Music
9 of the most enduring one-hit wonders of the '90s
No cheesy tunes allowed - just tracks that still 100% stand up today, despite being 20+ years old
Nostalgia has a lot to answer for – particularly when it comes to music. The older you get, the more inclined you are to make allowances for the more embarrassing songs of your youth, either because a) you think all chart music is now 'rubbish' or b) it simply brings you right back to your salad days.
That is particularly true of one-hit wonders, too - i.e. the song category also known as the rancid curd on the cheesiest of cheesy tunes. Still, there's no denying that amidst the sea of sheer awfulness there are some songs that have aged brilliantly and still stand up, despite their all-too-brief time in the spotlight.
In other words, you won't find any Vengaboys or Eiffel 65 in here. Instead, come with us on a journey through the more enduring one-hit wonders of the 1990s, and prepare to pick up a few earworms along the way...
1. BRAN VAN 3000 - 'Drinking in LA'
This Montreal alt-rock/hip-hop collective originally formed in 1996 and released their first single, 'Drinking in LA', the following year. Although they had big success with their debut album 'Glee' in their native Canada, this tune was really the only track to make it big. Still, twenty years later, that woozy, laidback, swoon-inducing melody and hints of hip-hop in the beat keep it sounding as fresh as ever.
2. LEN - 'Steal My Sunshine'
Another Canadian band best known for their punchy little hit from 1999 (but little else), what's not to like about 'Steal My Sunshine'? Not only was it apparently inspired by The Human League's 'Don't You Want Me?' (we don't hear it, personally, but we won't argue) - but it's still a cracking little slice of snappy alt-pop that could still make an impact on the charts, or at least on the airwaves, today.
3. ARMAND VAN HELDEN - 'You Don't Know Me'
It's not quite accurate to describe Armand Van Helden as a one-hit wonder, considering the Boston house DJ and producer has had success with his remixes of many, many other artists over the last two decades or more – most notably with Tori Amos's 'Professional Widow'. Still, his 1999 track with vocals by Duane Harden and which sampled '70s soul star Carrie Lucas's hit 'Dance With You' was his only hit under his own name. It was such a bit hit in the UK that it even knocked The Offspring's 'Pretty Fly for a White Guy' off the top of the charts (back when the charts meant something) and it still absolutely stands up as a slick house tune.
4. PHATS & SMALL - 'Turn Around'
Hey! What's wrong with you (if you don't like this song)? Sorry, but whatever your feelings on Brighton's Phats & Small and their uber-annoying vocalist 'Big Ben', there is simply no disputing that this is still a fierce little dance-pop tune. Released in 1999 , it became an international hit and their subsequent singles, including the dubiously-titled 'Respect the Cock' and 'You're Rude (Get F**ked)' just didn't have the same staying power. Still, this little number is a respectable epitaph on the duo's brief career.
5. DONNA LEWIS - 'I Love You (Always Forever)'
Welsh music in 1996 was all about Stereophonics, Manic Street Preachers, Feeder and an occasional splash of Tom Jones. Then came along Cardiff's Donna Lewis with this dreamy little pop number that sounded like Vanessa Paradis herself had breathed life into it. She had minor success with subsequent releases, but this was the only tune to do the business globally and she was even nominated for a BRIT Award in 1997 (which she didn't win).
6. DEEE-LITE - 'Groove is in the Heart'
If you've been to an indie or alternative disco in recent times, there's no question that this song was played. That's testament to 'Groove is in the Heart''s endurance as a great, great pop song, 27 years (!) after it was released in 1990. The New Yorkers were only together for a seven-year period and never quite replicated the success of their debut single (which featured vocals by Q-Tip and bass by Bootsy Collins, FYI), but people are still shaking their tailfeathers to it around the world.
7. WHITE TOWN - 'Your Woman'
The Indian-born, Derby-raised Jyoti Mishra may never achieve anything like the success of 'Your Woman', but he can rest assured that it remains a great song. Released in 1997 as the first track from the one-man-band's second album 'Women in Technology', it sampled the trumpet from 1930s band leader Al Bowlly's hit 'My Woman'. Even more impressively, Mishra recorded the entire album at home on his own. Not bad for a bedroom band.
8. WARREN G. FEAT. NATE DOGG - 'Regulate'
This is what youngsters these days might call a 'stone cold choon' (or maybe not). In any case, the genius combination of West Coast rappers Warren G and the late Nate Dogg made for a song that has made crowds go crazy since its release in 1994. Absolutely nothing about this song has aged badly (apart from the video, perhaps). While both artists had varying success with their own material, it is 'Regulate' that will go down as their best-known - at least in this part of the world.
9. CORONA - 'The Rhythm of the Night'
There were plenty of bad, bad, bad dance songs in the 1990s, from Technohead's 'I Wanna Be a Hippy' to The Grid's 'Swamp Thing' to The Outhere Brothers' 'Boom Boom Boom'... we could go on. Yet there's something about 'The Rhythm of the Night', released by Italian Eurodance band Corona in 1993, that still thrills us every time we hear it. True, it sounds like a '90s dance tune thanks to those keyboards - but there's a lot to be said for keeping it simple, and that hands-in-the-air chorus is undeniably uplifting. Tellin' ya, these young EDM lads don't know they're born.
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