3 One-Hit Wonders From the 1990s That Everyone Remembers After the First Note
The article revisits three 1990s songs that it says listeners can recognise from their opening notes: Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby”, Blind Melon’s “No Rain” and The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony”. It uses their memorable musical openings to reflect on how radio exposure helped make songs widely known in that decade.
The examples are distinctive for different reasons: “Ice Ice Baby” opens with a sped-up bass line, “No Rain” with a simple guitar part, and “Bitter Sweet Symphony” with prominent sampled strings. The Verve’s use of strings from a Rolling Stones recording without permission also led to a dispute between the groups, which the article says is now in the past.
- Three 1990s hits are identified by their opening notes.
- Their hooks range from bass and guitar to sampled strings.
- “Bitter Sweet Symphony” had a dispute over its string sample.
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In the 1990s, radio was a major way for listeners to discover and hear popular music. Songs played repeatedly could become familiar to a wide audience, especially when their opening sound was easy to recognise.
The three songs discussed came from different artists and made that first impression in different ways: a bass line, a guitar part and sampled strings. The Verve’s use of strings from a Rolling Stones recording led to a dispute over permission and rights, which was later resolved.