Hootie & The Blowfish "Hold My Hand"

Let's take a look at the top songs of 1994 on Top 40 radio:

• Ace of Base "The Sign"
• All-4-One "I Swear"
• Boyz II Men "I'll Make Love to You"
• Celine Dion "The Power of Love"
• Mariah Carey "Hero"

By 1994 standards, Top 40 radio heavily leaned on R&B and Hip-Hop artists and music. A peak further down the Top 100 of 1994 turned up music from artists such as Salt-n-Peppa, R. Kelly, Coolio, and Warren G. This gave the pop-rock group Hootie & The Blowfish some struggles to find a mainstream radio format to embrace the band. Somehow, the Adult Contemporary format answered the call and immediately helped launch Hootie's career. Within 12 months, AC radio stations playlists featured four songs from Cracked Rear View (Hootie's debut album) as well as "I Go Blind" (prominently featured on the TV show Friends). Soon, Top 40 added Hootie's music--though most song charted higher on the Adult Contemporary Chart than the Hot 100--and the band's over-saturation likely attributed to its demise. 

George Michael "Kissing A Fool"

According to George Michael, he only needed one take to record the vocals to "Kissing A Fool". The song was the fifth single from Michael's uber-successful Faith album. Released in 1987, Faith was  Michael's solo debut and was the first album from a Caucasian to top the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.

Hi-Five "I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)"

FORGOTTEN JAM

"I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)" from Hi-Five fell under the "Hip Hop" genre when it debuted in 1991.  Hip Hop came a long way from what it was then, no?  While the song only peaked at #42 on the Adult Contemporary Chart, it topped the R&B/Hip Hop Chart and Hot 100 in 1991.