So now our journey through forgotten songs takes us into the 1990’s. It was was one filled with a variety of pop, rap, and alternative music artists as well as a plethora of one-hit wonders. It was a time when musical taste was as varied as the events that were happening at the time. Many of the most popular acts that emerged in the 1990’s were bands and artists who enjoyed a type of resurgence in the mainstream music scene after their popularity had dwindled for a decade or so.
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” is a song by American alternative rock band Deep Blue Something. Originally appearing on the album 11th Song, it was later re-recorded and released on their album Home. The song was the band’s only hit, peaking at number five on the US Billboard. Outside the United States, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” topped the UK Singles Chart and peaked within the top ten on the charts of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, and Sweden. Todd Pipes said in a Q magazine article about the promotion of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, “As the song had ‘breakfast’ in the title, radio stations thought it would be genius to have us on at breakfast time. We’d be up ’til 3 am and they’d wonder why we were pissed off playing at 6 am.”
“Special” is song by American band Garbage from their second studio album, Version 2.0 (1998). It was released as the album’s third single. The track contains a vocal interpolation of a lyric taken from “Talk of the Town” by the Pretenders. Commercially, “Special” reached number 15 in the United Kingdom, number 52 on the US Billboard, and number 54 in Australia. The song received nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group at the 2000 Grammy Awards. The sci-fi-inspired music video for “Special” also received nominations from music industry award panels, winning an MTV Video Music Award, and a VH1 Visionary Video award.
“Ready to Go” is a song by English alternative rock band Republica, released as a single in April 1996. The original recording was not included on the band’s debut album, Republica – two other versions of the song, the US mix and the original mix, were included. This version was later featured on a greatest hits collection, Ready to Go: The Best Of. The single originally reached number 43 in the UK in April 1996. Later in the year, the song began to gain popularity outside the United Kingdom, charting in Australia, Canada, and the United States. It was remixed and rereleased in the United Kingdom in February 1997, when it reached a new peak of number 13. This rerelease also saw the song chart for the first time in western Europe, reaching number 19 in the Netherlands and number 26 in Ireland.
“3 a.m. Eternal” is a song by British acid house group the KLF. Numerous versions of the song were released as singles between 1989 and 1992. In January 1991, an acid house pop version of the song became an international top ten hit single, reaching No.1 in the UK, and number five on the US Billboard, and leading to the KLF becoming the internationally biggest-selling singles band of 1991. The following year, when the KLF accepted an invitation to perform at the 1992 BRIT Awards ceremony, they caused controversy with a succession of anti-establishment gestures that included a duet performance of “3 a.m. Eternal” with the crust punk band Extreme Noise Terror, during which KLF co-founder Bill Drummond fired machine gun blanks over the audience of music industry luminaries. Q Magazine ranked “3 a.m. Eternal” number 150 in their list of the “1001 Best Songs Ever” in 2003.
“Sugar Water” is a song by Cibo Matto was an American alternative rock band formed by Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori in New York in 1994. Through Warner Bros., the duo released its first major album, Viva! La Woman. Cibo Matto is an Italian phrase that translates to “Crazy Food” and many of the tracks from Viva! La Woman, which was produced by Mitchell Froom, featured lyrics related to food. The album’s first single, “Sugar Water”, was a modest college radio and dance hit. The song was accompanied by an innovative split screen music video that was directed by Michel Gondry, where each side showed the same footage—one side going forward, and one backward, meeting mid-song. Cibo Matto made appearances on various television shows such as Oddville, Viva Variety, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
