One Hit Wonders of the 90s (Part 20)

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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Wow, can you believe I've done 20 of these already? And over 15 posts for the 80s as well! One would think I'd get burned out on listening to bad music after a while, but I persevere. I really do it for you, you know.

My loyal reader (and really, I do mean that in a singular fashion), I treasure you. Everything I do, I do it for you (cue Bryan Adams). I wouldn't even think of cheating on you with another reader. I'm an honest man!

What? What's that on my collar? No, that's not electronic ink. It's...it's...it's lipstick! Yeah, that's it. No other readers. Just you. You know I love ya, baby.

What's that? Oh, you want me to get on with it, eh? Yeah, that would probably be a good thing.

Welcome to the 20th edition of the one hit wonders of the 90s. We're into the year 1995, and may I say once again "NO RAP!!!" Ok, I can't promise that, but I can say that it doesn't look like there's much, if any. Let's do the Happy Dance:



You can find the list of one-hit wonders here, but be warned. If you go look at that site before I'm done, an unspeakable monster will appear and take you out.

Whoops, sorry. That's the picture of me I submitted for the "Hair Club for Men" brochure. I meant this one:

Yep, truly frightening.

And here we go!

1) 2 Unlimited: "Get Ready For This" (#38)



Oh, yes. You may not recognize the name of this song, but I dare you not to recognize the song itself (or at least the first few beats, which have been played so often that it's entered the cultural zeitgeist). And to think it only hit #38! Who knew it would become so popular after that.

Then again, it does what it's supposed to do. Pump up the crowd, gets the feet moving, and makes you want to go out and dance until you collapse. What more could you want from a song?

Well, besides doughnuts or something.

2) Subway: "This Li'l Game We Play" (#15)



Oh boy! Another one of *these* songs! I know I'm so excited.

Then again, this isn't a bad example of the genre. Are our urban streets overrun with groups of opposite genders singing at each other, though? I guess it's more common than I thought.

This is actually a decent song, with a nice interplay between the two singers, but it's not surprising that this group never went anywhere. Again, they're not very distinctive, are they? You know it's bad when your Wikipedia entry doesn't even say what happened to you. It just stops with the release of their first album.

*sniff* Doesn't anyone care?

3) Jamie Walters: "Hold On" (#16)



Wow, Walters is a one-hit wonder by himself *and* with "The Heights." That takes true talent, you know. And what's with that little scene of him trying to cook as he agonizes over the abusive relationship across the way? Was that put in there as comic relief? I don't know. I do know that the video overdoses on cheese. I'm not belittling the effects of an abusive relationship, but I am abusing this video for wallowing in it.

The song? Eh. It's ok.

4) Dionne Farris: "I Know" (#4)



Another one where I didn't recognize the song from the name. This was a huge song in 1995, though. This is almost a signature song for the mid-90s (because it's not rap, I can't say it's for the entire decade). It is a great song, though, and brings back some great memories, of picnics and barbecues, playing baseball against friends, laughing and having fun.

Oh wait, that was in some alternate universe.

I did hear the song on the radio a lot, though.

5) Martin Page: "In the House of Stone and Light" (#14)



I have fond memories of this song too. It's kind of an inspirational song. The video's full of soft, breezy imagery that is designed to instill those feelings in the viewer as well. I actually do really like the song.

I don't know if I would find my soul in the House of Stone and Light, though. I think mine would more likely be down at O'Malley's Pub and General Carousing.

6) Rednex: "CottonEye Joe" (#25)



Anybody who goes to hockey games (and probably any sporting events) is really *sick* of this song (without the female vocals, though). However, it serves its purpose to get the crowd pumped up, and no matter how annoying I find it, I find myself bopping to the beat.

It's just that kind of song, insidious and invasive and infectious and all those "I" words. But there's one more I was thinking of, but it's just not coming to me. I know I'll think of it in a moment.

Oh yeah. "Insane"

That being said, the band has done a lot of work and has even relaunched recently. You want something totally different (and much better, actually) from "Cotton Eye Joe?"

Here's "Hold Me For a While" from 2000



Or "Wish You Were Here," from 1995



Colour me shocked.

7) Raphael Saadiq: "Ask of You" (#19)



Is this guy trying to inspire those other guys who stay in their basements singing? You, too, can become an R&B star? It's definitely old style R&B, and it's nice to see that he's stayed dedicated to his craft despite not charting since this song (a couple of R&B hits, but no Top 40).

This is really quite a pleasant song, with nothing to really complain about.

Which actually pisses me off. How am I supposed to be funny when I can't make fun of something? ("It's not like making fun of something has ever helped." - The Peanut Gallery)

8) Better Than Ezra: "Good" (#30)



Another Top 40 one-hit wonder who has had some success on other charts (in this case, the Modern Rock chart and the "Adult" chart).

Also another song that's actually kind of good, or at least nothing to throw a stick at. It's bands like this that make me wonder about the Billboard Top 100 and whether it's important at all. I've heard of this band, heard some of their songs back in the day, and enjoyed them well enough. They've obviously had success. So what's the purpose? What's the difference between Top 100 and "Adult?" Are Wombles songs on the Top 100 as well?

Oh, look, there's me getting serious. Can't have that.

Ummmmm...........Booger!!!!!!

And there you have it. This week's (admittedly a bit late) edition of the one-hit wonders of the 90s. I hope you've enjoyed the rap-less music today as much as I have. It makes these posts a lot more enjoyable when the music, while possibly still bad, is bad in an entertaining fashion.

That's it for this week. Time for me to come out of the closet...um, I mean Recycle Bin



And now time for some rhinoplasty.



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