1. 4 non blondes “what’s up?”
2. red hot chilli peppers “under the bridge”
3. billy joel “we didn’t start the fire”
4. elton john “candle in the wind 97”
5. whitney houston “I will always love you”
6. van halen “right now”
7. oasis, “champagne supernova”
8. smashing pumpkins “tonight tonight”
9. celine dion “my heart will go on (theme from titanic)”
10. crash test dummies “mmm mmm mmm mmm”
11. rem, “radio song”
12. baz luhrman “everybody’s free (to wear sunscreen)”
13. deep blue something “breakfast at tiffanys”
14. spin doctors “two princes”
15. bryan adams “everything I do (I do it for you)”
16. joan osborne “one of us”
17. alanis morrisette “ironic”
18. lou bega “mambo no. 5”
19. cranberries “zombie”
20. u2 “discotheque”
21. live, “lightning crashes”
22. dave matthews band “what would you say?”
23. hootie, “let her cry”
24. mr. big “to be with you”
25. all4one “I swear”
26. snow “informer”
27. shawn mullins “lullaby”
28. billy ray cyrus “achy breaky heart”
29. los del rio “Macarena”
30. barenaked ladies “one week”
31. digable planets “rebirth of slick”
32. Madonna “you must love me”
33. the lemonheads, “mrs. robinson”
34. tortoise, “djed”
35. goldie & noel gallagher
36. googoo dolls “iris”
37. lisa loeb “stay”
38. jill sobule “I kissed a girl”
39. color me badd “I adore mi amore”
40. jeff buckley, “last goodbye”
41. pearl jam “Jeremy”
42. michael jackson “black or white”
43. meredith brooks “bitch”
44. ugly kid Joe, “everything about you”
45. jamiroquai “virtual insanity”
46. genesis “I can’t dance”
47. urge overkill “girl, you’ll be a woman soon”
48. tupac “dear mama”
49. greenday “time of your life”
50. chumbawamba “tub thumping”
51. extreme “more than words”
52. silk “freak me”
53. sublime “santeria”
54. verve pipe “freshmen”
55. scatman john “the scatman”
56. us3 “cantaloop”
57. counting crowes “round here”
58. eels “mr. e’s beautiful blues”
59. beastie boys “bodymovin (fatboy slim remix)”
60. Aerosmith “ I don’t want to miss a thing”
61. arrested development “mr wendel”
62. the heights, “how do you talk to an angel”
63. verve, “the drugs won’t work”
64. rednex “cotton eye Joe”
65. toad the wet sprocket “all I want”
66. soundgarden, “black hole sun”
67. adam ant, whatever that horrid fucking comeback single was
68. fugees “no woman, no cry”
69. marcy playground “sex and candy”
70. offspring “keep em separated”
71. master p “make em say ungh”
72. jon spencer blues explosion, “talk about the blues”
73. santana feat. rob thomas “smooth”
74. vanessa williams “save the best for last”
75. bad religion – “21st century digital boy”
76. marilyn manson “sweet dreams (are made of this)”
77. the wallflowers “one headlight”
78. radiohead “creep”
79. body count “cop killer”
80. depeche mode “I feel you”
81. the toadies “possum kingdom”
82. mc hammer “2 legit 2 quit”
83. weezer “buddy holly”
84. ll cool j “doin it”
85. no doubt “just a girl”
86. dr. dre “been there, done that”

* The Farm "Groovy Train"
* Atari Teenage Riot "Atari Teenage Riot"
* Cher "Believe"
* L.A. Style "James Brown is Dead"
* Blind Melon "No Rain"
* Bush "Glycerine"
* the Mighty Mighty Bosstones "Knock on Wood"
* Gin Blossoms "Hey Jealousy"
* Terence Trent D'arby "wishing well"
* Public Enemy "911 is a Joke"
* Duran Duran "Come Undone"

more soon

Mariah Carey
Paula Abdul
MC Hammer
Vanilla Ice
Steps
Back StreetBoys
Five
Hanson
Arrested Development
Marky Mark
Gin Blossoms
Shaquille O'Neal
Will Smith

You probably hate things that sample "Broken Wings" too.

Jess, do you hate emotion?

It sure does.
Having a good read through this list, there are some great songs there. I knew the indie guilt thing is powerful but I never realised it was so destructive. You guys have had a shocka. I could give you 10,000 singles from the 1990's worse than the ones you have listed. No doubt I "just dont get it" but this is popism gone mad.

JBR - I've never seen Pulp Fiction so have no beef with it either way. Obviously had it not been for the film fewer people would have heard Urge Overkill's laboured version. If the list had extended to the 00s then Louise's cover of "Stuck In The Middle With You" could have been included.

"A Little Time" Beautiful South
"Cats In The Cradle" Ugly Kid Joe
"A Change (Will Do You Good)" Sheryl Crow

and, of course, "Runaway Train" Soul Asylum

It was 2000, as it was my single of 2000...

Dom, fine choices all except the Sheryl which is great! Actually I don't remember the UKJ one and "Runaway Train" has some kind of merit maybe, I can't remember.

I nominate LaTour's "People are Still Having Sex"

The real answer would be that they are ALL chart trance from 1999.

Take Bryan Adams out of that and you have a decent "Side One" for a "Best of the 90s" mixtape.

kiwi, watch that bubblegum guilt!!

You forgot:

2nu, "Ponderous"
The Brian Setzer Orchestra, "Since I Don't Have You"
Cliff Richard, "The Lord's Prayer"
Dead Eye Dick, "New Age Girl"
Voices That Care, "Voices That Care"
Bob Carlisle, "Butterfly Kisses"

I think it will be crucial to allow people who actually like some of the list songs to provide positive reviews as a kind of counterpoint.

I love: #36, #50, #53, #54, #57, #74, #77, #84.

I agree that some of these choices were clearly based on familiarity rather than true awfulness - "My Heart Will Go On" sounds pretty good straight after "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" or "Tell Him".

LalalalaICAN'THEARYOUlalalala...

HAHAHAHA! So many of these songs are grebt. You are all on crack.

But Keith, most of Moby's nineties stuff is fine - the metal stuff I'm not sure about but it is surely to negligable to count.

It's all blandly inoffensive Radio Rock, mostly, but hardly anything I would run from the room to avoid. This is what happens when you get Yanks to tell you what they hate. Where are all those really shit records that came out of Europe and Britain in the 90s, eh... EH?!!

2. red hot chilli peppers “under the bridge”
Really? Number 2? It's not that bad, is it?

3. billy joel “we didn’t start the fire”
Good pick here. This song should be buried somewhere in a Nevada desert.

8. smashing pumpkins “tonight tonight”
? Surely they've put out worse?

11. rem, “radio song”
Yes, you should have put "Everybody Hurts" on there, too. Though this one sucks pretty bad as well...Did they really release it as a single?

14. spin doctors “two princes”
Another good pick. Awful.

15. bryan adams “everything I do (I do it for you)”
However, really EXCELLENT for comic relief, if you start spontaneously singing the chorus if you do someone a favor and they say "Thank you".

16. joan osborne “one of us”
Would almost certainly be in my the Top 5, for me.

17. alanis morrisette “ironic”
Overwrought, but I dislike "One Hand in My Pocket" more.

19. cranberries “zombie”
My father inexplicably LOVES this song. I mean LOVES it. He doesn't like anything else by them, just this song.

42. michael jackson “black or white”
Brings back chilling memories of McKauley Culkin...

46. genesis “I can’t dance”
Should be MUCH higher up on this list. Another Top 5'er.

57. counting crowes “round here”
Mr. Jones

65. toad the wet sprocket “all I want”
Nah. Harmless. I say substitute this with that "dance on the ocean" or "walk on the ocean" (or whatever the hell it was) song.

Good list, Tom and Jess!

Others:

As suggested previously, Dead Eye Dick's "New Age Girl" has GOT to be on this list, and way, way up. Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy". Bryan Adams' "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" might be a strong contender as well.

one that really should be there: "Both Sides Of The Story" by Phil Collins. or was he just not worth hating by that time?

did smashmouth release anything in the 90s? 'walking on the sun' should be included if eligable

and is 'keep em seperated' really worse than 'pretty fly for a white guy'?

This is from a BJ discography: Storm Front and the first single, We Didn't Start The Fire, reached the #1 spots simultaneously on the Billboard album and singles charts on December 16, 1989. My Billboard book says it stayed #1 for a total of two weeks. So while it was still a hit during the first flush weeks of the '90's, it peaked before 1990. Hence, I would say: NOT a '90's record.

Oh god, yes, the Juliana Hatfield one.

"Champagne Supernova" wasn't a single, but I guess it might as well have been. But given my horrid housemates obsession with it I'll let that pass.

Tracks that I'm not sure came out in the 90s:

3. billy joel “we didn’t start the fire”
31. digable planets “rebirth of slick”
39. color me badd “I adore mi amore”
74. vanessa williams “save the best for last”
82. mc hammer “2 legit 2 quit”

3. billy joel “we didn’t start the fire” - 1989
31. digable planets “rebirth of slick” - 1993
39. color me badd “I adore mi amore” - 1991
74. vanessa williams “save the best for last” - 1992
82. mc hammer “2 legit 2 quit” - 1991

Is 14.

Graham - by Dodgy's standards, Staying Out For The Summer isn't that bad...

Under The Bridge, though...

Ned: "Tonight, Tonight" is possibly the most god-awful single of the quarter century -- a shallow ploy to try and replicate the commercial success of "Disarm," except in place of that single's boringly ominous vibe they brought in the flattest, most rudimentary string section possible and everyone just pumped and pumped and strained to find some emotion in a very, very dull song. Corgan's labored bleating over the top does not help -- he sounds like Gilbert Gottfried in labor.

Ones I like / don't mind so much: "Radio Song" (please replace with "Everybody Hurts," which even as an REM-friendly type I cringed at), "Two Princes" (it seems wrong for Spin Doctors to be the whipping-boys of the 90s when they generally just seemed like a casual bar-band that lucked into a chart single: I don't even think they thought they were cool), "Rebirth of Slick," "Djed" (this is a list of pop singles; shoehorning the 20-minute album track "Djed" in there seems like a really lame way to pick on post-rock, plus ruins the logic of the thing, because if album tracks count I guarantee you there are things on let's say Lou Bega's record that are a million times worse than "Mambo #5") ... (replace "Everything About You," which was at least sort of amusing, with UKJ's "Cat's in the Cradle" cover). "More than Words" I absolutely hate but I feel like there's something remarkable about having written the anthem to every American high-school asshole pressuring his girlfriend to put out, and I think I might like to write about that. (Funnily enough I am already writing something for something else about Silk's "Freak Me," the only song in history that makes me physically ill when I hear it.) "Cantaloop" ain't so offensive (though "Mr. Wendel" is, it seems like something Mr. Lif would have written when he was younger and even hokier). "Sex and Candy" I didn't mind, and file with Spin Doctors -- such a brief flash of an inoffensive throwaway single that it seems rude to hate it. Thank you for remembering the shit that was the Toadies; and yeah, I too unsurprisingly like "Buddy Holly."

Things I seem to recall really sucking: that Cake "how do you afford your rock and roll lifestyle" song, the Fleetwood Mac comeback release (if that can count), Sublime's "What I Got" or the even more dire one that came after it, something or other about Superman by some horrible Canadian alt-rock band or other (Our Lady Peace?), John Secada, "These are Days" by 10,000 Maniacs, BLACK CROWES ...

Also please note that maybe contrary to your intentions this looks like a list that was written by people who listen to mostly alt-rock and just don't like the examples of it that chart.

Let's just say I violently disagree and leave it at that. :-)

That said I stand by my choices, which I do think are all very bad records and really got under my skin and annoyed me (in a way that even awful pop usually doesn't - something about the typical forcefulness of the rock delivery maybe?).

"Black Hole Sun" if it's in there because of me is in there because the video is so bad.

ethan got on my dick last night that the list was too obvious and middlebrow, but fuck it, that's what WAS so horrible about the 90s: the creeping evil of banality and all that...(also, ethan has lost any ability at aesthetic reflection in the last 12 months.) part of the point of making lists like this, however, is a. wallowing in yr own "misery" and b. attempting to rile people (as ethan and 50% of the posters to this thread have proved out.) it was also a lot f fun. what's the point of doing anything then, especially posting a reply to a thread about it?

(or, what tom said as i was posting.)

I will not bother listing the indie entries which I consider lacklustre and plodding but not actually BAD because I know nobody involved will ever agree, but I must disagree with the first two lines of Dan's suggestions, too. I wouldn't be that offended if Smart Es got in, but really, is there any complaint that could be levelled at it that wouldn't be much more fairly aimed at, I don't know, Poing?

(I'd even stick up for the original Poing if I had to, but whoever decided it needed a 1999 trancebag makeover needs a slap.)

Certainly "Both Sides of the Story" as well as "Another Day in Paradise" are both vomit-inducing. Was "The Living Years" by Mike and the Mechanics in the 1990s? Something's telling me it was in the 80s, as well as "Wild Wild West" by The Escape Club. If not, they are all viable candidates for inclusion.

How about "Deeper Shade of Soul" by Urban Dance Squad? I have kind of a love/hate thing with that one...or "Life Is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane? Eh, I guess it isn't Top 100 bad.

DB, please tell me you not serious!! The video rules!!!!

Dan,You Are Blessed!!!

1) No Creed? (right now I wouldn't waste the brain cells trying to come up with a song title)
2) Why "Radio Song" when that song REM did for the Man on the Moon soundtrack is infinitely worse?
3) No Shania Twain?

I know this is mostly pop-focused, but can we please please please please make an exception and add Tim McGraw's "Indian Outlaw" to the list?

Unless you WANTED 400 entries about why "Candle in the Wind '97" sucks.

You need some Bush song on there. They shouldn't escape this list after two awful 90's albums.

additionally, i think i arrived after the list was pretty much already finished, so all i did was agree with the ones that i thought were bad and went silent when 'buddy holly' came up.

danzig and the oh-so excruciating tripping daisy are missing though, just like jan arden and natalie merchant.

Anyway, yes, you are missing Bush, that was the first one I thought of too. Glycerine.

I'm an Indian outlaw
Half Cherokee and Choctaw
My baby --
She's a Chippewaw, waw, waw, waw.

However, the single that was the singlehandedley most fucked up in music in the 90's would have to be:

I thought she took the train to Mars, she's out back counting STARS.

By whover the fuck it was. I remembered watching Howard Stern on TV once and that "Stars" band was playing in the studio with Howard Stern. It was shitty.

wildcat: when i was doing the washing up today, i actually remembered hum. creepy.

Josh Kortbein to thread!

Sorry about the outburst. I was drunk.
But seriously, 'Bodyrock' was released in 1999 (according to our friend AMG), and therefore MUST be in the top ten.

You're right - that should replace the much-less-offensive Fatboy Slim mix of "Body Movin".

i will defend whitney obv and "black or white" and i think "2 legit 2 quit"

People have sadly forgotten Train's "Meet Virginia," though it was released just at the cusp of the '90's, entering the US top 40 on 11/20/02, peaking I don't know when.

Sinker's suggestion is U&K, obv. I will defend anything from Bush's first album.

*blink* I'm not so much surprised at a defense as I am the fact you'd be the one defending it!

DOOP!

It's a good list. Only three I actually like (Beasties/Fatboy, Arrested Development (with big reservations about the lyrics!) and Dre), and absolutely loads of unspeakably bad records. Lots of good suggestions since too, except from the odd anti-pop mentalists (Spice Girls, Take That, Will Smith!) who are generally most annoyed by really good pop music, strangely.

Uh, HELLO? Paula Cole, people! Where has "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" gone? Or Dawson's Creek theme song "I Don't Want To Wait."

Ha! Okay, you called it. :-)

(I also own an Alisha's Attic single)

It was Slash, actually.

Well the original was such a fun song with all those crazy steel drums and such, and since Cook was fresh off "The Rockafella Skank" you'd think a remix would be ace - but it just sounds kind of sloppy and rehashes that "Sound of Milwaukee" wah-wah-whirr noise. The video, however, is one of the greatest things in history.

"You could sustain/but are you comfortable with the pain?" Ewwwww.

Yes!!DB owns this thread now..rightupinyourfaceanddisyou...

Never before has a person been so correct. How I forgot to mention this the first time is astounding.

"Wannabe" should most definitely be on this list, seeing as it's one of the most painful songs ever written.

why is it painful dan?

I *liked* Wannabe at the time (along with Gangsta's Paradise it was one of my first popist conversions). Now I listen to it again it is truly, truly horrible. Just annoying. But still, I think there were followup songs that were infinitely worse ('Mama' owns this thread, although redeemed slightly for being the split A-side to the fantastic Who Do You Think You Are.)

And that's the problem - people are always willing to shoot down the high-profile singles, but usually the follow-ups are even worse. Everyone slates 2Unlimited's No Limit, but no-one mentions Faces. I bet virtually every artist on the above list has released worse singles to the ones up there.

And where the fuck are Simply Red, anyway? Bloody Americans wouldn't know shit music if it stared them in the face.

It is the sonic equivalent of Baz Luhrman's "Moulin Rouge"; a level of combined garishness and volume that leaves one saying: a) WTF?, b) who didn't take their Ritalin today?, and c) how can I avoid having to hear this as much as possible?

surely Blessid Union Of Souls' "I Believe" is THE WORST THING EVAH?

Yes, but that would miss the point of the list, which is that these songs are still popular and bring happiness to many. If less people are wrong, then Tom and Jess are less right. Do you see??

Tragically, Nine Days' "Absolutely" is from 2000.

I've just remembered that the Oasis song I wanted in but couldnt remember the title of is "All Around The World", thankyou Denise.

And my point remains: The songs are on this list because they're popular, as well as you don't like them. A lot of these are The Big Hit for the band, and unnaturally extended their lifespan, causing them to release songs which aren't as good (or else those songs would be the big hit, which contradicts the premise of the supposition, thus proving it by science!).

Speaking of which, I understand that hopes are still high for science to discover a new power source based around the fact that the CD listing for All Around The World only says six minutes, but the track lasts for two to three days.

However, mark's idea of pro and con pieces on, say, a selection of these, might be worth reading...

Andrew your argument still seems circular: the actual process goes - they are popular = we get to hear them = we get to choose whether we like them or not. Or - having hated "What's Up" by 4 non blondes none of the people concerned are likely to have rushed out to buy the album in order to check if there was anything worse on it.

Also, I agree with Tom's modification of Oasis's songs. Can we also replace "Zombie" ----> "Salvation"??? (eg. bad ---> unbelievably awful)

I don't know if Tom has to be understood to be disowning his original top 100: people change, no-one who writes is the same person second time around, and all that. But I think it's fair for him to say he doesn't want to be identified by that piece, if it is no longer representative of his views, which linking from FT / NYPLM would suggest.

Wait, wait...this might be tricky since the top 100 (at least the last 14) hasn't been nailed down yet.

Blimey! tvcream has been updated some time in the last 2 years!

http://tv.cream.org/arktrib.htm

The Clock Tower v The Terrapin Hut is wonderful -- doubtless you'll all find it v twee and indulgent nostalgia, nevertheless i found that particular TnT quite affecting.

also:
that Friends theme song
was AM Radio by Everclear from 99 or 2000?
something from Midnite Vultures
Anthem for the Year 2000, Silverchair
Fly Away, Lenny Kravitz
She Talks to Angels/Jealous Again/Hard to Handle, the Black Crowes

That said some sort of love it/hate it article or blog format is a good idea, and some of these records could well show up there.

(I don't think Maura was hatin' - just pointing out that 190 new answers is proof that list-making 'works'. I can't remember any Article Response thread getting this much.)

A list is meant to encourage debate otherwise what's the point and this one has certainly done that.

whoever suggested "my sister" ought to be ashamed, tho.

Dear Someone With Lots Of Time On Their Hands,

Please poll this motherfucker. Preferably so we get to vote for the worst.

Lots of love,

"A Change (Will Do You Good)" Sheryl Crow

passantino ^^DOLLAR^^^STORE^^^

62. the heights, ?how do you talk to an angel?

I have never heard this but the title is hilarious. Please tell me this is some sort of post-Soul Asylum/proto-Nickelback doing their Big Sensitive Ballad.

7. oasis, ?champagne supernova?

Not a single.

it was in the States and/or Europe i think (had a video)

oh my god this list makes me want to fucking kill

34. tortoise, ?djed?

lol i know jess suggested this in reactionary second-guessing/self-hating mode & i also know its one of his favorite singles of the 90s

haha the only song on that list i had an immediate NO WAY reaction to was "the scatman"

its funny seeing all the stuff that was lazy critic punching bags back in 2002

these are all okay/good/great:

26. snow ?informer?
31. digable planets ?rebirth of slick?
33. the lemonheads, ?mrs. robinson?
37. lisa loeb ?stay?
42. michael jackson ?black or white?
43. meredith brooks ?bitch?
45. jamiroquai ?virtual insanity?
47. urge overkill ?girl, you?ll be a woman soon?
50. chumbawamba ?tub thumping?
52. silk ?freak me?
55. scatman john ?the scatman?
56. us3 ?cantaloop?
58. eels ?mr. e?s beautiful blues?
59. beastie boys ?bodymovin (fatboy slim remix)?
66. soundgarden, ?black hole sun?
74. vanessa williams ?save the best for last?
78. radiohead ?creep?
83. weezer ?buddy holly?
84. ll cool j ?doin it?
85. no doubt ?just a girl?

is there any excuse for hating dear mama or make em say ungh

WHERE IS STEREOPHONICS 'A THOUSAND TREES'?

I predict the Lex likes at least 15 of these songs.

I think that was one of mine!

The choice that makes me saddest now is #55. He brought pleasure to so many and who were we to deny it?

dear mama = too cloying/trite? u wouldn't tolerate it from anyone other than a gangsta rapper? (this might be a good thing i dunno!)

bweee ba ba bada bo

'scatman' has great pathos

RIP scatman

I'd like to think there's a direct correlation between their placing on this list and the Rednex putting themselves up for sale on Ebay.

Also Scatman John = voice of Blurr in Transformers the Movie. Virtually everyone in that film is dead now.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/75/Scatmancd01.jpg/200px-Scatmancd01.jpghttp://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:yxeC2uLZoUsJXM:http://www.comixconnection.com/uploaded_images/hal.jpg

This is about 25% stuff I still haven't heard, 25% stuff I like now and 50% stuff I still hate. I was complaining about "I Feel You" by Depeche Mode just the other day. "Yes dear" said the wife as she changed my bedpan.

In 1999, he released his third and final album as Scatman John, Take Your Time. It was later revealed that he had been battling ill health since late 1998. He continued work on the album despite being told to take it easy from his substantial workload. He was later diagnosed with lung cancer and soon went into intensive treatment. He maintained a positive attitude throughout, declaring that "whatever God wants is fine by me... I've had the very best life. I have tasted beauty." He died in his Los Angeles home on December 3, 1999.

In a 1996 interview, he commented that "I hope that the kids, while they sing along to my songs or dance to it, feel that life is not that bad at all. Even for just a minute."

that's a popular myth re Scatman John and Blurr, Matt, but it's not actually true.

56. us3 ?cantaloop?

^^ i regularly listen to this

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8a/Scatultraman.jpg

i never understand why people hate(d) 'Informer'.

i don't understand ironic love for it either (beyond Snow's nerdy appearance)

You know what the fines b-side ever is?

"Crazy with love" by Guy Mitchell.

That's it. Over.

a poll of these would be interesting -- i would have a really tough time deciding which of these i hated most

Tom what percentage of these have you played a bosh version of at Poptimism? I can think of at least three off the top of my head.

steve trying to save lisa loeb is MADNESS

What's with "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" being on the list? Oh, now I see -- IT'S AN IRONIC COVER AND IT WAS IN PULP FICTION. Oh the horror.

-- Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, November 2, 2002 10:10 AM

Was it ironic? That's sort of a shame. I always saw it as quite a faithful cover, and I love their version.

UP AGAINST THE WALL, LISA LOEB

she was hott

i could've listed more i loved at the time but have to let them go like teh suck they are i guess

being an impressionable teen in the 90s - worse than being an impressionable teen in the 80s? YES

5. whitney houston ?I will always love you?

you know, I heard this the other day and didn't know why I hated it so much at the time. Okay, so she does the trademark wibbly at the end of the line thing, but other than that its a pretty respectable version. I remember thinking Dolly Parton's version pissed all over it from a great height, but listening again, Dolly's version just sounds a little...hammy...whereas Whitney actually sounds like she means it.

being an impressionable teen in the 90s - worse than being an impressionable teen in the 80s? YES

- blueski, Friday, May 25, 2007 1:45 PM (14 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

ohhh...the 90s get FAR too much grief round here. the 80s on the other hand - be grateful you never had an A Flock Of Seagulls haircut or any of those trousers with the flecky bits in that seemed to make a horrible comeback for a bit last year.

shouldn't Shania Twain be on that list at least twice? Or was she this decade?

plus there's all the 80s hits we've conveniently forgotten about - the Elaine Pages and Marillions and so forth

xp

at least the FOS hairstyle wasn't boring. pretentious > boring. and i wore some equally bad trousers.

the Elaine Pages and Marillions and so forth

both have at least 2 good songs lol

Flock of Seagulls >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Shawn Mullins

at least the FOS hairstyle wasn't boring. pretentious > boring. and i wore some equally bad trousers.

-- blueski, Friday, May 25, 2007 1:49 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

I still HAVE all my 90s trousers.

Joe Bloggs?

you know, I heard this the other day and didn't know why I hated it so much at the time. Okay, so she does the trademark wibbly at the end of the line thing, but other than that its a pretty respectable version. I remember thinking Dolly Parton's version pissed all over it from a great height, but listening again, Dolly's version just sounds a little...hammy...whereas Whitney actually sounds like she means it.

Whitney is flat every time she belts the long note in the chorus.

That's kind of immaterial to whether or not she means it though, isn't it?

Yeah Whitney was knee-jerk dumbness on my part (if it was on my part) - it's not right but it's OK.

depends if she means it to be flat

Hasn't been mentioned yet, but...

"Oh What A Night" is the worst single of the 1990s.

With "Rockabye" by Shawn Mullins as a close contender for second, "Pepper" a distant third", and everything else is OK.

Joe Bloggs?

-- braveclub, Friday, May 25, 2007 1:54 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

I think Joe Bloggs was a late 80s horror. It just lingered into the 90s.

Hasn't been mentioned yet, but...

"Oh What A Night" is the worst single of the 1990s.

late december, back in '63?

So if something is now considered "ironically bad/good/kitsch" it's not going to be on here?

being an impressionable teen in the 90s - worse than being an impressionable teen in the 80s? YES

- blueski, Friday, May 25, 2007 1:45 PM (14 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

YES! Being a young impressionable teen in the 90s resulted in the following:

- I LOVED "Everything About You" by Ugly Kid Joe and thought the lead singer was hot.
- I bought a Wilson Phillips CD
- I had a poster of Nelson at one point
- I was a member of *cringe* the Soul Asylum Fan Club. They sent me Christmas cards.

Luckily I kind of figured things out around 16/17 but still . . .

what a pointless poll.

but, more importantly, it's not a very good selection. too many of these tracks are, by any measure, too good to be seriously considered.

polls with more than a dozen options don't really work i think

also polls that arent polls

YES! Being a young impressionable teen in the 90s resulted in the following:

- I LOVED "Everything About You" by Ugly Kid Joe and thought the lead singer was hot.
- I bought a Wilson Phillips CD
- I had a poster of Nelson at one point
- I was a member of *cringe* the Soul Asylum Fan Club. They sent me Christmas cards.

Luckily I kind of figured things out around 16/17 but still . . .

-- ENBB, Friday, May 25, 2007 2:07 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

noooo...

- I bought a Big Fun record
- I actually found one of them attractive
- I don't know who Nelson is, but I had a pic of Nic Kershaw

Still reckon the 90s were worse??

yeah, if there was a worst ten singles poll, then you might see some agreement. as it is, i can't even vote because i'm annoyed at the gratuituous inclusion of about thirty or forty pretty ace tunes.

I was wondering who was going to go to bat for "Mambo No. 5"...

I was wondering who was going to go to bat for "Mambo No. 5"...

surely not the 90's?

"Mambo No. 5" is a famous mambo dance song originally recorded and composed by Pérez Prado in 1952. Interpolations from various portions of this song were formed into a new song "Mambo Number Five", which was released by Lou Bega in 1999 on his debut album A Little Bit of Mambo. It was a smash hit in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, where it reached #1 in 1999. It also topped almost every chart in Continental Europe, and set a record by staying at number one in France for 20 weeks (longer than any stay at the top spot ever on the US or UK charts).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mambo_No._5

no problem with Mambo No. 5 altho i hate the Bob The Builder version cos of annoying Neil Morrissey

it's almost as if i am not quite their target market

i didn't think "time of your life" and the santana/rob thomas song were 90s either

I do have to say that I'm overjoyed that Silk is on this list. I've been making fun of that song since the day it came out.

we're forgetting something:

http://static.flickr.com/16/91084188_5603be178f.jpg

80s.

where is Tracer to rep for Vanilla's 'No Way No Way'

(Specifically 89, because we played that at German camp the second summer I went.)

santana/rob thomas was definitely dot-com 90s summer of love, along with "All Star" and "What It's Like". I was sitting in the basement of a venture capitalist's new renovated townhome, writing FAQs for his website.

"Wind of Change" is a 1990 power ballad written by Klaus Meine, vocalist of Scorpions. The lyrics celebrate the political changes in Eastern Europe at that time - such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the increasing freedom in the communist bloc (which would soon lead to the fall of the USSR), and the clearly imminent end of the Cold War.

jesus christ "All Star"

Seriously what happened in the '90s you guys?

'Smooth' makes me think of that bar in Ally Mcbeal. FUCK DAT.

guys did you know that that other not-"Smooth" Santana song was a #1 for TEN WEEKS? How did we let this happen????

'time of your life' soundtracked the clip montage on the final episode of seinfeld in 1998

is gnarls barkley the 'smooth' of the 00s?

"Hey Ya" is

'time of your life' soundtracked the clip montage on the final episode of seinfeld in 1998

richards was probably thinking 'nothing i do can be worse than that!'

Wet Wet Wet "Love Is All Around" should be in this poll surely?

1. 4 non geirs ?what?s up??
2. red hongro chilli peppers ?under the geir?
3. billy joel ?we didn?t start the hongro?
4. elton john ?hongroe in the wind 97?
5. whitney hongro ?I will always love geir?
6. van halen ?right geir?
7. oasis, ?champagne superhongro?
8. smashing pumpkgeirs ?tonight tonight?
9. celine dion ?my heart will geir on (theme from titanic)?
10. crash test dummies ?geir geir geir geir?
11. rem, ?radio song?
12. baz luhrman ?everybody?s hongro (to wear sunscreen)?
13. deep blue something ?breakfast at hongros?
14. spin hongros ?two geirs?
15. bryan adams ?everything I do (I do it for geir)?
16. joan osbgeir ?one of us?
17. alanis geirisette ?ironic?
18. lou bega ?mambo no. 5?
19. cranberries ?hongro?
20. u2 ?discotheque?
21. live, ?hongro crashes?
22. geir hongro band ?what would you say??
23. hootie, ?let geir cry?
24. mr. big ?to be with hongro?
25. all4geir ?I swear?
26. hongro ?informer?
27. shawn mullins ?lullaby?
28. geiry ray cyrus ?achy breaky hongro?
29. los del hongro ?Macarena?
30. barenaked geirs ?one week?
31. digable planets ?rebirth of geir?
32. Madonna ?you must love geir?
33. the lemonhongros, ?mrs. robinson?
34. tortoise, ?hongroed?
35. goldie & noel gallagher
36. geirgeir dolls ?iris?
37. lisa loeb ?stay? (i missed hongro)
38. jill sobule ?I kissed a geir?
39. color me geir ?I adore mi amore?
40. jeff buckley, ?last geirbye?
41. pearl geir ?Jeremy?
42. michael jackson ?black or geir?
43. meredith brooks ?geir?
44. ugly kid Joe, ?everything about geir?
45. jamiroquai ?virtual hongro?
46. genesis ?geir can?t dance?
47. urge overkill ?geir, you?ll be a woman soon?
48. tupac ?dear hongro?
49. greenday ?geir of your life?
50. chumbawamba ?geir thumping?
51. extreme ?more than geirs?
52. silk ?freak geir?
53. sublime ?santeria?
54. verve geir ?freshmen?
55. scatman geir ?the scatman?
56. us3 ?cantaloop?
57. counting crowes ?round geir?
58. eels ?mr. geirs beautiful blues?
59. beastie boys ?geirmovin (hongroboy slim remix)?
60. Aerosmith ? I don?t want to miss a geir?
61. arrested development ?mr hongro?
62. the heights, ?how do you talk to an hongro?
63. verve, ?the girs won?t work?
64. rednex ?cotton eye geir?
65. geir the wet sprocket ?all I want?
66. soundgeirden, ?black hole sun?
67. geir hongro, whatever that horrid fucking comeback single was
68. fugees ?no geir, no cry?
69. marcy playground ?sex and hongro?
70. offsgeir ?keep em separated?
71. master geir ?make em say ungh?
72. geir hongro blues explosion, ?talk about the blues?
73. santana feat. rob thomas ?smooth?
74. vanessa williams ?save the geir for last?
75. bad religion ? ?21st century digital geir?
76. marilyn manson ?sweet dreams (are made of geir)?
77. the geirflowers ?one headlight?
78. radiohongro ?creep?
79. geir count ?cop killer?
80. depeche mode ?I feel hongro
81. the toadies ?hongro kingdom?
82. mc hongro ?2 legit 2 quit?
83. weezer ?buddy hongro?
84. ll cool geir ?doin it?
85. no doubt ?just a geir?
86. dr. dre ?been geir, done that?

-- acrobat, Friday, May 25, 2007 2:40 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

geir hongro blues explosion

haha

I like that not even Geir can penetrate the unstoppable force of Santana feat. Rob Thomas

Right Said Fred - Those Simple Things/Daydream

38. jill sobule ?I kissed a geir?

ah yes, the high level of discourse circa 2002, kudos!

62. the heights, ?how do you talk to an hongro?

hongro no 5

a+

I've heard "How Do You Talk To An Angel?" two times in the past two weeks, after not having heard it since the promo for The Heights was shown in movie theaters in '94. I heard it either at Subway or a supermarket -- must be part of a new Muzak playlist.

lol oh man this list

5 years ago

wtf

Elephant in the room on this thread:

http://www.carterusm.co.uk/photos/lianne_clickintogear.jpg

Yeah right like they were ever going to get into this list.

who the fuck is that

curtis otm

(even though i know)

"Lenny And Terence" wd fit right in Matt.

Carter singles poll for tuesday

i am kinda happy to see that most of these songs really are TERRIBLE

(tom and i also discovered that night that rock was the worst music ever, complete with hilarious scenario of uh ? the mysterians or whoever coming to our near and horrible future and looking at what they had wrought.)

lol

i agree that informer does not belong on that list.

and not just because snow beat up one of my friends in high school. in fact, DESPITE it.

replace Informer with Boombastic

i'll always have a soft spot for informer cuz it reminds me of when i left hebrew school and decided to go to a really multi-culti junior high where i met like the first non-jewish friends in my life and discovered rap music, running shoes and reese's pieces

very good list, but these are misses, the first especially

14. spin doctors ?two princes?
31. digable planets ?rebirth of slick?
59. beastie boys ?bodymovin (fatboy slim remix)?
68. fugees ?no woman, no cry?
78. radiohead ?creep?

also rong
* Cher "Believe"
* Public Enemy "911 is a Joke"

Informer very much belongs on this list

that's a hell of a monday morning

xpost?

Boombastic > Informer though.

Has Jesus Jones' "Right Here, Right Now" not been mentioned?

It came to mind when Songs About The Fall of the Iron Curtain came up with the Scorps, but I don't mind it. I think of "Right Here, Right Now" and "Unbelievable" as two songs that I never heard apart from each other.

There's nothing wrong with "Buddy Holly" or "Black Hole Sun." Unless you hate life, of course.

in fact, that list is a piece of crap straight up.

unless you're just too cool to listen to the radio, maybe

Seriously, considering ILM at the time was a bunch of dudes praising the Manics and fucking Magnetic Fields

this thread is appalling. you are all a bunch of idiots.

Indie rock guilt is so stupid. Why be guilty of music you used to like?

Tom and Jess coming up with that list:

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/images/homepage/2303_jewel_header.jpg

I like some of the songs on this list (“More Than Words” is just a great tune!) but it's still quite funny. Lots of hate for college rock gone pop stuff.

You also missed out Fun Lovin' Criminals' "Scooby Snacks" or whatever it was called.

-- N. (nickdastoor), Saturday, 2 November 2002 16:23

Hahaha... I expected this on there as well.

"or whatever it was called." = "Errr... not that I would know, of course."

paul jewell porn arghhhhhhhhhhh

What about the Wedding Present as they neared the end of their "hit parade" experiment (and running out of inspiration/money)? They could pretty much release anything at that stage and it would be a Top 40 hit, with something like "Shaft", or the theme from "Twin Peaks" on the B Side.

Wait Dom you don't like the Magnetic Fields? I thought you were all about lame indie shit like that?

Why be guilty of music you used to like?

even if it was Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots?

I'm not embarrassed to have liked Pearl Jam. Infact i still like those records. Always hated Stone Temple Pilots(apart from that 1 song that sounded like Redd Kross). ST always seem more liked on ILM than PJ for some reason.

Or are you admitting you like Pearl Jam and STP and feel guilty?

the latter

i think i just picked completely the wrong year to get into US rock but it coiuldn't really be helped

Wait Dom you don't like the Magnetic Fields? I thought you were all about lame indie shit like that?

-- Matt DC, Sunday, 30 March 2008 12:35 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

I like pussy indie shit, not lame indie shit.

Ahh blueski I think you're a (good?)few years younger than I am so im sure you can be excused for liking that stuff in your early teens. I liked U2 at that age. And i've no guilt, even though I've hated their last few albums with a passion.

Was the sweetest thing a 90s single? if so that's one of the worst(of any decade)

it was an 80s b-side and a 90s a-side. go figure.

unless you're talking about Refugee Camp Allstars 'The Sweetest Thing' which was pretty good (it's OK i know you're not)

Worst use of breathy singing.