3 Forgotten and Lost Songs From 1996 I Bet You Don’t Remember

In 1996, plenty of genres and subgenres had taken over the mainstream. From the last slim pickings of grunge to R&B jams to singer/songwriter ballads, 1996 was a good year for music, but many songs from that year have been unfortunately forgotten. Personally, I rarely hear the following three songs on the radio anymore, and that’s just not fair. These are absolutely fantastic tunes. Let’s revisit some of the best songs that 1996 had to offer.

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“I Want To Come Over” by Melissa Etheridge

This 1996 gem by Melissa Etheridge is on the underrated side of her hits, in my opinion. “I Want To Come Over” dropped early in the year and was a standout single for the album Your Little Secret. It was quite a successful tune, peaking at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and doing similarly well on the Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand charts. If you’re a 90s kid, you might just remember this song from its music video, which starred Gwyneth Paltrow.

“The Earth, The Sun, The Rain” by Color Me Badd

I have to admit, I had to do a lot of research to find this song. I almost convinced myself that I had imagined it as a kid. Thankfully, “The Earth, The Sun, The Rain” by Color Me Badd is a very real song, a standout hit single from the R&B pop group’s 1996 album, Now & Forever. “The Earth, The Sun, The Rain” was a No. 21 hit on the Hot 100 chart and stayed on that chart for a whopping 22 weeks. Yet, most people remember this group from their other songs, like “I Adore Mi Amor” and “I Wanna Sex You Up”. 

“Anything” by 3T

This song was technically released in 1995. However, in January 1996, it became such a big hit and even nabbed a Gold Certification. So, I’ll go ahead and include it on our list of forgotten songs from 1996. “Anything” by 3T was popular in the US as well as internationally, and it was particularly popular across Europe. I can’t remember the last time I heard this soulful R&B tune out in the wild, and that’s a real shame. It’s a tender and sweet little ballad that deserves way more love today. 

Fun fact: If you were unaware, 3T was made up of Taj, Taryll, and T.J. Jackson, all of whom are related to members of the Jackson 5.

Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images