With Bottom Feeders we take a look at the songs on the Billboard Hot 100 that Casey Kasem never got to announce. It’s an A-Z look at songs that charted no higher than #41 in the decade. Take a listen, enjoy and comment. And don’t forget, information on the top 40, airplay and bubbling under charts are on pages 2-4.
Section 1: The Ass End
Michael Cooper
“Shoop Shoop (Never Stop Givin’ You Love)” 1993, #67 (9 weeks) (download)
There’s “The Shoop Shoop Song,” “Shoop” by Salt-N-Pepa and “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” by Whitney Houston, all three significantly better than this Shoop song by the former lead singer of Con Funk Shun.
Corina
“Whispers” 1991, #51 (20 weeks) (download)
“Summertime Summertime” 1997, #86 (8 weeks) (download)
Corina’s debut self-titled record was simply a fantastic piece of dance pop. I thought she bridged the end of the ‘80s dance sound with the more stylized ‘90s version without sounding cheesy at all. In fact, I’m pretty sure that “Temptation” is one of the best songs of the entire decade. “Whispers” was the final song added to the record. Rianna Paige recorded it for her record but her label went under, so it was presented to Corina to record and it turned out fantastic.
As I mentioned back in the ‘80s, I think I’ve heard “Summertime Summertime” by Nocera more in the past two decades than anyone else in the world. I also kind of feel that there are 100 covers of it out there but if there are, only two of them charted, Corina’s version being the other one. Ten years after Nocera’s release of the song, this version charted two spots lower than the original. The cover is a little more club ready and actually the better of the two versions, though stylistically they really aren’t that different.
Coro
“My Fallen Angel” 1991, #54 (11 weeks) (download)
Corina took you into the ‘90s but Coro takes you right back into the heart of ‘80s freestyle. This was a dude named Jose Coro from the freestyle mecca of Miami, FL. Joel Whitburn says he not only acted in Miami Vice but was in Don Johnson’s “Heartbeat” video. There’s like 10,000 credits for the show on IMDB but I don’t see this dude and I refuse to watch a Don Johnson video to figure out exactly which one he is. (Note: Curiosity got the best of me and I watched “Heartbeat” anyway. I still don’t know which one he is as the shittiness of the video was just too overwhelming),
Corona
“Baby Baby” 1995, #57 (17 weeks) (download)
Eurodance!!!!
Not to be confused with Corina, Corona was an Italian duo consisting of producer Francesco Bontempi and singer Olga DeSouza but the odd thing was that even though she was considered the leader of the group, she didn’t sing on most of the popular Corona songs. “Baby Baby” featured Sandy Chambers on vocals. She only received a credit on the song when a sexy group called Sunblock covered the song in 2007 and gave Chambers her proper due.
The Corrs
“Runaway” 1995, #68 (11 weeks) (download)
Every single time I write something about the Corrs, I end up talking about the silver bullet instead. So this time, I’m going to triple check that I’m not doubling up on the OO.
Although they had a fantastic career in many other parts of the world, their Irish adult pop never translated to success in the U.S. I probably should have known they wouldn’t be a hit here after they started getting PBS specials but for a while they were such a rage that it seemed inevitable they would be huge. I still don’t really understand why “Runaway” wasn’t a hit in the US as it’s a great song but I guess we just didn’t appreciate the family as much as everyone else.
The Cover Girls
“All That Glitters Isn’t Gold” 1990, #49 (12 weeks) (download)
“Thank You” 1992, #75 (8 weeks) (download)
I realize that the group had a #8 hit (“We Can’t Go Wrong”) off their second record and a #9 hit (“Wishing On A Star”) off their third but in reality they shot their wad with Show Me, their 1987 debut. Although “Show Me” “Because of You” and others weren’t actually big hits for them in the late ‘80s, those are really the memorable songs. I don’t know if there were any songs given to them after the first release that are even worth a second listen and all but one member of the group left and were replaced, so there was just no consistency on the Cover Girls front.
Deborah Cox
“Where Do We Go From Here” 1996, #48 (14 weeks) (download)
“The Sound of My Tears” 1997, #97 (4 weeks) (download)
“Things Just Ain’t the Same” 1997, #56 (17 weeks) (download)
“It’s Over Now” 1999, #70 (6 weeks) (download)
I never really knew what to make of Deborah Cox. To me, she was always one of those second tier artists. Never quite in the range of say, a Brandy or Mary J. Blige but still decent in her own right, Cox hasn’t stuck with me over the years. To me, she was best on mid-tempo tracks like “Things Just Ain’t the Same” and while I like “It’s Over Now,” that track feels like it’s been done 1000 times. If one Deborah Cox song will stand the test of time it’s “Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here” which spent eight weeks at #2 and 14 weeks at the top of the R&B chart, which was a record at the time.
Cracker
“Low” 1994, #64 (13 weeks) (download)
Such a shame here but the world knows this song even though it didn’t have Top 40 success. “Low” is one of my favorite songs of all time from one of the best albums of the decade – Kerosene Hat. This track will last forever due in part to its ability to be played on both alternative and rock stations. Plus it’s catchy as hell. I’m convinced that Cracker should have been huge and that David Lowery is one of the pure geniuses of rock music. I really wonder if a better video might have been the key…
The Cranberries
“Dreams” 1994, #42 (20 weeks) (download)
“Free To Decide” 1996, #48 (20 weeks) (download)
The Cranberries is the only group that was once part of my most hated list and was able to get off. To be fair, I don’t hate many groups. I mean, Justin Beiber isn’t on this list, Insane Clown Posse isn’t on it either. Before “Dreams” the only group on that list was Sonic Youth, then the chalkboard vocals of Delores O’Riordan in “Linger” “Dreams” and of course “Zombie” made me want rip my ears out. However, in 2001 I was in a record store and they were playing the entire Wake Up and Smell the Coffee record which surprisingly I didn’t find totally horrible. It was then I had to remove them from the list. As of 2012, the list still only consists of two bands, the aforementioned Sonic Youth and Nickelback. Still, I really never need to hear from this group again.
Crash Test Dummies
“Superman’s Song” 1991, #56 (6 weeks) (download)
“Afternoons & Coffeespoons” 1994, #66 (10 weeks) (download)
I was introduced to the band the way most people in the US were, through “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.” I picked up God Shuffled His Feet based on that track and found a fantastic record inside. Songs like “Afternoons & Coffeespoons,” “In the Days of the Caveman” and “I Think I’ll Disappear Now” will forever remind me of my senior year in high-school. I never went back and picked up their debut, The Ghosts That Haunt Me, though. “Superman’s Song” never got any airplay in my neck of the woods, so I didn’t even realize that they had a hit before their breakthrough.
Brad Roberts never really liked the fame that came with God Shuffled His Feet and kept moving from place to place to try to avoid it which was partially why they never really had a shot at staying big. And of course the simple fact that quirkiness and a gimmick can only go so far.
I still remember the rumor that Brad Roberts got his deep voice because he has three balls. Was that ever confirmed or simply a joke? C’mon Brad, show us your nuts!
Creed
“One” 1999, #70 (20 weeks) (download)
I’d love to lie to you and tell you that Douchehole Magee and his band were always hated by me and all my friends but I cannot fib like that. In fact, Creed’s debut (My Own Prison) was in heavy rotation my senior year of college, not just by meatheads but by dorks like me as well. I loved the disc and in fact, I still own it and would almost bet that if I ever picked it back up and listened to it from start to finish that I’d still like it. They and Scott Stapp in particular are seriously hard to like now but “One” hit at a time before everyone considered them lame.
Elvis Crespo
“Suavemente” 1998, #84 (2 weeks) (download)
Hey everybody, Merengue!
“Suave!”
“Suave!”
“Suave!” (Suave)
Print 
PDF
