If you grew up in the 1990s, you know how great the decade was when it came the wide variety of music available. At the time, the radio was impeccable. You had the golden age of rap music, the golden age of grunge. You had alternative rock, electronic music, ska, jam bands and any other number of great bands.
You also had some great one-hit wonders—you know, those songs that raced up the charts from artists who never quite had the same success again. We wanted to take a look at three examples of just that. Three alternative radio favorite one-hit wonders from the 1990s that still slap today.
“Firestarter” by the Prodigy from The Fat of the Land (1996)
This electronic dance song set up a new craze in the mid-1990s that infiltrated MTV, spring break parties and the stereos of many young music fans in the era. Released by the British-born band The Prodigy on their 1996 LP, The Fat of the Land, the rambunctious tune hit No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 but it seemed even more popular than that. It seemed that kids from east to west coast were singing about how they were also fire starters, taa-wiisted fires tarters! Today, the song remains popular and finds itself on soundtracks for TV shows and movies like the 2024 film Sonic the Hedgehog 3. It’s worth noting that The Prodigy are far from one-hit wonders in the UK. In the US, though, “Firestarter” was their only Top 40 hit.
“Criminal” by Fiona Apple from Tidal (1997)
It might seem strange to call Fiona Apple a one-hit wonder because she is so much a part of the culture even today. But since a one-hit wonder is an artist who boasts only one song in the top-40 of the Billboard Hot 100, Apple qualifies. Her single from her debut 1997 LP, Tidal, was a smash hit. It was all about how good it can feel to be bad. To use your charms and allures to mess with somebody’s head. And the picturesque Apple knew just how to do that with this song and the accompanying music video. As a result, the track hit No. 21 on the Hot 100 and helped turn her into the star she remains today.
“Flagpole Sitta” by Harvey Danger from Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? (1998)
This song, which hit No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100, made the Seattle-born band Harvey Danger famous. Today, the song continues to show up in advertisements on TV, including a recent one for Taco Bell. The subject matter of the track is all about the internal life of its singer and ranges from paranoia to a desire to create ‘zines. He wants to pierce his tongue, he wants to feel beautiful and he wants to get away from all the stupid people breeding. Who can’t relate to all that even today?
Photo via “Criminal” YouTube music video / Fiona Apple
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