Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Wednesday.
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 30 from this week in 1998 with my verdict on each record:
This was the first single for the Stereophonics but failed to make the Top 40 when first released. With the band now gaining in popularity it fared better when rereleased and was their highest charting single to this point. It was written about someone who was killed by a train which sums up how depressing their music is.
Verdict - Rubbish
This way the Top 40 debut for The Dandy Warhols which came 3 years before their big hit. It was from the film "There's Something About Mary" which I recall being a big film at the time, so the fact this wasn't a big hit tells you all you need to know.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the Top 40 debut and biggest hit for French electronic duo Air. I own the "Moon Safari" album on which this appears and it's one of my all time favourite albums. I was different to anything else I'd heard at the time and was possibly a door to more great electronic music from France. That does not include David Guetta by the way.
Verdict - Good
Clock weren't the only ones doing covers of KC and the Sunshine Band records. Andrew Livingstone aka Bamboo was also charting with this take on "Get Down Tonight" by KC and the Sunshine Band. This time though it was a decent record.
Verdict - Good
The 2nd Top 40 hit for the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys. I remember the adverts for his album, it would begin with his debut "Crush on You" and seamless went into this record to the point they could have easily been the same record.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember hearing this record the the first time on the Judge Jules show on Radio 1. He introduced this by saying DJ Quiksilver's first two hits were a bit stilton but this one is the cream. It certainly does sound more credible, but it would also be his lowest charting and final Top 40 hit to date under his DJ Quiksilver alias.
Verdict - Good
It's fair to say that with some of the low scores we get for weeks in the 90s I question were the charts much better back in the 90s. Then I hear something like this and decide yes they were. I'd never heard anything like this before and regardless of whether it's to your taste or not, it's the fact such an unusual record could have made the Top 40 at the time. I happen to like it.
Verdict - Good
Milk Inc were one of the big eurodance/trance acts in the early 00s but before they became a familiar name they were Milk Incorporated and had this Top 40 hit in 1998. There's something rather irritating about this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
Catatonia made their Top 40 debut in 1996, but it was this their 3rd Top 40 hit that made them a household name. The X Files references may have helped boost sales of this record, but that factor put me off if anything. It's a good record overall but I like the quick guitar intro going straight into the song.
Verdict - Good
Martha Wash was part of the Weathergirls who had the original of this back in 1984. Here she is teaming up with drag queen RuPaul for a remake. I can't say I was a fan of the original and this remake sounds very what the fuck.
Verdict - Rubbish
This originally made the Top 40 in 1997 but only made number 35. It returned to the charts in 1998 following Camisra "Let Me Show You" charting which sounds similar. They have enough differences to be good in their own way though.
Verdict - Good
With teenage female R&B singers like Aaliyah, Brandy and Monica all established, Jermaine Dupri decided to give the world a teenage male R&B singer in Usher. Jermanie Dupri was the man who brought the world Kris Kross when he was still a teenager himself. It worked, but that doesn't mean that I like it.
Verdict - Rubbish
When it comes to Lighthouse Family singles they don't get any better than this. I always found it a really soothing record. I once worked somewhere that had music playing that didn't have the original singers on the tracks. This was one of those tracks on there and the different singer made it not as good. Then I bought a compilation that had this on it and was such a relief to hear it with the proper singer again.
Verdict - Good
When this record came out I was shocked. It was a Janet Jackson song that I actually liked. Remember I was listening to nothing but rave at the time so I really didn't want to like this record even though it is a dance record. Then a friend of mine who was into rap and drum & bass bought this single which made me feel a bit better about liking it.
Verdict - Good
16. N-Tyce - Telefunkin' (New)
The 3rd Top 40 hit for N-Tyce who to be fair did well to make it this far. This sounds like they're trying to make a TLC record but really badly. A complete joke of a record, not sure whether it was supposed to be like that or not.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 2nd number 2 for the Backstreet Boys, but Max Martin is nowhere to be seen on this record. Instead it was written by Full Force. It was apparently an attempt to differentiate themselves from the pop and R&B genre. I'll let you decide when genre this fits.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Verve had a big hit in 1997 with "Bitter Sweet Symphony" which was a record I didn't like. However if you take the main hook and put it into a dance record it works a treat. This is exactly what this record does.
Verdict - Good
Yet another girl group jumping on the bandwagon following the success of the Spice Girls. They literarily were a girl group with their ages ranging from 13-17. They were also described as the female Hanson but I think I prefer Hanson if I'm honest, that's how bad this is.
Verdict - Rubbish
This record ended a run of Top 10 hits for Ocean Colour Scene and they haven't returned to the Top 10 since. Like it's predecessor it features vocals from PP Arnold. She must have had the most Top 40 hits as uncredited vocalist, she's had a few. It's a ballad and a bit boring if I'm honest.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the Top 40 debut for Tall Paul under his Camisra alias and the hit he is best known for. I'm pretty sure I heard this record long before 1998, this does certainly feel too late for it to be charting. Anyway it's one of the classics.
Verdict - Good
This was the Top 40 debut for Shania Twain which she wrote with her than husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the man who cowrote a number of Bryan Adams records. I hated this at the time, too much of a soppy ballad for my liking. However it appears on a compilation album I bought a couple of years later and I grew to like it.
Verdict - Good
This was the turn around point of Robbie Williams solo career which went from strength to strength after this. I was dismissive of him as a solo artist least of all because I didn't like Oasis who he was trying to imitate. This record though is completely different and I had to concede it's actually quite good.
Verdict - Good
Rumor has it that this record was ghost written by Nas. It's something he denies and I can understand why. At the same time though I don't blame him for writing it at all. If I was asked to write a crappy record for Will Smith in the knowledge I could make a shit load of money from it then I would.
Verdict - Rubbish
When the All Saints first came about I was amazed to find that I liked their debut Top 40 hit. I was even more amazed to find I also liked this, their follow up. It's one of those records I'd felt I'd heard before but hadn't. As a result of me liking these first 2 singles I went on to do something I'd not done in a long time, bought an album that wasn't rave which was their debut album.
Verdict - Good
Damage had a pretty successful 1996 and first half of 1997, but the wheels fell off in the second half of 1997 with a number 33 single. The start of 1998 was therefore a good time for Another Level to make their move with this their debut Top 40 hit. It's writers included Andrea Martin and Ivan Matias who wrote "Don't Let Go (Love)" by En Vogue so they really meant business. It's actually not bad.
Verdict - OK
We'd had Top 40 hits from people from Neighbours, Home & Away, Coronation Street, Eastenders and Emmerdale. Now it was time for Hollyoaks. Will Mellor wasn't actually the first Hollyoaks actor to have a Top 40 hit as Alvin Stardust was originally in it, but he was the first to have a hit after Hollyoaks. It's predictably crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
At the time I remember this being this opening song of Top of the Pops for a few weeks in a row. At least that's what it felt. There also seemed to be a lot of people on the stage so I assumed they were a band with many members, but it turned out there were only 2 of them in Savage Garden. Never before have I seen a song contradict a band name so much. I do like some of their music, but not the soppy ballads.
Verdict - Rubbish
Aqua topped the charts with their debut hit "Barbie Girl" and did the same again with this follow up record. Once again it's a novelty record and I'm pretty sure everyone with the surname Jones who held a PhD got some stick for this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 2nd and final chart topper to date for Celine Dion which was take from "The Titanic" movie. I remember how big that film was so it was almost inevitable that this would get to number one. It's also a depressing film given that people die at the end so I guess it's appropriate to have a depressing song for it. Musically though its just another Celine Dion record.
Verdict - Rubbish
When I first heard this I was amazed that a rock band could make such a record. Then I recall them playing the original version of TFI Friday which was miserable. It then became clear when I discovered than the version we all know and love was the Norman Cook remix.
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 14.5/30, or 48%. Even closer to 50%.
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