Once again, we are back for another countdown of songs turning 30 years old, this time for 2022.  Starting on April 1 I will begin to countdown a song each day until my birthday on April 20 when I announce the #1 30-year old song.  See my previous post to determine the criteria of this list. So, as we wait for April 1st, here are the list of songs that were considered, but did not make the countdown, including five (marked by *) that almost made it: Ace of Base – All That She Wants Alice in Chains – Would Annie Lennox …..more →

We now come to the #1 song of this countdown, and the reasons why are various.  It’s still being played today (both by radio and the band who wrote it), has influenced so many rock musicians, impacted pop culture from movies to wrestling, is considered one of the best heavy metal and hard rock songs of all time, and helped establish this band as one of the premier stadium rock acts if not the kings of American heavy metal.  The #1 song turning 30 years old this year is Enter Sandman by Metallica.

In the battle for 1991 supremacy, our runner-up came close to winning it all.  This song was HUGE back in the day, made us cry when we sang it during end-of-the-school-year concerts and remembrances, and is still just as powerful today as then.  This group’s performance of it would cement them as a force to be reckoned with going forward.  The #2 song in this 1991 countdown is It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye (to Yesterday) by Boyz to Men.

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.

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.

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.