Mall Rats, Sad Dads, and Genre Crimes

This week, we’re cruising through pop songs that bent genres, confused critics, and somehow became absolutely unavoidable. From late-’90s mall anthems to genre-breaking hits and a stopover in the emotionally earnest world of divorced dad rock, each round blends music history, sneaky clues, and peak nostalgia. Play along with your passengers, keep score if you want, or just enjoy the stories behind the songs you forgot you loved but absolutely still know every word to. 

Attributions:

Music by Serkan Demirel from Pixabay

Music by Music_for_Creators from Pixabay

Music by Tunetank from Pixabay

Music by AllWorldMusic from Pixabay

Music by Alana Jordan from Pixabay

Music by one seven from Pixabay

Music by Looptape from Pixabay

Music by Ivan Selivanov from Pixabay

Music by Jacob Kandlaker from Pixabay

Music by Alejandro Piñero Amerio
from Pixabay

Countdown: Sound Effect by ThéTurk
from Pixabay

Too easy? Too hard? Too boring? What do you want to hear? Email me at: RoadTripTriviaInteractive@gmail.com

Transcript

0:01

Hey, what's up? I am so excited you're here. Welcome to Roadtrip Trivia Interactive. I'm Tara Tyler, and for the next however many minutes this takes, we are going to play some music trivia that comes with good stories, stuff you never knew about your favorite songs, or in many cases, your least favorite songs. Today's episode is called Mallrats Sad Dads and Genre Crimes. Pretty much summon up my entire musical taste. I'm kidding. We're gonna be talking about the soundtrack to your Questionable mall purchases back in the nineties. The post grunge power ballads. Your stepdad is probably crying too in his truck in the driveway. And the absolute chaos that happens when artists decide that genres are just suggestions. Making folks that work at radio stations go crazy. Now, if you've been riding along with me for the first two episodes, then you know the drill. I'm gonna give you two clues about a song. The first one's a bit harder. You'll get 10 seconds. And if you get it right, you'll get two points. If you need to wait for the hint, that's cool, but you're only gonna get one point. And if you don't feel like keeping score. That's cool too. This ain't the SATs. We're still gonna have fun. We're still gonna have, have some cool stories. And who knows? You might learn something as we're trying to kill time on this road trip. Are you and your passengers ready to play Road Trip Trivia Interactive. The only show where Googling not only makes you a cheater, but a danger to other people on the road. All right, cool. Buckle up. We're heading to the most formative musical venue of the nineties. I'm talking about the mall food court. Round one is called Mall

Round 1: Mall Anthems

1:43

Food Court. Anthems. If you're around my age, you remember when malls weren't the empty claw machine infested wastelands they are today. It was actually the place where you met up with all your friends, where you put on your, you know, favorite outfit and teased your bangs up really big and went to see who was hanging out at the mall. And remember, this is before cell phones, before we even had pagers, which my parents never let me have a pager 'cause apparently only drug dealers carried pagers. and you know what, they were kind of right. I, I did buy my weed from a anyway. Actually, you know what, let's, let's not talk about that. Let's talk about them all. 'cause it had its own soundtrack songs blasting out of Pacific Sunwear and from Spencer's gifts, where I definitely was not old enough to be shopping in the nineties. So let's test your knowledge of those mall anthems. Here comes question one. In the late 1980s, a teenage pop star didn't tour clubs or open for bigger acts instead. Her record label sent her straight to shopping malls. She performed live in the middle of food courts surrounded by escalators, pretzels, and security guards trying to control crowds of screaming teenagers. But this song wasn't new. It had already been a hit 20 years earlier, and the man who originally sang it later said he was surprised. The song suddenly came back louder and bigger than ever, but that it made total sense. Behind the scenes. This song was part of a carefully engineered experiment that accidentally changed how pop stars were marketed. 10 seconds starts now. If you think you got it right, give yourself two points. Otherwise, here comes your hint. The 15-year-old singer admitted that when she first recorded this song, she didn't even realize it was about teenagers looking for a place to sneak off and make out. And if you were a fan of the show, full House DJ got in trouble for skipping school to go to her local mall to see this singer perform. Five seconds Go. That's time. Did you say, I think we're alone now by Tiffany. If you were alive in the late 1980s, you definitely heard this song everywhere, but did you know it was originally recorded in 1967 by Tommy James and the Sean Dells? Tommy James has said that when Tiffany's version hit number one, he was pretty blindsided. He said that the revival felt random. Until he realized something important. The song had been repackaged for teenagers who were living in public spaces for the first time. Tiffany's rise to fame wasn't just luck or radio play. Her manager and producer, George Tobin deliberately avoided traditional promotion and instead sent her to perform inside shopping malls because that's where teenagers before artists had YouTube and Spotify and other streaming services to get their music directly to an audience, they had to get creative. So they used them all mall. Alright, question two, in our mall food court anthems category. In 1998, a band released a bouncy, upbeat song that sounded hopeful, defiant, and slightly fed up all at once. The band filmed the music video inside the most controlled commercial environment they could think of. The mall to contrast the lyrics that criticized shallow culture, celebrity obsession, and corporate control. And as millions of shoppers walked past wet seal and KB toys, they heard this song reminding them that the music is in you, not in the hands of corporate interests. 10 seconds starts now. All right. This one is admittedly a little tough. Here's your hint. This one hit wonder is best known for the bridge where the singer threatens to kick the asses of Beck Hanson, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson, which the singer later said he regretted five seconds. Go. Time's up the answer. You get what you give by the new radicals. The music video for you get what you give was filmed inside of an actual shopping mall, and that choice was very deliberate. Greg Alexander, the band's front man and sole permanent member has explained in interviews that he chose them all because it represented an artificial controlled environment built around consumption, exactly what the song was, critiquing The song was a massive hit. U Two's guitarist, the Edge actually said that he wished that this was the song he'd written. But even though the song was huge and everywhere, Alexander walked away from fame entirely. He disbanded new radicals, stopped performing, and moved behind the scenes as a songwriter and producer. So the ultimate mall anthem about not selling out was written by someone who actually meant it and then quietly exited the spotlight. That song is also over four minutes long, which is pretty much unheard of for pop radio. In fact, when I worked in pop radio, if I needed to use the bathroom, that's the song I'd throw on much to the chagrin of my program director because that song was not supposed to be in rotation. But hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go. Sorry, Whitney, I love you. All right. Question three. Okay, so by the end of the nineties, malls were playing songs that made people slow down a little bit, songs that felt reassuring and polished. So it's 1999 and a world famous, legendary power vocalist known for her impossibly big notes and dramatic key changes. And selling an unreasonable amount of CDs. She's recording a new song for her greatest Hits album, and she decides to team up with the Swedish hit makers behind NSYNC and Britney Spears. Now she's 31 at the time. So a lot of folks in her camp wondered if her adult contemporary super Ballad energy would work with this glossy late nineties pop. And of course the answer was yes. The song became the lead single for the greatest hits album titled All the Way, A Decade of Song, and it was built around this bright chiming mandolin riff that made the track feel hopeful instead of heavy. With an epic chorus that will have you driving with the windows down and singing at the top of your lungs. Name that song. 10 seconds Okay. How about a hint? It is an uplifting anthem about love coming, not necessarily when you want it the most, but when you're ready for it. Name that tune five seconds. Okay. Time's up. Did you guess that it was Celine Dion And did you say that's the way it is? When Celine Dion performed it on her CBS special in November of 1999, in sync, sang the backup vocals. And the timing couldn't have been more perfect. Celine dropped this hopeful anthem right as everyone was freaking out about Y 2K and all of our computers crashing. She performed it on her very last show of the 20th century on New Year's Eve in 1999 in Montreal. And then she took a two year hiatus to have a baby. Talk about the ultimate mic drop moment. Even if you're not a huge pop music fan, I mean, you have to admire Celine Dion. She's just drama and magic and beauty, and I love her. What a diva. all right, my little music nerds, do you have six points now or at least three? Or if you're not keeping score, that's fine too. I don't like math either. Moving on if Round one was about music chosen for you by your retail overlords.

Round 2: Divorced Dad Rock

10:49

Round two is about music chosen by guys who definitely have opinions about just about everything and aren't afraid to share them. Welcome to Round two, divorced Dad Rock. This really isn't an insult, I promise. It's it's kind of a diagnosis. This genre is defined by sincerity, introspection, and lyrics that sound like your stepdad trying to connect at Applebee's. Let's do this. question one. In the late 1990s in a small southern town, a 15-year-old kid is sitting in math class, bored writing song lyrics in his notebook. He has no idea he's writing the song that will peak at number three on the hot 100 and become a quintessential track on the divorced dad rock playlist. The title comes from a comic book reference, but the song isn't about superheroes. It's about a weakness. You've got 10 seconds go. Okay. How about a hint? The writer and singer of this song is named Brad Arnold, not Clark, Kent. Five seconds go. Time's up. What's that song? Blasting outta Your Stepdad's truck today. It's kryptonite by three doors down. If I go crazy, then will you still calm his Superman? Yep. Brad Arnold wrote that song when he was 15 in between math class and band practice, and he said in interviews that it's an obvious metaphor for the one thing that can bring someone down no matter how strong they appear. Their first 1000 demo CDs took them about two years to sell, but then W-C-P-R-F-M and Biloxi started playing kryptonite on the air and they said they sold another thousand demo CDs in about 10 days. The song became the number one most requested song in that station's history, and it stayed number one on rock radio for 15 weeks. But get this, it took more than just. Obviously one little radio station in Mississippi playing it a Universal records exec. He had been given the demo but never actually listened to it, and then one day he's driving in his car and hears the song on the radio. He immediately dropped everything and signed the band. Yes, I know this sounds like the plot of Wayne's World, but this actually happened. Pretty cool. Huh? all right, give yourself some points if you got that one right. 'cause we're moving on to question number two in divorced Dad Rock. Most people probably think that this 1999 rock song is about trying to get to heaven. Or maybe trying to get stoned. But with this band's Christian background, most people probably assume the chorus is talking about going to heaven. But the writer and singer told Spin Magazine that it's actually about lucid dreaming. He had a recurring nightmare where he was being chased by a gunman on a highway. And after reading a book about Hindu monks who mastered the technique, he used it to change the dreams ending and escape. Name that song. 10 seconds Time's Up. If you got it, give yourself two points. Otherwise, here's your hint in 2023. Now remember, this song actually came out in 1999, but in 2023, the Texas Rangers baseball team adopted this song as their rally anthem, and they actually sang it in the locker room when they won their first World Series ever. Five seconds go and Time's Up. Did you answer higher? By Creed. Of course this song is number one on the divorced dad rock playlist. That iconic, can you take me higher? Chorus was actually improvised on stage in front of a live audience. Apparently Scott Stapp used to do this all the time. He'd put the band on the spot during their college shows in Tallahassee and announce We're gonna write a song right now. Mark TreMonte and the other guys would start riffing and then Scott would just start singing whatever came to him. The chorus was born that way with stat belting out. Can you take me higher for the first time in front of what he remembers as about 4,000 people. So this song about controlling your dreams was born from completely winging it. And then 24 years later it becomes the soundtrack to the Texas Rangers First World Series Championship. Talk about manifesting, right? Okay. So how many points do you have? I've completely lost track. You should have like 10 if you're doing good, but you know. Like I said, I'm not keeping score either. I don't care if you are. Question number three oh my God, you guys are gonna love this one.. In the mid two thousands, a rock singer answered a late night phone call that he knew he shouldn't have. The person on the other end was someone from his past. but the person in the next room was someone from his present. It's calm at first and then increasingly uncomfortable as the narrator talks himself through a moment he already knows is wrong. The song became a massive hit. even though it never pretends that any of this is a good idea. Name this mid two thousands late night phone call song, go. You ready for your hint? This song asks the question, honey, why are you calling me so late? Five seconds. Go. Time's up since we're making up points here and they don't matter anyway, I'm gonna give you a bonus point if you're able to get the band name on this one too. So if you got lips of an angel on the first clue, give yourself two points. If you got it from the hint, give yourself one. And if you said it was by the band, hinder. Give yourself a bonus point. Austin Winkler wrote this power ballad based on a real phone call he got from his ex-girlfriend while his current girlfriend was in the next room. The label really didn't think it would be a hit. Their first single was this party anthem called Get Stoned, but then Hinder went on tour. The Girls Gone Wild Rock America Tour in early 2006 and if you don't know about the Girls Gone Wild era of like the late nineties and two thousands, Uh, good. I, I envy you. I wish I didn't. But anyway, the, uh, the record exec told the drummer to watch the crowd's reaction to different songs and report back five shows later. He said everybody and their mother are going nuts for this song. Biker dudes in leather, 18-year-old girls. Everyone loves lips of an angel. The song slowly climbed all the way to number three and it sold 3 million ring tones more than any other rock song at the time. Yes. Remember we used to buy ringtones for our phones and now I don't think I've even heard my phone actually ring in at least. I mean, in, in many years, who, who puts their ringer on The song hit number one in Australia for seven weeks straight. They really loved that song. Dan and Da, the band realized their vulnerable, emotional songs connected way better than their party anthems. All right. That wraps up our divorced dad rock category. For my competitive little freaks in the car, the max number of points you can have right now is 14. That includes the bonus point I just threw in for getting hinder right. And um, if you have no idea how many points you have, that's cool too because it's not like you actually win anything. Here's your chance to earn six more worthless points in our final regular round.

Round 3: Songs that didn't ask permission

19:42

I'm calling it songs that didn't ask permission. These are songs, they don't just play on the radio. They cause hours and hours worth of meetings. These are the tracks that absolutely broke the modern radio format. When I worked in radio stations, very much picked a lane and stayed in it. You had adult contemporary versus hot ac or your country or your top 40, or your urban top 40. That's how advertising works. The whole system is based around these very like targeted. Uh, audiences, right? But suddenly these songs come along and completely smash the music genre. No one knew what to do with them. But all radio program directors across the country knew is that these are songs that people definitely wanted to hear. Our first genre busting song was written by a college dropout at the time. He was sleeping on his sister's couch and he decided to buy a simplistic trap beat for 30 bucks on the internet. He recorded the song in under an hour at a studio that had a $20 Tuesdays special rate, and then he MeMed it into existence on TikTok with the Yee-Haw challenge. Obviously the song went viral immediately and Billboard led it on the country chart for about one week and then yanked it off the air saying it doesn't embrace enough elements of today's country music which is absolute bullshit. Can you name that song? 10 seconds Go. All right. Do you need a hint? This controversy made dumbass Billy Ray Cyrus jump onto the remix Tweeting only Outlaws are outlawed. Welcome to the club. The song then spent 19 weeks at number one on the Hot 100 a record and billboard Still wouldn't let it back onto the country charts. Five seconds go. Music by one seven from PixabayTime's up. Did you get it? The answer is Old Town Road by Lil Nas. X. Yes. I'm sorry. I know it's taken us all, many, many years to get that song out of our heads and we finally did it, and here I am, bringing it back. Billboard's. Removal of the song sparked a huge debate about race and genre in country music with critics pointing out that groups like Florida, Georgia Line and artists like Sam Hunt got away with using rap and hip hop beats all the time in country music. But somehow when Lil Nas X did it, that crossed a line. It didn't really matter though. The song went on to break the all time record for longest running number one on the hot 100, all because Billboard tried to gatekeep a $50 song made by a 19-year-old with social media skills. Fun fact that $30 trap beat, that lil Nas X bought off the internet actually stole, uh, the banjo part from a nine Inch Nails song. Yeah. Trent Resner actually had to approve the sample after the song had already gone viral. But luckily he called it undeniably hooky and was happy to clear it. Moving on to question two in songs that didn't ask permission, a group of musicians had been using the first four seconds of this song. For years without even knowing there were lyrics or who the band even was. But Producer Rick Rubin pushed the group to listen to the whole song and told them to transcribe the lyrics. They immediately called him back and said, oh hell no. This is hillbilly gibberish, country bumpkin bullshit, that's an actual quote. Uh, Reuben insisted it would work, and he called the manager for the struggling rock band and suggested that they do a collaboration. The manager later admitted he only agreed to the collaboration because Reuben offered $8,000 for the session. He had no idea what rap music even was at the time. The song went on to peak at number four, way higher than the original song ever did. I name that song 10 seconds. Time's up. If you think you got it right, give yourself two points. Otherwise, here's your hint. The video was the first hip hop music video in heavy rotation on MTV. It featured these two groups separated by a wall, and of course they end up smashing through it. This 1986 song basically invented the rap rock genre. Five seconds go. Time's up the answer. Walk this way by run DMC featuring Aerosmith. Yep. Rick Rubin was still living in his NYU dorm room when he masterminded this idea. Aerosmith's last two albums had bombed. they'd gone from playing 70,000 seat stadiums to 500 person clubs. Run. DMC had never even heard of Aerosmith. They had just been rapping over the first four seconds of walk this way for a long time without ever really knowing where it came from. And when they finally got these two bands into the studio, Joe Perry of Aerosmith showed up with a cigarette hanging from his mouth and didn't even say a single word. The whole time. Rick Rubin actually told Perry that his first guitar solo wasn't good enough and told him, if people hear this, they're gonna think Brad played it. Brad's the other guitarist in Aerosmith. So he got Perry to redo it. And the craziest part is that run DMC still didn't want it released as a single, but they were shocked when it started playing on both Urban and Rock Radio. This song, single-handedly resurrected Aerosmith's career. It made run DMC mainstream superstars, and it opened the doors for hip hop music on MTV. All because a 22-year-old Rick Rubin. Thought hillbilly gibberish would sound great over a breakbeat. seriously, man, you look up who's behind some of your all time favorite songs. The answer 80% of the time is gonna be Rick Rubin. The guy's a genius. Okay, this is the final question in our regular round. Before we head on to the sneaky little bonus round, I've cooked up for you. Okay. Question three. I think you're really gonna like this one too. Here we go. A guitar legend who hadn't had a hit in decades was consulting with his spirit guide Metatron. One day when the spirits sent a very specific message. Call Clive Davis, There are some pretty business savvy spirits if you ask me, because the legendary record exec paired this artist with a post grunge singer whose fame had also started to wane a little bit in the studio. This singer started warming up with a demo song that he'd actually written for George Michael to sing, but everyone in the room knew that this was the song. And an hour later, they had recorded a song that would go on to win three Grammys and spend 12 weeks at number one, even though the radio stations couldn't really tell you what genre of music it was. If you were alive in the summer of 1999, you could not escape this song, name that tune 10 seconds. Time's up. Okay. Need a hint. Now remember, this song was released in the summer and it just sounds like a steamy hot night out dancing the distinctive guitar riff played by a legendary guitar player that just starts right in the beginning and just plays throughout the song, plus the vocals from this cute nineties sort of pop star, kind of pop rock kind of guy lyrics about oceans and moons and hearts. It just really, really captivated everyone that summer name that song. Okay. Time's up. And did you answer? Smooth by Santana featuring Rob Thomas. Rob Thomas, of course, had a lot of fame with his band Matchbox 20, but at this point in 1999, you know, he was kind of looking for something to do on his own. So when he got the call to go work with Santana, of course he took the opportunity, but he didn't realize how big this this song actually was until he was standing on a street corner in soho and a convertible full of girls drove by blasting it. He said, he immediately called his wife and said, honey, I think Smooth is a single. In fact, some of Carlos Santana's first words to Rob in the studio were, you must be married to a Latin woman. That's the kind of thing a white guy married to a Latino would say, and he's right. Rob's wife is half Puerto Rican, but believe it or not, Santana actually hated the demo at first. But Clive Davis wrote him saying This is a hit, and got him to change his mind. And what do you know? The song went on to beat out. I want it that way by the Backstreet Boys for record of the year. And Santana's Supernatural album ended up with a total of eight Grammys, all because Metatron told him to make a phone call. That's it. We did it. That's the end of round three, so total up your points. The maximum number you can have right now is 19. That includes that extra bonus point I threw in earlier. And if you're a bit behind, no worries, because I have a super fun and super lucrative bonus round for you.

Bonus Round: Song or Paint?

30:31

This time around, we're gonna play a game I made up called Song or Paint. I'm gonna give you a title and you tell me, is it a song or a Sherwin Williams paint color? And we're gonna move fast here, so you've gotta go with your gut. You've got five questions here, each worth a point a piece. Here we go. Question number one is Black velvet. It's a song. It's by Atlanta Miles, and it was released in 1989. Up Next song or Paint. The title is Crystal Blue Persuasion. Yep. That one's tricky. It's a song and it's by Tommy James and the Sean Dells. It was released in the sixties, and if Tommy James sounds familiar, it's because you learned about him in round one. He was the original writer and performer of the song. I think we're alone now. All right. Title number three is Gossamer Veil. Yep. That one is a paint color. It's Sherwin Williams, number 9 1 6 5. It's described as a warm greige, a gray beige hybrid. Ugh. All right. Up next question number four, in song or Paint, silver Springs. It's a song? Yes. And it's by Fleetwood Mac, of course. All right, one more. In song or paint. The title is Passive. That one's also a paint. It's Sherwin Williams color SW 70 64. It's a stormy cool gray that design blogs describe as moody. Hmm. All right. If you've got all the song or paint questions correct, give yourself a point. A piece. So that could be five. add 'em all up. The max point total you can have right now is 24. 'cause remember we threw in that bonus point for the hinder question earlier today. And that my friends is a wrap on episode three of Road Trip Trivia Interactive. I'm Tara Tyler. Thank you so much for hanging out with me. And no matter how you did, you now know that, uh, run DMC said that Aerosmith's walk this way was hillbilly gibberish. And you know that Carlos Santana has a spirit guide named Metatron. So we all learned some stuff today. I hope you had fun. You can send me ideas, feedback, hate mail, whatever you want to road trip trivia interactive@gmail.com. You can also check out my official podcast page. It's linked in all the descriptions. Thanks for riding along and I'll catch you on the next stretch of highway.