"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a song made famous by American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper four years after it was written by Robert Hazard. It was released by Portrait Records as Lauper's first major single as a solo artist and the lead single from her debut studio album, She's So Unusual (1983). Lauper's version gained recognition as a feminist anthem and was promoted by a Grammy-winning music video. It has been covered, either as a studio recording or in a live performance, by over 30 other artists.
Darrin Kenneth O'Brien, known by his stage name Snow, is a Canadian reggae musician, rapper, and singer. His 1992 single "Informer" spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a song recorded by American singer and actor Elvis Presley for his fourth soundtrack album, Blue Hawaii (1961). It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss and published by Gladys Music, Inc. The melody is based on "Plaisir d'amour", a popular French love song composed in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini. The song was initially written from the perspective of a woman as "Can't Help Falling in Love with Him", which explains the first and third line ending on "in" and "sin" rather than words rhyming with "you".
"My Girl" is a soul music song recorded by the Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) record label. Written and produced by the Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, it became the Temptations' first U.S. number 1 single, and is currently their signature song. Robinson's inspiration for writing "My Girl" was his wife, Miracles member Claudette Rogers Robinson. The song was included on the Temptations 1965 album The Temptations Sing Smokey. In 2017, the song was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".
"Everybody Hurts" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. from their eighth studio album, Automatic for the People (1992), and released as a single in April 1993 by Warner Bros. Records. It peaked at number 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100, but fared much better on the US Cash Box Top 100, where it peaked at number 18. The song also reached the top 10 on the charts of Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Its music video was directed by Jake Scott and filmed in San Antonio, Texas. In 2003, Q ranked "Everybody Hurts" at number 31 on their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever", and in 2005, Blender ranked the song at number 238 on their list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".
"The Sign" is a song by Swedish group Ace of Base from their first North American studio album, The Sign (1993), and their re-released debut studio album, Happy Nation (1992), titled Happy Nation . The song was released by Arista and Mega as a single in Europe on 1 November 1993 and the US on 14 December 1993. It was written by band member Jonas Berggren, who also produced the song with Denniz Pop and Douglas Carr. "The Sign" is a techno-reggae, Europop, and pop ballad with lyrics describing a couple contemplating the state of their relationship.
"Hollaback Girl" is a song by American singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani from her debut solo studio album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004). It is a hip-hop song that draws influence from 1980s hip-hop and dance music. The song was written by Stefani, Pharrell Williams, and Chad Hugo, with the latter two handling production as the Neptunes. The song was released as the album's third single on March 22, 2005, and was one of the year's most popular songs, peaking inside the top 10 of the majority of the charts it entered. It reached number one in Australia and the United States, where it became the first digital download to sell one million copies.
"Rivers of Babylon" is a Rastafari song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of Psalms 19 and 137 in the Hebrew Bible. The Melodians' original version of the song appeared on the soundtrack album for the 1972 movie The Harder They Come, which made it internationally known.
"What Is Love" is a song by Trinidadian-German singer Haddaway, released as his debut single from his debut album, The Album (1993). The song, both written and produced by Dee Dee Halligan and Karin Hartmann-Eisenblätter, was released by Coconut Records in January 1993. It was a hit across Europe, becoming a number-one single in at least 13 countries and reaching number two in Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Outside Europe, the single peaked at number 11 in the United States, number 12 in Australia, number 17 in Canada, and number 48 in New Zealand.
"I Got You Babe" is a song performed by American pop and entertainment duo Sonny & Cher and written by Sonny Bono. It was the first single taken from their debut studio album, Look at Us (1965). In August 1965, the single spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States where it sold more than one million copies and was certified Gold. It also reached number one in the United Kingdom and Canada.
"All That She Wants" is a song by Swedish group Ace of Base. It was released in Scandinavia in August 1992 by Mega Records as the second single from the group's first studio album, Happy Nation (1992), and in the following year, it was released as the first single from the 1993 album The Sign in North America. Produced by Denniz Pop with group members Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg, the drum beat was inspired by the Kayo song "Another Mother". Berggren and Ekberg also wrote the lyrics.
"I've Been Loving You Too Long" (originally "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)") is a soul music ballad written by Otis Redding and Jerry Butler. Considered by music critics and writers to be one of Redding's finest performances and a soul classic, it is a slow, emotional piece with Redding's pleading vocals backed by producer Steve Cropper's arpeggiated guitar parts and a horn section.
12 Inches of Snow is the debut album by Canadian reggae musician Snow, released in 1993. Edmond Leary and MC Shan produced the entire album, apart from one track which was produced by John Ficarrotta. The album was produced shortly before Snow was imprisoned for a year on an assault charge. Upon his release from prison, his first single "Informer" became a chart topping hit.
"Informer" is a song by Canadian reggae musician Snow, released in August 1992 by East West Records as the first single from his debut album, 12 Inches of Snow (1993). The song is well known for the line "a licky boom boom down" and for Snow's fast toasting and often unintelligible lyrics.
"I Can See Clearly Now" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Johnny Nash. It was the lead single from his album, I Can See Clearly Now (1972), and achieved success in the United States and the United Kingdom when it was released in 1972, reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cashbox charts. It also reached number one in Canada and South Africa. The song has been covered by many artists throughout the years, including a hit version by Lee Towers that reached no. 19 in the Dutch Top 40 in 1982, and another recorded by Jimmy Cliff for the motion picture soundtrack of Cool Runnings that peaked at no. 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1993.
"Master Blaster (Jammin')" is a 1980 song by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released as the lead single from his nineteenth studio album, Hotter than July (1980). It was a major hit, spending seven weeks at number one on the US Billboard R&B singles chart, reaching number five on Billboard's pop singles chart in the fall of 1980 and peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart, and number one in New Zealand.
"Happy Nation" is a song recorded by Swedish group Ace of Base from their debut album with the same name (1992). It was first released in Scandinavia in December 1992 by Mega Records and later released twice in the UK. The first appearance was in October 1993, when it peaked at number 42, it re-entered the chart twelve months later at number 40. "Happy Nation" reached number-one on the singles charts of Denmark, Finland, France in 1993 and 1994. Its music video was directed by Matt Broadley. In 2008, the song was remade by Ace of Base for a remix kit.
"Sweat (A La La La La Long)" is a song by Jamaican reggae fusion band Inner Circle, released in July 1992 by Warner Records as the lead single from their twelfth album, Bad to the Bone (1992). It was written by the band's Ian and Roger Lewis, and produced by them with another bandmember, Touter Harvey. The song became a number-one hit in Belgium, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, and Zimbabwe. The music video, depicting the group on the beach, was directed by Mathias Julien. Australian music channel Max included "Sweat" in their list "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2017.
"Con Calma" (transl. "Calmly") is a song by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee featuring Canadian rapper Snow. The song was released as a single on January 24, 2019, by El Cartel Records alongside a music video directed by Marlon Peña and filmed in Los Angeles and Toronto, which features a Memoji (Animoji) of Daddy Yankee dancing with a crew. The song is a reimagination of Snow's "Informer". The song was written by Daddy Yankee, Snow, Michael Grier, Edmond Leary, MC Shan, Terri Moltke, and Play-N-Skillz, and was produced by American production duo Play-N-Skillz and co-produced by David "Scott Summers" Macias. A remix version featuring American singer Katy Perry was released on April 19, 2019. The song is also used in the 2019 film Spies in Disguise.
"She Don't Let Nobody (But Me)" is a song by American singer-songwriter Curtis Mayfield, included on his twentienth solo album, Love Is the Place (1982). It was released in 1981 by Boardwalk Records as the first single from the album and reached No. 15 on the US Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.
