Tubthumping — Chumbawamba (1997)

Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping” exploded into pop culture in 1997, simultaneously reaching number two in both the UK and US—a rare feat that outperforms #6 Barbie Girl’s peak in some metrics. The British anarchist collective, active since 1982, leveraged their MTV appearances to deliver speeches on labor rights and anti-capitalism, a political stance that contrasts sharply with the pure escapism of most hits on this list. The song spent 32 weeks on the UK charts, and despite the band’s 30-year career ending in 2012, no other single came close to this sales volume: it sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. Their follow-up failed to crack the top 40, cementing this as a defiant, provocative one-hit wonder.