The article highlights three rock songs released in 1990 that it argues remain widely recognisable to people who grew up in the 1990s.

– Eric Clapton’s “Bad Love”, from Journeyman and co-written with Mick Jones, featured Phil Collins on drums and backing vocals; it was followed by Clapton’s only later number-one single, “Change the World” in 1996.
– ZZ Top’s “Doubleback”, the lead single from Recycler, was written by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard and spent five weeks at number one; the band had two further chart-toppers from the album in 1990.
– Billy Idol’s “Cradle of Love”, from Charmed Life and co-written with David Werner, became the final number-one single of Idol’s career.