Four great hits of the 90s

1. H-Town Emotions (1993).

H-Town is an American R&B band established in Houston, Texas. H-Town was founded in 1990 by twin brothers Keven “Dino” Conner and Solomon “Shazam” Conner, and their long-time friend Darryl “GI” Jackson. The boys grew up together in the notorious Yellowstone neighborhood located in southside Houston, Texas. During their high school years at Jack Yates Highschool in 1991 the Conner twins and Jackson decided that to start a band. It was then that they recorded their first album, “It’s no dream” under the name “The Gents” and was produced by Phil Blackman. Solomon Conner was chosen to be the lead singer of the band while recording It’s no dream, featuring a ballad titled “A Time for Us”. The album was released locally, but unfortunately, it wasn’t a great success.

Not giving up hope, the twins and Jackson performed at several talent shows, and a few plays, and recorded a few more tracks before they found a local producer that was willing to send their demo to 2 Live Crew and Luther “Luke” Campbell, a record label executive. The group would be signed onto Luke Records following an audition, landing producer Bishop “Stick” Burrell as their producer. Burrell changed things up by putting Keven as lead vocals, sending Solomon to the background. This decision was made after Burrell witnessed Keven’s potential and rare vocals, deeming the talent a formula for success. This was when the group changed their name from The Gents to H-Town, a local nickname for the city that the three boys grew up in, Houston, Texas.

In late, 1993, the group once again returned to the studio recording their second album Beggin After Dark. The album was released on November 8, 1994, featuring their most popular single “Emotions” The single quickly rose to the number 11 spot on the R&B billboards and number 51 on the top 100 hits. You will certainly trip all over your feelings listening to this classic single, making it number 1 on our hit list. Here’s a sample of the heart-felt lyrics found within the single. Be sure to check out the music video linked above.

“The first time I felt emotions, is when I came out of my mother's womb. I cried, and at the age of five. The first time I found my pride, so when I turned ten. I began to like a friend yeah, all things deal with emotions. From here until the end, whoa emotions”.

2. Coolio: 'Gangsta's Paradise' (1995)

Before Gangsta’s Paradise dropped in 1995, Coolio was known for humorous hip-hop, providing alternatives West-Coast gangsta rap. A shift in the focus that Coolio’s record label decided to leave off his solo album, instead of putting it on the soundtrack to the film “Dangerous Minds”. Dangerous Minds is a 1995 American Drama film directed by none other than John N. Smith. The film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. Based on the autobiography “My Posse Don’t Do Homework”, written by retired U.S. Marine LouAnne Johnson, who took up teaching at Carlmont High School in Belmont, California in 1989. Most of Johnson’s students were African American and Latino teens from East Pala Alto, a poverty-stricken, racially segregated, and economically deprived city, otherwise known as a ghetto.

The film, starring Michelle Pfeiffer playing Johnson, the film received mixed reviews, as it became a box office hit in the summer of 1995, leading to the creation of the television series, which unfortunately did not last long. After the Dangerous Minds movie dropped, Gangster’s Paradise was released as a single, becoming the biggest hit of the year, spreading the word of social commentary on “ghetto life” from coast to coast.

3. Alanis Morissette: 'You Oughta Know' (1995)

Possibly one of the angriest songs of the 90s, You Oughta Know is a song by Alanis Morissette, a Canadian singer who released the song as the lead single from her third studio album “Jagged Little Pill on July 6, 1995. Quite possibly one of the best albums I’ve ever heard, Jagged Little Pill features quite the lineup of perfectly written pieces of poetry, such as Not the doctor, Hand in my pocket, right through you, you learn, Head over feet, and Ironic. Following the release of two studio albums, Morissette left MCA records in Canada and began working on new music with Manager, Scott Welch. At this time, she was still making little to no progress, so Morissette left Toronto, Canada, and headed to Los Angeles where she met producer, Glen Ballard with whom she penned you oughta know.

You oughta know took Morissette out of the bubblegum pop genre and settled her in the alternative rock genre quite nicely. You oughta know featured Dave Navarro on the lead guitar and Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers on the bass. The song's performance outperformed the record labels' expectations and not surprisingly received an outpour of positive feedback. The single reached the top 10 in Canada, Australia, and the United States when the Los Angeles Modern Rock radio station KROQ-FM began playing the jam. You oughta know hit the top 40 charts in Iceland, Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Belgium.

When Alanis released word of her Jagged Little Pill world tour in 1995, You oughta know was quickly added to the setlist. Since the world tour, you oughta know had been included in several products: including, MTV Unplugged in 1999, Feast on Scraps in 2002, and was nominated for three Grammy awards in 1996. Alanis was nominated and won for best rock song and best female rock vocal performance.

4. No Doubt: 'Don't Speak' (1995)

Yet another power ballad on the 90s, Don’t speak by American Rock band No Doubt from their third studio album Tragic Kingdom (1995). Released as the third single from their album Tragic Kingdom within the United States on April 15, 1995, by Interscope Records. Written by No Doubt’s lead singer Gwen Stefani and her brother, Eric Stefani as a love song, Stefani said that the song went through several rewrites modifying it into a breakup song after Stefani broke up with her ex-boyfriend, Tony Kanal after seven years.

The song became quite popular, however, despite the popularity, the song didn’t make the US Billboard Hot 100, but it would go on to reach number one on the Hot 100 airplay for approximately four months. The song gained a substantial amount of popularity in Australia, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and even the Republic of Ireland as it was nominated for “Song of the year, and Best Pop Performance by a Suo or Group with Vocals at the 40th Grammy Awards”.

The band's lead guitarist, Tom Dumont said “There’s a lot of stories about that song because the one unfolded over a longer period of time. Originally, Gwen’s brother wrote most of that song, and then after we got all of it as a band, Gwen changed the lyrics around to fit her life. Musically, we brought it to another level, but near the end we reworded it. There’s an earlier version of the song where the verses are totally different, which is a really beautiful version and it’s awesome but it's way more jazzy and really different. That song had a long incubation process”. I’m sure we all agree that we continue to listen to this beautiful breakup balled today.