What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 12
⬆ (18) Blackbear - Hot Girl Bummer
⬆ (14) Meduza ft Becky Hill & Goodboys - Lose Control
New (37) Poundz - OPP Thot
New (35) Cast Of Rupaul's Drag Race UK - Break Up Bye Bye
New (31) AJ Tracey ft Skepta - Kiss And Tell
New (30) M Huncho ft Nafe Smallz - Thumb
New (23) Krept & Konan ft D-Block Europe & Ling Hustle - Tell Me
New (2) Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now
(1) Tones & I - Dance Monkey
Missing Out
⬆ (38) Script - The Last Time
⬆ (19) Jax Jones ft Ella Henderson - This Is Real
New (28) Krept & Konan ft Wizkid - G Love
Thursday, 14 November 2019
Tuesday, 12 November 2019
UK Number 40s: Wanda Jackson - Mean Mean Man (1961)
Wanda Jackson is a name known to many, even if they know nothing other than the name. She was known as the Queen of Rockabilly and was once the girlfriend of Elvis Presley.
Her UK Top 40 career though was just 2 minor hit's, with this her 2nd making number 40. Her first hit came the previous year with "Let's Have A Party" which made 32, and had been a number 2 for Elvis Presley 3 years earlier that was simply titled "Party".
She wrote this record herself, something her ex boyfriend never did. It sounds a bit like Little Richard except with a female singing it. It also sounds more of a 50s record than 60s, and that's because it is. It originally came out in 1958 but did not chart.
It never charted in her native America, but by 1961 she had started making country music. Her chart record in America is just 3 minor hits, but she first hit the US Country Charts in 1954 and continued to have hits in it up to the 70s.
She only retired from performing earlier this year, aged 81.
Sunday, 10 November 2019
Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 45
Here's my weekly look at the Top 20 from 20 years ago. On the basis we'd reach the Top 20 in the Top 40 countdown around 17:30 on a Sunday at the time the plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.
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:
After debuting with a song written by a Swedish bloke and following up with a song written by another Swedish bloke, the 3rd single for Britney Spears was written by those 2 Swedish blokes along with another 2 Swedish blokes. The result is something that sounds very American, and crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
After giving Cher a new lease of life with "Believe" just over a year earlier, producers Brian Rawling and Mark Taylor turned their attentions to a nearly 60 year old Tina Turner by producing this Dance record. On the song writing team was John Reid of Nightcrawlers fame alongside Graham Stack. I guess it worked seeing as it reached the Top 10, but I can't say I'm a fan of it.
Verdict - Rubbish
Oh dear, this is just dreadful. I guess she was successful with the equally dreadful "That Don't Impress Me Much" so thought more of the same.
Verdict - Rubbish
This completely passed me by, I don't think I heard this until maybe 2010. I own Phil Collins "Hits" album as well, but it was released a year prior to this therefore it doesn't feature. I can live with that though, it's an alright song but not one of his better ones.
Verdict - OK
With this being Steps you would expect it to be a cover of the Earth Wind and Fire song, but it isn't. Instead it's more of the usual poundland Abba shite they often do.
Verdict - Rubbish
UK Garage seemed to get really big commercially in the year 2000 and arguably this is where it all began. Obviously we'd had garage records in the Top 40 prior to this but these were few and far between in the year to date. The Dreem Teem were big names in the UK Garage scene playing many of the big events but at the start of 2000 they got their own Radio 1 show. This is a garage mix of the Neneh Cherry tune of the same title.
Verdict - Good
Written by Kandi Burruss and Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, the same people who wrote "Bills Bills Bills". My assessment of "Bills Bills Bills" was that Beyoncé and her irritating voice can make any song sound crap. She's not as irritating on this record, but that doesn't mean I like it.
Verdict - Rubbish
The first B*Witched record not to top the charts (excluding collaborations). About time if you ask me.
Verdict - Rubbish
Basement Jaxx have had some great records, but the experimental nature of their music means that some of their tunes are questionable. This is one of them. I wouldn't say I dislike it, but it's not one I particularly like either.
Verdict - OK
You hit the big time debuting at number one with arguably the biggest Dance record of the summer, how do you follow that up? Well what ATB did was make a record that more or less sounds the same. He knows it too and has since disowned the record for that very reason. It's not as good as "9pm (Till I Come)" and comparisons will be made, but had "9pm (Till I Come)" not been made and I was hearing this would I like it? I would say probably not, it just seems to lack any substance.
Verdict - Rubbish
On the song writing credits for this record is band member Brian Littrell. As the story goes, he took this song to Swedish producers Max Martin and Kristian Lundin who would then make alterations and additions to the song. I wonder just how similar the final song is to what Brian had originally wrote.
Verdict - Rubbish
Yet another older artist making a Dance record. But this time the record is actually pretty good. It's easy to dismiss this as an old artist trying to cash in on the modern sound when people just want to hear the old stuff. But if you just listen to the record it sounds like a proper Dance record, it's not cheesy, there isn't too much emphasis on the vocals, it's how a Dance record should sound.
Verdict - Good
This had already been played to death by the time it charted. I remember listening to the Top 40 the week it topped the charts but turned the radio off once the number one record was announced. It's absolutely terrible.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
This is very cheesy. It was the debut hit for Ann Lee who had previously had some success as a songwriter. I always imagined this to be sung by a teenager but turns out Ann Lee was 31 when this was released. Obviously she had learned the formula for selling records. I don't mind this record though.
Verdict - OK
After spending the majority of the decade singing depressing ballads, here's Mariah Carey going all gangsta. Ok not quite, but it's a record for the Rap and R&B crowd and features a rap from Jay-Z. It's quite fitting that she has perhaps the shittest rapper of all time feature on this shit record.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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
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
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
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 have brought the score over 5.
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. Britney Spears - (You Drive Me) Crazy
After debuting with a song written by a Swedish bloke and following up with a song written by another Swedish bloke, the 3rd single for Britney Spears was written by those 2 Swedish blokes along with another 2 Swedish blokes. The result is something that sounds very American, and crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
19. Tina Turner - When The Heartache Is Over
After giving Cher a new lease of life with "Believe" just over a year earlier, producers Brian Rawling and Mark Taylor turned their attentions to a nearly 60 year old Tina Turner by producing this Dance record. On the song writing team was John Reid of Nightcrawlers fame alongside Graham Stack. I guess it worked seeing as it reached the Top 10, but I can't say I'm a fan of it.
Verdict - Rubbish
18. Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman!
Oh dear, this is just dreadful. I guess she was successful with the equally dreadful "That Don't Impress Me Much" so thought more of the same.
Verdict - Rubbish
17. Phil Collins - You'll Be In My Heart (New)
This completely passed me by, I don't think I heard this until maybe 2010. I own Phil Collins "Hits" album as well, but it was released a year prior to this therefore it doesn't feature. I can live with that though, it's an alright song but not one of his better ones.
Verdict - OK
16. Steps - After The Love Has Gone
With this being Steps you would expect it to be a cover of the Earth Wind and Fire song, but it isn't. Instead it's more of the usual poundland Abba shite they often do.
Verdict - Rubbish
15. Dreem Teem Vs Neneh Cherry - Buddy X 99 (New)
UK Garage seemed to get really big commercially in the year 2000 and arguably this is where it all began. Obviously we'd had garage records in the Top 40 prior to this but these were few and far between in the year to date. The Dreem Teem were big names in the UK Garage scene playing many of the big events but at the start of 2000 they got their own Radio 1 show. This is a garage mix of the Neneh Cherry tune of the same title.
Verdict - Good
14. Destiny's Child - Bug A Boo
Written by Kandi Burruss and Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, the same people who wrote "Bills Bills Bills". My assessment of "Bills Bills Bills" was that Beyoncé and her irritating voice can make any song sound crap. She's not as irritating on this record, but that doesn't mean I like it.
Verdict - Rubbish
13. B*Witched - Jesse Hold On
The first B*Witched record not to top the charts (excluding collaborations). About time if you ask me.
Verdict - Rubbish
12. Basement Jaxx - Jump 'N' Shout (New)
Basement Jaxx have had some great records, but the experimental nature of their music means that some of their tunes are questionable. This is one of them. I wouldn't say I dislike it, but it's not one I particularly like either.
Verdict - OK
11. ATB - Don't Stop
You hit the big time debuting at number one with arguably the biggest Dance record of the summer, how do you follow that up? Well what ATB did was make a record that more or less sounds the same. He knows it too and has since disowned the record for that very reason. It's not as good as "9pm (Till I Come)" and comparisons will be made, but had "9pm (Till I Come)" not been made and I was hearing this would I like it? I would say probably not, it just seems to lack any substance.
Verdict - Rubbish
10. Backstreet Boys - Larger Than Life
On the song writing credits for this record is band member Brian Littrell. As the story goes, he took this song to Swedish producers Max Martin and Kristian Lundin who would then make alterations and additions to the song. I wonder just how similar the final song is to what Brian had originally wrote.
Verdict - Rubbish
9. Diana Ross - Not Over You Yet (New)
Yet another older artist making a Dance record. But this time the record is actually pretty good. It's easy to dismiss this as an old artist trying to cash in on the modern sound when people just want to hear the old stuff. But if you just listen to the record it sounds like a proper Dance record, it's not cheesy, there isn't too much emphasis on the vocals, it's how a Dance record should sound.
Verdict - Good
8. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee)
This had already been played to death by the time it charted. I remember listening to the Top 40 the week it topped the charts but turned the radio off once the number one record was announced. It's absolutely terrible.
Verdict - Rubbish
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. Ann Lee - 2 Times
This is very cheesy. It was the debut hit for Ann Lee who had previously had some success as a songwriter. I always imagined this to be sung by a teenager but turns out Ann Lee was 31 when this was released. Obviously she had learned the formula for selling records. I don't mind this record though.
Verdict - OK
5. Mariah Carey - Heartbreaker (New)
After spending the majority of the decade singing depressing ballads, here's Mariah Carey going all gangsta. Ok not quite, but it's a record for the Rap and R&B crowd and features a rap from Jay-Z. It's quite fitting that she has perhaps the shittest rapper of all time feature on this shit record.
Verdict - Rubbish
4. 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
3. 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
2. 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
1. Five - Keep On Movin' (New)
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
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 have brought the score over 5.
Saturday, 9 November 2019
My 25 Favourite Albums: Jurassic 5 - J5LP
During my childhood and into my young adult life I went through various phases music wise. Rap music was one of those phases, but it wasn't a case of just listening to the entire genre so to speak. It began with Eminem, then those associated with Eminem such as Dr Dre, then more West Coast rap and then at some point it was any rap I found good.
There came a point when my rap phase was over, but amazingly one rap act I didn't listen to during that phase was the featured act in this post, Jurassic 5. There came a point in my life though where I was no longer committed to a specific genre, and that's when I started listening to Jurassic 5.
A lot of rap music had become less about the struggles of growing up in a rough part of the world and more about bragging about how much money they now had and how they were "pimping it up in the club". Jurassic 5 were never about that though, they were as they put it "all about the beats and the lyrics".
Another thing I liked was the fact they are a group and the dynamic they have as a group comes through on the record. The reality is that a decent producer can make a poor rapper a good tune, and a bad producer can make a good rapper a crap tune. Jurassic 5 had Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark to take care of that, who are both great at what they do.
Then you have the 4 rappers, yes confusingly there are 6 members of Jurassic 5. Who is the stand out rapper? Well none of them really, it's all about how they rap together.
What this album taught me is that to make a good rap record, you don't need to claim to be the best rapper in the world, you don't need the who's who of good producers, you don't need to swear all the time and you don't need to go to war with other rappers.
Whilst it's not gangsta rap though, it's not your cheesy Will Smith type nonsense either. The lyrics do have a few expletives, they have a message with the tunes. But the emphasis is on the music, and that's the whole point of music at the end of the day.
Thursday, 7 November 2019
Top of the Pops: 07/11/2019
What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 11
New (34) Niall Horan - Nice To Meet Ya
New (27) Coldplay - Orphans
New (22) AJ Tracey ft Mostack & Not3s - Floss
⬆ (8) Maroon 5 - Memories
⬆ (7) Lizzo - Good As Hell
New (19) Kanye West - Selah
New (6) Kanye West - Follow God
New (3) Selena Gomez - Lose You To Love Me
(1) Tones & I - Dance Monkey
Missing Out
New (20) Kanye West - Closed On Sunday
New (26) Selena Gomez - Look At Her Now
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 11
New (34) Niall Horan - Nice To Meet Ya
New (27) Coldplay - Orphans
New (22) AJ Tracey ft Mostack & Not3s - Floss
⬆ (8) Maroon 5 - Memories
⬆ (7) Lizzo - Good As Hell
New (19) Kanye West - Selah
New (6) Kanye West - Follow God
New (3) Selena Gomez - Lose You To Love Me
(1) Tones & I - Dance Monkey
Missing Out
New (20) Kanye West - Closed On Sunday
New (26) Selena Gomez - Look At Her Now
Tuesday, 5 November 2019
UK Number 40s: The Olympics - I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate (1961)
Long before NWA came about, there was another group who hailed from Compton, The Olympics.
They first hit the UK Charts in 1958 with "Western Movies", but wouldn't return until 1961 with this their follow up. It would also be their final UK hit.
The song itself was written in 1922 by jazz violinist Armand J.Piron. It's been covered by many acts, including The Beatles in 1962. This was the only version to reach the UK Top 40, but the songwriter never lived to witness this as he died in 1943.
The Olympics are still going today, but without any original members left. Group member Charles Fizer was killed during the Watts Riots in 1965 and fellow member Melvin King left the group the same year. The other 2 members remained in the group until their deaths, Walter Ward in 2006 and Eddie Lewis in 2017.
Sunday, 3 November 2019
Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 44
Here's my weekly look at the Top 20 from 20 years ago. On the basis we'd reach the Top 20 in the Top 40 countdown around 17:30 on a Sunday at the time the plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.
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:
There's something I never thought about when I decided to start doing these posts, the double a-side. It's quite amazing it's taken this long for the first of those to appear. The way I'll deal with these is I'll give a verdict on both songs and if either are good or ok then they'll add 1 or half a point to the score, if both are good it will still be just 1 point and if both are ok it will still be half a point. Anyway, what we have here are 2 poor covers of Jam records.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
It's the first Honeyz single to feature Mariama who replaced Heavenli in the group. One thing I'll always remember about this song was if me and my housemate were having a conversation when this was playing, we'd always shut up during the breakdown. The harmonising with the vocals in that part is second to none. Love this tune.
Verdict - Good
After debuting with a song written by a Swedish bloke and following up with a song written by another Swedish bloke, the 3rd single for Britney Spears was written by those 2 Swedish blokes along with another 2 Swedish blokes. The result is something that sounds very American, and crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been 5 years since New Kids on the Block called it a day, but this was the only time we'd see any of it's members have a solo Top 40 hit. Further to that, it had been 8 years since we'd last seen New Kids on the Block in the Top 10. Despite this, Jordan Knight was still only 29. It was written by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis alongside a then unknown Robin Thicke. On paper it sounds like it should be stuck in the 80s given the artist, writers and freestyle chorus, but somehow it doesn't sound out of place in 1999.
Verdict - OK
I remember this being on Top of the Pops at the time. My thoughts were "are Eternal seriously carrying on as a 2 piece" and "it's not 1995 anymore, time you called it a day". This would turn out to be their final Top 40 hit before they really did call it a day. It's a poor record.
Verdict - Rubbish
Oh dear, this is just dreadful. I guess she was successful with the equally dreadful "That Don't Impress Me Much" so thought more of the same.
Verdict - Rubbish
Here's Simply Red doing a cover of a 60s record 1999 style. They must have identified Dance music was big business, so to keep up with the times made a Dance record. It's actually not bad.
Verdict - OK
The first B*Witched record not to top the charts (excluding collaborations). About time if you ask me.
Verdict - Rubbish
With this being Steps you would expect it to be a cover of the Earth Wind and Fire song, but it isn't. Instead it's more of the usual poundland Abba shite they often do.
Verdict - Rubbish
A mash up of "Right Here Right Now" by Fatboy Slim and the Adeva tune of the same title. We also have a mash up of the sampled artists names in Onephatdeeva. I've got say I hated this at the time, in my mind it was just unnecessarily adding vocals to a Dance record. It's grown on me a bit since then, but I don't think it's the best.
Verdict - OK
After giving Cher a new lease of life with "Believe" just over a year earlier, producers Brian Rawling and Mark Taylor turned their attentions to a nearly 60 year old Tina Turner by producing this Dance record. On the song writing team was John Reid of Nightcrawlers fame alongside Graham Stack. I guess it worked seeing as it reached the Top 10, but I can't say I'm a fan of it.
Verdict - Rubbish
Written by Kandi Burruss and Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, the same people who wrote "Bills Bills Bills". My assessment of "Bills Bills Bills" was that Beyoncé and her irritating voice can make any song sound crap. She's not as irritating on this record, but that doesn't mean I like it.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
You hit the big time debuting at number one with arguably the biggest Dance record of the summer, how do you follow that up? Well what ATB did was make a record that more or less sounds the same. He knows it too and has since disowned the record for that very reason. It's not as good as "9pm (Till I Come)" and comparisons will be made, but had "9pm (Till I Come)" not been made and I was hearing this would I like it? I would say probably not, it just seems to lack any substance.
Verdict - Rubbish
This had already been played to death by the time it charted. I remember listening to the Top 40 the week it topped the charts but turned the radio off once the number one record was announced. It's absolutely terrible.
Verdict - Rubbish
On the song writing credits for this record is band member Brian Littrell. As the story goes, he took this song to Swedish producers Max Martin and Kristian Lundin who would then make alterations and additions to the song. I wonder just how similar the final song is to what Brian had originally wrote.
Verdict - Rubbish
This is very cheesy. It was the debut hit for Ann Lee who had previously had some success as a songwriter. I always imagined this to be sung by a teenager but turns out Ann Lee was 31 when this was released. Obviously she had learned the formula for selling records. I don't mind this record though.
Verdict - OK
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
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
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
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 4/20, or 20%. The poorest week I've reviewed so far, maybe a sign the 21st century is only a couple of months away.
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. Buffalo Tom - Going Underground / Liam Gallagher And Steve Craddock - Carnation
There's something I never thought about when I decided to start doing these posts, the double a-side. It's quite amazing it's taken this long for the first of those to appear. The way I'll deal with these is I'll give a verdict on both songs and if either are good or ok then they'll add 1 or half a point to the score, if both are good it will still be just 1 point and if both are ok it will still be half a point. Anyway, what we have here are 2 poor covers of Jam records.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
19. The Honeyz - Never Let You Down
It's the first Honeyz single to feature Mariama who replaced Heavenli in the group. One thing I'll always remember about this song was if me and my housemate were having a conversation when this was playing, we'd always shut up during the breakdown. The harmonising with the vocals in that part is second to none. Love this tune.
Verdict - Good
18. Britney Spears - (You Drive Me) Crazy
After debuting with a song written by a Swedish bloke and following up with a song written by another Swedish bloke, the 3rd single for Britney Spears was written by those 2 Swedish blokes along with another 2 Swedish blokes. The result is something that sounds very American, and crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
17. Jordan Knight - Give It To You
It had been 5 years since New Kids on the Block called it a day, but this was the only time we'd see any of it's members have a solo Top 40 hit. Further to that, it had been 8 years since we'd last seen New Kids on the Block in the Top 10. Despite this, Jordan Knight was still only 29. It was written by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis alongside a then unknown Robin Thicke. On paper it sounds like it should be stuck in the 80s given the artist, writers and freestyle chorus, but somehow it doesn't sound out of place in 1999.
Verdict - OK
16. Eternal - What'cha Gonna Do (New)
I remember this being on Top of the Pops at the time. My thoughts were "are Eternal seriously carrying on as a 2 piece" and "it's not 1995 anymore, time you called it a day". This would turn out to be their final Top 40 hit before they really did call it a day. It's a poor record.
Verdict - Rubbish
15. Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman!
Oh dear, this is just dreadful. I guess she was successful with the equally dreadful "That Don't Impress Me Much" so thought more of the same.
Verdict - Rubbish
14. Simply Red - Ain't That A Lot Of Love (New)
Here's Simply Red doing a cover of a 60s record 1999 style. They must have identified Dance music was big business, so to keep up with the times made a Dance record. It's actually not bad.
Verdict - OK
13. B*Witched - Jesse Hold On
The first B*Witched record not to top the charts (excluding collaborations). About time if you ask me.
Verdict - Rubbish
12. Steps - After The Love Has Gone
With this being Steps you would expect it to be a cover of the Earth Wind and Fire song, but it isn't. Instead it's more of the usual poundland Abba shite they often do.
Verdict - Rubbish
11. ATFC Presents Onephatdeeva - In And Out Of My Life (New)
A mash up of "Right Here Right Now" by Fatboy Slim and the Adeva tune of the same title. We also have a mash up of the sampled artists names in Onephatdeeva. I've got say I hated this at the time, in my mind it was just unnecessarily adding vocals to a Dance record. It's grown on me a bit since then, but I don't think it's the best.
Verdict - OK
10. Tina Turner - When The Heartache Is Over (New)
After giving Cher a new lease of life with "Believe" just over a year earlier, producers Brian Rawling and Mark Taylor turned their attentions to a nearly 60 year old Tina Turner by producing this Dance record. On the song writing team was John Reid of Nightcrawlers fame alongside Graham Stack. I guess it worked seeing as it reached the Top 10, but I can't say I'm a fan of it.
Verdict - Rubbish
9. Destiny's Child - Bug A Boo (New)
Written by Kandi Burruss and Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, the same people who wrote "Bills Bills Bills". My assessment of "Bills Bills Bills" was that Beyoncé and her irritating voice can make any song sound crap. She's not as irritating on this record, but that doesn't mean I like it.
Verdict - Rubbish
8. 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
7. ATB - Don't Stop
You hit the big time debuting at number one with arguably the biggest Dance record of the summer, how do you follow that up? Well what ATB did was make a record that more or less sounds the same. He knows it too and has since disowned the record for that very reason. It's not as good as "9pm (Till I Come)" and comparisons will be made, but had "9pm (Till I Come)" not been made and I was hearing this would I like it? I would say probably not, it just seems to lack any substance.
Verdict - Rubbish
6. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee)
This had already been played to death by the time it charted. I remember listening to the Top 40 the week it topped the charts but turned the radio off once the number one record was announced. It's absolutely terrible.
Verdict - Rubbish
5. Backstreet Boys - Larger Than Life (New)
On the song writing credits for this record is band member Brian Littrell. As the story goes, he took this song to Swedish producers Max Martin and Kristian Lundin who would then make alterations and additions to the song. I wonder just how similar the final song is to what Brian had originally wrote.
Verdict - Rubbish
4. Ann Lee - 2 Times
This is very cheesy. It was the debut hit for Ann Lee who had previously had some success as a songwriter. I always imagined this to be sung by a teenager but turns out Ann Lee was 31 when this was released. Obviously she had learned the formula for selling records. I don't mind this record though.
Verdict - OK
3. R Kelly - If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time (New)
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
2. 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
1. Westlife - Flying Without Wings (New)
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
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 4/20, or 20%. The poorest week I've reviewed so far, maybe a sign the 21st century is only a couple of months away.
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