TLC "Waterfalls"

The woman behind TLC's hit "Waterfalls" was band member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. Lopes co-wrote the song which went on to become of the biggest songs of 1995. Her professional achievements were overshadowed by her personal life which included setting fire to her boyfriend's shoes--and, ultimately, his home. In 2002, Lopes was the passenger in a car that struck and killed a young boy in her native Honduras. Grief-stricken, Lopes paid for the boy's medical expenses and funeral costs. Two weeks later, Lopes was involved in another car accident and, this time, she died leaving her legacy further marred by tragedy.

Cher "Strong Enough"

Radio at the end of the 1990s featured hip-hop (Brandy, TLC, Destiny's Child), the "Latin Explosion" (Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Santana), and Cher. The ageless wonder returned to Top 40 radio with her mega-hit "Believe". That song ended 1999 as the #1 single of the year. Lost in the shuffle was her follow-up hit to "Believe" called "Strong Enough". Aside from a home on the radio, dance clubs couldn't get enough of it. With its disco-dance flavor, "Strong Enough" played like an updated version of Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park".

Bruce Hornsby "Walk in the Sun"

I graduated from high school during the summer of 1995 and spent many late nights cruising around Northwest Indiana with my small but solid group of friends who would soon be heading to different colleges than me. I planned to spend my freshman year of college locally at Indiana University Northwest whereas my friends were headed to Ball State, Purdue or Indiana University in Bloomington. Since I didn't have a curfew, I tried to make the most of late nights that year and usually stayed up until the sun started to rise. My older brother worked for United Airlines that year and his alarm would sound around at the ripe time of 3:45am. One particular early morning, I remember him passing me on his walk to the bathroom while muttering, "You're still up and I'm getting up for work...what's wrong with this picture?" That unusually hot summer featured hits from TLC, Hootie & The Blowfish and Green Day on the radio, but I also remember many late nights in the car when I would come across Bruce Hornsby's "Walk in the Sun". The jazzy soft rock tune played on many Adult Contemporary radio stations during that hot summer and, like many of my high school friends, disappeared in the autumn...

After 7 - "Ready or Not"

Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds had his hands all over R&B music during the late-80s and 90s.  He was part of the '80s group Deele and later became a super producer responsible for hits from Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men, and Madonna.  Babyface also founded Soda Pop Records and co-founded LaFace Records -- a record label responsible for TLC, Usher, and Toni Braxton.  Heck, the state of Indiana even renamed a portion of I-65 in Indianapolis after the successful singer, songwriter, producer, and Hoosier.  As someone who has driven I-65 numerous times, I am well aware how little there is to see aside from the creepy wind farm.  His brothers, Melvin and Kevon, performed in After 7 and produced the Top 10 hit "Ready or Not" in 1990.

Babyface - "When Can I See You?"

Growing up in Indiana, I had to do a project in the 4th grade about famous people from the state of Indiana.  I chose the great Tim Stoddard, a former Major League Baseball pitcher who pitched in one game for the White Sox in 1975.  I had his baseball card and noticed that he was from East Chicago, Indiana--hear my home.  I remember standing in front of my 4th grade class tediously reading stats from the back of Stoddard's baseball card.  Instead, I should have chose Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds for my project.  Born in Indianapolis, Babyface wrote and produced for Boyz II Men, Whitney Houston, Pink, Phil Collins and numerous other acts (Wikipedia lists over 40 different artists).  Babyface had a big hit himself in 1994 with the acoustic ballad "When Can I See You".