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 2nd Top 40 hit for Sweden based American singer Lutricia McNeal which was also her highest charting Top 40 hit. It was also the first Top 40 hit as songwriter for Rami Yacoub, one of Max Martins sidekicks. I did find it a little irritating at the time but I'm not minding it now.
Verdict - OK
This was the final Top 40 hit to date for Ultimate Kaos. It's a cover of the Levert record. From what I remember around this time, Ultimate Kaos appeared on The O-Zone where Haydon Eshun revealed his voice was breaking which meant singing the songs was now difficult. I have to say this is a guilty pleasure of mine. In the early days of YouTube the only video of this song was a homemade one of 2 girls singing and dancing to it which I found hilarious.
Verdict - Good
No prizes for guessing which Top 40 hit number this one was for Mansun. The song in question is "Legacy" and once again my training to shut any Mansun music out of my life was working as I have no recollection of this record. I really wasn't missing out.
Verdict - Rubbish
When I first heard this record, I liked it. Then I started to hate it from hearing it all the time but started to like it again when the hype around Fatboy Slim started to die down. It was his 2nd Top 40 hit but the first that really made people notice,
Verdict - Good
I've now lost count of how many records charted due to the World Cup but here's another one. This was the theme music used for the World Cup by the BBC. The actual record has nothing to do with football though and it isn't bad.
Verdict - OK
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Ultra, the boy band who played instruments. I'd also say it's the record they're best remembered for, if anyone remembers them that is. Sounds like it could just as easily have been a 911 song.
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
More football music for the World Cup. No lyrics this time, instead it was taking a sample of music used in football and making a dance version of it. As you've probably gathered by now I'm not a fan of football music, but I actually don't mind this.
Verdict - OK
There was a pub near where I grew up that had live music at the weekend. When I say live music I mean a singer, ocassionally one with a guitar and a karaoke machine. They'd sing the classics, but this song immediately slotted into the sets and I recall one particular night I swear the singer did this song around 5 or 6 times. Needless to say I got sick of it very quickly.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the alternative of alternative England songs for the World Cup. It's a very non musical song that was nothing more than something for the fans to sing from the terraces. That's the very reason this record appealed to a number of people, but it didn't appeal to me.
Verdict - Rubbish
The film "Lost In Space" was out around the same sort of time as this record but as far as I can tell this record has nothing to do with the film. Although not their final Top 10 hit I would say this marked the end of the commercial peak of the Lighthouse Family. Like some other hits of theirs it's quite soothing.
Verdict - Good
We'd already seen the beginning and end of Hollyoaks actor Will Mellor's Top 40 career in 1998. Now it was the turn of Coronation Street actor Matthew Marsden. It's a ballad and it is predictably crap, but he'd be back.
Verdict - Rubbish
After topping the charts with "3 Lions" during Euro 96, Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds were back for the World Cup in 1998 with a remixed version which was basically the same as the original but with different lyrics. I never liked the original.
Verdict - Rubbish
We've had the BBC theme tune to the World Cup in the Top 40, now it was time for the ITV theme tune. It won the chart battle of the two and I'm inclined to think that this was the better of the two records. It's an interesting collaboration. It was the penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Jean Michel Jarre and was his first without "Oxygene" in the title. Apollo 440 had a few more hits to go.
Verdict - Good
The highest charting Top 40 hit for Des'ree which was her penultimate Top 40 hit to date. It had also been 4 years since she'd last been in the Top 40. This record has been widely ridiculed for it's stupid lyrics and I'm inclined to agree.
Verdict - Rubbish
2Pac and The Notorious BIG were bitter rivals who were both shot dead within months of each other. They were however once friends and collaborated on a record called "Runnin from tha Police" before they fell out. A remixed version shortened to "Runnin" was released posthumously for both rappers. It's a good record.
Verdict - Good
It had been nearly 4 years since the Beastie Boys had last been in the Top 40. The last time they'd been in the Top 40 they had hits to show they were to be taken seriously as a rap act. This is more of the same in that respect and this became their highest charting single to date.
Verdict - Good
I remember watching the video to this and thinking what the fuck? It's a boy band trying to be gangsta rappers and is absolutely ridiculous. I stand by that, but at the same time I couldn't help but like it. I would say this is one of my guilty pleasures.
Verdict - Good
This was originally the Top 40 debut for Don Henley back in 1985. I have no idea why it was rereleased in 1998, but when that happened it reached the same peak of number 12 that it did originally. One of those big 80s hits that's hard not to like.
Verdict - Good
This brings back memories of the god awful TV show "Man O Man" that was hosted by Chris Tarrant. This was the theme music to that as I recall. The TV show and record suited each other though given how dreadful they both were.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was a cover of an Everything but the Girl record and knowing that fact I can tell that it is. I always thought of this record as being Billie Ray Martin mark 2. You may recall from my Billie Ray Martin reviews that I wasn't a fan and I'd say this was worse if anything.
Verdict - Rubbish
I can't claim to have been a big fan of Garbage back in the 90s, I could take or leave their music. They are one of those bands who have got better with age though, or it just took me a while to realise how good their music was. Either way this is a good record.
Verdict - Good
One of the big songwriting teams in the R&B world is Rodney Jerkins, Fred Jerkins and LaShawn Daniels. This was their first Top 40 hit as songwriters. Both Brandy and Monica had only been in the lower reaches of the Top 40 prior to this. I remember hearing how great Brandy's "Never Say Never" album was supposed to be and given I liked this song I decided to buy it. This song aside it really wasn't that great and I ended up selling it.
Verdict - Good
This was the first R Kelly single not to appear on an R Kelly album and as a result the first R Kelly single that I don't own a recording of. I do remember acknowledging that fact in the pre-YouTube days because I would have quite liked to have it. I could have bought the Sparkle album though which was entirely written and produced by R Kelly but I didn't think of that.
Verdict - Good
When I was reviewing the Finley Quaye hits coming into the Top 40 I thought Eagle-Eye Cherry would be just around the corner. Here he is with his Top 40 debut and best known hit. He's the brother of Neneh Cherry and his real name is Eagle-Eye believe it or not. The only positive thing I can say about this record is that's he's better than his sister, but that's not saying much.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the 30th Top 40 hit for The Bee Gees which was their penultimate Top 40 hit to date and final one of the 90s. It was also Top 40 hit number 15 for Celine Dion. It was originally written for the Saturday Night Fever musical. Seems a bit of an odd one for it to be honest, it sounds too Celine Dion for it really.
Verdict - Rubbish
On May 31st 1998 we had the news that Geri Halliwell had left the Spice Girls. The same day B*witched topped the charts with this their debut single. They really couldn't have timed it any better. I immediately thought come back the Spice Girls all is forgiven. Actually I didn't because the Spice Girls weren't finished yet, but this is every bit as bad as your average Spice Girls record.
Verdict - Rubbish
Billie Piper became the youngest person to debut at the top of the charts at just 15 when this record came out. It raises the question how does one manage to top the charts at such a young age. The answer is go to the Sylvia Young Theatre school like pretty much every other British pop singer seemed to do.
Verdict - Rubbish
The fist time I heard this record was on the radio one morning when I was half asleep and I remember later on that day thinking what was that good tune I heard on the radio earlier. I soon found out what it was. It was the solo Top 40 debut for Fugees member Pras so should really come as no surprise I'd like it given how good the Fugees were.
Verdict - Good
1. Another Level - Freak Me (New)
Confession time. When I first came across this record my initial thought was questioning whether it was a cover of "Freek 'N You" by Jodeci having not heard that record for years. I soon realised that it was a completely different record but took a few years for me to find out this was a cover of a Silk record that topped the charts in America in 1993. Obviously the original is better, but having been familiar with this cover for a long time before I heard the original I do like it.
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%. Close to 50% now.
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