One-hit Wonders of the 90s (Part 1)

Hello, dear reader. I have a favour to ask you. The original post begins after all of the asterisks, if you want to skip this.

Now that the One Hit Wonders of the 90s series is over, I'm not going to be doing my weekly revisiting of all these posts (I had to do that to add the new post to the bottom). Thus, I won't be able to catch any broken picture links or deleted videos any more. Yet I want these posts to be as good as possible.

Please, if you happen upon one of these posts, or if you take a walk through a whole bunch of them, let me know if you find anything that doesn't work. You can leave a comment, or you can send me a message using that handy "Contact Me" page linked above.

Also, feel free to let me know what you think of the post or any of the videos!

Thank you.

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Due to the phenomenal success of my One-hit wonders of the 80s series of posts (You can find the first one I did here, and then just follow the links at the bottom for the rest), many people (and when I say "many," I mean "one") have asked what I'm going to do to follow up, now that I'm done with them all.  I honestly didn't know, but I did know I wanted to keep posting stuff similar to this:  humorous, musical, and basically showcasing my totally insane side.

Then Wikipedia flew in to the rescue.  I mean literally flew in, too.  It took off its glasses, ran into a phone booth, and showed up in red cape and everything!  I felt weak in the knees, like Lois Lane except that I recognized Wikipedia for what it really was.  I don't fall for that "no glasses" trick.  My momma didn't raise no dummy!  A slightly odd guy, but not a dummy!

Yes, Wikipedia has a list of one-hit wonders by decade!  I was in heaven, kind of like that dream that involved chocolate sauce, a spatula, and this:

Um, where was I?  Oh yeah, one-hit wonders.

So I said to myself, why not keep going on the one-hit wonder theme?  Let's just change decades!  Oh, and clean this up too:



It honestly never ends!

We'll start with the one-hit wonders of the 1990s.

As before, I'm going to write these up as I'm listening to these songs, so the reactions are fresh. Since I kind of moved away from popular music throughout the 90s, it's even more likely that I haven't heard a lot of these songs, especially in later years. That should add to the fun, right? The number after the song title is where it peaked on the Billboard Top 40 chart. Remember, they may have had lots of hits on other charts (Country, Heavy Metal, Songs Most Likely to Cause Cardiac Arrest), but if they only had one hit in the Top 40 Pop chart, they're considered one-hit wonders. I think.

Also, I only want to do 9 or 10 per post, so there will be four 1990 posts, then moving on to 1991, etc.  I think you can see where this is going...

Anyway, here we go!

1) Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers: "Swing the Mood" (#11)



All right, let's kick off the decade with some comfort music for the older folk! Yes, Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers hit it big with a remixed medley of some classic songs that parents everywhere probably listened to and said "hey, this modern music ain't that bad...it kinda sounds familiar, actually." They then shut Junior's door and didn't hear the Black Sabbath that came on the radio right after this song. Chaos later ensued.

Who couldn't like this medley? 'Nuff said.

Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers were huge in their native UK, but evidently this was the only mix that made it on the charts over here in the States. I guess they weren't grunge enough.

2) Shana: "I Want You" (#40)



Wow, how very 80s! Not surprising, considering it hit the chart (barely) in January of 1990. There was bound to be some run-off.

I'm not exactly sure why Shana was a one-hit wonder. She's super-hot, which in the age of video can only help. Her voice, while not the greatest, isn't any worse than some of the other stuff that came out of the 80s. The video's sexy, the song's fluffy, and it didn't make my ears bleed. What's not to like?

The only thing I can think of is that she was a product of the 80s and the music scene was coming out of that phase. She just didn't fit in with where pop music was going? Believe it or not, she tried to do a comeback as a country singer! That didn't work out so well either. She's still doing country music to this day, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's on MySpace or something. That's about how obscure she is right now.

3) Biz Markie: "Just a Friend" (#9)


Biz Markie - Just A Friend
Uploaded by rikma. - Explore more music videos.

Ah, yes. "Rap for those who can't stand rap." This was big back in the late 80s and early 90s, with some rap artists crossing over to make more mainstream stuff. A lot of them were pretty silly like this one. You gotta love Markie in that Beethoven wig, though! Poor Markie, with his girl always telling him that the guy she's always hanging out with is "just a friend." I don't blame her. Maybe he tried to sing to her.

It's kind of a fun rap in its own way, but he really shouldn't try to sing. My ears now are officially rebelling.

4) D Mob: "C'mon and Get My Love" (#10)



Wow, is that what's known in some other universe as "dancing?" Yikes! They must come from the same planet that thinks those clothes are the height of fashion sense.

For some reason, I kind of like this song. It's yet another relic of the 80s, but it's got that great beat that just keeps you moving. It's not a great song by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not bad to listen to.

As long as you either don't watch the video or you can use brain bleach later to scrub that "dancing" image out of your head.

5) Michael Penn: "No Myth" (#13)

No Myth @ Yahoo! Video

Hey, Christophuh! Why don't you come on over to the Bada Bing and help Tony whack this guy?

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Penn does kind of look like Michael Imperioli, doesn't he? Ok, a *really* young and strange version of him, but that was the first thing I thought of. I know, I'm extremely strange. And yes, I'm aware that this is Sean Penn's brother. I just don't really care.

I love this song! And remember loving it back when it came out, too. Haven't heard it in years (which probably explains why it's a one-hit wonder). I love the chorus ("What if I were Romeo in black jeans?") I'm so pleased I found this song again.

But seriously, though. That girl at the end of the video has a serious salt problem, y'know?

6) The Brat Pack: "You're the Only Woman" (#36)



This is kind of a cool song (no video that I could find). Again, it's got a kind of a cool beat that you can definitely dance to. I don't remember dancing to it in college, but that's not surprising considering I didn't actually dance in college. I liked to pretend it a was a school rule against dancing and that I'd eventually do a Kevin Bacon from Footloose kind of thing.

But sadly, the reality was that nobody would dance with me. *sniff*

7) Jane Child: "Don't Wanna Fall in Love" (#2)



(sorry for the video quality...best I could find of the original (non-remixed) song).

Now that's a look! I've never really found those earring-nosering contraptions the least bit sexy, but that's just me. That being said, the song isn't that bad, though again it has a very 80s feel to it. If you like 80s music, you'll probably like this. If you don't? Well, you won't.

See? I'm easing your transition from my 80s posts to my 90s posts. You can thank me later. Preferably with cash. Or video games!

8) The U-Krew: "If U Were Mine" (#24)



The first song on this list that I just outright don't like, though I can't really say why. Actually, watching the video, I think I can say why. The lead singer reminds me a lot of Bobby Brown. And I can't *stand* Bobby Brown. I think that's it right there.

Oh, yeah. It's just a crappy song too.

9) Sinead O'Connor: "Nothing Compares 2 U" (#1)



O'Connor's a one-hit wonder? Wow, didn't realize that. She had a lot of hits worldwide and on the "Modern Rock" chart, but this was the only regular Top 40 hit. She's infamous for a lot of things, including ripping up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live.

Confession: a lot of people love this song, finding it poignant and expertly sung. Personally? I have never been able to stand it, and just having it on right now while I'm typing is kind of a pain. But I'm nothing if not a completest. See what I put myself through for my fans?

10) A'me Lorain: "Whole Wide World" (#9)



Wow, she looks like Debbie Gibson! But nobody can be Debbie Gibson like Debbie Gibson. She's the bomb.

Anyway, Lorain definitely has that vibe, a sort of bubblegum pop that's straight out of the 80s. She does have Gibson's fashion sense from when she was a teenager, though. Yuck.

The song's not too objectionable, though I may be kinder than other people toward it. But what's with that whistling old guy? Do we really need to see those wrinkled lips close up?

There, that wasn't so bad, was it? Some decent, though not really good music. A little bit of snarkiness and a lot of Youtube searching. I hope you enjoyed, and will come back for the next segment.

And what if you don't?

Then this cat gets it:



I think you know what to do.

Edit #1 (5/9/10): Replaced Sinead O'Connor video for one that worked.

Edit #2 (5/30/10): Replaced the Jane Child video too. Come on, Daily Motion!

One-Hit Wonders of the 90s
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21
Part 22
Part 23
Part 24
Part 25
Part 26
Part 27
Part 28
Part 29
Part 30
Part 31
Part 32
Part 33
Part 34
Part 35
Part 36
Part 37
Part 38
Part 39
Part 40