Totally 90s: The Last Decade With Its Own Style
My favourite radio station 89.9 LightFM is going to have a pre-winter escape tomorrow.
They’re asking listeners to nominate their favourite decade, and they’ll play music the whole day from that decade. It’ll be a full-on escape into the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s or noughties — whichever decade reigns supreme eventually.
Yesterday, I texted in my vote: the 90s.
(I told them it was because it’s the last decade with a distinct set of style — which is only partly the reason, but it did get me a callback from them and got me to talk on the radio for a couple of minutes!)
I’m a kid who straddled both the 80s and the 90s because I was 5-15 years old in the 80s and 15-25 years old in the 90s. But as much as I like the 80s as well, the 90s is really when I can say I woke up to myself.
Here are just a few of my personal highlights.
FASHION/STYLE
I am at heart a minimalist. Glad to see it’s coming back, but the 90s really was the time when the white Hanes shirt tucked into a simple pair of blue jeans became all the rage. I think it may have been a way to downplay the whole supermodel/glamazon era that the 80s came from, but I still think it’s a classic look topped with a blazer or unstructured suit that will never let a girl down.
Hair was long, with a big honeycomb on top and almost always — bangs! Or extremely short ala-Demi Moore in Ghost.
MOVIES
Beauty and the Beast (1991) – I remember watching this with my brother Paul and we could not leave the movie theatre! One of the movies that made me dream of one day becoming a musical theatre actress. Ahh, the innocence of youth!
Sleepless in Seattle (1993) – My official “first date” movie with hubby. We watched it on Valentine’s Day in 1994 as it was being re-screened at the UP Film Centre. Before then, I had only been on dates with him where I brought my cousin Jamie and best friend Judy, on separate occasions, along. In fact, it was he who introduced me to the film and he couldn’t believe I hadn’t watched it when it first came out. Let’s just say I wasn’t the kind of girl who liked rom-coms. Who’d a thunk I’d be married just over a year after watching this rom-com? But that’s another story.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) – A movie I watched over and over. And this is important because I remember selling lollies in school so I could have about 20 pesos everyday — just enough for 1 movie ticket and jeepney fare to get from school to SM Cinemas and then back home again. In fact, I would still have 1 peso left (P13 for a movie ticket, P1.50 x 4 jeepney rides to Munoz Market, to SM City, back to Munoz Market, and home to Project 8 = grand total of P19)!
Forrest Gump (1994) – Who can’t help but love this movie?
Swing Kids (1993) – Not as popular as Dead Poets Society (1989), but this is where I fell in love totally with Robert Sean Leonard — now aka Wilson, House’s long-suffering best friend.
Titanic (1997) - The biggest movie of the 20th century. I was priveleged to watch an advanced screening as part of my brother Paul’s college org’s fundraising. I was a few weeks pregnant then with my eldest child, and I remember the lights coming back on and seeing every other woman crying their eyes out and feeling just that little bit anxious that I might have a miscarriage because I was so emotionally distraught!
MUSIC
Sleepless in Seattle Soundtrack - I memorized the soundtrack to that movie because hubby gave me a cassette tape after we watched it. A Kiss to Build a Dream On, Stardust, In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning — need I say more?
(Everything I Do) I Do It For You - It helps that I watched the movie at least 8 times, way before the time when movies became available on DVD after a few months or downloadable to hard drive as most of my movies are now. In other words, I was actually in the movie theatre and paid for a ticket every time (gasp)! I also remember practising the song with my little high school band and singing this over and over and over. The only other song I can remember that was just as overplayed was Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” — and yes I was guilty of that crime too!
Mariah Carey/Celine Dion/Whitney Houston - The last of the musical divas that were not all about style, but really all about their vocal prowess and genuine talent. This was before Mariah’s descent into tacky music videos and Whitney’s fall into a drug-ridden marriage and life. Thankfully, Celine retains her squeaky clean image, punctuated only with some overly dramatic musical antics saved by her impeccable voice as always — and as you would expect no less from a singer.
New Kids On The Block, Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync – Technically, NKOTB started in the 80s and had the tail end of their success in the 90s. And ‘N Sync started in the 90s but really became uber-famous in the noughties. But who can resist a group of boys singing about their love and adoration for me – yes me! Didn’t it feel like that for every girl between 9 and 90 years old?
Ariel Rivera - Alongside the Sleepless in Seattle soundtrack, Ariel provided the fodder for me and my husband’s young love. Songs like “Minsan Lang” take me back to that time when I was deeply in love, promising ‘forever’ to my first boyfriend (now husband), playing the cassette tape of his first album over and over like a secret message from my secret love.
Lea Salonga - She who was Kim in Miss Saigon, and then Princess Jasmine in Alladin (1992). Hers is the voice, and face, and achievements (an Olivier and a Tony award for Best Actress in a musical to name a few) that made many young Filipinas like me believe that the world was our oyster and that anything is possible. Closest to my heart though is that she sang the song “We Could Be In Love” — another one in the soundtrack of my love affair with hubby. And yes, he gave me the cassette tape of Lea’s album too. (What the heck is a cassette tape???)
I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing – Aerosmith’s little ditty for Armageddon (1998). Most memorable for me because this was my little lullabye to my eldest child when he was born. I remember just basking in the glow of first-time motherhood, totally absorbed in my little baby while the music video played in the background and I hummed away to put him to sleep. Even now that he’s in high school, I can still say “I don’t want to miss a thing!” only now it’s for all 3 of them!
PERSONAL MILESTONES
College – What a big adventure! Getting into UP Diliman, and graduating – woo-hoo! One day I’ll go back, and give back as I’ve always dreamed I will.
Marriage – First love, eternal love. All the romance and drama, the highs and the lows. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, Mahal!
Motherhood - I suffered a miscarriage at a young age, but when I finally held my first child in my arms, I remember thinking “I will now always be Mother” because no matter what happens, this child came out from me and will know me as Nanay. Profound.
