Glide compiled a list of the 25 best one-hit-wonders from the 1990′s. They included Top 40 and college radio staples, the only requirement being the song had to be “part of pop culture iconography.” Some of these picks I never want to hear again, but truthfully, more than half live on my iPod.
1. “Nothing Compares 2 U” – Sinead O’Connor (1990)
2. “Black Velvet” – Alannah Myles (1990)
3. “What’s Up?” – 4-Non Blondes (1993)
4. “No Rain” – Blind Melon (1992)
5. “Laid” – James (1993)
6. “I Touch Myself” – The Divinyls (1991)
7. “Song 2″ – Blur (1997)
8. “No Myth” – Michael Penn (1990)
9. “Cannonball” – The Breeders (1993)
10. “Torn” – Natalie Imbruglia (1998)
11. “Girl Like You” – Edwin Collins (1995)
12. “I’m Too Sexy” – Right Said Fred (1992)
13. “Tubthumper” – Chumbawumba (1997)
14. “I Know” – Dionne Farris (1993)
15. “MMMBop” – Hanson (1997)
16. “Seether” – Veruca Salt (1994)
17. “Fade into You” – Mazzy Starr (1993)
18. “Natural One” – Folk Implosion (1995)
19. “Bitch” – Meredith Brooks (1997)
20. “Bad Reputation” – Freedy Johnston (1994)
21. “Closing Time” – Semisonic (1998)
22. “I’d Walk (500 Miles)” – Proclaimers (1993)
23. “Flagpole Sitta” – Harvey Danger (1998)
24. “Connection” – Elastica (1994)
25. “Right Here, Right Now” – Jesus Jones (1991)
No Tom Cochrane?!
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Ahh Tom Cochrane, yes. Mazzy Star and Blur may have only one hit, technically, but they ain’t one-hit wonders.
Harvey Danger is a super-underrated band. I don’t know why they never got more love from people. Flagpole Sitta was the worst thing to ever happen to an awesome band.
mazzy star, veruca salt, ELASTICA!, harvey danger, the breeders, and blur all deserve much much more attention that being billed in the annals of pop culture history as one hit wonders. i don’t care what you bitches say, but elastica was so much more than just “connection.” my only sadness is that i never got a chance to see them live before they broke up. damn being too young.
A list without “Life is a Highway” is no list at all.
I would have liked to see EMF’s “Unbelievable”.
Veruca Salt’s “Volcano Girls” got a lot of airplay in its day, I don’t know you can call them a one-hit wonder. And Elastica’s “Car Song” was also a hit. These groups are more like two hit wonders, I think.
I think we can all agree that “Flagpole Sitta” was the pinnacle of all 1990s music.
blur is a one hit wonder?
Right Said Fred? Don’t they mean Franz Ferdinand?
Major props on the Imbruglia, that song ruled my pre-8th grade summer.
I agree with ashlee. How is Blur a 1-hit wonder?
“Song 2″ is Blur’s only charting hit in America.
These lists are always pretty sketchy, granted that it’s hard to define what exactly a “hit” is.
but elastica also had ‘stutter’
Veruca Salt’s Volcano Girls was a bigger Radio Hit than Seether was…
Folk Implosion! I love that song! The Breeders and Elastica, no matter how much their subsequent albums sucked, should not be classified in the same category as Alannah Myles (yech!).
NO EMF!!!! WTF?!?!?!?
at least theres some jesus jones!
if this were a Canadian list, Tom Cochrane would have to be on it by law.
I think the biggest ommission here is Joan Osborne’s “One of Us”.
duncan shiek, dishwalla, dogs eye view, everything but the girl, Salt N Peppa …. oh, so many more on my playlist at work… curses.
dionne ferris! god, wow and so on…
another one: “mother mother” by tracy bonham!
we all know that the proclaimers, elastica, and folk implosion have many good songs, but what I mean by a “hit” i a song that is highly successful among the mainstream public. That being said, Blur did have a hit with “boys and girls” previous to “song 2″.
3 words- ice ice baby
“Boys and Girls” wasn’t a hit. It didn’t even crack KROQ’s Top 40 for 1994.
“There’s No Other Way” got more airplay on alternative radio in the early 90s, save that it was largely after the fact (as a recurrent).
Having said that, I agree that I wouldn’t consider Blur to be a one-hit wonder on a list that includes semi-obscure tunes.
I give them kudos for the Mazzy Star and (particularly) the Freedy Johnston tunes. The latter was one of my absolute favorite songs of 1994.
life is a highway… i wanna ride it all night long.
omg..what about blue boy ‘remember me’…
im the one who had your babies…
yang yang yang yong ya ying ying
Damn…SOOOO many good songs left out.
What about Marc Cohn? “Walking In Memphis” was a great song, really.
EMF? “Unbelievable” they didn’t make it.
DeeLite’s “Groove Is In The Heart” was kick-ass.
“Jump, Jive and Wail” from the Brian Setzer Orchestra spawned a craze. Or was it spawned from a craze? Either way, should’ve made the list.
I could go on and on…
“There She Goes Again” by The Las!
Folks who wrote this list have no clue what one hit wonders even means. Lousy fucking list. Just fucking lousy.
One hit wonder means a band that has a hit on top 40 or top of the pops and is never heard from again. This list includes lots of bands who put out many great pieces of music in which many heard from them again and have devoted followings. Very very different animal than a one hit wonder.
“Mmm Mmm Mmm” by those silly Crash Test Dummies. The idea that it was a hit makes the 90s seem like a long-forgotten era…can you imagine it following “Hollaback Girl” on your local Clear Channel frequency?
I *still* get “No Myth” stuck in my head on a regular basis, and I walk around the house singing it.
Maybe I’m just looking for someone to dance with.
Salt n Pepa, in response to the commenter above, charted with more than one hit — “Push It,” “Let’s Talk About Sex,” “Shoop,” “Whatta Man (ft En Vogue),” and the grammy-winning “None of Your Business,” to name a few. The last three all dropped in 1993-94 off The ‘Very Neccessary’ CD. So no, i don’t think they belong on that list at all. And i also think that they deserve far more respect than they seem to get from music critics today.
omc’s “how bizarre” wasn’t big enough of a hit to make it on the list?. they must be the ugliest group ever…after everything but the girl.
Yeah, hard to take it seriously when it calls Blur a one-hit-wonder…
I still listen to that Jesus Jones album… feh!
Holy crap I feel old now. Remember when these diddies were just out?
King Missile – Detachable Penis
Siouxie and the Banshees – Kiss Them For Me
Rozalla – Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)
Big Mountain – Baby, I Love Your Way
Donna Lewis – I Love You Always Forever
Luscious Jackson – Naked Eye
Even the ones I didn’t like suck me right back into the 90′s, like the smell of mothballs takes me back to grandma’s house. No wonder old people are stuck in the past; nostalgia is impossible to resist. Why is it that we get stuck in the music from our young adulthood?
Flagpole Sitta is fantastic. Took me ages to track it down in MP3, I remembered it from years ago (the 90′s!).
Gotta give some love for my Dallas buds Deep Blue Something, with Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Thanks to writing this comment, that song is going to be stuck in my head for a few days…
Well, here’s my two cents’ worth in the “one-hit wonder” debate: if you’re Australian, the Divinyls have about 15 years of touring and recording history and numerous charting singles to go along with their one hit (which is one of their lesser efforts, incidentally).
The Proclaimers song was actually from 1988. It was well known on certain “alternative” stations back then.
Now that Black Velvet song is stuck in my head.
What about MC 900 ft Jesus – “The City Sleeps” or Fun Lovin Criminals – “Scooby Snacks” or were those only hits to me? Nevermind…
Michael Penn had a hit?!? Granted, I was 10-year-old when, according to that list, “No Myth” came out, but I was roundabout the same age for the majority of those songs and I remember every single one of them except Mr. Penn’s. (I first became acquainted with Penn after picking up one of his albums in a used bin due to some post-Aimee Mann/”Magnolia” curiousity. Now that whole LA singer-songwriter scene with the exception of Jon Brion and E kinda bores me.)
Too, I agree with Silvio up there. Harvey Danger were/are a great band.
I would add:
Lisa Loeb – “Stay”
Loud Lucy – “Ticking”
Skee Lo – “I Wish”
Lucas – “Lucas With the Lid Off”
Sneaker Pimps – “Six Feet Underground”
White Town – “I Could Never Be Your Woman”
and
Geggy Tah’s “All I Wanna Do Is Thank You” – the only ode to traffic courtesy of which I am aware.
I could be wrong about these being one-hit wonders, but I definitely never heard of these bands again after these songs came and went. Lisa Loeb may be argued to be an exception but I would counter that her lasting fame rested not on any post-”Stay” hits but solely on the fact that she wore quirky eyeglasses. (Can you name any other Lisa Loeb songs other than “Stay”?)
“867-5309″ by Tommy Tutone
Is the all time one hit wonder!
Listening to Shadoe Stevens Top 40 radio shows almost every weekend, just for something to do, I got Really familiar with, mainly… mediocrity.
Hootie & The Blowfish – Hold My Hand
EMF – Unbelieveable
Spin Doctors – Two Princes
Stereo MC’s – Connected
Fatboy Slim – The Rockafeller Skank
What stunk the most was buying the CD a good song on the radio was on and… all the other tracks were crap!
dude i saw fun lovin’ criminals open for U2′s popmart tour. isn’t that sad? fun lovin’ crimminals and some uk band longpigs. hopefully kings of leon have more success than both groups!
p.s. hootie had about 6-10 hit songs, and spin doctors also had little miss can’t be wrong.
skee lo = so right on. that video for “i wish” spoofed forest gump & ruled!
you know what song i hated but is a legitimate 90′s one hit wonder? that song by primitive radio gods that was on the cable guy soundtrack. the chorus had “do do”‘s in it and a guy singing “i’ve been downhearted babe, ever since the day we met” lol
Spin Doctors also had Jimmy Olsen’s Blues (aka pocket full of kryptonite)
What about Republica’s “Ready to Go”? Or the Primitive Radio God’s “Standing Outside a Broken Phonebooth with Money in My Hand”?
Other 90′s love (not necessarily one hit wonders, but some people probably think they are): Belly, Cardigans, Letters to Cleo, Tripping Daisy, Self…
Primitive Radio Gods! Most unlikely radio hit eva!
I’m not sure if you could count MC 900 Ft Jesus as a one-hit wonder because his album was impossible to find. Nonetheless, he owns. I’m not sure when Kenna broke big (I actually think it was around 2000 or 2001), but he has the same kind of effect of many college radio acts that are around for a relatively short time and can trigger some nostalgia.
2 other Lisa Loeb songs:
Do You Sleep
I Do
I personally like the former, but I think the latter was a bigger hit.
the way-fastball (late nineties, say ’98?)
what about “disco 2000″ by pulp, and “not if you were the last junkie on earth” and “in the meantime” by spacehog?? (this is in the conext of radio hits, of course)
i’m actually giving this quite a lot of thought (i just love mid-afternoon saturday laziness!!!
)
i have a few more:
- “novocaine for the soul” – eels
- “ready to go” – republica
- “here and now” – letters to cleo
- “female of the species” – space
- “the only one i know” – the charlatans
then there are a couple of minor hits: “are you jimmy ray?” – that guy sure vanished =P
and maybe “lemon tree” by fool’s garden” and “spaceman” by babylon zoo! (those last two were bigger in europe but whatever!)
*”not if you were the last junkie…” is still the dandy warhols’ best song, in my opinion!
thanks, scott, for bringing this up – time travel for free!
Yo! No one gave a shout out for Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”???=)
What about “I wish I was a little bit taller” by Skee-Lo? Those aren’t alternative, but they are so 90′s — i HATED the coolio song, they etched it into my brain by force of repetition!
But the ultimate hit everyone’s forggetting is Snow’s “Informer”!!!! loved that song *prepares to be stoned*
Two more –> “Hot” by the Squirrel Nut Zippers” and Esthero’s “Heaven Sent”. I’m gonna burn myself a double disc outta all this ASAP! Also: En Vogue aren’t exactly one-hit-wonders but “Never Gonna Get It” and “Free Your Mind”, as well as TLC’s “Waterfalls” really evoke mainstream 90s for me (even though i know we originally we weren’t talking mainstream here).
For one thing, Tom Cochrane really isn’t a one-hit wonder. He was the lead singer/writer for Red Ryder and “Lunatic Fringe” was kind of a hit, even in the US.
And The Flaming Lips just had to go and make “Do You Realize” just to get off all the one-hit wonder lists. Bah, they’re still a two-hit wonder.
But no list of 90′s one-hit wonders is complete without the ____ing Rembrandts and “I’ll Be There For You (Theme to a Grotesquely Overrated TV Show)”
if blur is a one hit wonder, than so is radiohead.
i dont think they ever had a hit single on a top 40 station since ‘creep’
Also: Cornershop, “Brimful of Asha.”
Many, many years later and I still don’t know what the fuck asha is, and how you can have a brimful of it.
here’s a few more that haven’t been mentioned (some which i loathe):
prodigy: “firestarter”(their only real crossover hit)
imani coppola – “legend of a cowgirl”(another disappearing act)
savage garden – “i want you”
white zombie: “more human than human”
self – “so low” (self rules, by the way)
jill sobule – “supermodel”
days of the new – “touch, peel and stand”
marcy playground – “sex and candy”
counting crows – “mr jones”
seal – “kiss from a rose”
the fugees – “killing me softly”
tonic – “if you could only see”
local h – “bound for the floor”
luscious jackson – “here”
presidents of the usa – “lump”
gin blossoms (can’t remember the title)
color me badd – “i wanna sex you up”
blues traveler – “runaround”
paula cole – “where have all the cowboys gone?” (of course, she did have the dawson’s creek anthem, “i don’t want to wait”)
wait! i forgot one i totally loved: whale’s “hobo humpin’ slobo babe”!!!!! awesome.
counting crows, seal, fugees, presidents of the usa, gin blossoms, blues traveler … all actually had multiple hit singles.
k’s choice-”addict”!
The One Hit by Jill Sobule isn’t “Supermodel” it’s “I Kissed A Girl.”
I can’t believe no one has objected to the presence of Sinead O’Connor on this list, so I guess I’ll have to. I think that a OHW by definition has to be an artist where when you mention the artist’s name, the ONLY thing that comes to mind is that one song. That’s definitely not true with Sinead.
Ahem.
New Radicals. “You Get What You Give.”
C’mon, Glide! Get in the game, baby.
by Glide’s definition, isn’t the Grateful Dead a “one-hit wonder”?
spacehog – in the meantime (although royston snagged liv tyler, so I guess their career can’t be all downhill after that)
nice call on the geggy tah. I always liked that song…
Seal had a hit with “Crazy” a few years before “Kiss From A Rose”–that Batman song.
And “Crazy” is a really good song and Seal has keen facial scars.
if blur is a one hit wonder, than so is radiohead.
i dont think they ever had a hit single on a top 40 station since ‘creep’
Posted by: pete m. at May 14, 2005 03:34 PM
I was thinking the exact same thing! Creep is my least favorite Radiohead song, too.
Also: Cornershop, “Brimful of Asha.”
Many, many years later and I still don’t know what the fuck asha is, and how you can have a brimful of it.
Posted by: Laura at May 14, 2005 04:05 PM
That song is named after Asha Bhosle, a very famous Bollywood playback singer whose vocals were sampled on the song.
Didn’t that Enigma song come out in 90 or 91? Sade-ness Part 1- An Ode to Dungeon and French Tickler Loving. Or something like that.
I’m going straight to hell for having Londonbeat come to mind. And sure, I could name all my favorite minor hits from the 90′s (ala Northside “Take 5″) but if they weren’t big enough to warrant a VH-1 Reunion special, they aren’t worth mentioning for this list.
(“Move Any Mountain” by the Shamen should have been a bigger hit, it seems. Where did that song chart stateside?)
I really really miss the 90′s. Music was so much simpler back than and MTV wasn’t all bad. What have we did to music since then? I am depressed.
What about Soul Coughing – “Super Bon Bon” and Better than Ezra – “Good” or did these bands have other hits?
Jen, don’t be depressed, this blog is a more democratic media forum than mtv ever was. It makes me sad that you miss being spoon fed so much crap. Maybe you really miss something else from the 90′s that is missing in your life now and mtv is a symbolic object of that emptiness.
Anyway, Poe’s Angry Johhny was fun.
The Toadies, Possum Kingdom was creepy.
Now Sarah, Mtv wasn’t ALL crap and spoonfeeding in the 90s. You just had to wait until midnight to see the good stuff.
120 Minutes, and remember those short films? Random animators, Aeon Flux, The Maxx; Bill Plympton, Aidan Quinn reciting Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis?
“Pepper”? Butthole Surfers? Anybody?
Geggy Tah! I have not thought of those words in some time.
Urban Dance Squad – Deeper Shade of Soul. I don’t think it has been mentioned, but I just skimmed.
Blur One hit wonders (your off your head)
Dont know what ur definition of ‘hit’ is but they got so many better tracks that song 2, same goes for counting crows and the dandy warhols?????
coolio, fugees, savage garden have also had multiple hits.
and not sure why multiple hit artists like TLC and en vogue were brought up in here.
blues traveler charted with “hook” so they were a two-hit. and i don’t even know how one types “prez of the USA -lump” and ignores the millions of “peaches.”
Did anyone get Strawberry Fields Forever by Candy Flip. A one hit wonder that was also a cover. That’s a bad band.
for my eighteenth birthday(as of today, exactly 13 years ago), my mom bought me an “I’m too sexy for this shirt,” shirt. at the time, I was horrified.
My 90′s (Mostly One-Hit Wonders and other Hits) Megamix (and some other marginal hits at the time that were played on the radio in S.F.).
Enjoy the trip down memory lane…
Presidents Of The U.S. of A. – Lump
Baz Luhrmann – Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
Stabbing Westward – What Do I Have To Do?
Hum – Stars
Bush – Everything Zen
Ash – Kung Fu
Flaming Lips – She Don’t Use Jelly
Nada Surf-Popular
Tracy Bonhom – Mother Mother
God Lives Underwater – From Your Mouth or All Wrong
Marcy Playground – Sex and Candy
Harvey Danger – Flagpole Sitta
Portishead – Sour Times
The Verve Pipe – Freshman
The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony
Poe – Angry Johnny
Phunk Junkeez – I Love it Loud
Our Lady Peace – Starseed
The Sundays – Here’s Where The Story Ends
The Lemonheads – It’s A Shame About Ray
The La’s – There She Goes Again
Stone Roses – Love Spreads
Stereo MC’s – Connected
Sponge – Plowed
Spacehog – In The Meantime
Goo Goo Dolls – Long Way Down
Space – Female of the Species
Powerman 5000 – Worlds Collide
Soul Coughing – Super Bon Bon
Soul Asylum – Runaway Train
Elastica – Stutter or Connection
Republica – Ready To Go
Weezer – Undone (The Sweater Song)
Smash Mouth – Walking On The Sun
Seven Mary Three – Cumbersome
Republica – Ready To Go
White Town – Your Woman
Tripping Daisy – I Got a Girl
Failure – Stuck On You
Primitive Radio Gods – Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand
Babylon Zoo – Spaceman
reel big fish – sell out
Pulp – Common People
Prodigy – Firestarter
Geggy Tah – Whoever You Are
Fun Loving Criminals – Scooby Snacks
Frente – Labour Of Love
Filter – Hey Man, Nice Shot
Faith No More – We Care A Lot
Cornershop – Brimful of Asha
Collective Soul – Heaven Let Your Light Shine Down
Butthole Surfers – Pepper
Ben Folds Five – Brick
Beck – Loser
Porno For Pyros- Pets
Blind Melon – No Rain
L7 – Pretend We’re Dead
Kula Shaker – Tattva
James – Laid
Hole – Violet
Korn- Blind
Happy Mondays – Step On
Green Day – J.A.R. (Jason Andrew Relva) {from Angus}
Gravity Kills – Guilty
Gin Blossoms – Follow You Down
Days of the New – Touch, Peel and Stand
Concrete Blonde – Joey
Everclear – Heroin Girl
Eels – Novocaine For The Soul
Dishwalla – Counting Blue Cars
Deftones – My Own Summer
Third Eye Blind – Semi Charmed Life
Local H – Copacetic
The Toadies-Possum Kingdom
Better Than Ezra-Good
Mr. Mirainga – Burnin’ Rubber
Sugar Ray – Fly
Sublime – Date Rape
Edwyn Collins – Girl Like You
Matthew Sweet – Sick Of Myself
Face To Face – Disconnected
Self – So Low
4 Non Blondes – What’s Up
That’s enough for now…my brain hurts.
Beth, Better Than Ezra just put out a greatest hits album, so to answer your question: yes. Although I may be the only one who bought it. Also, “Circles” was a more popular Soul Coughing song, I think.
My favorite one hit wonder of the 90s: The Sweater Song by Meryn Cadell.
“Look for brown or grey or blue
Anything other than that and you know you’re dealing with someone who’s different
And different is not what you’re looking for.”
tequila, super bon bon was bigger than circles…
sorrrry!
This list seems pretty indie-biased. No hip-hop? Only a couple of dance/electronica hits? WTF?
Nony (or anyone), since you are big on 90s dance music….
Do you remember a song that went something like “Dootdootdoodlydoo, show me how to dance!”
I’ve been wracking my brain trying to remember who did that. Google hasn’t been any help because that’s the only line I know.
Everone should hear “Lava” by Silver Sun. The perfect 3 minute pop song.
What about ‘Connected’ by Stereo MC’s?
Do some people just not read the preceding comments, by default?
I wish I was a little bit talla… I wish I was a ballah.. I wish I had a girl who looked good I would call her..
Whatever happened to that guy?
mixed thanks to Laura for reminding me about White Town; was going to ask if Sponge’s Molly was a hit but a search led me to believe they had others… and is it too soon for Len’s Steal my Sunshine again?
The Refreshments’ “Banditos” is clearly the best one-hit wonder of the 90s. Amateurs.
Zen – Sponge’s “Plowed” was the first hit off the record (“…in a world of human wreckage…”). “Molly” was the follow-up hit.
In case you cared.
thank-you smitty.
Seems like Toad the Wet Sprocket should be on the list somewhere. Also, i remember a couple craptacular hits from the late 90′s: OMD’s “How Bizarre” and Jimmy Ray’s “Are you Jimmy Ray?” (am quite embarassed to know this) Plus, I don’t know if they’re exactly one hit wonders, but the Lemonheads kind of rocked. I still have a crush on Evan Dando . . .
The Lemonheads did a cover of “Mrs Robinson” and I’ve also got a copy of “It’s About Time” on 7″ which as if I remember was a bit pants.
Blur should not be on here. That’s just wrong.
Love the La’s “There She Goes”, but wasn’t that released in the late 80s? How about the Sixpence None the Richer cover of it though?
Elastica’s “Connection” is awesome-
Though not a one-hit-wonder, One Headlight by Wallflowers was pretty good.
Monster Magnet “Space Lord”
Tom Cochrane is definalty not a one hit wonder, the guy has had a lot of hits he just happened to only have one hit in the nineties.
@Saartje: Fastball also had “Out of My Head”.
@JT: The New Radicals also had “Someday We’ll Know”.
@Shannon: “How Bizarre” was OMC, not OMD (aka Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, the synthpop band responsible for “If You Leave”).
hey guys,just wondering if any of you have scooby snacks by the fun loving criminals? i`ve been looking for it everywhere and i cant find it..
thanks
RE: Beth
Soul Coughing had “Circles” and were infinitely better than only two songs. And no, they did not sound like fucking Cake before anyone whips out that old chestnut.
Better Than Ezra had “Desperately Wanting” (?) and “King of New Orleans” as well…I’m sure there’s one I’m missing.
If anyone could track down “Alcohol” by Howling Maggie, they would have my undying gratitude.
Not sure if these are in the 90s; probably only just, but “Steal My Sunshine” by Len and “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus. Both of those songs burn my ass.
Actually, “Teenage Dirtbag” was in 2000. Still sucks, though.