Hi, I’m Generic British Generation X Guy. You may remember me from such posts as Dear diary, my teen-angst bullshit had Ice-T’s Body Count, Christian Slater was a better Jack Nicholson than Jack Nicholson, and Earth is roughly 4 billion years old but I’m glad I was alive at the point in time when SL2’s On A Ragga Tip sat attop the U.K Top 40.
Always wanted to compile a best non-Rap singles of the 1990s list but was daunted at how time-consuming and mind-bending it’d end up being. I was right: it was a right royal pain in the posterior to whittle the 1990s down to 101 singles since it’s an incredible decade which also happens to be plagued by the absolute worst type of nostalgia – whether it’s Rap, Rock, R&B or Rave there’s a very specific type of ageing bloke who remains forever frozen in 1996/1997 and who is constantly doing his damndest to ruin 90s classics for me. Anyhoo, after a lotta lotta deliberation this is my definitive 101 favourite 1990s Other Genres™ singles, which is set in stone and never to be changed (… until I remember summat obvious I’ve forgotten, natch.)
The Family Stand – Ghetto Heaven (Soul II Soul remix) (1990)
Chris Isaak – Wicked Game (1990)
Happy Mondays – Kinky Afro (1990)
Bell Biv DeVoe – Poison (1990)
Slayer – Seasons Of The Abyss (1990)
Shabba Ranks – Dem Bow (1990)
Jane’s Addiction – Been Caught Stealing (1990)
808 State – Cubik (1990)
Madonna – Justify My Love (1990)
Suicidal Tendencies – Send Me Your Money (1990)
EMF – Unbelievable (1990)
Lisa Stansfield – All Around The World (1990)
Alice In Chains – Man In The Box (1990)
LFO – We Are Back (1991)
Nirvana – Lithium (1991)
SL2 – Way In My Brain (1991)
Massive Attack ft. Shara Nelson – Unfinished Sympathy (1991)
Prince & The New Power Generation – Gett Off (1991)
Seaweed – One Out Of Four (1991)
Second Phase – Mentasm (1991)
Aretha Daye ft. MC Chan – No More (Making Love) (1991)
Genesis – I Can’t Dance (1991)
Liquid – Sweet Harmony (1991)
Soundgarden – Rusty Cage (1991)
Altern-8 – Activ-8 (Come With Me) (1991)
Talk Talk – Ascension Day (1991)
Sounds Of Blackness – Optimistic (1991)
The House Crew – Keep The Fire Burning (1991)
Teenage Fanclub – What You Do To Me (1991)
Young Disciples – Apparently Nothing (1991)
Paperclip People – Oscillator (Electronic Flirtation Device) (1991)
Brand New Heavies ft. N’Dea Davenport – Never Stop (1991)
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Give It Away (1991)
Shades Of Rhythm – The Sound Of Eden (1991)
Danzig – Dirty Black Summer (1992)
Sade – Cherish The Day (1992)
A Guy Called Gerald – 28 Gun Bad Boy (1992)
Mary J. Blige – Real Live (1992)
Cajmere – Let Me Be (1992)
The Prodigy – Out Of Space (1992)
Bobby Brown – Two Can Play That Game (K Klassic mix) (1992)
L7 – Pretend We’re Dead (1992)
Chaka Demus & Pliers – Murder She Wrote (1992)
Underground Resistance – Jupiter Jazz (1992)
Faith No More – Easy (1993)
Foul Play – Finest Illusion (1993)
The Breeders – Cannonball (1993)
Big Drill Car – Surrender (1993)
Hardrive – Deep Inside (1993)
Jodeci – Feenin’ (1993)
Girls Against Boys – Bulletproof Cupid (1993)
Vicious ft. Doug E. Fresh – Freaks (1993)
Portishead – Sour Times (1994)
Weezer – Buddy Holly (1994)
UK Apachi ft. Shy FX – Original Nuttah (1994)
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Bellbottoms (1994)
TLC – Waterfalls (1994)
Green Day – Basket Case (1994)
Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy (1994)
Mariah Carey ft. ODB – Fantasy (Remix) (1995)
Kyuss – One Inch Man (1995)
Total ft. Notorious B.I.G – Can’t You See (1995)
Shaggy – Boombastic (1995)
Rancid – Roots Radicals (1995)
Everything But The Girl – Missing (Todd Terry remix) (1995)
Ghost Town DJ’s – My Boo (1996)
Ginuwine – Pony (1996)
The Cardigans – Lovefool (1996)
Blackstreet ft. Dr. Dre & Queen Pen – No Diggity (1996)
Norma Jean Bell – I’m The Baddest Bitch (Moodymann Remix) (1996)
Tricky – Christiansands (1996)
Tori Amos – Professional Widow (Armand Van Helden mix) (1996)
Super Furry Animals – God! Show Me Magic (1996)
Mark Morrison – Return Of The Mack (1996)
Aux 88 – Electrotechno (1996)
D’Angelo ft. Redman – Me & Those Dreamin’ Eyes Of Mine (Def Squad mix) (1996)
Lynden David Hall – Sexy Cinderella (1997)
Lathun – Freak It (1997)
Laurent Garnier – Crispy Bacon (1997)
Handsome – Needles (1997)
Dem 2 – Destiny (Sleepless) (1997)
Natalie Imbruglia – Torn (1997)
Beenie Man – Who Am I (Sim Simma) (1997)
Coldcut – Atomic Moog 2000 (Bullet Train edit) (1997)
SWV ft. Missy Elliot – Can We (1997)
Double 99 – Ripgroove (1997)
Money Mark – Hand In Your Head (1998)
Faith Evans – Love Like This (1998)
Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You (1998)
Whitney Houston – It’s Not Right But It’s Okay (1998)
Tamia – So Into You (1998)
Paul Johnson – Get Get Down (1999)
Limp Bizkit – Break Stuff (1999)
Mr. Oizu – Flat Beat (1999)
Kelis – Caught Out There (1999)
The Messenger AKA Todd Edwards – So Real (1999)
Blink-182 – All The Small Things (1999)
Artful Dodger ft. Craig David – Re-Rewind (1999)
Donnell Jones ft. Left Eye – U Know What’s Up (1999)
Larry Heard – Missing You (1999)
As noted previously, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Massive Attack and Tricky selections are songs I love by artists I loathe.
The SL2, Cajmere, and Underground Resistance selections weren’t technically the first songs on their respective 12″s but they became A-side anthems in their own rights because they’re simply THAT good.
Slint’s Spiderland is one of my favourite Other Genres™ 90s albums on some Yank equivalent of Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock type shit, but it doesn’t have any singles and I’m not too fussed about Slint’s actual 10″ single.
