Posted on 23 June 2015

Space Jam, the 1996 team-up between Michael Jordan and the Loony Tunes came out when I was eleven years old, so of course I loved it, as I loved the movie’s soundtrack, one of the first CDs I remember owning, possibly the first. Apropos of nothing, here are those ranked based on the opinions I formed of them when I was eleven.

14. “The Winner” by Coolio

13.  “I Found My Smile Again” by D’angelo

12. “Givin’ U All That I’ve Got” by Robin S.

11. “All of My Days” by R. Kelly feat. Changing Faces and Jay-Z

Despite listening to this album countless times, I cannot for the life of me remember what these songs sound like. They get ranked by the order they appear on the album, because presumably I would have heard the earlier songs more, so forgetting them is even worse. “The Winner” is the second track and I could not tell you a thing about it.

10. “I Turn To You” by All-4-One

9. “For You I Will” by Monica

I do remember these songs. But I was also eleven years old and they were slow jams, so… eh. One of the advantages of CD players over records and cassettes was the skip track button, and I made use of them here.

8. “Upside Down (Round-N-Round)” by Salt-N-Pepa

I vaguely remember this being funky. Probably not a skip.

7. “That’s the Way (I Like It)” by Spin Doctors feat. Biz Markie (KC and the Sunshine Band cover/remix)

6. “Fly Like An Eagle” by Seal (Steve Miller Band cover)

5.  “Basketball Jones” by Barry White and Chris Rock (Cheech and Chong cover)

I didn’t know at the time any of these were covers. They were just cool new songs I’d never heard before. I distinctly remember buying a Steve Miller Band compilation from a gas station on a road trip, and being blown away that “Fly Like An Eagle” was on there.

4. “I Believe I Can Fly” by R. Kelly

A simpler time when I knew nothing of R. Kelly except he believed he could fly.

3. “Buggin'” by Bugs Bunny

I’m super curious about this one, because I loved it, but then I also loved a movie about the Loony Tunes kidnapping Michael Jordan to play in a game of basketball against aliens. So was it good? Or was my taste just that bad?

2. “Hit ‘Em High (The Monstars’ Anthem) by B-Real, Busta Rhymes, Coolio, LL Cool J, and Method Man

OK, I’ve heard this song since and it still holds up, so I am entirely confident with its high ranking here.

1. “Space Jam” by Quad City DJ’s

Today, I’d probably put this in the number two or even lower slot but as a kid this was my jaaaaaaam. This was track three, but track one in my heart. It acted as a self-commentary on the album itself: “Y’all ready for this? You know it! And you wanna know why? Cause this is the Space Jam!“

Filed under: misc, music