "Sex" would be the crowning accomplishment for the Material Girl were right. Though it was not an immaculate conception (the father is Madonna's personal trainer), Madonna is now the proud mother of Lourdes Maria Ciccone. The only question remaining is: When will Lourdes be fitted for one of those pointy bullet bras that her mother wears with such gusto?
This year's top-selling album was "Jagged Little Pill" by Alanis Morrisette, a former Debbie Gibson-like Canadian teeny-bopper. Though Gibson has gone on to perform in Les Miserables, Alanis is still struggling to appropriately use the word "ironic" in a sentence. We can only hope that her second album will follow in the footsteps of Hootie.
Beck, the alternative golden boy, received top honors for his newest album "Odelay," which successfully blends styles ranging from blues to rap, with a little of everything in between. His popularity should be no surprise when one considers that his music has been likened to "channel surfing." In an age of Beavis and Butthead, what more could alternative listeners ask for?
Perhaps the most extraordinary trend in 1996 was the sudden upsurge in techno music. Jungle, trip-hop, drum-n-bass and all of techno's other subsidiaries gained much commercial success with bands like Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers. MTV has even relinquished an hour of time from its busy game-show schedule to work in some late-night techno videos on "Amp." In 1997, one can surely look forward to the continued achievements within this genre as long as Tricky and Goldie can keep from fighting over Icelandic vixen Bjork.
In the world of rap and hip hop, New York's Fugees stole the show with an album that took over all the airwaves, be they alternative, Top 40 or nearly anything else. But, even though their remakes were popular, it's the raw talent and originality of bands like The Roots that really deserve respect. While further electronic sampling may be in our future, a human beat box who can mix without any equipment is the more incredible skill.
Overall, 1996 was quite a year. As Bret Michaels of Poison once said, "There are 'A' bands, 'B' bands, 'C' bands and so on." While Poison may have been an A band, subsequent acts such as Skid Row and Warrant slowly made their way down to C and D. Sometimes it takes an entirely new artist to start the cycle all over again. After glam metal, it was Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Now, as we start a new year, there are C bands like Bush and Silverchair abounding. Maybe 1997 will be the year for a new cycle. Someone to do something totally different and new. And I predict it won't be Hootie.
Stone Temple Pilots (top) had to cancel concerts in 1996 because lead singer Scott Weiland was in drug rehab, while the success of The Smasking Pumpkins (above) continued well into 1996. Oasis (left) had its share of problems this year. Lead vocalist Liam Gallagher, shown third from left, was arrested for cocaine possession.