The Nineties

The 1990’s felt like a time when the future was exciting. When fashion and music and culture were pretty amazing. It was way chiller and cooler than the 80’s. Later we would realise it was far more naïve and pure than the mid 2000’s on (when social media helped turn life a little bit toxic). But what were the nineties all about? What was it like living then?

Nineties music

Britpop Summer focuses on just britpop but there was a lot of other music happening. Here’s a run down of the mainstream trends happening through the decade although a lot depended on what type of music you were into. I was a middle class white girl in New Zealand who listened to New Kids on the Block in my teens, so my take on this is going to be very different from anyone who was more enlighted.

1990 – the start of the 90’s saw rap hit the mainstream with MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice playing everywhere. If you weren’t singing hammer time, or Ice Ice baby at least several times a day, then there was something wrong with you. Vanilla Ice also made many of us re-discover Queen and David Bowie, so we were listening to them too.

1991 – Guns and Roses released Use Your Illusion double album. Suddenly rap was out and metal was in and everyone was wearing bandanas and bike shorts under a leather jacket. It was a great time for fashion! Other metal and hair rock bands suddenly became cool too with Faith No More, Metallica and many others playing loud.

1992 – Nevermind came out and we all got out our saggy caridgans and old comfy t-shirts and got completely into grunge. To be honest, many of us were wearing saggy caridgans and old t-shirts anyway. But now it was fashion. Our parents shook their heads. This music was so not their scene. They could not relate in any way. Then Wayne’s World came out and suddenly Bohemian Rhapsody was the biggest song around. Bittersweet as Freddie had died at the end of 1991, although apparently he did see the scene from the movie before he passed.

1993 – In direct contrast to grunge, the boy bands started coming. Backstreet Boys, Take That, Westlife, NSYNC (who waited till 1995). They were clean, wholesome, choreographed pin ups and some of their songs were even catchy.

1994- Kurt killed himself in April. Britpop snuck onto the scene with Parklife by Blur out that same month and Definitely Maybe by Oasis coming out in August.

1995 – If you weren’t a huge britpop fan (I’ve heard that some people weren’t, never met one myself) then a new trend was about to start. The rock girls! Alanis Morrisette released You Oughta Know and then suddenly the radio and charts exploded with solo female artists, female bands or female lead singers. Shania Twain, Gwen Stefani, Dolores O’Riordan, Natalie Imbruglia (can you see her name without singing Torn? I don’t think so) and so many more! Hip hop was also going mainstream with TLC and Maria Carey was taking the diva genre to new levels. Post Grunge groups also started to come on to the scene like Foo Fighters, Creed, Matchbox 20.

1996 – The Spice Girls burst onto the scene to show that girls can do pop too.

1997 – When Princess Diana was killed, Elton John’s Candle in the Wind, remade about Diana, became the biggest song of the decade.

1998 – Towards the end of the nineties, Britney and Christina were taking Mariah’s crown as pop divas. Bands like Coldplay and Travis were labelled post britpop. Under 30 year olds were buying less music and record companies were concerned the internet was going to change everything (they were right). And we were all preparing for Year2K when everything was going to go beserk (spoiler alert – it didn’t. My laptop went back to 1900 on the date, and I changed it back to 2000 and it was fixed).

Nineties Culture

There were many key events that shaped the 90’s. I don’t feel like writing about them at the moment because I lived through them and I don’t really feel like reliving it. If you’d like to find out more why not try watching:

Nineties TV

One thing I will cover. In the 90’s there were no streaming services – so things screened on TV and you HAD to be there to watch it. You could tape it (we did have VCR players and towards the end of the decade TIVO and other recording options) but it was very hard to see if you missed it. What were the shows that you RAN home to watch? Here’s my top picks (some of which Ethan and Elise watch in Britpop Summer).

Beverley Hills 90210 – for those of us in our teens in the nineties, 90210 was the GO TO watch. We really didn’t know if Dylan would end up with Kelly or Brenda. Would Brandon’s hair ever move? Would David ever get with Donna? The first series tackled hot teen issues but from then on it was pure schmaltz. And we loved it.

Melrose Place was the grown up 90210. Screening on Sunday nights in NZ, again you had to watch to know what Billy would simper about this week, what cunning evil plan Michael and Kimberley would be up to and if Jake and Amanda would give glad eye to each other. It was non-intellectual TV at it’s best.

The X Files – not only was everyone under age 40 obsessed with either Mulder or Scully, but after each episode, we would analyse and scrutinise and discuss. This was a time when conspiracy theories could only be found in dark, strange underground magazines or groups that met in secret. They weren’t out there for anyone to find (remember no internet, no phones, no social media in the 90’s). X-files was so huge there was a song about it.

ER was must see TV and every week at the start it was the most intense hour of the week. Goose from Maverick was Mark Green. What antics would he and George Clooney get up? What life and death situations would Carol Hathaway deal with, with a young Carter trying to learn the ropes. Not to mention the steamy Dr Kovack. You literally were on the edge of your seat every episode for the first few seasons.

Friends was like a mirror of our lives. Hanging out with friends, doing stupid things and stuffing up your relationships. Young people watching it now aren’t happy about the sexism, the inappropriate comments and behaviours – which don’t look good against today’s society norms – but back then Friends was the first show to have a lesbian couple and raise topics that weren’t usually discussed (Sex and the City would take this to new heights at the end of the 90’s). We really didn’t know if Ross and Rachel would get together and it really was essential to watch each week.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the go to for witty repartee and watching Buffy just kick ass. The movie had been kitsch. Sarah Michelle Geller and the whole cast made the series awesome. Sci-fi became mainstream.

The Sopranos was serious TV. It wasn’t discussed but if you missed an episode, you missed out a chunk of story line that you couldn’t google. You had to get someone who had watched it to explain exactly what happened. What did Christopher specifically say to Adriana? Who betrayed who? Who was shot? Why? What did Tony say about it?

Then there was the show about nothing. There’s a lot of bad press about the final episode of Seinfeld. I think it was actually a great way to end. People who they had been rude and horrible to coming back and testifying against them? Funny! Because they were a pretty horrible groups of friends, but we loved them.

Sex and the City was a revelation when it first started in 1998. No-one talked about sex and relationships like that. Now it seems old hat, and young people watching it are horrified by things like Carrie’s friends husband showing her his dick on the way from the bathroom (which a Gen Z reviewer watching called sexual assault – we just called it a little bit sleazy because that sort of stuff happened all the time). I remember a friend telling me there was this amazing show on at like 11pm on Friday nights and had a I seen it? I immediately said ‘is it Sex and the City?’ We all found it en mass and watched it religiously.

There were a whole load of other shows but these were the ones that stood out for me.

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