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 only Top 40 hit for Germany based American R&B group 4 The Cause who were all teenagers at the time. Best known for their association with R Kelly these days but I'll say no more on that. It's a cover of the Ben E King record and is fuckin terrible.
Verdict - Rubbish
In 1998 I was a big fan of formula one to the extent that I'd get up at stupid hours to watch the grand prix live. The final grand prix of that season was the Japanese Grand Prix and at the end of the coverage they had a montage of the seasons highlights with this song playing over the top. It worked really well and probably helped me to like this record. Also as a result this record reminds me of Martin Brundle.
Verdict - Good
I do wonder how much awareness there was of how big a part Sweden played in the pop world in the late 90s. In the case of this record, how many people were aware that Meja is Swedish. I wasn't aware myself, I never gave it much thought really. It's an honest way of saying what the Swedish songwriting model is all about.
Verdict - Rubbish
27. Mansun - Ten (EP) (New)
Given the name of this record you won't be surprised to hear this was the 10th Top 40 hit for Mansun. What is perhaps more surprising is that they made it into double figures particularly as like I said before I only remember one record of theirs. The lead track on this is "Negative" and that's how I feel about this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was Top 40 hit number 22 for Phil Collins and was released to promote his greatest hits album I bought it a few years later but had no recollection of this Cyndi Lauper cover. After a couple of listens I started to skip this track when listening to the album. It just doesn't work in my opinion.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the Top 40 debut for Kelly Price but the main point of interest is the continuation of the Mr Biggs aka Ronald Isley and R Kelly saga that started on "Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)" and would continue afterwards. I'm a big fan of that.
Verdict - Good
Former Coronation Street actor Matthew Marsden returned for a 2nd Top 40 hit which was his final one to date. It featured Destiny's Child on backing vocals. He did go on to crack America after this, but fortunately it was as an actor rather than a musician.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
Dru Hill were back with a 2nd album and this was the lead single. It was also from the movie "Rush Hour" and gave them their first Top 10 hit, something they'd achieve with the remainder of their Top 40 hits to date. Nothing to do with the Bee Gees song of the same name, it's original and a good record in it's own right.
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
Five appeared to be winning the battle of the boy bands against 911 so 911 had to come up with a plan. They did something that worked well for their Irish counterparts Boyzone, the cover version. This was original a hit for the Tavares in the 70s. It worked as it gave them their first number 2. An inferior cover in every way.
Verdict - Rubbish
The final Top 40 hit to date for Des'ree which was the follow up to her highest charting single "Life". That record was ridiculed for it's silly lyrics, but this time she's singing about astrology. Not sure what is worse.
Verdict - Rubbish
Whilst "Praise You" is credited with making Fatboy Slim a household name, he was definitely someone people were talking about by the time this record came out. I was loving this record at the time and it's quite possibly my favourite of the Fatboy Slim hits. It also appears on "Kiss Anthems 98" prior to the Norman Cook remix of "Brimful Of Asha" so I find myself drawn to that once it ends.
Verdict - Good
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
Dance music is often used for workouts so it sort of made sense to make a dance record with an instructor talking on it. I remember the confusion of having both Spacedust and Stardust in the charts at the same time. To add further confusion, this was based on a Bob Sinclar record that was co-produced by Thomas Bangalter who was part of Stardust. It's cheesy as fuck but I like it.
Verdict - Good
Fatboy Slim strikes again as it was his remix of this record which got it into the Top 40. As a result it's something that you wouldn't really expect from the Beastie Boys but does sound typical of a Fatboy Slim remix. Takes a bit of getting used to, but once that break through is made it's good.
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
13. Sham Rock - Tell Me Ma (New)
Oh dear, after a promising start I'm greeted with this rubbish. A children's song given a cheesy Irish Folk meets Euro Dance make over. I found this really irritating at the time and remember hearing it down the pub a lot but now this weird combination of music styles is reminding me of Ed Sheeran.
Verdict - Rubbish
12. M People - Testify (New)
The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for M People. I sense a bit of influence of "It Ain't Over Til It's Over" by Lenny Kravitz in there. That's quite funny in a way because it was around this time that Lenny Kravitz was appearing in a Peugeot advert and M People had done the same a few years earlier. It's still a pretty weak record though.
Verdict - Rubbish
The first of two hits from Kele Le Roc, both of which reached number 8. Admittedly I don't think I've listened to this song since 1998 but I did like it at the time but did prefer her follow up "My Love" which I have listened to since. Seems strange that all she's seemed to do since then is be a featured artist on other peoples tracks given her chart performance was pretty good, but I guess back then your chart career would most likely be brief if you were an R&B act not from America.
Verdict - Good
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Billie Piper and her 2nd chart topper, though this would be her last. I do remember making a point at the time that her music was always going to have limitations given she was only 15 but then someone pointed out that she'd just turned 16. It's very much music for kids though.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had now been over two years since the excellent "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morissette which is by far her best hit. This didn't have the same impact though, it's not a bad record but not one I'd go out and buy like I did her previous hit.
Verdict - OK
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
I don't remember Culture Club the first time round but I do remember the solo career of Boy George and had assumed the likes of "Karma Chameleon" were by him rather than Culture Club. In the 90s he became a House DJ which brought him a new set of fans, myself included, so I questioned why after becoming an established House DJ would he want to bring back Culture Club. That said this song isn't bad.
Verdict - OK
6. Pras Michel - Blue Angels (New)
This was the second hit for Fugees member Pras after "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" which I liked. This follow up is a rework of "Grease" by Frankie Valli, doesn't quite have the same impact but it's ok.
Verdict - OK
I remember this being more upbeat than it is. This was the follow up to their number one cover of "Freak Me" and was the last hit before they started featuring American rappers on their songs. I like a couple of Another Level songs but this isn't their best, but I guess it's not too bad.
Verdict - OK
I didn't realise this at the time, but this song was originally the b-side to "Where the Streets Have No Name" in 1987, so was already 11 years old. Still, what a tune, I particularly like the bit where he sings "Baby's got blue skies up ahead". To be honest I don't like too many U2 songs I've heard but the ones I do like I really like and this is one of them.
Verdict - Good
3. Touch And Go - Would You? (New)
This was massive at the time but I don't think I've actually heard it since 1998. I remember this being around the same time as "Up and Down" by the Vengaboys which indeed come out a couple of weeks later. Both were overplayed, but I wasn't really keen on this in the first place and hearing it all the time made it annoying. It's less annoying 20 years later but I still don't like it.
Verdict - Rubbish
I can't say I was particularly keen on this song at the time. Listening to it now though it actually sounds better than I remembered it being. It's no "Careless Whisper" though.
Verdict - OK
This was number one for an eternity and I knew quite a few people who liked this. I however thought it was rubbish and still do. It set the scene for the music we'd come to expect from Cher for the forseeable future following the success of this.
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 13.5/30, or 45%. Now we slide.
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