# i have found the quintessential 90s one-hit wonder. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2002, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041 "2002-10-20T01:45:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/41 "2002-10-21T12:02:10Z")
“Right Here, Right Now” was 1991, and so was their “Real, Real, Real” which got to #4. (If anything, the 90s had a lot of top 10 hits which have been completely forgotten). ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/42 "2002-10-21T13:10:53Z")
“Breakfast at Tiffanies” is the “Pina Colada Song” of the 90s. I’ll second that one. ---
**Author:** ![roadrunner70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/43 "2002-10-21T13:48:51Z")
1999, Mambo #5, Lou Bega. [sub]No fries with that, thank you Lou…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/44 "2002-10-21T14:26:27Z")
There’s the _Unger_, who had what, Vanishing Cream? They were a Metallica clone with synthesizers, and that song definitely had a hook. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/45 "2002-10-21T14:31:39Z")
Make that _Hunger_, not Tony Randall. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/46 "2002-10-21T16:46:27Z")
“Who Let the Dogs Out” – was that 1999 or 2000? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/47 "2002-10-21T18:23:25Z")
Oh baby yoouuuuuu…You’ve got what I neeeeeeeeeed…But you say he’s just a friend…but you say he’s just a friend, OH BABY YOOOUUUU… (repeat, off-key) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/48 "2002-10-21T18:30:41Z")
How about “One Headlight” by the Wallflowers? ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/49 "2002-10-21T19:09:24Z")
_Tubthumping_ by Chumbawumba. _Barbie Girl_ by Aqua. _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![Syzygy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Syzygy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syzygy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/50 "2002-10-21T19:10:18Z")
Or “Freshmen” by The Verve Pipe? I haven’t heard much from them recently, but then again, I stopped listening to Top 40 after college, when I didn’t have to sell the stuff anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/51 "2002-10-21T19:10:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dewey Cheatem Undhow \* > \*\*Oh baby yoouuuuuu…You’ve got what I neeeeeeeeeed…But you say he’s just a friend…but you say he’s just a friend, OH BABY YOOOUUUU… (repeat, off-key) > > 😃 \*\* I was wracking my brain just the other day trying to remember who did that song. Who was it? I must know! ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/52 "2002-10-21T19:19:56Z")
Wait, wait… despite my nominations of _Tubthumping_ and _Barbie Girl_ I do agree that _The Macarena_ is the definitive 90s one-hit-wonder because it also had that “dance craze” that you’d see performed by young and old at weddings and clubs. Anything that could make people my mom’s age shake their booty, or that could coax respected professionals to make complete asses of themselves on the dance floor at the firm Christmas party, deserves special recognition as a pop culture pox. ---
**Author:** ![Amok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Amok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amok)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/53 "2002-10-21T19:26:33Z")
> [@](#): > > _Lamia wrote:_ > I was wracking my brain just the other day trying to remember who did that song. Who was it? I must know! _Just a Friend_ by BizMarkie. ---
**Author:** ![roadrunner70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/54 "2002-10-21T19:37:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cmkeller \* > \*\*How about “One Headlight” by the Wallflowers? \*\* I think they had another song after that, Marlena, or something like that… ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/55 "2002-10-21T19:38:28Z")
How about “How Bizzare…” by OMC, thats the ultimate 90’s one hit wonder, it had an infectious chorus, a good video and an inscrutable name… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/56 "2002-10-21T22:52:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Odieman \* > \*\*How about “How Bizzare…” by OMC, thats the ultimate 90’s one hit wonder, it had an infectious chorus, a good video and an inscrutable name… \*\* Was written in 2000. So technically its in the 90’s…but sorta not. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/57 "2002-10-21T23:19:29Z")
Wrong on both counts. That song drove me crazy in college. It dates to 1997. [http://www.cdshakedown.com/112697.htm](http://www.cdshakedown.com/112697.htm) Besides, 2000 is not in the 1990s. It’s in the 10th decade of the 20th century though. Seems like a lot of people here aren’t getting the point of the ‘one hit wonder’… one big hit followed by smaller hits does not a OHW make. I have to concur with the OP about Dead Eye Dick (which was on the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack, which is what drove it to hit status). ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/58 "2002-10-22T00:28:24Z")
I’m gonna hafta disqualify Wallflowers as much as I hate them. Their “We Could Be Heros” remake and “Three Marlenas” got a lot of airplay. And nix The Cardigans since “My Favorite Game” was a resonably big hit. Songs like “Macarena” and “Mambo #5” and even “Barbie Girl” deserve a separate category. Everyone still knows those songs. So they deserve some credit for striking a chord, regardless of how annoying that chord is. Whereas New Age Girl is inherently forgettable. In fact the main reason it lasted as long as it did was the one semi-clever line “she don’t eat meat but she sure likes the bone.” I’d like to nominate New Radicals’ sucky “You Only Get What You Give” ---
**Author:** ![Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/db5fbb/32.png) [@Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/59 "2002-10-22T00:49:30Z")
The Wallflower’s, whose album “Bringing Down the Horse” was the first album I ever purchased - I cherish it to this day - also were modestly successful with “6th Avenue Heartache”, “The Difference”, and “Three Marlenas”. And that’s just their first album. They had a single on their follow-up album “Breach” called “Sleepwalker”, as well as the aforementioned “Heroes” cover for the Godzilla soundtrack. All got substantive airplay. So, uh, no. You are incorrect sir. Fastball’s most recent successful single was called, I believe, “You’re an Ocean”. I like it. I concur, **Raygun**. It’s not good enough to name any hit single you can remember from the 90s. You people are going to have to dig deeper! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/60 "2002-10-22T03:10:51Z")
Diggin’ deep… Citizen King, “Better Days” Space, “Female of the Species” SOHO, “Hippychick” Del Amitri, “Roll to Me” Michael Penn “No Myth” Spacehog, “In the Meantime” Spot “Moon June Spoon” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041.md?page=4)