Sadly, radio would attempt the same with the singer, with a similar lack of success.The smoothness of the brilliantly lifted O'Jays sample should be unparalleled, yet it's still no match for the smooth-talking of the rapper born Christopher Lee Rios, who spits with the verbal dexterity of an absurdly horny high school debate champ: "Some chick in back of me/ Bought me a daiquiri, told me meet her in back of Zachary's/ 'Cause she heard I was packin' meat." The debut single set the brothers Hanson up for both meteoric success and an extended post-phenom career, and it never stops being a jaw-dropping achievement: a perfect pop song that simultaneously marvels at the world's wondrousness and sighs about how none of it lasts forever.The Notorious B.I.G.

Just try to avoid singing along. When Gina G continues her breathy call outs for Aaliyah blasted R&B into the new millennium with her sophomore album, Expanding on the potential of breakout hit "Do You Know (What It Takes)," second If not the most left-field top 40 hit of 1997, then certainly the most inimitable -- an alt-pop banger based on a 65-year-old trumpet sample, a funky synth break and a gender-flipped lyric that few artists in history outside of Prince would be so audacious as to attempt, let alone succeed at. The Hanson brothers brought back bubblegum pop in all of its glory. No surprise they named a turn-of-the-millennium, late-night-advertised dance comp Let the record show that for all the Jiggaman's eternal GOATness -- and for however fondly we remember his 1996 debut The sixth and to date final top 40 hit for U.K. synth-rock greats Depeche Mode was a sleek sleaze-pop banger, delightfully cheesy enough that singer Dave Gahan pretty much had to play a lounge singer in the video. Plus, "Just Another Case" brings along the immortal Slick Rick for a "Children's Story"-quoting cameo, giving an already weighty jam an extra degree of historical heft.It took the better part of three years for America to really catch on to the Blackout All-Stars' cover of Pete Rodriguez's With chiming church bells and keys that plink like goosebumps popping up your arm, "Hail Mary" was already plenty spooky before the release of its posthumous music video, a mini-horror movie featuring an unseen 2Pac returning from the grave to get the justice on his murderers that real life still has yet to afford him. "Sunny Came Home" is the central song for Shawn Colvin's concept album about divorce

"Wannabe" also broke into the top 20 on the dance chart. Sunny, the protagonist of this folkie story song, comes home with some matters to settle. Elton John was 50 years old when his double-sided single topped the chart, which was " Something About The Way You Look Tonight " and the 1997 remake of " Candle In The Wind ", although it only debuted in October 1997 and was also #1 for two weeks in the 1998 calendar year. Today, though, the strongest memories are of its opening lines, a career-definer in a life full of such couplets: "I ain't a killer but don't push me/ Revenge is like the sweetest joy, next to gettin' p---y. Still, when you listen next, pay attention to the underrated verses; Brooks grinning and teasing her way through a relationship that attempts in vain to pigeonhole her personality ("Yesterday I cried/ You must've been relieved to see the softer side"). Today, the song sounds much less ostentatious and much more natural that you might remember -- and despite its title (and Village People-aping, Bono-crotch-thrusting video), actually a much less-craven, more creative example of a displaced rock band trying to find refuge in disco and Europop than that of "I'm not sayin' I'm number one/ Uhh, I'm sorry, I lied/ I'm number one, two, three, four and five." This medley reached #31 on the US pop chart  The debut single from the brother group reached #1 in a phenomenal 27 different countries.

Only a handful of singles in pop history have been this jam-packed with hooks, catchphrases and instantly iconic moments -- you've barely begun to unpack the implications of the chorus ("If you wanna be my lover/ You gotta get with my friends") before the group starts doing their member roll call, then it's time to slam your body down and wind it all around, then 1 single on the Hot 100 in '97, but it could've been an awesome deep cut on Bjork's As remorseless as '90s crossover dance would get: thumping, circular, endlessly fist-pumping techno-pop that sounds like it was recorded at a club at the center of the earth, at an hour so nocturnal that it doesn't even exist on the Earth's surface. Unsurprisingly, it was far too British to go anywhere in the U.S., but in the U.K. it went top 40 and became something of a house music standard, even getting covered this year by underground soul phenom Sampha at the Sarah McLachlan's ethereal alt-pop went mainstream in a big way in '97, not just with the iconic all-female Lilith Fair tour that she co-founded, but with her multi-platinum If this seems too high to you for a novelty single, then it's probably been too long since you actually listened to the damn thing. "I get a little bit closer to feeling fine" is an admirable and identifiable aspiration; perhaps the least contentious sentiment ever expressed by a hit single off an album Rare was the 1997 rap single that didn't try to ride at least one well-trodden pop/funk lift to radio omnipresence; the title track off LL Cool J's '97 album hedged its bets with two. was a breakup ballad almost entirely lacking in fire or indignation, more resigned than resolved in its molasses-slow crawl. And wow, that synth riff, a live wire running throughout the song, punishing in its uncontrolled effervescence. Kicking off with the immortal "Are you ready to rumble..." this pop culture artifact is sure to get your blood pumping with snippets from such tracks as "Whoomp!