90s Songs for a Music Quiz, Sorted by Difficulty

The 90s might be the best decade for a music quiz. Grunge, boy bands, Britpop, Eurodance and the start of modern pop all landed within ten years, so almost everyone in the room has a corner where they're unbeatable. Below are 50 songs that work, with original release years (each one checked) and the detail that gives the song away in the first few seconds. At the end we sort them into difficulty levels so you can build rounds that don't end in a blowout.

Pop and R&B

• "Vision of Love" – Mariah Carey (1990): her debut single, and those vocal runs give it away fast.
• "Vogue" – Madonna (1990): "Strike a pose" over a house beat.
• "U Can't Touch This" – MC Hammer (1990): the riff lifted from Rick James's "Super Freak".
• "Black or White" – Michael Jackson (1991): the guitar riff.
• "Jump" – Kris Kross (1992): the "Jump! Jump!" chant. The duo wore their clothes backwards.
• "Whoomp! (There It Is)" – Tag Team (1993): the title shout, still a stadium staple.
• "Kiss from a Rose" – Seal (1994): the "ba-da-da" opening; it got a second life on the Batman Forever soundtrack.
• "All I Want for Christmas Is You" – Mariah Carey (1994): the slow intro, then sleigh bells. Only fair in December.
• "Gangsta's Paradise" – Coolio (1995): the choir and strings, built on Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise".
• "I'll Be There for You" – The Rembrandts (1995): the jangly guitar and four claps. Friends.
• "Back for Good" – Take That (1995): acoustic guitar and the "Whatever I said, whatever I did".
• "Wannabe" – Spice Girls (1996): laughter and "Yo, I'll tell you what I want".
• "Say You'll Be There" – Spice Girls (1996): the harmonica.
• "MMMBop" – Hanson (1997): you only need the title syllables.
• "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" – Backstreet Boys (1997): "Backstreet's back, alright!".
• "Men in Black" – Will Smith (1997): built on Patrice Rushen's "Forget Me Nots".
• "My Heart Will Go On" – Celine Dion (1997): the tin whistle from Titanic.
• "...Baby One More Time" – Britney Spears (1998): three piano notes and "Oh baby, baby".
• "Believe" – Cher (1998): the robotic Auto-Tune vocal this song made famous.
• "No Scrubs" – TLC (1999): the chorus half the room can finish.
• "I Want It That Way" – Backstreet Boys (1999): clean guitar and harmonies; everyone knows the chorus.
• "Genie in a Bottle" – Christina Aguilera (1999): her debut single.
• "Livin' la Vida Loca" – Ricky Martin (1999): the horns and surf guitar.

Rock and alternative

• "Losing My Religion" – R.E.M. (1991): the mandolin.
• "Smells Like Teen Spirit" – Nirvana (1991): four guitar chords, then the drums crash in.
• "Enter Sandman" – Metallica (1991): the riff that keeps building.
• "Creep" – Radiohead (1992): the guitar crunch just before the chorus.
• "Killing in the Name" – Rage Against the Machine (1992): the riff. In 2009 a campaign made it the UK Christmas number one.
• "Jump Around" – House of Pain (1992): that squealing sample in the first second.
• "Linger" – The Cranberries (1993): strings and Dolores O'Riordan's voice.
• "Zombie" – The Cranberries (1994): distorted guitar and the same voice, much angrier.
• "Basket Case" – Green Day (1994): voice and guitar alone, then the band floors it.
• "Wonderwall" – Oasis (1995): the acoustic strum every teenager learned.
• "Common People" – Pulp (1995): "She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge".
• "You Oughta Know" – Alanis Morissette (1995): the fury from the very first verse.
• "Song 2" – Blur (1997): "Woo-hoo!". Barely two minutes long.
• "Bitter Sweet Symphony" – The Verve (1997): the strings, sampled from an orchestral version of the Rolling Stones' "The Last Time".
• "Tubthumping" – Chumbawamba (1997): "I get knocked down…".
• "Iris" – Goo Goo Dolls (1998): from the City of Angels soundtrack.
• "All Star" – Smash Mouth (1999): "Somebody once told me…". Thank Shrek.

Dance floor

• "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" – C+C Music Factory (1990): the "Everybody dance now!" shout.
• "Rhythm Is a Dancer" – Snap! (1992): the synth hook and sung chorus.
• "What Is Love" – Haddaway (1993): "Baby, don't hurt me". Head-bobbing optional.
• "Macarena" – Los del Río (1993): the original is from 1993; the Bayside Boys remix made it a US number one in 1996.
• "Children" – Robert Miles (1995): the piano riff, no lyrics at all.
• "Firestarter" – The Prodigy (1996): the breakbeat and Keith Flint's snarl.
• "Freed from Desire" – Gala (1996): the "na-na-na" football crowds still sing.
• "Barbie Girl" – Aqua (1997): "Hi Barbie!" "Hi Ken!".
• "Around the World" – Daft Punk (1997): the title, repeated over and over.
• "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" – Eiffel 65 (1998): the pitched-up vocal and "I'm blue".

Difficulty levels

The fastest way to ruin a quiz is making every song equally easy (boring) or equally hard (silent room). Here's how we'd split them for a mixed group aged roughly 25 to 50:

Levels depend on your crowd. "Common People" is easy in a room of British 40-somethings and a mystery in Ohio; "Whoomp! (There It Is)" is the reverse. Think about who's coming before you lock the playlist.

Title-only traps

If players have to type the title, several songs turn nasty: "Gonna Make You Sweat" (everyone writes "Everybody Dance Now"), nonsense titles like "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" and "MMMBop" (good luck with the spelling), "Tubthumping" (people type "I Get Knocked Down") and "I'll Be There for You" (people write "Friends theme"). With beginners, allow title or artist.

Year traps for timeline games

Plenty of 90s songs hit big a year or more after release. "Macarena" (1993) and "Kiss from a Rose" (1994, a hit again in 1995) will catch out anyone placing songs by when they remember hearing them. Two or three of those per game is plenty. More tactics in our music timeline game strategy guide.

Setting up the game

The simplest version: a shuffled Spotify playlist, one person on pause duty, and a sheet of paper for scores. Decide the rules first: title only or title and artist, and whether a wrong guess costs a point. Our full checklist is in how to host a music quiz at home.

If nobody wants to referee, Track Attack plays the clips on your TV or laptop while each player uses their phone as a buzzer by scanning a QR code, no app or account needed. First to buzz types the song with a search box that suggests titles from the playlist; a wrong answer costs a point and the music keeps going for everyone else. You can paste in a Spotify or Deezer link to a playlist of these 50 or search for any public 90s playlist.

For a longer night, alternate decades: a round of these, then a round of 80s songs everyone knows.