Whilst we know the charts would become very indie/guitar music heavy by the mid-00s, the prediction Ash made about it happening in 2001 doesn't appear to be happening as this is certainly in the minority this month.
Dance music is the most prolific and whilst not all of it is to my liking it's refreshing to see some of the more proper dance records in the Top 40. We have "Nothing Without Me" by Manchild and "The Real Life" by Raven Maize from the house music world for house music fans.
Trance wise we don't have any of the vocal rubbish or euro cheese. There's the excellent "Superstring" by Cygnus X and the solid "Like This Like That" by Mauro Picotto whilst "Fire Wire" by Cosmic Gate is OK. The only trance record I don't like is "Precious Heart" by Tall Paul, a sample of "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS done tastefully but just doesn't work for me.
UK Garage wise we may be seeing the beginning of the end here. There's "21 Seconds" by the So Solid Crew, the Top 40 debut from the act credited with killing garage. Then there's "Love You Anyway" by De Nada which I can't stand the singing on.
It's the rap world that gives us the best record which is "Ante Up" by MOP & Busta Rhymes. I bought the single for this and just loved the sheer aggression. Another single I bought was "Where I Wanna Be" by Shade Shiest, Nate Dogg & Kurupt. Then a decent rap rock record I didn't buy was "Revolving Door" by Crazy Town.
R&B wise we have the final Top 40 hit for the Honeyz "I Don't Know". It was seen as a questionable choice for a single notably from group member Celena but I do like it. Then we have "Just In Case" by Jaheim, an R&B record that later had a garage remix and both versions are good. No points for rubbish by Destiny's Child, Janet Jackson or Missy Elliott.
One record that deserves a mention is "Let's Dance" by 5ive. It reminds me of many nights out at the time, it's a pop record with a sense of humour and I remember a mate kept saying fuck Eminem, Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg, J from 5ive is the best rapper.
The worst record goes to Atomic Kitten with "Eternal Flame". The success of "Whole Again" gave them license to top the charts with any old rubbish, and they did with this dreadful cover.
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 exceeded the 34% we needed to even consider it as the good old days. Will we stay there?
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