Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 52

Here's my weekly look at the Top 20 from 20 years ago. On the basis we'd reach the Top 20 in the Top 40 countdown around 17:30 on a Sunday at the time the plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

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 20 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

20. Robbie Williams - She's The One / It's Only Us

"She's the One" is one of the best known Robbie Williams songs, but what isn't that well known is that this is a cover. The original was by World Party the 2 versions aren't very different at all. "It's Only Us" was written by Robbie Williams himself and I don't think is anywhere near as well known. I quite like both songs.

Verdict - Good / Good

19. Various Artists - It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (New)

A charity record that is a cover of the Rolling Stones song. I don't think much of the original and this karaoke version is hardly going to improve on that.

Verdict - Rubbish

18. DJ Luck And MC Neat - A Little Bit Of Luck (New)

2 weeks after Artful Dodger and Craig David taught the mainstream public what UK Garage was, DJ Luck & MC Neat also chart with a UK Garage record which would go on to make the Top 10. This time there was no confusion as to who was who with the DJ and MC in front of their names. Good tune.

Verdict - Good

17. Progress Presents The Boy Wunda - Everybody

This is a great example of someone I listen to that nobodies heard of that finally ends up in the Top 40 with a load of crap. Progress were also known as Pete and Russell and I had a tape of theirs from Dreamscape 20, which was a good tape. I can't say I knew anything about them apart from that, they were the only DJs in the tape pack I'd never heard of before I bought it and presumably they featured because they were hosting the House arena at the event. That said, they didn't exactly become a household name following this single, they don't even have a Wikipedia page. I suppose those who remember this are more likely to remember it as the Madonna rip off rather than it's actual title.

Verdict - Rubbish

16. Len - Steal My Sunshine

I was addicted to this tune at the time. I didn't buy the single though, I taped it off the radio so I'm used to "Radio 1" being said at the end. I predicted this would be a one hit wonder, and for years I thought they were but they actually had a minor hit with "Cryptik Souls Crew" the following year that completely passed me by. When streaming became a thing, I listened to their "You Can't Stop the Bum Rush" album which this appears on. My advice is not to bother, the rest of it is nowhere near as good as this tune.

Verdict - Good

15. Macy Gray - I Try

When I first heard this I imagined the singer to be in her 50s. She actually is now, but at the time she was only 32. I thought it was alright initially but then it quickly got irritating. On paper it shouldn't be a bad song, it's original, it's soulful and it certainly isn't boring but for some reason it just bugs me.

Verdict - Rubbish

14. The Wamdue Project - King Of My Castle

My first impression of this record was that it was far too slow. Then I went down the pub one night and lost count of the number of times I heard it. After that I thought I'd happily never hear this tune again in my life. It's not one that's been played a great deal since to be fair, but I still don't like it.

Verdict - Rubbish

13. R Kelly - If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time

The 7th Top 40 single from his "R" album, and still not the last. This is one of those records that charted much later than I remember it charting, but given it's on an album that I own and the first single from that album came out in early 1997 it's not that surprising. Good tune though.

Verdict - Good

12. Boyzone - Every Day I Love You

Boyzone were arguably the biggest boyband at the start of 1999 but then we saw the start of Ronan's solo career and Westlife came along who were basically a younger Boyzone. You sensed it was only a matter of time before Boyzone would call it a day, and they did after this single. It's basically the same sort of ballad type crap they'd done throughout their career.

Verdict - Rubbish

11. Alice Deejay - Back In My Life

I loved "Better off Alone" but I found this one to be very average. A lot of the commercial Trance music in 1999 was good but then in the early part of the 21st century it was mostly cheesy vocal rubbish and this is more similar to that, though in it's defence is nowhere near as bad as DJ Sammy and co.

Verdict - OK

10. Vengaboys - Kiss (When The Sun Don't Shine)

They sing about going to their favourite club on a Friday, sounds great. The grim reality for me and my friends though was we'd head to the shit club nobody liked but everybody went to because it was the only place to go once the pubs had closed. Then once we got there we had to put up with shite like this being played.

Verdict - Rubbish

9. William Orbit - Barber's Adagio For Strings

This record fooled a lot of Dance music fans at the time as I recall. They went out and bought William Orbit's album expecting it to be a Dance album, but it wasn't. What we have here is the Ferry Corsten remix. I can't say I'm a big fan of it myself, but it's not bad.

Verdict - OK

8. Mr Hankey - Mr Hankey The Christmas Poo (New)

What else can I say about this novelty Christmas record from South Park other than it's shit.

Verdict - Rubbish

7. Steps - Say You'll Be Mine / Better The Devil You Know (New)

It's bad enough that Steps managed five Top 5 records in 1999, but even worse they finish with a double a-side so it's actually 6 songs. Both sides are crap.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

6. Artful Dodger ft Craig David - Re-Rewind The Crowd Say Bo Selecta

I've never got the appeal of the rewind personally. For those who don't know, it's when a DJ mixes in a new record and the MC asks who wants the rewind, and then the DJ stops and starts the record again. So you hear a chunk of the record you just heard again. With that in mind, I wasn't too keen on this when I first heard it. However it started to grow on me and I ended up buying the "It's All About the Stragglers" album. It was also the first Top 40 hit for both Artful Dodger and Craig David and was probably the one that taught the masses what UK Garage was. A common misconception at the time was that Craig David was the Artful Dodger and people wondered where he was when they had their next hit "Movin Too Fast". That question was answered when he had his next hit with "Fill Me In". It reminded me of when people thought Seal was Adamski nearly a decade earlier.

Verdict - Good

5. S Club 7 - Two In A Million / You're My Number One (New)

A double a-side where both songs have a number in the title. "Two In A Million" somehow manages to sound both cheesy and boring whereas "You're My Number One" just sounds cheesy.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

4. Cuban Boys - Cognoscenti Vs Intelligentsia (New)

Even 20 years after this came out, I still don't know whether I should love or hate this tune. At the time I'd have probably been more inclined to hate it, but having heard other material from Cuban Boys members which is basically piss take music that's actually quite enjoyable, I can appreciate this a bit more. There's no getting round the sample being annoying though.

Verdict - OK

3. John Lennon - Imagine (New)

A re-entry into the charts, to be honest I've never really got the hype about this song. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate John Lennon as a musician a lot more than I did when I was younger but even just as a solo artist he's had much better songs than this. Not a bad song though.

Verdict - OK

2. Cliff Richard - The Millennium Prayer

The Lords Prayer sung in the style of Auld Lang Syne, sounds bloody awful and it is.

Verdict - Rubbish

1. Westlife - I Have A Dream / Seasons In The Sun (New)

The 4th single and 4th number one for Westlife. Now Boyzone have more or less called it a day it seems there needed to be a boy band to do crappy covers like Boyzone were most famous for, and Westlife were it.

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 7/20, or 35%. We got that improvement for the final week of the 90s, mainly because of the good ones from last week remaining in the Top 20.

Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 51

Here's my weekly look at the Top 20 from 20 years ago. On the basis we'd reach the Top 20 in the Top 40 countdown around 17:30 on a Sunday at the time the plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

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 20 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

20. Daniel O'Donnell - A Christmas Kiss (New)

It's Daniel O'Donnell and it's a Christmas song. The only positive thing to say about it is that it isn't Cliff Richard.

Verdict - Rubbish

19. Martine McCutcheon - Talking In Your Sleep / Love Me

Nearly a year since Tiffany died on Eastenders and I'm sure many people were hoping they'd bring her back from the dead so we didn't have to suffer her dreadful music career. This double a-side is 2 poor covers of 70s hits. It wouldn't be her last Top 40 hit either, this was her 3rd of 5 Top 40 hits and they all made the Top 10. What were people thinking.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

18. Robbie Williams - She's The One / It's Only Us

"She's the One" is one of the best known Robbie Williams songs, but what isn't that well known is that this is a cover. The original was by World Party the 2 versions aren't very different at all. "It's Only Us" was written by Robbie Williams himself and I don't think is anywhere near as well known. I quite like both songs.

Verdict - Good / Good

17. Tom Jones And Cerys Matthews - Baby, It's Cold Outside (New)

The second single from Tom Jones "Reload" album of collaborations of mostly covers. I've heard several versions of this song and hate all of them.

Verdict - Rubbish

16. Melanie C - Northern Star

The second single from the album of the same name, this one was written by Rick Nowels who wrote several of Belinda Carlisle's hits. It does sound more of a proper song than any of the Spice Girls hits ever did but that doesn't mean it's any good.

Verdict - Rubbish

15. Lolly - Big Boys Don't Cry / Rockin' Robin

The 3rd Top 40 hit for Lolly. I'd say the best known of this double a-side is her cover of "Rockin Robin" which is very cheesy as you'd expect. The other one "Big Boys Don't Cry" goes down the ballad route, but somehow still manages to sound cheesy.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

14. Queen And David Bowie - Under Pressure '99 (New)

As the "99" part of the title would suggest, this is a remix. Like with most remixes, it's nowhere near as good as the original. I thought the original was great, and obviously there's still some similarities to the original and I guess that's enough to make me think it's ok. If I ever fancy listening to "Under Pressure" though I'll pick the original every time.

Verdict - OK

13. B*Witched ft Ladysmith Black Mambazo - I Shall Be There (New)

After failing to make number one with their previous single, they fail to make the Top 10 with this one. The record buying public it seemed were waking up to the fact their music is shit. It took one more single to flop after this before we saw the end of them, until The Big Reunion at least.

Verdict - Rubbish

12. Mario Piu - Communication (Somebody Answer The Phone)

Remember when you used to get a call on your mobile and it would interfere with your stereo making that awful sound when you're trying to listen to your music. Well then Mario Piu thought it would be a good idea to put that irritating sound into a record with a bit of ringing for good measure.

Verdict - Rubbish

11. Macy Gray - I Try

When I first heard this I imagined the singer to be in her 50s. She actually is now, but at the time she was only 32. I thought it was alright initially but then it quickly got irritating. On paper it shouldn't be a bad song, it's original, it's soulful and it certainly isn't boring but for some reason it just bugs me.

Verdict - Rubbish

10. R Kelly - If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time

The 7th Top 40 single from his "R" album, and still not the last. This is one of those records that charted much later than I remember it charting, but given it's on an album that I own and the first single from that album came out in early 1997 it's not that surprising. Good tune though.

Verdict - Good

9. Boyzone - Every Day I Love You

Boyzone were arguably the biggest boyband at the start of 1999 but then we saw the start of Ronan's solo career and Westlife came along who were basically a younger Boyzone. You sensed it was only a matter of time before Boyzone would call it a day, and they did after this single. It's basically the same sort of ballad type crap they'd done throughout their career.

Verdict - Rubbish

8. Len - Steal My Sunshine (New)

I was addicted to this tune at the time. I didn't buy the single though, I taped it off the radio so I'm used to "Radio 1" being said at the end. I predicted this would be a one hit wonder, and for years I thought they were but they actually had a minor hit with "Cryptik Souls Crew" the following year that completely passed me by. When streaming became a thing, I listened to their "You Can't Stop the Bum Rush" album which this appears on. My advice is not to bother, the rest of it is nowhere near as good as this tune.

Verdict - Good

7. Progress Presents The Boy Wunda - Everybody (New)

This is a great example of someone I listen to that nobodies heard of that finally ends up in the Top 40 with a load of crap. Progress were also known as Pete and Russell and I had a tape of theirs from Dreamscape 20, which was a good tape. I can't say I knew anything about them apart from that, they were the only DJs in the tape pack I'd never heard of before I bought it and presumably they featured because they were hosting the House arena at the event. That said, they didn't exactly become a household name following this single, they don't even have a Wikipedia page. I suppose those who remember this are more likely to remember it as the Madonna rip off rather than it's actual title.

Verdict - Rubbish

6. The Wamdue Project - King Of My Castle

My first impression of this record was that it was far too slow. Then I went down the pub one night and lost count of the number of times I heard it. After that I thought I'd happily never hear this tune again in my life. It's not one that's been played a great deal since to be fair, but I still don't like it.

Verdict - Rubbish

5. Alice Deejay - Back In My Life

I loved "Better off Alone" but I found this one to be very average. A lot of the commercial Trance music in 1999 was good but then in the early part of the 21st century it was mostly cheesy vocal rubbish and this is more similar to that, though in it's defence is nowhere near as bad as DJ Sammy and co.

Verdict - OK

4. William Orbit - Barber's Adagio For Strings (New)

This record fooled a lot of Dance music fans at the time as I recall. They went out and bought William Orbit's album expecting it to be a Dance album, but it wasn't. What we have here is the Ferry Corsten remix. I can't say I'm a big fan of it myself, but it's not bad.

Verdict - OK

3. Vengaboys - Kiss (When The Sun Don't Shine) (New)

They sing about going to their favourite club on a Friday, sounds great. The grim reality for me and my friends though was we'd head to the shit club nobody liked but everybody went to because it was the only place to go once the pubs had closed. Then once we got there we had to put up with shite like this being played.

Verdict - Rubbish

2. Artful Dodger ft Craig David - Re-Rewind The Crowd Say Bo Selecta

I've never got the appeal of the rewind personally. For those who don't know, it's when a DJ mixes in a new record and the MC asks who wants the rewind, and then the DJ stops and starts the record again. So you hear a chunk of the record you just heard again. With that in mind, I wasn't too keen on this when I first heard it. However it started to grow on me and I ended up buying the "It's All About the Stragglers" album. It was also the first Top 40 hit for both Artful Dodger and Craig David and was probably the one that taught the masses what UK Garage was. A common misconception at the time was that Craig David was the Artful Dodger and people wondered where he was when they had their next hit "Movin Too Fast". That question was answered when he had his next hit with "Fill Me In". It reminded me of when people thought Seal was Adamski nearly a decade earlier.

Verdict - Good

1. Cliff Richard - The Millennium Prayer

The Lords Prayer sung in the style of Auld Lang Syne, sounds bloody awful and it is.

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 5.5/20, or 27.5%. Another poor week overall, will we see any improvement for the final week of the 90s?

Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 50

Here's my weekly look at the Top 20 from 20 years ago. On the basis we'd reach the Top 20 in the Top 40 countdown around 17:30 on a Sunday at the time the plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

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 20 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

20. Jamiroquai - King For A Day (New)

This doesn't sound like your typical Jamiroquai record. Whilst it's clearly Jay Kay singing on it, it doesn't have that Jamiroquai funk vibe you normally get. When you hear what this song is about though, it becomes more clear. It was written about their former bass player who had left the band during the recording of the "Synkronized" album, and after finding that out I noticed the lack of bass in there. That said, it's still a decent record.

Verdict - Good

19. Whitney Houston - I Learned From The Best (New)

After going more R&B with her hits in the late 90s, this one sounds more like Whitney Houstons earlier music. It was written by Diane Warren who has written many pop songs. To be honest I find this one a bit boring.

Verdict - Rubbish

18. The Corrs - Radio (New)

I have no recollection of this record coming out. I don't know how this passed me by though, I remember The Corrs being popular and could recall their early singles in chronological order except for this one. It's not the most memorable one though, it's not bad but nothing to write home about.

Verdict - OK

17. Will Smith - Will 2K

This was the 8th Top 40 hit for Will Smith (excluding his Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince hits) and his chart career to date was quite remarkable, 7 of his 8 hits had made the Top 3. This one heavily sampled "Rock the Casbah" and featured vocals from K-Ci of Jodeci but despite this it was still the usual crap you got from Will Smith.

Verdict - Rubbish

16. Five - Keep On Movin'

On hearing this record for the first time I was expecting it to open with a rap from J. Instead it opens with singing from someone I'd never noticed being in the group before. It was band member Sean who'd pretty much been in the background up until now. J does still get the lions share of the vocals though, with his vocals being somewhere in between singing and rapping in this tune. It was the first Five record to get to number one and I've got to say I like it.

Verdict - Good

15. Bob Marley ft Lauryn Hill - Turn Your Lights Down Low (New)

It seems like 1999 was the year for Bob Marley remixes. Having had a hit with "Sun is Shining" with Funkstar De Luxe in the summer, now was the turn of Lauryn Hill to feature on the reworking of this record. It was from the album "Chant Down Babylon" which was an album of modern artists doing Bob Marley songs. I don't think this one really works though, but I don't mind it.

Verdict - OK

14. Robbie Williams - She's The One / It's Only Us

"She's the One" is one of the best known Robbie Williams songs, but what isn't that well known is that this is a cover. The original was by World Party the 2 versions aren't very different at all. "It's Only Us" was written by Robbie Williams himself and I don't think is anywhere near as well known. I quite like both songs.

Verdict - Good / Good

13. Lolly - Big Boys Don't Cry / Rockin' Robin

The 3rd Top 40 hit for Lolly. I'd say the best known of this double a-side is her cover of "Rockin Robin" which is very cheesy as you'd expect. The other one "Big Boys Don't Cry" goes down the ballad route, but somehow still manages to sound cheesy.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

12. Celine Dion - That's The Way It Is (New)

What's this, an uplifting Celine Dion song? Actually this wasn't the first, she had another uplifting one earlier in the year with "Treat Her Like A Lady" which didn't make the Top 20. It was written by Max Martin and co, the Swedish songwriters responsible for shit loads of hits in 1999. It seems the Celine Dion was now trying to be cool, I don't think it worked.

Verdict - Rubbish

11. Macy Gray - I Try

When I first heard this I imagined the singer to be in her 50s. She actually is now, but at the time she was only 32. I thought it was alright initially but then it quickly got irritating. On paper it shouldn't be a bad song, it's original, it's soulful and it certainly isn't boring but for some reason it just bugs me.

Verdict - Rubbish

10. Atomic Kitten - Right Now (New)

Here's where it all began for Atomic Kitten. After calling it a day with OMD, Andy McCluskey put together Atomic Kitten and wrote several of their songs including this. Music aside though, the worst thing about this record is that it gave the world Kerry Katona.

Verdict - Rubbish

9. Melanie C - Northern Star

The second single from the album of the same name, this one was written by Rick Nowels who wrote several of Belinda Carlisle's hits. It does sound more of a proper song than any of the Spice Girls hits ever did but that doesn't mean it's any good.

Verdict - Rubbish

8. Martine McCutcheon - Talking In Your Sleep / Love Me

Nearly a year since Tiffany died on Eastenders and I'm sure many people were hoping they'd bring her back from the dead so we didn't have to suffer her dreadful music career. This double a-side is 2 poor covers of 70s hits. It wouldn't be her last Top 40 hit either, this was her 3rd of 5 Top 40 hits and they all made the Top 10. What were people thinking.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

7. R Kelly - If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time

The 7th Top 40 single from his "R" album, and still not the last. This is one of those records that charted much later than I remember it charting, but given it's on an album that I own and the first single from that album came out in early 1997 it's not that surprising. Good tune though.

Verdict - Good

6. Boyzone - Every Day I Love You

Boyzone were arguably the biggest boyband at the start of 1999 but then we saw the start of Ronan's solo career and Westlife came along who were basically a younger Boyzone. You sensed it was only a matter of time before Boyzone would call it a day, and they did after this single. It's basically the same sort of ballad type crap they'd done throughout their career.

Verdict - Rubbish

5. Mario Piu - Communication (Somebody Answer The Phone) (New)

Remember when you used to get a call on your mobile and it would interfere with your stereo making that awful sound when you're trying to listen to your music. Well then Mario Piu thought it would be a good idea to put that irritating sound into a record with a bit of ringing for good measure.

Verdict - Rubbish

4. Alice Deejay - Back In My Life

I loved "Better off Alone" but I found this one to be very average. A lot of the commercial Trance music in 1999 was good but then in the early part of the 21st century it was mostly cheesy vocal rubbish and this is more similar to that, though in it's defence is nowhere near as bad as DJ Sammy and co.

Verdict - OK

3. The Wamdue Project - King Of My Castle

My first impression of this record was that it was far too slow. Then I went down the pub one night and lost count of the number of times I heard it. After that I thought I'd happily never hear this tune again in my life. It's not one that's been played a great deal since to be fair, but I still don't like it.

Verdict - Rubbish

2. Artful Dodger ft Craig David - Re-Rewind The Crowd Say Bo Selecta (New)

I've never got the appeal of the rewind personally. For those who don't know, it's when a DJ mixes in a new record and the MC asks who wants the rewind, and then the DJ stops and starts the record again. So you hear a chunk of the record you just heard again. With that in mind, I wasn't too keen on this when I first heard it. However it started to grow on me and I ended up buying the "It's All About the Stragglers" album. It was also the first Top 40 hit for both Artful Dodger and Craig David and was probably the one that taught the masses what UK Garage was. A common misconception at the time was that Craig David was the Artful Dodger and people wondered where he was when they had their next hit "Movin Too Fast". That question was answered when he had his next hit with "Fill Me In". It reminded me of when people thought Seal was Adamski nearly a decade earlier.

Verdict - Good

1. Cliff Richard - The Millennium Prayer

The Lords Prayer sung in the style of Auld Lang Syne, sounds bloody awful and it is.

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 6.5/20, or 32.5%. I can't say Five are keeping the score above 5 anymore.

Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 49

Here's my weekly look at the Top 20 from 20 years ago. On the basis we'd reach the Top 20 in the Top 40 countdown around 17:30 on a Sunday at the time the plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

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 20 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

20. Texas - When We Are Together

It's been a while since I last heard this, it doesn't quite sound the same as I remember it. I sense some Motown influence in the song which I don't recall noticing before. However it still sounds very much like a Texas song i.e. boring.

Verdict - Rubbish

19. Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle

The debut hit for Christina Aguilera. Like with many pop songs by young American artists at the time, this is very American high school sounding, but based on what we've learned about many of these songs, you'd expect it to be written by a Swedish bloke. But not this one, 2 of it's 3 writers are actually American, the other coming from New Zealand. Still, not a record I can say I like.

Verdict - Rubbish

18. Westlife - Flying Without Wings

This is probably the best known Westlife song. It was written by the same people who wrote their first number one "Swear It Again". The funny thing was that it wasn't originally going to be a Westlife song, it was going to be the debut solo record for Boyzone member Stephen Gately. Given most people don't remember Stephen Gately even having a solo career, I wonder if he'd have been more successful if this song was given to him instead as originally intended. As far as Westlife songs go, this is probably one of the better ones but it's still shit.

Verdict - Rubbish

17. Jennifer Lopez - Waiting For Tonight

The problem I have with this record now is that it sounds like it set the scene for all that cringe worthy crap she did with the likes of Pitbull later on in her career. At the time though I thought it was alright. I guess the fact you don't have anyone shouting "Mr Worldwide" in it means it still is alright.

Verdict - OK

16. A1 - Everytime / Ready Or Not

The 3rd hit for boy band A1 which reached number 3 and was a double a-side. "Everytime" is the better known one and is a ballad. Sounds like it could just as easily be a Westlife song, but it's written by A1 themselves. "Ready or Not" isn't a cover of the Fugees but it does sound a bit like a rip off of "Stop" by the Spice Girls.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

15. Glamma Kid - Why

This one samples the Carly Simon song of the same title. It's perhaps not as well known as "Taboo" but still made the Top 10. It follows the same sort of formula as it's predecessor, a reggae style tune with an 80s song sampled in the chorus. But this one seems to lack the excitement that "Taboo" had.

Verdict - OK

14. Geri Halliwell - Lift Me Up

The 3rd solo hit and 2nd number one for Geri Halliwell. Despite leaving the Spice Girls due to musical differences, all 3 of her solo hits to date had been written by Absolute, the producers who discovered the Spice Girls and produced half the tracks on their first 2 albums. In fact all the songs on Geri's debut album were written by them and predictably it's still crap.

Verdict - Rubbish

13. Five - Keep On Movin'

On hearing this record for the first time I was expecting it to open with a rap from J. Instead it opens with singing from someone I'd never noticed being in the group before. It was band member Sean who'd pretty much been in the background up until now. J does still get the lions share of the vocals though, with his vocals being somewhere in between singing and rapping in this tune. It was the first Five record to get to number one and I've got to say I like it.

Verdict - Good

12. Will Smith - Will 2K

This was the 8th Top 40 hit for Will Smith (excluding his Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince hits) and his chart career to date was quite remarkable, 7 of his 8 hits had made the Top 3. This one heavily sampled "Rock the Casbah" and featured vocals from K-Ci of Jodeci but despite this it was still the usual crap you got from Will Smith.

Verdict - Rubbish

11. Phats And Small - Tonite (New)

The 3rd Top 40 hit for Phats & Small which follows the same sort of formula as the first 2. At the time I was starting to get tired of that formula but listening to it 20 years later it sounds much better than I remember it sounding.

Verdict - Good

10. Lolly - Big Boys Don't Cry / Rockin' Robin (New)

The 3rd Top 40 hit for Lolly. I'd say the best known of this double a-side is her cover of "Rockin Robin" which is very cheesy as you'd expect. The other one "Big Boys Don't Cry" goes down the ballad route, but somehow still manages to sound cheesy.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

9. Macy Gray - I Try

When I first heard this I imagined the singer to be in her 50s. She actually is now, but at the time she was only 32. I thought it was alright initially but then it quickly got irritating. On paper it shouldn't be a bad song, it's original, it's soulful and it certainly isn't boring but for some reason it just bugs me.

Verdict - Rubbish

8. R Kelly - If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time

The 7th Top 40 single from his "R" album, and still not the last. This is one of those records that charted much later than I remember it charting, but given it's on an album that I own and the first single from that album came out in early 1997 it's not that surprising. Good tune though.

Verdict - Good

7. Robbie Williams - She's The One / It's Only Us

"She's the One" is one of the best known Robbie Williams songs, but what isn't that well known is that this is a cover. The original was by World Party the 2 versions aren't very different at all. "It's Only Us" was written by Robbie Williams himself and I don't think is anywhere near as well known. I quite like both songs.

Verdict - Good / Good

6. Martine McCutcheon - Talking In Your Sleep / Love Me (New)

Nearly a year since Tiffany died on Eastenders and I'm sure many people were hoping they'd bring her back from the dead so we didn't have to suffer her dreadful music career. This double a-side is 2 poor covers of 70s hits. It wouldn't be her last Top 40 hit either, this was her 3rd of 5 Top 40 hits and they all made the Top 10. What were people thinking.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

5. Alice Deejay - Back In My Life (New)

I loved "Better off Alone" but I found this one to be very average. A lot of the commercial Trance music in 1999 was good but then in the early part of the 21st century it was mostly cheesy vocal rubbish and this is more similar to that, though in it's defence is nowhere near as bad as DJ Sammy and co.

Verdict - OK

4. Melanie C - Northern Star (New)

The second single from the album of the same name, this one was written by Rick Nowels who wrote several of Belinda Carlisle's hits. It does sound more of a proper song than any of the Spice Girls hits ever did but that doesn't mean it's any good.

Verdict - Rubbish

3. Boyzone - Every Day I Love You (New)

Boyzone were arguably the biggest boyband at the start of 1999 but then we saw the start of Ronan's solo career and Westlife came along who were basically a younger Boyzone. You sensed it was only a matter of time before Boyzone would call it a day, and they did after this single. It's basically the same sort of ballad type crap they'd done throughout their career.

Verdict - Rubbish

2. The Wamdue Project - King Of My Castle

My first impression of this record was that it was far too slow. Then I went down the pub one night and lost count of the number of times I heard it. After that I thought I'd happily never hear this tune again in my life. It's not one that's been played a great deal since to be fair, but I still don't like it.

Verdict - Rubbish

1. Cliff Richard - The Millennium Prayer

The Lords Prayer sung in the style of Auld Lang Syne, sounds bloody awful and it is.

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 5.5/20, or 27.5%. Five are still keeping the score above 5.

Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 48

Here's my weekly look at the Top 20 from 20 years ago. On the basis we'd reach the Top 20 in the Top 40 countdown around 17:30 on a Sunday at the time the plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

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 20 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

20. Another Level - Bomb Diggy

I was at a karaoke night in maybe 2002 and somebody suggested I got up and sung this. There was one slight problem with that though, I didn't actually know it. Of course once YouTube arrived I had to listen to it after remembering that karaoke night and it did ring a vague bell. Quite why this person thought I should sing it at karaoke though remains a mystery.

Verdict - OK

19. Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle

The debut hit for Christina Aguilera. Like with many pop songs by young American artists at the time, this is very American high school sounding, but based on what we've learned about many of these songs, you'd expect it to be written by a Swedish bloke. But not this one, 2 of it's 3 writers are actually American, the other coming from New Zealand. Still, not a record I can say I like.

Verdict - Rubbish

18. Westlife - Flying Without Wings

This is probably the best known Westlife song. It was written by the same people who wrote their first number one "Swear It Again". The funny thing was that it wasn't originally going to be a Westlife song, it was going to be the debut solo record for Boyzone member Stephen Gately. Given most people don't remember Stephen Gately even having a solo career, I wonder if he'd have been more successful if this song was given to him instead as originally intended. As far as Westlife songs go, this is probably one of the better ones but it's still shit.

Verdict - Rubbish

17. Groove Armada ft Gram'ma Funk - I See You Baby (New)

Yes this really is the same people who did "At the River". Ok maybe not so surprising as both are well known tunes and Groove Armada are well known themselves, but at the time I probably did think that. I didn't like this at the time, aside from "At the River" I didn't really think much to Groove Armada. However I really got into some of their later more obscure material and from that started to appreciate their back catalogue much more and therefore I quite like this now.

Verdict - Good

16. Travis - Turn

This was the biggest hit to date for Travis but just as boring as their previous hits. Maybe a little more catchy thanks to the chorus more or less being a repetition of the same word, that's as exciting as it gets.

Verdict - Rubbish

15. Tin Tin Out ft Emma Bunton - What I Am

It's the solo debut of Baby Spice, well her first non Spice Girls hit anyway. It ended up being the final Top 40 hit for Tin Tin Out and also their most successful. It's a cover of the Edie Brickell record, I'm not keen on the original and this cover does nothing to improve it.

Verdict - Rubbish

14. Blur - No Distance Left To Run (New)

It's quite appropriate that the video to this record is of the band going to sleep as it's certainly boring enough to send you to sleep. I've mentioned before that Blur's music went downhill as the 90s went on and this is probably the worst of them all singles wise.

Verdict - Rubbish

13. Jennifer Lopez - Waiting For Tonight

The problem I have with this record now is that it sounds like it set the scene for all that cringe worthy crap she did with the likes of Pitbull later on in her career. At the time though I thought it was alright. I guess the fact you don't have anyone shouting "Mr Worldwide" in it means it still is alright.

Verdict - OK

12. Texas - When We Are Together (New)

It's been a while since I last heard this, it doesn't quite sound the same as I remember it. I sense some Motown influence in the song which I don't recall noticing before. However it still sounds very much like a Texas song i.e. boring.

Verdict - Rubbish

11. Garbage - The World Is Not Enough (New)

The problem with James Bond songs is they all sound a bit samey. This one sounds promising in parts but there is a constant reminder that this is a James Bond song.

Verdict - OK

10. Glamma Kid - Why (New)

This one samples the Carly Simon song of the same title. It's perhaps not as well known as "Taboo" but still made the Top 10. It follows the same sort of formula as it's predecessor, a reggae style tune with an 80s song sampled in the chorus. But this one seems to lack the excitement that "Taboo" had.

Verdict - OK

9. A1 - Everytime / Ready Or Not

The 3rd hit for boy band A1 which reached number 3 and was a double a-side. "Everytime" is the better known one and is a ballad. Sounds like it could just as easily be a Westlife song, but it's written by A1 themselves. "Ready or Not" isn't a cover of the Fugees but it does sound a bit like a rip off of "Stop" by the Spice Girls.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

8. Five - Keep On Movin'

On hearing this record for the first time I was expecting it to open with a rap from J. Instead it opens with singing from someone I'd never noticed being in the group before. It was band member Sean who'd pretty much been in the background up until now. J does still get the lions share of the vocals though, with his vocals being somewhere in between singing and rapping in this tune. It was the first Five record to get to number one and I've got to say I like it.

Verdict - Good

7. Macy Gray - I Try

When I first heard this I imagined the singer to be in her 50s. She actually is now, but at the time she was only 32. I thought it was alright initially but then it quickly got irritating. On paper it shouldn't be a bad song, it's original, it's soulful and it certainly isn't boring but for some reason it just bugs me.

Verdict - Rubbish

6. Geri Halliwell - Lift Me Up

The 3rd solo hit and 2nd number one for Geri Halliwell. Despite leaving the Spice Girls due to musical differences, all 3 of her solo hits to date had been written by Absolute, the producers who discovered the Spice Girls and produced half the tracks on their first 2 albums. In fact all the songs on Geri's debut album were written by them and predictably it's still crap.

Verdict - Rubbish

5. R Kelly - If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time

The 7th Top 40 single from his "R" album, and still not the last. This is one of those records that charted much later than I remember it charting, but given it's on an album that I own and the first single from that album came out in early 1997 it's not that surprising. Good tune though.

Verdict - Good

4. Will Smith - Will 2K

This was the 8th Top 40 hit for Will Smith (excluding his Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince hits) and his chart career to date was quite remarkable, 7 of his 8 hits had made the Top 3. This one heavily sampled "Rock the Casbah" and featured vocals from K-Ci of Jodeci but despite this it was still the usual crap you got from Will Smith.

Verdict - Rubbish

3. Robbie Williams - She's The One / It's Only Us

"She's the One" is one of the best known Robbie Williams songs, but what isn't that well known is that this is a cover. The original was by World Party the 2 versions aren't very different at all. "It's Only Us" was written by Robbie Williams himself and I don't think is anywhere near as well known. I quite like both songs.

Verdict - Good / Good

2. Cliff Richard - The Millennium Prayer (New)

The Lords Prayer sung in the style of Auld Lang Syne, sounds bloody awful and it is.

Verdict - Rubbish

1. The Wamdue Project - King Of My Castle (New)

My first impression of this record was that it was far too slow. Then I went down the pub one night and lost count of the number of times I heard it. After that I thought I'd happily never hear this tune again in my life. It's not one that's been played a great deal since to be fair, but I still don't like it.

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 6/20, or 30%. If it wasn't for Five the score may have been 5.

Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 47

Here's my weekly look at the Top 20 from 20 years ago. On the basis we'd reach the Top 20 in the Top 40 countdown around 17:30 on a Sunday at the time the plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

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 20 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

20. Mr Vegas - Heads High

This sounds a bit out of place in 1999, probably because from memory this is the first Dancehall record to feature since I started this series of posts. I also own a compilation with this on which I bought around 2003 so I associate it more with that time. Given I didn't press the skip button when listening to said compilation I would say I like it.

Verdict - Good

19. Savage Garden - I Knew I Loved You

Apparently their record label challenged them to produce the next "Truly Madly Deeply" and this was the result. I would argue this is a better song, it's not as soppy and is more uplifting and therefore I can listen to it without cringing. I also have this on a compilation and don't press the skip button.

Verdict - Good

18. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee)

This had already been played to death by the time it charted. I remember listening to the Top 40 the week it topped the charts but turned the radio off once the number one record was announced. It's absolutely terrible.

Verdict - Rubbish

17. Ann Lee - 2 Times

This is very cheesy. It was the debut hit for Ann Lee who had previously had some success as a songwriter. I always imagined this to be sung by a teenager but turns out Ann Lee was 31 when this was released. Obviously she had learned the formula for selling records. I don't mind this record though.

Verdict - OK

16. Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle

The debut hit for Christina Aguilera. Like with many pop songs by young American artists at the time, this is very American high school sounding, but based on what we've learned about many of these songs, you'd expect it to be written by a Swedish bloke. But not this one, 2 of it's 3 writers are actually American, the other coming from New Zealand. Still, not a record I can say I like.

Verdict - Rubbish

15. Westlife - Flying Without Wings

This is probably the best known Westlife song. It was written by the same people who wrote their first number one "Swear It Again". The funny thing was that it wasn't originally going to be a Westlife song, it was going to be the debut solo record for Boyzone member Stephen Gately. Given most people don't remember Stephen Gately even having a solo career, I wonder if he'd have been more successful if this song was given to him instead as originally intended. As far as Westlife songs go, this is probably one of the better ones but it's still shit.

Verdict - Rubbish

14. Another Level - Bomb Diggy

I was at a karaoke night in maybe 2002 and somebody suggested I got up and sung this. There was one slight problem with that though, I didn't actually know it. Of course once YouTube arrived I had to listen to it after remembering that karaoke night and it did ring a vague bell. Quite why this person thought I should sing it at karaoke though remains a mystery.

Verdict - OK

13. Paul Van Dyk - Another Way / Avenue (New)

The 2nd Top 40 hit for Paul Van Dyk which was a double a-side. The better known of the 2 would be "Another Way", even if you think you don't know it there's a good chance you'll recognise it when you hear it. "Avenue" perhaps isn't as radio friendly, but that's no bad thing in my book.

Verdict - Good / Good

12. Ricky Martin - Shake Your Bon-Bon (New)

After his big number one in the summer, Ricky Martin failed to reach the Top 10 with this follow up. It sounds less crappy Spanish holiday song than it's predecessor but that doesn't make it any less irritating.

Verdict - Rubbish

11. Stereophonics - Hurry Up And Wait (New)

Another Stereophonics hit I have no recollection of because I had learned to ignore them, or erase what I'd heard from my memory immediately by this point. That said, I do recall a song with this title existing at the time. Listening to it now though I can say I probably didn't remember it simply because it was so boring.

Verdict - Rubbish

10. Jennifer Lopez - Waiting For Tonight

The problem I have with this record now is that it sounds like it set the scene for all that cringe worthy crap she did with the likes of Pitbull later on in her career. At the time though I thought it was alright. I guess the fact you don't have anyone shouting "Mr Worldwide" in it means it still is alright.

Verdict - OK

9. Tin Tin Out ft Emma Bunton - What I Am

It's the solo debut of Baby Spice, well her first non Spice Girls hit anyway. It ended up being the final Top 40 hit for Tin Tin Out and also their most successful. It's a cover of the Edie Brickell record, I'm not keen on the original and this cover does nothing to improve it.

Verdict - Rubbish

8. Travis - Turn (New)

This was the biggest hit to date for Travis but just as boring as their previous hits. Maybe a little more catchy thanks to the chorus more or less being a repetition of the same word, that's as exciting as it gets.

Verdict - Rubbish

7. Macy Gray - I Try

When I first heard this I imagined the singer to be in her 50s. She actually is now, but at the time she was only 32. I thought it was alright initially but then it quickly got irritating. On paper it shouldn't be a bad song, it's original, it's soulful and it certainly isn't boring but for some reason it just bugs me.

Verdict - Rubbish

6. Five - Keep On Movin'

On hearing this record for the first time I was expecting it to open with a rap from J. Instead it opens with singing from someone I'd never noticed being in the group before. It was band member Sean who'd pretty much been in the background up until now. J does still get the lions share of the vocals though, with his vocals being somewhere in between singing and rapping in this tune. It was the first Five record to get to number one and I've got to say I like it.

Verdict - Good

5. R Kelly - If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time

The 7th Top 40 single from his "R" album, and still not the last. This is one of those records that charted much later than I remember it charting, but given it's on an album that I own and the first single from that album came out in early 1997 it's not that surprising. Good tune though.

Verdict - Good

4. Geri Halliwell - Lift Me Up

The 3rd solo hit and 2nd number one for Geri Halliwell. Despite leaving the Spice Girls due to musical differences, all 3 of her solo hits to date had been written by Absolute, the producers who discovered the Spice Girls and produced half the tracks on their first 2 albums. In fact all the songs on Geri's debut album were written by them and predictably it's still crap.

Verdict - Rubbish

3. A1 - Everytime / Ready Or Not  (New)

The 3rd hit for boy band A1 which reached number 3 and was a double a-side. "Everytime" is the better known one and is a ballad. Sounds like it could just as easily be a Westlife song, but it's written by A1 themselves. "Ready or Not" isn't a cover of the Fugees but it does sound a bit like a rip off of "Stop" by the Spice Girls.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

2. Will Smith - Will 2K (New)

This was the 8th Top 40 hit for Will Smith (excluding his Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince hits) and his chart career to date was quite remarkable, 7 of his 8 hits had made the Top 3. This one heavily sampled "Rock the Casbah" and featured vocals from K-Ci of Jodeci but despite this it was still the usual crap you got from Will Smith.

Verdict - Rubbish

1. Robbie Williams - She's The One / It's Only Us (New)

"She's the One" is one of the best known Robbie Williams songs, but what isn't that well known is that this is a cover. The original was by World Party the 2 versions aren't very different at all. "It's Only Us" was written by Robbie Williams himself and I don't think is anywhere near as well known. I quite like both songs.

Verdict - Good / Good

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 7.5/20, or 37.5%. Now we're sliding.

Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 46

Here's my weekly look at the Top 20 from 20 years ago. On the basis we'd reach the Top 20 in the Top 40 countdown around 17:30 on a Sunday at the time the plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

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 20 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

20. Diana Ross - Not Over You Yet

Yet another older artist making a Dance record. But this time the record is actually pretty good. It's easy to dismiss this as an old artist trying to cash in on the modern sound when people just want to hear the old stuff. But if you just listen to the record it sounds like a proper Dance record, it's not cheesy, there isn't too much emphasis on the vocals, it's how a Dance record should sound.

Verdict - Good

19. Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman!

Oh dear, this is just dreadful. I guess she was successful with the equally dreadful "That Don't Impress Me Much" so thought more of the same.

Verdict - Rubbish

18. Embrace - Hooligan (New)

It had been over a year since Embrace had last been in the Top 40. All their hits to date had been slow, boring and depressing in my opinion, but this was different. It was more upbeat, but despite this was still rather boring.

Verdict - Rubbish

17. Backstreet Boys - Larger Than Life

On the song writing credits for this record is band member Brian Littrell. As the story goes, he took this song to Swedish producers Max Martin and Kristian Lundin who would then make alterations and additions to the song. I wonder just how similar the final song is to what Brian had originally wrote.

Verdict - Rubbish

16. Mr Vegas - Heads High (New)

This sounds a bit out of place in 1999, probably because from memory this is the first Dancehall record to feature since I started this series of posts. I also own a compilation with this on which I bought around 2003 so I associate it more with that time. Given I didn't press the skip button when listening to said compilation I would say I like it.

Verdict - Good

15. Planet Perfecto - Bullet In The Gun (New)

After charting in the summer with "Not Over Yet 99", Planet Perfecto charted one place higher with "Bullet in the Gun" which would go on to reach the Top 10 almost a year later. You could say on that basis it was ahead of it's time, but when you consider commercial trance music was at it's best in 1999 that's probably unfair is this is one of those great 1999 trance records.

Verdict - Good

14. Alena - Turn It Around (New)

I'm sure I heard this one in the summer, but then it wouldn't be the first dance record that charts long after it first gets popular on the dance floor. There were many trance records in 1999 better than this, but actually it's still a decent record.

Verdict - Good

13. Mariah Carey - Heartbreaker

After spending the majority of the decade singing depressing ballads, here's Mariah Carey going all gangsta. Ok not quite, but it's a record for the Rap and R&B crowd and features a rap from Jay-Z. It's quite fitting that she has perhaps the shittest rapper of all time feature on this shit record.

Verdict - Rubbish

12. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee)

This had already been played to death by the time it charted. I remember listening to the Top 40 the week it topped the charts but turned the radio off once the number one record was announced. It's absolutely terrible.

Verdict - Rubbish

11. Ann Lee - 2 Times

This is very cheesy. It was the debut hit for Ann Lee who had previously had some success as a songwriter. I always imagined this to be sung by a teenager but turns out Ann Lee was 31 when this was released. Obviously she had learned the formula for selling records. I don't mind this record though.

Verdict - OK

10. Savage Garden - I Knew I Loved You (New)

Apparently their record label challenged them to produce the next "Truly Madly Deeply" and this was the result. I would argue this is a better song, it's not as soppy and is more uplifting and therefore I can listen to it without cringing. I also have this on a compilation and don't press the skip button.

Verdict - Good

9. Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle

The debut hit for Christina Aguilera. Like with many pop songs by young American artists at the time, this is very American high school sounding, but based on what we've learned about many of these songs, you'd expect it to be written by a Swedish bloke. But not this one, 2 of it's 3 writers are actually American, the other coming from New Zealand. Still, not a record I can say I like.

Verdict - Rubbish

8. Westlife - Flying Without Wings

This is probably the best known Westlife song. It was written by the same people who wrote their first number one "Swear It Again". The funny thing was that it wasn't originally going to be a Westlife song, it was going to be the debut solo record for Boyzone member Stephen Gately. Given most people don't remember Stephen Gately even having a solo career, I wonder if he'd have been more successful if this song was given to him instead as originally intended. As far as Westlife songs go, this is probably one of the better ones but it's still shit.

Verdict - Rubbish

7. Macy Gray - I Try

When I first heard this I imagined the singer to be in her 50s. She actually is now, but at the time she was only 32. I thought it was alright initially but then it quickly got irritating. On paper it shouldn't be a bad song, it's original, it's soulful and it certainly isn't boring but for some reason it just bugs me.

Verdict - Rubbish

6. Another Level - Bomb Diggy (New)

I was at a karaoke night in maybe 2002 and somebody suggested I got up and sung this. There was one slight problem with that though, I didn't actually know it. Of course once YouTube arrived I had to listen to it after remembering that karaoke night and it did ring a vague bell. Quite why this person thought I should sing it at karaoke though remains a mystery.

Verdict - OK

5. Jennifer Lopez - Waiting For Tonight (New)

The problem I have with this record now is that it sounds like it set the scene for all that cringe worthy crap she did with the likes of Pitbull later on in her career. At the time though I thought it was alright. I guess the fact you don't have anyone shouting "Mr Worldwide" in it means it still is alright.

Verdict - OK

4. R Kelly - If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time

The 7th Top 40 single from his "R" album, and still not the last. This is one of those records that charted much later than I remember it charting, but given it's on an album that I own and the first single from that album came out in early 1997 it's not that surprising. Good tune though.

Verdict - Good

3. Five - Keep On Movin'

On hearing this record for the first time I was expecting it to open with a rap from J. Instead it opens with singing from someone I'd never noticed being in the group before. It was band member Sean who'd pretty much been in the background up until now. J does still get the lions share of the vocals though, with his vocals being somewhere in between singing and rapping in this tune. It was the first Five record to get to number one and I've got to say I like it.

Verdict - Good

2. Tin Tin Out ft Emma Bunton - What I Am (New)

It's the solo debut of Baby Spice, well her first non Spice Girls hit anyway. It ended up being the final Top 40 hit for Tin Tin Out and also their most successful. It's a cover of the Edie Brickell record, I'm not keen on the original and this cover does nothing to improve it.

Verdict - Rubbish

1. Geri Halliwell - Lift Me Up (New)

The 3rd solo hit and 2nd number one for Geri Halliwell. Despite leaving the Spice Girls due to musical differences, all 3 of her solo hits to date had been written by Absolute, the producers who discovered the Spice Girls and produced half the tracks on their first 2 albums. In fact all the songs on Geri's debut album were written by them and predictably it's still crap.

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 8.5/20, or 42.5%. We're improving.

Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 45

Here's my weekly look at the Top 20 from 20 years ago. On the basis we'd reach the Top 20 in the Top 40 countdown around 17:30 on a Sunday at the time the plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

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 20 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

20. Britney Spears - (You Drive Me) Crazy

After debuting with a song written by a Swedish bloke and following up with a song written by another Swedish bloke, the 3rd single for Britney Spears was written by those 2 Swedish blokes along with another 2 Swedish blokes. The result is something that sounds very American, and crap.

Verdict - Rubbish

19. Tina Turner - When The Heartache Is Over

After giving Cher a new lease of life with "Believe" just over a year earlier, producers Brian Rawling and Mark Taylor turned their attentions to a nearly 60 year old Tina Turner by producing this Dance record. On the song writing team was John Reid of Nightcrawlers fame alongside Graham Stack. I guess it worked seeing as it reached the Top 10, but I can't say I'm a fan of it.

Verdict - Rubbish

18. Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman!

Oh dear, this is just dreadful. I guess she was successful with the equally dreadful "That Don't Impress Me Much" so thought more of the same.

Verdict - Rubbish

17. Phil Collins - You'll Be In My Heart (New)

This completely passed me by, I don't think I heard this until maybe 2010. I own Phil Collins "Hits" album as well, but it was released a year prior to this therefore it doesn't feature. I can live with that though, it's an alright song but not one of his better ones.

Verdict - OK

16. Steps - After The Love Has Gone

With this being Steps you would expect it to be a cover of the Earth Wind and Fire song, but it isn't. Instead it's more of the usual poundland Abba shite they often do.

Verdict - Rubbish

15. Dreem Teem Vs Neneh Cherry - Buddy X 99 (New)

UK Garage seemed to get really big commercially in the year 2000 and arguably this is where it all began. Obviously we'd had garage records in the Top 40 prior to this but these were few and far between in the year to date. The Dreem Teem were big names in the UK Garage scene playing many of the big events but at the start of 2000 they got their own Radio 1 show. This is a garage mix of the Neneh Cherry tune of the same title.

Verdict - Good

14. Destiny's Child - Bug A Boo

Written by Kandi Burruss and Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, the same people who wrote "Bills Bills Bills". My assessment of "Bills Bills Bills" was that Beyoncé and her irritating voice can make any song sound crap. She's not as irritating on this record, but that doesn't mean I like it.

Verdict - Rubbish

13. B*Witched - Jesse Hold On

The first B*Witched record not to top the charts (excluding collaborations). About time if you ask me.

Verdict - Rubbish

12. Basement Jaxx - Jump 'N' Shout (New)

Basement Jaxx have had some great records, but the experimental nature of their music means that some of their tunes are questionable. This is one of them. I wouldn't say I dislike it, but it's not one I particularly like either.

Verdict - OK

11. ATB - Don't Stop

You hit the big time debuting at number one with arguably the biggest Dance record of the summer, how do you follow that up? Well what ATB did was make a record that more or less sounds the same. He knows it too and has since disowned the record for that very reason. It's not as good as "9pm (Till I Come)" and comparisons will be made, but had "9pm (Till I Come)" not been made and I was hearing this would I like it? I would say probably not, it just seems to lack any substance.

Verdict - Rubbish

10. Backstreet Boys - Larger Than Life

On the song writing credits for this record is band member Brian Littrell. As the story goes, he took this song to Swedish producers Max Martin and Kristian Lundin who would then make alterations and additions to the song. I wonder just how similar the final song is to what Brian had originally wrote.

Verdict - Rubbish

9. Diana Ross - Not Over You Yet (New)

Yet another older artist making a Dance record. But this time the record is actually pretty good. It's easy to dismiss this as an old artist trying to cash in on the modern sound when people just want to hear the old stuff. But if you just listen to the record it sounds like a proper Dance record, it's not cheesy, there isn't too much emphasis on the vocals, it's how a Dance record should sound.

Verdict - Good

8. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee)

This had already been played to death by the time it charted. I remember listening to the Top 40 the week it topped the charts but turned the radio off once the number one record was announced. It's absolutely terrible.

Verdict - Rubbish

7. Macy Gray - I Try

When I first heard this I imagined the singer to be in her 50s. She actually is now, but at the time she was only 32. I thought it was alright initially but then it quickly got irritating. On paper it shouldn't be a bad song, it's original, it's soulful and it certainly isn't boring but for some reason it just bugs me.

Verdict - Rubbish

6. Ann Lee - 2 Times

This is very cheesy. It was the debut hit for Ann Lee who had previously had some success as a songwriter. I always imagined this to be sung by a teenager but turns out Ann Lee was 31 when this was released. Obviously she had learned the formula for selling records. I don't mind this record though.

Verdict - OK

5. Mariah Carey - Heartbreaker (New)

After spending the majority of the decade singing depressing ballads, here's Mariah Carey going all gangsta. Ok not quite, but it's a record for the Rap and R&B crowd and features a rap from Jay-Z. It's quite fitting that she has perhaps the shittest rapper of all time feature on this shit record.

Verdict - Rubbish

4. Westlife - Flying Without Wings

This is probably the best known Westlife song. It was written by the same people who wrote their first number one "Swear It Again". The funny thing was that it wasn't originally going to be a Westlife song, it was going to be the debut solo record for Boyzone member Stephen Gately. Given most people don't remember Stephen Gately even having a solo career, I wonder if he'd have been more successful if this song was given to him instead as originally intended. As far as Westlife songs go, this is probably one of the better ones but it's still shit.

Verdict - Rubbish

3. Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle

The debut hit for Christina Aguilera. Like with many pop songs by young American artists at the time, this is very American high school sounding, but based on what we've learned about many of these songs, you'd expect it to be written by a Swedish bloke. But not this one, 2 of it's 3 writers are actually American, the other coming from New Zealand. Still, not a record I can say I like.

Verdict - Rubbish

2. R Kelly - If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time

The 7th Top 40 single from his "R" album, and still not the last. This is one of those records that charted much later than I remember it charting, but given it's on an album that I own and the first single from that album came out in early 1997 it's not that surprising. Good tune though.

Verdict - Good

1. Five - Keep On Movin' (New)

On hearing this record for the first time I was expecting it to open with a rap from J. Instead it opens with singing from someone I'd never noticed being in the group before. It was band member Sean who'd pretty much been in the background up until now. J does still get the lions share of the vocals though, with his vocals being somewhere in between singing and rapping in this tune. It was the first Five record to get to number one and I've got to say I like it.

Verdict - Good

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 5.5/20, or 27.5%. Five have brought the score over 5.