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Top 100 Songs of the ’90s
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It’s been almost 17 years since Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill (and later Le Tigre) told Kurt Cobain that he smelled like Teen Spirit. What a difference two decades makes: From Nirvana’s sulking, smarmy instruction, “Here we are now, entertain us,” to Generation MySpace’s inherent understanding that really, we’re all just here to entertain each other, is a gulf, a sea change in the way we think about culture and those who make it. (The Internet, by the way, makes a convenient scapegoat in case you’re looking for one.) VH1 returns to explore the innocent, mostly pre-digital age with The 100 Greatest Songs of the ’90s, a hits show that counts down the best of the best from the flannel decade. No. 1? You guessed it — “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana (see the video above).
Other highlights include “Cannonball” by the Breeders and “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys, but there’s plenty of non-college-dorm fare here, too. Like, do you remember “Informer” by Snow? How about “I Wanna Sex You Up” by Color Me Badd? Madonna’s “Vogue”? Guilty pleasures and desperate measures await. Check the show out next Monday, December 17th, at 10 p.m. (EST) on VH1. And if you can’t wait that long, see the full list of all 100 best songs after the jump.
1. Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
2. U2 “One”
3. Backstreet Boys “I Want It That Way”
4. Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You”
5. Madonna “Vogue”
6. Sir Mix-A-Lot “Baby Got Back”
7. Britney Spears “…Baby One More Time”
8. TLC “Waterfalls”
9. R.E.M. “Losing My Religion”
10. SinĂ©ad O’Connor “Nothing Compares 2 U”
11. Pearl Jam “Jeremy”
12. Alanis Morissette “You Oughta Know”
13. Dr. Dre (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg) “Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang”
14. Mariah Carey “Vision of Love”
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Under the Bridge”
16. MC Hammer “U Can’t Touch This”
17. Destiny’s Child “Say My Name”
18. Metallica “Enter Sandman”
19. Beastie Boys “Sabotage”
20. Hanson “MMMBop”
21. Celine Dion “My Heart Will Go On”
22. Beck “Loser”
23. Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue “Whatta Man”
24. House of Pain “Jump Around”
25. Soundgarden “Black Hole Sun”
26. Eminem “My Name Is”
27. Counting Crows “Mr. Jones”
28. Ricky Martin “Livin’ la Vida Loca”
29. Vanilla Ice “Ice Ice Baby”
30. *NSYNC “Tearin’ Up My Heart”
31. Radiohead “Creep”
32. BLACKstreet “No Diggity”
33. Spice Girls “Wannabe”
34. Third Eye Blind “Semi-Charmed Life”
35. Oasis “Wonderwall”
36. C+C Music Factory “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”
37. Green Day “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”
38. Christina Aguilera “Genie In A Bottle”
39. Goo Goo Dolls “Iris”
40. Color Me Badd “I Wanna Sex You Up”
41. Spin Doctors “Two Princes”
42. Collective Soul “Shine”
43. En Vogue “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)”
44. The Fugees “Killing Me Softly With His Song”
45. Hootie & the Blowfish “Only Wanna Be With You”
46. Shania Twain “You’re Still the One”
47. Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch “Good Vibrations”
48. Matchbox Twenty “3 AM”
49. Jewel “Who Will Save Your Soul”
50. Alice in Chains “Man in the Box”
51. Tupac (featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman) “California Love”
52. Sugar Ray “Fly”
53. Naughty by Nature “O.P.P.”
54. Joan Osborne “One of Us”
55. Fiona Apple “Criminal”
56. L.L. Cool J “Mama Said Knock You Out”
57. Jay-Z featuring Amil and Ja Rule “Can I Get A…”
58. Sophie B. Hawkins “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover”
59. Weezer “Buddy Holly”
60. Bell Biv DeVoe “Poison”
61. Sheryl Crow “All I Wanna Do”
62. Live “I Alone”
63. The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Mase & Puff Daddy “Mo Money Mo Problems”
64. The Presidents of the United States of America “Peaches”
65. Digital Underground “The Humpty Dance”
66. Edwin McCain “I’ll Be”
67. Deee-Lite “Groove Is In The Heart”
68. Will Smith “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”
69. Korn “Freak on a Leash”
70. Jamiroquai “Virtual Insanity”
71. Arrested Development “Tennessee”
72. Barenaked Ladies “One Week”
73. Marcy Playground “Sex and Candy”
74. Cher “Believe”
75. Kris Kross “Jump”
76. Blues Traveler “Run-Around”
77. Ice Cube “It Was a Good Day”
78. Lenny Kravitz “Are You Gonna Go My Way”
79. Meredith Brooks “Bitch”
80. Right Said Fred “I’m Too Sexy”
81. Paula Cole “I Don’t Want to Wait”
82. Geto Boys “Mind Playing Tricks on Me”
83. The Breeders “Cannonball”
84. Snow “Informer”
85. Cypress Hill “Insane In The Brain”
86. The Cranberries “Linger”
87. Billy Ray Cyrus “Achy Breaky Heart”
88. Duncan Sheik “Barely Breathing”
89. Liz Phair “Never Said”
90. New Radicals “You Get What You Give”
91. Sarah McLachlan “Building a Mystery”
92. Public Enemy “911 Is A Joke”
93. Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories “Stay”
94. Fastball “The Way”
95. Montell Jordan “This is How We Do It”
96. Nelson “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection”
97. Prince & The New Power Generation “Gett Off”
98. EMF “Unbelievable”
99. Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”
100. Gerardo “Rico Suave”
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100 Greatest Songs of the ’90s Show Info
October 16th, 2009 at 3:46 am
this list rocks… good job vh1…. people gotta see it as world wide play… not just United States… a lot of these songs that people want on the list are either mostly national play only and i seen a lot of the that are not from the 90s… or either after 2000… these songs are 90s only people… nirvana first… great choice… gotta love them… remember… that was basically their first album out and first hit single… never seen anyone do it so big in their first hit single… 5/5
October 16th, 2009 at 11:12 am
100 tunes from the 90s, and not a single Jeff Buckley song. Grace has to be one of the greatest songs from the last 25 years.
October 20th, 2009 at 1:49 am
SMASHING PUMPKINS.
October 25th, 2009 at 11:51 am
no puede estar NIRVANA PRIMERO!!!!
November 14th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
WHY ISN;T BLUR “SONG 2″ ON HERE!!!!!!!?????
November 14th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
well the list is alright, BUT where is Nine Inch Nails?? I mean c’mon Closer should’ve made this list!
November 14th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Your list is absolutely bizarre. How could your voters leave out great music like Quincy Jones’ “Secret Garden” (1990), “You Put a Move on My Heart” by Quincy Jones and Tamia (1996), Barry White’s “Practice What You Preach” (1995) and “Staying Power” (1998), Deborah Cox’s “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” (1998), Sting’s “Fields of Gold” (1993), Celine Dion’s “Because You Love Me” (1996)and a myriad of other great, timeless recordings.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
No TOOL! Not a good list then. Sober, Undertow, Aenima, Stinkfist.
I agree with about half of the list and how the hell can you have the Backstreet Boys #3.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
what happened to the green day songs they had some really huge hits in the 90’s such as Basket Case and Good Ridence (Time of ur life) which was a MONSTER HIT!!!
December 9th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
You know this isn’t a bad list for mainstream sellouts. It’s really what I expected from vh1. But they could of done way better. I’m not very impressed, they should of put more thought into this instead of using the same typical songs they always do.
December 9th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
PLEASE Tell me WHY BLIND MELON IS NOT ON THIS LIST with No Rain atleast, i think it is ubsurd, Blind Melon is the most under rated band of the 90s which rips my soul out.LONG LIVE MELON
December 10th, 2009 at 1:01 am
Where is Garbage?!?!?!??!?!
December 10th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Any list about the 90’s that doesn’t include Dave Matthews is incomplete.
December 10th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
This list is a joke. It is really for snobby suburban people that think they rock. I love music in the 90’s, and there is no way on Gods Green Earth that half the songs on the top 30 I would be caught dead listening to. How is Vanilla Ice number 29. How is Back Street Boys #3. This is terble. Real Terble.
December 10th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
dave matthews band?
December 15th, 2009 at 12:54 am
ok seriously guys its justttt a list; granit everyone has different musical intrest; but its just a list that they probably did a random poll or just went by how many views these songs got ok the list could be better but in the end it wont change; please there has to be at least a few songs that some of you have jammed out to. but yea could of been alterd a little better..
December 24th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
311???!!!!!
December 25th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
what i want 2 kno is why More Than Words by Extreme was not on this list! i watched allll the way waitin 4 it…it get down 2 the top 20’s….then top 5’s…and i’m all “wow, more than words did good”, and then…yea…i almost cried
ok, ok a little dramatic but i was dissapointed
January 1st, 2010 at 12:42 pm
when is the list for 2000-2009 coming out?!?
January 26th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Where is Depeche Mode,The Cure or Placebo? Depeche Mode is one of the best bands all time ,who really change something in music.i don’t like this top ,boring!