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. Sting - Brand New Day
The lead single from his album with the same title which is influenced by World Music. To me though it just sounds like he's releasing any old crap because he can, because he's Sting.
Verdict - Rubbish
19. Fragma - Toca Me
For the benefit of those who don't know, this was the tune which was mashed up with "I Need A Miracle" by Coco Star for the number one record "Toca's Miracle" the following year. There is no doubt that this is miles better than that tune, I remember thinking at the time they basically ruined this tune by adding vocals to it. However in reality I always thought this one was pretty average.
Verdict - OK
18. Brother Brown ft Frank'ee - Under The Water (New)
Here we have a music act from Denmark who aren't doing cheesy Europop music. Instead we have a proper Dance record. It was the only Top 40 hit for Brother Brown, but they also had a lot of success as remixers.
Verdict - Good
17. DJ Jurgen Presents Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone
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
16. David Bowie - Thursday's Child (New)
It had been 30 years since David Bowie had made his Top 40 debut. Arguably he had kept his chart career going that long by continuing to the sort of music the kids were listening to such as the Drum & Bass he was doing a couple of years earlier. This record though is just a nothing record, it almost sounds like he's decided to starting winding down his music career which he pretty much did.
Verdict - Rubbish
15. Thunderbugs - Friends Forever
Thunderbugs were going to be the next big girl group, I remember the hype about them at the time. This was their debut hit and then they promptly disappeared, can't say I miss them.
Verdict - Rubbish
14. Kelle Bryan - Higher Than Heaven (New)
When Louise left Eternal it was big news, when Kelle left nobody noticed until she released this, her only solo Top 40 single. Actually thinking about it, I'm not sure that many people even noticed this single, it's pretty poor.
Verdict - Rubbish
13. Enrique Iglesias - Bailamos
Here we have the beginning of the UK Chart career of Enrique Iglesias. It's another of those ones that sounds like the crappy Spanish song you hear on holiday in Spain that makes it's way into the UK charts. That's understandable given Enrique Iglesias is Spanish, but then this was written by the same British song writing team responsible for the songs Cher was putting out at the time (Believe etc). Who would have thought just over a decade later he would be singing his own composition "Tonight (I'm Fuckin You)".
Verdict - Rubbish
12. Shaft - (Mucho Mambo) Sway
The opening track on "Kiss Ibiza 99", it's a house version of "Sway". I was a little sceptical of this when I first heard it but it started to grow on me after a few listens of "Kiss Ibiza 99". It actually reminds me of beginning my drive home from college, I guess that shows how much I was listening to that compilation at the time.
Verdict - Good
11. Tom Jones And The Cardigans - Burning Down The House
Tom Jones was one of those singers who I'd assumed kept on having the hits since he started out in the 60s, probably helped by the fact his 80s comeback coincided with my early music memories. However despite him seemingly always being around, in the decade prior to this release he only actually had 2 Top 40 singles which came in 93 and 94. This was the first of his hits around the turn of the century to feature a more modern artist in an attempt to stay relevant. It's a cover of the Talking Heads song and I'm not overly keen on the original and this cover is no better.
Verdict - Rubbish
10. Lolly - Mickey
I first came across the song itself when Wayne and Cassandra were singing it on "Wayne's World". This would have presumably been the Toni Basil version rather than this cover. This was the 2nd hit from Lolly and I remember hearing this down the pub multiple times one night and getting really irritated with it.
Verdict - Rubbish
9. Paul Johnson - Get Get Down
This one was being played regularly on the Pete Tong show at the time as I recall and charted quite some time after I first heard it. I was kind of disappointed when it did chart as I thought it could be one I'd keep to myself. Well myself and anyone else who listened to the Pete Tong show.
Verdict - Good
8. DJ Jean - The Launch
I like the riff in this one, which is just as well given it's repeated over and over again. However what makes this tune is the beats, in particular the bit just before the drop. There's no big breakdown in this, just several mini ones and I think there needs to be so you can hear more of that beat before the drop.
Verdict - Good
7. Vengaboys - We're Going To Ibiza!
Thanks to this record, on more than one occasion after telling someone we're going to Ibiza I've had the response "Woah!". I guess at the time there was a lot of hype about Ibiza, Spanish influenced music and the Vengaboys which was the perfect recipe to get this to number one. That doesn't take away the fact it was bloody awful though.
Verdict - Rubbish
6. Bob Marley Vs Funkstar De Luxe - Sun Is Shining
If you want to make a Dance record which is a rip off of an older song this is the way to do it. What probably helps here is that it was quite an obscure Bob Marley record before this makeover so you would probably have to be a Bob Marley fan to have known it in the first place. Great tune.
Verdict - Good
5. Britney Spears - (You Drive Me) Crazy (New)
After debuting with a song written by a Swedish bloke and following up with a song written by another Swedish bloke, the 3rd single for Britney Spears was written by those 2 Swedish blokes along with another 2 Swedish blokes. The result is something that sounds very American, and crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
4. Lou Bega - Mambo No 5 (A Little Bit Of...)
Lou Bega is one half of Masters at Work alongside Kenny Dope...oh hang on, this is Lou Bega not Louie Vega. That's right, when I first heard this I thought how could Louie Vega release such crap until I realised it was Bega not Vega. This was so popular that it managed to peak at 31 the week before on import sales alone so it was inevitably getting to number one when it officially got released. It's bloody awful though.
Verdict - Rubbish
3. Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman! (New)
Oh dear, this is just dreadful. I guess she was successful with the equally dreadful "That Don't Impress Me Much" so thought more of the same.
Verdict - Rubbish
2. S Club 7 - S Club Party (New)
The Swedes were having a successful year as songwriters in the charts in 1999, but now was the turn of the Norwegians. Specifically we are talking about Stargate who are still having hits as songwriters today. This was their first major hit and it was the 2nd single for S Club 7. As it's basically introducing the band I would have thought it would be more appropriate for them to have it as their first single, or even better for them to not have it as a single at all.
Verdict - Rubbish
1. 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
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 6.5/20, or 32.5%. A poor week, particularly for new entries.
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