Getty Image / Paul Natkin/Rick Diamond/Larry Busacca/Steve Eichner
Today we travel back in time 30 years to this week in 1995 on the music charts, specifically the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of August 20-26 in 1995.
The music charts were full of absolute hits back then. And I’m feeling nostalgic today so I wanted to take a look at the enduring legacies of those songs filling the chart this week 30 years ago. But first, let’s set the stage on what things were like during this week 30 years ago.
Looking Back At This Week 30 Years Ago In 1995
Kevin Costner’s Waterworld was the #1 film at the box office. Despite being #1, that film had a reported budget of $175 million ($235M after marketing/distribution ) and only took in $88.2M at the domestic box office but ended up with a worldwide total of $264M so it was just barely profitable.
July that Summer was dangerously hot. Chicago and Milwaukee set all-time heat records, with many in Chicago dying from the Great Chicago Heat Wave of 1995. The NJ Devils were the Stanley Cup champs, the 49ers became the first NFL team to win 5 Super Bowls, Yahoo! had just come into existence on March 2nd.
A month later Forrest Gump cleaned up at the Academy Awards with 6 wins and 13 nominations, the Oklahoma City bombing killed 168 people, and in June O.J. Simpson put on a pair of gloves to the infamous line “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
August was notable for two reasons: (1) the Billboard Hot 100 was full of bangers that have stood the test of time and (2) Microsoft released Windows 95 with Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates dancing around on stage like complete buffoons:
If I had a hundred dollars for every time I have seen that clip on the Internet I wouldn’t have enough money to live like Bill Gates for even 1 hour but I would still be a very rich man. That makes the rounds every year.
What Music Was Popular This Week 30 Years Go On The ‘Billboard Hot 100’ In 1995?
I’m glad you asked! I mentioned Waterworld as leading the August box office in 1995 but July was dominated by Apollo 13, a film where music played a non-existent role, and then going back to June the box office was dominated by Batman Forever with Val Kilmer (may he rest in peace), Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, and a young Drew Barrymore even made an appearance.
Everyone who was live at that point in time and had a working radio knows how Seal had a stranglehold on the country with ‘Kiss From A Rose’ at that point.
The music video was basically additional footage from Batman Forever, the song piggybacked off the success of the film, Seal was everywhere, radio stations wouldn’t stop playing it, and as a kid back then I absolutely despised ‘Kiss From A Rose’ and still do to this day. Even the mention of Seal gets me annoyed and this was 30 years ago! Why did that song have every boomer and Gen X in America under its spell???
#1 on the Billboard Hot 100 During This Week In 1995: Seal’s ‘Kiss From A Rose
‘Kiss From A Rose’ won Grammy Awards for ‘Record of the Year’ and ‘Song of the Year.’ Seal also won for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Sure, he could sing but that song did not endure. You don’t hear anyone fire up Seal’s ‘Kiss From A Rose’ on a playlist or when they are feeling nostalgic. However, the rest of the Billboard Hot 100 from this week in 1995 is full of hits.
#2: TLC’s (Don’t Go Chasing) ‘Waterfalls’
Now this song has endured. If the universe happens to smile upon you and for some odd reason ‘Waterfalls’ by T-Boz, Left Eye, and Chilli comes on SiriusXM you turn up the volume and stay put. You are happy to hear it. It does not send you into a spiral of anger like ‘Kiss From A Rose.’
#3: Shaggy’s ‘Boombastic / In The Summertime’
There will never come a time in life when I don’t love this song. Shaggy had multiple hits throughout the years, It Wasn’t Me, Hey Sexy Lady, and of course, ‘Boombastic’ which I was entirely too young to understand the substance of but loved from start to finish.
The Reggae Fusion song dropped in May 1995 and climbed the Billboard Hot 100 to #3 and remained on the charts for 15 glorious weeks. Kicking the track off with a sample from Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On was a genius touch from Shaggy and his record producers Sting Internationa and Robert Livingston.
#4: ‘Colors of the Wind’ from ‘Pocahantas’ by Vanessa Williams
It is hard to remember how big of a moment Vanessa Williams was having from the Disney animated version of Pocahantas. She had ‘Colors of the Wind’ on the charts and she somehow flipped that into performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 1996!
#5: All-4-One’s ‘I Can Love You Like That’
Boy bands were still cranking out hit after hit in August 1995 and All-4-One had ‘I Can Love You Like That’ at #5 of the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked in the #5 spot and spent 11 weeks on the chart which feels wild for a song that is probably the first one anyone would come up with if they were asked to name an All-4-One song.
Personally, I was a Boyz II Men guy back then. All-4-One felt like the cheap knockoff to me. But ‘I Can Love You Like That’ was a banger and it dominated school dances during the slow song portion of the night.
#6: Gangsta’s Paradise (From “Dangerous Minds”) by Coolio
The fact that Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise only spent two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 30 years ago and peaked at #6 (debuted at #28) infuriates me. This is a millennial anthem. Every single elder millennial can rap Coolio’s verses word for word even if they haven’t heard this song in 10+ years.
Our parents are the time were all too busy being serenaded by Seal while we knew where the good music was on the August 1995 Billboard Hot 100 chart, at #6 with Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise.
#7 on the August 1995 Billboard Hot 100: ‘He’s Mine’ by MoKenStef
Here we have another song that was a huge hit but didn’t climb to the top of the chart. It spent 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995, peaking at #7. The girl group MoKenStef had ‘He’s Mine’ as the first single released from their first album.
#8 on Billboard Hot 100 in August 1995: Monica’s ‘Don’t Take It Personal’
Be careful hitting the ‘play’ button on this song because Monica’s ‘Don’t Take It Personal (Just One Of Them Days)’ is never further than a few seconds away from getting stuck in your head all day. This was a certified earworm. You listened to the chorus once and it hooked you.
Monica’s ‘Don’t Take It Personal’ peaked at #2 (it debuted there) on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995 and spent 18 weeks on the charts. Back in the days of CDs, this single sold 1.2 million copies in the United States certifying it as platinum.
#9: ‘Run-Around’ by Blues Traveler
Having seen John Popper perform this song live a few times over the years I forget that when he got famous he was about twice the size of the man he is today. But man can he still wail on the harmonica.
This song peaked at #8 but managed to cling onto a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 23 weeks back 1995. It was in movies, it was on the radio every time you got into your parent’s cars, restaurants and malls were playing it. Somehow nobody ever got tired of hearing this song at the time which is funny because these days it holds a special place in my heart but I often skip it because I’ve heard it too many times… Back then though, I couldn’t get enough.
#10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1995: One More Chance/Stay With Me by Notorious B.I.G.
Biggie Smalls aka the Notorious B.I.G. was on top of the world in the early-to-mid 90s until his life was tragically ended in 1997 at just 24 years old. One More Chance/Stay With Me by the Notorious B.I.G. spent 10 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1995 and peaked at #2.
That music video feels like a strange time capsule. Not necessarily reflective of the times in America back in August 1995 but of how America was being presented to people on TV and in pop culture. That’s what everything looked like on TV, if that makes sense.
The Rest Of The ‘Billboard Hot 100’ Top 30 For This Week In August 1995
If you made it this far, congrats! Now let’s run through list real quick:
11. I Got 5 On It by Luniz
12. Only Wanna Be With You by Hootie and the Blowfish
13. Player’s Anthem by Junior M.A.F.I.A.
14. I Wish by Skee-Lo
15. Water Runs Dry by Boyz II Men
16. Someone To Love by Jon B. featuring Babyface
17. Shy Guy by Diana King from the ‘Bad Boys’ soundtrack
18. Let Her Cry by Hootie and the Blowfish
19. Every Little Thing I Do by Soul For Real
20. Come And Get Your Love by Real McCoy
21. Somethin’ 4 Da Honeyz by Montell Jordan
22. December by Collective Soul
23. Total Eclipse of the Heart by Nicki French
24. Freek’n You by Jodeci
25. You Used To Love Me by Faith Evans
26. As I Lay Me Down by Sophie B. Hawkins
27. Brown Sugar by D’Angelo
28. Feel Me Flow by Naughty by Nature
29. Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman? by Bryan Adams
30. This Ain’t A Love Song by Bon Jovi
Now, in order to see the full Billboard Hot 100 list from this week in 1995 you are welcome to head over to Billboard‘s archives. But I’ll just call out some more bangers that were on the list and weren’t mentioned above:
33. Good by Better Than Ezra
38. Any Man of Mine by Shania Twain
39. I Believe by Blessed Union of Souls
40. Freak Like Me by Adina Howard
43. This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan
44. Misery by Soul Asylum
48. Scream/Childhood by Janet and Michael Jackson
53. 1st Of Tha Month by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony debuted at this spot
64. I Like It, I Love It by Tim McGraw
66. How High by Redman and Method Man
75. Big Yellow Taxi by Amy Grant
76. Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) by Scatman Jon
77. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Deep Blue Something
84. Survival Of The Fittest by Mobb Deep
85. Jeremy/Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam
95. Shimmy Shimmy Ya by Ol’ Dirty Bastard
And that’s it. Those are all the songs that jumped out to me from the Billboard Hot 100 chart from this week 30 years ago back in late August 1995.
If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed this nostalgic walk down memory lane. If you really enjoyed this post, let me know in the Facebook comments or shoot me an email to cass@brobible.com and maybe I will make this a regular Friday feature here on BroBible!