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. Texas - When We Are Together
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
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. 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
16. 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
15. Glamma Kid - Why
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
14. 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
13. 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
12. 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
11. Phats And Small - Tonite (New)
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Phats & Small which follows the same sort of formula as the first 2. At the time I was starting to get tired of that formula but listening to it 20 years later it sounds much better than I remember it sounding.
Verdict - Good
10. Lolly - Big Boys Don't Cry / Rockin' Robin (New)
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Lolly. I'd say the best known of this double a-side is her cover of "Rockin Robin" which is very cheesy as you'd expect. The other one "Big Boys Don't Cry" goes down the ballad route, but somehow still manages to sound cheesy.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
9. 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
8. 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
7. 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
6. Martine McCutcheon - Talking In Your Sleep / Love Me (New)
Nearly a year since Tiffany died on Eastenders and I'm sure many people were hoping they'd bring her back from the dead so we didn't have to suffer her dreadful music career. This double a-side is 2 poor covers of 70s hits. It wouldn't be her last Top 40 hit either, this was her 3rd of 5 Top 40 hits and they all made the Top 10. What were people thinking.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
5. Alice Deejay - Back In My Life (New)
I loved "Better off Alone" but I found this one to be very average. A lot of the commercial Trance music in 1999 was good but then in the early part of the 21st century it was mostly cheesy vocal rubbish and this is more similar to that, though in it's defence is nowhere near as bad as DJ Sammy and co.
Verdict - OK
4. Melanie C - Northern Star (New)
The second single from the album of the same name, this one was written by Rick Nowels who wrote several of Belinda Carlisle's hits. It does sound more of a proper song than any of the Spice Girls hits ever did but that doesn't mean it's any good.
Verdict - Rubbish
3. Boyzone - Every Day I Love You (New)
Boyzone were arguably the biggest boyband at the start of 1999 but then we saw the start of Ronan's solo career and Westlife came along who were basically a younger Boyzone. You sensed it was only a matter of time before Boyzone would call it a day, and they did after this single. It's basically the same sort of ballad type crap they'd done throughout their career.
Verdict - Rubbish
2. The Wamdue Project - King Of My Castle
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
1. Cliff Richard - The Millennium Prayer
The Lords Prayer sung in the style of Auld Lang Syne, sounds bloody awful and it is.
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 5.5/20, or 27.5%. Five are still keeping the score above 5.
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