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. Charlotte Nilsson - Take Me To Your Heaven (New)
With several pop songs written by Swedish people in the charts around this period, it's perhaps appropriate that the Eurovision Song Contest was also won by Sweden. This is the winning song by Charlotte Nilsson, the aunty of Swedish House Mafia member Sebastian Ingrosso. Like with most Eurovision songs it's very cheesy and not very good.
Verdict - Rubbish
19. 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
18. 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
17. The Cartoons - Doodah!
Here's the Cartoons with their cheesy Eurodance cover of the American folk song "Campdown Races". Again like with their previous record it's obvious they're a piss take but I can't rate this as anything other than rubbish.
Verdict - Rubbish
16. The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl
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
15. Three Amigos - Louie, Louie (New)
A Big Beat version of a 50s record by Richard Berry. Tonight is the first time I've heard the original version, though I've heard the Kingsmen's cover from the 60s. I'm not sure I'd heard that in 1999 so think this was the first version I heard, I like it.
Verdict - Good
14. 'N Sync - Tearin' Up My Heart
This was originally released in 1997 but only made number 40. The follow up "I Want You Back" didn't even make the Top 40. Then "I Want You Back" was re-issued in 1999 and made the Top 10, and then this was re-issued and also made the Top 10. On hearing both of these songs, I thought they were both by the Backstreet Boys. One day one of these songs came on and someone told me they're trying to sound like the Backstreet Boys, I asked who they were and that's how I first heard of N Sync. Perhaps the reason I thought it was the Backstreet Boys was because both songs were written by Max Martin, who also wrote "I Want I That Way" amongst other Backstreet Boys songs. It basically follows that American boy band formula, made in Sweden.
Verdict - OK
13. Suede - She's In Fashion (New)
She's in fashion, but Suede aren't anymore. This ended a run of 6 Top 10 hits in a row and they'd never hit the Top 10 again. Like it's predecessor "Electricity", it's more of an electronic record but it's still not to my liking.
Verdict - Rubbish
12. Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
What the fuck is this? Maybe it has meaningful lyrics but as a tune it's just ridiculous.
Verdict - Rubbish
11. 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
10. Adam Rickitt - I Breathe Again
When a soap actor starts a music career you can pretty much guarantee the music will be dreadful. When Coronation Street actor Adam Rickitt released this his debut single it was as expected.
Verdict - Rubbish
9. 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
8. Madonna - Beautiful Stranger
As mentioned previously, I went through a period of my life where I wouldn't listen to anything that wasn't Rave but by this period I'd opened myself up to all sorts of different styles of music. Despite this there were still certain artists I'd be reluctant to like songs of, and Madonna was one of those. But even at the time I had to admit this tune is brilliant. I guess the involvement of William Orbit helped a bit. The intro sounds vaguely similar to "Light My Fire" by the Doors, a band I really got into later on that year. Maybe this tune helped with that.
Verdict - Good
7. Britney Spears - Sometimes
A teenage love ballad sung from a teenage girls perspective, written by a 36 year old bloke from Sweden.
Verdict - OK
6. A1 - Be The First To Believe (New)
Here we have the debut hit from boy band A1. There seemed to be a lot of boy bands establishing themselves at the time it was difficult to remember who was who. This was memorable though as the chorus seemed to rip off "Cuddly Toy" by Roachford.
Verdict - Rubbish
5. S Club 7 - Bring It All Back
The debut hit for S Club 7 and the number one question I had was does there really need to be 7 people singing it? I thought that 4 or 5 "singers" in a pop group was a bit excessive, but 7? Predictably for a manufactured pop group who had their own kids TV show it was shit.
Verdict - Rubbish
4. Jennifer Lopez - If You Had My Love (New)
The debut hit for Jennifer Lopez. There was a lot of talk at the time about whether she should be doing music having made her name as an actress. Given the general quality of music coming from those in the acting profession that's understandable, but this actually isn't bad. When a radio show was asking for listeners opinions on Jennifer Lopez doing music, one quoted the Whitney Houston song "It's Not Right But It's Okay". Ironically both the Whitney Houston song and this song were written by Rodney Jerkins and LaShawn Daniels.
Verdict - OK
3. Vengaboys - Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!
The night before this charted at number one, I was in a bar where I heard this for the first time and someone informed me it was the new Vengaboys song. Given the history of cheesy euro acts releasing the record every knows them for, followed by a record that sounds the same, followed by fading into obscurity, I assumed the Vengaboys would do the same. Instead they had their first number one, I felt the same as I did when I realised the Spice Girls weren't going to be a one hit wonder.
Verdict - Rubbish
2. Whitney Houston - My Love Is Your Love (New)
This Wyclef Jean penned song is actually quite clever. It's impossible to listen to this without thinking about "No Woman No Cry" by Bob Marley. Yet when you try and sing "No Woman No Cry" along with this in your head you find these sudden changes that stop it from being a blatant rip off, even though it kind of is. It's hard to look past the fact it's not as good as the song that inspires it, but then if that song didn't exist I wouldn't hesitate to call it good.
Verdict - Good
1. ATB - 9PM (Till I Come) (New)
This was so overplayed at the time I couldn't stand it. Everywhere you'd go someone would be singing that riff. However once it stopped being played all the time and I'd listen to it on occasion as the opening track on the Trance CD on "Kiss in Ibiza 99" I realised that I actually 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 8/20, or 40%. Not the worst week so far, but not much better.
No comments:
Post a Comment