WHFS Top 99.1 of 1999

1999 saw the release of what would become the last of the Just Passin' Thru CDs, as another fine program was left behind in the last century. The station was now firmly within the CBS portfolio. Its music continued to shift to a harder, more youthful, more Generation-X direction, as its historical audience, this blogger included, turned elsewhere for our music.

This "Generation-X" directional shift reflected the larger embrace of decadence within the United States at a variety of levels. Culture wars were afoot everywhere you turned, from Congress to talk radio, from the PTA to the Supreme Count, where 5-4 decisions had become the norm. This phenomenon, which generational theorists call the Unraveling, was a time of weak institutions and high individualism. The previous unraveling in U.S. History was the Roaring Twenties, ending with the Crash of 1929. It is interesting to note that the recent unraveling also ended as a broad financial crisis -- the Crash of 2008 and the Great Recession -- roiled the world. But that is another story. 


The 99.1th song is a rather naughty little thing called "No Class of 99" by Spaz Luhrman, a knock-off parody of a successful Baz Luhrman song released in 1998. This song had itself made Number 26 in the countdown. It was based on a potential commencement address written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chicago Tribune in 1997. While tape degradation makes it difficult to hear at some points, enough remains intact to leave no doubt as to the author's message.

The song fits right in with the demotivational messages of the day what were daily joke fodder for young adults in their 20s and 30s.  The lyrics include the advice to "smoke cigarettes to mask puke breath." It recommending a variety of other maladaptive behaviors, such as judging others solely on physical appearance, standing idly by and criticizing, and leaving the places you live before you are involved in a drug deal gone bad. It encourages giving "the finger," noting that it is not passe' and it still hurts people's feelings. 

Moving on from the 99.1th song, the program continued with Weasel announcing the songs down to Number 74. As he closed out, he commented that he had now, as of today, played new rock on HFS during four decades -- the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s. Rob Timm took over and carried the countdown all the way to Number 5. Along the way he introduced us to his favorite new game of the year: "It's the first time this millennium I have done X." Paula Sangeleer came in and finished the countdown.

Another interesting observation: the stereophonic image of WHFS was broadcasting that day was significantly narrowed as compared to that observable on most compact disc recordings of the day. I'm not sure if this was by accident or an effort to make the station sound better on "boom boxes" and other such portable sound reproduction devices that were prevalent by the late 1990s, but whether intentional or otherwise it certainly degraded their original High Fidelity Stereo concept.

As always, we let the music and the presentation speak for itself. Give it a listen and post your thoughts. 

WHFS Top 99.1 of 1999 -1- Top 99.1 to 83.mp3 
WHFS Top 99.1 of 1999 -2- Top 82 to 67.mp3
WHFS Top 99.1 of 1999 -3- Top 66 to 50.mp3
WHFS Top 99.1 of 1999 -4- Top 49 to 33.mp3
WHFS Top 99.1 of 1999 -5- Top 32 to 18.mp3
WHFS Top 99.1 of 1999 -6- Top 17 to 4.mp3
WHFS Top 99.1 of 1999 -7- Top 3 to Number One, Paula Sangeleer.mp3