Get ready for a nostalgic trip down memory lane with the cheesiest one-hit wonders of the 90s! From dance floor anthems to quirky pop gems, we're counting down the most memorable and over-the-top singles that defined an era. Prepare for catchy hooks, outrageous lyrics, and unforgettable melodies that'll have you singing along in no time!
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00:00Keepin' the jeans she's wearin', I'm hooked and I can't stop starin', oh baby!
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most ridiculous and or
00:09overdramatic one-hit wonders from the 90s. They might be cheesy, but that doesn't make them bad.
00:14A little bit of Jessica, here I am. A little bit of you makes me your man.
00:22Number 30. The impression that I get. The Mighty Mighty Bostones.
00:26Have you ever been close to tragedy, or been close to folks who have?
00:31During a period of scoff fever, the Mighty Mighty Bostones took a brief detour into the mainstream.
00:36Their hit, The Impression That I Get, doesn't skimp on all the joys of the genre either,
00:40or the gimmicks. You get loads of thumping bass and a hopping horn section,
00:44with the band unafraid of their sometimes cheesy sound.
00:47I'm not a coward, I've just never been tested. I'd like to think that if I was, I would pass.
00:52Their endearing lyrics nonetheless send you on a journey about empathy and support.
00:56With the inner message sneaking up on you, the song helps to boost your mood.
01:00It's also a good excuse to get up and dance regardless of your opinions about the music.
01:09Number 29. Breakfast at Tiffany's. Deep Blue Something.
01:13You'll say, the world has come between us.
01:19Testing people's love for Truman Capote adaptations,
01:22Deep Blue Something takes a bold step into 1990s rock history. Breakfast at Tiffany's
01:26is less about the movie and more about relationships. The effect is a catchy
01:31and somewhat sappy love story with a few surprises. So what now? It's plain to see we're over.
01:39Using some conversational lyrics, the track guides listeners through a whirlwind of melodramatic
01:44romance. It's a reference that might be lost on younger fans, but that doesn't mean it's
01:48not a bubbly single. The band presents the juiciest elements of a rom-com,
01:52with audiences left to embrace the music at their own risk.
02:00Number 28. Nothing My Love Can't Fix. Joey Lawrence.
02:04What can I do to take your tears away? While he's best known for acting in projects like Blossom,
02:11Joey Lawrence also tries out the occasional song. His most notable hit is the bubbly and overly
02:16optimistic Nothing My Love Can't Fix. Right from the jump, you'll hear all the trademark
02:21sounds of the cheesier pop numbers from that time. Why is my baby blue?
02:32Lawrence tries to play the heartthrob, promising his partner that his love will wash away all of
02:36their worries. It's all whipped up like cotton candy with about the same amount of nutritional
02:41value. Cracking the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, the hit reminded people that the pop gimmicks
02:46worked well. He wasn't able to find that musical success again and largely focused on acting going
02:52forward. Number 27. I Wish. Ski-Lo.
03:05While this track might qualify as cheesy, it's also a relatable song for many people. We can't
03:10all be the tallest, fastest, or best-looking person. This makes Ski-Lo's single, I Wish,
03:14both fun and relatable. It came at a time when many iconic rappers were taking over,
03:19with many listeners going for Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur instead.
03:28The less confrontational style might be more old-school, but there's nothing wrong with some
03:33vintage sounds to get you moving. With an underdog quality to him, the performer presents an honest
03:38portrayal of his shortcomings. It's maybe too sincere for its own good, but that's what we
03:42all need sometimes. Number 26. Return of the Mack. Mark Morrison.
03:56This British singer struck gold with a very personal sequel single. The title track of the
04:01album Return of the Mack is an R&B ballad about a bad breakup. It's a soulful confession from
04:06the troubled Mark Morrison, even if the story is a bit overdramatic. But you don't need to
04:10even pay attention to the lyrics to love the song. Over the top of a cool production,
04:20Morrison takes center stage with compelling vocals. For all its own shortcomings,
04:24Morrison's signature tune is a cool song with a funky beat,
04:28continuing to entertain listeners for several decades.
04:41Number 25. Good Vibrations. Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch featuring Lolita Holloway.
04:52Before he switched to movies, Mark Wahlberg was a musician working with this aptly named group.
04:58Good Vibrations is a bombastic party trick, but it never lets up. With Marky Mark's attitude,
05:03this single soars into early 1990s glory. You might feel the sweet sensations yourself as
05:08this high-energy production flies off the handle. While the Funky Bunch might not have
05:20reached these heights again, they did create a time capsule for the big sounds of the era.
05:25This and their debut album Music for the People made a splash on the charts,
05:29but the group only put out one more record before breaking up.
05:32Number 24. In the Meantime. Space Hog.
05:47Fans of 70s glam rock might dig this track from Space Hog, but they're no David Bowie. In the
05:52Meantime still features some engaging sounds, a sweet hook, and the high-intensity voice of
05:56Royston Langdon. His soaring high notes will have you wishing you could sing half as well as him.
06:02In a throwback tune, the rockers set a course for extraplanetary expeditions of rock self-indulgence.
06:12The band channels the catalog of the finest glam artists, making you wish they had more
06:17hits to match this one. This one-hit wonder status and general camp don't make the highlights of this
06:22piece any less awesome. Number 23. Achy Breaky Heart. Billy Ray Cyrus.
06:43During his first wave of popularity, Billy Ray Cyrus took the world by storm with Achy Breaky
06:48Heart. It's one of those tracks that ends up being devilishly catchy. Even if you don't like
06:52this kind of pop influence in country music, you have to admit that Cyrus has all the elements of
06:57a big hit. Fans seem to eat up the goofy lyrics and the memorable melodies. The critics, not so
07:09much. But sometimes, all you need is a love story and a fun hook to catch the listeners.
07:14Cyrus brings together fans of multiple genres, taking them on an adventure that
07:18ruled the early 1990s. Number 22. Summer Girls. LFO.
07:34Maybe it's not the most poetic song ever written, but this late 90s single feels like a perfect
07:40glimpse into the decade's peaks and valleys. It almost sounds like a few frat boys wandered
07:44into a studio and free-associated some strange lyrics. We're not sure if LFO should be rapping
07:54at all, to be honest, but that gives the track another entertaining wrinkle. The hook gets stuck
07:58in your head whether or not you agree with their questionable food opinions. It's a colorful mix
08:03of that boy band flair and a laid-back flow that adds to the summer vibe.
08:06I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch. I'd take her if I had one wish.
08:11Number 21. Wiggle It. Two in a Room.
08:19Starting in the late 80s, this hip-hop group didn't hit it big until the start of the next
08:24decade. Their single, Wiggle It, is part of the hip-house genre that blends rap and dance music.
08:28You can see why this mixture excited audiences back in the day, featuring a bouncy rhythm that
08:33will get you moving. It sounds dated by today's standards with a hokey chorus, but all that adds
08:45to the charm. The song reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the U.S. Dance Club
08:50play chart. Two in a Room was unable to capture that same success again, calling it quits in the
08:55mid-1990s. Number 20. Woomp There It Is. Tag Team. There are countless 90s hip-hop songs examining
09:09complex topics like socioeconomic struggles and relationship difficulties. Then there's this song,
09:14which is pretty much just about being the best at having a good time. Woomp There It Is by Atlanta
09:25duo Tag Team is a classic of Miami bass, but it's far more family-friendly than your average
09:30two-live crew song. Even nearly 30 years later, we cannot resist the thick rhythms of this song,
09:36nor screaming the hook at the top of our lungs. Woomp There It Is, and we hope it never goes away.
09:50Number 19. Mbop. Hanson. Okay, so maybe it was kind of annoying when it was on the radio seemingly
09:57every hour of every day, but many years later, Mbop still holds up amazingly well.
10:08Band of Brothers Hanson's pop rock classic went number one in multiple countries,
10:12no doubt helped by a chorus that's catchy no matter what language you speak.
10:20However, despite the song's sunny demeanor, the lyrics are actually pretty deep if you
10:25pay attention. Isaac, Taylor, and Zach sing about how important it is to cherish our relationships.
10:36They might have been young, but these brothers were definitely wise.
10:39Number 18. Sex and Candy. Marcy Playground.
10:50After the grunge explosion of the early 90s came the dawn of post-grunge, bands that emulated
10:57Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but who tended to lean in a more melodic direction. While Sex and Candy is
11:03no Smells Like Teen Spirit, it still stands as a 90s alt-rock classic.
11:13Sure, it might be hard to take a song called Sex and Candy seriously,
11:17but Minneapolis' Marcy Playground keeps things chill.
11:25Lead singer John Wozniak sounds like Kurt Cobain without quite as much angst,
11:30and every strum of the guitar and hit of the drums feels cleansing. This song, it surely is a
11:37dream. Number 17. Rico Suave. Gerardo. You can probably name a dozen rappers each from New York,
11:52Los Angeles, or Atlanta, but how many do you know of that are from Ecuador?
12:01Gerardo helped bring Latin hip-hop to prominence with this jam about a man who's not shy about his
12:08success with the ladies. Although he might be bragging, he's so charismatic about it we don't
12:13mind. Gerardo became so associated with this song, we sometimes forget his stage name isn't actually
12:20Rico Suave. Latin rappers have done some amazing things over the decades.
12:30And Gerardo deserves our respect for helping bring more diversity to the genre.
12:36Number 16. Jump. Kris Kross. There are two things we will forever remember Kris Kross for.
12:43Their fondness for backwards clothes and their chart-topping hit Jump. Despite both being 13
12:49when the single dropped, rappers Mac Daddy and Daddy Mac were not kidding around. And neither
12:59was Jermaine Dupri, who provided the song's hard-hitting but still danceable beat. Sampling
13:04classic artists like The Jackson 5 and James Brown, Jump kept things fresh even by looking
13:09to the past. And while it might be old school, it's still as enjoyable now as it was then.
13:19If there's any song that demands you get moving, it's Jump. Number 15. One of Us. Joan Osborne.
13:27Usually, songs about God are heard in church, not on Top 40 Radio. But American singer Joan
13:34Osborne brought the charts to the light with One of Us. In this Top 5 hit, Osborne speculates about
13:40a world in which God was indistinguishable from any average mortal. Some might take offense to
13:54God being likened to a slob like One of Us, and the message is completely unsubtle. But this song
14:00still gave us something to think about, which we can't say for all the songs on this list.
14:14Heaven help us, we still love this song. Number 14. Informer. Snow. We got Snow in August. That
14:22was the month Canadian reggae artist Snow dropped Informer, a hit bigger than his glasses in the
14:28song's video. Mixing reggae and hip-hop, Informer is a song decrying snitches.
14:38But we had to hear it a few dozen times before we could start to parse what Snow was saying.
14:43Despite the song's party-ready and fairly ridiculous sound, it actually has some pretty
14:48serious origins. Snow wrote the song while incarcerated, before he had any kind of musical
14:58career. Who knew a licky boom boom down had such personal meaning? Number 13. Mr. Vain. Culture
15:10Beat. If you attended a dance party in the 90s, the question wasn't if they would play Mr. Vain,
15:16but when. This hit from German group Culture Beat had everything for a house anthem. A steady
15:28kick drum pulse, an energetic synth melody, and gorgeous vocals, courtesy of vocalist Tanya Evans.
15:34And if things weren't already poppin', member J Supreme comes through with a great rap verse.
15:40Mr. Vain has no time to slow down, throwing everything at you at once and then some.
15:45Even if we're not at the club, we feel obligated to dance whenever it's on.
15:50Number 12. Steal My Sunshine, Len. There are plenty of reasons to look forward to summer,
15:56including an excuse to listen to Steal My Sunshine.
16:09While this hit from Canadian band Len is great any time of year, it's perfect for a hot day.
16:15With its sunny lyrics and beat, it's as infectious as a 90s song can get,
16:20especially with its sampling of Andrea True Connection's disco classic More More More.
16:25The vocal contrast between raspy Mark Costanzo and his sister Sharon's sweeter vocals is another
16:31highlight. We're gonna put this song on LATER this week, or just right now.
16:45Number 11. Cotton Eye Joe, Rednecks. Need any further proof that the 90s was one of
16:50the weirdest decades of all time? Rednecks, a Swedish dance group, released a techno version
16:56of a pre-Civil War American folk song and it became an international sensation.
17:06We wouldn't think to mix fiddles and banjos with pulsating club beats,
17:09but Rednecks' approach somehow proved irresistible.
17:12Even if we might be embarrassed to admit it now.
17:18Where did this song come from? Clearly some very creative minds.
17:23Where did it go? If we're being honest, it'll probably always be a part of us.
17:36Number 10. We Like to Party, The Vanga Bus, Vanga Boys. Another Eurodance group that took
17:42the world by storm, at least for a moment, was Vanga Boys. The Dutch group had a few hits to
17:48their name, but none permeated our collective consciousness quite like We Like to Party.
17:54It's pro-celebration message is timeless, but the most enduring aspect of this song is its
18:06over-the-top synth melody. You know the one. Trying to get this song out of your head is like
18:10trying to get sand out of your shoes after a day at the beach. The Vanga Bus was coming,
18:22and we just had to get on. Number 9. Blue Dabba D, Eiffel 65. Yo, listen up, here's the story
18:31about an Italian dance song that was everywhere in the late 90s.
18:35Blue is about a guy in a world where everything is blue, including himself.
18:47That's not exactly what you would expect to be the subject of a club banger, but Eiffel 65's
18:52knack for catchy hooks and melodies made us all think blue, in a good way.
18:59The chorus might have been mostly nonsensical, but who says things need to make sense to be good?
19:05We do have to say that the music video still creeps us out a little though.
19:09Number 8. What is Love, Hathaway. There are some questions that will likely never be answered,
19:22including the one at the center of this dance hit by Hathaway.
19:26It's not clear if Hathaway is actually asking what love is, or if he's just speaking rhetorically.
19:40But what is clear is how this song became such a big hit, with its thick grooves, classic hook, and
19:49backing vocals. Its music video, featuring Hathaway being pursued by a trio of women,
19:55including a vampire, is also classic. We don't know what love is, but we know we love this song.
20:08Number 7. Tub Thumping, Chumbawamba. While English band Chumbawamba started out as a
20:14politically-minded punk band, their biggest hit was more suited for dancing than moshing.
20:19In its own, more accessible way, Tub Thumping can be seen as a political song.
20:25The lyrics are about standing up in the face of adversity after all,
20:32and we are always in the mood to sing along to the chorus, especially if we've had a bad day.
20:43Chumbawamba's message resonated with many, as Tub Thumping topped the charts in multiple countries.
20:49This is a song that reminds us of both the good times and the better times.
20:55Number 6. Barbie Girl, Aqua.
21:10Many sweet childhood memories involve Barbie dolls, but this song from Danish pop group Aqua
21:16isn't quite so innocent. In Barbie Girl, member Lennon Nystrøm likens herself to the famous doll,
21:21with fellow member Renée Ziff as her kin.
21:31And what they talk about isn't exactly G-rated. Mattel sued label MCA Records
21:37for trademark violation and alleged negative effects on Barbie's image.
21:45This case was thrown out, and Mattel later ended up making a music video with a new version of
21:50the song. Of course, certain lines like the one about Hanky Panky were taken out.
22:04Number 5. Mambo No. 5, A Little Bit Of, Lubega. If your name is Monica, Erika, or any of the
22:11other names mentioned in Mambo No. 5, we understand you might have mixed feelings about this song.
22:21But, in terms of delightful 90's cheese, Mambo No. 5 is a 10. Building off an instrumental from
22:29Cuban artist Damaso Pérez Prado, first released in 1950, Mambo No. 5 is shamelessly corny and
22:36endlessly fun. Lubega sounds like he's having the time of his life, even breaking out into laughter.
22:47We don't need to listen to this song often, but A Little Bit always does the trick.
22:57Number 4. Baby Got Back, Sir Mix-a-Lot. There have been plenty of popular songs about butts
23:03over the years, but none have proved quite as enduring as this classic from Sir Mix-a-Lot.
23:09Pretty much every part of this song is legendary by now, from its opening dialogue between two
23:18valley girls, to the bass-boosted beat, to the song's iconic opening lines, as well as other
23:24lyrics. And even though it's fairly raunchy, how can you not love a song that promotes body
23:35positivity the way this one does? Baby Got Back is still a classic, and there's no ifs, ands,
23:41or buts about it. Number 3. Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice. As embarrassing as it might be to admit now,
23:54Ice Ice Baby was how many of us were first introduced to hip-hop. But as cheesy as this
24:04song is, it's also a part of history, as it was the first hip-hop song to hit number one in the
24:10U.S. The under-pressure sampling beat is obviously iconic. But credit must also be given to Mr. Ice
24:24himself, who's so confident in his delivery, we can't help but like him. He might not have the
24:30cred of Tupac or Eminem, but for a minute, this self-described lyrical poet was our favorite
24:37rapper. Number 2. I'm Too Sexy, Right Said Fred. At first, I'm Too Sexy seems rather arrogant.
24:49After all, isn't it a song about a guy bragging about how physically attractive he is?
25:01While technically that is true, the song is more about mocking vanity,
25:06especially in the fashion industry. It's also an absurdly fun song, with its groovy beat and
25:12deep vocals, which one reviewer likened to Elmer Fudd on steroids. I'm Too Sexy
25:18topped the charts in various countries, and its influence continues to this day.
25:29In 2021, Drake scored another number one with the Right Said Fred sampling,
25:34Way Too Sexy. The 90s will always be with us.
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26:001. Macarena – Bayside Boys Mix – Los del RÃo
26:09If you were around in the 90s, it might have seemed like Macarena and its accompanying dance
26:14came out of nowhere. But it actually took a few years for it to become a sensation.
26:18Latin pop duo Los del RÃo first released the song in 1993.
26:23Then, in 1995, the Bayside Boys remixed the song, making it both more danceable and
26:33bilingual with the addition of English lyrics. A year later, it became the hit we all know and,
26:40yes, love. Topping the U.S. charts for 14 consecutive weeks,
26:51Macarena was a song you couldn't avoid unless you lived in a cave in Antarctica.
26:55And even then it wasn't guaranteed. But we love it and the dance all the same. Hooray Macarena!
27:12Did we forget another wacky one-hit wonder from the 1990s? Let us know in the comments below.
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