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. Supergrass - Pumping On Your Stereo
When I first heard this I was surprised to see Supergrass were still going. The world had moved on but Supergrass were living like it was still 1995, not that I thought Supergrass were any good in 1995.
Verdict - Rubbish
19. Phats And Small - Turn Around
By the time this tune charted I'd heard it a lot and I remember it appearing on Dave Pearce's Dance Anthems on Radio 1 pretty much every week. I also remember Phats & Small presenting the show themselves one week when Dave Pearce was on holiday. Despite it being overplayed though I have good memories of this tune, despite the lyrical content of someone being down it's a feel good Dance record. Funnily enough "Feel Good" was the name of their next hit.
Verdict - Good
18. Sugar Ray - Every Morning
I specifically remember this record and "You Get What You Give" by the New Radicals being out at the same sort of time and like to listen to them back to back. I also own the "14:59" album which features this song as well as another Sugar Ray album. Needless to say I like it.
Verdict - Good
17. Hepburn - I Quit
One memory I have of this song is a work colleague at the time singing this on his last day. I just find the song irritating though.
Verdict - Rubbish
16. 21st Century Girls - 21st Century Girls (New)
The one and only Top 40 hit for 21st Century Girls who never managed to have a hit in the 21st Century. It's bloody awful.
Verdict - Rubbish
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Scar Tissue (New)
I was a big fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers before I became a raver. Even in the early days of being I raver I still liked them. Then they just disappeared off the face of the earth until they came back with this. I loved it as soon as I heard it, I think what impressed me was how they could make a song like that with just the guitar, bass and drums.
Verdict - Good
14. Boyzone - You Needed Me
The penultimate Top 40 hit for Boyzone before going on hiatus and their final number one. In true Boyzone style it's a poor cover of an old song. I don't particularly like the original and this version is even worse.
Verdict - Rubbish
13. Precious - Say It Again
The Eurovision entry for the UK in 1999 by a group that contained future Atomic Kitten member Jenny Frost. I think it's better than any Atomic Kitten song I've ever heard, but that doesn't make it any good.
Verdict - Rubbish
12. TLC - No Scrubs
TLC were big in the mid 90s with their "Crazy Sexy Cool" album and then for me at least they just disappeared until this came out. It was a great comeback though, and the funny thing is that had Xscape not broken up the year before it could have been an Xscape single given Kandi and Tiny of the group were two of the writers.
Verdict - Good
11. Geri Halliwell - Look At Me
A year after leaving the Spice Girls, Geri Halliwell released her first solo record. I can't decide if this is better or worse than your average Spice Girls record but what I do know is it's bloody awful.
Verdict - Rubbish
10. Jamiroquai - Canned Heat
I was always sat on the fence with Jamiroquai in the 90s. I didn't know whether I should like them or not, but when this came out I couldn't help but like it. This is probably my favourite Jamiroquai single and since then I've bought every Jamiroquai album of the 90s.
Verdict - Good
9. Chicane ft Maire Brennan - Saltwater
This was about halfway through the Trance CD on "Kiss in Ibiza 99". It also brings back memories of watching a "Club@Vision" Ibiza special where Chicane was doing a live p.a. at Privilege and me wishing I was there. Probably my favourite Chicane single.
Verdict - Good
8. Sixpence None The Richer - Kiss Me
The other week I was in the pub and this song came on. Someone asked me what year it was from and I said 1999, but they weren't convinced. Well here's confirmation, although it does appear on their self titled 1997 album. It's alright, nothing special.
Verdict - OK
7. Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way
The only UK number one for American boy band Backstreet Boys, written by a couple of blokes from Sweden, one of whom was the writer of "Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears. I guess it's not too bad.
Verdict - OK
6. Another Level - From The Heart (New)
A House version of this record appears on "Kiss in Ibiza 99". Normally this Dance versions of Pop songs are rubbish, but this was good. I think this helped me to like the original too.
Verdict - Good
5. Wiseguys - Ooh La La
This first came out in 1998 and sounds like it very much belongs in 1998, the year of Big Beat. However it failed to reach the Top 40, but charted in 1999 after featuring on the Budweiser advert. I hated it at the time but I'm more tolerant towards it these days.
Verdict - OK
4. Shania Twain - That Don't Impress Me Much
The song title pretty much sums up how I feel about this song. This was the fourth Top 40 hit from her Country/Pop crossover album "Come On Over". The first three singles didn't really sound Country at all to me, but this sums up everything bad about Country Pop.
Verdict - Rubbish
3. The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl (New)
What came first, the phrase "Superstar DJs" or this tune? Well the Fatboy Slim vs Armand Van Helden event had already happened so maybe that phrase was already in use. However, the line is sampled from "The Roof Is On Fire" which came out in 1984. The Chemical Brothers are a mixed bag really, they have some great tunes but some tunes that are completely crap too. This is one of their great tunes.
Verdict - Good
2. Shanks And Bigfoot - Sweet Like Chocolate
During the mid to late 90s it was all about House and Garage, but then in 1999 it was all about House and Trance. The "Kiss in Ibiza 99" compilation had a House CD and a Trance CD, the House CD contained the Garage tune "Straight From the Heart" by Doolally. That's despite the fact Doolally, who were now known as Shanks & Bigfoot, had a number one Garage record with "Sweet Like Chocolate". I like UK Garage and a like a lot of the commercial stuff, but this ones a bit too cheesy for my liking, but I guess it's not bad.
Verdict - OK
1. Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) (New)
What the fuck is this? Maybe it has meaningful lyrics but as a tune it's just ridiculous.
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 10/20, or 50%. An improvement on last week.
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