entertainment

The five '90s bands we want to see reunited more than Oasis.

They’ve previously said they’re never, ever getting back together.

Is Oasis definitely, maybe getting back together (see what we did there?)?

The band’s Brit-pop nemeses Blur are releasing a new album, and Noel and Liam Gallagher are apparently not to be outdone.

The pair have reportedly buried the well-used hatchet and made a “gentlemen’s agreement” to reform, though nothing official has been signed.

Brothers grim: Oasis may get back together. Image via Instagram

A “well-placed source” told the UK’s Mirror, “It’s early days in terms of the details, but Noel and Liam are back on good terms and ready to give things another go.”

Does this mean a revival of the famed Britpop rivalry between the bands (we imagine it would look something like Hugh Grant and Colin Firth’s fisticuffs in Bridget Jones’s Diary)?

It got us thinking: which 1990s bands would we rather see come back than the Gallagher “we’re bigger than the Beatles” brothers?

1. The queens of hip hop: Salt-n-Pepa

Salt-n-Pepa’s Let’s Talk About Sex totally turned the machismo-ridden hip hop world of the early nineties on its head and its lyrics still resonate – “Come on, how many guys you know make love?” amirite, ladies? Technically, Cheryl “Salt” James, Deirdra Roper (DJ Spinderlla) and Sandra “Pepper” Denton broke up in 2002 and reformed in 2007 for a reality show for VH1, but they haven’t made any new music since 1997’s Brand New.

Salt-n-Pepa haven’t released new music 1997. Image via Instagram

2. The COOLEST boyband (is that an oxymoron?): East 17

Did you know that last time East 17 appeared together, it was on X Factor Romania in 2011? It’s a tough road for ageing boybands. One Direction should take note. The East London group sold 18 million records world wide and were SO COOL if you were 10 in the early nineties. “They shaved their heads, and had tattoos, and were a lot, lot cooler than the nancy boys of Take That. In the great five-year battle that dominated British pop, East 17 were also on the winning side. Their music was sharper and more streetwise. It was infused with hip hop and sold by the bucketload: 18 million records across Europe, compared with Take That’s paltry 17 million,” wrote Guy Adams of The Independent.

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Everything is not alright with East 17. Image via Facebook

3. The best use of backwards clothing: Kris Kross

Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly and Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith formed Kris Kross in 1991. They became friends in first grade and were discovered by then-19-year-old hip hip impresario Jermaine Dupri in a shopping mall in Atlanta. Their first album Totally Krossed Out featuring the best song ever Jump went four times platinum in the US. They were 11 years old. Sadly, Chris Kelly died of a drug overdose in 2013. At his funeral, friends wore their pants backwards in homage, and the mourners, among them Dupri and Smith, were greeted with an acoustic version of Jump upon entering the funeral home.

Kris Kross made us jump.

4. Hole. The ultimate grunge-girl band.

Is there any girl who was a teenager in the 1990s who didn’t throw herself around her bedroom in existential angst, screaming the lyrics to Violet? Hole was a predominantly female line-up in a very male-dominated scene and Courtney Love’s reckless and insane live performances were the stuff of legend. The fact that she married the king of grunge only intensified her awesomeness.

Courtney Love with rock-god Nick Cave. Image via Instagram

5. Blur

Only kidding, Gallaghers. They never split up! Noel Gallagher was quoted in 1996 saying he hoped Blur’s Damon Albarn and Alex James would “catch AIDS and die.” That’s not very nice, Noel. They’re probably unconcerned, since Albarn has gone on to much success with Gorillaz and James is now some kind of rockstar-gentleman-farmer. They’re actually releasing a new album soon.

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Blur. Only kidding.

 

And the five ’90s bands that really shouldn’t…

1. Creed.

Music-lovers hated Creed. There’s only one band that could rival them for completely united hatred from music fans of all stripes: Nickelback. *shudder*

Creed. Almost as bad as Nickelback. Almost.

 

2. The Spice Girls.

Ahhhh, the ’90s, when all you had to do was yell “Girl Power!”, wear insane platform sneakers and sing nonsensical lyrics such as “I really, really, really wanna ziggazag ah” to be the biggest popstars in the world? OK, so it happened for the London Olympics, but here’s hoping that after the abysmal flop that was Viva Forever (with respect to Jennifer Saunders) they’re done. Forever.

Spice Girls. Let’s stop teasing reunions and just drop it, yeah?

 

 

3. The Baha Men.

Who let the dogs out? WHO let this song happen, is the more apt question. Well, the answer is everyone. The Baha Men actually won a Grammy for the song in 2000.

4. Those guys that did the Macarena.

They were called Los Del Rio; who knew? The pop-culture phenomenon continues to have a cult following after its 1994 debut. It ranked No. 1 in VH1’s Greatest One-Hit Wonders of All Times.

5. The Vengaboys.

They are the Dutch group that gave the world gems such as We’re going to Ibiza and Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom. Their sound is called Eurodance, a genre that should be avoided at all costs.

Lay it on us: Which bands/groups/solo artists do you wish would make a miraculous return?

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