VH1 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s

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The 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s was a show that aired on VH1 in December 2007 that listed the top 100 songs from the 1990s decade. The show mostly featured Alternative rock and Gangsta rap artists who were popular at the time and their respected one-hit wonders or most widely known songs.

As with the other shows of the series, VH1 tries to capture the attitude and lifestyle of whatever they were counting down. In this countdown, artists are introduced from a stack of CDs and the show opens with the camera touring a typical 1990s environment with slanted posters on the walls, analog TV set, and piles of compact discs. The music returning viewers from commercial breaks had a typical pop-punk/alternative style.

It should be noted that the big-four grunge bands (Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam) were all featured within the top 50. Grunge was highly popular in the early-to-mid 1990s.

One controversial note is that the list only allowed one song per group (with the exceptions of Dr. Dre and En Vogue- the former had his own song, "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang", and was featured on "California Love" and the latter had their own song, "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)", and was featured on "Whatta Man"); a fact which upset many fans who believed multiple groups on the list had more than one song that belonged. Plus, the countdown The 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s had some artists with multiple songs on the countdown.

There is also some controversy regarding some alternative rock bands that were not mentioned at all for favor of novelty songs and one hit wonders. An example of this is the list's lack of any song by The Smashing Pumpkins, because they are widely regarded as one of the most important bands of the 1990s but yet had no mention whatsoever.

Another interesting fact is the charting appearance of "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child in the countdown. Though the song was recorded in 1999 and was part of The Writing's On The Wall which was released in that same year, the song was released and popularized in 2000^[1].

[edit] The list

Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (1991, #6 US)
U2 - "One" (1991, #10 US)
Backstreet Boys - "I Want It That Way" (1999, #6 US)
Whitney Houston - "I Will Always Love You" (1992, #1 US)
Madonna - "Vogue" (1990, #1 US)
Sir Mix-A-Lot - "Baby Got Back" (1992, #1 US)
Britney Spears - "...Baby One More Time" (1999, #1 US)
TLC - "Waterfalls" (1994, #1 US)
R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion" (1991, #4 US)
Sinéad O'Connor - "Nothing Compares 2 U" (1990, #1 US)
Pearl Jam - "Jeremy" (1991, #79 US)
Alanis Morissette - "You Oughta Know" (1995)
Dr. Dre (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg) - "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang" (1992, #2 US)
Mariah Carey - "Vision of Love" (1990, #1 US)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under the Bridge" (1991, #2 US)
MC Hammer - "U Can't Touch This" (1990, #8 US)
Destiny's Child - "Say My Name" (1999, #1 US)
Metallica - "Enter Sandman" (1991, #16 US)
Beastie Boys - "Sabotage" (1994)
Hanson - "MMMBop" (1997, #1 US)
Celine Dion - "My Heart Will Go On" (1997, #1 US)
Beck - "Loser" (1994, #10 US)
Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue - "Whatta Man" (1993, #3 US)
House of Pain - "Jump Around" (1992, #3 US)
Soundgarden - "Black Hole Sun" (1994)
Eminem - "My Name Is" (1999, #26 US)
Counting Crows - "Mr. Jones" (1993)
Ricky Martin - "Livin' la Vida Loca" (1999, #1 US)
Vanilla Ice - "Ice Ice Baby" (1990, #1 US)
*NSYNC - "Tearin' Up My Heart" (1998)
Radiohead - "Creep" (1993)
BLACKstreet - "No Diggity" (1996, #1 US)
Spice Girls - "Wannabe" (1997, #1 US)
Third Eye Blind - "Semi-Charmed Life" (1997, #4 US)
Oasis - "Wonderwall" (1995, #8 US)
C+C Music Factory - "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" (1991, #1 US)
Green Day - "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" (1998)
Christina Aguilera - "Genie In A Bottle" (1999, #1 US)
Goo Goo Dolls - "Iris" (1998)
Color Me Badd - "I Wanna Sex You Up" (1991, #2 US)
Spin Doctors - "Two Princes" (1993, #7 US)
Collective Soul - "Shine" (1994, #11 US)
En Vogue - "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" (1992, #2 US)
The Fugees - "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (1996)
Hootie & the Blowfish - "Only Wanna Be With You" (1995, #6 US)
Shania Twain - "You're Still the One" (1998, #2 US)
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch - "Good Vibrations" (1991, #1 US)
Matchbox Twenty - "3 A.M." (1997)
Jewel - "Who Will Save Your Soul" (1996, #11 US)
Alice in Chains - "Man in the Box" (1990)
2Pac (featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman) - "California Love" (1996, #6 US)
Sugar Ray - "Fly" (1997)
Naughty by Nature - "O.P.P." (1991, #6 US)
Joan Osborne - "One of Us" (1995, #4 US)
Fiona Apple - "Criminal" (1996, #21 US)
L.L. Cool J - "Mama Said Knock You Out" (1990, #17 US)
Jay-Z featuring Amil and Ja Rule - "Can I Get A..." (1998)
Sophie B. Hawkins - "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover" (1992, #5 US)
Weezer - "Buddy Holly" (1994)
Bell Biv DeVoe - "Poison" (1990, #2 US)
Sheryl Crow - "All I Wanna Do" (1993, #2 US)
Live - "I Alone" (1994)
The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Mase & Puff Daddy - "Mo Money Mo Problems" (1997, #1 US)
The Presidents of the United States of America - "Peaches" (1995)
Digital Underground - "The Humpty Dance" (1990, #11 US)
Edwin McCain - "I'll Be" (1998, #5 US)
Deee-Lite - "Groove Is In The Heart" (1990, #4 US)
Will Smith - "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" (1998, #1 US)
Korn - "Freak on a Leash" (1998)
Jamiroquai - "Virtual Insanity" (1997)
Arrested Development - "Tennessee" (1992, #6 US)
Barenaked Ladies - "One Week" (1998, #1 US)
Marcy Playground - "Sex and Candy" (1998, #5 US)
Cher - "Believe" (1999, #1 US)
Kris Kross - "Jump" (1992, #1 US)
Blues Traveler - "Run-around" (1995, #8 US)
Ice Cube - "It Was a Good Day" (1992, #15 US)
Lenny Kravitz - "Are You Gonna Go My Way" (1993)
Meredith Brooks - "Bitch" (1997, #2 US)
Right Said Fred - "I'm Too Sexy" (1992, #1 US)
Paula Cole - "I Don't Want to Wait" (1997, #11 US)
Geto Boys - "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" (1991, #23 US)
The Breeders - "Cannonball" (1993)
Snow - "Informer" (1993, #1 US)
Cypress Hill - "Insane In The Brain" (1993, #19 US)
The Cranberries - "Linger" (1993, #8 US)
Billy Ray Cyrus - "Achy Breaky Heart" (1992, #4 US)
Duncan Sheik - "Barely Breathing" (1997, #16 US)
Liz Phair - "Never Said" (1993)
New Radicals - "You Get What You Give" (1998, #37 US)
Sarah McLachlan - "Building a Mystery" (1997, #13 US)
Public Enemy - "911 Is a Joke" (1990)
Lisa Loeb - "Stay (I Missed You)" (1994, #1 US)
Fastball - "The Way" (1998)
Montell Jordan - "This Is How We Do It" (1995, #1 US)
Nelson - "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" (1990, #1 US)
Prince & The New Power Generation - "Gett Off" (1991, #27 US)
EMF - "Unbelievable" (1991, #1 US)
Missy Elliott - "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (1997)
Gerardo - "Rico Suave" (1991, #7 US)

Songs that just missed the cut

Every episode featured one hit that was said to have "just missed the cut" or otherwise known as Honorable Mention. This short segment aired before a commercial break. The four songs featured were...