Here is the Top 40 in full.
Obviously some of the records will be the same as last week so therefore the review will be the same for these. I've indicated which ones are new so you can skip the others if you read last weeks post.
Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.
So this is the top 20 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:
20. Another Level - Bomb Diggy
I was at a karaoke night in maybe 2002 and somebody suggested I got up and sung this. There was one slight problem with that though, I didn't actually know it. Of course once YouTube arrived I had to listen to it after remembering that karaoke night and it did ring a vague bell. Quite why this person thought I should sing it at karaoke though remains a mystery.
Verdict - OK
19. Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle
The debut hit for Christina Aguilera. Like with many pop songs by young American artists at the time, this is very American high school sounding, but based on what we've learned about many of these songs, you'd expect it to be written by a Swedish bloke. But not this one, 2 of it's 3 writers are actually American, the other coming from New Zealand. Still, not a record I can say I like.
Verdict - Rubbish
18. Westlife - Flying Without Wings
This is probably the best known Westlife song. It was written by the same people who wrote their first number one "Swear It Again". The funny thing was that it wasn't originally going to be a Westlife song, it was going to be the debut solo record for Boyzone member Stephen Gately. Given most people don't remember Stephen Gately even having a solo career, I wonder if he'd have been more successful if this song was given to him instead as originally intended. As far as Westlife songs go, this is probably one of the better ones but it's still shit.
Verdict - Rubbish
17. Groove Armada ft Gram'ma Funk - I See You Baby (New)
Yes this really is the same people who did "At the River". Ok maybe not so surprising as both are well known tunes and Groove Armada are well known themselves, but at the time I probably did think that. I didn't like this at the time, aside from "At the River" I didn't really think much to Groove Armada. However I really got into some of their later more obscure material and from that started to appreciate their back catalogue much more and therefore I quite like this now.
Verdict - Good
16. Travis - Turn
This was the biggest hit to date for Travis but just as boring as their previous hits. Maybe a little more catchy thanks to the chorus more or less being a repetition of the same word, that's as exciting as it gets.
Verdict - Rubbish
15. Tin Tin Out ft Emma Bunton - What I Am
It's the solo debut of Baby Spice, well her first non Spice Girls hit anyway. It ended up being the final Top 40 hit for Tin Tin Out and also their most successful. It's a cover of the Edie Brickell record, I'm not keen on the original and this cover does nothing to improve it.
Verdict - Rubbish
14. Blur - No Distance Left To Run (New)
It's quite appropriate that the video to this record is of the band going to sleep as it's certainly boring enough to send you to sleep. I've mentioned before that Blur's music went downhill as the 90s went on and this is probably the worst of them all singles wise.
Verdict - Rubbish
13. Jennifer Lopez - Waiting For Tonight
The problem I have with this record now is that it sounds like it set the scene for all that cringe worthy crap she did with the likes of Pitbull later on in her career. At the time though I thought it was alright. I guess the fact you don't have anyone shouting "Mr Worldwide" in it means it still is alright.
Verdict - OK
12. Texas - When We Are Together (New)
It's been a while since I last heard this, it doesn't quite sound the same as I remember it. I sense some Motown influence in the song which I don't recall noticing before. However it still sounds very much like a Texas song i.e. boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
11. Garbage - The World Is Not Enough (New)
The problem with James Bond songs is they all sound a bit samey. This one sounds promising in parts but there is a constant reminder that this is a James Bond song.
Verdict - OK
10. Glamma Kid - Why (New)
This one samples the Carly Simon song of the same title. It's perhaps not as well known as "Taboo" but still made the Top 10. It follows the same sort of formula as it's predecessor, a reggae style tune with an 80s song sampled in the chorus. But this one seems to lack the excitement that "Taboo" had.
Verdict - OK
9. A1 - Everytime / Ready Or Not
The 3rd hit for boy band A1 which reached number 3 and was a double a-side. "Everytime" is the better known one and is a ballad. Sounds like it could just as easily be a Westlife song, but it's written by A1 themselves. "Ready or Not" isn't a cover of the Fugees but it does sound a bit like a rip off of "Stop" by the Spice Girls.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
8. Five - Keep On Movin'
On hearing this record for the first time I was expecting it to open with a rap from J. Instead it opens with singing from someone I'd never noticed being in the group before. It was band member Sean who'd pretty much been in the background up until now. J does still get the lions share of the vocals though, with his vocals being somewhere in between singing and rapping in this tune. It was the first Five record to get to number one and I've got to say I like it.
Verdict - Good
7. Macy Gray - I Try
When I first heard this I imagined the singer to be in her 50s. She actually is now, but at the time she was only 32. I thought it was alright initially but then it quickly got irritating. On paper it shouldn't be a bad song, it's original, it's soulful and it certainly isn't boring but for some reason it just bugs me.
Verdict - Rubbish
6. Geri Halliwell - Lift Me Up
The 3rd solo hit and 2nd number one for Geri Halliwell. Despite leaving the Spice Girls due to musical differences, all 3 of her solo hits to date had been written by Absolute, the producers who discovered the Spice Girls and produced half the tracks on their first 2 albums. In fact all the songs on Geri's debut album were written by them and predictably it's still crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
5. R Kelly - If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time
The 7th Top 40 single from his "R" album, and still not the last. This is one of those records that charted much later than I remember it charting, but given it's on an album that I own and the first single from that album came out in early 1997 it's not that surprising. Good tune though.
Verdict - Good
4. Will Smith - Will 2K
This was the 8th Top 40 hit for Will Smith (excluding his Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince hits) and his chart career to date was quite remarkable, 7 of his 8 hits had made the Top 3. This one heavily sampled "Rock the Casbah" and featured vocals from K-Ci of Jodeci but despite this it was still the usual crap you got from Will Smith.
Verdict - Rubbish
3. Robbie Williams - She's The One / It's Only Us
"She's the One" is one of the best known Robbie Williams songs, but what isn't that well known is that this is a cover. The original was by World Party the 2 versions aren't very different at all. "It's Only Us" was written by Robbie Williams himself and I don't think is anywhere near as well known. I quite like both songs.
Verdict - Good / Good
2. Cliff Richard - The Millennium Prayer (New)
The Lords Prayer sung in the style of Auld Lang Syne, sounds bloody awful and it is.
Verdict - Rubbish
1. The Wamdue Project - King Of My Castle (New)
My first impression of this record was that it was far too slow. Then I went down the pub one night and lost count of the number of times I heard it. After that I thought I'd happily never hear this tune again in my life. It's not one that's been played a great deal since to be fair, but I still don't like it.
Verdict - Rubbish
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 6/20, or 30%. If it wasn't for Five the score may have been 5.
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