TERRY HOKNES - MY FAVORITE SONGS OF ALL TIME ! hoknes@hotmail.com
|
2701 |
AMERICA |
WILLOW TREE LULLABY |
1973 |
|
2702 |
REO SPEEDWAGON |
I DO' WANNA KNOW |
1984 |
|
2703 |
DURAN DURAN |
A VIEW TO A KILL |
1985 |
|
2704 |
CYNDI LAUPER |
GOONIES R GOOD ENOUGH |
1985 |
|
2705 |
WHITNEY HOUSTON |
GREATEST LOVE OF ALL |
1986 |
|
2706 |
BANANARAMA |
VENUS |
1986 |
|
2707 |
CROWDED HOUSE |
DON'T DREAM ITS OVER |
1987 |
|
2708 |
AL B SURE |
NIGHT AND DAY |
1988 |
|
2709 |
MARTIKA |
I FEEL THE EARTH MOVE |
1989 |
|
2710 |
REM |
STAND |
1989 |
|
2711 |
TIFFANY |
RADIO ROMANCE |
1989 |
|
2712 |
CHER |
SHOOP SHOOP SONG |
1991 |
|
2713 |
REM |
SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE |
1991 |
|
2714 |
MC HAMMER |
2 LEGIT 2 QUIT |
1992 |
|
2715 |
WHITNEY HOUSTON |
QUEEN OF THE NIGHT |
1995 |
|
2716 |
SHANIA TWAIN |
ANY MAN OF MINE |
1996 |
|
2717 |
LEANN RIMES |
BLUE |
1996 |
|
2718 |
N'SYNC |
I WANT YOU BACK |
1998 |
|
2719 |
ACE OF BASE |
CRUEL SUMMER |
1998 |
|
2720 |
ALL SAINTS |
I KNOW WHERE IT'S AT |
1998 |
| AMERICA - WILLOW TREE LULLABY (1973) Album: Hat Trick (1973)
Hat Trick is the third original studio
album by
American
folk rock trio
America, released by
Warner Bros. Records in 1973. The album was a modest hit in the US,
peaking at 28 on the Billboard album chart, although it
failed to go gold, whereas the group's first two releases
had platinum sales. It produced one minor hit single, "Muskrat
Love" which reached 67 on the Billboard singles chart
and 11 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The title track is
the only song written by all three members of America.
America is an English-American folk rock band, that originally consisted of Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek. The three members were barely out of their teens, when they became a musical sensation during 1972, scoring No. 1 hits and winning a Grammy for best new musical artist. Their recording success stretched throughout the 1970s; some of the band's best known songs are "A Horse with No Name", "Sister Golden Hair" (both of which reached No. 1), "Ventura Highway", "Tin Man", "Daisy Jane", and "Lonely People". George Martin produced seven of their albums. |
| REO SPEEDWAGON - I DO WANNA KNOW (1984) hit #29
In the fall of 1980, REO Speedwagon released
Hi Infidelity, which represented a change in the
music from
hard rock to more
pop-oriented material. Hi Infidelity spawned four
hit singles written by Richrath and Cronin, including the #1
"Keep
On Loving You" (Cronin), the #5 "Take
It on the Run" (Richrath), "In Your Letter" (#20) (Richrath),
and "Don't Let Him Go" (#24) (Cronin), and remained on the
charts for 65 weeks, 32 of which were spent in the top ten,
including 15 weeks atop the
Billboard 200.
Hi Infidelity sold over 10 million copies and set
the bar for rock bands across the country.
Good Trouble (1982) and
Wheels Are Turnin' (1984) were follow-up albums
which also did well commercially, the former containing the
hit singles "Keep the Fire Burnin'" (U.S. #7), "Sweet Time"
(U.S. #26) and the un-ranked "The Key" and the latter
containing the #1 hit single "Can't
Fight This Feeling" plus three more hits: "I Do' Wanna
Know" (U.S. #29), "One Lonely Night" (U.S. #19), "Live Every
Moment" (U.S. #34) and the un-ranked "Break His Spell".
On July 13, 1985, the band made a stop in Philadelphia (en route to a show in Milwaukee) to play at the US Leg of Live Aid, which broke a record for number of viewers. They performed "Can't Fight This Feeling" and "Roll With the Changes", which featured members of the Beach Boys, the REO Speedwagon band members' families, and Paul Shaffer on stage for backing vocals. 1987's Life as We Know It saw a decline in sales, but still managed to provide the band with the hits "That Ain't Love" (U.S. #16) and "In My Dreams" (U.S. #19). |
| DURAN DURAN - A VIEW TO A KILL (1985) hit #1
A View to a Kill" is the thirteenth
single by
Duran Duran, released in May 1985.
It was a stand-alone single, created for the James Bond movie A View to a Kill, and it remains the only James Bond theme song to have reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100; it also made it to number 2 for three weeks on the UK Singles Chart. In 1986, John Barry and Duran Duran were nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for A View to a Kill. The song was the last track that the original five members of Duran Duran recorded together until their reunion sixteen years later, in 2001. It was played at their final 1985 performance together before splitting for the very first time, at Live Aid in Philadelphia. The single was at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time they performed it on that historic event. The song was written by Duran Duran and John Barry, and recorded at Maison Rouge Studio and CTS Studio in London with a 60-piece orchestra. Duran Duran were chosen to do the song after bassist John Taylor (a lifelong Bond fan) approached producer Cubby Broccoli at a party, and somewhat drunkenly asked "When are you going to get someone decent to do one of your theme songs?" This inauspicious beginning led to some serious talks, and the band was introduced to Bond composer John Barry, and also Jonathan Elias (whom Duran Duran members would later work with many times). An early writing meeting at Taylor's flat in Knightsbridge led to everyone getting drunk instead of composing. Singer Simon Le Bon said of Barry: "He didn't really come up with any of the basic musical ideas. He heard what we came up with and he put them into an order. And that's why it happened so quickly because he was able to separate the good ideas from the bad ones, and he arranged them. He has a great way of working brilliant chord arrangements. He was working with us as virtually a sixth member of the group, but not really getting on our backs at all." The song was finally completed in April 1985, and was released in May 1985, and on July 13 it hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, and still currently remains the only Bond theme to do so |
| CYNDI LAUPER - THE GOONIES R GOOD ENOUGH (1985) hit #10
The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" is a song by American
singer
Cyndi Lauper. It was released as a single for
The Goonies, a 1985 film which was released around
the same time as the single. It was her fifth Top 10 single
on the
Hot 100, her first since "Money
Changes Everything".
Before its inclusion on The Essential Cyndi Lauper in 2003, the song never appeared on any of Lauper's albums or the 1994 compilation Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some. Lauper admitted in an interview with Matthew Rettenmund that she hated the song, which was why she had chosen not to include it on her first compilation. All versions of the UK edition are considered rare, especially the 12". Steven Spielberg had made Cyndi the musical director for The Goonies soundtrack. She sought out new bands to be included on the project including her friends, The Bangles. The official title of the song is just "Good Enough", as is the way Cyndi had titled it when it was written and the way she announced it at concerts. She never said the 'new' title, "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough", at any concert. It was changed, only in name, because Warner Brothers Studio insisted that the marketing pointed towards the film and that is when "The Goonies 'R'" was tacked on to the title of the song. There was also a two-part video shot for this song featuring World Wrestling Federation pro-wrestlers André the Giant, Captain Lou Albano, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Wendy Richter, The Fabulous Moolah, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Freddie Blassie; Steven Spielberg; David Wolffe (Lauper's manager); The Goonies cast (except for Kerri Green, Anne Ramsey, Joe Pantoliano, Robert Davi and John Matuszak); and the then relatively unknown Bangles as a group of female pirates. Lauper's mother appears as "Cyndi's mother" and the "sea hag". |
| WHITNEY HOUSTON - THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL (1986) hit #1
The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by
Michael Masser and
Linda Creed and originally recorded by
George Benson for the 1977
Muhammad Ali biopic
The Greatest. The song was later popularized by
Whitney Houston. Creed wrote the lyrics in the midst of
her struggle with
breast cancer. The words describe her feelings about
coping with great challenges that one must face in life,
being strong during those challenges whether you succeed or
fail, and passing that strength on to children to carry with
them into their adult lives. Creed eventually succumbed to
the disease in April 1986 at the age of 36; at the time her
song was an international hit by Whitney Houston.
The song received critical acclaim and became a big hit, topping the charts in Australia, Canada and the US, while reaching the top 20 in most countries, including Italy, Sweden and UK. It remains her third biggest US hit, after "I Will Always Love You" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)". All three songs, in order of their former popularity, re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after Houston's death, debuting the same week at numbers 7, 35 and 41, respectively, giving Houston three posthumous chart hits. Clive Davis, founder of Houston's label Arista Records, was initially against Houston recording the song for her debut studio album, Whitney Houston, but he eventually gave in after persuasion from Houston and Masser. It was released as the B-side to the single "You Give Good Love", a previous Top 5 hit by Houston. The song was eventually released as a single in its own right. The song, released in April 1986, was the seventh release from Houston's debut album, and spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May of that year. Houston's album version features a piano intro, while the single version begins with a keyboard intro. After the single became a success, it replaced the original album version on subsequent pressings of the album. However, the original version was restored for the 2010 Deluxe Anniversary Edition reissue of the album. |
| BANANARAMA - VENUS (1986) hit #1 Venus" is a 1969 song by the Dutch band Shocking Blue which the group took to number one in the U.S. and five countries across Europe in 1970. When covered by girl group Bananarama, the song returned to number one in the U.S. and topped the charts in six other countries around the world in 1986. The composition has been featured in numerous films, television shows and commercials, and covered dozens of times by artists around the world.
Venus" had been a part of Bananarama's repertoire for
several years before they actually recorded it. The team's
three members,
Sara Dallin,
Siobhan Fahey, and
Keren Woodward, had the idea of turning the song into a
dance music tune, but they were met with resistance from
their producers at the time,
Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. Bananarama brought the idea
to the production trio of
Stock Aitken Waterman, and it became Bananarama's first
collaboration with them.
Dallin, Fahey, and Woodward had nearly completed recording their third album, titled True Confessions, with Jolley and Swain. Stock, Aitken and Waterman also resisted the idea because they believed that "Venus" would not make a good dance record. After persistence by the women, SAW relented, and the result was a worldwide smash. Bananarama's "Venus" went to number one in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Mexico, and South Africa. It hit number two in Germany and Hong Kong and was a top ten success in Italy, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Colombia, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and their native UK (#8 on UK Singles Chart). It also went to number one for two weeks on the U.S. Dance chart. The music video for the song received extensive play on MTV and video channels across the world, and presented Bananarama in various costumes, including a she-devil, a French temptress, a vampiress, and several Grecian goddesses. In one sequence of the video, The Birth of Venus, the painting by Sandro Botticelli, was reenacted. The video marked a pivotal shift towards a more glamorous and sexual image for the girls that contrasted with the tomboyish style in their earlier work. Choreography by Bruno Tonioli. Music video directed by Peter Care. |
| CROWDED HOUSE - DON'T DREAM ITS OVER (1987) hit #2
Don't Dream It's Over" is a song written by
Neil Finn and performed by New Zealand-Australian rock
band
Crowded House released in 1986 from their
self-titled debut album. It became the band's biggest
international hit, reaching #2 on the
Billboard Hot 100.
In May 2001, Australasian Performing Rights Association (Apra) celebrated its 75th anniversary by naming the best New Zealand and best Australian songs of all time, as decided by Apra members and an industry panel. "Don't Dream It's Over" was ranked second on the New Zealand list and seventh on the Australian list. While the Australian listing was considered controversial in New Zealand, it was noted that the band drew members from New Zealand, Australia and America and was formed in Melbourne. The music video, which features some surreal special effects such as household objects – including shattering crockery – and film reels that float in the air, shows lead singer Neil Finn playing a guitar and walking through the same house during different time periods while his bandmates are either performing household chores or playing various backing instruments. It was nominated for Best Group Video, and Best Direction at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, and earned the group a Best New Artist award
Crowded House is a
pop rock band formed in
Melbourne,
Australia in 1985 by lead-vocalist and primary
songwriter,
New Zealand-born
Neil Finn. Other members have included his brother
Tim Finn, Australians
Paul Hester,
Nick Seymour,
Eddie Rayner,
Peter Jones and
Craig Hooper and Americans
Mark Hart and
Matt Sherrod.Crowded House are referred to as The
Crowdies by Australian fans.
Originally active from 1985 to 1996, the band has had consistent commercial and critical success in Australia and New Zealand and international chart success in two phases, beginning with their self titled debut album, Crowded House, which reached number twelve on the US Album Chart in 1987 and provided the Top Ten hits, "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong". Queen Elizabeth II bestowed an OBE on both Neil and Tim Finn, in June 1993, for their contribution to the music of New Zealand |
| AL B SURE - NITE AND DAY (1988) hit #7
Nite and Day" is a 1988 single by
Al B. Sure! from the
Warner Bros. album
In Effect Mode. It reached number seven on the
Hot 100 and number one on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.
Albert Joseph Brown III (born June 4, 1968, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He grew up in Leonia, New Jersey, and Mount Vernon, New York. During the late 1980s under the stage name Al B. Sure!, he enjoyed a brief run as one of new jack swing's most popular romantic singers and producers. Brown was a star football quarterback at Mount Vernon High School in New York, who rejected an athletic scholarship to the University of Iowa to pursue a music career. In 1987, Quincy Jones selected Brown as the first winner of the Sony Innovators Talent Search. Subsequently, Brown went on to work with Jones on several projects, most notably the platinum single "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Jones' double-platinum-certified album Back on the Block. On this recording, Brown was one of a quartet with Barry White, El DeBarge, and James Ingram. His debut album from 1988, In Effect Mode, sold more than two million copies, topping the Billboard R&B chart for seven straight weeks. The album included the single "Nite and Day," which topped the R&B chart and reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. He received numerous Grammy and American Music Award (AMA) nominations, and won an AMA for Best New R&B Artist. He also received several Soul Train Award nominations, and won the award for Best New Artist. He also won several New York Music Awards. In addition, his 900 phone line was third in generating revenue, following those for New Kids on the Block and Run-D.M.C. As a writer and producer, Brown introduced the multi-platinum group Jodeci and teen R&B performer Tevin Campbell (also one of Quincy Jones's former protégés), as well as Faith Evans, Dave Hollister, Case, and Usher to the music industry. |
| MARTIKA - I FEEL THE EARTH MOVE (1989) hit #25 I Feel the Earth Move" is a song written and recorded by pop singer-songwriter Carole King. A track on King's album Tapestry, the song is one half of the double A-sided single, the flip side which was "It's Too Late." Together, both "I Feel the Earth Move" and "It's Too Late" became among the biggest mainstream pop hits for the year 1971. Released in autumn 1989, "I Feel the Earth Move" was the third single from Martika's self-titled debut, Martika. "I Feel the Earth Move" reached the number 25 on the pop charts in the U.S., and number 7 in the UK and number 2 in Australia. The high energy music video was shot during the promotional tour for this album. The song's tenure on the U.S. charts was cut short when radio stations pulled it from their playlists in the wake of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. Martika (born as Marta Marrero, May 18, 1969) is an American pop singer-songwriter and actress of Cuban descent. As a singer she released two internationally successful albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s, selling over four million copies worldwide. Her first album, 1988's Martika, spawned the song “Toy Soldiers,” which she co-wrote with her producer Michael Jay, and became a top 5 hit in the United Kingdom and many other countries. In the US, "Toy Soldiers" spent two weeks at #1 and was certified Gold by the RIAA. Two additional releases also went Top 40 in the US: "More Than You Know"(#18) and "I Feel the Earth Move"(#25), which was a remake of Carole King’s #1 from her album Tapestry. Both of those tracks also hit the top 20 on the US Dance charts and the UK singles chart. Further releases from the debut album were "Water," a modest hit in the UK and Australia, and "If You're Tarzan I'm Jane." The album was certified Gold in the US in 1989, and sold 3 million copies worldwide. |
| REM - STAND (1989) hit #6 Album: Green (1989)
Stand" is a song by the American
alternative rock band
R.E.M., released as the second single from the album
Green in 1989. The song quickly rose up the charts,
peaking at number six on the
Billboard Hot 100, becoming R.E.M.'s second top
10 hit in the United States. The song reached number 48 on
the
UK Singles Charts. The song reached number 16 in Canada.
The lyrics speak of finding direction in one's life ("Think about direction / Wonder why you haven't before"), and of doing more than only contemplating change or wishing for it ("If wishes were trees / The trees would be falling"). Singer Michael Stipe has said of the song's origin that he and the other band members were discussing The Banana Splits, The Archies, The Monkees, and similar ’60s pop groups. “They threw these super bubblegummy songs at me, and I said, ‘I’ll raise you and see you one.’ And I wrote the most inane lyrics that I could possibly write. Now, it was a very intentional thing to do that. I really like most of those songs, in fact.” "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied "Stand" for his 1989 album, UHF, as "Spam". "Stand" was used as the opening theme to the early 1990s Fox comedy Get a Life, starring Chris Elliott. The song was placed on R.E.M.'s Warner Bros. Records "best of" album In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 in 2003. The song is an example of "truck driver's gear change", as the last two rounds of the chorus are each one whole step higher than the one previous |
| TIFFANY - RADIO ROMANCE (1989) hit #35 Album: Hold An Old Friends Hand (1988) February 19th 1989 - my #5 favorite daily song for 1 day. Valerie and I went to see Tiffany in concert in April 2011 in New York City and filmed part of the show.
Tiffany Renee Darwish (born October 2, 1971), known
popularly as Tiffany, is an
American
singer and former
teen icon. She is most notable for her 1987
remake of "I
Think We're Alone Now", originally recorded by
Tommy James and the Shondells in 1967. Released as the
second single from her eponymous album,
Tiffany, the song quickly became a teen anthem.
Thanks to an original mall tour, "The Beautiful You:
Celebrating The Good Life Shopping Mall Tour '87", Tiffany
became a pop sensation; both the single and the album peaked
at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 and
Billboard 200 charts, respectively. The singles,
"Could've
Been" and "I
Saw Him Standing There", a feminine cover version of
The Beatles' "I
Saw Her Standing There", followed soon after, with the
former also claiming the number one position on the
Billboard Hot 100.
Hold an Old Friend's Hand is the
second regular studio
album by
Tiffany, released in November, 1988. It was
reasonably successful, with a platinum
certification, peaking at #17 on the U.S. charts
and yielding one top-ten single ("All This
Time") and another in the top 40 ("Radio
Romance"); however, it didn't equal the
multiplatinum success of her first album, which
had two #1 singles on the
Billboard Hot 100. In her summer tour,
where she was to once again have the
New Kids on the Block as her opening act as
she did the year before, the sudden popularity
of the New Kids caused their roles to be
reversed, with Tiffany opening for them,
although they were officially billed as
co-headliners.
|
| CHER - SHOOP SHOOP SONG (1991)
The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" is a song
written by
Rudy Clark. The song was made a hit when recorded by
Betty Everett, who hit No. 1 on the
Cashbox magazine R&B charts with it in 1964. Recorded by
dozens of artists and groups around the world in the decades
since, the song became an international hit when remade by
Cher in 1991.
Cher's remake was cut for the soundtrack of her 1990 film Mermaids in which it played under the closing credits, and the single's U.S. release coincided with the November release of the film. The lackluster box office performance of Mermaids was mirrored by the chart performance of "The Shoop Shoop Song" single, which peaked at No. 33 in January 1991, signaling the end of the hit-streak Cher had enjoyed in the U.S. since 1987. The lack of American enthusiasm for Cher's "The Shoop Shoop Song" led to another cut, her remake of Barbara Lewis' "Baby I'm Yours", being the lead single from the Mermaids soundtrack in the UK and Continental Europe. However, after that song failed to become a hit – barely scraping the UK charts at No. 89 — "The Shoop Shoop Song" was issued as a single, backed with "Baby I'm Yours", and reached No. 1 on the UK chart of May 4, 1991, staying atop the chart for five weeks. Cher's first solo number one. Her last number one was back in 1965 with Sonny: "I Got You Babe." Cher's "The Shoop Shoop Song" was also a No. 1 hit in Austria, Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Spain; the single achieved a No. 2 peak in Australia and Top Ten status in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. The success of the single in the UK and Continental Europe was reflected in its addition to Love Hurts, her subsequent album, as released in those parts of the world, Australia and New Zealand. "The Shoop Shoop Song" was also included in the album's Canadian release but in the U.S. "The Shoop Shoop Song" was not available on a Cher album until the 1999 release of If I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits. |
| R.E.M. - SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE (1991) hit #10
Shiny Happy People" is a song by the band
R.E.M.. The song appeared on their 1991 album
Out of Time and was released as a
single in the same year. The song features guest vocals
by
Kate Pierson of
the B-52's, who also has a prominent role in the song's
music video.
It peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, the fourth and, to date, last R.E.M. single to reach the top 10 on the chart. It also peaked at #6 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the first R.E.M. song to reach the top ten in the UK and the only one to reach the top ten in both countries. It was recorded during the autumn of 1990, and was first released as a single in May 1991 in the U.K. However, the single would not go on sale in the U.S.A. until four months later. In 2005, Q magazine included the song in a list of "Ten Terrible Records by Great Artists". In its 2006 "Song of the Summer" countdown, CBC Radio's Freestyle named "Shiny Happy People" 1991's "Song of the Summer". In contrast, in 2006, the song received the number one position on AOL Music's list of the "111 Wussiest Songs of All Time". Blender magazine also ranked the song at #35 on its list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever". Also, when talking about the ill-fated song in 1995 on Space Ghost Coast to Coast Stipe simply stated "I hate that song, Space Ghost." Due to the band's dislike of the song, it was one of their few Warner-released singles not included on their 2003 greatest hits album In Time. However, it was later included on their 2011 greatest hits album Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011 |
| MC HAMMER - 2 LEGIT 2 QUIT (1992) hit #5
Too Legit to Quit" (stylized as "2 Legit 2 Quit")
is a song by rap artist
MC Hammer (whose name was shortened to "Hammer")
released in 1991 as the title track and first single of his
third
album of the same name. It proved to be successful in
the U.S., peaking at the Top 10 of the
Billboard Hot 100, at #5. The single also peaked at #60
on the
UK Singles Chart. Hit songs "This is the Way We Roll"
and "Too Legit to Quit" were performed by Hammer on
Saturday Night Live. Along with "Addams
Groove", and other songs, "2 Legit 2 Quit" was featured
in the film
The Addams Family in 1991.
The music video (directed by Rupert Wainwright) for the song begins with an impatient crowd waiting for MC Hammer to perform, while Hammer has a lengthy conversation with James Brown, who calls Hammer "Godson" and enlists him to get the glove of Michael Jackson. Brown endows Hammer with several blasts of energy, before sending Hammer off to perform. The performance is high budget and laden with impressive pyrotechnics. The video ends with a purported Jackson (seen only from behind) having seen the performance and conceding Hammer to be the superior dancer, while doing the "2 Legit 2 Quit" hand gesture. Hammer personally spoke with Jackson on the phone about the video, with Jackson giving his approval of it. This story was mentioned several years ago on The Wendy Williams Show (July 27, 2009) when MC was a guest. The video was number 5 in MAX music's World's Worst Ever Video countdown and number 1 in its Forgotten Video Clips countdown in 2008. It was also voted number 24 on MTV's all-time "25 Lame" countdown in 1999. However, it has been ranked as one of the most expensive videos ever produced, and a viewer's favorite by VH1. A hand gesture became popular as a result of the title song and video which was also shown in the "Addams Groove" movie video and on MTV. It involved forming the number two for "Too", an L for "Legit", two for "to", and a "cut" motion for "Quit" with the hand and fingers (as seen in the video). |
| WHITNEY HOUSTON - QUEEN OF THE NIGHT (1994) hit #36 (airplay)
Queen of the Night" is a song co-written and
performed by American pop/R&B singer
Whitney Houston. It was the fifth and final single
released from her multi-platinum soundtrack
The Bodyguard. The song received a nomination at the
Golden Raspberry Awards for
Worst Original Song.
"Queen of the Night" is an uptempo pop rock/dance number, with Houston expressing how she "rules the club scene", proclaiming herself "queen of the night". It was not released as a single in America, but it received such substantial radio play that it rose to number 36 on the Hot 100 Airplay. However, because of Billboard magazine rules at the time (which have since been modified), a song with no commercial single available could not chart on the main Billboard Hot 100. The song reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, becoming Houston's fifth number 1 dance single. It was released in several other countries, peaking at number 14 in the UK. The music video for "Queen of the Night" is the full performance Houston gives in the motion picture The Bodyguard. In the film, the performance is interrupted by violence. In live performances, the song's arrangement is more faithful to the CJ MacIntosh mix. This song was covered by American Idol contestant Haley Scarnato in 2006. This song was covered during Australian singer Delta Goodrem's Believe Again Tour at various locations throughout Australia in 2009. The 2009 X Factor contestants also performed this song on Sunday, October 18, 2009 as a group performance. Contestant Stacey Solomon, who came third, performed this song on The X Factor Live Tour 2010. The independent, web-based, electronic/dubstep artist known as Futret released a remix/crossover-cover of the song in early February 2012 |
| SHANIA TWAIN - ANY MAN OF MINE (1995) hit #31 (#1 country)
Any Man of Mine" is the title of a song co-written
and recorded by
Canadian
country music artist
Shania Twain. It was released in April 1995 as the
second
single from her 1995
album
The Woman in Me. The song was written by
Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Twain. The song became
Twain's first number one hit at country radio, as well her
first crossover hit after it cracked the top 40 on the pop
charts. It was released to radio in April 1995, and topped
the charts for two weeks in July. The song was later
included in Twain's 2004
Greatest Hits package.
"Any Man of Mine" also proved to be a critical success, it was nominated for both Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance at the 1996 Grammy Awards. It won Single of the Year at both the Canadian Country Music Awards and Country Music Radio Awards in 1995. It also won Country Single of the Year at the 1996 Jukebox Awards and Song of the Year at the 1996 RPM Big Country Music Awards. Larry Flick of Billboard wrote, "Twain aims right for the dance clubs with this hi-tech hoedown. The lyrics are dancefloor dumb, but the song is undeniably catchy. Besides, any song that borrows a vocal hook from the Three Stooges can't be all bad." "Any Man of Mine" debuted on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart the week of May 13, 1995 at number 66. At that time, her highest debut, a record previously held by "Dance with the One That Brought You". It spent 20 weeks on the chart and climbed to a peak position of number one on July 22, 1995, where it remained for two weeks. "Any Man of Mine" became Twain's first number one single as well as top ten single. The single also spent ten weeks atop Billboard's Country Singles Sales chart. It also reached a peak of number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100, her first appearance on that chart, it reached number 13 in sales. The song was the first number one on the Billboard country chart to be performed by a non-American since fellow Canadian Anne Murray hit number one with "Now and Forever (You and Me)" on April 26, 1986. |
| LEANN RIMES - BLUE (1996) hit #26
Blue" is a song written in 1956 and recorded in 1958
by
Bill Mack, an
American songwriter-country artist and country radio
disc jockey. It has since been covered by several
artists, in particular by
country singer
LeAnn Rimes whose 1996 version became a hit. The song
won Mack the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Country Song. and is
included on the CMT list of the top 100 country songs of all
time.
Contrary to popular opinion, Mack has denied that Patsy Cline was his inspiration for writing the song. Although "Blue" was composed by Mack in 1956, he did not record it until 1958, for Starday Records in Nesman Recording Studios, Wichita Falls, Texas. He released it as a 45rpm single, backed by "Faded Rose". Rimes first recorded the song when she was 11 years old on an independent album, All That (1994), under the label Nor Va Jak. Rimes' father, Wilbur, heard the demo when putting together the All That album. He disliked the demo stating "The first time I heard 'Blue' I didn't like it, but it was a demo version that sounded old fashion." The song was re-recorded for her debut album in 1996 when she was 13. Her rendition of "Blue" debuted at #49 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles And Tracks for the week of May 25, 1996, but was soon released to country radio and became a major hit that summer, peaking at #10 on the Billboard Country Chart and #26 on the Billboard Hot 100, while also reaching #1 on the Canadian Country RPM singles chart. Rime's "Blue" album was also released the same year and sold six million copies (6× Multi-Platinum) in the United States. Rimes re-recorded the song for her new album, Lady & Gentlemen, which was released on September 27, 2011. The song is credited with Time Jumpers and is produced by Darrell Brown and Rimes herself |
| N'SYNC - I WANT YOU BACK (1998) hit #13
I Want You Back" is the first single released from
'N Sync self-titled debut album. This single is also
included on 'N Sync's
Greatest Hits. It has been certified Gold by the
RIAA. The song won a Billboard award for "Best New Dance
Clip". It peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the
single sold over one million copies. The single was
certified Gold by RIAA.
Two versions of the music video have been released. The first, shot in Stockholm, Sweden from August 15-16, 1996 was released with the original German release of the song in October 1996. This version features the group in a space station, with many high-tech effects playing out around them. The boys then attempt to contact a girl and bring her on board. This version was directed by Alan Calzatti. The second video accompanied the European and American release of the song in 1998. This version was shot in black-and-white, and features the group performing in a warehouse, with shots of them playing pool and driving in a Cadillac intertwined. This version was directed by Jesse Vaughan and Douglas Biro. NSYNC (sometimes stylized as ★NSYNC) was an American boy band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich, *NSYNC consisted of Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass. After heavily publicized legal battles with their former manager Lou Pearlman and former record label Sony BMG, the group's second album No Strings Attached sold over one million copies in one day and 2.42 million copies in one week. In addition to a host of Grammy Award nominations, 'N Sync performed at the World Series, the Super Bowl and the Olympic Games, and sang or recorded with Elton John, Left Eye, Aerosmith, Mary J Blige, Britney Spears, Nelly, Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion, and Gloria Estefan. |
| ACE OF BASE - CRUEL SUMMER (1998) hit #8
Cruel Summer" is a pop song originally written and
performed by
Bananarama that was a top ten hit in Britain in
1983. Singer
Sara Dallin said the song "played on the darker side (of
summer songs): it looked at the oppressive heat, the misery
of wanting to be with someone as the summer ticked by. We've
all been there!"
In 1998, the Swedish group Ace of Base recorded the song at the request of their British record label London Records (who also had released the original version). Produced by Cutfather & Joe, the song was released as the second single from their third album Flowers and as the lead single from the American version of the album entitled Cruel Summer. It reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold. It also reached number eight in the United Kingdom, matching the peak of the original Bananarama version.
Ace of Base is a pop band based in
Gothenburg,
Sweden. Its original lineup consisted of
Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and three siblings,
Jonas "Joker" Berggren,
Malin "Linn" Berggren and
Jenny Berggren. They released four studio albums between
1993 and 2002, which sold in excess of 30 million copies
worldwide.
Happy Nation / The Sign is one of the best-selling debut albums of all time, and was certified nine times platinum in the United States. It was the first debut album to produce three number 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: "All That She Wants", "The Sign" and "Don't Turn Around". |
| ALL SAINTS - I KNOW WHERE ITS AT (1998) hit #4
"I Know Where It's At" is a song by
All Saints, released as the debut single from their
self-titled album
All Saints. On 9 August 1997 the song was debuted on
the
National Lottery Live and the first performance on
Top of the Pops was on 2 September 1997.
The song was released in 1997 and became their first Top 10 hit, peaking at #4. A total of 158,769 copies have been sold. The single was released in the US after All Saints scored their first number one hit with "Never Ever". The track was originally released in Australia to coincide with the UK release, where it peaked at #67. After the second single "Never Ever" reached #1, the track was re-released where it peaked at #12. In Asia, the song peaked at the top spot for 4 weeks, and it was the only song from a girl group to have reached the pole position during that time second to the Spice Girls' "Wannabe", making both acts rivals. The song samples elements from Steely Dan's "The Fez". All Saints were a British/Canadian girl group. Founded in 1993 as All Saints 1.9.7.5, the group consisted of founding members Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis, and sisters Nicole Appleton and Natalie Appleton. They became one of the most successful British pop groups of the 1990s, with nine top ten singles (including five number-ones), two multi-platinum albums, two gold albums and record sales in excess of ten million worldwide. All Saints were formed as a trio in 1993 with Blatt, Lewis and Simone Rainford, who released two singles before Rainford's departure in 1995. Natalie and Nicole Appleton joined the group for the production of their debut album, All Saints (1997), which produced three UK number-one singles, including the BRIT Award-winning "Never Ever". Their second album, Saints & Sinners (2000), was also a success and yielded two number-one hits, although the group broke up in 2001. They later reformed for a third album, Studio 1 (2006), but it sold poorly. All Saints were confirmed to have split up for a second time in 2009, and Melanie Blatt has said that the group will never reform. |