It was recently announced that Pizza Hut is mounting a revival of its sit-down restaurant-style stores. Much like how we 90s kids remembered them.
The decor, the smells, iconic red plastic cups, the hot pizza right off the buffet; there was just so much to love, even if it’s all just nostalgia-fueled bait. Across the board, it was just good vibes. And a big part of the ambiance was the music blasting from the ceiling speakers.
Some of those songs cans till transport me back to a 90s Pizza Hut, like it was only yesterday.
‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ by Elton John
The first decade-plus of my life was spent in a smallish, conservative Kentucky town. One of the first songs that comes to mind for me, when I think back on our local, harlequinned Pizza Hut, is “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” by Elton John.
I simply cannot exercise the feeling of sitting in the cold, pleather booth seats and biting into a personal pan pizza from that Lion King soundtrack tune.
‘Two Princes’ by Spin Doctors
This might be a quintessential 90s Pizza Hut song. While “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” is memorable in terms of overall childhood experience, there’s maybe no song that captures the energy of a 90s Pizza Hut better than “Two Princes” by the Spin Doctors.
(An argument could also be made for “The Impression That I Get” by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.)
Certainly, the lyrical subject matter leans more romantic than would be relevant to an 8-year-old kid. The song, though, just has an energy about it that is so whimsical and fun. I wish I could go back to sipping cherry soda out of one of those red cups and playing with the Land Before Time puppets they gave out with kids’ meals.
‘Walkin’ on the Sun’ by Smash Mouth
This one makes the list because it represents the change from going to my small-town Kentucky Pizza Hut to one in Nashville during my teen years. Specifically, I remember going to Pizza Hut with my friend Kenneth for my 13th birthday, and this song had just come out a couple of months earlier, and I was obsessed with it.
It was a big day in a young person’s life when they graduated from earning a personal pan pizza with the “Book It” program to getting to eat straight from the buffet.
‘Cherry Pie’ by Warrant
OK, storytime. Much of my mother’s side of the family is from Florida. It’s where my mom grew up, and many of my family members still live there to this day.
When visiting, my brother and I always loved getting to go to Pizza Hut with our cousins. This particular Central Florida Pizza Hut had a jukebox, which is not something I recall about a lot of them. The music on it was mostly family-friendly stuff, with some 80s hair metal for what I assume was the late-night adult crowd.
One time, my mom gave my cousin and me some change to go play the “Beauty and the Beast” theme song, by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. We wandered up to the music machine, put in our quarters, and smashed the buttons for what we thought was the correct track.
Instead, what came blasting out of the speakers was the raucous intro to “Cherry Pie” by Warrant. Much to my poor mother’s shock and embarrassment.
‘Beauty and the Beast’ by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson
I mean, obviously, I couldn’t leave this one off now. (You’re welcome, mom.)
The post 5 Songs That Instantly Transport Me Back to Pizza Hut in the 90s appeared first on VICE.
