90s Dance Music

Unlike in the 80s when dance/pop divas ruled the charts, 90s dance music vocalists became less and less a mainstream force as public tastes shifted to Alt Rock, Hip Hop, and Urban Dance. Divas still played a huge role in 90s dance music, however, scoring major hits on the Billboard Dance Club/Play Chart, often in the form of remixes.

Mariah Carey and Celine Dion were two mainstream artists who enjoyed dance hits throughout the decade courtesy of remixes. Mariah’s first big club hit was “Emotions”. Her domination of the dance floor continued throughout her career with hits that included: “My All (Morales)”, “Heartbreaker (Junior Vasquez)” and “Through the Rain (HQ2)”.

Celine was more of a reluctant dance diva. Though her debut CD contained the Canadian dance hit “Unison”, her first real grab for the dance club market was the “Misled (Richie Jones)” remix single. Her follow up remixes were spaced out over the next ten years and included “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now (Tony Moran)”, “My Heart Will Go On (Tony Moran / Richie Jones / Soul Solution)”, “I Want You to Need Me (Thunderpuss)”, and “I Drove All Night (Hex Hector)”.

Another artist who became a star in the clubs due to her remixed hits was Toni Braxton. Braxton’s debut CD dropped in 1993 but it wasn’t until the release of her sophomore CD “Secrets” that her singles began to get remixed for the dance floor. “Unbreak My Heart (Hex Hector/Soul Solution)”, “You’re Makin’ Me High (Morales)”, “He Wasn’t Man Enough (Junior Vasquez)”, and “Spanish Guitar (HQ2)” are among her biggest dance hits of the decade.

Meanwhile, Swedish quartet Ace of Base were busy scoring hits of their own. Their first CD “The Sign”, spawned the monster hit title track and “All That She Wants”. They returned two years later with “Beautiful Life” and “Lucky Love” and ended the decade on a high note with the 1998 hits “Cruel Summer” (a Bananarama cover) and “Everytime It Rains”.

Also hitting in 1998 was Britney Spears. “…Baby One More Time” permeated the culture as the video which featured Spears playing a sexy schoolgirl played on the fantasies of every red blooded American male. Spears continued her dance chart success on such hits as “Stronger”, “Me Against the Music” and Toxic”.

Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson followed on Spears heels. Aguilera came out of the gate with “Genie in a Bottle” while Simpson’s debut single was “I Wanna Love You Forever”. Both divas followed these initial offerings with a string of club hits.

One final 90s dance music superstar debuted before the decade was over. Jennifer Lopez released “On the 6” in 1999. Though “Waiting for Tonight” was the third single released from the CD, it became a monster smash hit that fittingly carried fans into the new Millenium on a dance floor induced high.

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