Friday, January 15, 2010

Children of the 90s One-Hit Wonder Mash-Up: 1997 Edition

1997 seems to have been an especially ripe year for love-'em-and-leave-'em treatment of popular music. A new singer or group would burst onto the scene and we'd all be captivated by their debut single, only to be let down in the coming months by a decided lack of chart-toppers from our new favorites. Don't get me wrong--some of these bands went on to make (and in some cases, even sell) more records, but for the most part, their love affair with the general public turned out to be nothing but a tawdry fling.

Whatever the reason, these songs all shot to astronomical heights before relegating their sources to obscurity. For a brief moment in time each of these groups seemed poised to be The Next Big Thing, though somehow they never ascended to that next level. While this group of one-hit wonder makers may not have grown into legendary artists, they at least have a consolatory space reserved in our respective memories. For those of you who have been reading along for awhile, you can safely anticipate that at the very least, some of these are bound to turn up on one of my humiliating suggested playlists. These artists may not have had industry staying power, but their songs will likely forever live on muzakified in grocery store aisles everywhere.

Lovefool (The Cardigans)


This song had the luck of being featured in Baz Luhrmann's updated film version of Romeo and Juliet, thus guaranteeing the song some love from teenagers everywhere. You'd be hard-pressed to find a teenage girl from the 90s who doesn't hear this song and automatically summon an image of Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio locking eyes across a fish tank. It's more romantic than it sounds, take my word for it. On its own merits, "Lovefool" is almost painfully catchy in a bubblegum-pop sort of way. I suppose that could qualify as merit or demerit, depending on your take on 90s Europop.

Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit (Gina G)


Speaking of Europop, Gina G's "Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit" definitely fit the bill. It also deserves some sort of award for the longest nonsensical song title. It has a beat and you can dance to it, though, so I'm willing to overlook it.


How Bizarre (OMC)



New Zealand band OMC's "How Bizarre" quickly became a hit worldwide, though I still don't get it. If anyone understands the meaning behind this song, please feel free to drop some wisdom in the comment box. I get that the gist of it is the guys cruising in their Chevy '69, but this part kind of throws me:

Elephants and acrobats,
Lions snakes monkey
Pele speaks righteous
Sister Zina says funky


Anyone?


This is Your Night (Amber)


"This is Your Night" is not a great song, but it is a great dance song. It's hard to listen to it without at least tapping your foot a bit. And I dare you to restrain yourself from singing along with those "Da ba ba da ba da dip doppin days". It's impossible.


All for You (Sister Hazel)


I spent about 10 years of my life thinking this song was recorded by Hootie and the Blowfish, so imagine my surprise to find that it was recorded by...these other guys. Sister Hazel. It's not a bad song, though I probably wouldn't call it a good song. It capitalizes on the mind-entrapping powers of repetition and pounds that chorus into your head. I miraculously still know all the lyrics, and I never even liked the song that much in the first place. Now that's staying power.

Da' Dip (Freak Nasty)


The lyrics on this one are a bit fuzzy at best. I always heard something along the lines of, "I put my hand upon your hip and I dip, you dip, we dip........yours......mine..............." I know a quick internet search could easily fill in those ellipses with lyrics, but I'm a bit afraid to find out just what we were dancing to at Bar Mitzvah parties and middle school dances. The fact that the singer goes by "Freak Nasty" doesn't bode especially well.


Let Me Clear My Throat (DJ Kool)


That intro just gets you. It's hard not to like this song, it has an upbeat feel to it and the lyrics seem pretty innocent; it's mainly just a rap about rapping. It also taught me the expression "stop on a dime", which was pretty helpful. Plus, they cheered to it in Bring It On. How can you not like a song with those credentials?

Sunny Came Home (Shawn Colvin)


"Sunny Came Home" definitely takes our list to the melancholy and depressing. The song details the life of a repressed housewife who ends up burning down her house. Sounds fun, right? As a kid, I loved to sing along, though it did make me question whether I believed in transcendence. At the time (middle school) I was torn on the issue.


Return of the Mack (Mark Morrison)


Mark Morrison deserves some props for recording a song with almost no content whatsoever. Most of the lyrics are just filler, like "here it is" or "come on". It is catchy, though, and appropriately found its way onto my college drinking playlists. What I can I say? We're suckers for nostalgia. Jury's still out on what a "Mack" is, though.


Butterfly Kisses (Bob Carlisle)


A country music song about the love between fathers and daughters. Don't worry, it's not that country, it's all innocent. It's also incredibly, intensely cheesy.


The Freshman (Verve Pipe)


Even as a kid, you just knew this was a sad song regardless of whether you really understood the lyrics. Like Ben Folds Five's "Brick", the song was about abortion, though I certainly didn't know it at the time. I also frequently got most of the lyrics wrong. The lead singer is kind of a mumbler.

Bitch (Meredith Brooks)


It's definitely a gamble to make the title of your song mild profanity. But, like she says in the song, she's a bitch. What does she care? Screw the censoring public. Swear words for everyone!


Tubthumping (Chumbawumba)


Thought we'd end on a high note here. Tempo speaking, of course. In the history of music, words like "Chumbawumba" and "Tubthumping" generally denote a dark time.


That's all I've got for you this week, Children of the 90s. Join us next week when we discuss...some as of yet undetermined subjects. But really, they'll be good. Have a good weekend, 90s children, and feel free to throw some of these songs on your iPod playlist--they're the hearty dose of music nostalgia your ears so desperately crave.

38 comments:

Unknown said...

Is it bad that all of these songs already are in my Itunes?! Love it. :D

Little Ms Blogger said...

Your last song is I'm a Bitch, not Tubthumping.

I like I'm a Bitch and Shawn Colvin. I may have seen her recently (past 5 years in concert) and you forgot Joan Osborne.

sarah said...

ahahaaaa

oh lord 1997 was such an embarrassing year for me. these songs remind me... gah., i need to forget

Andhari said...

OMG LOVE FOOL! I remember it so well, definitely fish tank moment. I was in junior high and was all for this song & Leo DiCaprio :p

Mrs EyeCanSee said...

I LOOOOVED Lovefool. I had the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack on constant repeat the summer I turned 16. I thought I was so bad ass.

Oh...and anytime I hear Butterfly Kisses at a wedding I vomit in my mouth a little bit. CHEESY!

Mr. Condescending said...

Wow this was a good post (like always)

Wasn't that vitamin c song around 97 too? And the sixpence none the richer song kiss me? And aqua barbie girl!?

I hated that how bizarre song!

Anonymous said...

GINA G!!! Ohh Ahh Just a Little Bit was my favorite song EVER back in the 90s! I still listen to it all the time, haha! And I still love Amber too. We saw her in concert like 10 times throughout the 90s... memories!

jenn said...

haha love this post - and you're so right. first image that comes up is the romeo + juliet fish tank moment. i actually just re-watched that movie last week & it made me so sad that i wasn't 16 again. still love that movie!

Heather Rose said...

I don't know. Is it bad that I know every word to every song (even the bada bada ba dit dot'n days), except the Butterfly Kisses one? Daddy songs always kind of made me throw up a little in my mouth. I remember it, though. That's the point here.

Freshman is still a favorite of mine. All about some melancholy. :P

Kristen said...

1997 was the year I turned 13, so these songs were pretty much all my favorites at the time. Just one thing though...

How in the world could you leave out MMMBop from 1997????!!

That sound defined my life that year.

Children of the 90s said...

You're right, MMMbop seems suspiciously lacking from this list, what was I thinking? Hanson clearly warrants their own post, though. My walls were plastered with their Bop! and J17 centerfolds.

As for the Joan Osborne song, I'm pretty sure that was 1996, but don't worry, it'll get its due. I think the Vitamin C one doesn't really qualify because she had more than one hit--scary, right?

Here I scribble said...

thanks for the follow :)

Charlotte said...

I couldn't stop smiling while reading this post. The songs may not have been favorites - I don't even really like some of them - but, boy, do I remember them!

I never knew "The Freshman" was about abortion, though I certainly listened to it enough.

Kristen said...

OMG- Bop, BB, Tiger Beat, Teen Beat- those Hanson posters covered my walls as well back then.

I definitely look forward to a future Hanson post. I'm actually still a fan (they still make albums and tour!) and I love to remember their days of popularity. =)

Kristen said...

I always felt so naughty listening to "Bitch" cuz it was a song with a curse word as the title. I made sure to never play it around my mother.

Meg said...

I recognized about 3 of these, and I was pretty certain that I didn't know the rest. Until I listened to them, and realized that they didn't look familiar because I never knew the actual lyrics. For example How Bizarre = How Was I. And with some I just never knew the titles, which made for quite a pleasant surprise.

I think the lesson here is that I was a pretty lame kid.

J Rabbitte said...

I can clear up the confusion on "How Bizarre." The protagonist stops his Chevy '69 at a petrol station, where he sees a poster for a circus that has stopped into town. ("Destination unknown, as we pull in for some gas/ Freshly pasted poster reveals a smile from the past") His companions then comment on it, apparently finding it "funky." And yes, I did all those lyrics from memory, even though I haven't heard that song for over a decade. When you're 13, these things seem important.

Also, if we're talking about 1997 one-hits, can I offer up Jimmy Ray? And his amazing song "Are You Jimmy Ray?" The Jimmy Ray-ness of it all made me think that he would be around forever!

LWLH said...

I jammed out to all these songs back in the day...

"Pissin' the night awayyyy"

Literary Crap said...

I hate How Bizarre. The super awesome (not!) radio station in my town plays that song every single effing morning.

Ahhhhhhh!!!

Emily said...

1997 was agood year for me...this takes me back. I still love that Sister Hazel song!

Richard said...

Aaargh! I'm having flashbacks!

I can't get "how bizarre, how bizarre" out of my head now!! Aaaargh!

Katie said...

I feel like this list was on MTV Party to Go Vo. 12. I'm pretty sure I still have MTV Party to Go Vol. 12 somewhere.

Simply_Megan said...

I just heard All For You in the car today. I guess the radio stations are still playing it!

dragonzflame said...

As a New Zealander, I can confirm that the lyrics to How Bizarre are just as nonsensical to us as anyone else. Fun fact: OMC stands for 'Otara Millionaires' Club' - ironic because Otara is kind of the Bronx of South Auckland.

And Hanson are hardly one-hit wonders ;-) Though I guess, neither are the Cardigans.

Love this list! I just heard Nine Days' Story of a Girl today for the first time in forever, and it took me right back to my Dawson's Creek fangirl days :-)

Alanna said...

Haha, I was one of those people that heard the one-hit wonder and then bought the CD assuming it would be as good as the rest of the song. (There was no iTunes sampling back then). Still Have both the Meredith Brooks and Sister Hazel CD's out there. Also Paula Cole (of Dawson's creek song fame) and Filter, who has that one Take my Picture hit...the rest of the album sucks. Haha.

Anonymous said...

I would argue with the notion of Sister Hazel as belonging in the "one-hit wonder" category. They still tour regularly, in major cities, and sell out frequently. They've also had at least one song, Champagne High, features in a major motion picture (10 Things I Hate About You).

Melissa Blake said...

OMG! My best friend and I were soooo obsessed with Tubthumping!!

Have a great weekend! xoxo

G said...

come on ride the train, and ride it. how about that shit? I even knew the dance.

lissa said...

I know most of these songs and some are still in my head

Lauren @The Little Things We Do.... said...

this pretty much made my day! i loved shawn colvin and i saw meredith brooks in concert when i was in 7th grade! also...the verve pipe's freshmen song is one of my all time favorites. nothing transports me back to adolescence quite like it. even now, whenever i hear it i'm instantly back in 9th grade playing the song on repeat with my b.f.f. while reading seventeen magazines. thanks for sharing!

Emily Catherine said...

I turned 12 in 1997, and it was a pretty classic year in terms of being young, pubescent, and having poor taste in everything.

This post brings back many fond memories of middle school dances. The Dip! I feel like I'm wearing an awkward-looking dress in a junior high cafeteria already!

dragonzflame said...

Heard news that Pauley Fuemana of OMC died yesterday. Not quite up there with Michael Jackson I guess, but seems appropriate to add to the comments here.

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