Sunday, October 20, 2013

5 Songs that were popular in the 90's that you never hear played on the radio anymore

5 Songs that were popular in the 90’s that you never hear played on the radio anymore.

By: Brian Cotnoir

5.) Mambo No. 5 (A little bit of...)- Lou Bega

     Artist Lou Bega took a 50 year old song in 1999 and turned it into a hit with “Mambo No. 5 (A little bit of...)”.  With a great hook, and beautiful dancing girls in his video, “Mambo No. 5” propelled Lou Bega’s debut album A Little Bit of Mambo (1999) into Platinum sales status.  Unfortunately, for Lou Bega, the success that followed “Mambo No. 5” was nowhere near as close in terms of success and popularity.  What else is there to say about this song, other than: thank goodness for Ex-Girlfriends.


4.) Whoomp! (There it is)- Tag Team

     Miami Hip-Hop Group Tag Team found success in 1993 with their song “Whoomp! (There it is!).  This song reached #2 on the Hot 100 Charts and was very popular at Sports Arenas (especially Basketball).  Tag Team actually re-worked the song and released “Hoop!  There it is!” in honor of the Houston Rockets NBA championship in 1994.  This song is considered both one of the greatest “one-hit wonder” songs and also “one of the worst songs of all-time”.  Whether you like this song or not, you have to admit that this was a popular song in the 1990’s.


3.) Blue (Da Ba Dee)- Eiffel 65

     Remember the first time you saw the music video to this song back in 1999?  Wasn’t it one of the coolest things of the decade?  By today’s standards the CGI in this music video is very primitive and crude, but it was one of the things that helped Italian Techno Group Eiffel 65 and their debut album Europop (1999) into superstar status.  However, just like Lou Bega and Tag Team, Eiffel 65 failed to reach the same success with a follow up.  “Blue (Da Ba Dee) may have been the #1 song in over a dozen countries, and received two Grammy Award Nominations, but I’m afraid they are doomed to One-Hit Wonder Status (at least in America).



2.) Gangsta’s Paradise- Coolio

     This song appeared in the 1995 “Dangerous Minds” and propelled Rap Artist Coolio into superstar status in the 1990’s. This song earned Coolio the 1995 Grammy for “Best Rap Solo Performance”.  Later in the decade a feud would ignite between Coolio and Parody-Cover Musician, Weird Al Yankovic, over Weird Al’s parody of “Gangsta’s Paradise” entitled “Amish Paradise”. 

 

1.) Macarena- Los Del Rio

     Holy Shnikes!  This song was INESCAPABLE in the 1990’s. If there was one song the absolutely dominated the radio airwaves and if you went searching through the radio dial, chances are this song was going to be played on at least one of those radio stations.  The song was released Los Del Rio, a band that had been performing and touring since 1962.  It was #1 in the U.S. and many other countries.  From the time it was released it was one of the most successful songs—not just of the year—but of the entire decade.  Who cares if you didn’t understand or know any of the lyrics to the song, because white people were doing that stupid dance at every wedding, family reunion, and birthday party.  This song is what many people to be the “Greatest One Hit Wonder of All-Time”...and yet when’s the last time you heard it played on the radio?  Isn’t it strange?



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