Every #1 hit song from 1995 ranked worst to best
Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men domination, a gangsta rap masterpiece, Madonna's commercial comeback, and the rise of TLC.
In what’s now become a yearly tradition every December, I’m ranking #1 hits from topical anniversary dates. This winter we’ll be doing 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005, and 2015, and I’ll be ranking every chart-topper from worst to best in each respective year. I did this last year and the year before that, and I’m thrilled to be back ranking the good, the bad, and the ugly that took over Billboard’s esteemed (now trivial?) Hot 100. Last week, we tackled 1985.
Today we’re looking at 1995, which featured 12 entries across 52 weeks. Only three songs held the #1 spot for two weeks or less, and six held it for five weeks or more. I think there are eight good songs here. The top six are impeachable, and the top three are my favorite trio of songs on any list I’ve made for this series. We’re halfway to Y2K! Football players are on trial for murder, eBay is a thing now, and pogs are huge. Oh, and the tunes are pretty stellar, too. It’s a good time to be a Mariah Carey fan. Here is every #1 hit song from 1995, ranked worst to best.
12. Michael Jackson: “You Are Not Alone”
A song co-written by R. Kelly and Michael Jackson… certainly this is in contention for the most cursed #1 hit of all time, no? Rap sheets aside, I don’t find much of MJ’s post-Dangerous material to be all that compelling. “You Are Not Alone,” his final chart-topper, holds the record for being the first single to debut at #1 on the Hot 100, which is about the only interesting thing about this entry. That and the plagiarism lawsuit, courtesy of the Passel brothers. When MJ dropped “You Are Not Alone,” he was trying to resurrect his career after a damning child molestation accusation. His public legacy was mostly obliterated by then, but critics adored “You Are Not Alone” when it came out. Some writers have soured on it since, and for good reason. If I’m going to listen to MJ, I’m never going back to HIStory, even though its collaborator list is full of big names of varying quality (Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis; Kelly; Notorious B.I.G.; David Foster; Shaquille O’Neal; Boyz II Men; Slash). Even MJ’s previous #1 single, “Scream,” was leagues better than “You Are Not Alone”—packed with an anger that better matched the intended tone permeating throughout HIStory’s non-greatest hits half. This placement isn’t some woke overcorrection nonsense, but a disavowment of a song that is sad and generic. This isn’t the same guy who made Off the Wall and Thriller. In fact, it’s a shame we have to hear the “King of Pop” phone it in like this… and with such self-serving, out-of-touch lyricism, too. “I can hear your prayers, your burdens I will bear / But first I need your hand, then forever can begin”? It’s gonna be a pass from me.
11. Bryan Adams: “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?”
In last week’s 1985 list, we dealt with a lot of movie soundtrack songs. Ten years later, we’re almost out of those woods but not quite. Do you remember Don Juan DeMarco? Me neither. But one of the songs from it, Bryan Adams’ “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?,” got to #1. You may remember that Adams also got to #1 in 1994 for a movie song (“All For Love,” from The Three Musketeers). While it’s endearing that, for some reason, Adams was the only ‘80s rocker to achieve such consistent crossover appeal in the ensuing decade, I find his contributions to the pop charts around then to be utterly limp—“Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” especially, a OK song with a few sweet flamenco elements tossed in. I guess “Summer of ‘69” bought Adams so much goodwill that he could go on whatever over-produced, melodramatic detours he wanted to in his late-thirties. I just wish this hadn’t been one of them.
10. Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men: “One Sweet Day”
Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men on the same track? Payola never stood a chance. While “One Sweet Day” is probably the most obvious #1 hit of all time, it’s one of both Carey and B2M’s least exciting successes. But I don’t fault the effort. Why wouldn’t you put two of the most commercial musicians on a song together? It held the top spot on the Hot 100 for 16 weeks, a record the two artists held for 23 years before Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” usurped them (Carey has since reclaimed the crown herself, thanks to “All I Want For Christmas Is You”). And yet, “One Sweet Day” is somehow… forgettable? Sure, it’s a sentimental ditty that plays to Carey’s and B2M’s collective strengths: vocal elegance. The music is never overdone and that’s probably the song’s greatest pitfall. The drama gets lost in adult-contemporary R&B slop. It sounds like a cash-grab caught on tape. The keys are doused in sustain. The ad-libbing is a bit tiring. “One Sweet Day” is, to me, the musical equivalent of an Oscar-bait movie: all sensation but no real merit. Records are records, even if they’ve since been broken, but sometimes popularity doesn’t equal legacy. Sometimes a sure thing isn’t the greatest thing.
9. Whitney Houston: “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)”
By the time the Waiting to Exhale movie came out, Whitney Houston was already a pro at soundtrack songs, thanks to The Bodyguard’s OST going platinum 19 times. But “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” doesn’t even come close to “I Will Always Love You.” Sometimes the song’s coziness kneecaps its charm, but Whitney’s still great, though—singing her heart out on a soulful, slow-jam ballad. Her vocals are the best part, and sometimes they’re too powerful for the too-often-understated arrangement courtesy of Babyface’s production. “Exhale” is elegant and gorgeous—a mature and mellow balm compared to the drama of her more high-profile belters. By 1995, Whitney was the greatest living singer. “Exhale” confirms that truth but does little to strengthen the argument.
Madonna went on a commercial bent in the mid-nineties, leaving the bawdy days of Erotica’s dance fever behind for the more palatable, R&B-pilled Bedtime Stories. That album’s second single, “Take a Bow,” held the top spot on the Hot 100 for seven weeks, confirming that Madonna could adapt to any decade, any style, anything. With Babyface on production, “Take a Bow” was better than the single that came before it (“Secret”) but detoured greatly from her best and brightest work. It was slowed-down and far less exciting than her biggest hits (“Like a Virgin”). There are no big hooks. There is no sensual, provocative drama. “Take a Bow” just sounds like a great artist playing things too safe, which means that the song is good but gets dwarfed under the banner of Madonna’s big, billboard-sized legacy. 
“On Bended Knee” didn’t have the commercial energy that “I’ll Make Love to You” did months prior—though it wouldn’t have been that outlandish to expect all of Boyz II Men’s #1 hits to spend double-digit weeks at the top of the Hot 100. “On Bended Knee” is just so much better than “I’ll Make Love to You.” It’s the one track that really does re-capture the endearing, powerhouse star power of “End of the Road”—a reward for the B2M heads and a proper appetizer for new listeners. It’s soulful and smooth as all get-out, and it’s one of the greatest apology songs ever made. For six, non-consecutive weeks between 1994 and 1995, “On Bended Knee” was the must-hear song in America. 30 years later, it holds up better than a lot of this list.
I am colder on this song than most, and I blame Glee and the Acafellas for that. But there’s no doubting “This Is How We Do It”’s significance, because it was Def Jam’s inaugural R&B song. Montell Jordan goes big and soulful over a Teddy Riley sample of Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story” drumbeat, which features an interpolated bassline from Bob James’ “Nautilus.” There’s no doubt about it: “This Is How We Do It” was always going to be a crossover hit. The bravado is peak, the beats are phat as hell. It’s gangsta rap and soul coming together for a swagged out R&B anthem. Very few songs on this list are as ubiquitous. You may not know “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” but you definitely know “This Is How We Do It.” 
All-time great song. All-time great group. “Waterfalls” spent seven weeks on top of the world 30 years ago, and no one has forgotten about it since. In my lifetime, I can’t think of very many pop songs that have retained the same cultural value. And to think: less than a week before “Waterfalls” went to #1, TLC filed for bankruptcy—on account of T-Boz’s sickle cell anemia and medical costs, Left Eye’s post-arson conviction insurance rate, and the generally exploitative contract they signed with LaFace. By the time “Waterfalls” got massive, the band’s debts had reached at least $3.5 million. They sold millions of albums but, after lawyer, producer, and manager fees and taxes, each member of the group was only making $50,000 a year from CrazySexyCool’s sales. “Waterfalls” was a complex single—radio-friendly R&B reckoning with the impact of AIDS, drug addiction, and crime (co-songwriter Marqueze Ethridge said of the ubiquitous chorus: “Just because everything looks good doesn’t mean it’s good for you”)—that capitalized on the commercial successes of “Creep,” which spent four weeks at #1 in January/February that year. CrazySexyCool moved 12 million copies and TLC went on to be the biggest girl group of all time. “Waterfalls” could come out tomorrow and still go platinum. 
Thanks to Batman Forever, “Kiss From a Rose” went to #1. The song originally came out in 1994 on Seal’s second album, but got re-released (and subtitled “Love Theme from Batman Forever”) a year later when it showed up on the film’s soundtrack. Before that it was featured in The NeverEnding Story III, which was a movie that came out, apparently. “Kiss From a Rose” was huge, winning Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 1996 Grammys. It’s a sexy, mid-tempo ballad about a toxic, addictive relationship that’s been a radio staple my whole life, and that horn section will bite you big time. Out of all the weepy, melodramatic movie songs I’ve covered for these lists, “Kiss From a Rose” is probably the best one. And a lot of that has to do with Seal being so strange and hypnotic on the mic. The song turned him into a sensation, and rightfully so. 
It’s rare that a song topping one of these lists is also among the best songs in the history of recorded music. But here we are and here “Gangsta’s Paradise” is. Coolio’s breakout hit single, recorded for the Dangerous Minds movie, is maybe one of the most beloved rap tracks ever released. That opening synth line? One of the most recognizable synth lines ever. In all of hip-hop, at the very least. The craziest part is “Gangsta’s Paradise” is a total bummer. That first verse? Jesus Christ. Coolio talking about seeing himself in the pistol smoke and “sayin’ prayers in the streetlight” is deeply bleak. But Doug Rasheed’s production, which features an interpolation of Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise,” sits beneath Coolio’s songwriting like a supporting character, allowing the song to come fully to life without taking the light away from his verses. “Gangsta’s Paradise” was the top-selling single of 1995, the first rap single to hit #1 in the UK, and a big reason that gangsta rap and G-funk went mainstream. 30 years later and its impact on the genre and on pop music is still being felt. 
It didn’t hang on to #1 for as long as “Waterfalls,” but “Creep” isn’t just the prize on CrazySexyCool. It’s the TLC song—a story about a woman figuring out that her boyfriend is a cheater. And then she cheats on him to get even. T Boz based her lyrics on her own real-life experience with that exact scenario, and the result is a messy, emotional R&B hit that sounds better now than it did 30 years ago: new jack swing, dance, rap, and soul music rolled into a Slick Rick-sampling beat produced by Dallas Austin. This is handily T Boz’s best performance, and the record scratches, jazz backline, and confident, understated hooks that surround her turn “Creep” into the bleakest party ever. But still, the woozy silk of “I creep around because I need attention, don’t mess around with my affection” accounts for one of my favorite bridges ever. Sometimes I wonder if people heard TLC in 1995 and could see the next three decades of R&B music, maybe more. I know every time I hear “Creep” it sounds brand new. 
By 1995, Mariah Carey was already a hit machine. A gigantic, era-defining name. Her fifth studio album, Daydream, wasn’t a breakout but a confirmation of her stardom. A year prior, Carey’s now-ubiquitous, inescapable “All I Want For Christmas Is You” came out. The year before that, she shared “Dreamlover,” my favorite #1 hit of all time. I mean, we’re talking about maybe the greatest peak any pop star has ever had. It was certainly the greatest of the 1990s. Daydream produced five singles but the summery, sugary, and escapist “Fantasy” is the one, totally worth the eight weeks it spent atop the Hot 100. The perfect sample of Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love” that gets brilliantly spun into a pop diva template is more than enough brilliance. But flourishing gospel, pop, and soul notes, along with some light touches of hip-hop, reveal why “Fantasy” is still Carey’s greatest song 30 years later: it’s the moment where she became too big to ignore. I yearn for pop music to feel this colossal, starlit, and essential again. 
