Hanson, Aqua, Savage Garden and the Backstreet Boys: Pop ruled the airwaves in 1997. Hip hop was beginning its climb to the top of the pop culture heap, while rock grew up with the likes of Matchbox 20 and The Verve.
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At the movies, the year’s biggest sinking ship was also its biggest success, with Titanic setting box office records that would stand for more than a decade. Superhero movies died with the widely-panned Batman & Robin setting a new low for the genre (bat-nipples anyone?), but action fans got the classic Starship Troopers, Face/Off and Con Air.
The small screen also saw the debut of some future classics: South Park, Oz and Buffy the Vampire Slayer all appeared for the first time in 1997.