# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/81 "2002-10-24T06:33:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tangent \* > \*\*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” \*\* Ha, I have the Space album, Spiders, and I love that song! I also have the Aqua CD and love it as well. My nomination goes to Right Said Fred and “I’m Too Sexy.” (Which I have the mp3 of. :)) ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/82 "2002-10-24T06:57:19Z")
Nix on the Verve. They were already washed up _before_ Bittersweet Symphony. Their first album is brilliant and classic (time has shown us it’s because of Nick McCabe and John Leckie), which you can’t say about a one-hit wonder. A one-hit wonder can’t have _any_ good albums. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/83 "2002-10-24T08:26:12Z")
White Town - “Your Woman”. Although Jyoti Mishra (the bloke who is White Town) continues to make music. ---
**Author:** ![hegel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hegel)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/84 "2002-10-24T13:53:56Z")
Superdrag–Sucked Out. ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/85 "2002-10-24T15:12:20Z")
“I Touch Myself” by the Divinyls (1991) The Breeders and Soundgarden DO NOT belong on this list! ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/86 "2002-10-24T15:17:19Z")
Also, “Three Strange Days”, by School of Fish. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Mannerly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Mr.Mannerly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Mannerly)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/87 "2002-10-24T16:04:34Z")
I can’t believe nobody’s yet mentioned the incredible, blazing, spastic fart of nothing that was Babylon Zoo’s “Spaceman”. I can almost guarantee completely, without doing any research whatsoever, that this band never ever ever put out anything else even remotely worth listening to. But for a couple of months there, this one tune was absolutely _everywhere_. And no one’s ever heard from them since. Their CD, “The Boy With the X-Ray Eyes” from 1996, is currently going for $0.75 used on [amazon.com](http://amazon.com). They’ve got my nomination. They’ve also got my sympathy. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/88 "2002-10-24T17:44:01Z")
No, Babylon Zoo had two hits on the radio, Spaceman and To the Moon (and Back), I believe, which is from the same album. ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/89 "2002-10-24T19:19:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whitetho \* > \*\*“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). \*\* Perhaps its a difference in how “one hit wonder” is defined, but the followups you mention weren’t really hits in their own right; they were the followups that benefitted from the success of the one hit. For instance, “Real, Real, Real” wasn’t a hit; it was “Right Here, Right Now” part 2 to the listening audience. One can argue that the fact that only the initial hit, and not the followup, is remembered by the vast majority of people indicates that the band was a one hit wonder. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by ZipperJJ_ > **I think we need to disqualify bands that have pretty good “underground” followings (not mainstream but a good bunch of REALLY loyal fans that probably still are loyal today).** Why are bands with underground followings disqualified? By the way, Aqua and the Macarena guys were successful for dance songs. The disco of the 70s yielded a ton of one-hit wonders. I’m guessing that many more one-hit wonder bands have lingering or pre-existing fans than one-hit wonder disco acts. Does that mean the one-hit wonder status is primarily a dance song phenomenon? I do agree though that it seems strange to call a band like Soundgarden, who were nominated for a Grammy for the album “Louder than Love” and had some smaller hits like “Rusty Cage” and “Outshined”, a one hit wonder. How about Madness? Their only US hit was “Our House” but their albums topped the charts in the UK for years. I thought that the biggest one-hit wonder of the 1990s was Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” \*dons flame-retardant suit and goggles 🆒 \* ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/90 "2002-10-24T19:29:52Z")
Hum…my mistake about Babylon Zoo. I downloaded the song and realized I wasn’t thinking of them, I was thinking of Savage Garden. The chicka-cherry-cola song…can’t remember the name of it now, but they had two hits – that song, then “To the Moon and back,” and they disappeared. I used to have the CD (stolen from my sister.) ---
**Author:** ![Thanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce7236/32.png) [@Thanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thanz)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/91 "2002-10-24T19:49:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alphagene \* > \*\* > How about Stabbing Westward? I don’t think they showed up in the top 40 after “Shame”. Another song perhaps better known for its video. You feature a woman in her underwear being pursued by a homicidal stalker, you’re bound to get an obligatory mention in Maxim. \*\* You obviously missed the first single off that album, “What Do I Have To Do?” and the single from the next album, “Save Yourself”, both of which were moderate hits. Also, the guitar riff made famous in “Hey Man Nice Shot” first appeared in Stabbing Wesward’s “Ungod”. Exactly the same riff. ---
**Author:** ![i\_won\_t\_fear\_love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@i\_won\_t\_fear\_love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/i_won_t_fear_love)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/92 "2002-10-25T04:21:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jinwicked \* > \*\*The chicka-cherry-cola song…can’t remember the name of it now, but they had two hits – that song, then “To the Moon and back,” and they disappeared. I used to have the CD (stolen from my sister.) \*\* **i want you.** this is such a huge time warp. heh. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrenaMarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a587f6/32.png) [@BrenaMarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrenaMarie)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/93 "2002-10-25T04:35:39Z")
Based upon the criteria listed above… It has all the requirements of: – snappy band name – uncontrollably infectious hook – no more radio play of said artist I have come up with a few nominees of my own. 1st choice Dogs Eye View - Everything Falls apart I haven’t heard this song on the radio since back in like 97 when it came out New Radicals-You get what you give Ok, it came out in like 98-99, but still it was extremely infectious, I have yet to hear it again, and well, talk about a snappy band name? One guy that gives himself a plural band name…need I say more. Sixpence none the richer - Kiss me I think after the year this song came out, someone would want to reach through the radio and strangle the DJ if they heard this chicks voice wailing “kiss me” one more time. But the year it came out everyone thought it was the greates thing since sliced bread ya know… Lucas - Lucas with the lid off If any of you remember this song, I’ll be shocked. Great song…fits all the requirements other than the band name…it’s kinda plain to me, but it’s the song that counts… Inikmoze - Here comes the Hotstepper Hell Yeah. Takes me back to 8th grade baby, 94. Perfectly fits all noted requirements. “Pret-a-porte” I remember calling the radio stations and begging to hear this song, when I already was hearing it played every hour anyways… does anyone even remember it now? I’d also like to agree that Marcy Playground - Sex and candy is well deserving of a nomination And Of Course New Age Girl is definatley the Bomb choice ---
**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 25, 2002, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/94 "2002-10-25T04:59:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BrenaMarie \* > \*\*Lucas - Lucas with the lid off > If any of you remember this song, I’ll be shocked. \*\* Whatever bubbles, bubbles up… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BrenaMarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a587f6/32.png) [@BrenaMarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrenaMarie)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/95 "2002-10-25T05:07:05Z")
Hell yeah. At least I’m not the only one… I just thought of another Marky mark & The Funky Bunch. Good Vibrations Extremely catchy…does anyone want to admit that they were rollerskating and breaking it down to this jam back in like 93? I will! ---
**Author:** ![initech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/439d5e/32.png) [@initech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/initech)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/96 "2002-10-25T06:45:56Z")
How about “Hell” by Squirrel Nut Zippers, “There She Goes” by the La’s? Just a thought… ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/97 "2002-10-25T07:00:34Z")
Does anyone remember “Back to Good” by **Take That**? I haven’t heard a peep from those folks since. (It’s a good thing, too.) ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/98 "2002-10-25T10:58:58Z")
Well, **Take That** did split up in 1996, so… 🙂 Robbie Williams went on to a succesful solo career; two others (what were their names again?) had one or two solo hits and then nothing… And it’s “Back **for** Good”. (God, I feel so embarrassed for remembering boy band music… my friend’s older sister was a _huge_ **Take That** fan; she cried for three days when the group split up.) ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/99 "2002-10-25T21:10:38Z")
The fact that **Soundgarden** was even mentioned is criminal. Let’s see here: Outshined Spoonman Black Hole Sun Fell On Black Days Blow Up The Outside World Burden In My Hand And about a gazillion others that could have been hits, like Big Dumb Sex and Head Injury, but the time just wasn’t right for that stuff yet, way back in 1987 and 1989 respectively (I do go back with them that far). Incidentally, the most listened to one-hit wonder group of all time is Inner Circle, with “Bad Boys”, the theme from the TV show COPS, which we’ve all seen at one time or another. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041/100 "2002-10-25T22:05:23Z")
> [@](#): > > How about Madness? Their only US hit was “Our House” but their albums topped the charts in the UK for years. Nah, they get a pass since “One Step Beyond” is used as kitschy background music for all kinds of stuff. Including TBS’ _Dinner and a Movie_, IIRC. > [@](#): > > Marky mark & The Funky Bunch Nah, IIRC, he had “Wildside” which got a lot of radio play. > [@](#): > > I think we need to disqualify bands that have pretty good “underground” followings Nah, just about any band with a hit will have “underground” following. Even if it’s just their high school buddies. > [@](#): > > Bands like Aqua and Los Del Rios are good candidates because there probably aren’t a lot of fan sites for them. From UBL, [Harvey Danger](http://ubl.artistdirect.com/music/artist/webs/full/0,,592347-7,00.html?artist=Harvey+Danger) has 13. Aqua has 20. Considering Aqua has apparently [ceased to exist](http://www.aqua.dk/) that’s even more cred in Aqua’s corner. Oh and you can sign up for Aqua’s mailing list at that last link. Don’t say I never do anything nice for ya. > [@](#): > > Whatever bubbles, bubbles up… I FEEEEEEEL… Was this even a hit? The only time I heard this song was on The Box video call-in jukebox thing. It was all Lucas and Sir Mix-a-Lot’s second release “Put 'Em On The Glass”. _Great_ video. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-found-the-quintessential-90s-one-hit-wonder/133041.md?page=6)