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:
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
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
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
27. Adam F - Music In My Mind (New)
Adam F joins Goldie, Alex Reece and Roni Size in having more than one drum & bass Top 40 hit with this record. It would also be his final drum & bass hit, he'd moved onto hip hop the next time we'd see him in the Top 40. It's pretty easy on the ears.
Verdict - Good
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
1998 brought us Hinda Hicks who had 4 Top 40 hits that year and then disappeared off the face of the earth afterwards. She was a British R&B singer and this time I think it's the right formula. It's not trying to be American and has a feel good factor about it. I'm also thankful that Hinda Hicks hasn't ruined her legacy by doing the whole celebrity bullshit thing a lot of singers from yesteryear do.
Verdict - Good
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
23. Steven Houghton - Truly (New)
Londons Burning actor Steven Houghton was back with a 2nd hit which was also his final Top 40 hit to date. This time he's gone for a cover of the Lionel Richie record. To be fair he's picked such bad records to cover that it would be difficult to make them any worse.
Verdict - Rubbish
22. Iggy Pop - The Passenger (New)
Iggy Pop had 2 Top 40 hits in the 90s and 2 outside of the 90s. His 2 90s hits were both older records given a new lease of life. This was the 2nd of those which featured in the Toyota Avensis advert. From the days when adverts were still watchable.
Verdict - Good
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
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
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
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
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
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Finley Quaye. I struggled with his first 2 hits, they were too much of an acquired taste for me. This ones easier on the ears though and I like the way it speeds up as the record goes on. Simple but effective.
Verdict - Good
This was the sequel to their 1991 hit "The Unforgiven". It's therefore similar in nature to it's predecessor and runs the risk of sounding like an inferior version. I'm not going to pretend it's a better song, because it isn't. However even though I can't help but think of "The Unforgiven" when I listen, it's different enough to be it's own record.
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
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
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
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
10. Beenie Man - Who Am I (New)
The Top 40 debut for Beenie Man which came at a time when Jamaican reggae music in the Top 40 was a little thin on the ground. In fact this was the only Jamaican reggae Top 40 hit of 1998. It was a record I got into a few years later and I had no idea it had charted.
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
8. Robyn - Show Me Love (New)
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Robyn which like her debut was written by Max Martin. I can't help but think he purposely wrote a song called "Show Me Love" given that there's a different song with the same title from Robin S that was continuingly being remixed and rereleased. The idea therefore being people would be expecting the Robin S song. It's not a bad record though.
Verdict - OK
The Top 40 debut for Leann Rimes. I once took part in a quiz where a question was who charted in 1997 with "How Do I Live" to which I confidently answered Leann Rimes. The answer was Trisha Yearwood who reached number 66 with it. Leann Rimes was in 1998 and is the better known version. Although not the first person younger than me to chart, I do recall a younger Leann Rimes charting making me start to think have I missed the boat already in my music career.
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
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
One of the great things about Space was the humour in their records. All their hits to prior to this had their funny moments but this one is absolutely hilarious. In the song, Tommy Scott from Space and Cerys Matthews are a couple who want to kill each other, but then they hear Tom Jones sing and all is good. Fantastic tune.
Verdict - Good
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
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
1. Madonna - Frozen (New)
It had been a year since Madonna had been in the Top 40. The last time she'd been in the Top 40 was with those god awful Evita songs. In a way this record was quite refreshing in comparison. She was being more experimental again, but I have to say this records not for me.
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 17/30, or 57%. We're above 50% for the first time this year.
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