25 Years Since....January 1999

Wow 25 years since the last year of the 20th century, these were the tunes I was enjoying then:

Alisha's Attic - Wish I Were You

I've fallen in and out of love with this record over the years. I was only just really getting into Alisha's Attic seriously yet this was really the last half decent single they released. Unless you count comeback single "Push It All Aside" which is another record I've fallen in and out of love with.

More generally this was the beginning of the end for them. They'd not had a Top 10 but were not too far off with their singles prior to this. Then this came out in January, a quiet month for singles, was heavily promoted and only made number 29. They never recovered.

Blockster - You Should Be…

What put me off house music at the time wasn't so much the music, more the stuck up twats who were into it. The whole dance music ethos had originally been people from all walks of life coming together. Some of the house music fans I knew in 1999 were the most judgmental wankers you'd ever meet. Then there were the clubs where you had to wear smart shirts, trousers and shoes and still may not get in because you weren't the right fit.

Enter Brandon Block, a house DJ I always had time for because he was a complete nutter. He assured me that house music could have a sense of humour. It's no coincidence that he'd get booked for a house room at a rave.

Babe Instinct - Disco Babes From Outer Space

It was the night before New Years Eve 1997 when I was listening to the Judge Jules show on Radio 1. There was a tune he played which instantly appealed to me, but then I didn't hear it again.

That was until 1999 when I could identify the tune as being "Disco Babes From Outer Space" after it made the Top 40.

Terrorvision - Tequila

At the start of 1994 Terrorvision were just about the only British band I liked, most of the other British rock bands were too soft for my liking. At the start of 1995 I was moving onto dance music.

Then at the start of 1999 Terrorvision were also moving onto dance music with this record. 

TQ - Westside

In the 90s rap and R&B were getting more closely aligned. Many rap records would have an R&B singer singing the chorus and many R&B records had a rapper do a rap. 

With this record, it's basically a rap record that's sung rather than rapped.