The topic of the 1990s and the top one hit wonders of the JNCO generation came up recently and spurred a spirited debate that included multiple YouTube streams, mediafire links, pie charts, bar graphs, carbon dating, and challenges of epic proportions. We take this shiz seriously, brah. The subject of "Best" is a subjective one but I pride myself in making lists..and I especially pride my opinions over people who flag "LFO" and "Meredith Brooks" in their best of lists. Those aren't hits, those are shits. Hearing these gross miscalculations I've taken it upon myself to craft the perfectly cultivated list of 90's one hit wonders. The rules are simple: The band had to have only had one hit, it had to be a HIT, and if their whole album was sneaky awesome from end to end than it is off the list. Who falls into those categories?
One hit misnomers: My Own Worst Enemy (1999) by Lit. Lit's epic self loathing rant is considered by many to be a one hit wonder....but they also had "Miserable". Is that song a secondary hit or just considered to be a hit because it starred Pam Anderson and we of the MTV showing videos generation were desperate horn dogs. Furthermore the single for "Miserable" was released in 2000....Does that make Lit a true one hit wonder band for the 90s...or either a one hit wonder for the aughts as well or a no hit wonder depending on your level of love for Lit and Pam Anderson. Off the list.
No Hit Love: Dig's Believe (1993) was an epic rocker of big epic shreddy proportions that I wore out on cassette ...but reaching 34th on the mainstream rock charts hardly constitutes one hit wonder status. So long Dig.
Sneaky Awesome full albums: "Spacehog's "In the Meantime"(1995) and The Crash Test Dummies "Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm" (1993) are knee jerk one hit wonder calls for the layman...but if you were fortunate to have copped these albums you'd know that they were full of some tasty tracks. Yes I am saying the Crash Test Dummies' "Afternoons and Coffee-spoons" was a good song. We both had a love for J Alfred Prufrock so I had mad respect for their silly Canadian antics. So long Spacehog and CTDs
...Now that all of that dirty housekeeping is out of the way let's all grow old grow old, wear our trousers (Skids, Cavariccis, and the aforementioned Jncos) rolled and rock out to the greatest one hit wonders of the 1990s.
11: "Cannonball" by The Breeders (1993)
Rocking a Pixies side project right off the bat. Is this cheating? I say no way but I'll call it #11 to cover my ass. Kim Deal and Co get treated as their own separate entity because that's exactly what they were. No one wanted The Breeders around. Everyone wanted the Pixes back. Fighting against that pressure and her sisters raging drug addiction Kim Deal was able to craft this fantastically slinky bass driven jam. The pauses before the guitar scratches and the angry choruses with the contrasting soothing sing song "in the shade" hooks were the stuff of dreams. Angry and confused 90s dreams.
10: "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba (1997)
I hate myself for typing that but there's no getting around the fact that these English punk folks created an unstoppable ear worm that stuck with us well after Y2K had passed without one single attack by rouge computers and confused toasters. I hated myself for liking this song back then. Now? Well I've grown up and learned to embrace the shenanigans....but I drink way more now so I appreciate it with a whiskey drink and a vodka drink. Fuck if this song doesn't do exactly what it sings about. It reminds Gen X of the good times and the best times.
9: "Unbelievable" by EMF (1991)
If you had asked Andrew "Dice" Clay" what would have been his biggest contribution to the annals of history he probably would have said "anals? now you're talking! OH!"..and that "OH" would instantly remind everyone not of lame ass sexual nursery rhyme puns but instead this killer early 90's dance rocker from the UK's EMF. I'm from the school of thought that you could only celebrate either EMF or Jesus Jones...and Jesus Jones came across too preachy and lacking of the Dice Man. Advantage: EMF
8: "Ditty" by Paperboy (1993)
Ditty > Diddy. Fact. I'm talking about rapping skills only. If we're talking "pimping best friends deaths for profit" and "dancing like a fool in your artists videos" then the formula would be reversed. Diddy was so damn good at making money off of Biggie and dancing like a clown in his artists videos Now that I think about it can I call a tie on #7 and honor Flava in Ya Ear by Craig Mack. Remix of course if we are going to keep talking about Diddy. About Ditty and Paperboy: This song was ahead of its time and looking back at it from 2012 eyes it seems like the sole (and soul) inspiration for hip hop poppers like Chiddy Bang.
7: "Live and Learn" by Joe Public (1992)
New Jack swingers playing their own instruments. This was some mind blowing shit. The "Go.Go.Go" chants in the background and the pressure cooking whistle married to the life can suck but you need to dust yourself off and try again learning mantra was some inspiring shit. Every time I heard it I wanted to throw a house party of epic Kid n Play proportions. A socially conscious house party jammy jam, but a house party jammy jam none the less! Respect.
6: "Closing Time" by Semisonic (1998)
This late 90's song is the bizzaro Live and Learn. It is soaked in booze and regret and makes you want to shut down the party in the worst way possible. The minute this song hit the bars it was turned into a Pavlovian conditioning tool to let drunk people know they had four fucking minutes to scout out the weakest stragglers in the dingy dank bar to make their one and only for the night. What did dive bar djs play before this? Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight" or maybe "It's Raining Men" for the bars Joel and Timmy used to frequent together? We'll never know. Booze soaked time traveling only goes in one direction: forward and foggy.
5: "Steal My Sunshine" by Len (1998)
I had the worst fucking crush on Sharon Costanzo of Len. Her voice was as saccharine sweet as the sticky paws she described in this jam. She was so dreamy but her and her brother always gave off a weird Flowers in the Attic vibe. I was sure if Young Del ever came across her and bedded her L-A-T-E-R in the night her creep bro rapping bro would try and swoop in and pull a bait and switch and bate. Homey don't play that! (The 1990s! Thank you Thank you). Great fucking song though.
4: "Silent Lucidity" by Queensryche (1990)
If we're talking sheer breathtakingly big, bombastic beauty then the list begins and ends with Queensyche's Silent Lucidity. Close your eyes to block out the double necked guitars and forget for a minute that this is Queensryche You could totally see this on a Waters-free Pink Floyd album. It reeks of "Learning to Fly". Is there a better compliment than that? I just compared Silent Lucidity to my favorite fucking band of ALL TIME. OF ALL TIME. I was going to make a Kanye "I'm gonna let you finish joke" because that fucking joke feels as old as the 1990s but I'm finished so on to #2.
3: "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger (1998)
What's more 90's than hearing this paranoid spaz jam from the Waiter/Magician from the Max. I always wondered what that sad sack got himself into after he got canned from Bayside's #1 eatery, dance-hall, radio studio, and general meeting place to get into antics related to oil soaked ducks, and Zack Attacks dreams of rock stardom. Was anyone else creeped out by a grown man hanging around teenagers, trying to woo them with all that weak ass magic. I'm not got to say he was sick, but he was not well. Wait that's not Ed Alonzo (so sad that I didn't need to look that up) rocking out in this video? Be that as it may that does not take away from Flagpole Sitta's stature as of the most pristinely perfect one hit wonders of the 1990s
2: "Sex and Candy" by Marcy's Playground (1997)
Besides the titular sex and candy Marcy's Playground painted a trippy melodic scene with talk of disco lemonade, double cherry pies, and platforms of double suede. It's not of the same ilk as John Lennon's imagery in Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds but it's close enough to rate as the #2 hit wonder of the 1990s. This song is so good I've decided to go back and bit torrent the album. I want to be wrong about them being one hit wonders.
1: "You Get What You Give" by New Radicals (1998)
Not only is it the best one hit wonder that the 90's had to offer (I can say that confidently because I had the album and the rest of it was absolute shit, but on top of that the song's lead singer, Gregg Alexander, fucking insisted on time stamping the fuck out this jam by calling out the Mount Rushmore of late 90's MTV in Beck, Hanson, Courtney Love, and Marilyn Manson. He might as well have filmed this video in my basement while I played Genesis while rocking some sweet Hypercolor t-shirts. Look everyone, the shirt changes colors with heat! Perfect for awkward sweaty teens. Who were the ad wizards that came up with that one?