As I mentioned on Friday’s S2: Episode 5: Number Ones —sometimes I find some details that I think are pretty cool, and I wanted to share that info with you.
I covered that I thought there were 3 all-time bangers that were released on that March 21st timeframe—plus 2 more that were probably right on the cusp of all-time classics. What are the odds of that many classic tunes that hit #1 on the same week, just in different years? Well…I’m not a statistician…but….it seems like it would not be too common.
For this episode—let’s look at that same timeframe for the 1990’s. Same as the 1980’s—there were 10 Billboard Hot 100 #1 songs for the day/week.
A breakdown of all the #1 songs on March 21st—but this time in the 90’s:
March 21, 1990 - Escapade - Janet Jackson. It was tied for most weeks at #1 in 1990—3 weeks. Crazy stat - Janet had seven! top 5 hits off of this album—and this was the third.
March 21, 1991 - Someday - Mariah Carey. 2 weeks at #1—and was Mariah’s 3rd straight #1 single. She was well on her way to becoming a true mega-pop star.
March 21, 1992 - Save The Best For Last - Vanessa Williams. Was #1 for 5 weeks—and her biggest hit of her career. It was nominated for 3 Grammy’s that year also.
March 21, 1994 - The Sign - Ace of Base - This album from this band was considered one of the most successful debut albums of all time—it was the top selling album of 1994. This song was #1 for 6 weeks.
March 21, 1995 - Take A Bow - Madonna. Tied for the 2nd most #1 weeks that year—7 weeks at #1
March 21, 1996 - One Sweet Day - Mariah Carey w/Boys II Men. 16 weeks at #1—it dropped out of #1 just one week later—but a 90’s classic.
March 21, 1997 - Wannabe - Spice Girls. Surprisingly—at least to me—the Spice Girls had 7 Billboard Top 20 hits—but they only had one #1—their breakout single: Wannabe. It made it 4 weeks at #1.
March 21, 1998 - Getting Jiggy With It - Will Smith. His biggest single and first #1. It made it 3 weeks at #1.
March 21, 1999 - Believe - Cher. 4 weeks at #1—2nd most for the year. What is crazy to me—Cher had been charting for 20 years in 1999, but this was her first solo #1 hit. She had 4 top 10 singles in the late 80’s—but not #1. She had hit #1 back in 1965 with Sonny with I Got You Babe.
So….my true “eras” of music were the 80’s and 90’s. You may agree or disagree on if these 90’s songs are truly “classics”—but—I will look at another source to determine if these songs are monster hits, at least for the decade. Whether they are all-timers or not? Debatable—but I will say—there are some very memorable songs from that March 21st timeframe.
Looking at Billboards list of Top 100 songs of the 90’s—and comparing it to the songs I listed above, 7 of the 10 songs were on this list. Impressive.
1990 - Escapade - Not on the list
1991 - Someday - Not on the list
1992 - Save The Best For Last - #47 - top charting song from Vanessa Williams
1993 - ???(See Anything Goes below)- #28 - top charting song from this artist
1994 - The Sign - #11 - first #1 charting song from Ace of Base
1995 - Take A Bow - #24
1996 - One Sweet Day - #1 - considered the top song of the decade
1997 - Wannabe - #35 - top charting song of The Spice Girls
1998 - Gettin’ Jiggy With It - Didn’t make the list - but - I would say it’s pretty memorable. I mean…the word “Jiggy” was used and abused by way way way too many people once upon a time. Plus, first #1 charting song from Will Smith
1999 - Believe - #31 - top charting song from Cher
If you notice—I skipped 1993…..see Anything Goes below.
TV 📺
Hodge-Podge💥
Who was the only person that was a cast member of both Saturday Night Live and In Living Color?
Movies🎬🍿
Hodge-Podge💥
Oh….how the times have changed. When this movie was released in 1983 - it was infamously known for using the “F-word” the most times—207 times. Now? It’s ranked #93. This film was a remake of a 1932 film, and was written by future famous director Oliver Stone.
Tell me this famous 1983 American crime drama.
Music🎧📻
Hodge-Podge💥
Two songs with the same title but entirely different lyrics both hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1981. Both songs were released in 1980—and climbed up the charts in 1981. The first song—we’ll call it Song A—was from a successful 1980 movie. The second song—we’ll call it Song B—had to “tweak” it’s title in the U.S., so it wouldn’t be confused with Song A.
Name these 2 songs and their artists.
Anything Goes🍟📖🏆🪀🗓️
One-Hit Wonders💥
March 21, 1993 - An insane One-Hit Wonder—VH-1 ranked it the #17 One-Hit Wonder for the decade. It was #1 for 7 weeks—2nd most weeks 1993.
Who is this artist and what is the name of this catchy tune?
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