If at a music quiz you were to ask the question "Who had a Top 40 hit with When I Kissed The Teacher?" the answer you're most likely to get is Abba. That answer would be wrong because the Abba song was never a Top 40 hit.
That said, one may struggle to remember exactly who was on this record. All four are actresses who appeared in the film "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" off which this was taken.
None of these actresses has troubled the Top 40 again at the time of writing.
Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.
Here is the Top 40 in full.
I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.
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 records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 10/30, or 33%. Slight improvement on last week.
These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:
DJ Bobo didn't have a Top 40 hit in the UK until 2003. In Holland this record marked the end of his Dutch Top 40 career. It's a Eurodance record with DJ Bobo rapping the verses and female singers Natascha Wright and Lisa Noya singing the chorus. It's clearly the same person who did "Love Is All Around", it follows that tried and tested formula.
Club X - The Sequel (La La La)
Being a gabber record in the Dutch Top 40 one would assume this is Dutch but it's not, it's Belgian. The sample used in this is the "La La La" bit of "Self Esteem" by The Offspring. It's quite possibly the familiarity of that sample that helped this record into the Dutch Top 40.
Snap ft Summer - The World In My Hands
In terms of original hits Snap were finished in the UK Top 40 by this point. In a way it was a shame because they'd started to make records I actually liked, partly because they'd sped up. In Holland they carried on and I guess this is what could have come next in the UK. This time they've slowed down, but it's not a bad record.
The Offspring - Come Out And Play (Keep Em Separated)
I'm surprised this was never a Top 40 hit in the UK because I remember it very well at the time and it seemed to be pretty well known. It only managed to get to 98 though. Maybe by the time it was released as a single people were fed up of hearing it on MTV all the time.
In this era a record would typically get a few weeks of play on the radio and music channels before hitting the charts. Some records would get an earlier release date overseas and some were from already released albums. On that basis its safe to assume that most, if not all new entries this month were made in the 20th century.
The best record this month is "Playground Love" which was definitely made in the 20th century because it was from the 1999 film "The Virgin Suicides". I watched the film on the strength of this record, that's how much I like it.
As mentioned in March, there were no UK garage new entries in February. However a significant chunk of records this month come from what UK garage replaced as the dance genre of the moment, trance.
Sash! tended to make trance of a more commercial Eurodance variety, but this month we had "Adelante" which was more of a credible trance record which gets full marks. Armin Van Buuren made his Top 40 debut with "Communication" and this was an era when he was good.
A strong contender this month for the best record was "Must Be The Music" by Joey Negro & Taka Boom. This was a record I remember from the summer of 1999, it also sounds more of a summer record but just didn't chart until the winter. Ten City singer Byron Stingily had a solo version of the Ten City record "That's The Way Love Is" which was never going to beat the original but it's still a decent record.
Most of the dance records this month score points but we're also getting points from a wide range of genres. Rap wise we have "Simon Says" by Pharoahe Monch and R&B wise we have "Got To Get It" by Sisqo.
We generally expect rap and R&B to give us points but we also have records such as "Glorious" by Andreas Johnson and "The Great Beyond" by REM from the indie and alternative rock world giving us points. There's the funk rock of "Otherside" by Red Hot Chili Peppers and the pop record "Pure Shores" by All Saints giving us points.
However the worst record is also a pop record. It's "Ooh Stick You!" by Daphne & Celeste. I know it's supposed to be crap, but it's annoying enough to get that crown.
Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):
Here's a look at the chart:
Normally when someone attempts a solo career after leaving a girl group, they are often overshadowed by their time in a girl group even if their solo career is successful. An exception to that rule is Camila Cabello, I couldn't remember what girl group she'd previously been in and had to look it up. It was Fifth Harmony.
At the time of writing she's had 15 Top 40 hits, more than I was expecting. A lot more than the 5 she had with Fifth Harmony, again I didn't realise they had that many.
This was Top 40 hit number 6 and she topped the charts with her 4th hit "Havana" and 8th hit "Senorita". I sense a theme here, so maybe she'd have been more successful if it had a more Latin sounding name.
Here's the tunes I was enjoying 20 years ago:
2Pac ft Elton John - Ghetto Gospel
