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:
I once purchased a love songs compilation on CD and recorded it onto tape to listen to in my car. I therefore decided to only include songs I actually liked from that compilation. This was the first song from the compilation I put onto tape. It is without doubt my favourite single by The Corrs. At the time it was released I was opening myself up to music that wasn't rave.
Verdict - Good
29. 187 Lockdown - The Don (New)
I would say this was the Top 40 hit that brought the speed garage era to a close. We had UK garage around the corner which evolved from it. It was the 3rd and final Top 40 hit for 187 Lockdown who were one of the first names you think of when it comes to speed garage hits. Once again I don't think there was a single speed garage hit that I didn't like.
Verdict - Good
No this is not the theme music to Ally McBeal, that one is still to come. This was the 4th Top 40 hit for Conner Reeves who more and more I'm starting to think of as being the Ed Sheeran of the 90s but not as successful. We had better taste back then.
Verdict - Rubbish
Every now and then comes a record which on paper should be a record I like and everyone else I consider to have good taste in music seems to like, but for whatever reason I can't take to it myself. This is one of those records for me. It's always bugged me.
Verdict - Rubbish
When the Manic Street Preachers made their post-Richey Edwards comeback I wasn't a fan of the music they did. However, when they returned nearly 2 years later with this record I thought wow what a tune. It also became their first chart topper. They'd gone even softer with their music, but with it they found a formula that works and this record is quite profound.
Verdict - Good
When I got into rap music one of the first questions I had about each rap act I came across was are they east coast or west coast. In the case of Sweetbox though it was neither, it was Germany. This is one of my all time favourite rap records, it would send me into my own little world when it came on. I also own the single.
Verdict - Good
I already owned the All Saints album by the time this was released so was very familiar with this record. It was possibly my favourite track on the album, so given it was pop music it made a lot of sense for this to be released as a single.
Verdict - Rubbish
23. Terrorvision - Josephine (New)
When a record comes out that has somebodies name as a title and you know someone with the same name I find it automatically creates that association. That's why I feel this record should have been released earlier than it did because there was a Josephine at my school but I'd left school by this point. That said I don't recall meeting another Josephine since and this does sound like the sort of music Josephine would like. Not the sort of music I'd like though.
Verdict - Rubbish
Memories of the students union are coming back with this record. It was played pretty much every time I went there with the whole room drunkenly dance along to it. The intro to it is the same as "I Love Rock N Roll" meaning some people are expecting that when it starts to play and it's always amusing to see their reaction. Given how good it sounded after a few beers I'm going to give it half a mark.
Verdict - OK
21. Fastball - The Way (New)
I would put this record in the category of bigger in America than in the UK. It reminds me a bit of "Delilah" by Tom Jones in terms of how the tune goes. It was the only Top 40 hit for Fastball. Another category I would put this record in is one that doesn't really go anywhere.
Verdict - Rubbish
Republica had 2 big hits that both were dance and rock crossover records which worked a treat. This was their lesser known 3rd and final Top 40 hit. It sounds like they've run out of steam with this one, it's the lead single off the difficult second album that can't live up to the first.
Verdict - Rubbish
In this era of me opening myself up to music that wasn't rave, Alisha's Attic were back with the lead single from their 2nd album. It reminded me that Alisha's Attic were something I liked and this single carried on the good form and led to me buying their 2nd album before I bought their debut album. It's also by far the best song on their 2nd album.
Verdict - Good
18. Sarah McLachlan - Adia (New)
This was the Top 40 debut for Sarah McLachlan and yes this was the same Sarah McLachlan who provided vocals on trance anthem "Silence" by Delerium. This ones not a dance record at all though, it's one of those boring acoustic guitar and vocals type records.
Verdict - Rubbish
This is one of those records that's hugely popular amongst dance music fans but largely ignored outside of that. I don't think I've ever met a dance music fan who doesn't like this record and I certainly count myself amongst those who like it. A highlight of the "Kiss Anthems 98" compilation.
Verdict - Good
This was a cover of a country record from the 70s by Johnny Rodriguez. It was the 3rd Top 40 hit for Lutricia McNeal making it 3 out of 3 to make the Top 10, though none of her other hits made it. One of those records that's made to say rather than be any good musically.
Verdict - Rubbish
15. Ash - Jesus Says (New)
When Ash made their big comeback in 2001 when they predicted it would be the year of rock, I recall thinking I'd not heard anything from them since the mid-90s. It turns out they had a couple of Top 40 hits in 1998 that completely passed me by. Listening to this now though I can understand why. It was also the first single to feature Charlotte Hatherley as a band member.
Verdict - Rubbish
When I first heard this I thought that Sweetbox were back with a follow up single. It wasn't though, it was Dee-Tah who was a Chilean rapper based in Sweden. The fact I thought it was Sweetbox along with how much I liked the Sweetbox record tells you how much I thought of this record. It's one that takes me to my own little world again.
Verdict - Good
Few would argue that this was the biggest dance record of 1998. It was everywhere at the time. It was a one off side project by Daft Punks Thomas Bangalter along with Alan Braxe. I wasn't impressed when I first heard it, I thought it was too repetitive. It did manage to grow on me eventually though after hearing it for maybe the 100th time.
Verdict - Good
One day in 1998 I got a lift from someone with a modified Ford Fiesta with a fancy stereo system. He turned it on and a tune with an electronic sounding intro came on. I was expecting it to turn into a dance record that you were likely to hear blasting out of these cars at the time, but no it was "To The Moon And Back" by Savage Garden. When "I Want You" by Savage Garden came on next it confirmed he was playing their album and not the radio. I found it hilarious, but at the same time I realised I actually quite like this record too.
Verdict - Good
This was the only Top 40 hit for Jennifer Paige and it was huge at the time. The chorus is pretty catchy but the verses sound like they were written just to fill the time between choruses. Overall though I find it pretty cringeworthy.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Steps. Whilst on their 2nd hit you wouldn't know any of the males were on it, on this song you wouldn't know anyone but Claire Richards was on it. Once again they've very much gone for the Abba sound and once again it's absolutely dreadful.
Verdict - Rubbish
What this record now reminds me of was the time a friend of mine tortured me with it on the way home from a Nelly Furtado concert. He agreed to go to the concert without being familiar with Nelly Furtado and decided he didn't like it so I figure playing this repeatedly on the way home was his act of revenge. I do question why he had it on tape though, but then again his taste in music was very questionable.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the Top 40 debut for The Honeyz and British R&B music at its finest. The bit of the chorus where Celena sings "It's always been you" is second to none. I was a big Honeyz fan for a period of time and considered myself pretty clued up on them, but I've only just discovered now that this was written by Henry Binns of Zero 7.
Verdict - Good
Imagine that you are a songwriter in a band with varying degrees of success over the years but still await you first US Number 1 or your first UK Top 10. Then 28 years later you finally achieve both with a song written by somebody else, not just anybody else, but Diane Warren who's written shit loads of hits for other people. That's exactly what happened to Steve Tyler. Aerosmith were described as a blues-based hard rock band when they formed in 1970 but by the 90s their style was more Rock Music for people who aren't into Rock Music. The guitars are so discrete in this song you would question whether this is even Rock Music at all even if Wikipedia describes it as being "Hard Rock". I'm not one to shy away from ballads by Rock bands but this seems a step too far. Despite this though, I can't help but like it.
Verdict - Good
In the summer of 1998 Robbie Williams appeared as a pundit for the World Cup where Martin O'Neill told him the he thought he'd struggle with a solo career because he couldn't write songs or play an instrument. His solo career had taken another step up with this record giving him his first number one. It samples "You Only Live Twice" by Nancy Sinatra and is simple but effective.
Verdict - Good
T-Spoon had previous had a Top 40 hit with "Coco Jamboo"....oh wait that wasn't T-Spoon. It was by German group Mr. President and T-Spoon were basically a Dutch version i.e. one male and two females with a very cheesy record. The lyrical content upset a few people which helped it to sell records.
Verdict - Rubbish
Geri Halliwell had left the Spice Girls, but it was Mel B who was the first to start their solo career. this record was made for the biopic of Frankie Lymon and I could only imagine Frankie Lymon turning in his grave at this. Nothing good about this record at all.
Verdict - Rubbish
We'd had the solo Top 40 debuts as lead artists of fellow Fugees members Wyclef Jean and Pras. Now it was time the the debut of Lauryn Hill whose solo career was just as brief as the Fugees. Once again though it's something different and I remember I'd reached the point of openly admit to liking music that wasn't rave because I openly admitted to liking this.
Verdict - Good
When the Beautiful South revival happened in 1996 they had 2 hits where Jacqui Abbot did the entire lead vocals and 1 where Paul Heaton did. Around 18 months after that last hit they were back with a record where both singers shared lead vocals. On a personal note I remember walking one wet Sunday afternoon with this record going round my head. It was in a good way though.
Verdict - Good
1. B*Witched - Rollercoaster (New)
The 2nd Top 40 hit and 2nd chart topper for B*Witched. On thing they had over their girl group rivals the Spice Girls was they went straight into number one with their first 2 hits whereas the Spice Girls climbed to number one with their first. To rub it in further, they knocked Spice Girl Mel B off the top. Musically though they were still just as bad as each other.
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 14.5/30, or 48%. Just slipped below 50%.
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