Still Preoccupied With 1995: Blurbing FTW 12/19/25

As my Beatles’ album guide and playlist post would suggest, there wasn’t a lot of subject matter in The Beatles Anthology I wasn’t already aware of. Watching it on Disney over a couple weeks with my kid (I had hipper stuff to consider when it aired in ‘95), the biggest new-to-me incident may have been their ringer Ringo for a tour of the eastern hemisphere and pissing off the Marcos’. The second biggest is that it was Ringo, not John, who screamed about blisters on “Helter Skelter.” Watching it with a young’un both enthusiastic and struggling to recall which bearded Liverpudlian was which certainly made the experience richer. It was great to see him learn anecdotally about artistic collaboration, evolving friendship, recording technology and creative experimentation. As far as the surviving Fab Three's discussion of chemical experimentation went, it was at least more responsible than the Classic Albums episode about Screamadelica I unwisely started one weekend morning (thankfully, the kid was annoyed by the lack of people playing instruments and didn’t really grasp the sentiment “and when we discovered ecstasy, it all came together!”).

If I’d decided to take in The Official Beatles Story '95 on my own, I think I still would have found it rewarding. My belief that George Martin was the Most Important Fifth Beatle was solidified by watching his paternal, or at least avuncular, energy around them even in the modern footage. I can only imagine what would have happened if these guys hadn’t wandered across a producer whose considerable experience with not just numerous musical genres, but the Goons, meant he could both facilitate their blossoming experimental ambitions, and not be fazed by them. He understood their humor, knew what a piccolo trumpet was before they did, and knew how to make one sound good beside an electric guitar. Considering how the loss of Brian Epstein lead to chaotic agents like Allen Klein, the Beatles - and pop music history - owe Martin a humongous debt of gratitude for not leaving the band to their own devices after, say, A Hard Day’s Night, to make terrible music without them. Who would have come in then? Mickie Most?

Sentimentally, the aspect of Anthology I appreciated most was ‘90s George Harrison. John is, was, and likely will always be, my favorite Beatle. His temperament, musical values, interpersonal struggles, flaws, ambitions and contradictions…they’ve always been be the most relatable, even if I don’t begrudge Paul his passive-aggressive pleasantry as much as I once did, and know why Ringo was just as crucial to the alchemy. George was my mom’s favorite, which long baffled me. His pretensions to Eastern transcendence seemed almost as superficial as Mike Love’s (no one beyond the material world writes fucking “Taxman” or “Shanghai Surprise”) and my favorite lyric of his is the one about wiping up your own vomit in “Handle With Care.” I’d guess she liked his darker hair and the relative lack of competition.

While she’s sadly unavailable to confirm or deny, my projections have grown more nuanced and sympathetic. With John a gasbag, Ringo a goof and Paul too ingratiating, I can see how she’d appreciate the sharp, quietly humorous, eye George gave his surroundings. Securely in the Beatles, but stuck outside Lennon-McCartney, Harrison had the energy of someone who didn’t resent being discounted, but knew that was your mistake. He wasn’t the brightest or most talented Beatle, but he was the least codependent. He was able to compromise without taking bullshit ("just tell me how you want it, Paul, and I'll do it") and confident when it came to finding his own lane and interests. Who knows if she thought it out this much at 15 or 45, but - with archival John, and living Paul & Ringo, familiar commodities - George’s interview footage and reflections were the most fascinating and fresh on multiple levels. If there’s a heaven, I hope she’s gotten a smile from him.

Speaking of 1995, my Best Albums Of 1995 post referred to an impending playlist post that would provide a perspective less alterna-centric than my taste in full-lengths. It’s possible I will drop something comparable to my 30 Counching-Jumping Jams From 2005, but I already have one look back on Spotify (my streaming mea culpa, again), dating back to my old 50 Years Of Top 40 tumblr. Here‘s my 40 favorite Top 40 singles of 1995, in order of appearance on the chart. Featuring nothing from my album post!

Brownstone, “If You Love Me” (chart debut: 1/7, chart peak: #8)
Sheryl Crow, “Strong Enough” (1/28, #5)
Notorious B.I.G., “Big Poppa” (1/28, #6)
Oasis, “Live Forever” (2/4, #39)*
Changing Faces, “Foolin’ Around” (2/4, #38)
Brandy, “Baby” (2/11, #4)
Dionne Farris, “I Know” (2/11, #4)
Adina Howard, “Freak Like Me” (2/25, #2)
Montell Jordan, “This Is How We Do It” (3/11, #1)
Nirvana, “The Man Who Sold The World” (3/11, #39)*
2Pac, “Dear Mama” (3/11, #9)
Bush, “Everything Zen” (3/18, #40)*
Craig Mack, “Get Down” (3/18, #38)
The Cranberries, “Ode To My Family” (4/15, #39)*
Annie Lennox, “No More ‘I Love You’s’” (4/15, #23)
Method Man featuring Mary J Blige, “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By” (5/13, #3)
Monica, “Don’t Take It Personal (Just One Of Dem Days)” (5/13, #2)
Blues Traveler, “Run-Around” (5/20, #8)
Collective Soul, “December” (6/3, #20)
Naughty By Nature, “Feel Me Flow” (6/24, #17)
U2, “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” (6/24, #16)
Better Than Ezra, “Good” (7/1, #30)
Alanis Morissette, “You Oughta Know” (7/1, #13)*
Live, “All Over You” (7/8, #33)*
Seal, “Kiss From A Rose” (7/8, #1)
Green Day, “J.A.R.” (7/8, #22)*
Skee-Lo, “I Wish” (7/29, #13)
Gin Blossoms, “Til I Hear It From You” (8/5, #8)**
Montell Jordan, “Somethin’ 4 Da Honeyz” (8/19, #21)
Take That, “Back For Good” (9/2, #7)
The Presidents Of The United States Of America, “Lump” (9/16, #21)*
Groove Theory, “Tell Me” (9/23, #5)
Mariah Carey, “Fantasy” (9/30, #1)
Dave Matthews Band, “Ants Marching” (9/30, #21)*
Bush, “Comedown” (10/14, #30)
Edwyn Collins, “A Girl Like  You” (11/14, #32)
Everything But The Girl, “Missing” (11/11, #2)
Smashing Pumpkins, “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” (11/11, #22)
Goodie Mob, “Cell Therapy” (11/18, #39)
Blues Traveler, “Hook” (12/30, #23)

*airplay chart peak, not released as a physical single
**airplay chart peak in ’95, reached #11 as a double a-side in ’96

I will always be rooting for Bryan Bertino following his 2008 directing debut The Strangers, and I’m glad his filmography is growing more quickly over the last decade than it did initially. But his 2020 film The Dark & The Wicked has achieved the dubious honor of Film I Forgot I Already Watched. The most evocative entry in this category is William Peter Blatty’s The Ninth Configuration, a film surreal and baffling enough if you aren’t experiencing merited deja vu. I can’t swear I actually finished Wicked (lol) the first time, but I recalled more than I expected of two adult children realizing Mom and Dad are dealing with something far more sinister than mere dementia and decrepitude. Why? Who knows. But where The Strangers’ air of dread and confusion benefits from our knowledge that Manson-style home invasion could happen, the supernatural cruelty in Wicked feels too arbitrary to stick as metaphor for how age destroys a family, or to seem like some kind of consequence for past actions. Malin Ireland and Michael Abbott Jr suggest unplumbed deaths as the helpless witnesses, and Xander Berkeley is so fun as the Hatted Priest You Can’t Trust that I don’t care if it’s a cliche. But the end result is so half-baked, so “well that happened,” that - if I did see the ending before - I get why I forgot. FOUR BAGS OF POPCORN.

My popcorn ratings are explained here. If there's something you sure wish I'd blurb about, hit me up at anthonyisright at gmail dot com. No promises, but I might!