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 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
29. Air - All I Need (New)
This was the final Top 40 hit from the excellent "Moon Safari" album. All 3 singles from that album were different to each other and good in their own way. This one is quite similar in style to Zero 7 who are someone else that I'm a big fan of.
Verdict - Good
28. Marc Et Claude - LA (New)
With a name like Marc Et Claude you may expect them to be French. With a title like "LA" you may expect them to be America. They were actually German though and this was their Top 40 debut. I feel like this is one of the records setting the scene for 1999 and the trance explosion that happened.
Verdict - Good
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 - Rubbish
To be honest I don't ever remember this being a single. This was the fourth single to be released from his "R" album which came out in the UK a week later. A week after that he released the fifth single from the album "I'm Your Angel" which I do very much remember and may explain why this one passed me by. I did go on to buy the album and this is the first track of it, listening to it now reminds me of the start of a car journey from where I lived at the time as this would be playing when I'd set off.
Verdict - Good
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
23. Karen Ramirez - If We Try (New)
Karen Ramirez is known for just the one record "Looking For Love" but like with a lot of music acts known for one record around this period, she had another Top 40 hit that nobody remembers. Listening to it though I understand why this ones long forgotten.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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
20. Tina Cousins - Pray (New)
Tina Cousins made her Top 40 hit earlier on in 1998 as vocalist on the Sash! record "Mysterious Times". This was the start of her solo career and this record was written by Mark Topham and Karl Twigg who composed several of Steps hits. I could almost imagine Steps doing this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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
I was a fan of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" back in the day but always thought the Fresh Prince himself aka Will Smith was terrible as a rapper and got even worse when he parted company with Jazzy Jeff. Needless to say when I heard the actress who played Ashley had started making music I expected it to also be rubbish. I was right, it was rubbish but this isn't as bad as her next single "Boy You Knock Me Out" which features Will Smith himself.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
There is no doubt Country Music is hugely popular in America but us Brits have generally written it off as a load of American rubbish. The solution to crack the British market therefore is to give us a watered down version of Country Music like this. Can't say I'm a fan.
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 Top 40 hit number 3 for Marilyn Manson. Musically it wasn't very heavy at all and that was intentional in order to prove Marilyn Manson wasn't a one trick pony. The lyrical content is about drugs though just to maintain the "Shock Rock" element. It's pretty boring though.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
The record which put Hip Hop on the world stage, "Rappers Delight" famously sampled "Good Times" by Chic. The bassline to "Another One Bites the Dust" is basically the same and nearly 2 decades later it gets sampled on a Hip Hop track. Except this is more "Another One Bites the Dust" with a bit of rapping in-between. It's not bad, but the original Queen song is much better.
Verdict - OK
Neneh's brother with a song that isn't "Save Tonight" that surprisingly made the top ten. To me it just sounds like a watered down version of "Save Tonight", not for me.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
7. James - Sit Down (New)
This was the biggest Top 40 hit for James which originally made the Top 40 back in 1991. It was back in the Top 40 in 1998 with this remix from Apollo 440. I will concede it does liven up the record somewhat, but I've never thought much of the original and it was always going to be a difficult task to make it sound any good.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
We all remember Brian Harvey making his comments on Ecstasy at the start of 1997. He was sacked from the band but then was let back in and Tony Mortimer quit. They changed their name to E17, maybe Brian's discrete way of standing by the comments on ecstasy he made, and became an R&B group. The result is this song which is pretty good.
Verdict - Good
The Tamperer ft Maya had scored a number one back in the summer by having the hook of an 80s song as the chorus. Follow that success they released a follow up which had the hook of an 80s song as the chorus, making number 3 this time. This wasn't as overplayed as its predecessor "Feel It" so I could tolerate it more.
Verdict - OK
This was the first Top 10 hit for Stereophonics and was also the first single that I identified as being a Stereophonics record. They had truly arrived then, and I remember a number of people loving them. Really did get what the fuss was myself.
Verdict - Rubbish
2. Steps - Heartbeat / Tragedy (New)
This was the first chart topper for Steps and it's the Bee Gees cover that is arguably their best known song. "Heartbeat" was apparently sitting in the drawer for years before it was given to Steps. Both are terrible as usual.
Verdict - Rubbish
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 11.5/30, or 38%. Will we climb again this year?
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