This Billboard List of MiniVan Rock Songs Made My Mind Explode

The first thing I thought of is, this is a salute to the past twenty five years of 103.3 KFR music. And then, my head exploded with memories. Pretty much every song on Billboard Magazine's '50 Greatest Minivan Rock Songs' list is a KFR Classic, As Mark Frankhouse says, this will be a wild Back in the Day replay in your mind.

Everybody got their seat belts on, in the back? Here we go.

As you begin to scroll down, #50 starts the flood of memories...Filter's Take a Picture., No, it wasn't a monster hit, but you might remember it, while running around with your folks, going from Meijer to the mall, so you could hang with your friends. (There's another relic of a bygone era...wow, who would have thought even ten years ago, the mall, the center of the universe for so many, would now be waiting for the Grim Reaper, or Grim Bulldozer, with a tumbleweed rolling down the middle of the Sears side any minute now.

After #50, it's another punchline waiting to happen, Whatever happened to Dido? ("Not nearly enough" is the answer) And then, Santana had a major revival in the early 2000's, and teaming with Chad Kroeger on "Why Don't You and I" is perfect. (And stop with the Nickelback hate. I don't want to hear it from you hipsters.)

I keep scrolling...Five for Fighting (gotta love a band with a hockey name), Gavin DeGraw. I interviewed him about that time. Oh my, Blessid Union of Souls. I just heard that somewhere on the overhead speakers. Oh, man, New Radicals Weren't they from Detroit?

Evan and Jaron...wow. Three Doors Down and Kryptonite. Now there was a song that sounded great on the radio...over and over again. Ewcatawpa, Mississippi. Funny what your remember.

Michelle Branch. She had three hits.. and then... Liz Phair. Why Can't I. Wow, great song.

Fastball. Jewel. Has it really been twenty years. Ashley Simpson. There was a disaster.

Meredith Brooks. Boy, people got upset because the word describing a female dog.

Howie Day...a medley of his hit. But what a great song to slow dance to.

Now we're getting to the top of the list...Eagle Eye Cherry...Third Eye Blind...Aw, man, we just lost Adam Schlesinger a few weeks ago. Stacy's Mom is a classic.

Sheryl Crow. Minivan...no, beach music, Soak Up the Sun". Oh, man, one of my all timers, The Calling, "Wherever You Will Go". Where's that Four Chords video?

"Closing Time". How many times did you hear that around 2am, at places like Bourbon Street or that place down on Kilgore, used to be called Stan and Ollie's when grandma and grandpa were your age. Oh, yeah, Cheek to Cheek. Heck, remember when people used to go out to dance. No mall-ing, no dancing anymore.

The top ten on this list is the soundtrack of those years. John Mayer, matchbox twenty, Vertical Horizon, there's a number one. Vanessa Carleton... and number one was produced by a late 80's/ early 90's almost big star, Jude Cole.

You may have a few songs you'd put on this list, but this is a good launching pad for an afternoon of smiling about "back in the day".