The year 1993 was a long time ago now, and a lot of genuinely amazing tracks that charted that year have earned the title of “forgotten songs.” It’s a shame, because some of those hits that modern-day listeners have never heard of are total bops. Let’s refresh your memory and celebrate some unfortunately forgotten songs from 1993, shall we?
“If” by Janet Jackson
It’s hard to imagine a Janet Jackson song ever being forgotten. However, I just never hear this R&B pop hit on the radio much anymore. Released in the summer of 1993, “If” is an R&B new jack swing track that was released as a single from the album Janet.
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“If” was an important song in Jackson’s career, too. It marked her image change from a somewhat reserved and meek individual to a full-blown sex symbol. The music video for “If” was also way ahead of its time, particularly when it came to depicting technology that was not yet available, such as webcams and touch screens. “If” peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Looking Through Patient Eyes” by P.M.
Remember this pop-leaning hip-hop tune? Released in early 1993, “Looking Through Patient Eyes” by the R&B outfit P.M. was quite a big hit. Released as the second single from The Bliss Album…?, “Looking Through Patient Eyes” was a No. 6 hit on the Hot 100 that year.
Fun fact: This song samples “Father Figure” by George Michael and makes a few other musical references, such as a lyric referring to Joni Mitchell’s “Help Me”.
“One Woman” by Jade
Jade was a girl group that really should have been bigger, in my opinion. I’m glad the group is still together today in some form. But after their initial breakup in 1997, Jade’s potential to reach the same heights as TLC or Spice Girls was lost. But while they were together, we got some solid and painfully underrated pop music. One such song is “One Woman”, released in 1993 as the third single from their debut record, Jade To The Max. This song hit No. 22 on the Hot 100. It did even better on the Hot R&B Singles chart and the Rhythmic Top 40 chart that year.
Photo by Margaret Norton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
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