http://www.refinery29.com

By Seija Rankin

View Fullscreen

View Slideshow

Hey guys, remember the '90s? They were a simpler time, when our outfits (and our socks!) never had to match; our Friday nights were best spent with the Tanners, the Winslows, and the Lambert/Fosters; and Beyoncé actually was a single lady. Besides the totally mind-blowing yet probably cancer-causing snacks (Gogurt! Kudos! Lunchables!), our most precious memories of the decade consist of none other than pop music. No matter how cool we all claim to be today, we can't deny there was at least one group/song/lead singer that moved us to tears as we belted the lyrics in our overly-postered bedrooms.

While most '90s children solidly belong to one boy-band camp or another, here at R29 we're all about the girl power — so, we're taking a trip down memory lane with our favorite girl groups. And, no, we're not talking Destiny's Child or TLC, here — we're reminiscing about those one-hit wonders who never made it past their 15 minutes. So, ladies leave your men at home and come on this journey with us.

Blaque

Hit/Breakout Song: "Bring It All To Me"

This girl group, who's name stands for Believing, Life, Achieving, Quest, Unity, Everything (deep!), started off on a big note — they were signed to Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes' production company (may she rest in peace). During their short reign (approximately one year by our careful calculations), they were known not only for their total badass-ness, but also for rocking those sleeves that aren't connected to the rest of your shirt. After the whole music thing didn't really work out, the ladies went on to play members of the Clovers in Bring It On. I said brr, it's cold in here!

Dream

Hit/Breakout Song: "He Loves U Not"

It was a hard decision to include Dream in this roundup, because we see them as so much more than a one-hit wonder (one day, we may even admit to having every track from "It Was All A Dream" on our workout playlist). But, we soon realized that few others felt the same connection to Diana and the rest of P. Diddy's girl gang that we do did. While we could wax poetic on their roster of hot jams (remind us why "Mr. Telephone Man" didn't get a Grammy nod?), we'll simply say that these girls had some serious flow.

3LW

Hit/Breakout Song: "No More (Baby I'ma Do It Right"

Before Adrienne Bailon was breaking Rob Kardashian's heart (and even before she was a Cheetah girl), she was a card-carrying member of 3LW — short for 3 Little Women, duh. Their "No More" was a movement against all those philandering fellas whose pagers kept blowing up with different numbers, and 3LW finally had the courage to say "playa, please." While the group didn't survive a switch to Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label, their message has helped women everywhere stand up and say "I can do bad all by myself."

B*Witched

Hit/Breakout Song: "C'Est La Vie"

This Irish foursome got their start topping the charts in the UK, and eventually made their way over to huff, puff, blow you awayin the US. Their big claim to fame was opening for *NSYNC on tour, and you may also recognize their musical stylings from the theme song of Sabrina: The Animated Series, or the Bring It On soundtrack. The group tragically split when member Sinéad O'Carroll dropped out, but, c'est la vie.

S Club 7

Hit/Breakout Song: "S Club Party" (Honorable mention: "Never Had A Dream Come True")

Okay, so S Club 7 technically had three male members, but the band's coordinated parachute pants and classic poses are too good to overlook. While every pop star had their standby (The chin grab! The point-and-pout!), it seemed that every time S Club 7 found themselves in front of a camera they instantly fell into perfect formation. Sure, they had some hit songs and tons of music video air time between shows on the Disney Channel, but we'll always remember the poses.

All Saints

Hit/Breakout Song: "Never Ever"

All Saints may claim the most infamous song intro of all the girl bands...it's not singing, it's not rapping, but damn, it works. The four-girl group was one of the most popular bands of the '90s in the UK, but sadly our American exposure barely made it past their first hit. Was it that we never paid enough attention? Or did we not give enough affection? Either way, we're going out of our minds.

702

Hit/Breakout Song: "Where My Girls At"

Thanks to a little help from Missy Elliot, "Where My Girls At" hit number four on the Billboard charts. It's the ultimate "back off my man" ballad — it may not be a feminist anthem, but it sure is catchy. We like to play it to ourselves whenever we catch coeds giving our BFs wayward glances in the East Village.

LastDecember, why did you feel the need to repost the entire article? You can't even read it properly because you didn't put spaces anywhere in the text. It runs together like mumbo jumbo.

Sciptgirl, you have it all wrong. HERE's why:

1. Blaque were intended to be the heiresses to TLC. Their mentor was Lisa "Lefteye" Lopes, remember?!?

2. Dream were intended to be the girl band version of the Britney & Christina archtypes, NOT vocally, but musically. Their only career f*** up? They were sign to Bad Boy Entertainment. And no artists (apart from Sean Combs) ever had a long-term successful career at that record label in the post-Biggie era .

3. B*witched were basically Ireland's answer to the UK's Spice Girls.

4. In the UK, All Saints were like The Rolling Stones/Jodeci compare to The Spice Girls as The Beatles/Boyz II Men.

5. 702 & 3LW were like low-rated clones of SWV. Yes, I said it!

I left S Club 7 out of the discussion because they were a boy AND girl band, NOT a girl group.

Tony, I didn't write the article. The journalist has it wrong, not me.

scriptgirl said:

LastDecember, why did you feel the need to repost the entire article? You can't even read it properly because you didn't put spaces anywhere in the text. It runs together like mumbo jumbo.

Thats not his fought, I had a similiar issue when my lap top/browser was acting crazy and prince.org can act funky sometimes when it comes to posting, I dont think it was intentional.

double post

[Edited 3/29/13 17:53pm]

lastdecember said:

though i liked some of these groups the one problem, is that NO ONE in these groups stood out, no personality thats why they didnt go on or really have many hits at all. To me you have to look to england at someone like Girls Aloud or the Saturdays for strong girl groups

Well I kinda disagree.

Destiny Child's was just like a 702, 3lW.... they were never in a TLC or Envogue category.. NEVER, they were never a real group. They were just put together to cross over and garner pop hits (which they did). I just think they had better songwriters and producers for their pop songs unlike the other groups. The groups above were just as attractive and marketable so that wasnt the issue. Destiny Childs did not have much personality as well compared to TLC, SWV and En Vogue. They just had better pop songs and backing. I personally think DC best album is Writing on The Wall but everything after that is garbage and their overrated.

I'd rather see a TLC (would have been reunion).

[Edited 3/29/13 18:01pm]

There was also the rumor that Daddy Knowles was paying people to make sure Destiny's Child got massive spins

scriptgirl said:

Tony, I didn't write the article. The journalist has it wrong, not me.

OK, my bad. That journalist has it all wrong.

mjscarousal said:

lastdecember said:

though i liked some of these groups the one problem, is that NO ONE in these groups stood out, no personality thats why they didnt go on or really have many hits at all. To me you have to look to england at someone like Girls Aloud or the Saturdays for strong girl groups

Well I kinda disagree.

Destiny Child's was just like a 702, 3lW.... they were never in a TLC or Envogue category.. NEVER, they were never a real group. They were just put together to cross over and garner pop hits (which they did). I just think they had better songwriters and producers for their pop songs unlike the other groups. The groups above were just as attractive and marketable so that wasnt the issue. Destiny Childs did not have much personality as well compared to TLC, SWV and En Vogue. They just had better pop songs and backing. I personally think DC best album is Writing on The Wall but everything after that is garbage and their overrated.

I'd rather see a TLC (would have been reunion).

[Edited 3/29/13 18:01pm]

Not true.

Now don't get it twisted, Destiny's Child could never EVER be as superior vocalists as EnVogue. But let the true be known, Destiny's Child were trying to copy the image of EnVogue the same way EnVogue were copying the image of The Supremes.

And the journalist that wrote that article was dead wrong in thinking Destiny's Child were the next TLC. And besides, TLC were copying Salt-N-Pepa & Bell Biv Devoe.

Why does Blaque have white girls from Bring it On and not the actual group in the pic?

TLC and Destiny's Child were being compared in late 99, and the same writer did No Scrubs and Bills Bills Bills. I agree Writings is a really good album though the singles from the first album were really nice too. Like Allure and other girl groups in 97 though, I thought they would fade away, so I'm surprised they last as long as they did and feel that along with the album, the controversy with the members and all of that helped them in a way, though unfair.

All Saints were also big in Canada, 2 of the members were Canadian, I just remembered

TonyVanDam said:

mjscarousal said:

Well I kinda disagree.

Destiny Child's was just like a 702, 3lW.... they were never in a TLC or Envogue category.. NEVER, they were never a real group. They were just put together to cross over and garner pop hits (which they did). I just think they had better songwriters and producers for their pop songs unlike the other groups. The groups above were just as attractive and marketable so that wasnt the issue. Destiny Childs did not have much personality as well compared to TLC, SWV and En Vogue. They just had better pop songs and backing. I personally think DC best album is Writing on The Wall but everything after that is garbage and their overrated.

I'd rather see a TLC (would have been reunion).

[Edited 3/29/13 18:01pm]

Not true.

Now don't get it twisted, Destiny's Child could never EVER be as superior vocalists as EnVogue. But let the true be known, Destiny's Child were trying to copy the image of EnVogue the same way EnVogue were copying the image of The Supremes.

And the journalist that wrote that article was dead wrong in thinking Destiny's Child were the next TLC. And besides, TLC were copying Salt-N-Pepa & Bell Biv Devoe.

I see the point you are making but I disagree.

When I meant that they were the same... I meant as far as their formula. They were put together to cross over and to make hits. They were not a real group in the sense that everyone contributed, the group primarily centered around Beyonce.

Whether En Vogue was trying to copy the Supremes or not they were a real group and each of the girls had their own style. They all could sing like nobodys business and each contributed something to the group the same with TLC which is why when left eye passed Chilli and T Boz decided to disband it.

I am not calling TLC or En Vogue innovative but they definitly were creative had their own individual styles which made them a real group. They needed eachother to make the group. With DC it didnt matter because Beyonce was going to sing lead regardless.

scriptgirl said:

Dream

Hit/Breakout Song: "He Loves U Not"

It was a hard decision to include Dream in this roundup, because we see them as so much more than a one-hit wonder (one day, we may even admit to having every track from "It Was All A Dream" on our workout playlist). But, we soon realized that few others felt the same connection to Diana and the rest of P. Diddy's girl gang that we do did. While we could wax poetic on their roster of hot jams (remind us why "Mr. Telephone Man" didn't get a Grammy nod?), we'll simply say that these girls had some serious flow.

This song was written and produced by David Frank from The System.

scorp84 said:

702 had the most potential, imo. i dont know what happened with "Star", but their label dropped the ball with that one. "I Still Love You" got spins in my town, but didnt get that push from the label.

They got screwed by Motown- as usual. I like that album.