'90s Number Ones

It was the decade of big ballads, stellar soundtracks and colossal covers — the '90s came on like a pop meteor, hurtling full tilt towards the end of the millennium, carrying our hopes and dreams of a glorious future . . . and sending these unforgettable tracks to the top of the charts. So when Whitney Houston offered us her incredible rendition of Dolly Parton's sweet '70s tune "I Will Always Love You" she held nothing back, and laid down a powerhouse vocal for the ages. Wet Wet Wet's cover of "Love Is All Around" by the Troggs seemed to capture the romance of a nation, and Bryan Adams took "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" from base camp Sherwood Forest, via Hollywood, across the entire planet.

The Prodigy supplies the fire and brimstone, while Cornershop stocks the sonic treacle, in Next Steps.

When we weren't swooning our way to the top of the '90s charts on the wings of a timeless ballad, we were dancing like there was no tomorrow — the Prodigy terrified children and old ladies with the sheer sonic aggression of "Firestarter", which hurled a molotov cocktail at 1996 and celebrated total domination for three radioactive weeks; Norman Cook got his hands on Cornershop's "Brimful of Asha", gave it a bigger beat, and sent it all the way to the top in '98; and Adamski opened the decade by hooking up with a then-unknown vocalist called Seal, and slayed the competition with "Killer". Oasis gave Britpop an anthem with "Don't Look Back in Anger" (featuring Noel, not Liam, on lead vocals).

The Chemical Brothers rock our blocks off, and Iron Maiden creates lascivious carnage, in Deep Cuts.

Not many artists reach the top of the pop charts without a lead vocal, but the Chemical Brothers managed it with a Schoolly D sample on "Block Rockin' Beats" in 1997 — the instrumental, which features Bernard Purdie drum samples, also picked up a GRAMMY®. Iron Maiden relied on the grand guignol pantomime of "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" as their means of passage to the top slot in 1990, the South Park team and Isaac Hayes set the world a-giggling with "Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)" in 1998, and Eiffel 65 crafted a Eurodance classic from a line of gibberish, "Blue (Da Ba Dee)", and sent us into a state of vocoded delirium.

It's amazing just how much we can learn about a decade by listening to its Number Ones — all of the great cultural events and happenings of the '90s are contained within these melodies, whether it's the historic General Election victory of Tony Blair's New Labour (D:Ream's "Things Can Only Get Better"), the death of Princess Diana (Elton John's bespoke royal version of "Candle in the Wind") or the glorious separation of Robbie Williams from Take That ("Millennium"). This was the decade when sampling started to become a crucial component of pop grammar (Puff Daddy borrowed the Police, and Vanilla Ice got his hands on Queen & David Bowie), Girl Power was delivered with a fistful of Spice, and Mr. Oizo pushed electronic minimalism to its funkiest limits.