1994 marked a seminal year in music. New records from bands such as The Cranberries, Massive Attack, Beck, and Portishead made their way into the American mainstream, thanks partly to KCRW. In honor of the 30th anniversary, former Morning Becomes Eclectic host Chris Douridas reflects on some of that year's defining tunes.
“Loser” - Beck
This slacker rock anthem put LA native Beck on the map as a young artist. At the time, Douridas was consulting with Tony Berg at Geffen Records, and he recalls the first time he listened to the 12-inch single.
“We both flipped out. And I remember saying to Tony in that moment, ‘I'm going to open my show tomorrow with this, and all hell is going to break loose.’”
And it did, says Douridas, who spun the record every day that week.
“People were clamoring for this thing. We started getting phone calls from other radio stations around the country wanting to get their hands on it, asking questions about this guy.”
Days later, Beck joined KCRW for a live session.
Hear more: Beck Live on Morning Becomes Eclectic (1993)
Douridas credits the song’s popularity to its musical variability, including its folk-ish guitar loop, hip-hop beat, and lyrics that caught the ear.
“He came up with these lyrics because he was trying to get his audiences to pay attention when he was playing in these clubs and nobody was listening. And then he was doing this rap thing that was just hard to be believed. This diminutive, white guy with this self-deprecating humor and this edgy, cool production on the track. And it … helped define the music of that era.”
Watch: Beck performs "Dreams" live on KCRW
Protection - Massive Attack
The Bristol-based band sent KCRW an import of their second album, Protection, when it dropped. At the time, the band said no one but KCRW was playing their music on the radio in the U.S. According to Douridas, Massive Attack’s first record Blue Lines was KCRW’s most played album in that era and their follow-up made a splash at the station.
“Like that first album, it had a bunch of different singers on it. It had this modern twist on soul, on reggae, and they had a Bristol stoner take on hip-hop. And the singers on this album were Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl, who was also a big one for us, Horace Andy, and Tricky.”
More: Everything But the Girl Live on MBE (1994)
Massive Attack still holds up, Douridas points out. “We were so onboard with that band early on, but it took the rest of the world a long time to catch up to them. But now looking back, they really stand out still in the rearview mirror. I mean, we're still playing them.”
Dummy - Portishead
Portishead is another Bristol-based band that cut through the noise of the 1990s. Known for its distinctive and cool sound, their debut album Dummy spawned multiple hit singles, including “Glory Box” and “Sour Times.” The electronic group built on what Massive Attack was doing and helped cement the genre known as trip hop.
“Before Portishead, there was this thing from Massive Attack, and nobody really had a name for it. They were just calling it ‘Massive Attack.’ And then when Portishead dropped in 1994, [journalists] kind of had to put a name to it,” Douridas explains.
Douridas, however, doesn’t want to risk being overly prescriptive about this new sound. “What is trip-hop, right? Trippy hip-hop. We don't have to define what it is. We don't have to call it a name. We don’t have to put a genre name on it here at KCRW, because we just play it.”
“Red Right Hand” - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
This tune is arguably Nick Cave’s most accessible record, Douridas says, best known for its use in the Scream franchise and as the theme song for the British drama Peaky Blinders.
More: Bent By Nature live performances, 1982-1991: A beginner's guide
Cave has been a regular presence on the station since the 1980s. “KCRW is featured in the first documentary about his touring life. He's been a mainstay here since the 80s. Every chance we get, we've had him come through. He's performed live on KCRW at least five times over the years.”
Talking Timbuktu - Ali Farka Touré and Ry Cooder
Malian musician Ali Farka Touré and LA guitarist Ry Cooder met in 1994 on Morning Becomes Eclectic. In the fall of that year, they released Talking Timbuktu.
“Ry Cooder and Ali Farka Touré rehearsed and learned that song in our studios before they played it live on MBE,” Douridas recalls.
The collaborative album won the Grammy for Best World Music Album, and its final track “Diaraby” was used as the Geo Quiz theme for the PRI show called The World.
“Linger” - The Cranberries
This track off of The Cranberries’ 1993 album — Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? — helped define the sound of the decade. The album, as a whole, however, didn’t permeate through the mainstream at the time, Douridas says.
KCRW started playing “Linger” in July 1993, and Douridas says it was college radio that kept it alive.
By February of the next year, Island Records re-released the song as a single: “And boom, it took off. That's how it works. But it takes sometimes six to nine months for things to first land on KCRW, or stations like us, although there are few of them, and then find its way around the rest of the country…I always point to [Linger] as an example of that.”