–DAVE STEINFELD
The ’90s were an interesting time musically. Now that they are more than two decades behind us (!), perhaps it’s easier to appreciate their diversity more than we could at the time. True, it was the decade where grunge reigned supreme and, almost overnight, knocked hair metal off the top of the charts. It was also the decade when hip-hop entered the mainstream, when alternative rock arguably had its heyday, and when Oasis and Blur battled for the title of “best Britpop band.”
But the ’90s were also an important musical decade for women. It was the decade of Alanis and Jewel, of Sheryl and Sinead. But there were many other talented female artists who arrived on the scene. Some had just one hit and disappeared; others stuck around longer. Here are five talented women from the ’90s that you may have forgotten.
Lisa Loeb has the distinction of being the first artist in history to score a number-one hit without yet having a record deal! The song in question was “Stay (I Missed You),” which was featured in the film Reality Bites and was one of the most popular ballads of the ’90s.
In the 30 years since “Stay” topped the charts, Loeb has proven to be something of a renaissance woman. She’s released more than a dozen albums (including some for children); she’s done a ton of acting and voice-over work; she’s hosted the SiriusXM radio show “90s on 9”; she launched the Lisa Loeb eyewear collection; and she is the owner of Wake Up! Brew, a fair trade coffee company. A Dallas native, Loeb will release her next album, That’s What It’s All About, at the end of August. Of the album, which was recorded with her band the Hollow Trees, Loeb says, “[These] songs make me feel like I’m in a different place and time, like I’m sitting at a diner in West Texas, eating a grilled cheese and drinking a Coke. I’m curious where it’ll take everyone else when they hear it.”
Billie Myers remains best known for the gorgeous ballad “Kiss the Rain,” which hit the Top 20 in 1997. A biracial Brit, Myers was discovered by a music producer who spotted her in a club and wondered if she could sing as well as she danced. Her debut album, Growing, Pains, included “Kiss the Rain” as well as the hit “Tell Me.” Myers was part of the Lilith Fair tour and even opened for Bob Dylan.
But Myers’ sophomore set, Vertigo, did not yield a hit. After Universal Records dropped her, she spent “three years wallowing in self-pity.” Now based in the States, she eventually released her third album, the lovely Tea & Sympathy, independently. Since then she has dabbled in both poetry and voice-over work and can often be seen performing at Pride events.
Another biracial singer-songwriter, Amanda Marshall is a Toronto native who got her start when she met the late Canadian guitarist Jeff Healey while still in her teens. Her self-titled debut arrived in 1995 and was a success both here and in Canada. Songs like “Let It Rain,” “Birmingham” and “Fall from Grace” were all over album rock radio in the late ’90s and early aughts. In 1999 she opened for Whitney Houston on the European leg of her world tour.
Marshall released two more albums on Epic Records—Tuesday’s Child and Everybody’s Got a Story—before she became mired in legal issues with her record label for more than a decade! She finally returned last year with Heavy Lifting, her first studio effort in eons and a record that may best be described as urban alternative.
Fun fact: David Tyson, who produced Marshall’s debut, also produced Billie Myers’ Vertigo album!
Boston native Jennifer Trynin is probably best known for the song “Better Than Nothing,” an insanely catchy tune that made some noise on alternative stations in the mid-’90s. That song appeared on her debut album, Cockamamie. Trynin released one more album, the wonderfully titled Gun Shy, Trigger Happy, before becoming yet another casualty of record company BS.
Still based in the Boston area, Trynin has played with several bands over the years, including the all-female Band of Their Own. She also unveiled a book called Everything I’m Cracked Up to Be, about her experiences in the music business, in 2006.
Paula Cole—like Jennifer Trynin—is a Massachusetts native who grew up in Rockport. She struck gold with her sophomore album, This Fire, in 1996. That disc included the hits “I Don’t Want to Wait,” “Me,” and the classic “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” Cole won a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1998, was nominated for Producer of the Year (very rare for a woman!), and headlined the Lilith Fair tour.
Cole’s third album, Amen, was more influenced by soul and hip-hop, which confused some of her fans. She then disappeared for seven years and concentrated mainly on being a mom. But Cole has never stopped making music. Originally a jazz singer, she has recorded everything from Great American Songbook standards to more typical singer-songwriter fare. I had the pleasure of talking to her for BUST in 2017.
PHOTOS: AMANDA MARSHALL COURTESY MARK HORTON/WIREIMAGE; BILLIE MYERS COURTESY TIM MOSENFELDER/GETTY IMAGES; JENNIFER TRYNIN JIM STEINFELDT/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES; LISA LOEB COURTESY TASO PAPADAKIS; PAULA COLE COURTESY BOB BERG/GETTY IMAGES. TOP IMAGE: JUAN PATINO PHOTOGRAPHY
