top 50 "lost" US hits of the early '90s

Deeper And Deeper pretty easily but everything here is either obscure enough for me not to know it at all or be by someone so successful it shouldn't really be in the list

"Do Anything" is my favorite Fisher-Price Prince jam.

yeah I mean

16. Michael Jackson - In The Closet

is one of my favorite songs ever but can an MJ song really be lost?

Praying for Time

Hm, of the ones I can remember (which is fewer than for the late 80s list), the Genesis song is the closest I come to liking one of these, which isn't very close. This is apparently when I started hating fun.

my "best friend" growing up used to sing it "You know sun you know sun don't shine"

I hate him

oh wait this is totally Whoot There It Is, all day.

shame how they got punked by Tag Team

Two songs called 'Stay' here and I reckon there would be another in late 90s list.

Voting for Shakespeare's Sister as 12-year-old-me would not forgive now-me for doing otherwise.

Speaking of forgotten, and as there are multiple janet. tracks on this list, don't "forget" to vote: It's POLL For You -- ILM artist poll #103 -- JANET JACKSON (voting open until July 24, 2020)

My god, tho, this was my era. Top 5 (one per artist):

16. Michael Jackson - In The Closet
17. Madonna - Deeper And Deeper
28. Paula Abdul - Blowing Kisses In The Wind
36. George Michael - Too Funky
41. Janet Jackson - If

34. Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat

i cannot see this song on a list and not vote for it

I mean

“Release Me” is the best Wilson Phillips single

“Deeper and Deeper”

well, at least DJP and I agree on cocktails.

The three Madonna songs tower over everything else. I'll never understand why "Deeper and Deeper" was left off Celebration, yet somehow she included "Miles Away".

A proper comp would've left everything off from after 2005.

I'm a little surprised "I'll Remember" isn't also on this list.

I still hear that one while switching stations in the car or while shopping.

Lucky you!

I'll remembeeeerrrrrr

As I read down the list I feel myself losing interest in chart music. I'll take Sweet Sensation's "Wishing on a Star," but I'd like to keep "Whoot, There It Is" in my pocket for laughs

Wait, that's Cover Girls' "Wishing on a Star." Sweet Sensation did the other wishes ballad.

I've never heard any of these songs except like a few seconds of "Justify My Love"

more interested in forgotten early '90s buttrock and country hits tbh

wait what

You never heard "In the Closet" or "If"???

“If” is terrible. You lot are insane.

What was with all these R&B stars all of a sudden going “rock” in the early 90s? “Free Your Mind and the Rest Will Follow” by En Vogue was shite, too.

No, and no. And piss off.

guess you've never heard funk before

janet had done'black cat' previously, so 'if' didn't really seem out of place too much to me at the time. twelve year old austin had the cassingle and played it a lot; even the non-lp b-side 'one more chance' was great. still holds up.

that said, this is 'in the closet' easily.

yes why does this explicitly-referencing-Funkadelic song 'rock'?

weirdly I can't remember what "Deeper & Deeper" sounds like but I know the other Madonnas quite well

I only know a few of these by title - Stay (Shakesp. Sister), Have You Seen Her, Funky Music, Playground, Wildside, Whoot, Justify, Addams Groove, Coming Out of the Dark, Praying for Time (maybe?)

Wow, I was totally not listening to the radio at this time.

I think my friends were getting high and listening to Beethoven and Modern Jazz Quartet and Robert Johnson, plus classic rock shit like Floyd and Zeppelin. I won't claim to have been, like, "cool" or anything. Just really isolated from popular music.

so what will you vote for?

Shakespeare's Sister's "Stay" was played like hell that summer, then vanished, and it's still the only post-Eurythmics thing by Dave Stewart I like.

one of these 3 for me. probably erasure

Erasure - Always
DRS - Gangsta Lean
George Michael - Praying For Time

I totally remember the Erasure song, cos my bro bought the cassingle, as he did with every song like that during taht summer.

the Erasure song was a A Big Deal in my circles at the time because nauseating British synth pop duos, to use Neil Tennant's phrase, weren't charting in America in 1994.

I admit some of my affection for "Stay" stems from the fact that my college radio deejay name was Shakespeare's Sister.

also remember that Immature song but I hated it and still do.

Amy Grant song reminds me of being depressed in 5th grade over a school assignment I failed and was hiding from my parents. love the song though.

"Release Me" reminds me of getting bullied at summer camp. still love it anyway.

Surface "The First Time" is cheesy but I love it.

Tommy Page just reminds me of teh episode of Full House he was on.

I had an unspoken crush on Tommy Page and was pleasantly surprised to learn he was gay. Then he killed himself :/

anyway, I'm listening to Shakespeare's Sister Hormonally Yours and holy shit it's a pleasant surprise. Alan Moulder co-produced!

Jeremy Jordan - The Right Kind Of Love

... oh that Jeremy Jordan!

whoa xxpost to Alfred

that Jeremy Jordan looked like a young porn star too

Oh man, there's even a third one? Bet you can't tell the, ahem, non-singer here:

https://www.picsofcelebrities.com/celebrity/jeremy-jordan-singer/pictures/large/images-of-jeremy-jordan-singer.jpg

What "Right Kind of Love" Jeremy Jordan looks like at 38:

https://i2.wp.com/npcdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/palpatine.jpg?fit=780%2C405&ssl=1

wild that "If" is on the list. the Kaytranada remix of it has been about as reliable and frequently played club record as I've heard in the past decade. I just assumed it was durably popular in general, especially with the surge of attention Janet has gotten in the past few years.

i'll be shocked if the Scharpling & Wurster "Gas Station Dogs" isn't inspired by that Meat Loaf track

the only thing that jumps out at me in the lists is how much i really despise the entire least-lost list except maybe freedom 90. i exempt queen because fuck, it was never lost, nor was it not-lost, ever.

the Haddaway was great until SNL ruined it

"Free Fallin'", "Livin' on the Edge", "Hey Jealousy" classics in their way.

well Hey Jealousy at least

I'm surprised to see "Freedom! '90" listed among songs that had weak chart performance in their day(?) According to ye olde wikipeadia, the single

was a major success on the US Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 8 and selling over 500,000 copies to earn a Gold certification from the RIAA. It remained in the Billboard top 40 for 12 weeks in late 1990 and early 1991.

people angry that it wasn't the same as Wham's "Freedom"?

"Deeper and Deeper" is easily one of Madonna's best

dear god that Glenn Medeiros is DIRE

I kinda love that this odd little segue/obscurity...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sbpnz-nNVU

resulted in this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np_Y740aReI

but also this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYLCA282Rfo

dear god that Glenn Medeiros is DIRE

― Lady Antibody (Neanderthal), Friday, July 24, 2020

I heard it at Whole Foods on Wednesday!

I'm surprised to see "Freedom! '90" listed among songs that had weak chart performance in their day(?)

i think they just mean that statistically, "freedom! '90" is played on radio these days way more than typical for a song that peaked at #8 etc.

"Freedom '90" has never gone away. During normal times it was a karaoke favorite.

for others, that is, which was a pleasure for me.

I don't feel like I heard it at all between the 90s & GM's death.

heard it at karaoke on occasion, maybe occasionally on muzak somewhere.

Two songs called 'Stay' here and I reckon there would be another in late 90s list.

― Anti-Cop Ponceortium (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, July 23, 2020 6:01 AM (three days ago)

are you referring to lisa loeb's "stay"? tho i personally often mistake it for a late(r) '90s hit, it was actually a hit in '94 and would have been eligible for this list -- i hear it reasonably often, so am not surprised to see it absent

i enjoy the one by shakespear's sister and would welcome radio playing it more, not that it's likely to

erasure "always" being on this list... yer tellin me that inclusion on robot unicorn attack wasn't enough to secure all-time hit status? :(

The Hammer, Vanilla Ice, and Marky Mark tracks all rely way too heavily on their samples to get by. (I also remember all of them from elementary school.) And I mean they rely more heavily on their samples than other obvious samples in other popular songs. Like, the title is the same as the original song. But I also used to get annoyed by the Puff Daddy track that sampled the entire musical backing (and melodic hook) of "Every Breath You Take" by the Police.

I voted for the Meat Loaf song that I didn't even know was released as a single.

are you referring to lisa loeb's "stay"? tho i personally often mistake it for a late(r) '90s hit

Do you mistake it for Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn”? Because I do.

i never directly confuse them but the similarity is prob why i tend to get the general timeframe wrong

The Hammer, Vanilla Ice, and Marky Mark tracks all rely way too heavily on their samples to get by. (I also remember all of them from elementary school.) And I mean they rely more heavily on their samples than other obvious samples in other popular songs. Like, the title is the same as the original song. But I also used to get annoyed by the Puff Daddy track that sampled the entire musical backing (and melodic hook) of "Every Breath You Take" by the Police.

I voted for the Meat Loaf song that I didn't even know was released as a single.

― King SunnO))) Adé (Tom Violence), Sunday, July 26, 2020 4:34 PM bookmarkflaglink

yeah when I was 11, while I was a fan of Hammer's "delivery", the beat was more my thing and I obviously didn't know who Rick James was at the time.

"Have You Seen Her?" much the same. one time when I was a kid the Chi-Lites song came on the radio and I said "wow dad how do u know Hammer lyrics" until I heard no rapping moments later.

Shakespeare's Sister's "Stay" was played like hell that summer, then vanished, and it's still the only post-Eurythmics thing by Dave Stewart I like.

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, July 23, 2020 6:54 PM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

anyway, I'm listening to Shakespeare's Sister Hormonally Yours and holy shit it's a pleasant surprise. Alan Moulder co-produced!

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, July 23, 2020 7:11 PM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

At the age of 12 (1992) I was completely obsessed by this album, I listened to the cassette twice a night for I think about a year, it's almost certainly the album I have heard the most in my life, and yes, it still seems to basically bear up. I could not believe that Goodbye Cruel World and I Don't Care weren't big hits too.

I know Dave Stewart had a co-writing credit on 'Stay' but suspect that he didn't really have that much of a hand in it.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Over the past week I listened to every song on this list. Man there were a lot of boring power ballads on the charts in the early ‘90s. I’m voting for “Deeper and Deeper”, since “Justified and Ancient” didn’t make the top 50.

SO many great tunes on this, but the real answer is:

34. Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat

Hmm. As opposed to that other wacky poll, there are only 15 of these I know by title. I'll have to go through and see how many I still don't know after I listen to them.

There's a tight through line between Dave Stewart, Alan Moulder and the Curve principals. For that matter, looks like Stewart was married to Siobhan Fahey from Shakespeare's Sister, so whoot, there that is, too.

"If" is the best one here imo

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

pleasing grouping of Madonna and George Michael tracks

I like “Deeper and Deeper” but “Daddy couldn’t be all wrong / And my mama made me learn this song” is a really cringey lyric, especially for a chorus.

A bridge tho, right?

thank you to the ppl who voted for "looking through patient eyes" which would have been my second choice behind "justify my love"

I figure the bridge would be “Someone said that romance was dead...” (x-post)