One Hit Wonders of the 90s (Part 18)

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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It's Sunday morning, it's cloudy, this massive green roof is staring at me in the distance, and the room is quiet. Which of these things is the most important event of the morning?

None of them! That was a trick question. Instead, it's the one-hit wonders! Yes, that increasingly irreverent (and massively futile) list of the one-hit wonders of the 90s that has you all tantalized and mesmerized and circumcised...wait, forget that last one.

But it is lulling you to sleep! Though that might just be a defense mechanism for bad music, I don't know. I know that it usually has that effect on me.

But I persevere! Because you seem to like it. I'm nothing if not dedicated. And desiccated too. I think. I love using words when I don't know what they mean.

Anyway, this special brand of insanity is brought to you by this man.

And the number 3.

Hey, that looks like a former boss of mine...nah, it couldn't be.

As usual, the list I'm taking these from can be found here. However, if you take a peek at it before I'm done, then I may just have kill you. Or even worse. Give you a Justin Bieber haircut.

Here we go!

WARNING, WARNING...DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!!!!

I'm seeing lots of Rap ahead...sorry.

1) M People: "Moving On Up" (#34)



Though no rap on the first song.

Wow, a 90s disco song! At least the music sounds like disco. It's actually a pretty cool song too, with a great sax solo as well. The video's actually not that pointless, either. Ok, the lizard looks like he was meant for a western video and made a wrong turn, and that "club" they're in is smaller than my apartment. But other than that...

I actually quite enjoyed this song. A welcome toe-dipping into the harbor before the crap that is to come...

2) Ahamad: "Back in the Day" (#26)



It started off *so* well. Then the whining starts. What could have been a cute ode to childhood quickly becomes tiring and annoying. The chorus is repeated *way* too much and Ahmad's voice *really* gets on my nerves (what? Yes, I do have stock in an asterisk factory...why do you ask?)

Does it say something that I'd rather listen to a William Hung song instead?

3) The Puppies: "Funky Y-2-C" (#40)



(The one actual video has horrible quality, unfortunately there is no saving the song)

If there's anything more annoying than rap, it's kid rap. At least regular rap is trying to say something (though usually it's rather stupid). What's the point of this crap? Ok, it's cool for the kids, though kids nowadays would probably find this type of music as silly as we all do.

This one barely made it into the top 40, and it would have been better for everybody if it only reached #41. At least it would have been for both you and me!

Where's that off switch?

4) Public Enemy: "Give It Up" (#33)



Public Enemy is *the* rap group of the 90s. While it's just like most rap as far as its annoyance factor, I have to admit that the video is quite creative and interesting. I love the attempted white rappers. And it's got a nice message too, about putting down the guns and picking up a book. And who hasn't wanted to do that to Bill Clinton?

Not only did I make it through the whole song, but I actually kind of enjoyed that.

Who would have thunk it?

5) Candlebox: "Far Behind" (#18)



Couldn't they afford a full set, or was it such a rush that they couldn't finish building it yet? That "artist" looks seriously disturbed, too. And why is the lead singer holding his microphone like a CB radio?

These are the questions that come to mind when I see this video, mainly because listening to the song is kind of painful. There has to be a point to it, but I couldn't fathom what it is (is this where millions of people chime in with how simple the message really is? Yeah, like this blog has even a millionth of that number actual readers).

Trivia note: Wikipedia says that this song charted in 1993, reaching #18 in January 1994. So who's right? Wikipedia or Wikipedia? It's the battle of the ages!!!!! Live, on Spike TV. Bring your popcorn.

6)Lucas: "Lucas With the Lid Off" (#29)



Is the world ready for Dixieland Rap? What an interesting fusion of great music and crap "singing"! At least he's trying something interesting with the format. And I have to admit that, as I watch the video and listen to the song, it's starting to grow on me. It's cute and I love the music. It would be even better if Lucas would just shut up, but you can't have everything.

In fact, I feel like bubbling up for some reason. I can't really explain why. Shall we all blow some bubbles?

7) B.M.U. (Black Men United): "U Will Know" (#28)



I normally don't include the "special event" compilation songs, because they are by definition "one-hit" (the people come together just for the purposes of this song). However, I think this song is an important one, as it was created as a charity song to stop the inner city violence that was so prevalent in the 90s. It was also from the film "Jason's Lyric"

So I include it with no comment.

8) Ini Kamoze: "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (#1)



This song made it to #1? In December? Wow.

I normally kind of like Reggae music. Not enough to choose to listen to it, but when I hear it, I usually like it to some extent. This one, though? I don't know what it is, but it's totally turning me off. I think there must have been a collective delusional episode in the United States during December 1994.

Was this the year that Santa actually manifested himself, appearing on the White House lawn and holding a press conference?

I think it was.

Ok, *that* image I don't remember. Santa, say it ain't so!!!!

So there you have it. The year 1994 ends not with a bang, but a whimper of horrified ears and the gnashing of teeth. I'm beginning to see why I abandoned popular music in the 90s. It was for my own sanity.

Hopefully 1995 will be better, but I'm not holding my breath.

I went looking for a funny video to add here at the end, but got stuck in an Evanescence loop and was gone for about 15 minutes. So instead of what I had originally planned (which was pretty much nothing, since I walk that tightrope without a net), here's the song that captivated me when I first heard it and forced me to listen to it again when I happened upon it today.

And it's even got lyrics so you can follow along!

Don't say I never give you anything.



Until next week, adieu!!!



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