top 100 artists of the 90s!!!

[goodie]

#94. Amber

Biggest Hit of the 90s: This Is Your Night

Biggest Album of the 90s: This Is Your Night

Other Singles from the 90s: One More Night, Colour Of Love, Sexual (Li Da Di), Above The Clouds, If You Could Read My Mind and Love One Another

Biography of the 90s: Amber's music in its original form can be accurately categorized as Eurodance, Hi-NRG, House music, Dance-pop, Pop/Rock, and Electronica mingled with some Urban contemporary slow jams and Adult Contemporary ballads. Amber's stellar club mixes have run the gamut from House in its various styles to vocal Trance.

Amber is played extensively on Rhythmic format stations and the newly formed "Rhythmic AC" format which plays Disco, Hi-NRG, House, 1980s and 1990s mainstream Dance and Dance-pop hits and Quiet Storm, Adult Contemporary and Urban contemporary.

Amber has a considerable gay fan base and she frequently performs in gay clubs/events and more such as with the Human Rights Campaign and Pride events. This is not to say Amber's listeners are predominently gay/lesbian but they are well established.

Amber's debut album This Is Your Night was released in late 1996, following the success of the single of the same name. Amber became the first Euro-NRG artist to be signed directly to a label as a solo artist. The album was a mainstream European hit, but did not fare as successfully in America where dance musicians' singles are usually far more commercially successful than their entire albums. The album featured mostly Hi-NRG, Eurodance and House music songs with a few romantically- or sensually-toned Urban contemporary ballads such as "Let It Rain," "Are You The One" and "Losing Myself In Your Love." Those songs also proved she was as capable of tackling ballads like any other pop artist. Still the album sold well on the album chart for club/dance music. Standout tracks include "Hold My Body Tight," "Being With You," "Can You Feel The Love," "This Is The Right Time" and "Push It to the Limit."

In 1998, Amber also teamed up with fellow international dance divas Jocelyn Enriquez and Ultra Nate to record a remake of Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" for the 54 movie soundtrack, which was released under the group name Stars on 54. It became an American hit that summer.

Amber's sophomore album, released in 1999 on Tommy Boy Records, featured an alluring array of soulful Dance-pop, Hi-NRG and House music song with a few Urban contemporary songs such as "Object of Desire." The song "Above the Clouds" was prominently featured on the final episode of Season Three of television series, "Sex and The City." So far, it is her most well-received album by the American Pop mainstream. This album allowed Amber to songwrite with top songwriters/producers Rick Nowels and Billy Steinberg on "Sexual (Li Da Di)," "Above the Clouds," and "Love One Another."

[goodie]

i really liked some of the songs on her 1st album aswell as the stars on 54 song!!!

i'm not very familar with the songs from her 2nd album!!!

[FreakyFlyBry]

Good to see Amber in there... she had among the best of 90's dance ;D

[jt40]

admin said:

goodie said:

i did like epic but that's pretty much it from this band!!!

Same here... that's the only song from them I know, actually.

Me too.

Bruce Springsteen is alright, and YAY for Hootie and Amber ;d

[qnx100]

Amber definitely deserves the recognition. She's had a number of excellent dance tracks: "If You Could Read My Mind", "Sexual (Li Da Di)", and "Above The Clouds", among others. ;D

[goodie]

#93. 2 Unlimited

Biggest Hit of the 90s: No Limit

Biggest Album of the 90s: No Limits

Other Singles from the 90s: Get Ready For This, Twilight Zone, Tribal Dance, Let The Beat Control Your Body, Maximum Overdrive, Faces, The Real Thing, The Magic Friend & Do What's Good For Me.

Biography of the 90s: 2 Unlimited was a eurodance act formed in 1991. The project was the brainchild of Belgian producers Phil Wilde and Jean-Paul de Coster, and was fronted by a Dutch duo, rapper Ray Slijngaard and singer Anita Doth. During five years of enormous worldwide success, the act sold more than 18 million records.

They were immediately signed to Byte Records in the Netherlands and were quickly licenced to many other record labels, including PWL Continental in the UK, run by Pete Waterman of Stock, Aitken & Waterman fame, who had produced dozens of hits for the likes of Kylie Minogue and Rick Astley. However Waterman, deciding that the rap was unsuitable for the UK market, where instrumental rave music had become extremely popular, removed most of the vocals from the track except for the line "y'all ready for this?", which was sampled from The D.O.C.'s "It's Funky Enough". "Get Ready For This" was an instant hit, peaking at no.2 in the chart and was the twelfth best-selling single of 1991, earning a silver sales certificate. It went on to reach no.4 in Belgium, no.6 in the Netherlands and no.2 in Australia. It also worked its way up to no.14 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

A follow-up single "Twilight Zone" swiftly followed in January 1992 which also reached no.2 in the UK, selling 234,000 copies. It went one further in the duo's homeland where it topped the chart and was certified gold, and it was also a hit in the United States where it charted at no.49 on the Hot 100. To capitalise on this immediate and unexpected success, the album Get Ready!, featuring the two singles and seven other brand new tracks including two ballads, was released on February 24. Two further singles were released, "Workaholic" and "The Magic Friend", which helped the album go on to sell 2.6 million copies worldwide. In December, Ray and Anita were awarded "Best Newcomer" at the Smash Hits Pollwinners' Party, ending a very successful 1992.

Although Ray and Anita were sceptical about the track Wilde and de Coster wanted to push as the lead single from the act's second album, "No Limit" was released in January 1993 and the repetitive nature of the song helped it became their most successful single ever, and by far the best remembered by the general public even now. The single topped the charts in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and in the United Kingdom where it sold 532,000 copies and ended up the fourth best-seller of 1993.

"Tribal Dance" was released as a single shortly before the album "No Limits" hit stores in May. Three further singles were issued: "Faces", which was considerably different in pace to previous releases, "Maximum Overdrive" and a re-recorded version of "Let The Beat Control Your Body".

But despite the phenomenal success that the duo were enjoying, they were criticised heavily by the music industry and the British press dubbed them "2 Untalented". Ray and Anita were dismissed as "puppets" and the lyrical depth of their songs was questioned. However, it should be noted that both performers took an active part in writing their material and Ray's raps were cut from the UK album release, being once again deemed, in Jean-Paul de Coster's words, "too clumsy for the British market". Whilst some dance music fans also expressed dislike for the commerciality of their sound and the banality of their lyrics, others, such as one music critic in Melody Maker wrote that whilst they were "juvenile" and "puerile", on the other hand "2 Unlimited stand for energy and excitement. And if you're not thrilled by the lobotomising insistence of "Workaholic", "Contrast" and the rest you're either dead from the toes up, or too grown-up for your own good."

It was also noted by the band's manager Michel Maartens that 2 Unlimited were launched at a time when "many parents feared that house and techno would damage their children. It was associated with pills and nightly escapades. But Ray and Anita proved to be the acceptable faces of techno. When Mum and Dad saw they were harmless pop stars, all mistrust was over." The band's image and sound were at the same time responsible for both their popularity with the public and their unpopularity with critics, with Melody Maker describing them as "a crude, bastardized assault on tasteful dance standards."

However, nothing could stop 2 Unlimited going from strength to strength. The "No Limits" album was even more successful than the first, selling in excess of 3 million copies. At the MIDEM convention, 2 Unlimited were presented with 80 platinum and gold awards from 26 different countries, as well as winning "World's Best-Selling Dutch Act" at the World Music Awards 1993.

In May 1994, the duo's tenth single "The Real Thing" was released and it proved that their fans were still interested as they sent the single to no.1 in the Netherlands and no.6 in the UK. The title was aimed as a dig at the several other similar sounding eurodance acts who had appeared to copy the 2 Unlimited sound. Their third album, called "Real Things", was instantly certified gold in the UK and 2 Unlimited became the first dance act to achieve two number one albums. It was also the first one that PWL made no changes to, perhaps because by then rap in dance records had become more common and accepted. "No One" surprised many fans by being a straight-forward pop record and was picked as the second single.

By the end of 1994 they had sold another 322,000 singles in the UK alone and they were still winning more awards than they had room for on their mantelpiece, as they were presented with Smash Hits' "Best Dance Act" award for the second year running, and the Popprijs award for their services to Dutch music. They were also still performing to huge crowds at Wembley Arena in London and to 450,000 people at the Parkpop Festival in the Netherlands. At the height of their career, Ray and Anita were thought to be performing around 200 shows a year.

In March 1995, "Here I Go" was another top 5 hit in their homeland but by charting at no.22 it broke the duo's run of eleven consecutive UK top 20 hits. The fourth and final single was the ballad "Nothing Like The Rain" which was not quite as successful and did not even receive a UK release.

Whilst they were very popular all around the world, major success continued to elude 2 Unlimited in the United States. But three years after it was originally released, "Get Ready For This" started getting major radio support and charted at no.83 on the Hot 100 in October 1994, eventually peaking at number 38. This helped first album "Get Ready!" make its way to the 500,000 mark, earning it a gold certificate despite never climbing higher than no.197 on the chart. The track has become a firm favourite at arena-based sporting events and is also regularly featured on movie soundtracks.

In October 1995, 2 Unlimited released their first compilation album "Hits Unlimited", prompting rumours that they were about to split up. The single "Do What's Good For Me" was another top 20 hit but the album could only make it to no.27 in the UK. Following the surprise belated success of "Get Ready For This" in the USA, the "best-of" was heavily promoted there but only managed no.107 on the Billboard 200. The rumours continued when Pete Waterman announced that Ray and Anita had split up when in actual fact they hadn't, and Ray expressed his aspirations to be a record producer. In February 1996, the band performed at the Viña del Mar concert in Chile, topping the bill alongside Ace of Base. Despite their insistence that they were planning a world tour, in April 1996, shortly after the release of the single "Jump For Joy", both Ray and Anita announced that 2 Unlimited was over.

It later emerged that after having spent so much time together they were no longer getting on as well as they once had, and there was disagreement about the future sound of 2 Unlimited. They had asked for more creative input and they also felt that they were not getting a fair share of the huge amount of money being earned by the project. As no agreement was reached, they each went their separate ways before a final single "Spread Your Love" was released in June 1996. Jean-Paul de Coster went on to sue Anita for breaking her contract, but he lost the case as it was considered that he had not paid Anita enough and was ordered to give her the same amount of money he had demanded of her.

Anita went on to DJ for Dutch radio station Radio 538, recorded a single with reggae artist Mad Cobra and in 2000 released a solo album called "Reality". Ray created his own label called X-Ray Records, which scored a top 10 hit in the Netherlands with T.O.F.'s "Funk It Up". He also released two solo singles in 1997 which failed to chart but found more success in 1999 with the group V.I.P. Allstars. Ray now lives in Spain with his wife and his son Rayvano, and Anita continues to tour clubs as part of the group Divas Of Dance, and performs the hits of 2 Unlimited by herself at universities and holiday camps. An internet petition to reunite Ray, Anita, Jean-Paul and Phil in 2005 was unsuccessful.

[goodie]

i was a big fan of this group!!!

they had some killer dance anthems!!!

i still enjoy hearing their songs 2day!!!

[FreakyFlyBry]

I enjoyed their song "Get Ready For This"... might know a few others by hearing them, but I can't really remember

[Courage]

The only Meatloaf song I care for did not come out in the 90's.

I like the 2 songs by Take That I know.

Never heard Eternal

[Jason]

2 Unlimited were pretty cool! The only two songs that I know by them are "Get Ready For This" and "Twilight Zone," but I liked both of them. I'm not sure that I remember "No Limits," but if I were to hear it, I might remember.

[qnx100]

The only song I know from them is "Get Ready For This", and I like it. ;D

[goodie]

#92. Bell Biv DeVoe

Biggest Hit of the 90s: Poison

Biggest Album of the 90s: Poison

Other Singles from the 90s: Do Me, B.B.D. (I Thought It Was Me), Above The Rim, Gangsta, World To The Mutha, She's Dope & Something In Your Eyes.

Biography of the 90s: Bell Biv DeVoe was a successful splinter group of New Edition that consisted of three previous members, Ricky Bell (also known as Slick), Michael Bivins (also known as Biv), and Ronnie DeVoe (also known as R.D.).

Bell Biv DeVoe began to take shape in the late '80s, but not until completing the tour in support of Heart Break did the threesome decide to make the break from New Edition official. At the suggestion of producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, they chose to chart their own course.

Bell Biv Devoe's debut album Poison has a variety of producers, including Jam and Lewis, Wolf & Epic (Richard Wolf & Bret "Epic" Mazur), Guy's Timmy Gatling, and Public Enemy's Hank Shocklee and Keith Shocklee. As a result, Bell Biv DeVoe's first album "Poison" has a larger new jack swing composition as compared to New Edition releases. BBD was a pioneering group that was the first to successfully combine hip-hop with R&B & pop. The CD was released in 1990, and its title track became a #1 hit on the R&B chart. The singles that followed were "Do Me!", "B.B.D. (I Thought It Was Me)?", "When Will I See You Smile Again", and "Dope!" (the latter was retitled "She's Dope!" upon release due to the rising drug abuse among children at the time). Poison sold over three million copies. The remix album W.B.B.D.BootCity:The Remixes, with the Wolf & Epic produced "Word To The Mutha!" as accompanying single, was released the next year and was certified gold.

Bell Biv Devoe sold in excess of 4 million albums, prompting performances on the 1990 American Music Awards and other such ceremonies.

Bivins took time off from recording to search for new talent and bring together the East Coast Family, discovering and producing debut albums for the groups for Another Bad Creation and Boyz II Men. Bell Biv DeVoe's sophomore album, Hootie Mack, was released in 1993 and spawned the singles "Gangsta", "Above The Rim", "Something In Your Eyes" and "Show Me the Way".

In 1996, Bell, Bivins, and DeVoe participated in the reunion of New Edition and toured in support of the CD Home Again on the MCA record label. In 2002, Bell Biv DeVoe's third album, B.B.D., was released. This latest effort saw Bell Biv Devoe exploring a more, hardcore rap style/R&B approach. It received mixed reviews and not much commercial success.

[goodie]

i really liked gangsta in 93!!!

was 1 of my favourite songs from that year, i even knew all the words 2 it back then!!!

not very familar with the other songs!!!

[Jason]

Classic 90s group! My favorites from them are "Poison," "Do Me!" and "B.B.D." Great, great group!

[FreakyFlyBry]

Bell Biv Devoe had a few catchy songs back in the early 90's... "Poison" and "Do Me" are my favourites ;D