10. Gigolo Aunts – “Where I Find My Heaven” 1993
Recommended for you
“Where I Find My Heaven” is a song written and performed by the rock band Gigolo Aunts. It was released as a 1993 single by Fire Records in support of the 1993 record Flippin Out. The single was later re-released as an April 1995 single to highlight its inclusion on the soundtrack to cult comedy film hit, Dumb and Dumber. The April 1995 single entered the UK charts on May 13th, 1995 at no. 29 and remained on the charts for 3 weeks following.
9. Crazy Town – “Butterfly” 1999
“Butterfly” was released in November of 2000 as the third single from Crazy Town’s record The Gift of Game. The song reached number one in fifteen countries, including the US. The song contains a sample of "Pretty Little Ditty" from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1989 album Mother's Milk. It was named the 34th "Most Awesomely Bad Song Ever" by VH1.
8. Savage Garden – “Truly Madly Deeply” 1997
“Truly Madly Deeply” is one of three singles on Savage Garden’s debut self titled record. The single spent major time on the top of charts and sustained success in the US beginning in 1997, peaking at no. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for two weeks in January of 1998. Somehow, some way, you know the lyrics to this song.
7. Biz Markie – “Just a Friend” 1990
“Just a Friend” was written and produced by Biz Markie, reaching no. 9 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1989. The classic track is Markie’s most successful single. This song was certified platinum in April of 1990 and is still a common sing-along today in 2015.
6. Semisonic – “Closing Time” 1999
“Closing Time” was released in March of 1998 as the lead single from Semisonic’s album Feeling Strangely Fine. Considered their signature song, it was written by Dan Wilson and produced by Nick Launay. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 1999. It reached number one on Modern Rock Tracks. In concert, writer Dan Wilson has confirmed that the song was written in anticipation of fatherhood, but that he hid it because he knew his bandmates would get sick of playing a song about having kids.
5. New Radicals – “You Get What You Give” 1998
"You Get What You Give" is a 1998 song by New Radicals. The track was considered an instant international hit, the first and most successful single from their album Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too. It reached number 30 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in January 1999, number 36 on the overall Hot 100, and number eight on Billboard’s Modern Rock chart. The single reached number five in the UK, number one in Canada, and it has been played over 1 million times on US radio. According to songwriter and frontman Gregg Alexander, he had written a section of the song as a test to see whether the media would focus on the important political issues of the first few lines, or rather the celebrity-dissing.
As he hypothesized, a considerable amount of press began to appear about the celebrity name-dropping, and the other political issues were widely ignored. Marilyn Manson, whom in the song Alexander slighted and called a fake in the same sentence alongside Courtney Love, went on to state:
"I'm giving an open invitation to the singer of New Radicals because he's all strange and spiritual, and he challenged me in one of his songs. A lot of people would say, 'You know, don't give him attention, because that's what he wants.' But I think I'll crack his skull open if I see him."
4. Lou Bega – “Mambo No. 5” 1999
"Mambo No. 5" is a mambo and jive song originally recorded and composed by Cuban Dámaso Pérez Prado in 1949. The song's popularity was bolstered by German artist Lou Bega’s cover version of the original, released under the same name on Bega's 1999 debut album A Little Bit of Mambo. The song reached number 3 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 in the US on November 2, 1999, giving Bega his only Top 40 hit in the US.
3. Carl Douglas – “Kung Fu Fighting” 1974
"Kung Fu Fighting" is a song written and performed by Carl Douglas, who was a session singer for Pye Records when he wrote this. He got the idea for the song when he was in London, and he saw two random kids doing Kung Fu moves in the street. It was released as a single in 1974 on the cusp of a chopsocky film craze in the midst of Bruce Lee's popularity. The track eventually rose to the top of the British and American charts, in addition to reaching number one on the Soul Singles chart.
In 1974, disco pioneer and producer Biddu Appaiah asked Carl Douglas to record a song he wrote with Larry Weiss entitled "I Want To Give You My Everything". Douglas persuaded Appaiah to use "Kung Fu Fighting" as the B-side. They recorded the track in 10 minutes after Appaiah said, "Quick guys, I need this done in two takes" figuring it was just a B-side. After a brief listen from Robin Blanchflower, a fellow Pye records producer, he requested to hear the entire reel after which he told Douglas that "Kung Fu" should actually be the A-side. After a sluggish start, it skyrocketed and went on to sell 10 million copies worldwide. Carl Douglas is from Jamaica and subsequently became the first Jamaican-born singer to have a #1 hit in the US. The single went Gold in 1974 after topping 11 million copies sold.
2. Wild Cherry – “Play that Funky Music” 1976
Recorded by Rob Parissi and recorded by the band Wild Cherry, the single hit number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 on September 18th of 1976, and was simultaneously number one on the hot Soul Singles chart. The track was certified platinum after selling 2.5 million copies in the U.S. alone. Frontman Rob Parissi aspired to write a hit song so he subscribed to Billboard magazine, where he started writing songs in the vein of other current hit songs until he finally stumbled upon one of his own: "Play that Funky Music". This song served as comedic dialogue on the 2015 episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Skywalker Incursion." When "Play That Funky Music" comes on the radio, the brilliant physicist character Sheldon determines that the song is indeed funky, and that it is requesting a "white boy" to play funky music. Viewing it as an example of Russell's Paradox, Sheldon asks, "Do you think this song is the music the white boy ultimately plays?"
1. Don McLean – “American Pie” 1971
American folk rock singer Don McLean wrote "American Pie" in both Cold Spring, New York as well as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He did so after learning of Buddy Holly’s death in a plane crash that shockingly took the lives of Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson in what became known as "The Day the Music Died." The world was astonished and shocked in disbelief; just like that, the singers of “Peggy Sue," “Come On Let’s Go,” “Donna,” and “La Bamba” were dead. McLean learned of the death in early February of 1959 while on his paper route, hence the line, “February made me shiver with every paper I’d deliver." On the 50th anniversary of the crash, McLean stated in an editorial that the song exercised his long-running grief over Holly’s death and summed up the “world” that was America in that time, a photograph of it per se'. The single was the number one hit in the U.S. for four weeks straight in 1971.
