Top 10 Songs We All Listened to In Our Girl Band Phase
#10: “Don’t Cha” (2005) The Pussycat Dolls feat. Busta Rhymes
Top 10 Songs We All Listened to in Our Boy Band Phase
Had things gone a little differently back in the mid 2000s, maybe Sugababes or Paris Hilton would have been attached to this track. But although all of them were offered “Don’t Cha”, they all turned it down. This made The Pussycat Dolls the beneficiaries of the now iconic 2000s track. The lyrics focused on a narrator trying to grab a guy’s attention by reminding him about what he’s missing. Whenever we played it, we felt like all eyes were on us.This song put them on the fast track from LA burlesque troupe to international girl group stardom. As People magazine wrote at the time, The Pussycat Dolls were “responsible for [2005's] guiltiest pleasure.” And we were all guilty as charged!
#9: “Never Ever” (1997) All Saints
Top 10 Songs We All Listened to In Our Villain Phase
The girls of All Saints might have a few questions that they need to know. However, we only have one… How many times did you listen to this song when it came out in 1997? If you’re anything like us, the answer is about a gazillion. The song was the group’s biggest hit. While we totally dug their debut single, “I Know Where It's At”, where it was at for us was “Never Ever.” The track grabbed our attention as soon as the opening monologue began. By the time we got to the ridiculously catchy chorus, we were hooked. And as an added bonus, the song was educational because they taught us about the alphabet.
#8: "Whatta Man" (1993) Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue
Sure, we all Shooped and free’d our minds in the 90s, but here we wanna take a minute or two and give much respect to “Whatta Man”. This track is a definite go-to when it comes to girl band singles of the era. During the song, we get lyrics that compliment a fictional partner in fun and catchy ways. The song is brought to life in an awesome two for one situation in which we get the ladies of Salt-N-Pepa team up with the amazing R&B voices of the ladies of En Vogue. What a song, what a song, what a song, what a mighty good song. Yes it is!
#7: “Whole Again” (2001) Atomic Kitten
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We can all relate to the feeling of loss after a breakup. In the early 2000s, Atomic Kitten perfectly captured what it’s like to have so many lingering emotions left behind. “Whole Again” talks about how hard it is to move on after you’ve fallen deeply for someone. This sentiment resonated with so many that Billboard magazine ranked it as the 96th greatest girl group song of all time. Since we put a lot of wear and tear on our Atomic Kitten CDs after many replays back in the day, we have to agree that “Whole Again” deserves that distinction.
#6: “Work from Home” (2016) Fifth Harmony feat. Ty Dolla Sign
Titans In Time - Work For It (Official Music Video)
In 2015, we thought “Worth It” was going to be our jam forever. But that was a year before Fifth Harmony released their second album and its lead single “Work from Home”. A few years later, it was clear that the song was ahead of its time. The track exhorted the values of remote work in 2016, four years before the world shut down and everyone that could work from home, did so. Unless the Fifth Harmony girls were actually encouraging a more NSFW situation that doesn’t involve formal employment at all. Either way, what your boss doesn’t know won’t hurt them right?
#5: “Call the Shots” (2007) Girls Aloud
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There was a time when Peter Robinson from the Popjustice music website named “Call the Shots” by Girls Aloud the “greatest pop song of the 21st century.” Now, while we might not all totally agree with that bold statement, we can see where he was coming from. The song had catchy dance beats and girl power lyrics. Most of us can admit that for a time back in the latter half of the aughts, we definitely had this synth-pop track on heavy rotation on our iPods. We loved singing aloud with Cheryl, Nadine, Sarah, Nicola and Kimberley every chance we got.
#4: “Cruel Summer” (1983) Bananarama
Some people watching this might not be familiar with any girl groups before the 90s. So, the band Bananarama might’ve easily flown under the radar. But for those of us who do remember, we’ll never forget 1983’s “Cruel Summer.” And not just because it was on “The Karate Kid” soundtrack. A year before Daniel was waxing on and waxing off, the song saw the women of Bananarama waxing poetic about the less cheerful side of summer songs. As singer Sara Dallin said, the lyrics “looked at the oppressive heat (and) the misery of wanting to be with someone as the summer ticked by.” Who can’t relate to that?
#3: “No Scrubs” (1999) TLC
Top 10 Songs We All Listened to in Our Angry Phase
Who needs Dear Abby when we have TLC to give us great advice? In 1995, they taught us about the perils of metaphorically “chasing waterfalls”. Four years later, they opened our eyes to the kind of men we shouldn’t allow into our lives… Scrubs. “No Scrubs” became a mantra for a generation of women. Its timeless message remained one that many of us still cling to all these years later. In fact the only “Scrubs” we’ll say yes to better involve JD, Elliot, Turk and Dr. Cox. They represent the exact opposite of what the iconic song was warning us against.
#2: “Wannabe” (1996) Spice Girls
During the second half of the 90s, if we were ‘feelin' sad and low’ and needed to spice up our lives, what we wanted, what we really, really wanted was the Spice Girls. No song better represents the pure pop exuberance of what that girl group meant to a generation than their debut single “Wannabe”. The song had us hooked from the first “I Wanna” to the final “zigazig ah”. And it still does. In fact, back in 2014 a study indicated that “Wannabe” was the most recognizable song of the previous 60 years. This song’s popularity and our love for it will never end. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. “Shout Out to My Ex” (2016), Little Mix We Had to Give a Shout Out to This Song “Our Lips Are Sealed” (1981), The Go-Go's We Can’t Keep Our Lips Sealed about How Much We like This Track from the 80s “Damaged” (2008), Danity Kane This Catchy Hit Was Practically Flawless “He Loves U Not” (2000), Dream This Catchy Pop Hit Was Stuck in Our Head for Much of the Early 2000s “Round Round” (2002), Sugababes We, like Many Others, Were Sweet on This Sugababes Track in 2002
#1: “Say My Name” (1999) Destiny's Child
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We started falling in love with Destiny's Child’s after “No, No, No” remixed its way into our hearts. And our obsession with them sure didn’t stop there. Throughout our Bootylicious girl band phase, Destiny’s Child had us “Jumpin', Jumpin’” to hit after hit. But their crown jewel just might be their 1999 track “Say My Name”. The awesome staccato beat, sweet lyrical flow and color-coded music video are iconic 90s music moments that still hold up today. It was a major part of our girl group phase and will no doubt be a part of similar phases for years to come.