50 Memorable Songs Of The Late 1990s That Apparently Only You Remember, Even Though They Were Totally On The Radio And Stuff

I dug all three of "Stop the Rock," "Going Out Of My Head," and especially "Dirt." The video of that one really impressed/freaked me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QWJm5cY60c

I don't think I saw it on TV much, maybe on some early realplayer-type online streaming service like Launch.com... not sure when that would have been though.

"Stop the Rock" I think I saw on MTV2 circa fall 2000. A tasty big-beat obscurity in the USA, a top 10 hit in the UK.

And yeah, meme references checks out for "Stop the Rock" -- someone made a video of it attached to the rolling boulder scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was worth a giggle iirc.

I particularly remember seeing Melanie C's "Going Down" and "Never Be The Same Again" getting some play on MuchMusic, and a little bit of play of Melanie B's "I Want You Back" and her cover of "Word Up". Geri Halliwell's singles seemed to fair a lot better, particularly "Look at Me", "Mi Chico Latino", and her cover of "It's Raining Men".

I remember some modest controversy over the double entendre of "Going Down", and "Look At Me" got some TRL action, but I think that was it. When America was done with the Spice Girls, they were _done_.

Mr Icon mentioned them up the page, but Sugar Ray's "Every Morning" seemed to be on the radio all the time when it came out. It got to number ten in the UK. I'm not going to link to the video because I hated that song, everything about it. The smugness. I hated the smugness. It embodies a certain time and place and it can't exist outside that context.

My memory also throws Barenaked Ladies' "One Week" at me. That got to number five. The two songs came out within a few months of each other in early 1999. I think of it as the "something something something samurai" song.

I remember Mel C's "Northern Star" getting a lot of airplay. I've always associated it with darkness, rain, and the cold. I realise now that must be because it came out in November 1999, which probably explains why. Pre-millennial tension and all that. Bad weather. It got to number 5. Didn't chart in the US at all. The parent album got good reviews and sold a couple of million, but only reached 108 in the US. My recollection is that Geri Halliwell's solo singles were inexplicably popular, despite being naff, but she was likeable enough so it was hard to be annoyed with her.

Looking at the "Goin' Down" video and realizing it could have been where Miley Cyrus got all of her edgy schtick from...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn7OS2K-hwI

Dirt, Going Out of My Head, Stop the Rock... All very much in my territory, these. STR is great but along with Lost in Space marks a point where they kept peddling novelties, soundtrack remixes etc. - not a criticism, and after all they beat Scooter to Quo-rave territory by a decade, but it ended up spelling a commercial dead end for them here in the UK after 2000.

Both the Geri and Mel C albums try a bit of everything but they come across in different ways. Mel C was I think going the 'Robbie route'* and trying a lot of 'credible' (in a Radio 1 way) things hoping certain ones will stick (influences incl. Garbage, noise pop, Britpop, TLC, Ray of Light), plus there was her V99 performance and NME being relentlessly ruthless to her throughout 99-00 for Daring To Touch Their Music. But after an infamous false start (Goin' Down), the album took off here in 2000 after some of its less typical tracks - the gorgeous Left Eye collab, a noisy Ibiza trance remix of the title track - really took off. She had a good year. Geri's album other hand is eclectic in the way Spiceworld was. A general variety show feel, brash and all quite pastichey and lighthearted-seeming in hindsight (although still careful enough to ensure all its diversions - Shirley Bassey-ishness, Latin pop, the big disco golden ring - were going to make her a success. And there's also the matter of the former of those, Look at Me, being intended as a total Event single).

*maybe before Robbie himself even had. His most realised Big Tent-ish move isn't until Sing When You're Winning (summer 2000).

Geri is a terrible singer but a great pop star. "Look At Me" is an incredible piece of provocation, it's her doubling down on everything that she was hated for and embracing it whole-heartedly.

Mel C's solo stuff made me think there was literally something wrong with me because she was supposedly "the good singer" in the Spice Girls, and I found her yowling unbearable. and I like yowling!

Yeah can't stand Mel C's voice either, Emma was the best singer and had imo the best solo single ("Maybe") but that didn't seem to equate to much chart success on either side of the Atlantic.

here's the forgotten big beat hit (though not much of a hit) missing from the list above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IWl77o3l50

Going back to MarkoP's post-Beck/Cake/Sublime Spirit of 96 playlist: could the transition from the verse to the chorus of Kid Rock "Cowboy" be marked as some kind of end point for the genre? The moment the big (sampled?) drum fill kicks in, Kid lapses from chilled-out woozy summer vibes into sub-Aerosmith rawkin' and the spell is broken.

(I guess "All Summer Long" could be sort of a belated return back to this sound/style.)

Also, Kid-adjacent, I'd also consider ICP's "Another Love Song," which actually samples Beck's "Jack-Ass" to cast a backyard-party haze over their misogynistic murder fantasies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABBPdf5SwJA

Linda Perry: "Fill Me Up"

#onethread

Huh! Never knew that existed. It's... Huh. I don't hate the performance and I kinda like the sound, but the song itself isn't landing with me tbh.

Earned some modest airplay late summer/early fall '96. Kind of interesting in how it tries to sell that it's the "What's Up" lady, but with every edge softened, which kind of misses the point of what people who like that song like about it.

I didn't know until I heard Pink talking about it on Howard Stern a couple days ago, but she's the reason Linda Perry came out of semi-retirement. Pink was a huge fan and went looking for her to do some writing/producing. And now she won't go away lol

My daughter used the expression "I'm living a lie" this morning and it inexplicably thrust this song into my head that seems to have left very little lasting footprint

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk0aiREnTsc

"What do you do when you feel like you're living a lie?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k67uejNr9FA

Courtesy of Lithium Deep Cuts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqeT9ooYKnM

Jimmie's Chicken Shack: "High", a Godsmack-y Hard Rock song preparing absolutely no one for their next album's Blink-182/Lit-move lead single "Do Right":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsttsAHkZvw

^Mentioned upthread by some dude. The video is...something else (as you can see, MTV2 actually aired it with the intro interview bit w/the ex-girlfriend, which was eventually edited out for regular MTV after an airing or two)

def remember "Do Right." "High" is tickling some memory bone but nothing specific. I guess they were early Korn adopters? Kind of an awkward fit with the bright colorful video. Not sure they should have agreed to the "actual chicken shack" video concept.

Apparently they are still active and released their most recent album in 2022??

Early Korn Adopters is my new band name, thanks doc

The Soundtrack To Our Lives - Instant Repeater '99

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI6tk-3ADdg