5 College Hits from 1994 that Prove it was the Best Year of the Decade for Grunge Music

the Heather,” the single off Sonic Youth’s “Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star” album, fit snugly into alternative and punk playlists nationwide.
Led by Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore’s spaced and simultaneously sharp vocals, “Bull In the Heather” doesn’t adhere to traditional pop structures. The song, a plea for someone to take control of their independent spirit, features interplay between the guitars of Moore and Lee Ranaldo that few others could replicate. It also connects to broader Sonic Youth themes of feminism and the push and pull between noise and melody. “You’re the one,” Gordon sings in the chorus, creating a hypnotic sense of revolving motion.
And college students felt it; “Bull in the Heather” reached No. 3 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks charts and hit No. 20 on CMJ’s Top 200 radio charts. The song was infectious, a drowsy daydream of a roller coaster that threatened to go off the rails. Starting out lush, “Bull in the Heather” eventually gives way to distorted yowls and an unexpected birdcall. While the music video was memorable — a Warholian pastiche of New York art and fashion — the song itself was unforgettable.
It’s hard to imagine Nirvana recording with Steve Shelley on drums or taking cues from Ranaldo on fractured guitar improvisations. But the college scene in ’94 could not get enough, and today, bands like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs with female vocalists and Dinosaur Jr. riffs keep the Sonic Youth flame flickering bright.

Ping Pong — Stereolab

Eccentric British indie band Stereolab made waves in the ’90s college scene with less conventional, more European-sounding stylings. The multi-lingual lyrics of “Ping Pong” off “Mars Audiac Quintet,” for instance, set the band apart from its American peers. “Ping Pong” sounded like a Franco-British pastiche with a pop flourish, starting minimalist with a pulsing organ and minimalist drums but building to clash vibrant layers, punctuated by Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen’s cooing voices. 
It didn’t chart in the U.S., but “Ping Pong” found a welcome on college radio and among listeners off-campus. The song was irresistible, with a rhythm and sound reminiscent of Moondog, an inventive ’60s composer the band often cited as an influence. In a decade or so characterized by flannel and thrift store grunge, Stereolab sounds offered a detached, almost kitschy vibe steeped in leftist politics and retro-Futurism. For the college scene, it was an unlikely and much-needed blast of cool air. Those with open ears found themselves slipping into Stereolab’s catchy musical confections.
Today, bands carrying on Stereolab’s torch (despite the group’s end) draw from club music, jazz, exotica, and classic rock. “Ping Pong” flew the aloof indie flag high then, and today it’s still a testament to the band’s mix of high art and simple pleasures.

Fade Into You — Mazzy Star

Born in the late ’80s out of the ashes of the recently disbanded Opal, Mazzy Star found collaborators in duo David Roback and Hope Sandoval, offering a mix of psychedelia and folk that hit the sweet spot for the alternative and college crowd. The dream-pop they crafted in “Fade Into You” entranced students grappling with identity and change at a formative time. Tinged with a mix of melancholy and hope, “Fade Into You” speaks to those trying to understand themselves and the world around them.
Written in the key of A major — a relative rarity — the song’s dreamy instrumentation and airy vocal delivery tilted almost ethereal. “Fade Into You” became a late-night meditation session, its slide guitars and smoky atmospherics turning up in coffee shops, record stores, and campuses just as often as dimly lit rooms. To this day, the song’s “I want to hold the hand inside you” line can still send shivers down your spine.
Released as a single in 1994, “Fade Into You” reached No. 13 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks charts and No. 3 on the adult alternative chart. But those rankings only hint at the deep impact the song had on college students, cool kids, and bookish introverts. Ambient, sparse, and achingly beautiful, “Fade Into You” dropped an anchor that fastened on a generation.
For anyone cruising through a campus quad in ’94, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Stereolab, Nine Inch N