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. R Kelly - Did You Ever Think (New)
This was the 6th single from his "R" album, more than 2 years since "I Believe I Can Fly", the first single from the album charted. The album itself only came out in November 1998 though and this is the 2nd single since then to be released with "I'm Your Angel" charting a week after the album. I don't remember this being a single if I'm honest, but I own the album so know it very well.
Verdict - Good
19. Elvis Costello - She (New)
The final Top 40 hit for Elvis Costello and his 2nd of the 90s. This cover of the Charles Aznavour song was in the film "Notting Hill". I don't mind the original, but this cover just seems pointless and just makes me think of crappy Hugh Grant films, which is never a good thing.
Verdict - Rubbish
18. 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
17. 3 Jays - Feeling It Too (New)
The only hit for 3 Jays who don't even have a Wikipedia page. They do have a discogs page though and understandably they are called 3 Jays because all 3 members have names beginning with J. The tune was very much of it's time, a summer tune for the dance floors of Ibiza.
Verdict - Good
16. 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
15. Pet Shop Boys - I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore (New)
Not long before this came out someone asked the Pet Shop Boys were still going and was surprised that they were. It had been 2 years since their last hit and with the help of David Morales they were making music which fitted in with the modern day Dance Music and they played at Creamfields that year. I could openly admit to liking the Pet Shop Boys by this point.
Verdict - Good
14. Jennifer Lopez - If You Had My Love
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
13. 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
12. Destiny's Child - Bills, Bills, Bills
This was written by Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs and Kandi Burruss of Xscape who had both been writers on "No Scrubs" by TLC. I guess you can see the similarity lyrically, but that's where it ends. Whilst "No Scrubs" is excellent, this is shit. The members of Destiny's Child also have songwriting credits, maybe they were genuinely involved in writing this which explains the lack of quality. A better explanation though is no matter how good a song is, if you get Beyoncé and her irritating voice to sing it then it's going to sound shit.
Verdict - Rubbish
11. Britney Spears - Sometimes
A teenage love ballad sung from a teenage girls perspective, written by a 36 year old bloke from Sweden.
Verdict - OK
10. Madness - Lovestruck (New)
I always had this down as being a Suggs record rather than Madness, presumably because Madness hadn't had a hit since the 80s but Suggs had a few solo hits in the mid to late 90s. I quite like this, I find the concept of falling for a lamppost quite amusing.
Verdict - Good
9. Yomanda - Synth And Strings
Yomanda is one of the many aliases of DJ Paul Masterson. I taped this off the mix selector on Dave Pearce's Radio 1 show at the time so the first few times I listened to this it had "you choose them, we mix them, the mix selector on Radio 1" over the top at the start.
Verdict - Good
8. Will Smith ft Dru Hill - Wild Wild West
I like Dru Hill, I've seen them in concert. I therefore find it a bit of a shame that their biggest UK hit was a collaboration with Will Smith. This was taken from a film of the same name that Will Smith was in. I once read an article about rappers who went on to act in films. On Will Smith, they said "he became so successful at acting in films that he stopped rapping, at least that's what we wish he did". That pretty much sums this up.
Verdict - Rubbish
7. 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
6. Whitney Houston - My Love Is Your Love
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
5. ATB - 9PM (Till I Come)
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
4. DJ Jurgen Presents Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone (New)
I can still picture where I was when I first heard this, I was sat in a car waiting for somebody whilst listening to the Pete Tong show. What a tune, I thought. A common misconception is that Alice Deejay is the female singer, but it's actually a group of Dutch producers with the singer and 2 dancers fronting it.
Verdict - Good
3. Steps - Love's Got A Hold On My Heart
Oh no, it's Steps. This was allegedly a song Pete Waterman wrote in 1991 but he had better songs to give to his artists at the time. By 1999 I guess he figured he could give any old crap to Steps and it would still sell a lot of records, so he did.
Verdict - Rubbish
2. Five - If Ya Gettin' Down (New)
I remember this as being the song where Five are trying to sound like the Backstreet Boys. I was therefore surprised to learn it wasn't written by anyone in the Swedish songwriting team responsible for many of the Backstreet Boys hits and some of Fives early hits too. That said now I'm listening to it for probably the first time in 20 years I'm finding it doesn't sound as much like the Backstreet Boys as I remember. It is rather irritating though.
Verdict - Rubbish
1. Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca
This wasn't the debut hit for Ricky Martin, but I'd say it's the song that made a name for himself. His previous 2 singles were basically that crappy Spanish song you hear on holiday in Spain that makes it's way into the UK Top 40. This ones no different in that respect, except you know it's Ricky Martin from America.
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 equal number of good and rubbish with a couple of OK.
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