MR. BIG
Song Title: “To Be With You”
Album: Lean Into It
Release Date: March 26, 1991

Why You Remember Them: Much like the poor suckers in Extreme and the Goo Goo Dolls, Mr. Big spent years producing extraordinarily forgettable rock music before backing into an accidental hit with a marshmallowy ballad, forcing them into the uncomfortable position of determining whether it was best to continue rocking in obscurity or turn into a prom-or-Nic Cage-movie-theme production factory. Unfortunately while Mr. Big was deciding which color pill to swallow, people ceased to listen.

Chart Attack: “To Be With You” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Follow-up single “Just Take My Heart” was their only other charting single, peaking at No. 16. That’s in America, though. Apparently in Japan, Mr. Big is like what Led Zeppelin would be if they had Jesus on guitar, but more on this later.

Other Key Tracks: None.

Bunch of tools: Kickoff track “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)” was easily the third-best power-tool themed rock track of the early 1990s, behind Jackyl’s chainsaw-powered “The Lumberjack Song” and Neil Diamond’s “Searing Hot Love,” recorded entirely in a smelting yard. (more…)