Filler Tracks

Hey Team,

So if you remember the "good old days" (ie the 90's), when each of us used to buy CD's. Some purists still do. If you are an oober purist, you buy vinyl records. I hope to inherit my parents collection, but I'm sure my sister Jessica will beat me to it. Back to CD's though. You know, those round things, that were scratched beyond recognition, but would fight the good fight and play your favorite song just one more time. I believe my first CD that I bought was Train's Drops of Jupiter, and then my oldest sister Jentry promptly stole it, and was only returned upon her moving to college. Sisters.
But my favorite part of CD's weren't necessarily the tracks that were playing 85 times a day on the radio. They were the tracks that came in between the hits. The tracks that not many paid attention to, but in my opinion were some of the best music the artist brought to the album. Here's a list of Albums I remember growing up, and how much I loved the filler tracks.

Evan and Jaron- Remember these twins, who were the one hit wonder Crazy for this Girl? Well, just to let you know, the rest of the CD was fantastic. One of my favorite memories of my CD stealing sister Jentry was when she came back to Utah to visit, and heard this album playing while Jessica and I got ready. She could not believe that we actually had a copy of it, and we were still listening to the fantastic album. Happy Songs Upbeat songs include Ready or Not,  Wouldn't It be Nice to Be Proud, On the Bus, and Make it Better. The gut-wrenching sad songs include, You Don't Know Me, I Could Fall, and the saddest of them all, The Distance, which made the soundtrack of Serendipity. But when it was released on the radio, they changed a lot of the words to "better match" the movies thin plot-line, and I was furious. It was my first "I've lost some faith in humanity" moment.

Donna Lewis- Another one hit wonder with I Love You, Always Forever. But there were a few other songs that I've always remembered and enjoyed. Some even have made their way to my Adele station on Pandora, and I never ever skip them or grow tired of the tracks. My favorites from her first Album Now in a Minute include Without Love, Fools Paradise, and the sad song to end all sad songs, Silent World. You may also recognize her voice from the Anastasia theme song At the Beginning, sung with the amazing Richard Marx.

Eagle-Eye Cherry- Who remembers Save Tonight? Some stations still play it to this day! But there are two other notable songs that I still love to hear. When Mermaids Cry, and Falling in Love Again are the best from this album. Who knew he was born in Sweden!? Or his father was a jazz musician. Thanks Wikipedia.

Savage Garden- Yes, I know you are saying in your head, Jana I HATE Truly, Madly, Deeply, and the  sappy I Knew I Loved You. Well, who doesn't? BUT the rest of the album is so redeemable. I cannot tell you how many times I've listened to their album Affirmation.  Probably over 100 times. But the songs in this album made me want to have a terrible breakup in junior high, just so I knew what complete sadness was. My favorites are Affirmation, Hold Me, and The Best Thing. Of course the sad ones are epic. You Can Still Be Free, Two Beds and A Coffee Machine, The Lover After Me, and the best of all, I Don't Know You Anymore. Darren Hayes vocals are crazy good. Look them up.

So I hope you've enjoyed this trip back to the 90's/2000's, and you appreciate the other tracks on your ipod, not just the hits. What are your favorite unknown tracks? Let me know in the comments below.

Jana