Just like every other decade, the 1990s chart behemoths trigger intrigue to the forgotten smashes with equal fascination as the lauded gems of the era.
The UK number one lost to time is made up of all kinds of things. Sometimes they’re just bad and haven’t stood the test of time; others are overshadowed by an artist’s surrounding landmark releases that have formed a canonical presence in their songbook. Often, it’s just deeply culturally specific, a pop time capsule impossible to understand without at least witnessing from afar amid the national moment’s motions.
Most music is average and destined for the bargain bin ether. Such a fact is made starkly apparent when watching any of BBC Four’s reruns of Top of the Pops in their entirety. Whatever the year, you’ll be treated to one or two blasts of brilliance, a healthy serving of utter dross that lives on in memorable infamy, but overwhelmingly some two-bit indie act or mushy dance troupe completely lost to time, forcing you to go “who!?” when a bored John Peel or Anthea Turner doing her best announce their coveted five minutes of fame.
Whatever the reason, we take a look at the 1990s’ UK number ones and pick out the numbers you completely forgot sold by the bucketload.
Queen number one Song from the 1990s that have already been forgotten:
Queen – ‘Innuendo’
Release Date: January 1991 | Producer: Queen and David Richards | Label: Parlophone
By the 1990s, Queen stood as classic rock’s ultimate survivors. Dextrously jumping across pop’s evolving trends, the quartet has hurtled across baroque bluster, terrace chant stompers, disco camp, and through to synth-soaked anthemic stir to keep their songbook current and alive. As the 1980s closed, Queen had survived punk’s insurrectionary attack and the music press’ slings and arrows as a chart devouring monster and the UK’s venerable national treasure.
Yet, it’s often forgotten that the hits Queen were able to still muster so late into their original reign. Dropped amid the press speculation as to frontman Freddie Mercury’s failing health, the powerhouse singer managed to conjure the commanding vocals to 1991’s ‘Innuendo’, a colossal slice of lavish, rock theatre harkening back to the blustering days of their mid-1970s pomp and enjoying the single’s top spot for a week.
While its Innuendo album would score another chart topper with ‘These Are the Days of Our Lives’ propped up by the re-release of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as its double A-side, ‘Innuendo’ would stand as the last Queen UK number one in Mercury’s lifetime to stand on its own two legs, dying of HIV/AIDS complications before the end of the year.
