60. The Weather Girls – It's Raining Men (1983)
Total Points – 504
Charts – 2
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 1
Highest Ranking – 1
This is the second song to receive a #1 ranking from one of the seeding lists. The Weather Girls were a duo comprised of Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes-Armstead. They formed in 1976 as Two Tons O’Fun, and were backup for disco singer Sylvester. Eventually, they signed their own record deal, and when they recorded this song, written by Paul Shaffer (of the David Letterman Show), Paul Jabara, and Bob Esty, they were launched into mainstream recognition. However, The Weather Girls weren’t the first choice to record the song. The first choice was a recently “born again” Donna Summer, who called it blasphemous and mailed a bible to Paul Jabara in reply. Then the song was offered to Dianna Ross, Cher, and Barbara Streisand. Originally, Two Tons O’Fun also rejected it, sighting its stupid premise. However, after constant harassment by Jabara, they finally relented, and the song was released as a single. Because the intro of the song introduces the singers as “your weather girls”, there was confusion around the name of the band, so they change it. The song was a huge hit on the dance chart, and a moderate hit on the R&B chart, it also made it to #46 on the Hot 100. After the breakup of the original duo, Wash went on to become a legend in the house music scene, with twelve #1 hits on the Dance Chart, earning her the title “The Queen of Clubland”. She is also famous for sparking legislation that required vocal credits on music after being denied credit and royalties on songs she recorded including the smash hit “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” where her distinctive voices belts out the sub title portion of the song. This song, which was written by men about it “raining men” is considered a gay anthem, which probably explains the artists that were first approached to sing the song.
59. Tag Team – Whoomp! (There It Is) (1993)
Total Points – 504
Charts – 4
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 14
Tag Team is a duo – Cecil Glenn (DC the Brain Supreme) and Steve Gibson (Steve Rolin), but their background is a bit muddy. Apparently the two met in Colorado in High school, moved around a bit and ultimately ended up in Atlanta together at The Art Institute. From there they officially formed Tag Team, however at some point it is noted that they spent some time in Miami, and that’s important because it suggests they were aware of the band 95 South who recorded “Whoot – There It Is”, which was released 2 months prior to Tag Team’s song. Both singles were on the Hot 100 at the same time, with Whoot topping out at #11, and Whoop making it all the way to #2. According to Tag Team, the title line was one DC noticed strippers say when he was DJing at Magic City in Atlanta, and the song was actually recorded in 1992 and originally used in the club. The response to the song in the club was so strong the duo started looking for a record label to release it. Tag Team tried to replicate the success of this song with Addams Family (Whoop!), and Whoop! (There It Went)…very creative.
58. The Exciters – Tell Him (1962)
Total Points – 501
Charts – 2
Top 40 – 2
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 26
The Exciters started out as an all-girl group, but later one male member was added. This song was written by Bert Berns (aka Bert Russell, and Russell Byrd), he was famous for writing “Twist and Shout”, “Piece of My Heart”, “Here Comes the Night”, “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”, and a non-OHW song that’s already been mentioned twice in this list “Hang on Sloopy”. Interestingly, Bern’s first ever hit record was “A Little Bit of Soap” by the Jarmels (#175). Originally, this song was Tell Her and it was recorded first in ‘62 by Gil Hamilton aka Johnny Thunder and Ed Townsend did a version in 1962 as well, all before the Exciters took their turn with the single. The Exciters’ version reached #4 on the Hot 100 and #5 on the R&B Chart. It also saw some success overseas. The Exciters had a few other songs that charted but didn’t get into the top 40, one of those songs was “Do-Wah-Diddy”, which they recorded in 1963, only months before Manfred Mann’s smash hit.
57. Starland Vocal Band – Afternoon Delight (1976)
Total Points – 501
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 34
The group started out as a husband and wife duo, Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, who co-wrote “Take Me Home, Country Road” with John Denver. The duo created two albums under the name Fat City and two more as Bill & Taffy. In the mid 70’s the Starland Vocal Band was formed when 2 more artists joined, Jon Carroll and Margot Chapman, and the new band was signed by Denver’s label Windsong Records. This song was a #1 hit and it was nominated for 4 Grammy Awards, winning two: Best Arrangement for Voices and Best New Artist, it didn’t win Best Pop Performance, and Song of the Year. This single was the 12th biggest hit of ’76. The band hosted a variety show in the summer of ’77 and David Letterman was one of the writers and a regular on the show, but it only lasted 6 weeks. In 2010, Billboard rated this the 20th sexist song of all time.
56. Young MC - Bust a Move (1989)
Total Points – 501
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 30
Marvin Young aka Young MC was enrolled at University of Southern California working on a degree in economics when he met 2 music execs from Delicious Vinyl. He rapped for them over the phone and ended up getting a record contract delivered to his dorm room. Before the release of this song, Young MC collaborated with Tone Loc on “Wild Thing” and “Funky Cold Medina”. Then a few months later this single was released, and it stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for 39 weeks and it spent 20 of those in the Top 40, peaking at #7. Young MC did have another Top 10 hit on the Rap Chart, along with 2 more singles in the mid 20s, and he managed to get another single inside the dance chart’s top 40, but other than the follow up release, nothing else he’s done has reached the Hot 100. This single did win the Grammy for Best Rap Performance, and it’s been listed in several greatest charts for hip hop songs. In a bit of humor, Young MCs fourth album is entitled Return of the 1 Hit Wonder.
55. Timbuk 3 – The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades (1986)
Total Points – 499
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 19
TImbuk 3 was started by the husband and wife team of Pat and Barbara MacDonald. The inspiration for this song, and specifically the title, came from a heartfelt comment by Barbara when she stated, “The future is so bright, we’ll have to wear sunglasses!” She was earnest in her comment because at that time the two had just married, they were starting a family, the first EP was being released, and they were booked solid with gigs. Ironically, this song has often been used as a graduation theme song, as people take the catchy rhythm and harmonica to be an upbeat theme, but Pat MacDonald admitted that’s not actually what the song is about, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. In the song the nuclear scientist has a bright future because of an impending nuclear holocaust. If you’re thinking this is an attempt to reposition the song after the fact, the verse “Well I'm well aware of the world out there, getting blown all to bits, but what do I care?” should remove that notion. The song reached #19 on the Hot 100, and TImbuk 3 can be seen in the 1988 movie D.O.A. as a house band.
54. Deep Blue Something - Breakfast at Tiffany's (1994)
Total Points – 496
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 40
The album containing this single was originally released on an indie label, Brando Records, but it was re-released a year later by Interscope Records. This single was a smash hit for the band, climbing to #5 on the Hot 100, and topping the charts in the UK. Apparently, the lyrics to the song were actually inspired by a different Audrey Hepburn movie, Roman Holiday, but the songwriter Todd Pipes thought Breakfast at Tiffany’s made for a better title. The band never had another charting single making them a strict definition OHW. However, some of their lack of success could be due to legal problems, there were copywrite issues with this song and another from earlier in their career. This caused the label to postpone the release of the follow up album, and eventually the album was released only in Japan. The band then sued the label, got released from their contract, and signed with Aezra Records, but they didn’t release a US follow up until 2001. The critical reception for this song has been mixed, with some praising the catchiness and memorable melody, while others trash the innocuousness of the song. VH1 and Blender ranked the song #6 on their list of the 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever.
53. Semisonic – Closing Time (1998)
Total Points – 496
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 22
This band was formed from the demise of Trip Shakespeare, an indie band that got some big label support. Shakespeare’s music was pretty much universally loved by critics, but they failed to get any traction with the listening pubic, probably because of bad timing. In 1991 the whole grunge movement had taken over radio, and artists like Shakespeare fell through the cracks. It took a few years and other projects before Dan Wilson and John Munson from Shakespeare teamed up with Jacob Slichter to form Semisonic in ’95, and the breakthrough came a few years after that with the release of this song. This is another song that never really charted on the Hot 100, but it was extremely successful on some of the other charts, including getting to #1 on the Modern Rock Chart and the Alternative Chart. Of course the band also had other hits on those charts, so it’s difficult to define them as a OHW…and it would be easy to argue they don’t belong. The song was originally written to give the band something to play at the end of their set, so the closing bar idea was formed. However, part way through the writing, Wilson, who’s girlfriend was pregnant at the time, started to put in ideas about being born. The song actually ends with a quote from the Roman Stoic Seneca “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end”. Dan Wilson, after the breakup of the band has been extremely successful as a writer. In addition to this song, which earned him a Grammy nomination, he won Grammys for Song of the Year with the Dixie Chicks “Not Ready to Make Nice” in 2007 and Album of the Year, which he won in 2012 as one of the producers of Adele’s 21 (he also co-wrote Adele’s hit “Someone Like You”).
52. Minnie Riperton - Lovin You (1975)
Total Points – 496
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 39
Riperton is widely remembered for her 5 octave coloratura soprano range, and her use of the whistle register. In fact, she was so good with the high pitch that she was known as the “Queen of the whistle register”. She started out singing backup for Etta James, Fontella Bass, Ramsey Lewis, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters. She was also the lead singer of the experimental rock/soul group Rotary Connection from ’67 – ’71. Around 1974, Riperton, signed with Epic Records and requested Stevie Wonder produce her album. Wonder, who was at the height of his popularity, loved Riperton’s work, and was eager to do it, but Wonder was under contact to Motown Records. In order to avoid any conflicts, Wonder did the work under the pseudonym "El Toro Negro". This song’s melody was created to distract her baby daughter (who was around 18 months at the time), In fact, in the album version of the song Riperton actually sings her daughter’s name (Maya) at the end. Because this song was viewed as more of a lullaby might explain why it was the 4th single released off the album. Fourth release or not, this song was a huge hit, reaching #1 on the Hot 100, #3 on the R&B Chart, #2 in the UK, and it was the 13th ranked song for all of 1975. Unfortunately, in 1976 Riperton discovered she had breast cancer that had already spread through her lymphatic system. She was only expected to live for 6 months, but she held on for 3 years, and was extremely active with the cancer society. Interesting note, the Maya, mentioned at the end of this song is Maya Rudolph who you may remember from Saturday Night Live, 50 First Dates, Grown Ups, or one of her other 80+ roles in TV and movies.
51. Biz Markie – Just a Friend (1989)
Total Points – 495
Charts – 4
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 26
The Clown Prince of Hip Hop just misses out on the top 50 in the countdown. Biz, who’s real name is Marcel Theo Hall, has done quite a lot in the entertainment industry, but he’s by far best known for this single. He recorded his first album in 1988, and it attracted a good bit of attention, mostly from the single “Make the Music With Your Mouth, Biz”, but it did feature a couple of other underground hits. Then his next album, The Biz Never Sleeps, was released along with this song as the lead single, and it was a smash hit. The song, which was written, produced, and performed by Biz peaked at #9 on the Hot 100. Interestingly, even though this song was ranked at #100 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs list, it wasn’t a big hit on the Hip Hop Chart, only managing to reach #37. The song interpolates the 1968 Freddie Scott R&B hit, “(You) Got What I Need”. Scott’s song provides the basic chord and melody that made the song famous. Markie’s 3rd album, I Need A Haircut was at the center of attention when he was sued by Gilbert O’Sullivan for copywrite infringement for the use of his song “Along Again (Naturally)” without explicit consent. A lawsuit that O’Sullivan won, and it changed the landscape for hip-hop music, forcing all samples to be cleared by original artists before being used. In a mischievous response, Biz named his 4th album – All Samples Cleared!.