Time now to look at the biggest hits of the 90's in the UK, again my source is a list I created on my rateyourmusic account (you can check it out here) and again I'm only including candidates that were a hit in the southern hemisphere back in the day. I'm also using alternate art for entries I'm able to find it for in case you don't recognise them from other areas on my site.
This is the final entry to come from the Vengaboys on this list, although they would've had two more entries has "Up/down" and "We're going to Ibiza" been bigger hits in the southern hemisphere. Much like in Australia and NZ, they had success with their second album in 2000 in the UK before calling it quits in 2002.
This is the final entry from the KLF on this list, although they would've had one more appearance with "What time is love" as that was the first hit they had in their homeland following their rebranding as a serious act. Even though they had massive worldwide success with these four singles, they called it quits in 1992 right when they had their biggest hit from earlier on this list.
This is the only appearance from M people on this list, although it was equally as successful in their homeland as "One night in heaven" which would've been the next entry on this list had it been a hit internationally for them. It's interesting how this was more popular here in Australia than in their homeland despite it nearly topping the UK charts, although they did have a string of other minor hits over there.
Here's the other chart topper that the Fugees had in the UK, obviously it wasn't as inescapable as their earlier entry on this list, however the fact this was a massive hit over there and only a sleeper hit on Billboard should tell you how much more popular they were with the Brits than they were with their fellow Americans.
This was the fourth consecutive chart topper for the Spice girls in their homeland, although given that it was a two for one deal, it was bound to go straight to number one on the UK charts despite being the fourth and fifth singles from their debut album. The rest of their 90's output is still to come on this list, but it'll be a while yet before we revisit any of them.
It's easy to forget this is the lead single from East 17's second album given how it's sandwiched between their two top entries on this list, however there's no denying it was a massive hit for them in their homeland as opposed to barely qualifying for the Australian side of my site. This is unfortunately their final entry on this list as well as the last candidate from them I had for it.
This needed two attempts to become a hit in the UK as the Brits ignored this bubble-gum pop track from the Cardigans upon its initial release in 1996, their second attempt was far more lucrative due to its inclusion in the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack which was how it took off throughout the rest of the world.
We're starting to see an uptake of songs from the last stretch of the decade on this list, this is because the UK charts were so chaotic that it made determining their popularity much harder than it was for songs from earlier in the decade. I bring this up because this was a chart topper for Shanks and Bigfoot in their homeland which is why this crossed over internationally despite its relatively low placement on this list.
Even though Bryan Adams top entry on here was the only reason this didn't get to number one in the UK for the Scorpions, I am a bit surprised this made it onto Billboard's 90's list given how it wasn't among the most popular songs of its year worldwide. That said, it was also a huge hit here in Australia which I guess does validate the Brits for giving it international success.
Even though this failed to get to number one here in Australia, this lead single from Don't ask did stick around for quite some time on our charts which seemed to be all the incentive the Brits needed for making this a hit for Tina arena on the UK charts. This was her only hit over there, although the other singles from the album did chart due to their success down under.
Even though this was a hit in the UK months prior to it crossing over to Londonbeat's native America as well as it nearly topping the UK charts, I'm still a bit surprised this was a massive worldwide hit for them given how it became a hit on Billboard thanks to it being a chart topper here in Australia. I guess we Aussies had some impact on the UK and Billboard charts given how many songs became a success because of us globally.
If this duet seems a little low to you, that's because it was marketed as a charity single for the Christmas of 1991 in both men's homeland as opposed to it being a regular release from them internationally. Not that this needed to success on the UK charts to be a global hit given how the rest of the world knew who George Michael and Elton John was when this came out.
I was expecting to see this song way higher on this list given how much of a hit this was here in Australia for Utah saints, I guess this just goes to show that we Aussies were willing to make an EDM song a success here regardless of its international success which would certainly be the case for several entries that failed to appear on here. These guys had one other candidate for this list with "What can you do for me."
Hello again 2 unlimited, nice to see you on this list with your second single which almost topped the UK charts as well as becoming a decent success here in Australia. They have one more entry to come on this list, and I also haven't skipped and of their tracks to give you an idea of how well loved they were both here and in the UK.
While this wasn't as inescapable in the UK as it was on Billboard, this third single from Falling into you proved to be a massive hit for Celine Dion which explains how it managed to become a hit throughout the rest of the world. That said, I get the feeling this would've crossed over here in Australia even if it flopped over there due to the strong Meat loaf vibe it has.
Honestly, I'm more surprised this was a hit over in NZ given how the kiwis weren't that big on EDM throughout the 90's, this being a massive hit in the UK isn't shocking to me in the slightest as the Brits didn't let their love of EDM or Europop die like we Aussies did during the final stretch of the decade.
Given how this was a sleeper hit here in Australia for British DJ Felix, it's not really surprising that it didn't have a high peak position in his homeland (comparative to the other entries on this list) and is still able to appear on my list. Again, I feel this was a hit in both countries less because of his nationality and more because we Aussies and Brits couldn't get enough of EDM.
We have our final entry from 2 unlimited on this list, again I haven't skipped over any of their entries on my rateyourmusic list for this list to give you an idea of how similar their success was in Australia and the UK. That said, they did have a few minor hits after this in the UK which wasn't the case here down under.
This is the only other entry from Corona on this list, although "Baby baby" was one of the final cuts I made when presenting this list as I felt that was too much of a fan single to put on here compared to the more genuine hits that did make the cut. Hey at least these guys had two more entries on here than La bouche who didn't even have a hit in the UK.
To give you an idea of how much less popular MC was in the UK compared to the rest of the world, this massive chart topper she had on Billboard was a mere top five hit on the UK charts even though it was still a shoe in for this list of mine. She still has five more entries to come on this list with me of course not skipping any from my rateyourmusic list.
Here's another entry from a British band that managed to find massive worldwide success despite it not coming close to topping the UK charts, although I've learned from this list and my 80's list that we Aussies and kiwis don't necessarily consider how well a song does in Britain when it comes to make it a hit in our respective countries.
I'm a bit torn on how I feel about seeing this on my list, on the one hand, it's Roxette who's one of my favourite bands of all time as well as a this being a massive chart topper for them here in Australia and on Billboard. On the other hand, this is arguably one of the heaviest rock songs on this list which makes me wonder why the Brits made this a success and not anything from Pearl jam or Soundgarden.
It's been a while since we looked at Madonna on this list, hasn't it? Here she is with a song that barely missed the cut for my bonus Billboard list from a while back comfortably making it on this list due to how much the Brits loved this ballad from her. We'll be seeing a lot more from the queen of pop moving forward on this list.
Now here's an entry on this list that I would consider to be a sleeper hit (even though it still made the UK top ten) even though this was more of a sleeper hit for Blue boy in his homeland, that didn't prevent this from being a massive hit for him here in Australia likely due to how much we Aussies still loved EDM when it came out.
We have the other soundtrack hit that Coolio had throughout the 90's to appear on this list, again I have to assume the Brits made this a hit due to their love of Nothing to lose rather than them being invested in his hip hop career given how few rappers and hip-hop artists we've looked at on this list. Even so, this song's appearance on my list should be proof that the Brits genuinely loved it at the time.
This and the Prodigy's other entry on this list are arguably the heaviest songs on this list given how they were the only industrial act the be candidates for this list, of course this was a chart topper in the UK due to its controversial music video which led to many of their fellow Brits filing complaints towards the BBC when it premiered on TV.
This is the final entry from the Backstreet boys on this list as none of their other hits they had in the southern hemisphere were candidates for appearing on here, although they would've had one more entry on here had "Quit playing games with my heart" been a success in Australia and NZ. This is interesting as that was also their breakthrough hit in their native America.
This is another entry where a British artist found more success here in Australia than they did in their homeland, in this case it's Honeyz who did fairly well on the UK charts with their debut single and "End of the line" which was another candidate I had for this list. The combined success of both of these songs it the same as what they achieved with this song down under.
This was the other chart topper that Madonna had in the UK throughout the 90's, I guess I'm not surprised given how it nearly topped the Billboard charts for her following the release of Ray of light. Again, you have to forgive its low placement on this list due to how chaotic the British charts were during the last stretch of the decade.
Of all the indie bands to find success in the UK throughout the 90's, R.E.M wasn't on my bingo list and yet here we are with their signature track from Automatic for the people. I guess this crossing over to the UK explains why it did so well here in Australia as well as why the album rebounded on the charts worldwide when it was released as a single.
This is our final entry from Take that on this list, although it wouldn't have been had the boy band achieved more than the three hits they had here in Australia as they still would've had four more entries to come had that been the case. This just goes to show how much more well-loved they were with their fellow Brits than they were internationally.
We have another song to become a success due to its inclusion in a Levi's jeans commercial, this time it's from the Clash who managed to finally score a chart topper in their homeland when the ad that featured this classic made such an impression on their fellow Brits. It appears it was all the incentive the kiwis needed to make it a hit over in NZ as well.
I'm somewhat surprised this wasn't as big a hit in the UK as it was here in Australia and on Billboard for Vanessa Williams, mainly because this is the type of diva pop that the Brits went nuts for back in the day as evidence by all the other entries on both these lists looking over the big hits they had throughout the 80's and 90's.
My UK readers will likely be surprised at the fact that this was JX's weakest single here in Australia given how it was his only hit in his homeland, I'm not sure how we Aussies came across his first two singles given how neither "Son of a gun" or "You belong with me" did that well on the British charts.
Again, I'm a bit surprised that this wasn't even bigger in America given how it was a massive chart topper on Billboard as well as being one of the biggest hits of 1990 here in Australia despite it failing to top our charts. At least this finally caught the Brits attention as he hadn't had anything chart prior to this over there, although it was his only noteworthy hit on the UK charts.
Well, this is a surprise, mainly because this is far the heaviest song to appear on these British lists of mine and yet it was a bigger hit for the American band in question over there than it was on the Billboard charts. What's even more curious is that this charted and not the E.P, meaning the Brits were impressed with the song itself and not Ugly kid joe as a brand.
Even though this made headlines for briefly having the longest run on the Billboard charts, that didn't seem to be much of an incentive for the Brits to make it an inescapable hit as this was only a decent hit in the UK for Boyz II men. They have only one more entry to come on this list with me obviously not skipping over any of their appearances on my rateyourmusic list.
With how well Kylie did on my 80's list, you'd think she'd have a ton of appearances on this list given how many hits she racked up here in Australia throughout the decade. Alas you'd be wrong as this is her only entry on here even though "Tears on my pillow" and "Give me just a little more time" where both candidates I had for this list.
This is the only notable success that Heart had in the UK throughout the 90's, even then this feels more like an 80's hangover given how they only managed to catch the Brits attention with "Alone" from three years prior. This is also another entry on here I would deem as a sleeper hit due to having a low peak position compared to many other entries on this list.
It's a bit odd that after his top entry on this list, this was the big hit off of Will Smith's solo debut Big willie style in the UK (that is and never was a good name for an album.) I guess the Brits couldn't get enough of the lavish production values from the music video as well as the Whispers sample the track is built on.
Given how long it took for NKOTB to find an audience with the Brits compared to the rest of the world, it shouldn't be that surprising that this wasn't released as a single over there until the start of the 90's as opposed to the end of the 80's like it was internationally. This is despite the fact that it was pushed up as their second single over there in order to have it go to number one on their charts.
We have another American EDM act finding success in the UK despite flopping in their native America, once again their appearance on this list is due to how well they did here in Australia with this track even though the Brits weren't as impressed with it as many of the other EDM tracks we've looked at so far on this list.
You knew that this remix of the Sesame Street theme would be appearing on this list, however I'm a bit surprised it's so low on here even if I'm aware that its international success was purely through nostalgia rather than this nearly topping the UK charts. I guess I assumed Smart e's fellow Brits also had massive nostalgia for the children's program upon its initial release.
Given how it was a chart topper here in Australia and a mere top five hit in America, I'm willing to bet that the Brits were following the lead of us Aussies when they decided to make this almost top the UK charts for Crash test dummies back in the day. I'm finding out many Canadian bands and artists seem to benefit from appealing to us Aussies to gain international success.
We finally have an entry from Spiceworld on this list, this was indeed the biggest hit from the album in the girls native UK even though its appearance on this list is pitiful compared to where it appears on my Australian and NZ lists. Again, this is due to how chaotic the UK charts were during the final three years of the decade more than anything else.
We have another entry from Madonna that was a hit in the UK but not in her native America, I guess this is due to the Brits being in love with the second Austin Powers flick over the Americans as "American woman" from Lenny Kravitz also bombed on Billboard during the final year of the decade.
Again, I need to remind my readers that the UK charts during the final stretch of the 90's were completely chaotic, meaning that this chart topper from B*witched no doubt did far better in their homeland than its placement on here would otherwise suggest. This is also the case for their final entry we'll revisit later down this list.
This is Five's second appearance on this list and the only song of theirs to come from their debut album, again that's not to say the songs on there bombed in their homeland, rather they didn't stick around long enough for me to consider as candidates for this list.
The success this achieved in the UK for Paula Abdul is the same that it achieved in NZ, meaning that while it was a hit for her over there, it seemed to be more out of obligation as opposed to here in Australia and her native America where we Aussies and her fellow Americans had genuine love for this ballad.
