Nelson has 3 consecutive cards in Series 1 plus a "different font" promo for a total of 4 MusiCards for us to check out in this post. Above is the only card where the rest of the band is featured in the photo, not just the titular twins. The redhead in the middle looks a bit like Emma Stone, but don't let the long hair fool you; that's a man, baby.
Entering today, I know just a couple Nelson songs: "(I Can't Live Without Your) Love & Affection" (which I could live without) and "After the Rain" (which I do like). They seemed like the last new "big hair" rock band to emerge before that genre went the way of the dodo in the wake of Nevermind.
Nelson - "After the Rain"
I was intrigued by the SNL tidbit on the back of the card. Wikipedia has some more context on that early performance:
During the 1980s, Matthew and Gunnar played as Strange Agents and as The Nelsons, with which they played the Los Angeles club scene. A year after the death of their father in a plane crash, Lorne Michaels agreed to have the Nelsons as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, at the request of their manager at the time. They became the first unsigned band to play on the show. During this iteration of the band, Matthew was the lead singer and bassist, while Gunnar played the drums. As they returned home from the show, Gunnar claims he had what he called "an epiphany", which he shared with his brother. He told him that they should break up the band as it was and start sharing the front stage together. Gunnar promised to learn to play guitar and did so in a year. (source)
Here's a shot of them holding their guitars.
The band members get name-checked on the back of card 83. If it were me putting the set together, I'd maybe swap backs with the full-band photo of the previous card (that actually shows all those guys), but whatever.
Deja vu. The unnumbered promo version of card 83 can be distinguished by the casual "Pro Set MusiCards" font in the black box. The crop is also slightly different, with that box touching hair here, plus we see the tip of the lower guitar now. And of course the back is different:
The blurb is a little more.. effusive?.. than we're used to with this set. That opening sentence, jeez! "Uniquely 1990s music" was close, but turned out to be uniquely 1990, specifically. Done by '91.
Nelson - "Love & Affection"
Nelson's last card features a tight headshot of the duo split by a beam of flowing blond hair.
The other band members bookend the Nelson cards, showing up again on the back photo of card 84.
I really doubt the other fellas are still in tow, but the Nelson brothers never stopped rocking. I gotta admit I could've sworn I remember hearing about Gunnar Nelson passing a few years back, but I may have conflated him with someone like Jani Lane from Warrant, because yep, at least as of Leap Day 2024, they're both still kicking. Nelson has released new music as recently as the mid 2010s and still perform live on occasion. They also have a separate tribute act for their dad called Ricky Nelson Remembered, and sometimes play in a celebrity all-star rock band called Scrap Metal.
Let me know in the comments if you've got any thoughts or memories connected to Nelson to share.
Alannah Myles parlayed her #1 hit "Black Velvet" into a pair of MusiCards in 1991.
Per ASCAP, it was the most played song on radio for 1989 and 1990, so that's pretty impressive. Like most Americans, I liked the song, but never really heard from her again after it faded from the airwaves.
I hadn't realized (or maybe I just forgot) she was Canadian, but I guess her being known for that bluesy Elvis tribute tricks you into thinking maybe she's from down south. She's got a robust Wikipedia entry with lots of accolades from north of the border, though in the US she just could never get out of "Black Velvet"'s shadow.
Here's the other card Alannah Myles got. Neither was reprised in the UK edition, so she's just got the two regular MusiCards. Not much to say about the photos used-- typical promotional headshots-- though both cards look like they would have been better served by having the Super Stars logo bumped to the opposite corner (but for some reason Pro Set only dared do that for the UK edition, or for the occasional Series 1 cards that got an updated variation included in Series 2 packs).
Alannah turned 65 this past Christmas and seems to have slowed down her music career, though she still works on music here and there, in recent years re-recording her old songs, sorta like the Taylor Swift thing, re-recording your music so then you own the recordings instead of slimy industry dudes.
I'd be curious if any of you regular readers have heard an Alannah Myles song besides "Black Velvet"..? I took a curious listen to some of her other songs on Spotify and they were solid but nothing else really stood out too much for me. Here's one that's not too bad:
Alannah Myles - "Why Have Angels Denied You"
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Feels like I gotta pair up Alannah Myles with another female singer from Ontario who also did some child acting before becoming a rock star, and who coincidentally happens to have a similar name.
This custom fudges not only Pro Set's borders, but also the timeline of Alanis becoming a star. Her debut album didn't come out until 1991, with a quick follow-up in '92, but those were Canada-only releases. Then in 1995, Jagged Little Pill was a worldwide smash, selling over 33 million copies. You gotta imagine that had MusiCards endured as an annual release instead being one-and-done, Alanis would have likely been all over those theoretical mid/late-90s MusiCard sets, probably even featured on the box.
I still remember when she burst onto the scene with "You Oughta Know". For a guy like me mainly into alternative rock back then, the track was notable for featuring Flea and Dave Navarro, bandmates at the time in the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The story I remember hearing is that they only agreed to do it as anonymous session work, and after a bit of legal posturing when the news leaked, the two guys ended up getting points on the album, resulting in Navarro making more money from that one song than the entirety of the rest of his tenure in the Chili Peppers, funny enough.
I'd consider myself a casual fan of Alanis Morissette, but have never bought an album or seen her live. "Hand in My Pocket" and "Ironic" are a couple other hits of hers I dig, both also off Jagged Little Pill. Acting-wise, she was cool to see in Dogma and a run on the show Weeds, plus a recurring part on the fun animated show The Great North. I also watched a lot of You Can't Do That on Television as a kid (despite it being kinda controversial at the time), though I don't particularly remember young Alanis' brief stint in the cast.
Anyways, her most recent album came out in 2022. For further reading, you can peruse her Wikipedia entry.
"Thank You"
READER APPRECIATION
I wanted to do a little reader appreciation now that 2023 is in the books. I hit my MusiCards Blog goal of posting at least once a month for the year.. though fell short of my stretch-goal of posting more than once per month. But I still count it as a victory after only 5 posts in all of 2022.
I like to offer a vague incentive for readers to chime in about the artists we cover here, so sometimes I get around to doing a little mail-blast to the regulars. Thanks and congrats to these five fellas who all commented on at least half of the 12 posts here in 2023:
Brett Alan Fuji Jon Matt (Red Sox) Night Owl
It goes without saying I appreciate anyone who reads this little blog, and especially these 5 guys for their continued active participation. If there's a chance I don't have a current mailing address for any of you guys, please hit me up. Nothing too exciting, but I'm planning to send out thank-you cards your way soon/eventually.
No promises for a similar promotion next year, but definitely maybe. If you're a reader who doesn't comment much, well, the count is reset for 2024, so feel free to pop in more this year. Let me know in the comments if you've got any thoughts/memories to share regarding Alannah Myles and/or Alanis Morissette. Thanks!
Here's Morrissey at #79 in the 1991 MusiCards checklist. It's certainly one of the more visually distinctive cards in the set, though feels rather cramped. The same photo is reprised on his card in the UK edition.
I didn't pull this card from the handful of packs I opened as a kid, but it probably would have been regarded as a pretty sweet hit if I had. I really got into Morrissey and The Smiths back around 1992. In fact, thinking about it now, I believe Best of the Smiths vol. 1 and 2 on CD were my first ever online purchases, ordering off a text-only CD store site during the early days of the web.
Morrissey - "Suedehead"
Sadly, like many other fans, my opinion of Morrissey has taken a tumble over the years, what with his tendency to cancel more concerts than he performs, and, yep.. the frequent eye-roll inducing statements he spouts off these days, often coming off as a crotchety old racist. But I prefer to remember the good times, back when he wrote cool songs about being a shy, unlovable nobody that I could relate to.
Morrissey - "Tomorrow"
Longboxes of Bona Drag and Your Arsenal were among my other early CD purchases, and both albums got a ton of play by teenage Gavin. I even had a Your Arsenal t-shirt in my rotation during high school.
I was resistant to 1994's Vauxhall & I when it first came out-- the single is the worst song on it-- but years after the fact it became another favorite album of mine. I'm sure one could argue he's done some other good stuff here and there since ("First of the Gang to Die" is a snappy tune from 2004), though I don't pay that much attention to his modern output.
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Here's a custom for The Smiths as a quartet from the mid 80s. They're one of the few notable bands from their era to never give in to the "reunion" (payday) pressure even though they were all still around until just mid 2023 when bassist Andy Rourke passed away. But yeah, I guess Johnny Marr is happy doing his own thing. He's put out some good stuff in recent years though doesn't seem to get a whole lot of attention.
The Smiths - "Panic"
I still do enjoy pretty much the entirety of the Smiths' recorded output, even tracking down all the rare b-sides and such back in my days trading live & rare recordings. I honestly hadn't realized "Panic" was about Chernobyl until reading the back of Morrissey's MusiCard. So there you go.. Informative! LOL
The Smiths - "How Soon Is Now?"
"How Soon is Now?" was the first song of theirs I remember really noticing, with its unique droning standing out when it'd come on the radio. I soon then copied a cassette of Meat Is Murder that I borrowed from my cousin. I remember often listening to that tape on my walkman, a must-have album for any long trip. I eventually got their discography on CD and loved them all in their own way. I don't listen to the band nearly as much these days (and have never gone vegetarian; sorry, Morrissey), but still give them a spin on occasion.
How about you? Any readers go through a Smiths/Morrissey phase? Favorite songs?
George Michael has 5 cards in series 1 of 1991 Pro Set MusiCards, and we'll be taking a look at them in this post. He's also got one card in the UK edition and a promo card ("different font" type).
Here's a pleasant enough shot of George deep in thought whilst inside on a sunny day, perhaps longing to be out on the pitch kicking around the football with the fellas, but alas he's got a photoshoot to pose for. This same photo is used less successfully on his card in the UK edition, with the logo moved down to the opposite corner and the cropping covering some of his hair.
There's a new Wham! documentary on Netflix that's supposed to be pretty good. I've been meaning to check it out.
Pro Set must have designed this one to also work as a relic or autograph card. LOL, JK
But no, really, that would look great with a big metallic ink signature on the left, right?
Back photo is from the same "brick wall" shoot but with a little less smile.
George Michael - "Careless Whisper"
This pic with the guitar is the same as the unnumbered promo card.
Gotta admit I'm rushing through writing this post late in the day here on November 30th in order to keep my string of monthly posting intact.
His arms look rather hairy on this one.
George Michael - "Monkey"
I had Faith on a cassette I dubbed from my aunt sometime around 1989. I still really enjoy several songs on that one. My mom got Listen Without Prejudice back then as a Columbia House CD, and I think I played it more than she did through the 90s, though really only "Freedom '90" and "Praying For Time" clicked with me.
George Michael - "Praying For Time"
If this one wasn't labeled as George Michael, it might've taken me a minute to figure out who was pictured. Looks kinda like Jim from The Office here.
This back photo looks like a mugshot from that earlier "hairy arms" photoshoot.
George Michael's last few chapters took a sour turn and he had his share of controversy and scandal. Sucks that he had to go through what he did and tragically died before his time.
But yeah, quality singer with an impressive catalog. Any George Michael favorite tunes you wanna mention or stories to share? Much thanks as always.
Ian McCulloch is on card #73 in the 1991 MusiCards set. It's not a very exciting photo and Pro Set probably would have been better off constructing this one as a vertical card rather than horizontal. I gotta admit it took me a moment to place the name-- "Oh yeah: it's the guy from Echo and The Bunnymen!"
I like several Echo and The Bunnymen songs, but am not super familiar with them-- their heyday being just a bit before my time-- and hadn't heard any of Ian's solo stuff. I listened to Candleland while drafting this post and liked it fine, though not too different from his familiar Bunnymen sound to my ears, despite those "new aspects of his songwriting ability" touted in the card's write-up.
Ian McCulloch - "Proud to Fall"
After Ian went solo, the band replaced him and kept going for a few years with a new singer. Then in the late 90s, the O.G. Bunnymen regrouped and have been at it since, though they are now down to only Ian and guitarist Will Sergeant left from the original lineup. They just did a short UK tour in September 2023. I think it's fair to say they're considerably bigger in the UK than the US, though this is the only MusiCard that either Ian or his band got (Conspicuously left out of the UK edition).
Echo and the Bunnymen - "The Cutter"
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Might as well make a card for the neglected Bunnymen.
This photo from 1987 features the classic Echo and the Bunnymen lineup, though if this was an official card from 1991, one would assume it'd feature singer Noel Burke, who filled in while Ian was off doing his solo thing, 1988-1993.
They've got four songs that have endured as staples of the 80s: "Lips Like Sugar", "The Killing Moon", "Bring on the Dancing Horses", and "The Cutter". Those are great songs, though maybe a bit played out at this point. A couple less-remembered bangers are "Seven Seas" and "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo".
Echo and the Bunnymen - "Rescue"
But my personal favorite song of theirs is "Rescue".. I remember hearing the song on a mixtape from my cousin when I was young and I've loved it since.
That's all I've got for this time. Let me know in the comments if you're a fan of Ian McCulloch and/or Echo and the Bunnymen with any thoughts to add or favorites to mention.
We're up to #72 in the 1991 MusiCards set with Richard Marx. The washed-out live shot is his lone card in the set. It's likely late in the performance, as he's down to a tank-top.
I'm sure Richard has an audio recorder app on his phone now, with the days of leaving answering machine messages from pay phones long in the past.
Richard's father Dick Marx (giggle) was a jazz pianist who also had a successful career writing jingles, with young Richie sometimes contributing backing vocals. His first big break making a name for himself in the industry was writing the song "What About Me?" that Kenny Rogers took to #1 in 1984.
I liked Richard Marx fine during his peak in the late 80s, though I never went as far as to purchase any of his albums or anything. Loved "Satisfied" and "Endless Summer Nights". And although they got worn out, "Right Here Waiting" and "Hold On to the Nights" are a couple solid ballads of that era.
A random Richard Marx memory of mine: I was watching him perform 2 or 3 songs with his band live in front of a crowd on a TV broadcast once circa '89 (I think as part of an MTV special event), and what stuck in my memory is how ridiculous it was, when at the end of "Should Have Known Better", the band played/sang progressively quieter rather than have a proper ending. (I'm not sure now if it was lip-synced, but I don't think it was.) LOL, the "live fade out" is something you don't see too often!
But yeah, he's remained active over the years. Here's the link to his Wikipedia entry if you really want to read up on him. Feels like the Nevermind revolution took the wind out of his sails, but he's still put together an impressive career, with plenty of success as a solo artist as well as a collaborator with other notable artists. Seems like a good dude, too, and he made news a while ago by helping subdue a rowdy drunk passenger on a flight.
Wow, turns out Richard Marx has been married to Daisy Fuentes since 2015?! Respect! Everybody had a crush on her back in the day.
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I didn't have another artist in mind for today's Custom Corner, so whipping up a MusiCard for Daisy Fuentes sounded like a good idea.
That snowballed into a whole custom subset of MTV personalities. The idea doesn't seem too far-fetched considering the sister set of Yo! MTV Raps cards that included MTV employees among the rappers.
Kevin Seal was probably my favorite as a kid. Seemed like a fun Bill Murray/Paul Rudd-type who didn't take things too seriously.
Gotta respect newsman Kurt Loder, face of MTV News for decades.
Martha Quinn was the only original VJ still around by the time I started watching MTV in the late 80s. Always loved to see her pop on.
The smooth Bill Bellamy gets a Rock N Jock action shot.
It was popular to hate on Kennedy back in the day, but she had her moments.
Pauly Shore was another VJ people loved to hate. I wasn't exactly a big fan, but thought he was entertaining in small doses.
The lovely Tabitha Soren helped MTV News expand in the 90s.
Adam Curry's hair let you know he was the Hard Rock specialist in MTV's arsenal. I didn't watch much Headbangers Ball, but would often try to catch the other show he hosted, MTV Top 20 Video Countdown.
Calling it good here, seeing as 9 is a fitting number for cards. These were really just the first nine people who popped to mind when trying to remember MTV folks from the era I watched, but I'm sure I left out some notable ones. (Downtown Julie Brown! [Uptown] Julie Brown! Heck, the gang from Remote Control.) Maybe I'll do "Series 2" of this subset in a future post. Who do you think should be included?
Please also sound off in the comments with any other thoughts on this MTV group or the work of Richard Marx. Thanks!
Here's Martika at the 71st slot in the 1991 MusiCards checklist. It's her only card in the standard set, but she also has a pair of cards in the UK edition, one of which looks the same as above but with the logo moved down to the opposite corner. The other UK card features a fun shot with her sax player.
I had watched Martika star on Kids Incorporated as a young-un (which I remember as kinda like Saved By The Bell but with singing), so it was a trip for me when she became a pop star with "Toy Soldiers" not long after aging-out of child acting. Seemed like she was on her way to a successful career at the time, but the longevity wasn't there and she pretty much only had that one hit. I remember watching a "Where Are They Now?" segment on her years later and she seemed happy and content with her life away from the spotlight.
I liked "Toy Soldiers" fine back when it was all over radio and MTV for those few weeks and don't mind hearing it once in a blue moon today. I'm not familiar with any of her other songs off the top of my head, but I'll take a listen here in a moment. Skimming her Wikipedia entry, I was surprised to learn she reached the Top 40 four times, working with Prince on one of those singles (which is available in 3 flavors: Martika version, Prince version, and Prince Mix of Martika version), so it might not be fair to label her a one-hit wonder. She saw a bump in visibility after Eminem sampled "Toy Soldiers" for a song in 2004. Around that time, she formed a Latin pop band with her husband called Oppera and put out a couple albums. Since then she's mostly kept a low profile living in Dayton, Ohio, occasionally performing at throwback music festivals.
Ok, after listening to a greatest hits album from Martika, she's got some decent pop tunes that call to mind the likes of Paula Abdul or early Madonna. But nothing that really sticks like "Toy Soldiers", a song written in response to a friend's cocaine addiction, in contrast to the rest of her songs that are generally upbeat. That aforelinked Prince Mix is probably the only thing besides "Toy Soldiers" I'd have much desire to give further listens to going forward, but had I owned the album as a kid back then, I bet I would have loved it. (see Forever Your Girl being a sentimental favorite of mine today.)
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Speaking of singers with ties to Prince, we go from Martika to "Mandinka". Sinéad O'Connor passed away last month at 56, a sad ending to a life that had been troubled for a while. I thought maybe there was a MusiCard for her-- after all, this set was put together when she was riding high at her peak, "Nothing Compares 2 U" was released as a single in January 1990, helping her score one of the biggest albums of the year, and it wasn't until October '92 when things "derailed" for her. But no, she didn't get a card in the set, so I whipped up a custom:
Gotta admit "Nothing Compares 2 U" is one of those popular songs I just never liked. Back in the day, I'd always roll my eyes and change the station whenever it came on. Not that 12-year old boys are the prime demographic for that song. I still don't really care for it today (nor the original Prince version), but I do enjoy other Sinéad O'Connor songs. "Mandinka" is a great one. "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" caught my attention the few times I heard it on the radio back in the day. And she's got several other good ones, but my favorite song of hers is "The Emperor's New Clothes".
Back in '90, my mom bought the cassette of I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, one of the few/last times I remember her purchasing an album that was actually on the pop charts at the time (These days she mostly listens to classical and bluegrass). I loved "The Emperor's New Clothes" despite the rest of the tape not doing anything for me.
I'm loath to even bring it up, but yeah, Sinéad tore up a photo of the Pope after a performance on Saturday Night Live in '92 to protest the catholic church allegedly diddling kids. Like kneeling for the anthem, it got a lot of attention and pissed off a lot of people, but her heart was in the right place fighting injustice. Years later it was revealed that, yep, the clergy was diddling a lot of kids and having it covered up. So she got some vindication there, I suppose, but sure had a rough go of it in recent years, with the loss of her son to suicide being particularly devastating. She converted to Islam in 2018, changing her name to Shuhada' Sadaqat, but still dabbled in music.
That'll do it for this post. By the way, Prince has a couple UK MusiCards which we'll hopefully get to on the blog eventually, but he was left out of the US set, likely due to licensing reasons.
Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to share any thoughts you may have regarding Martika and/or Sinead in the comments.
