90's Guilty Pleasures #24: Marcy Playground "Sex And Candy" (1997) / The Flys "Got You (Where I Want You)" (1998)

I'm sure many would call me crazy for a statement like this, but this may be the closest Pavement ever got to achieving top 10 singles. As far as Top 40 radio was concerned, these were the swan songs of slack-rock. Years earlier, it was not uncommon to switch on a Top 40 station and hear something like "Sweater Song" or "Loser" or Radiohead's "Creep," but by 1998, this was far less commonplace.

The lyrics of "Sex And Candy" are likely what turns off most of its critics, although I personally consider them intriguingly bizarre. I mean, he says right in the song, "this surely is a dream." Sometimes dreams don't make any sense. Although for clarification purposes, I'd still like to know if disco lemonade is supposed to be served with disco fries.

P.S. Both bands released equally good follow-up singles which were all undeservedly ignored. These would be MP's "St. Joe On The School Bus" and "Sherry Fraser," and The Flys' "She's So Huge."

"Sex And Candy"


"Got You (Where I Want You)" (former Katie Holmes fans will likely recall fond memories of the running part at 2:06)