If at a music quiz you were to ask the question "Who had a Top 40 hit with When I Kissed The Teacher?" the answer you're most likely to get is Abba. That answer would be wrong because the Abba song was never a Top 40 hit.
That said, one may struggle to remember exactly who was on this record. All four are actresses who appeared in the film "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" off which this was taken.
None of these actresses has troubled the Top 40 again at the time of writing.
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 Sunday.
Here is the Top 40 in full.
I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.
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 records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 10/30, or 33%. Slight improvement on last week.
These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:
DJ Bobo didn't have a Top 40 hit in the UK until 2003. In Holland this record marked the end of his Dutch Top 40 career. It's a Eurodance record with DJ Bobo rapping the verses and female singers Natascha Wright and Lisa Noya singing the chorus. It's clearly the same person who did "Love Is All Around", it follows that tried and tested formula.
Club X - The Sequel (La La La)
Being a gabber record in the Dutch Top 40 one would assume this is Dutch but it's not, it's Belgian. The sample used in this is the "La La La" bit of "Self Esteem" by The Offspring. It's quite possibly the familiarity of that sample that helped this record into the Dutch Top 40.
Snap ft Summer - The World In My Hands
In terms of original hits Snap were finished in the UK Top 40 by this point. In a way it was a shame because they'd started to make records I actually liked, partly because they'd sped up. In Holland they carried on and I guess this is what could have come next in the UK. This time they've slowed down, but it's not a bad record.
The Offspring - Come Out And Play (Keep Em Separated)
I'm surprised this was never a Top 40 hit in the UK because I remember it very well at the time and it seemed to be pretty well known. It only managed to get to 98 though. Maybe by the time it was released as a single people were fed up of hearing it on MTV all the time.
In this era a record would typically get a few weeks of play on the radio and music channels before hitting the charts. Some records would get an earlier release date overseas and some were from already released albums. On that basis its safe to assume that most, if not all new entries this month were made in the 20th century.
The best record this month is "Playground Love" which was definitely made in the 20th century because it was from the 1999 film "The Virgin Suicides". I watched the film on the strength of this record, that's how much I like it.
As mentioned in March, there were no UK garage new entries in February. However a significant chunk of records this month come from what UK garage replaced as the dance genre of the moment, trance.
Sash! tended to make trance of a more commercial Eurodance variety, but this month we had "Adelante" which was more of a credible trance record which gets full marks. Armin Van Buuren made his Top 40 debut with "Communication" and this was an era when he was good.
A strong contender this month for the best record was "Must Be The Music" by Joey Negro & Taka Boom. This was a record I remember from the summer of 1999, it also sounds more of a summer record but just didn't chart until the winter. Ten City singer Byron Stingily had a solo version of the Ten City record "That's The Way Love Is" which was never going to beat the original but it's still a decent record.
Most of the dance records this month score points but we're also getting points from a wide range of genres. Rap wise we have "Simon Says" by Pharoahe Monch and R&B wise we have "Got To Get It" by Sisqo.
We generally expect rap and R&B to give us points but we also have records such as "Glorious" by Andreas Johnson and "The Great Beyond" by REM from the indie and alternative rock world giving us points. There's the funk rock of "Otherside" by Red Hot Chili Peppers and the pop record "Pure Shores" by All Saints giving us points.
However the worst record is also a pop record. It's "Ooh Stick You!" by Daphne & Celeste. I know it's supposed to be crap, but it's annoying enough to get that crown.
Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):
Here's a look at the chart:
Normally when someone attempts a solo career after leaving a girl group, they are often overshadowed by their time in a girl group even if their solo career is successful. An exception to that rule is Camila Cabello, I couldn't remember what girl group she'd previously been in and had to look it up. It was Fifth Harmony.
At the time of writing she's had 15 Top 40 hits, more than I was expecting. A lot more than the 5 she had with Fifth Harmony, again I didn't realise they had that many.
This was Top 40 hit number 6 and she topped the charts with her 4th hit "Havana" and 8th hit "Senorita". I sense a theme here, so maybe she'd have been more successful if it had a more Latin sounding name.
Here's the tunes I was enjoying 20 years ago:
2Pac ft Elton John - Ghetto Gospel
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 Sunday.
Here is the Top 40 in full.
I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.
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 records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 8.5/30, or 28%. We really are up and down.
These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:
In the UK in the 90s we had Eurodance acts from several European countries hit the Top 40. One notable absent country though was Spain. In Holland we had Spanish Eurodance act Double Vision top the charts with this record. The music is very much Eurodance but the vocals sound quite gothic, a strange combination. Their Dutch Top 40 career began and ended in 1995 but we have one more record of theirs to come.
Arno Kolenbrander - Why God Why
Between 1985 and 2002 Holland had a TV show called "Soundmixshow" which was essentially their version of "Stars in Their Eyes", though they came up with the idea first. Arno Kolenbrander was the 1995 winner of the show and this was his winning song. It's a cover of a song from the musical "Miss Saigon" and the song title more or less sums up what I think of it.
For the 3rd and final time this year we have a hit from Belgian band Clouseau with a song sang in Dutch. I'm listening to the song waiting for it to start and finding something to say about it, but it never happens, just plain dull.
Vaya Con Dios - Don't Break My Heart
Another Belgian band but this time one singing in English. They topped the Dutch Top 40 with their debut "What's A Woman" in 1990 but in 1991 founding member Dirk Schoufs died. The band carried on but this would be near the end for them. In 1996 singer Dani Klein quit the music business. That was until she came back and eventually reformed the band who are still going at the time of writing.
This isn't a month of halves, every record either gets a 1 or 0. That might explain why I was quite surprised by the score once I added it up at the end.
The best record this month is "Is It Love?" by Chili Hi Fly. I'm pretty certain I first heard this in the summer of 1999 so it just took a while to get to the charts. It's one of those summer house records you may associate with Ibiza.
Artful Dodger returned to the charts with their 2nd Top 40 hit "Movin Too Fast". This was surprisingly the first UK garage record to make the Top 40 in 2000, over 2 months after the year began. This one gets full marks but the other garage record this month doesn't get any which is "Can't Get Used To Losing You" by Colour Girl.
Trance wise the only decent record is "Sunshine" by Yomanda. The others are ATB covering "Killer" which is in every way inferior to the Adamski version. Then there's "Don't Give Up" by Chicane & Bryan Adams. I like Chicane but this just doesn't work for me. It worked for him though because it topped the charts.
Most of the house records are decent. As well as the best record they include "Off the Wall" by Wisdome and "Mr Devil" by Big Time Charlie & Soozy Q. The only one I don't like is "Chocolate Sensation" by Lenny Fontana & DJ Shorty, yet another record sampling "Love Sensation" which was getting tired by this point.
Just the one decent rap record which is "Still Dre" by Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg. I was shocked when it was revealed it was written Jay-Z who is one of my least favourite rappers. Big rivals to Jay-Z for that crown had Top 40 hits this month who were Puff Daddy and Will Smith.
Just the one decent R&B record too which comes from the Honeyz with "Won't Take It Lying Down".
Blink 182 had their 2nd Top 40 hit with "All the Small Things" which is the one they're best known for. Whilst not as good as their pre-fame material it's a decent enough record.
Onto the worst record and that comes from Geri Halliwell with "Bag It Up". I remember the Top of the Pops performance with boxes of washing powder on stage labelled "Girl Powder" and thinking what a load of nonsense.
Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):
Here's a look at the chart:
One thing I was expecting in September 2000 was the return of Alisha's Attic, but that got delayed. Still plenty of other music to amuse myself with:
Robbie Rivera - Bang
In the modern era the most prolific genre of music in the Top 40 is rap. This trend began in 2017 helped in part by rapper Drake flooding the Top 40 with his records. It did however mean there were new rappers making their Top 40 debut and Yxng Bane was one of those.
He first gained mainstream attention at the start of 2017 by featuring on a remix of "Shape Of You" by Ed Sheeran. Then he made his Top 40 debut as featured artist on "Bestie" by Yungen. Then came this, his first Top 40 hit as lead artist.
The title "Rihanna" is in reference to the singer of the same name. She had been one of the most prolific Top 40 artists in the decade or so prior to this, but by 2017 the hits started drying up for her. At the time of writing she's only had 3 Top 40 hits since, though by the time you read this she may have had her comeback single.
As for Yxng Bane, he was last seen in the Top 40 in 2021 at the time of writing.
In an era where collaborations seem to be the norm, a number 40 can give opposing stories for the artists featured. This is the case with this record. Martin Garrix made his Top 40 debut with a number one in 2013 with "Animals" and this was the Top 40 debut for Troye Sivan who as you see started his Top 40 career with a number 40.
Because dance music events typically require one to be over 18 to attend, many DJs tend to be older than your typical pop singer. However, Martin Garrix the DJ was only 17 when he made his Top 40 debut and not old enough to attend some of the events he would play at. Singer Troye Sivan on the other hand is a year older than Martin Garrix.
Martin Garrix, whose real name is Martijn Garritsen was sole songwriter and sole artist on his debut hit but his remaining Top 40 hits have all been collaborations with multiple songwriters. This one was written by Brett McLaughlin, Martijn Garritsen, Ben Burgess, William Bean, Troye Sivan and Jessie Thomas, a fairly typical number of writers on a modern day EDM record.
As for chart success, well Martin Garrix scored what he'd presumably consider a more important number one in 2017, the number one DJ in the DJ Mag Top 100.
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 Sunday.
Here is the Top 40 in full.
I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.
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 records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:
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%. That's quite an improvement.
Continuing the look at whether 80s acts succeeded in the 90s here's a look at the 1987 debutants:
Public Enemy: They had 4 Top 40 hits in the 80s, all pretty well known but none of them got higher than 18 with "Don't Believe The Hype" reaching that position. In the 90s they had 5 Top 40 hits including 2 number 18s and they fared better with "He Got Game" which made 16. All their 90s Top 40 hit charted higher than their 80s hits that weren't "Don't Believe The Hype".
Verdict: Hit
Belinda Carlisle: In the 80s Belinda Carlisle clocked up 6 Top 40 hits, 4 made the Top 10 including chart topping debut "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" and the other 2 failed to reach the Top 30. In the 90s she had 13 Top 40 hits but only 3 made the Top 10. This includes "(We Want) The Same Thing" in 1990 which is one of her better known records and enough of a reason to say she succeeded in the 90s.
Verdict: Hit
Wet Wet Wet: It originally looked as though Wet Wet Wet were finished as a chart act by 1989. Although they had Top 40 hits every year in the early 90s they failed to reach the Top 10 with any of their Top 40 hits from 1989s "Broke Away" to 1994s "Cold Cold Heart" with the exception of the 1992 chart topper "Goodnight Girl". Then in 1994 they were number 1 for 15 weeks "Love Is All Around" and they were rarely out of the Top 10 with their hits after that until they broke up in 1997.
Verdict: Hit
Heart: With 6 Top 40 hits in the 80s and 2 in the 90s they're clearly more of an 80s band. However you can't ignore that one of their 90s hits was "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" which was one of their three Top 10s. It came out in March 1990 so was most likely recorded in the 80s and very much sounds like an 80s record. Their other 90s hit was "Will You Be There (In The Morning)" which made 19 in 1993. It goes without saying that wouldn't be enough to consider them a 90s act too and in the case "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" it's more the 90s coming just a little too early.
Verdict: Miss
Rick Astley: He made the Top 10 with all his hits between 1987 and 1989 and they he just disappeared. Then in 1991 a now long haired Rick Astley made a comeback with a more mature sound with the hit "Cry For Help". It too made the Top 10 but this comeback was short lived. One final Top 40 hit "Hopelessly" came in 1993 and that just made number 33.
Verdict: Miss
T'Pau: They were one of my inspirations for doing these posts because of their solitary 90s hit with "Whenever You Need Me" in 1991. An example of a pop act squeezing whatever life they have left from their chart career with one final hit that nobody remembers.
Verdict: Miss
Def Leppard: They started out in the 70s but they never had a Top 40 hit until 1987. Even then only their debut "Animal" made the Top 10 for them in the 80s. After a 3 year gap they came back in 1992 and reached number 2 with joint biggest hit "Let's Get Rocked". The 2nd time they reached number 2 was in 1995 with "When Love And Hate Collide". They had another 9 Top 40 hits in the 90s but none of them were Top 10s. Their big hits were enough though.
Verdict: Hit
WASP: They had 5 Top 40 hits in the 80s but none of them made the Top 20. Then they had their biggest hit in 1992 with "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New York Morgue)" which made number 17 and then in 1993 came "Sunset And Babylon" which made 38. I think when your biggest hit only makes 17 it's more appropriate to measure in quantity.
Verdict: Miss
Luther Vandross: In the 80s Luther Vandross got no higher than number 13 in the charts with "Never Too Much". 6 of hit 8 Top 40 hits that decade failed to reach the Top 20. In the 90s he managed 2 Top 10s but both were duets, "The Best Things In Life Are Free" with Janet Jackson and "Endless Love" with Mariah Carey. His remaining 8 Top 40 hits of the 90s didn't make much impact with 7 of them charting at 20 and below. I'd say duets aside his 90s record and 80s record are pretty similar.
Verdict: Hit
Christians: They'd had a total of 10 Top 40 hits, 3 of which have "world" in the title and 2 have "word" in it. They topped the charts in 1989 as part of the collective who did "Ferry Cross The Mersey" and that same year they scored their biggest hit on their own with "Harvest For The World". In the 90s they had 2 Top 40 hits, "What's In A Word" which made 33 and "The Bottle" which made 39.
Verdict: Miss
Boy George: He topped the charts with his solo debut "Everything I Own" but never really had much impact on the charts with his other solo singles. In the 90s he had 2 Top 40 hits, "The Crying Game" which made 22 and "More Than Likely" with PM Dawn which made 40. Also he was known more for being a DJ in the 90s than an artist.
Verdict: Miss
Terence Trent D'Arby: He had 4 Top 40 hits in the 80s but did 1 better in the 90s with 5. However his 4 80s ones included his 3 Top 10s and if I asked you to name 4 Terence Trent D'Arby records then his 4 80s ones would probably be it.
Verdict: Miss
Beastie Boys: There was a 7 year gap between their 4 Top 40 hits of 1987 and their comeback Top 40 hit in 1994. That comeback single was the double a-side "Get It Together / Sabotage" which is one of their better known records. Then in 1998 came their biggest hit "Intergalactic". They had a total of 6 Top 40 hits in the 90s.
Verdict: Hit
These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:
Ruth Jacott was one of Rene Froger's friends on "You've Got A Friend" which was still in the Dutch Top 40 this week. Here she is doing a record on her own but having less of an impact on the charts. She was in the latter stages of her Dutch Top 40 career at this point. It's a dance record sung in Dutch with a short rap on it.
What I learned about Me & My before listening to this was that they're a female vocal duo who are sisters and from Denmark. Going off that alone tells me this is going to be a cheesy record, and it is. It was a chart topper in their native Denmark where they continued to have hits into the 21st century. In Holland though they had no more Top 40 hits.
Here's a look at the chart:
Tom Odell is someone I'm certain is one of the singer-songwriters that's the answer to the "Who's been recently singing..." questions you'd get on Popmaster when it was on Radio 2. I can't claim to know much about him but it appears he's not finished with the Top 40 yet though at the time of writing he's averaged around 1 hit every 3 years.
This was his 3rd Top 40 hit and this time he's been able to call upon the help of once of the most prolific songwriters in charts history, Rick Nowels. This is the man who wrote "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" by Belinda Carlisle and in more recent times has been writing for Lana Del Rey.
Given Tom Odell's singles discography is far larger than his Top 40 history I'd say this placing at number 40 would have been considered a success.
Both Benny Benassi and Chris Brown have had UK Number 40s prior to this. Benny Benassi in 2004 with "No Matter What You Do" and Chris Brown in 2011 with "Best Love Song".
The 2 artists had also previously collaborated on the track "Beautiful People" which made number 4 in 2011 which incidentally was the Chris Brown hit that came prior to his number 40 and the Benny Benassi hit that came after his number 40.
It would be the final Top 40 hit for Benny Benassi but given he went 7 years without a Top 40 hit between 2004 and 2011 you can't rule out him having another Top 40 hit. As for Chris Brown, well I suspect his final Top 40 hit is yet to come.
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 Sunday.
Here is the Top 40 in full.
I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.
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 records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 7.5/30, or 25%. That's a terrible score.
Continuing the look at whether 80s acts succeeded in the 90s here's a look at the 1986 debutants:
The Mission: They had 5 Top 40 hits in the 80s and 6 in the 90s. None of them made the Top 10, only 3 made the Top 20 with "Butterfly On A Wheel" being one of them in Jan 1990. Interestingly they had a number 12, 30 and 32 in both decades. It almost seems as identical as you can get in terms of chart record for each decade, a couple of Top 10s in the 80s would of probably meant a miss in the 90s.
Verdict: Hit
Janet Jackson: She has a total of 37 Top 40 hits to date. None of them topped the charts but she reached number 2 twice with "The Best Things In Life Are Free" and "That's The Way Love Goes" which both came in the 90s. In the 80s she failed to reach the Top 20 with 3 of her 7 Top 40 hits, in the 90s it was 2 of her 22 Top 40 hits. This is an easy one to decide.
Verdict: Hit
Erasure: They're very much known as an 80s act but some will be surprised to learn they were having Top 40 hits as late as 2007 and their last Top 10 came in 2005. Despite keeping the hits going the reality is none of the well known ones came later than the mid-90s. They did however get their only number one in 1992 with "Abba-Esque EP" and in the early 90s they were still relevant in the Top 40.
Verdict: Hit
Sinitta: It's hard to believe she was still having Top 40 hits in the 90s but she did. There was "Hitchin' A Ride" which made number 24 in 1990 and "Shame Shame Shame" which made number 28 in 1992. A sign that her time was up once we'd reached the 90s.
Verdict: Miss
Europe: They only just qualify for this list with 4 Top 40 hits in the 80s and 1 in the 90s. Europe are a band who incorrectly get labelled as one hit wonders and the reality is apart from chart topper "The Final Countdown" they didn't really make much impact on the charts. Their sole 90s Top 40 hit "I'll Cry For You" made number 28 in 1992.
Verdict: Miss
Jesus & Mary Chain: They had 6 Top 40 hits in both the 80s and 90s and each decade gave them 1 Top 10 hit. Each decade also gave them a number 30 and 2 Top 40 hits that charted outside the Top 30. An almost identical chart record in each decade then.
Verdict: Hit
Swing Out Sister: Their Top 40 debut "Breakout" is possibly the most 80s sounding record I can think of. Follow up "Surrender" also made the Top 10 but their remaining Top 40 hits charted outside the Top 20. I'm quite surprised 1989 hit "You On My Mind" only made number 28 because I remember it very well. Likewise following single "Am I The Same Girl" only made 21 in 1992 and I remember that one very well too. No recollection of their only other 90s hit "La La (Means I Love You)" though.
Verdict: Miss
Curiosity Killed The Cat: They only just qualify for this list with 4 Top 40 hits in the 80s and 1 in the 90s. Their 1992 hit "Hang On In There Baby" was their joint highest charting single making number 3 and by this point they'd shortened their name to just Curiosity. Somehow it doesn't seem enough though.
Verdict: Miss
Bon Jovi: I remember their 1992 comeback with Jon Bon Jovi's haircut really well. The probably had the most live via satellite appearances in the 90s of Top of the Pops too. They had 9 Top 40 hits in the 80s and 15 in the 90s. Just "Livin On A Prayer" made the Top 10 in the 80s, they had 10 Top 10s in the 90s including their biggest hit "Always".
Verdict: Hit
The Pogues: Another who only just qualifies for the list. Their solitary 90s Top 40 hit "Tuesday Morning" made number 18 in 1993 and by this point Shane MacGowan had left the band.
Verdict: Miss
Samantha Fox: It's well known that Page 3 girl Samantha Fox had a pop career in the 80s but I don't think too many people would know she managed 8 that decade. It's also a bigger surprise that she had a Top 40 hit in the 90s. This was as featured vocalist on "Santa Maria" by DJ Milano which made number 31 in 1998.
Verdict: Miss
These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:
C'est Tout & Anthonius Hapt - Da Tandenborstel Jive
Here's some more Dutch carnival music but this time no words are sung and it's something quite familiar. Although not exactly the same version, this used to get played on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Radio 1 as one of his radio jingles. I had no idea at the time that it was Dutch or even anything other than a radio jingle.
BZN were a band who were huge in Holland and virtually unknown elsewhere. Their Dutch Top 40 career spanned from 1968 to 2007 when they called it a day with the appropriately titled "Goodbye". What threw me when they started singing was that they were singing in English as I was fully expecting it to be in Dutch. It's the sort of music you'd expect to hear at a holiday resort.
This will be the last we'll see of Scooter this year. They did chart in the UK in 1995 but not with this one. Quite fitting for it to be released at the end of the summer and in my opinion this was one of their better records.
In May 2000 guitars were out and turntables were in. Over half of the new entries this month could be considered dance music including the novelty effort from Kevin & Perry from their "Kevin & Perry Go Large" film which was more evidence this was the era of dance music.
It's therefore appropriate that a dance record is the best record this month. It goes to MJ Cole with "Crazy Love", one of the biggest UK garage records from one of the biggest names from the genre.
The other 2 garage records this month also came from big names who are both DJ/MC duos but one is considerably better than the other. DJ Luck & MC Neat had their 2nd Top 40 hit with "Masterblaster 2000" which is decent. Oxide & Neutrino on the other hand brought the start of garage heading in the wrong direction with "Bound 4 Da Reload (Casualty)".
Although 2000 was the year of garage we had more records this month from the big dance genre of 1999, trance. There wasn't a bad trance record this month, most getting full marks and a couple getting half. This includes St Etienne teaming up with Paul Van Dyk and scoring their only Top 10 hit with "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)". It came not long after I'd bought their "Too Young To Die" album which was their singles from 1990-95 and I assumed at the time they'd called it a day in 1995.
The dominance of dance music left little room for rap and R&B. There was just one record of each, the rap one being "Vibrant Thing" by Q-Tip which is OK and "Shorty (Got Her Eyes On Me)" by Donnell Jones which is good.
Bucking the trend of guitars being out was Iron Maiden who had a new entry with "Wicker Man". It sounds like it could have just as easily been made in 1983 and the drumming is fast enough for it to get full marks.
Onto the worst record which goes to Britney Spears with "Oops I Did It Again". I remember hearing it for the first time on the Chris Moyles show on Radio 1 and he pointed out how similar it was to "Baby One More Time" to the point he started singing it over the top to illustrate. Both were composed by Max Martin who acknowledged how well it went the first time so figured there was no point in changing the formula and it worked.
Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):
Here's a look at the chart:
We've had examples of artists replacing themselves at number one in the charts, but here we have an unusual example of an artist replacing themselves at number 40.
Like the record it replaced at number 40 it was kept that low in the charts by other Beyonce records in higher positions in the charts the same week.
Last year there was a lot of hype about Beyonce changing music direction to country music. This record however shows it's all been done before, just nobody noticed
The inclusion of streaming in the charts meant that in theory every track on a new album could make the Top 40 singles chart and that quite famously happened to Ed Sheeran in 2017 which prompted a change to the chart rules.
Beyonce released her "Lemonade" album in 2016 which there was a lot of hype about at the time. This track appeared on that album and it's placing at number 40 could be considered a success for the simple fact 5 other tracks from that album were in higher positions in the Top 40 the same week.
Despite all the hype around the album, the highest charting single from it only made 11. This was in part due to the fact it was exclusively released on the streaming platform Tidal which unlike rivals such as Spotify doesn't have a free subscription option.
