Tuesday Top Ten: One-Hit Wonders by Year - 1990s

Previous one-hit wonders by year lists:
-1960s
-1970s
-1980s

Our fourth out of five stops on the one-hit wonder train brings us to the decade I went from pre-teen to college senior:  the glorious '90s.  While I think the '80s take the title for best decade of one-hit wonders, the '90s were a pretty close second.  From grunge to hip hop to pop to R&B to techno to alternative rock to soul to metal, and everywhere in between, there were one-hit wonders for all to enjoy.  Hell, the song that topped VH-1's list of the 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders was released in the '90s -- Los del Rio's 1996 mega hit "Macarena."  That didn't make my list, by the way, but I am sure as shit doing the dance right now during my daily lunch group dance Zoom.

As a reminder, here are my rules:

• The song must have been in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.  There might be a couple songs that are #21 or #22, as not every year had a ton of one-hit wonders with Top 20 songs to choose from (or one-hit wonders with Top 20 songs that I like).  Also, I'm focusing on the American charts, since that's where I've lived my whole life.  Plus, a look at one-hit wonders on the Dutch charts would require a lot more work.  There are certainly songs and artists who may be one-hit wonders here who have been successful in other countries, and vice versa.
• The band or artist cannot have any other song that broke into the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.  And just so you know I'm trying to keep everything on the level, I am truly focused on artists who didn't have a bunch of Top 40 hits.  For instance, if an artist had one Top 10 song and then five or six other Top 40 songs, I don't necessarily consider that a one-hit wonder.  On the other hand, if there is an artist who had one big hit and then another song that isn't as well know that happened to go to #21, I'm considering that artist.
• The band or artist cannot be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or have a band member who is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  For instance, technically, Nirvana only had one Top 20 song, 1991's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," which reached #6, but obviously they are Rock and Roll Hall of Famers and one of the most influential and critically acclaimed bands of the '90s.  Likewise, Big Audio Dynamite was a one-hit wonder, with their 1991 hit "Rush" (though since it didn't reach the Top 20, it wouldn't fit my criteria here), but the lead singer and guitarist was Mick Jones, formerly of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Clash.  
• For the year, I am counting the year a song was released, regardless of when it charted.  This avoids having to deal with a situation where a song may have been high on the charts at the end of one year and the beginning of another.  Unfortunately, this also hurts songs that didn't become hits until a few years after their release, as I'm not going to choose a song as my favorite one-hit wonder from a particular year if the song didn't really become big until years later.  For the '90s, one that comes to mind is The Verve Pipe's "The Freshmen," which was originally recorded in 1992, but the re-recorded in 1996, and then became a top 5 hit for the band in 1997.  Another is The Proclaimers' annoying "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" that was originally released in 1988, but then re-released in 1993, reaching #3 after it appeared in the Johnny Depp/Mary Stuart Masterson vehicle Benny & Joon.  You didn't think you were gonna get a Benny & Joon reference today, did you?

So those are the rules.  With those in mind, here are my favorite one-hit wonders from each year in the 1990s, chronologically by year of release, with the peak chart position on the Billboard Hot 100 noted.

1.  1990:  "Knockin' Boots" by Candyman (#9)
Not to be confused with the horror film released two years later, rapper Candyman released his biggest hit, the silky smooth "Knockin' Boots," in 1990, and it reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Who could forget the "Ooh boy, I love you so / Never ever ever gonna let you go /  Once I get my hands on you"?  And, of course, there's the song's intro, brought to you by Tone Lōc.


2.  1991:  "I Touch Myself" by Divinyls (#4)
After a very minor hit in 1985 ("Pleasure and Pain," which topped out at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100), it was another six years before those of us in the States heard again from Australia's Divinyls, but when we did, it was with a moist splash.  In 1991, they had their biggest hit in the U.S. with the tawdry, not-so-subtle ode to touching oneself, "I Touch Myself," which was a Top 5 hit.


3.  1992:  "Connected" by Stereo MCs (#20)
I don't even know how to classify "Connected."  It's kind of funk, kind of soul, kind of techno, kind of hip hop, kind of pop.  Whatever it is, it's catchy as hell.


4.  1993:  "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies (#4)
With lead singer Brad Roberts's deep voice and lyrics about kids being ostracized for various things, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" is one of those instantly recognizable songs.  It has gotten a lot of guff over the years as being "awesomely bad" or whatever, but I have always liked the song and its message of acceptance and empathy.


5.  1994:  "Here Comes the Hotstepper" by Ini Kamoze (#1)
Jamaican dancehall artist Ini Kamoze crossed over into the mainstream in a big way with his 1994 hip hop reggae song "Here Comes the Hotstepper," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in late 1994 and was a Top 10 hit on over a dozen pop charts across the globe.  I actually owned this song on cassette single, which means I showed some restraint, as I was generally wont to just buy entire albums based on the strength of one single.  Case in point, I bought Crash Test Dummies' God Shuffled His Feet based solely on "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm."


6.  1995:  "I Wish" by Skee-Lo (#13)
As a teenager of average stature who sucked at basketball, but really liked to play it, and who otherwise had no game in a non-basketball sense, I immediately related to the opening line and mantra of Skee-Lo's "I Wish" because I did wish I was a little bit taller and I did wish that I was a baller and I did wish I had a girl who looked good so I could call her.  And I still love this song.


7.  1996:  "Return of the Mack" by Mark Morrison (#2)
British R&B singer Mark Morrison arrived at the same time he returned, and then he left.  "Return of the Mack" -- which is still beloved to this day, as evidenced by its current usage in a Google commercial -- is a catchy song about getting your groove back after your woman lied to you.  Based on experience, I can say that women take it very well when you sing "You lied to me" to them, and then when they say "no I didn't," you sing "but you did, but you diiiid."


8.  1997:  "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba (#6)
Chumbawamba had been around for more than a decade, but it was their 1997 ode to ordinary pub goers, "Tubthumping," that put them on the international musical map. This was a staple at parties for several years.  "I get knocked down / But I get up again" is as universal a message as you can get, and I'd be lying if I said I haven't pulled a "Tubthumping" at least once in my life.  That's when you drink a whiskey drink, and then a vodka drink, and then a lager, and then a cider.  This song was not only the band's only big hit in the U.S., reaching #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it was also a huge hit around the world, topping the pop charts in six countries and going Top 10 in another eight.


9.  1998:  "Lullaby" by Shawn Mullins (#7)
In the late '90s, I feel like there were no rules for music, other than you had to have a video to have a hit (which had been the case for over a decade anyway), regardless of genre or lack of genre.  Shawn Mullins's pop rock hit "Lullaby" didn't seem like a lot of other stuff out there at the time.  It was kind of a half-spoken word, half-sung, part-acoustic, part-electric song that just worked, perhaps because the chorus was "Everything's gonna be all right," which perfectly described the vibe of the '90s.


10.  1999:  "Steal My Sunshine" by Len (#9)
I fucking love this song.  Using a sample from another one-hit wonder -- Andrea True Connection's 1976 disco hit "More More More" -- Canadian siblings Marc and Sharon Costanzo and their group Len put out a fun-loving indie pop song that always puts me in a good mood.  If you ever want to see me dance, give me some whiskey, put this on, and back the fuck up.  I have dived through my future wife's legs on a wedding dance floor more than once to this song.  And by God, I'll do it again if I get the chance.