The 10 Best 4 Non Blondes Songs of All-Time
The 4 Non Blondes were an alt-rock band from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. The original three members were a bassist named Christa Hillhouse, a guitarist named Shaunna Hall, and a drummer named Wanda Day.
However, the band didn’t see the completion of its original line-up until they invited the vocalist named Linda Perry. These weren’t the four who released Bigger, Better, Faster, More! in 1992. Instead, the people backing them replaced Day with Dawn Richardson and Hall with Roger Rocha.
In 1994, the band members went their separate ways. Supposedly, their sexuality played a part. Perry was an out lesbian. In contrast, Hillhouse and Richardson were still closeted because the early 1990s were a much less welcoming period for lesbians.
The band has reunited on two separate occasions, which suggests that the surviving band members remain on decent terms with one another. Still, it seems safe to say there won’t be more releases.
Here is our opinion of the 10 best 4 Non Blondes songs ever released:
10. “No Place Like Home”
“No Place Like Home” was one of the songs from Bigger, Better, Faster, More! It isn’t the paean to the home that its name suggests. Instead, the viewpoint character makes it very clear that she has indulged in some things to excess, with the result that she is now paying for it. This isn’t the first rock song to touch upon the subject. Still, it manages to be one of the more decent ones.
9. “Morphine & Chocolate”
“Morphine & Chocolate” came from the same studio album. It gets a nod just for its name, which is one of the more memorable ones on Bigger, Better, Faster, More! Besides that, “Morphine & Chocolate” is a listenable song about the substances that the viewpoint character uses to raise her mood whenever she feels down.
8. “I’m the One”
Airheads was a comedy movie in which a band gets the not-so-brilliant idea of hijacking a radio station to get their music heard. It featured some well-known names, but it was a flop, so much so that its box office numbers weren’t even enough to cover its production budget.
As such, Airheads isn’t mentioned much for obvious reasons. Still, its soundtrack did include a cover of Van Halen’s “I’m the One.” That song dates back to the band’s self-titled debut album in 1978, which nonetheless contained some of the band’s most famous works.
7. “Drifting”
Unsurprisingly, “Drifting” is another song from the band’s only studio album. It even saw release as a single, though it never managed to make it very far. Regardless, “Drifting” has a certain melancholic air that might resonate with people in the right mood.
6. “Superfly”
“Superfly” is another single from Bigger, Better, Faster, More! Like “Drifting,” it didn’t get too much public interest at the time. However, it is a solid rock song that reflects the early 1990s. As such, interested individuals might want to listen so they can get a feel for that bygone era.
5. “Mary’s House”
“Mary’s House” is unusual because it is one of the band’s few songs that aren’t connected with its only studio album. Instead, the band made it for the soundtrack to Wayne World 2, which was supposed to be a Christmas blockbuster in 1993. For those unfamiliar, the two movies originated from a Saturday Night Live sketch.
The first movie proved surprisingly popular, as shown by how it earned more than $180 million on a $20 production budget. Meanwhile, the follow-up was nowhere near as successful because it managed just $72 million on a $40 million production budget. The exact reasons are unclear.
Presumably, it didn’t help that the movie saw a sudden story change during pre-production, which was necessary because Mike Myers failed to inform the higher-ups that it was based on an existing movie. Other than that, it also faced serious competition from other Christmas blockbusters that season. Despite these things, “Mary’s House” isn’t a bad song.
4. “Misty Mountain Hop”
“Misty Mountain Hop” is another cover of a rock classic. In its case, the original song was done by Led Zeppelin for their fourth studio album, which never received a name at all. The song met with a positive reception, which was enthusiastic enough to make it one of that band’s best.
In 1995, 4 Non Blondes covered “Misty Mountain Hop” for a tribute album called Encomium. Moreover, they were the ones who opened the whole thing because theirs was the title track. Something quite impressive considering the other contributors to the same release.
3. “Dear Mr. President”
“Dear Mr. President” is a reaction upon seeing the troubles of the world. The band came up with it at a time when George H.W. Bush was President of the United States. However, the song wasn’t aimed at him because it was always meant to be broader than that. It didn’t meet with much of a response in the United States, but it did reach the number 40 position in New Zealand of all places.
2. “Spaceman”
“Spaceman” is interesting in that it shows the viewpoint character dealing with her issues by mulling over the vastness of the universe. The song isn’t clear about how effective that is supposed to be.
Still, people do sometimes find it useful for maintaining a sense of perspective. “Spaceman” did alright when it came out, as shown by its low double-digit peak in several countries.
1. “What’s Up?”
The band’s first single was “Dear Mr. President.” However, the song that made its name known was the second single, “What’s Up?” For that matter, the band is often remembered as a one-hit wonder because this song was its most successful release by a considerable margin.
To be exact, “What’s Up” peaked at the number two position in the United Kingdom and Australia while topping the charts in Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries. Curiously, its performance was less impressive in the United States, where it hit the number 14 position before failing to reach any higher.
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