What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 11
⬆ (7) Arizona Zervas - Roxanne
⬆ (10) KSI ft Rick Ross & Lil Baby & S-X - Down Like That
New (39) Bastille - Can't Fight This Feeling
New (36) Idina Menzel ft Aurora - Into The Unknown
New (35) ZieZie ft Aitch - French Kisses
New (31) Partynextdoor ft Drake - Loyal
New (16) DigDat ft D-Block Europe - New Dior
New (3) Stormzy ft Ed Sheeran & Burna Boy - Own It
(1) Tones & I - Dance Monkey
Missing Out
⬆ (21) Endor - Pump It Up
⬆ (18) Jax Jones ft Ella Henderson - This Is Real
Thursday, 5 December 2019
Tuesday, 3 December 2019
UK Number 40s: Tommy Cooper - Don't Jump Off The Roof Dad (1961)
The next in this series of records that peaked at number 40 is the only Top 40 hit for comedian Tommy Cooper.
It's the final record to peak at number 40 in 1961, so you may be thinking a comedian is releasing a record for Christmas time, like many have done over the years. However it actually peaked at 40 in early July, there simply wasn't any other record to peak at 40 for the remainder of the year.
This song is another example of an American song being covered by an English artist, quite a common occurrence at the time, but perhaps a bit surprising for a comedian to do. It was recorded by American country duo Homer & Jethro that same year and written by Cy Coben.
As expected from a comedian, it's a novelty record. The story is of a man coming home from work fed up with life and climbs onto the roof to take his own life, only for his kids to tell him not to jump of the roof as it will destroy the flowers below, instead go and jump in the lake. Quite a dark subject matter then, told in a humorous way.
Whilst Tommy Cooper wasn't a musician by trade and this was his only hit, he did make several other recordings that didn't chart.
Sunday, 1 December 2019
Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 48
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:
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
"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
The Lords Prayer sung in the style of Auld Lang Syne, sounds bloody awful and it is.
Verdict - Rubbish
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.
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.
Saturday, 30 November 2019
25 Years Since....November 1994
Time for our penultimate trip back to 1994 and the music I was enjoying at the time:
Green Day - Welcome To Paradise
We begin with the debut Top 40 hit for Green Day. We were definitely into my final days as a grunger by this point and that's not just to do with the fact this record isn't grunge.
Basically bands such as Green Day were the new bands the rock crowd were getting into in what was becoming the post-grunge era, but my time listening to it was very brief before I fully committed myself to rave. Although I heard the "Dookie" album plenty of times through friends, I never actually owned it myself until a few years later, shortly before writing loads of punk songs myself and forming a band.
The funny thing was that when the whole grunger thing came about, the unwritten rules were that any form of rock music was acceptable except for punk, yet that was exactly what people were getting into in the end.
(MC Sar And) The Real McCoy - Another Night
I would say liking this record was a sign I was getting into rave music, but even at the time before I really learned about the underground I knew this wasn't proper rave.
That said there's no denying it's dance music and you could say rave is to dance what grunge is to rock.
I do find Germany notorious for producing eurodance music that, whilst rather cheesy, is a lot of fun to listen to and this is one of these. It took me a while to buy the album though, maybe about 20 years or so when I saw it in poundland. I couldn't resist.
Aerosmith - Crazy
I thought this record came out earlier than this, but I also remember it coming out at the same time as the "Big Ones" album which did come out the same month.
I did think Aerosmith were a bit old at the time, but I still thought this was a great song.
What I liked even more though was the video and I'm pretty sure I wasn't alone in that. I did find it a bit disturbing though years later when I discovered one of the females in the video was Steven Tyler's daughter.
Baby D - Let Me Be Your Fantasy
By this point in time the rave scene had split into Happy Hardcore and Jungle, and there was a clear distinction between the 2. This record though was neither, more like how it was before the scene split. That's because it was originally from 1992, before the scene split.
I never knew any of that at the time, all I knew was this was a rave record and that I liked it.
What confirmed to me Baby D was proper rave music was when I bought a "Best Of Jungle" compilation shortly after and it had a Baby D track on it. Maybe Baby D should be considered Jungle then. I guess it's more similar to Jungle than it is to Happy Hardcore.
Blur - End Of A Century
At the time I remember somebody asking me whether I liked the "ants in the carpet" song. Being crap at knowing lyrics I had no idea what he was talking about. Then the next time I heard this I heard the opening lyrics and it became clearer
It was the final single from the "Parklife" album and to me it has a double meaning. First of all, after the end of the century the general quality of music went downhill. At the same time, after this single the general quality of Blurs music also went downhill.
Green Day - Welcome To Paradise
Basically bands such as Green Day were the new bands the rock crowd were getting into in what was becoming the post-grunge era, but my time listening to it was very brief before I fully committed myself to rave. Although I heard the "Dookie" album plenty of times through friends, I never actually owned it myself until a few years later, shortly before writing loads of punk songs myself and forming a band.
The funny thing was that when the whole grunger thing came about, the unwritten rules were that any form of rock music was acceptable except for punk, yet that was exactly what people were getting into in the end.
(MC Sar And) The Real McCoy - Another Night
That said there's no denying it's dance music and you could say rave is to dance what grunge is to rock.
I do find Germany notorious for producing eurodance music that, whilst rather cheesy, is a lot of fun to listen to and this is one of these. It took me a while to buy the album though, maybe about 20 years or so when I saw it in poundland. I couldn't resist.
Aerosmith - Crazy
I did think Aerosmith were a bit old at the time, but I still thought this was a great song.
What I liked even more though was the video and I'm pretty sure I wasn't alone in that. I did find it a bit disturbing though years later when I discovered one of the females in the video was Steven Tyler's daughter.
Baby D - Let Me Be Your Fantasy
I never knew any of that at the time, all I knew was this was a rave record and that I liked it.
What confirmed to me Baby D was proper rave music was when I bought a "Best Of Jungle" compilation shortly after and it had a Baby D track on it. Maybe Baby D should be considered Jungle then. I guess it's more similar to Jungle than it is to Happy Hardcore.
Blur - End Of A Century
It was the final single from the "Parklife" album and to me it has a double meaning. First of all, after the end of the century the general quality of music went downhill. At the same time, after this single the general quality of Blurs music also went downhill.
Thursday, 28 November 2019
Top of the Pops: 28/11/2019
What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 7
⬆ (14) Blackbear - Hot Girl Bummer
⬆ (39) Tom Walker - Better Half Of Me
New (35) Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar
New (32) Tory Lanez ft T-Pain - Jerry Sprunger
New (19) Lewis Capaldi - Before You Go
New (3) Billie Eilish - Everything I Wanted
(1) Tones & I - Dance Monkey
Missing Out
None
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 7
⬆ (14) Blackbear - Hot Girl Bummer
⬆ (39) Tom Walker - Better Half Of Me
New (35) Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar
New (32) Tory Lanez ft T-Pain - Jerry Sprunger
New (19) Lewis Capaldi - Before You Go
New (3) Billie Eilish - Everything I Wanted
(1) Tones & I - Dance Monkey
Missing Out
None
Tuesday, 26 November 2019
UK Number 40s: Billy Fury & The Four Kestrels Don't Worry (1961)
Billy Fury is a well known name and had many hits. He was one of the British singers from the Larry Parnes camp. One of the other Larry Parnes singers, Tommy Steele, has already featured in this series having reached 40 with his penultimate Top 40 hit.
One could therefore expect this would be one of the latter hits for Billy Fury as his popularity was in decline. But it isn't, in fact the opposite is true.
Billy Fury made his chart debut in 1959 reaching 18 with "Maybe Tomorrow". He had one further hit that year with "Margo" but wouldn't reach the Top 10 until his 3rd hit "Collette" which reached 9 in 1960. A further 4 singles followed which all failed to reach the Top 10, with the 4th being this.
The song itself is a bit of a mystery. I've not found anything on The Four Kestrels and the song writers are Ed Lay and Fred Shoemaker who have seemingly only ever wrote this record, nothing else seems to be known about them apart from that.
However, digging a bit deeper it would appear Ed Lay and Fred Shoemaker don't actually exist, and this is a cover of a song of the same name by Marty Robbins, who also wrote it.
With 7 singles and just 1 Top 10 to his name, with the latest only making 40, things may have not looked great for Billy Fury. The week this dropped out the charts, he entered at 41 with his follow up which went down the following week.
However that record was "Halfway To Paradise" which then climbed the charts eventually reaching 3. Then came "Jealousy" when "Halfway To Paradise" was still in the charts, which became his highest charting single at 2. He would reach the Top 10 with 8 of his following 10 singles after "Don't Worry" which would have been the height of his success.
His popularity would eventually decline in the late 60s, but there was an attempted comeback with 3 singles in the early 80s which all missed out on the Top 40, before his death in 1983.
Sunday, 24 November 2019
Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 47
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:
This sounds a bit out of place in 1999, probably because from memory this is the first Dancehall record to feature since I started this series of posts. I also own a compilation with this on which I bought around 2003 so I associate it more with that time. Given I didn't press the skip button when listening to said compilation I would say I like it.
Verdict - Good
Apparently their record label challenged them to produce the next "Truly Madly Deeply" and this was the result. I would argue this is a better song, it's not as soppy and is more uplifting and therefore I can listen to it without cringing. I also have this on a compilation and don't press the skip button.
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
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 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
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
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Paul Van Dyk which was a double a-side. The better known of the 2 would be "Another Way", even if you think you don't know it there's a good chance you'll recognise it when you hear it. "Avenue" perhaps isn't as radio friendly, but that's no bad thing in my book.
Verdict - Good / Good
After his big number one in the summer, Ricky Martin failed to reach the Top 10 with this follow up. It sounds less crappy Spanish holiday song than it's predecessor but that doesn't make it any less irritating.
Verdict - Rubbish
Another Stereophonics hit I have no recollection of because I had learned to ignore them, or erase what I'd heard from my memory immediately by this point. That said, I do recall a song with this title existing at the time. Listening to it now though I can say I probably didn't remember it simply because it was so boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
"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
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 7.5/20, or 37.5%. Now we're sliding.
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. Mr Vegas - Heads High
This sounds a bit out of place in 1999, probably because from memory this is the first Dancehall record to feature since I started this series of posts. I also own a compilation with this on which I bought around 2003 so I associate it more with that time. Given I didn't press the skip button when listening to said compilation I would say I like it.
Verdict - Good
19. Savage Garden - I Knew I Loved You
Apparently their record label challenged them to produce the next "Truly Madly Deeply" and this was the result. I would argue this is a better song, it's not as soppy and is more uplifting and therefore I can listen to it without cringing. I also have this on a compilation and don't press the skip button.
Verdict - Good
18. 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
17. 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
16. 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
15. 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
14. 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
13. Paul Van Dyk - Another Way / Avenue (New)
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Paul Van Dyk which was a double a-side. The better known of the 2 would be "Another Way", even if you think you don't know it there's a good chance you'll recognise it when you hear it. "Avenue" perhaps isn't as radio friendly, but that's no bad thing in my book.
Verdict - Good / Good
12. Ricky Martin - Shake Your Bon-Bon (New)
After his big number one in the summer, Ricky Martin failed to reach the Top 10 with this follow up. It sounds less crappy Spanish holiday song than it's predecessor but that doesn't make it any less irritating.
Verdict - Rubbish
11. Stereophonics - Hurry Up And Wait (New)
Another Stereophonics hit I have no recollection of because I had learned to ignore them, or erase what I'd heard from my memory immediately by this point. That said, I do recall a song with this title existing at the time. Listening to it now though I can say I probably didn't remember it simply because it was so boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
10. 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
9. 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
8. Travis - Turn (New)
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
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. 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
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. 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
3. A1 - Everytime / Ready Or Not (New)
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
2. Will Smith - Will 2K (New)
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
1. Robbie Williams - She's The One / It's Only Us (New)
"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
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 7.5/20, or 37.5%. Now we're sliding.
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