The 90's US One-Hit Wonders Rate: WINNER REVEALED - Goodbye, farewell and amen
- Thread starter Ironheade
- Start date
he/him
I understand that they fit the criteria as laid out for this rate, and we are only talking about the USA, but it feels so strange to consider The Cardigans “one-hit wonders.” Whereas I know Jennifer Paige continued making music but she never really reached the same stratosphere again.
Things got a bit messy a while back, but thankfully the evil was defeated before we got to the top 3. My ideal top 2 would have actually been Criminal vs Groove Is In The Heart, but both remaining songs are 10s so it's all good. Rooting for Lovefool because I really love The Cardigans, but I wouldn't mind if Crush got it either.
So. Ladies and gentlemen. No frills on this reveal, OK. Let's Nike and JUST DO IT.
Your winner is.......................
1. LOVEFOOL
Average score: 9.393
Highest scores: 4 x 11 (@Sprockrooster , @saviodxl , @iheartpoptarts , @4Roses ); 19 x 10 (@CorgiCorgiCorgi , @2014 , @soratami , @WowWowWowWow , @ModeRed , @pop3blow2 , @Daniel_O , @DominoDancing , @Aester , @unnameable , @Andy French , @Seventeen Days , @GimmeWork , @Conan , @Hurricane Drunk , @K94 , @AshleyKerwin , @Remorque , @Blond )
Lowest scores: 1 x 5 (əʊæ)
Chart positions: #2 Radio Songs, #1 Mainstream Top 40, #2 Adult Top 40, #23 Adult Contemporary, #9 Modern Rock, #18 Rhythmic Songs, #5 Dance Club Songs
Year-End Hot 100: N/A
Who? Oh yeah, them...
As soon as I drew up the final list for this rate, I immediately pegged “Lovefool” as the most likely winner of the pack, easily the one to beat. And, as it turns out, I was totally right: “Lovefool” ended up with the only 9+ score in the competition, and remained in pole position for almost the entire voting period, barring a very brief dethroning by “What is Love” early on in the voting, and even then it only slipped to #2. It was almost as dominant as “Vogue” was in my US 90's #1's rate – and that song, if you don't remember, stayed on top for the entire voting period and never slipped once! That damn Swedish songwriting magic, eh? Yeah, the land of Ikea and meatballs took both the top and bottom spots in this rate, in a stunning display of versatility – so let us, for the last time, attend to the Cardigans, and just how much we love them, love them...
...No! I swear, if my editor returns a photo of the place in Wales on the second try...
Just like every musician in Sweden, the members of the Cardigans got their start playing in heavy metal bands. (Yes, every musician. Ask Max Martin about It's Alive sometime, or Shellback about Blinded Colony.) Guitarist Peter Svensson cycled through a number of bands throughout the 80's, his primary band being the doom metal outfit Stormbringer, who later changed their name to Faith; he also replaced future Candlemass frontman Messiah Marcolin as the drummer in a band called Mercy. Yes, it wouldn't be the last writeup of the rate without one extremely unlikely musical connection, would it? However, Svensson and his bandmate Magnus Sveningsson, who played bass, wanted to branch out musically, and create a pop band that would be “as magical as the Beatles”, as well as feeling somewhat stifled by the lack of much of a music scene in their small, religious and quite conservative hometown of Jonkoping. Together with a couple of childhood friends, drummer Bengt Lagerberg and keyboardist Lars-Olof “Lasse” Johansson, they formed the Cardigans in 1992, and relocated to the larger city of Malmo to seek their fortune in 1994. Sharing a dilapidated apartment together, they recorded their first demo tape that same year. Lead vocals on the demo were largely provided by Svensson, but on one song towards its end, their final missing ingredient came in: the wonderfully sugary yet brittle and icy vocals of Nina Persson, who was soon to become their lead vocalist.
I'd rather stare at this album cover for half an hour than any episode of Emmerdale, so...
Anyway, producer Ola Herrmanson certainly saw something in Persson and the Cardigans, because he signed them to his small label Trampolene Records on the strength of the demo, where the band put out their first album Emmerdale in 1994. It's named after the soap opera because it was the most British thing the band could think of, there's a dog on the cover, and they cover Black Sabbath's “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” on it. What more do you need? It won them their first radio hit in their home country with its lead single “Rise and Shine”, but it did not see release outside Sweden and Japan at the time. No, further international recognition and commercial stardom would have to wait until the next year, and the release of their second album, Life. Worldwide, the tracklisting for this one would be rejigged, removing several albums tracks in favour of re-recorded versions of several songs from Emmerdale. It's a canny move that's happened before, introducing a foreign artist with a small collection of their best previous hits, and it paid off – the lead single “Carnival”, and the new versions of older songs “Rise and Shine” and “Sick and Tired”, all entered the Top 40 in the UK. The Cardigans also got a their first stateside push with this one, under the aegis of Minty Fresh, the Chicago indie label best known for having released the earliest material by Liz Phair and Veruca Salt. This edition was the one that was essentially a compilation of songs from their first two albums, as I've said, but it didn't really take commercially. It did have something of a cachet, though. “College rock” was not really a thing any more, but it was that crowd that they appealed to, definitely people who had a sense of “cool”. Clearly, Mercury Records thought, in the midst of the post-Nirvana alternative rock boom, that they could market to that audience, as they immediately snatched the Cardigans up to release their third album, First Band on the Moon, in 1996.
Doesn't look much like the moon to me, but what do I know?
To be honest, I can't really think of anything quite like this album. It was here that the Cardigans mastered their blend of sugary, upbeat pop-rock, with a distinctive 60's lounge-pop feel, balanced out by frequently dark and morose lyrics focusing on broken relationships and leftfield, even abstract arrangements. It's a very odd balance, but the Cardigans just about manage to pull off both the bubblegum hooks and the weirder stuff with aplomb, something that could not be said of some of the other alternative pop-rock acts in this rate. Very cool. (And the Black Sabbath connections don't stop with Emmerdale, either. First Band on the Moon contains a similarly lounge-poppy cover of “Iron Man”, and “Heartbreaker” quotes extensive portions of Black Sabbath's eponymous song at its beginning and end. Awesome.) And I'll tell you what was certainly cool in 1996: “Lovefool”, which was released as the lead single for the album in the autumn of that year, and scored themselves another UK Top 40 single and further popularity in Japan while seeing little success elsewhere, a pattern repeated by the album's second single “Been It”. But back to “Lovefool” for a minute. Persson said that, when she conceived “Lovefool”, she intended it to be slower – and, in fact, that she was originally inspired by bossa nova. Now that would be interesting to hear for sure, but when Bengt Lagerberg began playing a four-on-the-floor disco drumbeat during the recording sessions, the band kind of got stuck on it and knew they had to make the song more uptempo. Besides, as everyone knows: happy-sounding song + sad lyrics = $$$. And $$$ was just what they got, when “Lovefool” received a placement on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in 1996. (And we note, for a final time, the OHW CROSSOVERs they got with the Butthole Surfers, Des'ree and Baz himself for that one.) The song took off like a rocket, and the song's video, interspersed with clips of Leo and Claire from the film, was seemingly never not on MTV2. That spurred Mercury Records to undertake a re-release of “Lovefool”, which soon turned into a worldwide hit. Looks like we'd say that we loved them after all!
So what do I think?
NINE.
I'll just say it now: I didn't have much of a dog in this fight, “Lovefool” and “Crush” both got the same score from me, so I can't be bitter either way. That said, I probably would just about give the edge to “Lovefool”, if I had to pick. For one thing, Nina Persson is pretty much the perfect female indie-pop vocalist. Her small and sugary voice sounds very much as if it could sing of happiness and joy with as much aplomb as the darkness it usually finds itself applied to, and yet it has a cold, wavering and slightly too-perfect, glassy sound to it. Perfect for the story of a dysfunctional relationship and a desire to take any amount of abuse just to be close of someone that “Lovefool” is, in other words – as masterful a piece of pop lyricism in that regard as the mighty “When a Man Loves a Woman”, if I may be so bold. The vocal melody of the verses is brittle and staccato rather than a warm and flowing one, and her voice on the chorus approaches, not the simple call to be noticed that some pop listeners might have taken it as, but the desperate cry of a broken woman. It's really quite affecting if you take the time to hear what she's actually saying in the lyrics. The instrumentation, too, reflects this. Despite the relentless pulse of the four-on-the-floor beat and the spacious funk melody of the bassline, the two sharp upper-end guitar chucks and the icy single keyboard chord, layered over with an eerie buzz of distorted electric guitar at times, have an eerie and almost downright threatening quality about them. Even the rubbery funk bounce of the guitar driving the chorus sounds a little wrong and off, transposed into a minor-key mode that makes it sound irresistibly dark yet intoxicating, while the drums have a heavy, punchy sound that could be as much suited to hard rock as pop music. This, in other words, is exactly how you balance out instrumental sweetness and light (or at least it might seem so on the surface) with dark thoughts and subtle instrumental indicators that all might not be as it seems on the surface. Never is it a simple “happy song + sad lyrics = $$$” proposition, and it's all the better for it. And the whole thing is just laden with incredibly clever pop songwriting tricks the way only the Swedes can do them: the crunching rock guitar chords leading into the chorus, giving the song a firmer foundation and preventing the otherwise light tones of the instrumentation from sounding too twee; the short airy break with a bit of a vocal-distortion effect that comes after the first chorus, fooling you into thinking another verse is coming back in, before the Cardigans slam back in with another chorus just to properly drive that irresistible hook home; the way Bengt Lagerberg uses his hi-hat on the chorus, switching to sixteenth notes on the cymbal combined with harder strikes on the bass drum to play off Nina's desperate begging on the vocal front and really make the despair sound true and inescapable; the pulsating rhythmic guitar break in the outro, that sounds a bit like Nile Rodgers as viewed through a warped funhouse mirror.
Overall, then, as a pick to win this if it couldn't be one of my tens? Yeah. Yeah, I'd say “Lovefool” deserves the win.
Where Are They Now?™
First Band on the Moon, by the time “Lovefool” was done with its chart run, had gone gold in the United States and made the Cardigans into icons. Not the most happy of icons, though, it must be said. Like many of their alternative rock peers in this contest, the Cardigans had never particularly seen commercial success as one of their major goals, even given that they were making accessible pop music at their core. Even worse, they were one of the few artists in this competition, barring edge cases like Lee Mavers the hyper-perfectionist who hated everything he ever put out in the end, who actively disliked their one hit, or at least they did for a little while. To hear them tell it, they seemed to regard it as a throwaway, bubblegum sort of number that distracted the public from their other, more outwardly substantial work. But in the mean time, the money just kept rolling in, in large part from media placements not unlike that with which they had made their name in the US. They played themselves on an episode of Beverly Hills 90210, and were asked to submit a theme song for James Bond's latest outing Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997, but passed on the offer as it would have been too much of a workload for them to take on at the time (though Nina later called their turning it down “one of my biggest mistakes”). Yes, for a brief time, the Cardigans were the very essence of alternative rock cool. Nina in particular had been made something of a hipster sex symbol, and a bit of a caricatured Scandinavian “ice queen” at that, by the music press in the wake of “Lovefool”, and that was a status that she was not at all comfortable with, as she made quite clear in retrospective interviews. Still, in the moment of 1997, and immediately following the release of “Lovefool”, that was what she was. There was yet one more single to be squeezed out from First Band on the Moon – that being “Your New Cuckoo”, which only managed a relatively lowly Top 40 placing in the UK and nowhere else. There was a new album coming down the pipeline anyway, so they might as well wait for that to come through until really trying for a follow-up hit, right?
Few years off, but whatever. BEST RACING GAME EVER.
In 1998, they released Gran Turismo, a major departure from the sunny-pop-with-dark-lyrics formula of “Lovefool” to dark-pop-with-dark-lyrics. The whole album has a much thicker atmosphere with more heavily distorted guitars and harsh synthesizer sounds, and a heavier emphasis on electronics and programming: in fact, you could quite easily see a fair few of these songs coming from Garbage. Which is no bad thing, of course. Gran Turismo provided the Cardigans with their second most popular single, “My Favourite Game”, which got to #16 on the Modern Rock chart without crossing over to the pop stations in the big way in the US, but was a moderate hit in a number of European markets; the second single “Erase/Rewind” made #7 in the UK, and charted in some European countries as well, though not particularly highly, while the album racked up a number of gold certifications across the continent and a platinum disc in the UK. They even got some good placements: “Lovefool” got more attention when it appeared in Cruel Intentions (alongside its OHW CROSSOVER cousin “Bitter Sweet Symphony”), “Deuce” was on the X-Files movie soundtrack, “Erase/Rewind” appeared in Never Been Kissed and The Thirteenth Floor... and “My Favourite Game”, most notably of all, was in Gran Turismo 2, which I suppose was a bit of an obvious thing to do. So, yeah, we definitely have another case of a foreign band who is far more popular in their home country, and the rest of the world, than they are in the US. The thing is, I really don't know where the Cardigans could have fitted in with the US market. Sure, the output of Cheiron Studios had made the typical happy Swedish pop melodies mainstream in a way they had not been when “Lovefool” broke through, but the Cardigans evidently had no interest in jumping aboard the pop train; even when they tried for a darker and rockier sound on Gran Turismo, which may have suited the American market better, they were still just that bit too poppy and self-consciously ironic for the immensely serious zone that was alternative radio in 1998. Believe it or not, they actually got their biggest hit in their native Sweden the next year, going all the way to #2, as well as scoring a #7 in the UK: it was a collaboration with Tom Jones on his cover of Talking Heads' “Burning Down the House”, which came from Reload, his Supernatural-style “old 60's legend mounts a comeback by recording with a bunch of popular younger guest artists” album. Not a great cover at that, it phases out all the eccentricities that made the original special, and I don't think Tom and Nina's voices really go together at all... still, a hit is a hit. It was their last hit for a while, though, as the Cardigans would go on hiatus in 1999 for the members to pursue other projects.
Still more country than Sam Hunt.
Peter Svensson had got his start as a solo act first, releasing a subdued, modest self-titled record as one half of indie-pop duo Paus in 1998; come the new millennium, he would even make an unexpected move by reviving his old doom metal band Faith and putting out their first official studio recordings. Nina Persson struck out under the name of A Camp, collaborating with the late Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, for a sweetly sad eponymous folk-pop disc in 2001; more of her focus, however, was placed on collaborations with other artists, particularly on contributions to the compositions of her husband Nathan Larson, the former guitarist of post-hardcore outfit Shudder to Think turned indie-movie composer. Meanwhile, Magnus Sveningsson put out his solo record I Sing Because of You, under the name Righteous Boy, in 2002. The Cardigans would not reconvene until 2003, with the release of the album Long Gone Before Daylight. Like Gran Turismo, it was darker and had a more serious tone than their previous work, focusing on subjects including; the difference was that, instead of being relatively hidden and sometimes a little harder to deduce as they had been before, they were a lot more out in the open now. Much of the members' work during the Cardigans' hiatus had had something of a folk flavour to it, and Long Gone Before Daylight was no different, even flirting with a country-rock sound in places while stripping out the great majority of the electronic elements from their production. The result was that a good chunk of their fanbase were not happy with it, and it received very mixed reviews from critics; given this and the five years' break preceding it, while it did decently well in Sweden and the rest of continental Europe (by this time, however, the UK was no longer giving them the big hits they had previously had there), it hardly set the charts on fire the way First Band on the Moon and Gran Turismo had done.
This carried over to their final album to date, 2005's Super Extra Gravity, which was relatively similar in tone and saw a similar level of commercial performance. They did try to rock out a bit more and get a harder sound with less country influences on this one, and Persson's lyrics (largely co-written with Nathan Larson on this outing) are as sharp as ever, but the whole thing feels surprisingly workmanlike sonically compared to their previous canon, a slick and streamlined effort that is the sound of a band that hasn't quite run out of steam and inspiration yet but will no doubt get there in the future. Given this, it's no surprise that the Cardigans announced that they were going on another hiatus in the autumn of 2006, after all their promotional activities for the record were done. And for a good long while, it seemed that the hiatus was to be permanent.
Send this away, please.
Nina Persson worked relatively slowly, coming out with a second A Camp album entitled Colonia in 2009. In 2007, Nina also got a featuring credit on a UK #2 single, that being “Your Love Alone Is Not Enough” by the Manic Street Preachers – which is one of the greatest latter-day anthems from one of the most reliable artists in their generation of British rock. (Yeah, can you tell that I'm salty it didn't go further in WowWowWowWow's UK number 2's of the 2000's rate? Still... that's PopJustice for ya.) For what it's worth, Manics frontman James Dean Bradfield has named Peter Svensson as his second-favourite guitarist of all time, so good on him. Speaking of Peter Svensson, he has arguably been the most commercially successful Cardigan in recent years, moving into songwriting and production. In recent years, he's really taken off. Actually, I believe that he is one of only two people in this competition, the other being a member of the Ghost Town DJs who worked on Big Boi's “The Way You Move”, who has been involved with a Hot 100 number one single, thanks to his co-writing credit on The Weeknd's “Can't Feel My Face”. He's done quite extensive further work with The Weeknd, including another one of his hits with “In the Night”; a fair few tracks with Ariana Grande, including “Love Me Harder” and “Breathin'”; a passel of songs for other big artists including Avril Lavigne, One Direction and Troye Sivan; and, as any forum gay knows, Carly Rae Jepsen's “I Really Like You”. Isn't it just so PopJustice, that the winner of this rate of all rates would have involvement with her? Now there's a good track record in songwriting by anybody's standards! ...Oh wait, he co-wrote “Me Too” for Meghan Trainor? That's it, CANCELLED!
The Cardigans exited their hiatus in 2012, but even though he still remains an official member of the band, Peter Svensson has not always been involved as a live performer, being too busy with his production and songwriting commitments. (Do they really need someone who wrote “Me Too” on board with them anyway? I think not.) They've never released any more music, but they have continued to play live concerts every so often, and their legacy has only continued to grow, with Nina in particular taking her place in the canon of female alternative rock icons of the 90's. Their most recent shows were a short swing through the UK last year, celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Gran Turismo. In an interview last year, Nina said that the Cardigans do not intend to ever make a new album, but will continue to play festivals and smaller shows intermittently as long as they find it fun, and whenever they can find time to do so amidst the members' various other endeavours. Nina put out her first solo album under her own name, Animal Heart, in 2014; Magnus Sveningsson oversaw the relaunch of the Cardigans' old label Trampolene, and plays with various cover bands around Malmo; Bengt Lagerberg and Lasse Johansson both play with smaller indie bands, the former with the pop group Brothers of End and the latter with folk outfit Up the Mountain; and of course Peter is busy writing with the big-shot camps out in LA. They've even come around to “Lovefool”, with Nina referring to it in an Instagram post commemorating the twentieth anniversary of its release as “our favourite nuisance”. Well, it looks very much as if it was PopJustice's favourite nuisance too. And you know what? It is a deserved win. Well done.
OVER TO THE PEANUT GALLERY
chanex (5.5): Always felt like I should love it and would never turn it off but I will always kinda be waiting for it to end.
əʊæ (5): Super annoyingly cute and fluffy.
Hudweiser (7): Version in Hot Fuzz >>>> this one.
Empty Shoebox (8): Not their best I'm afraid. For some reason it doesn't quite grab me. It's not bad, but there's something missing.
Auntie Beryl (9): Deducted a point because it isn’t even the best Cardigans single. Might not even be top five on that list.
berserkboi (9.8): A classic that will surely need no help getting into the top 10 but I have other faves I must support a little more and their discography is so great, this is not even top 5 for me anymore. Try I Need Some Fine Wine, For What It’s Worth, My Favourite Game, Erase Rewind, Rise & Shine for those high marks from me!
CasuallyCrazed (7.25): A bit overrated by the gen pop, still a clever original hit though.
DJHazey (9): Never been like an all-time favorite but it sounded much better this time than usual.
yuuurei (9.5): Adore this! A total fave. Lyrically it's a bit of a mess, but I can't help but love it.
Filippa (8): What an irresistible chorus!
Blond (10): A huge bop and a perfect pop chorus.
unnameable (10): I adore Nina’s voice and this is a great song.
Seventeen Days (10): Timeless bop. Essential for any 90s playlist.
GimmeWork (10): I don’t have to pretend.. I do love Lovefool.
WowWowWowWow (10): Sweden’s biggest exports are Volvos, flatpack furniture, and crying-at-the-discotheque anthems. Change my mind.
2014 (10): love these and am surprised they're considered one hit wonders? My Favourite Game and For What It's Worth deserve honourable mentions.
DominoDancing (10): Another contender for my 11. The Cardigans are an absolutely magnificent pop band and this is one of their best. On the surface it's so sugary and slight that one might be willing to dismiss it, but the songwriting is absolutely on point.
ModeRed (10): One more of my nearly 11's - have always been a fan of the slightly offhand vocal delivery for the verses, and the sweet chorus. A wondrous three minutes.
pop3blow2 (10): Just a classic. Is anyone scoring this under a 7 in this rate. The Cardigans were such an interesting band. The fact this considered their only hit is both fascinating & hilarious... but it is what it is. Oh, the world of pop. ‘Dear, I fear, we’re facing a problem’
4Roses (11): I honestly struggle to describe the hold this song has over me. The opening just sucks me into this whimsical tornado and spit me out before the chorus onto a sunny desert island.
Sprockrooster (11): Being the first single I bought there is always a sort of extra attachment to it. There is no other single like the first one. It is so damn precious. Also my first album was Tragic Kingdom. Being European and know about their other chart hits they do not feel as one hit wonders at all. And it might not even be their best song, but it is special that this track specifically is part of the rate. The chance of 11'ing The Cardigans in the future is slim, so I am grabbing my moment. This song is so happily fluff I can't get enough.
saviodxl (11): I'm pretty sure that the song being featured in DiCaprio's Romeo and Juliet movie gave the song a boost, but Lovefool is a masterpiece nonetheless! Poor Nina is in love but her love is unrequinted! Who couldn't identify with the situation? The contrast between the subject and the happy melody works really well here! LOVEFOOL IS JUST BRILLIANT.
iheartpoptarts (11): Actually the best song ever.
Your winner is.......................
1. LOVEFOOL
Average score: 9.393
Highest scores: 4 x 11 (@Sprockrooster , @saviodxl , @iheartpoptarts , @4Roses ); 19 x 10 (@CorgiCorgiCorgi , @2014 , @soratami , @WowWowWowWow , @ModeRed , @pop3blow2 , @Daniel_O , @DominoDancing , @Aester , @unnameable , @Andy French , @Seventeen Days , @GimmeWork , @Conan , @Hurricane Drunk , @K94 , @AshleyKerwin , @Remorque , @Blond )
Lowest scores: 1 x 5 (əʊæ)
Chart positions: #2 Radio Songs, #1 Mainstream Top 40, #2 Adult Top 40, #23 Adult Contemporary, #9 Modern Rock, #18 Rhythmic Songs, #5 Dance Club Songs
Year-End Hot 100: N/A
Who? Oh yeah, them...
As soon as I drew up the final list for this rate, I immediately pegged “Lovefool” as the most likely winner of the pack, easily the one to beat. And, as it turns out, I was totally right: “Lovefool” ended up with the only 9+ score in the competition, and remained in pole position for almost the entire voting period, barring a very brief dethroning by “What is Love” early on in the voting, and even then it only slipped to #2. It was almost as dominant as “Vogue” was in my US 90's #1's rate – and that song, if you don't remember, stayed on top for the entire voting period and never slipped once! That damn Swedish songwriting magic, eh? Yeah, the land of Ikea and meatballs took both the top and bottom spots in this rate, in a stunning display of versatility – so let us, for the last time, attend to the Cardigans, and just how much we love them, love them...
...No! I swear, if my editor returns a photo of the place in Wales on the second try...
Just like every musician in Sweden, the members of the Cardigans got their start playing in heavy metal bands. (Yes, every musician. Ask Max Martin about It's Alive sometime, or Shellback about Blinded Colony.) Guitarist Peter Svensson cycled through a number of bands throughout the 80's, his primary band being the doom metal outfit Stormbringer, who later changed their name to Faith; he also replaced future Candlemass frontman Messiah Marcolin as the drummer in a band called Mercy. Yes, it wouldn't be the last writeup of the rate without one extremely unlikely musical connection, would it? However, Svensson and his bandmate Magnus Sveningsson, who played bass, wanted to branch out musically, and create a pop band that would be “as magical as the Beatles”, as well as feeling somewhat stifled by the lack of much of a music scene in their small, religious and quite conservative hometown of Jonkoping. Together with a couple of childhood friends, drummer Bengt Lagerberg and keyboardist Lars-Olof “Lasse” Johansson, they formed the Cardigans in 1992, and relocated to the larger city of Malmo to seek their fortune in 1994. Sharing a dilapidated apartment together, they recorded their first demo tape that same year. Lead vocals on the demo were largely provided by Svensson, but on one song towards its end, their final missing ingredient came in: the wonderfully sugary yet brittle and icy vocals of Nina Persson, who was soon to become their lead vocalist.
I'd rather stare at this album cover for half an hour than any episode of Emmerdale, so...
Anyway, producer Ola Herrmanson certainly saw something in Persson and the Cardigans, because he signed them to his small label Trampolene Records on the strength of the demo, where the band put out their first album Emmerdale in 1994. It's named after the soap opera because it was the most British thing the band could think of, there's a dog on the cover, and they cover Black Sabbath's “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” on it. What more do you need? It won them their first radio hit in their home country with its lead single “Rise and Shine”, but it did not see release outside Sweden and Japan at the time. No, further international recognition and commercial stardom would have to wait until the next year, and the release of their second album, Life. Worldwide, the tracklisting for this one would be rejigged, removing several albums tracks in favour of re-recorded versions of several songs from Emmerdale. It's a canny move that's happened before, introducing a foreign artist with a small collection of their best previous hits, and it paid off – the lead single “Carnival”, and the new versions of older songs “Rise and Shine” and “Sick and Tired”, all entered the Top 40 in the UK. The Cardigans also got a their first stateside push with this one, under the aegis of Minty Fresh, the Chicago indie label best known for having released the earliest material by Liz Phair and Veruca Salt. This edition was the one that was essentially a compilation of songs from their first two albums, as I've said, but it didn't really take commercially. It did have something of a cachet, though. “College rock” was not really a thing any more, but it was that crowd that they appealed to, definitely people who had a sense of “cool”. Clearly, Mercury Records thought, in the midst of the post-Nirvana alternative rock boom, that they could market to that audience, as they immediately snatched the Cardigans up to release their third album, First Band on the Moon, in 1996.
Doesn't look much like the moon to me, but what do I know?
To be honest, I can't really think of anything quite like this album. It was here that the Cardigans mastered their blend of sugary, upbeat pop-rock, with a distinctive 60's lounge-pop feel, balanced out by frequently dark and morose lyrics focusing on broken relationships and leftfield, even abstract arrangements. It's a very odd balance, but the Cardigans just about manage to pull off both the bubblegum hooks and the weirder stuff with aplomb, something that could not be said of some of the other alternative pop-rock acts in this rate. Very cool. (And the Black Sabbath connections don't stop with Emmerdale, either. First Band on the Moon contains a similarly lounge-poppy cover of “Iron Man”, and “Heartbreaker” quotes extensive portions of Black Sabbath's eponymous song at its beginning and end. Awesome.) And I'll tell you what was certainly cool in 1996: “Lovefool”, which was released as the lead single for the album in the autumn of that year, and scored themselves another UK Top 40 single and further popularity in Japan while seeing little success elsewhere, a pattern repeated by the album's second single “Been It”. But back to “Lovefool” for a minute. Persson said that, when she conceived “Lovefool”, she intended it to be slower – and, in fact, that she was originally inspired by bossa nova. Now that would be interesting to hear for sure, but when Bengt Lagerberg began playing a four-on-the-floor disco drumbeat during the recording sessions, the band kind of got stuck on it and knew they had to make the song more uptempo. Besides, as everyone knows: happy-sounding song + sad lyrics = $$$. And $$$ was just what they got, when “Lovefool” received a placement on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in 1996. (And we note, for a final time, the OHW CROSSOVERs they got with the Butthole Surfers, Des'ree and Baz himself for that one.) The song took off like a rocket, and the song's video, interspersed with clips of Leo and Claire from the film, was seemingly never not on MTV2. That spurred Mercury Records to undertake a re-release of “Lovefool”, which soon turned into a worldwide hit. Looks like we'd say that we loved them after all!
So what do I think?
NINE.
I'll just say it now: I didn't have much of a dog in this fight, “Lovefool” and “Crush” both got the same score from me, so I can't be bitter either way. That said, I probably would just about give the edge to “Lovefool”, if I had to pick. For one thing, Nina Persson is pretty much the perfect female indie-pop vocalist. Her small and sugary voice sounds very much as if it could sing of happiness and joy with as much aplomb as the darkness it usually finds itself applied to, and yet it has a cold, wavering and slightly too-perfect, glassy sound to it. Perfect for the story of a dysfunctional relationship and a desire to take any amount of abuse just to be close of someone that “Lovefool” is, in other words – as masterful a piece of pop lyricism in that regard as the mighty “When a Man Loves a Woman”, if I may be so bold. The vocal melody of the verses is brittle and staccato rather than a warm and flowing one, and her voice on the chorus approaches, not the simple call to be noticed that some pop listeners might have taken it as, but the desperate cry of a broken woman. It's really quite affecting if you take the time to hear what she's actually saying in the lyrics. The instrumentation, too, reflects this. Despite the relentless pulse of the four-on-the-floor beat and the spacious funk melody of the bassline, the two sharp upper-end guitar chucks and the icy single keyboard chord, layered over with an eerie buzz of distorted electric guitar at times, have an eerie and almost downright threatening quality about them. Even the rubbery funk bounce of the guitar driving the chorus sounds a little wrong and off, transposed into a minor-key mode that makes it sound irresistibly dark yet intoxicating, while the drums have a heavy, punchy sound that could be as much suited to hard rock as pop music. This, in other words, is exactly how you balance out instrumental sweetness and light (or at least it might seem so on the surface) with dark thoughts and subtle instrumental indicators that all might not be as it seems on the surface. Never is it a simple “happy song + sad lyrics = $$$” proposition, and it's all the better for it. And the whole thing is just laden with incredibly clever pop songwriting tricks the way only the Swedes can do them: the crunching rock guitar chords leading into the chorus, giving the song a firmer foundation and preventing the otherwise light tones of the instrumentation from sounding too twee; the short airy break with a bit of a vocal-distortion effect that comes after the first chorus, fooling you into thinking another verse is coming back in, before the Cardigans slam back in with another chorus just to properly drive that irresistible hook home; the way Bengt Lagerberg uses his hi-hat on the chorus, switching to sixteenth notes on the cymbal combined with harder strikes on the bass drum to play off Nina's desperate begging on the vocal front and really make the despair sound true and inescapable; the pulsating rhythmic guitar break in the outro, that sounds a bit like Nile Rodgers as viewed through a warped funhouse mirror.
Overall, then, as a pick to win this if it couldn't be one of my tens? Yeah. Yeah, I'd say “Lovefool” deserves the win.
Where Are They Now?™
First Band on the Moon, by the time “Lovefool” was done with its chart run, had gone gold in the United States and made the Cardigans into icons. Not the most happy of icons, though, it must be said. Like many of their alternative rock peers in this contest, the Cardigans had never particularly seen commercial success as one of their major goals, even given that they were making accessible pop music at their core. Even worse, they were one of the few artists in this competition, barring edge cases like Lee Mavers the hyper-perfectionist who hated everything he ever put out in the end, who actively disliked their one hit, or at least they did for a little while. To hear them tell it, they seemed to regard it as a throwaway, bubblegum sort of number that distracted the public from their other, more outwardly substantial work. But in the mean time, the money just kept rolling in, in large part from media placements not unlike that with which they had made their name in the US. They played themselves on an episode of Beverly Hills 90210, and were asked to submit a theme song for James Bond's latest outing Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997, but passed on the offer as it would have been too much of a workload for them to take on at the time (though Nina later called their turning it down “one of my biggest mistakes”). Yes, for a brief time, the Cardigans were the very essence of alternative rock cool. Nina in particular had been made something of a hipster sex symbol, and a bit of a caricatured Scandinavian “ice queen” at that, by the music press in the wake of “Lovefool”, and that was a status that she was not at all comfortable with, as she made quite clear in retrospective interviews. Still, in the moment of 1997, and immediately following the release of “Lovefool”, that was what she was. There was yet one more single to be squeezed out from First Band on the Moon – that being “Your New Cuckoo”, which only managed a relatively lowly Top 40 placing in the UK and nowhere else. There was a new album coming down the pipeline anyway, so they might as well wait for that to come through until really trying for a follow-up hit, right?
Few years off, but whatever. BEST RACING GAME EVER.
In 1998, they released Gran Turismo, a major departure from the sunny-pop-with-dark-lyrics formula of “Lovefool” to dark-pop-with-dark-lyrics. The whole album has a much thicker atmosphere with more heavily distorted guitars and harsh synthesizer sounds, and a heavier emphasis on electronics and programming: in fact, you could quite easily see a fair few of these songs coming from Garbage. Which is no bad thing, of course. Gran Turismo provided the Cardigans with their second most popular single, “My Favourite Game”, which got to #16 on the Modern Rock chart without crossing over to the pop stations in the big way in the US, but was a moderate hit in a number of European markets; the second single “Erase/Rewind” made #7 in the UK, and charted in some European countries as well, though not particularly highly, while the album racked up a number of gold certifications across the continent and a platinum disc in the UK. They even got some good placements: “Lovefool” got more attention when it appeared in Cruel Intentions (alongside its OHW CROSSOVER cousin “Bitter Sweet Symphony”), “Deuce” was on the X-Files movie soundtrack, “Erase/Rewind” appeared in Never Been Kissed and The Thirteenth Floor... and “My Favourite Game”, most notably of all, was in Gran Turismo 2, which I suppose was a bit of an obvious thing to do. So, yeah, we definitely have another case of a foreign band who is far more popular in their home country, and the rest of the world, than they are in the US. The thing is, I really don't know where the Cardigans could have fitted in with the US market. Sure, the output of Cheiron Studios had made the typical happy Swedish pop melodies mainstream in a way they had not been when “Lovefool” broke through, but the Cardigans evidently had no interest in jumping aboard the pop train; even when they tried for a darker and rockier sound on Gran Turismo, which may have suited the American market better, they were still just that bit too poppy and self-consciously ironic for the immensely serious zone that was alternative radio in 1998. Believe it or not, they actually got their biggest hit in their native Sweden the next year, going all the way to #2, as well as scoring a #7 in the UK: it was a collaboration with Tom Jones on his cover of Talking Heads' “Burning Down the House”, which came from Reload, his Supernatural-style “old 60's legend mounts a comeback by recording with a bunch of popular younger guest artists” album. Not a great cover at that, it phases out all the eccentricities that made the original special, and I don't think Tom and Nina's voices really go together at all... still, a hit is a hit. It was their last hit for a while, though, as the Cardigans would go on hiatus in 1999 for the members to pursue other projects.
Still more country than Sam Hunt.
Peter Svensson had got his start as a solo act first, releasing a subdued, modest self-titled record as one half of indie-pop duo Paus in 1998; come the new millennium, he would even make an unexpected move by reviving his old doom metal band Faith and putting out their first official studio recordings. Nina Persson struck out under the name of A Camp, collaborating with the late Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, for a sweetly sad eponymous folk-pop disc in 2001; more of her focus, however, was placed on collaborations with other artists, particularly on contributions to the compositions of her husband Nathan Larson, the former guitarist of post-hardcore outfit Shudder to Think turned indie-movie composer. Meanwhile, Magnus Sveningsson put out his solo record I Sing Because of You, under the name Righteous Boy, in 2002. The Cardigans would not reconvene until 2003, with the release of the album Long Gone Before Daylight. Like Gran Turismo, it was darker and had a more serious tone than their previous work, focusing on subjects including; the difference was that, instead of being relatively hidden and sometimes a little harder to deduce as they had been before, they were a lot more out in the open now. Much of the members' work during the Cardigans' hiatus had had something of a folk flavour to it, and Long Gone Before Daylight was no different, even flirting with a country-rock sound in places while stripping out the great majority of the electronic elements from their production. The result was that a good chunk of their fanbase were not happy with it, and it received very mixed reviews from critics; given this and the five years' break preceding it, while it did decently well in Sweden and the rest of continental Europe (by this time, however, the UK was no longer giving them the big hits they had previously had there), it hardly set the charts on fire the way First Band on the Moon and Gran Turismo had done.
This carried over to their final album to date, 2005's Super Extra Gravity, which was relatively similar in tone and saw a similar level of commercial performance. They did try to rock out a bit more and get a harder sound with less country influences on this one, and Persson's lyrics (largely co-written with Nathan Larson on this outing) are as sharp as ever, but the whole thing feels surprisingly workmanlike sonically compared to their previous canon, a slick and streamlined effort that is the sound of a band that hasn't quite run out of steam and inspiration yet but will no doubt get there in the future. Given this, it's no surprise that the Cardigans announced that they were going on another hiatus in the autumn of 2006, after all their promotional activities for the record were done. And for a good long while, it seemed that the hiatus was to be permanent.
Send this away, please.
Nina Persson worked relatively slowly, coming out with a second A Camp album entitled Colonia in 2009. In 2007, Nina also got a featuring credit on a UK #2 single, that being “Your Love Alone Is Not Enough” by the Manic Street Preachers – which is one of the greatest latter-day anthems from one of the most reliable artists in their generation of British rock. (Yeah, can you tell that I'm salty it didn't go further in WowWowWowWow's UK number 2's of the 2000's rate? Still... that's PopJustice for ya.) For what it's worth, Manics frontman James Dean Bradfield has named Peter Svensson as his second-favourite guitarist of all time, so good on him. Speaking of Peter Svensson, he has arguably been the most commercially successful Cardigan in recent years, moving into songwriting and production. In recent years, he's really taken off. Actually, I believe that he is one of only two people in this competition, the other being a member of the Ghost Town DJs who worked on Big Boi's “The Way You Move”, who has been involved with a Hot 100 number one single, thanks to his co-writing credit on The Weeknd's “Can't Feel My Face”. He's done quite extensive further work with The Weeknd, including another one of his hits with “In the Night”; a fair few tracks with Ariana Grande, including “Love Me Harder” and “Breathin'”; a passel of songs for other big artists including Avril Lavigne, One Direction and Troye Sivan; and, as any forum gay knows, Carly Rae Jepsen's “I Really Like You”. Isn't it just so PopJustice, that the winner of this rate of all rates would have involvement with her? Now there's a good track record in songwriting by anybody's standards! ...Oh wait, he co-wrote “Me Too” for Meghan Trainor? That's it, CANCELLED!
The Cardigans exited their hiatus in 2012, but even though he still remains an official member of the band, Peter Svensson has not always been involved as a live performer, being too busy with his production and songwriting commitments. (Do they really need someone who wrote “Me Too” on board with them anyway? I think not.) They've never released any more music, but they have continued to play live concerts every so often, and their legacy has only continued to grow, with Nina in particular taking her place in the canon of female alternative rock icons of the 90's. Their most recent shows were a short swing through the UK last year, celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Gran Turismo. In an interview last year, Nina said that the Cardigans do not intend to ever make a new album, but will continue to play festivals and smaller shows intermittently as long as they find it fun, and whenever they can find time to do so amidst the members' various other endeavours. Nina put out her first solo album under her own name, Animal Heart, in 2014; Magnus Sveningsson oversaw the relaunch of the Cardigans' old label Trampolene, and plays with various cover bands around Malmo; Bengt Lagerberg and Lasse Johansson both play with smaller indie bands, the former with the pop group Brothers of End and the latter with folk outfit Up the Mountain; and of course Peter is busy writing with the big-shot camps out in LA. They've even come around to “Lovefool”, with Nina referring to it in an Instagram post commemorating the twentieth anniversary of its release as “our favourite nuisance”. Well, it looks very much as if it was PopJustice's favourite nuisance too. And you know what? It is a deserved win. Well done.
OVER TO THE PEANUT GALLERY
chanex (5.5): Always felt like I should love it and would never turn it off but I will always kinda be waiting for it to end.
əʊæ (5): Super annoyingly cute and fluffy.
Hudweiser (7): Version in Hot Fuzz >>>> this one.
Empty Shoebox (8): Not their best I'm afraid. For some reason it doesn't quite grab me. It's not bad, but there's something missing.
Auntie Beryl (9): Deducted a point because it isn’t even the best Cardigans single. Might not even be top five on that list.
berserkboi (9.8): A classic that will surely need no help getting into the top 10 but I have other faves I must support a little more and their discography is so great, this is not even top 5 for me anymore. Try I Need Some Fine Wine, For What It’s Worth, My Favourite Game, Erase Rewind, Rise & Shine for those high marks from me!
CasuallyCrazed (7.25): A bit overrated by the gen pop, still a clever original hit though.
DJHazey (9): Never been like an all-time favorite but it sounded much better this time than usual.
yuuurei (9.5): Adore this! A total fave. Lyrically it's a bit of a mess, but I can't help but love it.
Filippa (8): What an irresistible chorus!
Blond (10): A huge bop and a perfect pop chorus.
unnameable (10): I adore Nina’s voice and this is a great song.
Seventeen Days (10): Timeless bop. Essential for any 90s playlist.
GimmeWork (10): I don’t have to pretend.. I do love Lovefool.
WowWowWowWow (10): Sweden’s biggest exports are Volvos, flatpack furniture, and crying-at-the-discotheque anthems. Change my mind.
2014 (10): love these and am surprised they're considered one hit wonders? My Favourite Game and For What It's Worth deserve honourable mentions.
DominoDancing (10): Another contender for my 11. The Cardigans are an absolutely magnificent pop band and this is one of their best. On the surface it's so sugary and slight that one might be willing to dismiss it, but the songwriting is absolutely on point.
ModeRed (10): One more of my nearly 11's - have always been a fan of the slightly offhand vocal delivery for the verses, and the sweet chorus. A wondrous three minutes.
pop3blow2 (10): Just a classic. Is anyone scoring this under a 7 in this rate. The Cardigans were such an interesting band. The fact this considered their only hit is both fascinating & hilarious... but it is what it is. Oh, the world of pop. ‘Dear, I fear, we’re facing a problem’
4Roses (11): I honestly struggle to describe the hold this song has over me. The opening just sucks me into this whimsical tornado and spit me out before the chorus onto a sunny desert island.
Sprockrooster (11): Being the first single I bought there is always a sort of extra attachment to it. There is no other single like the first one. It is so damn precious. Also my first album was Tragic Kingdom. Being European and know about their other chart hits they do not feel as one hit wonders at all. And it might not even be their best song, but it is special that this track specifically is part of the rate. The chance of 11'ing The Cardigans in the future is slim, so I am grabbing my moment. This song is so happily fluff I can't get enough.
saviodxl (11): I'm pretty sure that the song being featured in DiCaprio's Romeo and Juliet movie gave the song a boost, but Lovefool is a masterpiece nonetheless! Poor Nina is in love but her love is unrequinted! Who couldn't identify with the situation? The contrast between the subject and the happy melody works really well here! LOVEFOOL IS JUST BRILLIANT.
iheartpoptarts (11): Actually the best song ever.
So of course our second placer is...
2. CRUSH
Average score: 8.976
Highest scores: 1 x 11 (@Daniel_O ); 14 x 10 (@2014 , @Sprockrooster , @soratami , @DJHazey , @saviodxl , @pop3blow2 , @iheartpoptarts , @unnameable , @Andy French , @Hurricane Drunk , @LPMA , @K94 , @Untouchable Ace , @Remorque )
Lowest scores: 1 x 6 (@Hudweiser )
Chart positions: #3 Hot 100, #4 Radio Songs, #3 Mainstream Top 40, #19 Adult Top 40, #23 Adult Contemporary, #26 Rhythmic Songs
Year-End Hot 100: #21 (1998)
Who? Oh yeah, them...
And so, in this final hour, we come to our gallant loser. Yes, in a startling un-PJ move, pure pop loses out to alt pop, and Jennifer Paige, always an early favourite to take the crown, falls at the last hurdle. Sadly for Jennifer Paige, she never quite got the opportunity to get on top: “What is Love” managed to take the catbird's seat at one point, if only briefly, but “Crush” was sitting at #2 or #3 throughout almost the entire voting period. (The Top 3, I should point out, were very consistent throughout the whole span of the voting. Which is a really big point in their favour, I suppose! PJ is nothing if not proud of their faves.) Still, let us give a big round of applause to “Crush”, and for the last time, we shall explore how the public's infatuation with its artist turned out to be just (ah) a little crush (crush)...
Some things you just shouldn't try to make dance versions of...
Jennifer Paige was born in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta in 1973, as Jennifer Paige Scoggins; perhaps wisely, she dropped her surname upon going into music. (Jennifer Paige makes classic pop anthems. Jennifer Scoggins sells you four pounds of potatoes.) Music was an obsession from early on, as she sang in cafes and coffeehouses in her hometown alongside her older brother Chance – who later made contributions as a writer and producer to some of her albums – from the age of five onwards. By the age of seventeen, Jennifer was touring nationally with a Top 40 covers band named Vivid Image, and soon relocated to Los Angeles to work on her music career; her big break, however, came right back in her hometown of Atlanta, when she performed with another covers outfit named Joe's Band in front of a crowd of 50,000 at the 1996 Olympic Games. That got her the break necessary to record demos with producers in a proper studio, one of which was a dance version of Aretha Franklin's classic “Chain of Fools”. To be honest, that sounds like kind of a terrifying proposition to me – but it was enough to attract the attention of the record executives, and Jennifer soon got to work on the sessions to start recording her official debut.
But our love was red...
“Crush”, the song that would break her to the public, was recorded in one of these sessions in April 1998. The song, as was “Chain of Fools” and several other songs destined for her debut record, was produced by Andy Goldmark, who had written “Love is a Wonderful Thing” for Michael Bolton at the dawn of the decade, and has also penned tunes for Anne Murray, Peter Cetera and Kenny Fucking G; thus, I declare him to be evil incarnate. (Do his contributions to the canon of the Pointer Sisters and Patti Labelle erase this appalling track record, you may ask? ...No. No, they do not.) And her producer's MOR background was one not too much at odds with the artist he produced for: the album on which “Crush” appeared was largely full of simple, charmingly modest pop tunes with a light rock edge, and even a bit of a country-pop flavour in homage to her Southern background. Jennifer cited Etta James as her all-time favourite singer, and singers like Annie Lennox and Stevie Nicks as further inspiration. These were not exactly hip names with the kids as of 1998, but her sound was too overtly pop for the Lilith Fair crowd where those influences might suggest she would end up – particularly considering that, unlike those artists, Jennifer was not much of a songwriter at this stage, with most of her material coming from outside tunesmiths. This might be why she ended up on Hollywood Records, the pop-focused arm of the Disney Music Group in those palmy days before they struck gold with the recordings of Disney Channel teen stars, while international releases were handled by the independent German distributor Edel Music, who was looking for a young American star that they could establish an overseas presence with.
Still, these were glory days for teen pop, and “Crush” fit into that wave very nicely with its breezy summery sound and slyly suggestive lyrics. When Goldmark played “Crush” for the programme directors of the influential Los Angeles pop station KIIS-FM, they all loved it, and added it to heavy rotation within a few days. The song quickly became the most requested on KIIS-FM: a bit of a shock for Jennifer, as it had had no promotion or publicity blitz yet, given that it was so soon after it was recorded. As she said, “we had no pictures, photography, hadn't gotten it mastered or mass-produced, nothing”. That didn't stop it from spreading outside LA to becoming a national hit, and by the time Jennifer's self-titled debut album was released in August 1998, “Crush” was sitting comfortably in the Top 5.
Which nu-metal band is this?
(Oh yeah, and at the time, rumours went around in all the standard gossip mills that the song had been written for Joey Fatone of NSYNC, which soon led to speculation that they were dating. Both parties denied this, however, and said they were just good friends who happened to run into each other at concerts and TV appearances a lot. This isn't the last time NSYNC and Jennifer Paige will be involved with each other, though!)
So what do I think?
NINE.
Yeah, the best song of the late 90's teen pop explosion came from a woman who was actually old enough to drink, go figure. It's everything that this kind of pop should be, I think: sensual without being overly explicit, unique in terms of production values, fun and bouncy without being obnoxiously sugary. Let us begin, then, with the production. “Crush” is not quite contemporary with anything else in the pop scene in 1998, and that's what makes it work: there's a bouncy acoustic guitar jangle and naggingly sinuous fretless bass line that would not be out of place on adult-alternative radio, low-end plucky synths and a swirling whistle-tone melodic line in the post-chorus that suggest the teen pop wave coming out of Cheiron Studios, a softly percolating rhythm that vaguely approaches the more chilled-out end of dance music without ever quite becoming of it. All the elements work really well together and never sound incongruous, and the light, drifty tones of the instrumentation over a thicker and sultrier background atmosphere created by the acoustic guitars gives the impression of a hot, lazy summer afternoon beautifully. Which is probably the best thing for the song's mood, really. One clever thing that “Crush” does in the intro is that it introduces the “aaahhh... crush” backing vocal as an introductory hook in its own right. So when the chorus comes in fully, with the main topline taking the lead while that initial hook is pushed to the back, it feels like a satisfying moment, where something that was previously naked is presented fully dressed, and the interaction of two melodies that are quite compelling in and of themselves makes the vocal colour of the song far more interesting. Jennifer Paige has quite a nice voice, with a warm, soft tone to her lower range that works beautifully with the heat and desire of the lyrics in the verses, and though her higher notes on the chorus are admittedly a little shrill at times, that actually doesn't bother me: she uses it well, to express the desperate, heightened feeling of young lust. And of course, those hooks, both in the quicker rhythmic delivery of the verses and prechorus and the slower, airier lines of the chorus, plus the gentle post-chorus “sha la la”, are pretty damn undeniable. Let's just say, if any pure-pop song in this contest had to make it to #2, “Crush” was probably the best pick.
Where Are They Now?™
Jennifer Paige, as a pop star in 1999, was at something of a loose end when it came to what she could sell to the public. At twenty-five, she was several years older than the Britneys and Christinas of the world, and thus couldn't really play “innocent” convincingly and jump into full-on Max Martin teen pop. On the other side, though, she didn't quite have the quirkier stylings or harder edge that might have helped her fit in on adult-alternative radio, particularly considering that the whole Lilith Fair wave was starting to lose a bit of steam at the dawn of the new millennium anyway. Perhaps the female pop-rock sound of the middle of the 2000's may have suited her better, but that would not really hit for a few years. To be honest, the variety of different sounds on her first album sounds less like versatility, and more like an artist who was not quite sure where she wanted to go yet. And all this confusion showed in the disappointing chart stats that the singles following up “Crush” achieved. “Always You” became a #6 hit on Hot Dance Club Songs in remixed form, but it did not cross over to the Hot 100, and while the album's other main single “Sober” managed to make the lower half of the charts in a number of European countries, it had no presence in the US charts at all. Although, NSYNC did cover her song “Somewhere, Someday” for the soundtrack to Pokemon: The First Movie, so I guess that's something? Oh yeah, and she got to perform at the World Music Awards and even at the Vatican (though not for the Pope himself)... but let's be honest, we're all more interested in the Pokemon thing.
...Gah! Quit staring into my soul like that, lady!
To make matters worse, Jennifer's second album, 2001's Positively Somewhere, was yet another album from one of our competitors that came out the week after the 9/11 attacks, and thus got totally lost in the media coverage. Maybe her, The Verve Pipe and Macy Gray should start a support group? Positively Somewhere was more of a pop-rock effort than the pure pop of her debut, and Jennifer got more involved in songwriting here than she had on the first album, but the record also contained several covers - two of them are by Plumb, and that gets us an OHW CROSSOVER, as former Jars of Clay guitarist Matt Bronleewe was involved in the writing of both. The lead single was “These Days”, a song written by “Torn” scribe Phil Thornalley, which a year earlier had been a Top 20 hit in Australia for Popstars-spawned girl group Bardot. But it seemed that the States were not quite so amenable to it, as it barely scraped onto the Adult Top 40 in the very last spot, and didn't reach the Hot 100 at all. “Stranded”, one of the Plumb covers, was the second single, and it failed to make any American chart. But what's odd about those singles is, though their “official” chart positions in any market where they charted are not very high at all, they apparently both reached the Top 10 on Germany's radio airplay charts, and were also very popular on the radio in several East Asian countries, Japan most notably. Weird... but then again, Jennifer seems to be one of our few true cases of a “David Hasselhoff is huge in Germany” situations in this rate, as upon its release in Europe and Asia in the summer of 2002, Positively Somewhere proved quite successful, going Top 10 in Japan. Not successful enough for Hollywood Records though, who released a greatest hits compilation entitled Flowers in 2003, and then unceremoniously dropped Jennifer from the label. She left the industry for a while after that, but what she was doing in the next few in-between years, I really can't find any information about at all. I will therefore assume “black-ops agent for the government”.
She has a bit of an affinity for boy band members, doesn't she?
Jennifer came back out of hiding in 2007, signing to the independent record label Glor Music Production and releasing her comeback album Best Kept Secret the next year. This album was her first to be primarily written by herself, but it didn't even get a US release: in fact, from what I can tell, it was only released in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. It did pay off a little bit there though, as when the album was re-released in deluxe format the next year, the new song “Beautiful Lie” - a duet with Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, of all people – would reach #19 on the charts in Germany. Sadly, both of Jennifer's parents would pass away within two weeks of each other in early 2008, and to make matters worse, she was diagnosed with melanoma shortly afterwards and spent almost a year treating it. (Thankfully, she made a full recovery.) And as if it couldn't get any worse, her parents' home in Nashville washed away in the floods of 2010! Poor Jennifer. If I ever do a rate of “one-hit wonders who need a hug”, she'd rank high, for certain. In an interview with Billboard from 2017, she said that she “lost her passion” for music in the midst of her grief, and it took a while for her to get it back. Instead, she focused on recovery and doing a little behind-the-scenes stuff, as well as doing some work in the advertising industry by writing and recording voices for jingles. You know that “Nationwide is on your side” ad? Yeah, she's one of the voices that sings that. That's not to say she was completely gone from the music industry for all that time, though. In collaboration with folk musician Coury Palermo, she also released some holiday singles in 2011 under the name of The Fury, then changed it to Paige & Palermo for a pair of EPs in 2013. A full-length Christmas album entitled Holiday also came out as a solo project in 2012, and I'm happy to report, it does have some original self-penned songs on it. Good on anyone trying that on something as inherently mercenary as a Christmas album, y'know?
Well, you can't say she hasn't moved with the times graphic design wise.
Anyway, she says Holiday reignited her passion for music, which has now come back into full bloom. In recent years, Jennifer decided to hunker down and release her first album of originals in almost a decade. The fruit of her efforts, Starflower, came out in 2017, financed via a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter the previous year and released independently, and it's an interesting little record. It's more in the synthpop genre than her previous work, and it has some pretty dark and personal lyrics on it, touching on the death of her parents and the difficulties of living up to expectations placed upon her as a mother in a way that is far from the breeziness of the one hit we all know her for. If you're a fan of Tegan and Sara, or recent Scandipop-type stuff – oh, what am I saying, this is PopJustice, of course you are – it's well worth checking out. There's even an acoustic version of “Crush” tagged onto the end, if that tickles your fancy! Jennifer's still playing shows as well, but is not quite as active as she was at her height. Her website also hosts a podcast called Let's Connect, where she talks to various music industry figures, that she did in 2014: too bad it doesn't seem to be ongoing, because a few of the episodes that I looked through were quite interesting. Mostly, she seems to be spending more time with her family these days: she has a five-year-old daughter named Stella Rose, the inspiration for the title of Starflower DO YOU SEE WHAT SHE DID THERE GUYS, and she is, in fact, effing adorable. There have been far worse fates to befall our rate contenders than a nice quiet life with a family and well-received music that she can put out as and when she wants to, certainly.
Jennifer's aged well too, I've gotta say!
Oh yeah, and I have to share this. Jennifer Paige co-wrote “Magic”, the lead single for Smash Mouth's 2012 album of the same name. Yes, apparently not only were our favourite bunch of Guy Fieri impersonators still recording music in this very decade, but they were engaging other forgotten pop stars from their time to help them with it. It took us 70 reveals, but we finally got a one-hit wonder with a connection to Smash Mouth, the ultimate purveyors of 90's meme music! Washed up Smash Mouth, mind you, but Smash Mouth nonetheless. It's a proud moment to close out the rate with, certainly.
OVER TO THE PEANUT GALLERY
chanex (7): Does any gay person truly hate this song? I refuse to believe it even though I find it slightly bland.
Empty Shoebox (7): Decent song, but there are some moments where there are an incorrect number of syllables for the music, and it lacks a little punch. Solid otherwise.
ModeRed (7.5): Classy pop track.
AshleyKerwin (9): Expertly produced for a bubblegum pop song.
DominoDancing (8.5): Sounds effortless in a way few pop hits do. Really lovely and lush.
berserkboi (9.6): Unpopular opinion but the best bit is easily the intro instrumental with the soft ‘ah! Crush’ the rest is still classic but had the euphoria factor stayed at the Kate Bush level throughout – my 11 it would have snatched!
4Roses (9): Sensual, seductive, sex. I'd self combust if Britney ever covered this.
CasuallyCrazed (8): I worry the Glee version ruined this song forever for me.
Auntie Beryl (7.5): Undoubtedly heading for the top ten – if not there will be meltdowns from the melodramatic. S’alright. Didn’t someone do a parody version as Thrush?
Hudweiser (6): I saw a parody act cover this as 'Thrush': "Someone pass me up some yoghurt please / It's just a little thrush / And it won't itch as long as you don't scratch..." The original is therefore annihilated.
yuuurei (9.5): Just a great song, I always loved it. I can't say I've heard any of her other music though ... one hit is one hit, Jennifer.
Seventeen Days (9): I still remember the summer this came out. Every time this was on the radio, I cranked that shit up and GOT MY LIFE to this. I ran to buy the album and loved it, and I was waiting to hear what the next single would be. Shame that she didn’t go anywhere, because she was pretty dang good.
WowWowWowWow (9): Just don’t call her a one-hit wonder. Jennifer, my friend, wouldn’t you rather be a one-hit wonder than a none-hit wonder? Just don’t go too deep with it, baby…
əʊæ (9): morning radio staple for agessss.
unnameable (10): Excellent song.
2014 (10): pure pop smash; sure fire winner, right?
Sprockrooster (10): FUCK. Can it be more straightforward catchy than this?
iheartpoptarts (10): Your second best song is ‘These Days’ by Bardot. Go on, get mad at me.
DJHazey (10): Another one I've always had in my pop library from day one. Probably the most prototypical 'Hazey song' in the rate when you really breeak it down. Pop perfection.
pop3blow2 (10): So perfect. One of those songs that could’ve easily have gone to another artist & been an even bigger hit… but not actually been as good as she makes it. The fact that some fairly random ( i mean that lovingly) had a one-off hit with this makes it way better & symbolic of the song to me. A perfect pop moment. Loved it on Glee, too. They knew what was up!
saviodxl (10): Sophisticated teen pop at its best and one of my favorite karaoke anthems. What a song! WHAT A SONG!
2. CRUSH
Average score: 8.976
Highest scores: 1 x 11 (@Daniel_O ); 14 x 10 (@2014 , @Sprockrooster , @soratami , @DJHazey , @saviodxl , @pop3blow2 , @iheartpoptarts , @unnameable , @Andy French , @Hurricane Drunk , @LPMA , @K94 , @Untouchable Ace , @Remorque )
Lowest scores: 1 x 6 (@Hudweiser )
Chart positions: #3 Hot 100, #4 Radio Songs, #3 Mainstream Top 40, #19 Adult Top 40, #23 Adult Contemporary, #26 Rhythmic Songs
Year-End Hot 100: #21 (1998)
Who? Oh yeah, them...
And so, in this final hour, we come to our gallant loser. Yes, in a startling un-PJ move, pure pop loses out to alt pop, and Jennifer Paige, always an early favourite to take the crown, falls at the last hurdle. Sadly for Jennifer Paige, she never quite got the opportunity to get on top: “What is Love” managed to take the catbird's seat at one point, if only briefly, but “Crush” was sitting at #2 or #3 throughout almost the entire voting period. (The Top 3, I should point out, were very consistent throughout the whole span of the voting. Which is a really big point in their favour, I suppose! PJ is nothing if not proud of their faves.) Still, let us give a big round of applause to “Crush”, and for the last time, we shall explore how the public's infatuation with its artist turned out to be just (ah) a little crush (crush)...
Some things you just shouldn't try to make dance versions of...
Jennifer Paige was born in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta in 1973, as Jennifer Paige Scoggins; perhaps wisely, she dropped her surname upon going into music. (Jennifer Paige makes classic pop anthems. Jennifer Scoggins sells you four pounds of potatoes.) Music was an obsession from early on, as she sang in cafes and coffeehouses in her hometown alongside her older brother Chance – who later made contributions as a writer and producer to some of her albums – from the age of five onwards. By the age of seventeen, Jennifer was touring nationally with a Top 40 covers band named Vivid Image, and soon relocated to Los Angeles to work on her music career; her big break, however, came right back in her hometown of Atlanta, when she performed with another covers outfit named Joe's Band in front of a crowd of 50,000 at the 1996 Olympic Games. That got her the break necessary to record demos with producers in a proper studio, one of which was a dance version of Aretha Franklin's classic “Chain of Fools”. To be honest, that sounds like kind of a terrifying proposition to me – but it was enough to attract the attention of the record executives, and Jennifer soon got to work on the sessions to start recording her official debut.
But our love was red...
“Crush”, the song that would break her to the public, was recorded in one of these sessions in April 1998. The song, as was “Chain of Fools” and several other songs destined for her debut record, was produced by Andy Goldmark, who had written “Love is a Wonderful Thing” for Michael Bolton at the dawn of the decade, and has also penned tunes for Anne Murray, Peter Cetera and Kenny Fucking G; thus, I declare him to be evil incarnate. (Do his contributions to the canon of the Pointer Sisters and Patti Labelle erase this appalling track record, you may ask? ...No. No, they do not.) And her producer's MOR background was one not too much at odds with the artist he produced for: the album on which “Crush” appeared was largely full of simple, charmingly modest pop tunes with a light rock edge, and even a bit of a country-pop flavour in homage to her Southern background. Jennifer cited Etta James as her all-time favourite singer, and singers like Annie Lennox and Stevie Nicks as further inspiration. These were not exactly hip names with the kids as of 1998, but her sound was too overtly pop for the Lilith Fair crowd where those influences might suggest she would end up – particularly considering that, unlike those artists, Jennifer was not much of a songwriter at this stage, with most of her material coming from outside tunesmiths. This might be why she ended up on Hollywood Records, the pop-focused arm of the Disney Music Group in those palmy days before they struck gold with the recordings of Disney Channel teen stars, while international releases were handled by the independent German distributor Edel Music, who was looking for a young American star that they could establish an overseas presence with.
Still, these were glory days for teen pop, and “Crush” fit into that wave very nicely with its breezy summery sound and slyly suggestive lyrics. When Goldmark played “Crush” for the programme directors of the influential Los Angeles pop station KIIS-FM, they all loved it, and added it to heavy rotation within a few days. The song quickly became the most requested on KIIS-FM: a bit of a shock for Jennifer, as it had had no promotion or publicity blitz yet, given that it was so soon after it was recorded. As she said, “we had no pictures, photography, hadn't gotten it mastered or mass-produced, nothing”. That didn't stop it from spreading outside LA to becoming a national hit, and by the time Jennifer's self-titled debut album was released in August 1998, “Crush” was sitting comfortably in the Top 5.
Which nu-metal band is this?
(Oh yeah, and at the time, rumours went around in all the standard gossip mills that the song had been written for Joey Fatone of NSYNC, which soon led to speculation that they were dating. Both parties denied this, however, and said they were just good friends who happened to run into each other at concerts and TV appearances a lot. This isn't the last time NSYNC and Jennifer Paige will be involved with each other, though!)
So what do I think?
NINE.
Yeah, the best song of the late 90's teen pop explosion came from a woman who was actually old enough to drink, go figure. It's everything that this kind of pop should be, I think: sensual without being overly explicit, unique in terms of production values, fun and bouncy without being obnoxiously sugary. Let us begin, then, with the production. “Crush” is not quite contemporary with anything else in the pop scene in 1998, and that's what makes it work: there's a bouncy acoustic guitar jangle and naggingly sinuous fretless bass line that would not be out of place on adult-alternative radio, low-end plucky synths and a swirling whistle-tone melodic line in the post-chorus that suggest the teen pop wave coming out of Cheiron Studios, a softly percolating rhythm that vaguely approaches the more chilled-out end of dance music without ever quite becoming of it. All the elements work really well together and never sound incongruous, and the light, drifty tones of the instrumentation over a thicker and sultrier background atmosphere created by the acoustic guitars gives the impression of a hot, lazy summer afternoon beautifully. Which is probably the best thing for the song's mood, really. One clever thing that “Crush” does in the intro is that it introduces the “aaahhh... crush” backing vocal as an introductory hook in its own right. So when the chorus comes in fully, with the main topline taking the lead while that initial hook is pushed to the back, it feels like a satisfying moment, where something that was previously naked is presented fully dressed, and the interaction of two melodies that are quite compelling in and of themselves makes the vocal colour of the song far more interesting. Jennifer Paige has quite a nice voice, with a warm, soft tone to her lower range that works beautifully with the heat and desire of the lyrics in the verses, and though her higher notes on the chorus are admittedly a little shrill at times, that actually doesn't bother me: she uses it well, to express the desperate, heightened feeling of young lust. And of course, those hooks, both in the quicker rhythmic delivery of the verses and prechorus and the slower, airier lines of the chorus, plus the gentle post-chorus “sha la la”, are pretty damn undeniable. Let's just say, if any pure-pop song in this contest had to make it to #2, “Crush” was probably the best pick.
Where Are They Now?™
Jennifer Paige, as a pop star in 1999, was at something of a loose end when it came to what she could sell to the public. At twenty-five, she was several years older than the Britneys and Christinas of the world, and thus couldn't really play “innocent” convincingly and jump into full-on Max Martin teen pop. On the other side, though, she didn't quite have the quirkier stylings or harder edge that might have helped her fit in on adult-alternative radio, particularly considering that the whole Lilith Fair wave was starting to lose a bit of steam at the dawn of the new millennium anyway. Perhaps the female pop-rock sound of the middle of the 2000's may have suited her better, but that would not really hit for a few years. To be honest, the variety of different sounds on her first album sounds less like versatility, and more like an artist who was not quite sure where she wanted to go yet. And all this confusion showed in the disappointing chart stats that the singles following up “Crush” achieved. “Always You” became a #6 hit on Hot Dance Club Songs in remixed form, but it did not cross over to the Hot 100, and while the album's other main single “Sober” managed to make the lower half of the charts in a number of European countries, it had no presence in the US charts at all. Although, NSYNC did cover her song “Somewhere, Someday” for the soundtrack to Pokemon: The First Movie, so I guess that's something? Oh yeah, and she got to perform at the World Music Awards and even at the Vatican (though not for the Pope himself)... but let's be honest, we're all more interested in the Pokemon thing.
...Gah! Quit staring into my soul like that, lady!
To make matters worse, Jennifer's second album, 2001's Positively Somewhere, was yet another album from one of our competitors that came out the week after the 9/11 attacks, and thus got totally lost in the media coverage. Maybe her, The Verve Pipe and Macy Gray should start a support group? Positively Somewhere was more of a pop-rock effort than the pure pop of her debut, and Jennifer got more involved in songwriting here than she had on the first album, but the record also contained several covers - two of them are by Plumb, and that gets us an OHW CROSSOVER, as former Jars of Clay guitarist Matt Bronleewe was involved in the writing of both. The lead single was “These Days”, a song written by “Torn” scribe Phil Thornalley, which a year earlier had been a Top 20 hit in Australia for Popstars-spawned girl group Bardot. But it seemed that the States were not quite so amenable to it, as it barely scraped onto the Adult Top 40 in the very last spot, and didn't reach the Hot 100 at all. “Stranded”, one of the Plumb covers, was the second single, and it failed to make any American chart. But what's odd about those singles is, though their “official” chart positions in any market where they charted are not very high at all, they apparently both reached the Top 10 on Germany's radio airplay charts, and were also very popular on the radio in several East Asian countries, Japan most notably. Weird... but then again, Jennifer seems to be one of our few true cases of a “David Hasselhoff is huge in Germany” situations in this rate, as upon its release in Europe and Asia in the summer of 2002, Positively Somewhere proved quite successful, going Top 10 in Japan. Not successful enough for Hollywood Records though, who released a greatest hits compilation entitled Flowers in 2003, and then unceremoniously dropped Jennifer from the label. She left the industry for a while after that, but what she was doing in the next few in-between years, I really can't find any information about at all. I will therefore assume “black-ops agent for the government”.
She has a bit of an affinity for boy band members, doesn't she?
Jennifer came back out of hiding in 2007, signing to the independent record label Glor Music Production and releasing her comeback album Best Kept Secret the next year. This album was her first to be primarily written by herself, but it didn't even get a US release: in fact, from what I can tell, it was only released in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. It did pay off a little bit there though, as when the album was re-released in deluxe format the next year, the new song “Beautiful Lie” - a duet with Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, of all people – would reach #19 on the charts in Germany. Sadly, both of Jennifer's parents would pass away within two weeks of each other in early 2008, and to make matters worse, she was diagnosed with melanoma shortly afterwards and spent almost a year treating it. (Thankfully, she made a full recovery.) And as if it couldn't get any worse, her parents' home in Nashville washed away in the floods of 2010! Poor Jennifer. If I ever do a rate of “one-hit wonders who need a hug”, she'd rank high, for certain. In an interview with Billboard from 2017, she said that she “lost her passion” for music in the midst of her grief, and it took a while for her to get it back. Instead, she focused on recovery and doing a little behind-the-scenes stuff, as well as doing some work in the advertising industry by writing and recording voices for jingles. You know that “Nationwide is on your side” ad? Yeah, she's one of the voices that sings that. That's not to say she was completely gone from the music industry for all that time, though. In collaboration with folk musician Coury Palermo, she also released some holiday singles in 2011 under the name of The Fury, then changed it to Paige & Palermo for a pair of EPs in 2013. A full-length Christmas album entitled Holiday also came out as a solo project in 2012, and I'm happy to report, it does have some original self-penned songs on it. Good on anyone trying that on something as inherently mercenary as a Christmas album, y'know?
Well, you can't say she hasn't moved with the times graphic design wise.
Anyway, she says Holiday reignited her passion for music, which has now come back into full bloom. In recent years, Jennifer decided to hunker down and release her first album of originals in almost a decade. The fruit of her efforts, Starflower, came out in 2017, financed via a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter the previous year and released independently, and it's an interesting little record. It's more in the synthpop genre than her previous work, and it has some pretty dark and personal lyrics on it, touching on the death of her parents and the difficulties of living up to expectations placed upon her as a mother in a way that is far from the breeziness of the one hit we all know her for. If you're a fan of Tegan and Sara, or recent Scandipop-type stuff – oh, what am I saying, this is PopJustice, of course you are – it's well worth checking out. There's even an acoustic version of “Crush” tagged onto the end, if that tickles your fancy! Jennifer's still playing shows as well, but is not quite as active as she was at her height. Her website also hosts a podcast called Let's Connect, where she talks to various music industry figures, that she did in 2014: too bad it doesn't seem to be ongoing, because a few of the episodes that I looked through were quite interesting. Mostly, she seems to be spending more time with her family these days: she has a five-year-old daughter named Stella Rose, the inspiration for the title of Starflower DO YOU SEE WHAT SHE DID THERE GUYS, and she is, in fact, effing adorable. There have been far worse fates to befall our rate contenders than a nice quiet life with a family and well-received music that she can put out as and when she wants to, certainly.
Jennifer's aged well too, I've gotta say!
Oh yeah, and I have to share this. Jennifer Paige co-wrote “Magic”, the lead single for Smash Mouth's 2012 album of the same name. Yes, apparently not only were our favourite bunch of Guy Fieri impersonators still recording music in this very decade, but they were engaging other forgotten pop stars from their time to help them with it. It took us 70 reveals, but we finally got a one-hit wonder with a connection to Smash Mouth, the ultimate purveyors of 90's meme music! Washed up Smash Mouth, mind you, but Smash Mouth nonetheless. It's a proud moment to close out the rate with, certainly.
OVER TO THE PEANUT GALLERY
chanex (7): Does any gay person truly hate this song? I refuse to believe it even though I find it slightly bland.
Empty Shoebox (7): Decent song, but there are some moments where there are an incorrect number of syllables for the music, and it lacks a little punch. Solid otherwise.
ModeRed (7.5): Classy pop track.
AshleyKerwin (9): Expertly produced for a bubblegum pop song.
DominoDancing (8.5): Sounds effortless in a way few pop hits do. Really lovely and lush.
berserkboi (9.6): Unpopular opinion but the best bit is easily the intro instrumental with the soft ‘ah! Crush’ the rest is still classic but had the euphoria factor stayed at the Kate Bush level throughout – my 11 it would have snatched!
4Roses (9): Sensual, seductive, sex. I'd self combust if Britney ever covered this.
CasuallyCrazed (8): I worry the Glee version ruined this song forever for me.
Auntie Beryl (7.5): Undoubtedly heading for the top ten – if not there will be meltdowns from the melodramatic. S’alright. Didn’t someone do a parody version as Thrush?
Hudweiser (6): I saw a parody act cover this as 'Thrush': "Someone pass me up some yoghurt please / It's just a little thrush / And it won't itch as long as you don't scratch..." The original is therefore annihilated.
yuuurei (9.5): Just a great song, I always loved it. I can't say I've heard any of her other music though ... one hit is one hit, Jennifer.
Seventeen Days (9): I still remember the summer this came out. Every time this was on the radio, I cranked that shit up and GOT MY LIFE to this. I ran to buy the album and loved it, and I was waiting to hear what the next single would be. Shame that she didn’t go anywhere, because she was pretty dang good.
WowWowWowWow (9): Just don’t call her a one-hit wonder. Jennifer, my friend, wouldn’t you rather be a one-hit wonder than a none-hit wonder? Just don’t go too deep with it, baby…
əʊæ (9): morning radio staple for agessss.
unnameable (10): Excellent song.
2014 (10): pure pop smash; sure fire winner, right?
Sprockrooster (10): FUCK. Can it be more straightforward catchy than this?
iheartpoptarts (10): Your second best song is ‘These Days’ by Bardot. Go on, get mad at me.
DJHazey (10): Another one I've always had in my pop library from day one. Probably the most prototypical 'Hazey song' in the rate when you really breeak it down. Pop perfection.
pop3blow2 (10): So perfect. One of those songs that could’ve easily have gone to another artist & been an even bigger hit… but not actually been as good as she makes it. The fact that some fairly random ( i mean that lovingly) had a one-off hit with this makes it way better & symbolic of the song to me. A perfect pop moment. Loved it on Glee, too. They knew what was up!
saviodxl (10): Sophisticated teen pop at its best and one of my favorite karaoke anthems. What a song! WHAT A SONG!
He/Him
Woohoo!! :D PopTarts even gets her PopJustice with her 11 winning for once! :D
What a thrill @Ironheade! You continue to rock!!!
What a thrill @Ironheade! You continue to rock!!!
FINAL RECAP
70. Cotton Eye Joe - 3.866
69. Slam - 4.166
68. Possum Kingdom - 4.242
67. Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) - 4.489
66. Just a Friend - 4.568
65. The Freshmen - 4.670
64. Whoomp! (There It Is) - 4.955
63. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm - 5.092
62. Barely Breathing - 5.113
61. Let Me Clear My Throat - 5.126
60. All for You - 5.142
59. Better Days (And the Bottom Drops Out) - 5.161
58. Silent Lucidity - 5.191
57. Sex and Candy - 5.236
56. Flood - 5.266
55. Life is a Highway - 5.355
54. Pepper - 5.397
53. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - 5.405
52. The One and Only - 5.537
51. In the Meantime - 5.575
50. The Impression That I Get - 5.705
49. Counting Blue Cars - 5.729
48. Epic - 5.755
47. No Rain - 5.788
46. Flagpole Sitta - 5.961
45. My Own Worst Enemy - 5.974
44. Brick - 5.997
43. Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand - 6.000
42. Walking in Memphis - 6.082
41. Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) - 6.095
40. What It's Like - 6.229
39. She's So High - 6.271
38. I Got 5 On It - 6.326
37. The Bad Touch - 6.336
36. Cannonball - 6.342
35. My Boo - 6.489
34. I Wish - 6.503
33. Breakfast at Tiffany's - 6.520
32. Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) - 6.571
31. Mouth - 6.587
30. Jump Around - 6.621
29. Closing Time - 6.625
28. Would I Lie to You? - 6.725
27. One of Us - 6.737
26. Blue (Da Ba Dee) - 6.763
25. What's Up? - 7.011
24. How Bizarre - 7.054
23. Save Tonight - 7.172
22. There She Goes - 7.251
21. Return of the Mack - 7.322
20. Freak Like Me - 7.580
19. A Girl Like You - 7.664
18. Fade Into You - 7.758
17. I Touch Myself - 7.864
16. You Gotta Be - 7.892
15. Steal My Sunshine - 7.920
14. Wicked Game - 7.947
13. I Try - 8.045
12. Ready to Go - 8.046
11. Bitch - 8.192
10. Sleeping Satellite - 8.300
9. Your Woman - 8.371
8. Criminal - 8.388
7. Show Me Love - 8.471
6. Groove Is In the Heart - 8.497
5. You Get What You Give - 8.511
4. Bitter Sweet Symphony - 8.711
3. What is Love - 8.934
2. Crush - 8.976
1. Lovefool - 9.393
So. That was a thing, wasn't it?
You know, this was just supposed to be a stupid quickie rate to cool down from the huge 90's #1's rate at first, but it blew up into something way, way beyond what I ever could have imagined in terms of size and scope. I loved doing all the research for this, finding out the fate of these artists. They may have had only one hit each in the US, but I think it's fair to say, they all had something to offer. Every one of them managed to create at least something that has resonated all these years, after all, and that is never, ever a small feat. I can truly say I respect every single one of these artists more now. And you guys have made it extra fun: serious thank yous to all of you for your passion and love for these songs, and of course, for the diversity of opinions that made this all worthwhile (and messy dddd)! Hope to see some of you guys around for the book.
Yes, you read that right, I am actually going to work on turning this concept into a book! Substantial revisions will have to be undertaken, of course - the focus may have to be tightened, and who knows if it'll ever make it to the press, anyway? But you know what, I got the fire under my ass from this, and if that ever happens (whether it be self-publishing or regular publishing), you wonderful lot will be the first to know.
Any road up. I'll catch you guys on the flip side, huh?
AND LEARN HOW TO RECOGNISE TALENT WHEN I DO!!!!!
70. Cotton Eye Joe - 3.866
69. Slam - 4.166
68. Possum Kingdom - 4.242
67. Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) - 4.489
66. Just a Friend - 4.568
65. The Freshmen - 4.670
64. Whoomp! (There It Is) - 4.955
63. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm - 5.092
62. Barely Breathing - 5.113
61. Let Me Clear My Throat - 5.126
60. All for You - 5.142
59. Better Days (And the Bottom Drops Out) - 5.161
58. Silent Lucidity - 5.191
57. Sex and Candy - 5.236
56. Flood - 5.266
55. Life is a Highway - 5.355
54. Pepper - 5.397
53. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - 5.405
52. The One and Only - 5.537
51. In the Meantime - 5.575
50. The Impression That I Get - 5.705
49. Counting Blue Cars - 5.729
48. Epic - 5.755
47. No Rain - 5.788
46. Flagpole Sitta - 5.961
45. My Own Worst Enemy - 5.974
44. Brick - 5.997
43. Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand - 6.000
42. Walking in Memphis - 6.082
41. Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) - 6.095
40. What It's Like - 6.229
39. She's So High - 6.271
38. I Got 5 On It - 6.326
37. The Bad Touch - 6.336
36. Cannonball - 6.342
35. My Boo - 6.489
34. I Wish - 6.503
33. Breakfast at Tiffany's - 6.520
32. Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) - 6.571
31. Mouth - 6.587
30. Jump Around - 6.621
29. Closing Time - 6.625
28. Would I Lie to You? - 6.725
27. One of Us - 6.737
26. Blue (Da Ba Dee) - 6.763
25. What's Up? - 7.011
24. How Bizarre - 7.054
23. Save Tonight - 7.172
22. There She Goes - 7.251
21. Return of the Mack - 7.322
20. Freak Like Me - 7.580
19. A Girl Like You - 7.664
18. Fade Into You - 7.758
17. I Touch Myself - 7.864
16. You Gotta Be - 7.892
15. Steal My Sunshine - 7.920
14. Wicked Game - 7.947
13. I Try - 8.045
12. Ready to Go - 8.046
11. Bitch - 8.192
10. Sleeping Satellite - 8.300
9. Your Woman - 8.371
8. Criminal - 8.388
7. Show Me Love - 8.471
6. Groove Is In the Heart - 8.497
5. You Get What You Give - 8.511
4. Bitter Sweet Symphony - 8.711
3. What is Love - 8.934
2. Crush - 8.976
1. Lovefool - 9.393
So. That was a thing, wasn't it?
You know, this was just supposed to be a stupid quickie rate to cool down from the huge 90's #1's rate at first, but it blew up into something way, way beyond what I ever could have imagined in terms of size and scope. I loved doing all the research for this, finding out the fate of these artists. They may have had only one hit each in the US, but I think it's fair to say, they all had something to offer. Every one of them managed to create at least something that has resonated all these years, after all, and that is never, ever a small feat. I can truly say I respect every single one of these artists more now. And you guys have made it extra fun: serious thank yous to all of you for your passion and love for these songs, and of course, for the diversity of opinions that made this all worthwhile (and messy dddd)! Hope to see some of you guys around for the book.
Yes, you read that right, I am actually going to work on turning this concept into a book! Substantial revisions will have to be undertaken, of course - the focus may have to be tightened, and who knows if it'll ever make it to the press, anyway? But you know what, I got the fire under my ass from this, and if that ever happens (whether it be self-publishing or regular publishing), you wonderful lot will be the first to know.
Any road up. I'll catch you guys on the flip side, huh?
AND LEARN HOW TO RECOGNISE TALENT WHEN I DO!!!!!
A worthy winner, and a thoroughly enjoyable trip to get here thanks to @Ironheade ’s fine efforts.
Still hard to think of the Cardigans as. OHW because of their ongoing UK success afterward. I recently picked up their latter albums and they make for a pleasurable listen still, if different in tone.
Also the Gran Turismo album has a lot going for it but possibly my favourite track from that era is the Faithless mix of My Favourite Game. Sounded epic whilst tearing round race tracks on GT!
Still hard to think of the Cardigans as. OHW because of their ongoing UK success afterward. I recently picked up their latter albums and they make for a pleasurable listen still, if different in tone.
Also the Gran Turismo album has a lot going for it but possibly my favourite track from that era is the Faithless mix of My Favourite Game. Sounded epic whilst tearing round race tracks on GT!
he/him
You should put this in a book @Ironheade, I don't think there's even a solid book about 90s One-Hit Wonders in the world, let alone how extensive this would be. Amazing idea. Incredible work with this rate and a winner I'm not exactly mad about, even if I wanted the other parts of the Top 3 to win over it pretty badly. Oh well. At least @iheartpoptarts gets her 11 winner she so deserves.
she/her
Lovefool is such a perfect winner, for a perfect rate, with a perfect host!
he/him
@Ironheade — to call this rate a delight would be underselling it by several orders of magnitude. Thank you for putting in so much time, care and consideration into these posts and providing us with the trivia, backstories and entertaining asides. So many of these artists never got the respect they may have deserved (on our shores, at least), and I appreciate that you gave the same amount of attention and reverence to the ones you liked the most and the ones you maybe liked a little bit less.
I don’t know if I’m getting sappy in my advanced age or what... every time a rate ends, it feels almost like having to say goodbye to an old friend. Which I know is silly—we’ll all cross paths again in other rates and threads around the forum—but never again in this exact combination. I’m happy that I got the chance to go on this ride with you all.
Well said!
@Ironheade thank you for a great rate! I learned about some interesting artists through this.
Whew! Towards the top 10 I didn't really care about who won anymore (well that's a lie... I WANTED NEW RADICALS) still, I just loved the ride. I really get into all this nuts & bolts stuff in pop, so this rate was such a joy. I so appreciate the time that went into the research & write-ups...and learned so many new facts (even sometimes about songs I thought I knew a lot about! Haha!) Just amazing rate, all around.
I leaned a bit more towards 'Crush' at the end, but 'Lovefool' is beyond worthy (especially since Nina had #2 UK hit with my beloved Manics. She was already great to me, but that made her golden.)
I leaned a bit more towards 'Crush' at the end, but 'Lovefool' is beyond worthy (especially since Nina had #2 UK hit with my beloved Manics. She was already great to me, but that made her golden.)
2014
Staff member
This was such a fun rate! Perfect final 2, thanks @Ironheade!
she/her
Oof, I feel bad for being a little catty at Jennifer after reading about the hardships she went through. Glad she seems to be living a good life though. As I said before I kind of wish Crush had edged out Lovefool, but I'm not mad at this result. Both of these are absolutely iconic 90s pop songs.
And this was an absolutely iconic rate! @Ironheade, thank you for your hard work and also the extensive and informative write-ups - I too learned a lot about these artists that I probably never would have otherwise. It was also really interesting to see the diverse opinions on all these well-known tracks.
And this was an absolutely iconic rate! @Ironheade, thank you for your hard work and also the extensive and informative write-ups - I too learned a lot about these artists that I probably never would have otherwise. It was also really interesting to see the diverse opinions on all these well-known tracks.
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I am honestly speechless my 11 won this. I feel so overjoyed.
Thank you so much @Ironheade! This has been an amzing ride through memory lane.
Thank you so much @Ironheade! This has been an amzing ride through memory lane.
This has been a thing of great wonder, @Ironheade. Your writing deserves an even wider audience than us lot.