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:
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Aaron Carter and like many 3rd hits it's a ballad. It seems a bit of an odd song for a 9 year old to be singing. Don't get me wrong, it's still very much aimed at the kids market. The lyrical content though is about a break up and how you're going to miss the girl. When I was 9 a break up consisted of you're dumped and you'd see them at school the next day anyway.
Verdict - Rubbish
With 911 and Five now established as the big 2 British boy bands of the late 90s it's easy to forget that North And South were still going. Only just though, this was their final Top 40 hit to date which was the same title as their TV show.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was originally a Top 40 hit for the Wombles back in 1974. It was rereleased to promote their greatest hits album. No idea why people would have wanted to start listening to the Wombles again all of a sudden.
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
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
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
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Natalie Imbruglia and her 2nd number two. I get the impression she was trying to be portrayed as a more serious musician than the other soap singers. The reality was this was the same direction Kylie Minogue was taking at the time, the difference was Natalie Imbruglia had no back catalogue to get in the way like Kylie Minogue had. It also sounds a bit poundland Alanis Morrissette.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Wu Tang Clan were already well established and well respected in the rap world. It's therefore a bit of a shame that when they finally did make their UK Top 40 debut it was with this nonsense. I do remember thinking what the fuck at the time. I guess this was needed from Texas in order to carry the incredibly dull "Insane".
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
LL Cool J was still behind Salt-N-Pepa in terms of rap acts with most Top 40 hits. This was number 11 vs the 13 by Salt-N-Pepa. This record took LL Cool J above Salt-N-Pepa for Top 10 hits though with this being his 6th. It's better than any Salt-N-Pepa record I've heard but still not my cup of tea.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been 31 years since Prince Buster made his Top 40 debut with his only hit prior to this. He was one of the first ska artists from Jamaica to have a UK Top 40 hit. He returned to the charts with one of his old records thanks to its inclusion in the Levi's advert.
Verdict - Good
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Five and they reached the Top 5 for the first time. No Swedish songwriters this time, instead it's Eliot Kennedy along with Tim Lever and Mike Percy from Dead or Alive. I recall this being heavily promoted on The Big Breakfast at the time with the band appearing all week.
Verdict - Rubbish
19. Trickster - Move On Up (New)
This is what D Ramirez did next from a Top 40 perspective after the Lisa Marie Experience. It's a dance remake of the Curtis Mayfield song. Again I am liking a lot of these dance remakes of older records including this one.
Verdict - Good
I was a bit confused when I started playing this record. I remember this being a cheesy dance record but that wasn't what I was hearing. Turns out I needed the Almighty Single Edit. That meant double the torture for me, it's like Italy's answer to Aqua.
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
This is the record All Seeing I were best known for but it wasn't their highest charting. It's a cover of the Sonny & Cher record done big beat style. Very catchy and a record that I always liked at the time.
Verdict - Good
There was a period of time when I'd regularly get the bus to Chenies Street in London. When you'd hear the bus stop announced this song would often come into my head as replacing Angel Street with Chenies Street would work just as well. It was the final Top 10 hit for M People, I'm surprised it took the record buying public so long to get sick of M People.
Verdict - Rubbish
14. Ian Brown - Corpses (New)
The 2nd solo Top 40 hit for Ian Brown. He fails to reach the Top 10 this time, but I wonder how far he would have got had he not previously been in The Stone Roses. I'm just finding his solo music completely non-descript.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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
11. Louise - All That Matters (New)
The final Top 40 hit of the 90s for Louise. She also fails to reach the Top 10 with this record. She would however return in the 21st century with Top 40 hits that would chart surprisingly high.
Verdict - Rubbish
"Here's Where The Story Ends" is perhaps the best known record by The Sundays, but this cover by Tin Tin Out was the only version which made the Top 40. It was the 6th Top 40 hit for Tin Tin Out but just the 2nd to make the Top 30 and their first Top 10. They were making dance music prior to this, but this is a change in direction and the reason why I'd start getting Tin Tin Out and Sixpence None The Richer mixed up.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Destiny's Child which was an early sign of what crap was around the corner in the 21st century. To be fair to Destiny's Child they were only 16 at the time so can be excused. It doesn't excuse the shite Beyonce continues to release into her 40s.
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
This was the first Spice Girls hit not to top the charts. Geri Halliwell was so pissed off she decided to leave the group. OK not strictly true, but this was the last Spice Girls hit before she did leave. It's their attempt at making a Motown record, something Emma Bunton also did badly in her solo career.
Verdict - Rubbish
Robbie Williams solo career had been given a boost following the release of "Angels" and this was the follow up single. One thing I never really appreciated until I saw a live band play this record was just how good the bass line is to this. He was now finding his own identity as a pop singer.
Verdict - Good
I've read the description of this record as a departure from her signature brand of crossover dance pop and R&B to a pure R&B and soul vibe. What complete and utter bollocks. They're trying to give the impressions she's releasing something real rather than commercial, but she isn't really.
Verdict - Rubbish
4. 911 - All I Want Is You (New)
911 were well established by now to the point they could release any old crap that few people notice and it charts high. That roughly translates as we're now into the territory of 911 records that I don't remember. I preferred it that way.
Verdict - Rubbish
3. Sash! - La Primavera (New)
The 4th Top 40 hit for Sash! and the first not to reach number 2. It sounds like they're trying to do "Chariots of Fire" eurodance style. Very cheesy and predictable, but they were onto a winning formula so why not.
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
It had been 10 years since Run DMC had last been in the Top 40. This Jason Nevins remix of their 1983 record took them to the top of the charts and ended the Spice Girls run of number ones. It also made its way onto several dance compilations which validated me liking this record.
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 8/30, or 27%. We slip further.
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