I was watching some of the old Rosie O'Donnell episodes from 1996 - her show debuted in June 1996, so midway through the year. I was thinking - I've watched some early '90s programming, and some mid 1990s programming (1994, 1995). Her early shows both in tone, colors, stage set up seem very much what one thinks of when they think of 'the 90s' - and I imagine her show was a reflection of the era. The bright, neon boxyness of the early 90s is gone; the earthy tones of the middle 90s - the grunge years - are out - and there's that vaguely retro 70s influence, which would carry on in remnants into the pre-9/11 00's culture, there. There's a laid back, carefree vibe. Everything is bright and colorful, without being boxy or overly loud - cheerful; prosperous.

It seems to me that 1996 represents the beginning and possibly the peak of the "feel good" 90s - The peak of the "Clinton prosperity"; the first year without any chaos - No OJ Trial, no Oklahoma City, no Somalia. The year which acts as a segue between the middle 90s and late 90s-early 00s. Bill Clinton, when running for re-election that year, spoke of wanting to build a "bridge to the 21st century." I believe in terms of '90s years, 1996 was the bridge between the '90s and the '00s. A year both liberal and conservative (as compared to the more conservative beginning and end of the decade); a year both prosperous and carefree.

Thoughts?


What say you?

1996 was the last full core 90's year. 1997 was half core 90's and half millennial, and late 90's culture was in full effect by late 1997.

There was already a thread just like this posted a few months ago, but I'll give my two cents anyway, since 1996 is such an interesting year in general.

If by core 90s, you simply mean mid-90s, then 1996 was the final year of that sub-era.  While the first two thirds of the year were the epitome of the mid-90s, the last third was the obvious twilight of the period.

During the first several months of 1996, mid-90s alternative rock movements were at their height.  Britpop was more popular than ever before, Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill and No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom were eating up mainstream radio, and the East vs. West Coast hip hop rivalry was at its peak, with both sides of the continent producing some their most significant work.  Laid back g-funk was still a major influence on popular music (besides just hip hop).  First wave post-grunge was still highly successful, coming off the heels of songs like "Glycerine," "Big Me," "The World I Know," and "Santa Monica (Watch the World Die)."  The PS1 and Sega Saturn had been on the market for several months, but like other next-generation consoles at the time, they weren't nearly as successful as the Super Nintendo, which continued to produce classics like Donkey Kong Country 2 and Super Mario RPG.  Key mid-90s shows like Beavis & Butthead, Power Rangers, Gargoyles, and Friends were at the height of their popularity, while late 90s shows such as South Park, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Felicity, and the majority of Cartoon Cartoons were still on their way.  Promotional artwork still tended to look dark, minimalist, scroungy, and unrefined, in stark contrast to the clean, sparkly aesthetic that would start to creep in a year later.  Though the Internet was generally on people's radar in 1996, it wasn't yet certain that it would be a permanent phenomenon.

Beginning in the last third of 1996, popular culture began heading in new directions on several fronts.  In music, the gangsta rap movement was rocked by the murder of Tupac Shakur, and the incarceration of Suge Knight, as well as the commercial failures of Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath and Tha Doggfather certainly didn't help matters.  At the same time, hip hop and urban music in other regions began adopting a more modern style, further removed from the slick g-funk style of the mid-90s and instead employing more syncopated percussion and greater use of treble.  This trend was particularly pioneered by the commercial breakthrough of Timbaland, as well as "No Diggity" reaching number one.  Bad Boy productions were also starting to sound less like they were made on a ghetto New York street corner and more like they came out of a multi-million-dollar downtown studio, eventually culminating in the Puff Daddy and Mase takeover of 1997.  A lot of significant tv shows premiered around autumn, such as Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Hey Arnold!, and 7th Heaven, though mid-90s staples like Beavis & Butthead were still at their height.  Alanis Morissette, No Doubt, and Hootie & the Blowfish were still the biggest things in alternative rock, though Jewel Kilcher had her commercial breakthrough around this time as well.  The fifth generation of video gaming finally started to find its feet, thanks to the monumental release of Super Mario 64, as well as the PS1 finally receiving a decent arsenal of killer apps like Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider.  The Super Nintendo remained competitive through the end of the year, thanks to its affordable price and the release of Donkey Kong Country 3, but would fall off the map by the time Mario Kart 64 came out.  Music transformed quite abruptly in the UK; while britpop was still in its golden era, the pop reggae and eurodance movements of the early-mid 90s came to a screeching halt after "Groovin'" and "Ooh Aah...Just a Little Bit," instead making leeway for Spicemania, millennial-era teen pop, and the peak of garage house/breakbeat/trance.  Fashion was just beginning to let go of its long-haired, clothy, grungy influences and instead adopting a more casual style.  Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet transformed Leonardo DiCaprio into the biggest male heartthrob of the day and a key influence to late 90s hairstyles.  The '96 Presidential Election galvanized Internet use, essentially inaugurating the Dot Com Bubble, though its effects were not yet noticeable.

All of the above things, however, were only the basic foundations of late 90s/Y2K era culture, as mid-90s influences would not fully lose steam for another year.  Teen pop and glam hip hop would not establish themselves in the US until the turn of spring 1997, and it wasn't until Mario Kart 64 was released that people had a serious reason to buy the Nintendo 64 instead of the Super Nintendo, since that was an excellent 4-player party game that the SNES could not match.  Alanis Morissette, No Doubt, and eurodance artists like Real McCoy and Gina G. were still relevant at the beginning of 1997 wouldn't vanish completely until 1997.  Britpop was just starting to decline, but it remained pretty robust throughout the first few months of 1997, especially thanks to blur's self-titled album; the tide would not truly start to change until the release of OK Computer in May and the failure of Be Here Now in August.  Mafioso rap and neo-soul were still relevant during the first half of 1997.  The transition from the mid-90s to the late 90s was not entirely complete until about autumn 1997, by which point Master P's Ghetto D was the number 1 album on the Billboard 200, teen pop was a fully fleshed-out industry in the United States, no more gangsta rap or g-funk-influenced songs were still performing well on the charts, Tony Blair was the British Prime Minister, the fifth generation of gaming had a huge library of classics like GoldenEye 007 and Final Fantasy VII (not to mention they had finally established themselves in the PAL region and not just Japan and America), the Klasky Csupo era of Nicktoons and Cartoon Cartoons era of Cartoon Network were fully established, shows like South Park and Buffy the Vampire Slayer overtook Beavis & Butthead and The Simpsons in popularity, Power Rangers was in decline, and it was finally obvious that the Internet was the true way of the future.

Pure core '90s.  1997 was half and half between core '90s and late '90s.

Yeah, I also agree that 1996 was a solid core nineties year, and 1997 was the transition year.

1996 was definitely the beginning of the late '90s. We were just three years away from 1999 (the first year of the 2000s). In '96, all of the loose ends of the mid '90s (1993, 1994, and 1995) were tied up and very early 2000s (1999, 2000, and 2001) pop culture started to appear.

It was the last official year of the mid '90s. 1997 was the last year of the core '90s, and was also mostly mid '90s.

It was the last official year of the mid '90s. 1997 was the last year of the core '90s, and was also mostly mid '90s.


What?  ???

Madonna started going to Kabbalah meetings in 1996!  :D  :D

What?  ???


Core 90s ≠ mid-90s, from ArcticFox's perspective.  They're not the same to me either; I see the core 90s as January 1993 through most of 1998, while the mid-90s is roughly summer 1994 through winter 1996/1997.  Basically, the core years are the period with an unambiguously 90s overall atmosphere (not explainable by your spirit of '90 description), whereas the mid-90s are simply the second out of three sub-phrases of 90s culture, sandwiched by the early and late 90s.

Since you're probably going to respond to this, anyway, I still don't understand how you can be so convinced that there was such a significant cutoff at the beginning of 1996.  I can actually understand your 1993 and even 1999 transition points, though I don't agree with them, but your January 1996 starting point for the late 90s still mystifies me.

^^^ Personally, I don't see 1998 being core 90's at all, that feels like the first core year of the millennial era. 1997 was the transition out of the core 90's.

^^^ Personally, I don't see 1998 being core 90's at all, that feels like the first core year of the millennial era. 1997 was the transition out of the core 90's.


Well, it was a transitional year out of the core 90s, but the Y2K atmosphere still wasn't fully established yet and most popular culture still felt comfortably 90s.  Teen pop wasn't really any bigger than it had been in 1997 except for the very end of the year, when Britney Spears made her debut; the Spice Girls were still pretty much the face of the movement that year.  Latin pop and rap-rock were not fully established until the following year.  Fashion was still predominantly 90s, even though Y2K styles like sweat pants and tube tops were slowly making their way in.  Bad Boy and No Limit were still the dominant hip hop labels.  Soft ballads were still common chart-toppers.  Alternative rock artists like Alanis Morissette, Semisonic, and Everclear were still just as popular as they were in the mid-90s.  Most people still weren't hooked up to the Internet yet.  Pokémon made it to America in September but it wouldn't grow into a craze until the following spring.  Seinfeld was still on television for the first handful of months of the year, while The Simpsons hadn't completely bottomed out until November.  Even though 1998 can definitely be factored into the Y2K era, it strictly represents the early phase of that period, similar to most of 1997.

Madonna started going to Kabbalah meetings in 1996!  :D  :D


Of course, the last time we heard about Madonna going to Kabbalah meetings was in the 2000s.  :)

If you ask me, the Y2K era began right as 1998 hit thanks to the transitions of 1996 and 1997 since all the Y2K styles, movies, music and trends already got established pretty quickly around this time. Boy Bands, Pop Punk, Nu Metal, Hip Hop, RnB all sound pretty Y2K to me right as 1998 began. We also wore stuff like chain wallets, baggy dickies, spiked our hair, the general tomboy style (for girls, of course), and I'd see more and more low-rise jeans (not everyone wore these during the Y2K era, mind you). January 1998 to December 2002, that to me represents everything that is the core Y2K era.