’90s No. 2s Revisited: 1997
For some reason, we’ve always had a hard time wrapping our heads around what was going on with music in 1997. The No. 1 hits for the year were stylistically varied, from breakthrough Pop acts like Spice Girls and Hanson to Hip-Hop hits by The Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy to R&B songs by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, all wrapping up with an unlikely smash by Elton John. Below, in the list of songs that peaked at No. 2, the breadth of styles expands even more, as we see Folk, Country and Alternative enter the fray. Enjoy revisiting all the songs that just missed out on the No. 1 spot in 1997.
4 weeks at No. 2, starting Jan. 18, 1997
Blocked by: “Un-Break My Heart,” Toni Braxton
This is the third time we’ve featured En Vogue in our ’90s No. 2s: Revisited series. The R&B quartet first peaked at No. 2 in 1990 with “Hold On,” then again in 1992 with “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It),” and they did so for a third and final time in 1997 with “Don’t Let Go (Love),” from the Set It Off soundtrack. Shortly after, Dawn Robinson left the group to join Lucy Pearl. As a trio, En Vogue was not as successful. Their biggest hit was “Whatever” (peak: 16), and they haven’t charted since 2000. Lucy Pearl also was not as successful as En Vogue; their only hit was “Dance Tonight” (peak: 36) in 2000. “Don’t Let Go” is a great Pop/R&B song and ended up being the group’s biggest single, outranking all the others on Billboard’s end-of-the-decade chart.
2 (nonconsecutive) weeks at No. 2, starting April 19, 1997
Blocked by: “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” Puff Daddy featuring Mase and “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G.
Folk singer Jewel found herself all over the radio in 1996-97 with the acoustic breakup weeper “You Were Meant For Me.” It was the follow-up to the young singer-songwriter’s strong debut single, “Who Will Save Your Soul” (peak: 11). “You Were Meant For Me” had a great run on the Hot 100, spending two weeks at No. 2 in April. Then as it was falling, in its 41st week on the chart, it was rereleased and repackaged with the increasingly popular third single, “Foolish Games,” and the magazine reclassified it as a Double A-sided single. It then rebounded to No. 7, giving “You Were Meant For Me” an artificially long, record-breaking run of 65 weeks on the chart and helping it secure spots as the No. 2 song of the year, the No. 5 song of the decade, and the No. 20 song of all time. Jewel would go on to have several more hits, including 1999’s “Hands” (peak: 6) and 2003’s “Intuition” (peak: 20). Check out her not-as-successful song “Good Day,” which was our No. 1 favorite song of 2006.
1 week at No. 2, starting June 7, 1997
Blocked by: “MMMBop,” Hanson
British R&B singer Mark Morrison’s first hit in the U.S. was “Return Of The Mack,” a very catchy mid-tempo song that blends Pop, R&B and Hip-Hop to great success. It continues to be regularly covered and used in various shows, commercials and films, and even recently as presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s campaign song. Morrison had a string of popular hits in his native U.K., but in the U.S. charted just once more, with “Moan & Groan” (peak: 76). He continues to release new music relatively regularly.
4 weeks at No. 2, starting July 12, 1997
Blocked by: “I’ll Be Missing You,” Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112
“Bitch” was a huge cross-format smash across Alternative, Adult Pop and even Dance charts for Meredith Brooks. Not bad for an unknown 39-year-old lady from Oregon! And, yes, radio played “Bitch” in its entirety without bleeping out the title word, at least where we lived. We thought the song was OK. The chorus is catchy, we’ll give it that. Her follow-up, “What Would Happen” (peak: 46), was a more interesting song, and her last to chart. We remember feeling bad for Brooks in the summer of 1998, a year after “Bitch” peaked, because we went to go see her perform at a free concert put on by a radio station, and she was the headliner. So by the time she came out on stage, after maybe three opening acts, the audience was cranky because it had been a very hot day and we were all standing in a parking lot. She played several songs that were not “Bitch,” and the crowd was not particularly patient or kind about it. There were many shouts of “Just play ‘Bitch’!” One of the opening acts for this show, by the way, was a goofy, then-unknown boy band that we thought was a ridiculously lame New Kids on the Block knockoff, with their coordinated outfits and silly synchronistic dancing. They called themselves *NSYNC.
2 (nonconsecutive) weeks at No. 2, starting Sept. 6, 1997
Blocked by: “Mo Money Mo Problems,” The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy and Mase and “Honey,” Mariah Carey
When it comes to big trends in the ’90s, a handful stand out: Grunge, Gangsta Rap, and late-’90s Teen Pop among them. In September of 1997, when we’d just arrived at college, we can’t even begin to explain how peculiar it was to hear a song like “Quit Playing Games” on the radio. Although Backstreet Boys had had a minor hit in 1995 with “We’ve Got It Goin’ On” (peak: 69), nobody knew who they were in 1997. Back then, the only “boy band” we’d ever heard of was New Kids On The Block, who had been criminally uncool since around 1991. As it would turn out, the success of “Quit Playing Games” signaled an incoming tsunami of Teen Pop that would dominate the charts until we graduated from college in 2001, and slightly beyond. And it happens to be a very good Pop song as well. Backstreet Boys would accumulate 16 more Hot 100 hits, including five more Top 10s, but never reached No. 1.
7 weeks at No. 2, starting Oct. 25, 1997
Blocked by: “Something About The Way You Look Tonight” / “Candle In The Wind 1997,” Elton John
After an underwhelming eponymous debut album whose singles peaked at Nos. 59 and 58, Usher broke through with the lead single off his sophomore album, My Way. “You Make Me Wanna…” turned out to be the decade’s most popular song by a solo male R&B artist. Because of the Fall timing of its release, it was the No. 14 song of 1997, the No. 15 song of 1998, and the No. 24 song of the decade. This is a great song; the Michael Jackson influences are obvious and appreciated. Usher would follow up this hit with 48 more, including 17 Top 10s and nine No. 1s.
5 (nonconsecutive) weeks at No. 2, starting Dec. 13, 1997
Blocked by: “Something About The Way You Look Tonight” / “Candle In The Wind 1997,” Elton John
Although it stalled at No. 2, “How Do I Live” by LeAnn Rimes is ranked by Billboard as the No. 9 song of 1997, the No. 5 song of 1998, No. 2 song of the ’90s, and the No. 5 song of all time, the best showing by a female artist. It was a big breakthrough for 15-year-old Rimes, who prior to its release was known as a prodigious Country singer but hadn’t had a Pop crossover hit yet. “How Do I Live,” written by prolific hit-maker Diane Warren, would turn out to be a successful crossover vehicle, as it scored across multiple formats (while Trisha Yearwood’s version of the track found a more comfortable home on Country radio). On the Hot 100, Rimes’ version broke many longevity records at the time, spending six months in the Top 5. We liked the song, certainly. Not exactly sure what all the fuss was about, but it was transparently pretty and had a memorable melody. Rimes thereafter would explore more Pop sounds, most successfully on her two biggest follow-up hits, 2000’s breathtakingly good “I Need You” (peak: 11) and 2002’s “Can’t Fight The Moonlight” (peak: 11).
– John
Was It Dope? 