3 Forgotten Radio Hits That Every 1990s Teen Secretly Loved

Grunge had taken over the airwaves in the 1990s, and plenty of teens were part of the bandwagon that made the genre so huge. Naturally, you’d probably get bullied a bit if you were a teen listening to pop radio hits in the 1990s instead of “cool” music. But even if you were a diehard grunge fan, you probably bumped these three pop gems in secret. Probably on your Walkman, where no one could hear you singing along in your head.

“Roll To Me” by Del Amitri from ‘Twisted’ (1995)

Alright, that music video was just a tad bit cringey. But it’s nostalgic, there’s no way around that. And plenty of teens who wanted to seem cool listened to this song in secret because it’s so dang catchy. “Roll To Me” was a pop-rock hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart back in 1995, where it peaked at No. 10. The song would end up being the Scottish band’s biggest hit on our side of the pond.

“I Swear” by All-4-One from ‘All-4-One’ (1994)

You might have forgotten this boy band’s name, but you probably didn’t totally forget their hit song “I Swear”. I don’t think there’s a millennial alive today that doesn’t recognize it immediately from the intro alone, and especially not the chorus.

This song is actually a cover of a tune that country fans will likely remember from John Michael Montgomery, released in 1993. All-4-One put an R&B spin on it like it was easy, and their version of the ballad climbed the charts to No. 1 across the globe. Their version of the song topped the Hot 100, too.

“Smoke” by Natalie Imbruglia from ‘Left Of The Middle’ (1998)

Natalie Imbruglia is a one-hit wonder, and that still just doesn’t sit right with me. She should have been way bigger outside of songs like “Torn”. Speaking of, “Torn” could have made it to this list of radio hits from the 1990s that every teen at the time secretly loved. But I went with her minor hit “Smoke”, namely because of how nostalgic it is. “Smoke” wasn’t as successful as “Torn”, but it did make it to No. 5 on the UK Singles chart.

Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc