Competition, Nostalgia Week Day 4: Top 30 Hits - The Best Radio Jams of the 90s

You remember it, don’t you? Back before the days of Sky Digital, NTL, Chorus, and all of them, there was just one place to find music on television, RTE’s Top Thirty Hits. It counted down both the singles and the albums charts, as well as the dance chart. Oh the dance chart…

However, for this part of nostalgia week, I’m not looking back at Scooter or Darude, but instead the 30 best radio jams of the nineteen-nineties. Beware, there is some woeful songs coming up. But they do bring back great memories. You’re going to have to hit “Play” on them all though.

[Sorry I couldn't get all the videos, but at least a live version is better than watching a ball with the album cover on it for three minutes. And like every good top 30 list, there's 32 entries.]

31. Tamsin Archer - ‘Sleeping Satellite’
What the hell is a sleeping satellite? And why would you write a song about it? Who cares, this song was the 90s. In college, a good friend of mine got a 90s compilation, and we must have played this song about a 100 times over the space of two months. Still fantastic.

30. Montell Jordan - ‘This Is How We Do It’
Montell Jordan’s 1995 single ‘This Is How We Do It’ is the song Peter Andre wished he made with ‘Mysterious Girl’. It’s catchy, has a brilliant dance, as well as instructions about putting your hands in the air and waving them side to side. What more could you ask for from a 90s radio jam?

29. OMC - ‘How Bizarre’
Many of the songs on this list didn’t reach number 1 in Ireland or the UK. New Zealand band OMC’s only hit song, ‘How Bizarre’ was one of those that made it all the way to the top. Equal parts catchy and equal parts annoying it totally sums up the 90s. Sadly singer Pauly Fuemana died earlier this year, so there won’t be an OMC comeback. But we always have this to remember him!

28. The Shamen - ‘Ebeneezer Goode’
At the time I hadn’t a clue this song was about drugs - it never really was my scene anyway - and never would have got the reference “Has anyone got any Veras?” Actually, I still don’t. What the hell is a Vera anyway? Perhaps the best opening line to a song ever: “A great philosopher once wrote: naughty, naughty, very naughty”.

27. Blackstreet - ‘No Diggity’
I was never cool enough for proper rap, hip-hop, or R&B in school. But I did have a love of Blackstreet’s ‘No Diggity’. When the cool kids mentioned Doctor Dre, I knew who he was. Long before Eminem. But it wasn’t down to his production or his own work, instead it was his guest appearance on ‘No Diggity’. Paddy Casey even covered it on the second edition of Even Better Than the Real Thing, how un-hip-hop is that?

26. White Town - ‘Your Woman’
When this song came out, I heard something about the artist breaking in to the radio station to get the song played on air. Sadly that wasn’t true, and is actually the plot of a Steve Buscemi-Adam Sandler flick. Still, that doesn’t stop this from being a great song. Released in 1997, it was a massive one-hit-wonder, and I don’t think I realised until 2007 that it was actually about lesbianism.

25. Lisa Loeb - ‘Stay (I Missed You)’
Before all that Dawson’s Creek ‘Kiss Me’ stuff, Lisa Loeb had the best soft, slow, sweet, lovesong. Used in the end credits of Ben Stiller movie Reality Bites, ‘Stay’ went on to be a massive hit worldwide. Loeb is still a singer, but she never came close to the gorgeousness of ‘Stay’ ever again.

24. Boyz II Men - ‘End of the Road’
What a way to start off the decade. They really don’t make love songs or breakup songs like this any more. Even if it was a little before your time, you’ll still know every word, and worse, you’ll know exactly how it feels.

23. Duran Duran - ‘Ordinary World’
The lead single from the Wedding Album, ‘Ordinary World’ was Duran Duran’s comeback single, and what a single it was. I bet you even remember the dance cover from 1999, Aurora featuring Naimee Coleman. It was no Dance to Tiperrary, I’ll tell you that much.

22. Third Eye Blind - ‘Semi-Charmed Life’
Anyone that listens to Third Eye Blind (or 3EB or something) will tell you that the band has got a whole lot of great songs (‘Slide’ for example), but this is the one that got all the love on this side of the Atlantic. No wonder: any song that has a “do do doo” chorus has already got me hooked.

21. Deep Blue Something - ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’
If this list tells you anything, it’s that 1995 was the best year for pop music ever. Another one-hit-wonder, ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ is another irresistibly catchy song, and had a brilliant video. Check it out, way better than U2′s ‘Sweetest Thing’.

20. Genesis - ‘I Can’t Dance’
My least favourite Genesis song. But that doesn’t stop it being the one everyone loves, particularly the video. This was the peak of Phil Collins’ Genesis for their record company, this was their biggest hit. So far removed from Peter Gabriel’s early stuff, it was just a simple pop song. What more could you ask for? (Well, apart from ‘No Son of Mine’ and ‘Jesus He Knows Me’ from the same album)

19. TLC - ‘Waterfalls’
‘No Scrubs’ is edgier. But who among us was actually edgy back then? We’re still not edgy now. The 1995 single from CrazySexyCool (how’s that for an album title?) reached #4 in the Irish charts.

18. Garbage - ‘Stupid Girl’
Garbage’s most successful single to date (and I doubt it’ll be surpassed), ‘Stupid Girl’ wasn’t as shiny and sparkly as most other pop songs. It had bleeps and blips and other funky stuff going on that made it stand out from the crowd. And on top of that, Shirley Manson has never sounded so good.

17. Jamiroquai - ‘Virtual Insanity’
Surely that song is from the ’00s? Everything about it is too modern, even the video. Uhm, nope, guess again. It’s from the 1996 album Travelling Without Moving and provided a glimpse at what the future would be like. Much more so than Prince’s ’1999′ anyway.

16. Bryan Adams - ‘Everything I Do (I Do It For You)’
You know it’s true, everything he does, you still have a soft spot for Canadian crooner Bryan Adams. And if you were a teen in the 90s, you always wanted to be one of the guys slow dancing to this and getting some action at the teenage disco.

15. 4 Non Blondes - ‘What’s Up?’
Forget her writing credits for Christina Aguilera and all those pop acts these days, Linda Perry is an equally talented singer. She kept the best song for herself in 1993′s ‘What’s Up?’ from 4 Non Blondes’ fantastic debut album Bigger, Better, Faster, More! So much more than a one-hit-wonder.

14. Seal - ‘Kiss From a Rose’
Reaching only number 20 when it was originally released in 1994, the song was given a second chance after being featured on the 1996 film Batman Forever. It’s Seal’s masterpiece, and although he has many other great songs (and a tremendous voice on every one of them), nothing comes close to ‘Kiss From a Rose’. That Batman soundtrack had other jams too, like U2′s ‘Hold Me…’.

13. No Doubt - ‘Just a Girl’
The 1995 single was the first song from No Doubt’s third album, Tragic Kingdom. This was the record that introduced Gwen Stefani to the masses, especially with ‘Don’t Speak’ going to number 1 just about everywhere. After the success of ‘Don’t Speak’, this was re-released and entered the chart in the top 5 where it deserved to be. Also soundtracked one of the best 90s movies: Clueless.

12. Del Amitri - ‘Roll to Me’
As ubiquitous with the 90s as this song is, the Glasgow band never had a top 10 UK single. How did this happen? From their album Twisted, ‘Roll to Me’ only reached number 22 in the UK in 1995. Bizarre.

11. Sting - ‘Fields of Gold’
The Police had any number of radio jams, every single they had is still awesome. We already knew Sting knew his way around a pop song, but this was his best solo moment. It didn’t chart too high back in 1993, but it’s been played constantly ever since.

10. The Bloodhound Gang - ‘The Bad Touch’
Yes, it’s not clever. What it is: is damn funny. This was the fifth biggest selling song of 1999 worldwide, and not just in Ireland where we love a good dirty joke. Am I too old to still love this song? Probably, but that doesn’t stop me from doing the dance either.

9. Natalie Imbruglia - ‘Torn’
A few weeks ago some whipper snapper on the X Factor asked guest judge Natalie Imbruglia who she was. It was a fair question. Anyone born after 1990 would have no clue what this song is. The rest of us however…

8. Take That - ‘Back For Good’
I set myself some rules when starting to make this list. Well, just one rule. And that was that each act could only have one song on here. Otherwise, every Take That single would have appeared. The 1995 single was everywhere, and reached number in a whole host of countries, including Ireland.

7. The New Radicals - ‘You Get What You Give’
Released in the UK and Ireland in 1999, the New Radicals’ only song of note was a phenomenal tune. It was the happiest song since REM’s ‘Shiny Happy People’ and everything about it made you want to dance. Gregg Alexander went on to help guide Ronan Keating’s solo career, and for that we should be thankful, it would’ve been a million times worse without him.

6. Celine Dion - ‘It’s All Coming Back To Me Now’
There was no bigger female artist in the 90s than Celine. Thus it’d be a crime to leave her off this list. She had a lot of mega-hits, but this one is by far the best. Originally written by Jim Steinman and inspired by the novel Wuthering Heights, it was intended to be on the follow-up to Bat out of Hell. It eventually appeared as a duet with Marion Raven on Bat III, but the Celine Dion version is the one everyone knows and loves.

=5. Garth Brooks - ‘Ain’t Goin Down (Til the Sun Comes Up)’
You won’t find any videos from Garth Brooks on youtube - he’s as bad as Prince - but you’ll still remember the song, and every other hit single he had in the 1990s. There was so many of them, it’s hard to choose just one. This was his first top 30 hit, so it was the song where Ireland first embraced Garth Brooks. Come back, Garth!

=5. Ini Kamoze - ‘Here Comes the Hotstepper’ The lyrics didn’t make any sense and the video wasn’t all that great. But any time anyone anywhere says “Hit it”, I always, always, always follow up with “na na na na na, na na na na…” He really was the lyrical gangster to be able to turn such crap into such an awesome song.

4. Michael Jackson - ‘Black or White’
Michael Jackson was one man who knew how to make a good video. The first single from Dangerous, and so much better than ‘Heal the World’. ‘In the Closet’ is my favourite song from the album, but nothing says radio jam like ‘Black or White’

3. Bryan Adams & Mel C. - ‘When You’re Gone’
Melanie C, the Sporty one, was always the best singer in the Spice Girls. Sadly her solo career was a bit of a failure, even though debut album Northern Star was full of great tunes. After that, it all went downhill. Still, we’ll always have ‘When You’re Gone’ her duet with Bryan Adams. It reached #3 in the Irish charts in November 1998. I don’t think his career has been as good since either.

2. Counting Crows - ‘Mr Jones’
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. What a fantastic song. I don’t care if people think they’re one-hit-wonders, I love the Counting Crows, and I love this song. (Do check out the VH1 Storytellers version on Across a Wire: Live From New York. Amazing.)

1. Meat Loaf - ‘I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)’
Better known to the youngsters as the big fat guy with the boobs in Fight Club, Meat Loaf was once the most uncool rock star there was. Yes, less cool than both Phil Collins and Sting put together. That never bothered me, I wasn’t cool either. And I knew how to rock out endlessly to both the original Bat Out of Hell albums.

COMPETITION

Like every other day this week, we have a super special competition for Nostalgia Week to give away. It contains a bunch of cool stuff that will transplant you back to a better time. However, you’ll have to dig out your old walkman and cassette tapes. They don’t make that stuff any more. Not even for nostalgia’s sake.

Today’s question: What 90s radio jam should have been included on this list, and why? No doubt I left out heaps…