I now own all of them from Hits 96 through to the final one - Summer Hits 06, but I agree that the rebranding was a pain - I liked when they started again at Hits 50, although they literally did put 50 songs on it so many of them were chopped to buggery on 50 and 51. But I pretty much bought all of the Now and Hits albums on the day of release from March 1999 onwards - it's what I saved all of my pocket money for during the year :lol:

 

I'd go as far to say I prefer some of the Hits albums to the Now ones. Hits 55 was a particular favourite of mine - it missed LOADS of the late 2002/early 2003 hits that Now couldn't get the rights to - Beautiful, Stole, I Begin To Wonder, The Opera Song, Family Portrait, Jenny From The Block, Complicated, Born To Try, You're A Superstar, Scandalous, A Little Less Conversation and Spirit In The Sky to name just a few...we're lucky now that Hits has folded the Now albums are far more representative of the time period - it's just a shame that the charts at the moment are so one dimensional meaning that the Now albums are by default :(

I just looked at the tracklisting for Hits 55 on Wikipedia and it does look quite good! Hits 56 looks even BETTER though - although some of these inclusions are truly random. Who the hell is Saffron Hill - it's not anything to do with the lead singer of Republica, is it? :o I'm sure she was called Saffron, but I can't remember her surname. And yeah, that was quite a crap period for Now albums really, some of there were very starved in terms of big hits. Now 52 was a particular lowlight, one of the worst ever - only a handful of decent tracks on there.

 

For what it's worth, the Hits albums I own are:

 

New Hits 96 (very good - especially for including TLC's Creep and some nice 'second string' Britpop)

Big Hits 97 (kinda rubbish really)

New Hits 98 (good, but really sub-par compared to the equivalent Now 39)

Fresh Hits 98 (very good)

Hits 54 (not sure why I randomly own this one but I do recall a TV advert for it with Rosie Ribbons as one of the tracks advertising it which is a bit WTF in retrospect but that's probably why :lol:)

 

So yeah, five, which is more than I thought, I forgot I had Big Hits 97. I guess there's nothing stopping me from buying the entire series one-by-one online (well, apart from money, which I don't have much of right now!) some day though, but I'm not sure how many songs I wouldn't already own on other random albums/compilations. I guess it would be worthwile for some of the rarer late 90s/early 00s flops though.

 

As for the Top of the Pops series, I own almost all of them from mid-1998 to mid-2003 and I think it might have ended after that as I don't remember seeing any more. My favourite would probably be the very first of them I bought - Top of the Pops 1998 Volume 2 - which had a load of good stuff missed off Now 40/41, including the infamous Alda! :D

 

I have pretty much every HITS album, right from the very first in 1984 (The HITS Album 1) to the last two (Essential Hits/Summer Hits 06). The first one i bought was The HITS Album 6 (1987), since got the earlier ones

second-hand. A very good series as you usually got tracks which never made the NOW album so it was always something to have.

I recommend seeking it out the earlier ones if you're a collector.

 

I have every single NOW album (1-78) plus the millennium editions, and a few of the 30th anniversary series. I have a couple of others in the series, but mostly the regular numbered editions.

Impressive collection! I only(!) have Now 1 and Now 18-78. But some of the early ones weren't even released on CD so it'll be impossible for me to go back that far.

 

I felt with some of the old Now! albums (like the 60's) that the 2nd disc was always very indie or darker than the first! Not anymore!

Yeah, sometimes the second disc is used as the rock/indie disc. It depends on the trends at the time I guess. It also used to often be home to all the dance music, or more often than not a mish-mash of the two, plus they usually throw the MoR Radio 2-type stuff on that side too. The last few times it's just been a continuation of Disc 1 in terms of genres/themes with the odd alternative hit thrown in, but oh well! I much prefer it when the two discs are a bit different musically, personally.

 

Mind you, I still nearly always prefer Disc 2 to Disc 1, although there are exceptions of course.

I just looked at the tracklisting for Hits 55 on Wikipedia and it does look quite good! Hits 56 looks even BETTER though - although some of these inclusions are truly random. Who the hell is Saffron Hill - it's not anything to do with the lead singer of Republica, is it? :o I'm sure she was called Saffron, but I can't remember her surname. And yeah, that was quite a crap period for Now albums really, some of there were very starved in terms of big hits. Now 52 was a particular lowlight, one of the worst ever - only a handful of decent tracks on there.

 

For what it's worth, the Hits albums I own are:

 

New Hits 96 (very good - especially for including TLC's Creep and some nice 'second string' Britpop)

Big Hits 97 (kinda rubbish really)

New Hits 98 (good, but really sub-par compared to the equivalent Now 39)

Fresh Hits 98 (very good)

Hits 54 (not sure why I randomly own this one but I do recall a TV advert for it with Rosie Ribbons as one of the tracks advertising it which is a bit WTF in retrospect but that's probably why :lol:)

 

So yeah, five, which is more than I thought, I forgot I had Big Hits 97. I guess there's nothing stopping me from buying the entire series one-by-one online (well, apart from money, which I don't have much of right now!) some day though, but I'm not sure how many songs I wouldn't already own on other random albums/compilations. I guess it would be worthwile for some of the rarer late 90s/early 00s flops though.

 

As for the Top of the Pops series, I own almost all of them from mid-1998 to mid-2003 and I think it might have ended after that as I don't remember seeing any more. My favourite would probably be the very first of them I bought - Top of the Pops 1998 Volume 2 - which had a load of good stuff missed off Now 40/41, including the infamous Alda! :D

 

Hits 56 wasn't bad, still think 55 had the big hits on though, almost as many hits to rival its equivalent Now 54! No - Saffron Hill was a generic dance act name :lol: Saffron from Republica was just a stage name, her real name is a lot less exotic - Samantha Sprackling :lol: Yeah, Now 52 was a bit poor, only 3 #1's iirc - Sugababes, Ronan Keating and Liberty X, Hits had most of the #1's from that year, mainly because there were so many Pop Idol acts, which Hits had the rights to being being BMG.

 

Whereabouts do you live? There's a chain of stores in the North/midlands called That's Entertainment and they sell everything from Hits 96 through to Summer Hits 06 for 99p! It's how I was able to plug a lot of the gaps from pre-1999 in my collection. Likewise the Pepsi Chart, Smash Hits and Top of the Pops albums are all there for 99p, and the Nows are all £1.99 each or three for a five from Now 29 onwards. So you could basically get the 35 odd Hits albums that you don't have for less than £35!

Hits 56 wasn't bad, still think 55 had the big hits on though, almost as many hits to rival its equivalent Now 54! No - Saffron Hill was a generic dance act name :lol: Saffron from Republica was just a stage name, her real name is a lot less exotic - Samantha Sprackling :lol: Yeah, Now 52 was a bit poor, only 3 #1's iirc - Sugababes, Ronan Keating and Liberty X, Hits had most of the #1's from that year, mainly because there were so many Pop Idol acts, which Hits had the rights to being being BMG.

 

Whereabouts do you live? There's a chain of stores in the North/midlands called That's Entertainment and they sell everything from Hits 96 through to Summer Hits 06 for 99p! It's how I was able to plug a lot of the gaps from pre-1999 in my collection. Likewise the Pepsi Chart, Smash Hits and Top of the Pops albums are all there for 99p, and the Nows are all £1.99 each or three for a five from Now 29 onwards. So you could basically get the 35 odd Hits albums that you don't have for less than £35!

That does sound rather amazing and almost too good to exist, but unfortunately I'm stuck down in the south! Looking at the website of this place, the closest to me is about 90 miles away, which is quite a distance considering I can't drive - and I'm not sure I fancy asking my mum or dad to drive me there just to get a few random compilations from 10 years ago! I can only imagine their reaction to that :lol: It also says on their website that they're planning to open more soon so hopefully they'll have one that is at least a managable distance away from here. Does it sell old CD singles too? How much would they be? And does it only sell old stuff? I'm surprised if it's getting away with selling newer stuff at such prices :o

That does sound rather amazing and almost too good to exist, but unfortunately I'm stuck down in the south! Looking at the website of this place, the closest to me is about 90 miles away, which is quite a distance considering I can't drive - and I'm not sure I fancy asking my mum or dad to drive me there just to get a few random compilations from 10 years ago! I can only imagine their reaction to that :lol: It also says on their website that they're planning to open more soon so hopefully they'll have one that is at least a managable distance away from here. Does it sell old CD singles too? How much would they be? And does it only sell old stuff? I'm surprised if it's getting away with selling newer stuff at such prices :o

 

:lol: Yes, it might be a bit of an awkward ask!

 

I normally live in Brighton but have taken the opportunity to go whilst I've been living up north for the past year! Hopefully they'll open some down here soon, surely London needs one!?! Nope not CD singles - albums, DVDs and games. Well they're not 'new', they're secondhand CD's that have been 'restored' and had the cases changed, so they look and feel brand new but they're not really. They get them from the Music Magpie website, where people sell their old albums for about 30p each, so even if restoration costs another 20p, they're still making a 50p profit on each one they sell. And a lot of things are £1.99/£2.99, it's really only the late 90s/early 00s compilations and pop acts that are 99p. Still brilliant value in there though! The most I've ever spent in there was £12 and I bought 10-12 CDs iirc :D Oh, and they do sell chart/current music but it retails usually at full price - the current stuff is brand new though.

That and Now 73 are my 2 faves! :wub: Everyone should oown them 2 albums - 2009 really was a great year in Music! :D

 

There are so many good songs on that. Right from FFTL opening.

Did anyone like Hits 51?

Edited June 16, 201114 yr by N-S

Did anyone like Hits 51?

 

Yes and no.

 

Yes, it had some great songs on there that weren't on Now - I'm Real, Follow Me, Hunter, That Day, Fallin', Will I, Crying At The Discotheque, Catch and Who Do You Love Now and then In The Waiting Line by Zero 7 which is gorgeous and of course the legendary Set You Free :wub: Come to think of it, why wasn't Will I ever on a Now album? Castles In The Sky was on Now 49 and then Will I and Reason were snubbed despite being big hits, especially the former! I also loved the long forgotten Bring It Onto My Love by De Nada - SO good that it was on both Hits 51 AND Hits 52 - I don't know why either!

 

But also no because there were SO many songs crammed onto it that a lot were cut short and ruined.

Something to add for Superbossanova;

 

I was in Poundland earlier (buying a feather duster for as cheap as possible - don't judge me :ph34r: ) and they had aboslutely TONNES of CDs in there, loads of Now and Hits albums for £1 each - obviously. Might be worth you braving your local branch to see if you can plug a few holes in your collection!?! It seemed to be strictly 1998-2003 stuff though from what I could see...

 

Also loads of Corrs CDs but I choose to actively ignore that seeing as they're worth far more than £1 each :angry:

the covers have been very samey for years now. they need a change of direction - but still use the monolith letters and numbers.

Now 39 and 54 were my faves

Something to add for Superbossanova;

 

I was in Poundland earlier (buying a feather duster for as cheap as possible - don't judge me :ph34r: ) and they had aboslutely TONNES of CDs in there, loads of Now and Hits albums for £1 each - obviously. Might be worth you braving your local branch to see if you can plug a few holes in your collection!?! It seemed to be strictly 1998-2003 stuff though from what I could see...

 

Also loads of Corrs CDs but I choose to actively ignore that seeing as they're worth far more than £1 each :angry:

Oh really! I was just down in the town centre this afternoon, and even walked right past the pound shop! :lol: I didn't even know they sold CDs in there otherwise I'd go in there far more often. As it happens I haven't been into one of them in years, but I'll try to remember to have a pop in and see next time.

 

Now 39 and 54 were my faves

Now 39 is obviously incredible but 54 was just average for me - i.e. I like about half the tracklisting, which is usually the standard for me on most Now albums, although the last few have been even less than that in general. For me the gems are those that are approaching/exceed 30 songs that I like on it! :drama: The late 1990s ones can pick up those kind of numbers consistently.

 

I actually think 39 may well be my ultimate favourite now that I think about it. There's only one track on Disc 1 I'd skip if push came to shove (Boyzone's Baby Can I Hold You, and even that's perfectly listenable in a background way), and while Disc 2 is much worse with some faceless dance it still only TRULY wobbles on the Aqua-Steps couplet before Louise comes to save it. And even Vanilla stuffed at the end is so bad it's become an essential staple of the 90s in an ironic way. Also contains my favourite tracks by Lighthouse Family, Natalie Imbruglia, Radiohead, Space and some good one hit-type acts (Billie Myers, Cornershop, Run-DMC vs Jason Nevins)! All of this is making me want to listen to it now.

 

And on closer inspection 40 is nowhere near as good as I thought! Too many pop flops on it that look like they'd belong on a Smash Hits compilation - except dear Keri-Ann, she can stay as I do like that one. Still better than most though and some very good tracks (plus lots of memories, it was the first Now album I owned, on cassette as well - which ended up becoming unwound after about 2 weeks!). 41 is better than I remember though.

Edited June 17, 201114 yr by superbossanova

Oh really! I was just down in the town centre this afternoon, and even walked right past the pound shop! :lol: I didn't even know they sold CDs in there otherwise I'd go in there far more often. As it happens I haven't been into one of them in years, but I'll try to remember to have a pop in and see next time.

 

Now 39 is obviously incredible but 54 was just average for me - i.e. I like about half the tracklisting, which is usually the standard for me on most Now albums, although the last few have been even less than that in general. For me the gems are those that are approaching/exceed 30 songs that I like on it! :drama: The late 1990s ones can pick up those kind of numbers consistently.

 

I actually think 39 may well be my ultimate favourite now that I think about it. There's only one track on Disc 1 I'd skip if push came to shove (Boyzone's Baby Can I Hold You, and even that's perfectly listenable in a background way), and while Disc 2 is much worse with some faceless dance it still only TRULY wobbles on the Aqua-Steps couplet before Louise comes to save it. And even Vanilla stuffed at the end is so bad it's become an essential staple of the 90s in an ironic way. Also contains my favourite tracks by Lighthouse Family, Natalie Imbruglia, Radiohead, Space and some good one hit-type acts (Billie Myers, Cornershop, Run-DMC vs Jason Nevins)! All of this is making me want to listen to it now.

 

And on closer inspection 40 is nowhere near as good as I thought! Too many pop flops on it that look like they'd belong on a Smash Hits compilation - except dear Keri-Ann, she can stay as I do like that one. Still better than most though and some very good tracks (plus lots of memories, it was the first Now album I owned, on cassette as well - which ended up becoming unwound after about 2 weeks!). 41 is better than I remember though.

 

Must be a new addition, I've not seen them in there before - granted I only go in about twice a year if I need some boring purchase on the cheap (i.e. feather duster!)

 

I love Baby Can I Hold You :lol: And Aqua/Steps are a great tacky couplet, hardly ranking alonside Lolly/The Cartoons! At least Barbie Girl and 5,6,7,8 are 90s classics, in a massively $hite way of course!

 

41 is FAR better than 40 imo, late 1998 has got to be the best 4 months of music ever (although later rivalled for me by late 2007!) - so many 9/10 and 10/10 moments on it for me that it would be quicker to reel off the tracks that I'd skip on there - and they are; Come Back Darling, I Want You Back, Bootie Call, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place and Home Alone. Only 5/42, what sort of compilation has that sort of play:skip ratio!?!

Must be a new addition, I've not seen them in there before - granted I only go in about twice a year if I need some boring purchase on the cheap (i.e. feather duster!)

 

I love Baby Can I Hold You :lol: And Aqua/Steps are a great tacky couplet, hardly ranking alonside Lolly/The Cartoons! At least Barbie Girl and 5,6,7,8 are 90s classics, in a massively $hite way of course!

 

41 is FAR better than 40 imo, late 1998 has got to be the best 4 months of music ever (although later rivalled for me by late 2007!) - so many 9/10 and 10/10 moments on it for me that it would be quicker to reel off the tracks that I'd skip on there - and they are; Come Back Darling, I Want You Back, Bootie Call, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place and Home Alone. Only 5/42, what sort of compilation has that sort of play:skip ratio!?!

Well I went in this morning and LORD that must be the cheapest Poundland in the land :lol: Rather than a whole selection like I was expecting/hoping for, they only had a truly random selection of 5 albums (and all in plentiful supply!) - Peter Andre, Motörhead, some Celtic album, Basement Jaxx and another one I've forgotten. Anyhow, given I took the bus to town specifically to go there I didn't want to leave with nothing so bought the Basement Jaxx album (which is quite handy really, it's one of the few of theirs I didn't own before). Thankfully, I popped into the British Heart Foundation store across the road and lucked upon Hits 2000! So yeah, not a complete waste - but I was hoping to come back with a few Hits albums not only one and then a Basement Jaxx album personally :drama:

 

And I HATE Barbie Girl. It's the type of crap that gave the late 90s a bad name :( Let's face it, to the general public, that's all the 1997-1999 period means. I do generally like Aqua though, but their first two UK #1s were horrendous. For me their best songs were some of their least successful - Good Morning Sunshine, Cartoon Heroes, etc. And 5,6,7,8 is just rubbish.

 

On the subject of Now 41, I could probably listen to the entire first disc without skipping but I don't really like U2, Melanie B, Lutricia McNeal and Phil Collins. On the second disc, I dislike Billie, T-Spoon and the Vengaboys. The rest are average to great - and I love Home Alone! I think it's a fairly close run thing but the best tracks on 40 are better than the best on 41 imo.

 

EDIT: Looking at the tracklisting properly for Hits 2000 and wow, it has the Thunderbugs' 2nd single on it!! See, this is what I was hoping for in terms of some of the rarer pop flops :heehee:

Edited June 18, 201114 yr by superbossanova

Well I went in this morning and LORD that must be the cheapest Poundland in the land :lol: Rather than a whole selection like I was expecting/hoping for, they only had a truly random selection of 5 albums (and all in plentiful supply!) - Peter Andre, Motörhead, some Celtic album, Basement Jaxx and another one I've forgotten. Anyhow, given I took the bus to town specifically to go there I didn't want to leave with nothing so bought the Basement Jaxx album (which is quite handy really, it's one of the few of theirs I didn't own before). Thankfully, I popped into the British Heart Foundation store across the road and lucked upon Hits 2000! So yeah, not a complete waste - but I was hoping to come back with a few Hits albums not only one and then a Basement Jaxx album personally :drama:

 

And I HATE Barbie Girl. It's the type of crap that gave the late 90s a bad name :( Let's face it, to the general public, that's all the 1997-1999 period means. I do generally like Aqua though, but their first two UK #1s were horrendous. For me their best songs were some of their least successful - Good Morning Sunshine, Cartoon Heroes, etc. And 5,6,7,8 is just rubbish.

 

On the subject of Now 41, I could probably listen to the entire first disc without skipping but I don't really like U2, Melanie B, Lutricia McNeal and Phil Collins. On the second disc, I dislike Billie, T-Spoon and the Vengaboys. The rest are average to great - and I love Home Alone! I think it's a fairly close run thing but the best tracks on 40 are better than the best on 41 imo.

 

EDIT: Looking at the tracklisting properly for Hits 2000 and wow, it has the Thunderbugs' 2nd single on it!! See, this is what I was hoping for in terms of some of the rarer pop flops :heehee:

 

Aawww, sorry to hear that! My local branch must have got all of the good stuff :drama: Glad you managed to get something at least, Hits 2000 has some brilliant flops on it - not least the Thunderbugs song! And there's another song on there that went top 3 in the UK but dropped away quickly and became forgotten by all - BUT it's an 'all time classic' over in Norway, up there with the likes of Angels and Imagine in the UK in terms of 'classic status' and I'm not even joking! Can you guess what it is? :P

 

I think they both have a tacky charm although Aqua's best for me was undoubtedly Turn Back Time. I also loved their 2009 single Back To The 80s!

 

I love Someone Loves You Honey, what a 'feel-good' anthem :wub: That U2 song was actually pretty good too considering I dislike them with a passion usually! I wouldn't say I love any of the three you mentioned on Disc 2 but for nostalgia purposes I wouldn't skip them.

I actually think 39 may well be my ultimate favourite now that I think about it. There's only one track on Disc 1 I'd skip if push came to shove (Boyzone's Baby Can I Hold You, and even that's perfectly listenable in a background way), and while Disc 2 is much worse with some faceless dance it still only TRULY wobbles on the Aqua-Steps couplet before Louise comes to save it. And even Vanilla stuffed at the end is so bad it's become an essential staple of the 90s in an ironic way. Also contains my favourite tracks by Lighthouse Family, Natalie Imbruglia, Radiohead, Space and some good one hit-type acts (Billie Myers, Cornershop, Run-DMC vs Jason Nevins)! All of this is making me want to listen to it now.

 

And on closer inspection 40 is nowhere near as good as I thought! Too many pop flops on it that look like they'd belong on a Smash Hits compilation - except dear Keri-Ann, she can stay as I do like that one. Still better than most though and some very good tracks (plus lots of memories, it was the first Now album I owned, on cassette as well - which ended up becoming unwound after about 2 weeks!). 41 is better than I remember though.

 

 

40 was a real come down - I only baought it for Viva Forever as I had all the songs on CD that I wanted already.

I can't believe I missed all this talk about the NOWs / HITS / TOTPs & Smash Hits :(

 

Actually, I decided to spin Hits 51 on iTunes, but it didn't come up with the artists, so I had to type them in... Some of the names I was typing I had no idea who they were :lol: And i cringed when i had to type 'Bob the Builder' and 'Tweenies'. *shivers*

Edited June 18, 201114 yr by Spiral

Aawww, sorry to hear that! My local branch must have got all of the good stuff :drama: Glad you managed to get something at least, Hits 2000 has some brilliant flops on it - not least the Thunderbugs song! And there's another song on there that went top 3 in the UK but dropped away quickly and became forgotten by all - BUT it's an 'all time classic' over in Norway, up there with the likes of Angels and Imagine in the UK in terms of 'classic status' and I'm not even joking! Can you guess what it is? :P

 

I think they both have a tacky charm although Aqua's best for me was undoubtedly Turn Back Time. I also loved their 2009 single Back To The 80s!

 

I love Someone Loves You Honey, what a 'feel-good' anthem :wub: That U2 song was actually pretty good too considering I dislike them with a passion usually! I wouldn't say I love any of the three you mentioned on Disc 2 but for nostalgia purposes I wouldn't skip them.

Yeah, quite! I might pop in again next week and see if they have anything better. I'm convinced the crap they're trying to flog now won't sell, even for £1! The Peter Andre CD column was completely untouched as far as I could tell, which unless it was put up only today is a bit embarrassing, although not exactly surprising when you consider the content. It was one of his more recent ones too - can't remember the name, I'd have to look at some of his cover sleeves.

 

I haven't heard that Thunderbugs song in an absolute age so I'm quite happy to have a 'copy' of it now. I always preferred it to Friends Forever to be honest which I always found more than a little cringey, IATYWM is a very respectable pop song - if a little mature for a girlband in 1999! As for the Norway thing, I guess top 3 means it peaked at #2 or #3... and off the top of my head the only songs that peaked there on this CD are R. Kelly, Ann Lee, A1, Alice Deejay and Artful Dodger. Of those, I'd instantly rule out Artful Dodger and Ann Lee for being ridiculous, R. Kelly and Alice Deejay didn't drop away fast, which leaves... A1?! I always preferred the flip-side to that - Ready Or Not, didn't care much about Everytime.

 

I didn't like Back to the 80s much at all - I think Aqua are only a group I can enjoy in the context of the 90s anyway. If a new group came around like them today I'd just laugh at them and hate them, probably!

 

40 was a real come down - I only baought it for Viva Forever as I had all the songs on CD that I wanted already.

I've never bought a compilation for only one song before :o Some of the more recent Nows I've literally only bought to carry on my collection though, mind.

 

I think 40 does have its selling points though - my absolute favourites are Viva Forever, Looking For Love, Feel It, Stranded, All My Life, Be Careful, Sonnet, Teardrop, Legacy and Can't Help Myself, and then are about a dozen more I like.

 

I can't believe I missed all this talk about the NOWs / HITS / TOTPs & Smash Hits :(

 

Actually, I decided to spin Hits 51 on iTunes, but it didn't come up with the artists, so I had to type them in... Some of the names I was typing I had no idea who they were :lol: And i cringed when i had to type 'Bob the Builder' and 'Tweenies'. *shivers*

:lol: I've heard of everyone on Hits 51 except G:UK, which sounds like another random dance act to me. I'm terrible at remembering the floppy dance songs. Loads of songs I haven't heard since 2001 I guess though! It does look quite good but gooddelta's comment about songs being chopped puts me off a bit... :drama:

Yeah, quite! I might pop in again next week and see if they have anything better. I'm convinced the crap they're trying to flog now won't sell, even for £1! The Peter Andre CD column was completely untouched as far as I could tell, which unless it was put up only today is a bit embarrassing, although not exactly surprising when you consider the content. It was one of his more recent ones too - can't remember the name, I'd have to look at some of his cover sleeves.

 

I haven't heard that Thunderbugs song in an absolute age so I'm quite happy to have a 'copy' of it now. I always preferred it to Friends Forever to be honest which I always found more than a little cringey, IATYWM is a very respectable pop song - if a little mature for a girlband in 1999! As for the Norway thing, I guess top 3 means it peaked at #2 or #3... and off the top of my head the only songs that peaked there on this CD are R. Kelly, Ann Lee, A1, Alice Deejay and Artful Dodger. Of those, I'd instantly rule out Artful Dodger and Ann Lee for being ridiculous, R. Kelly and Alice Deejay didn't drop away fast, which leaves... A1?! I always preferred the flip-side to that - Ready Or Not, didn't care much about Everytime.

 

I didn't like Back to the 80s much at all - I think Aqua are only a group I can enjoy in the context of the 90s anyway. If a new group came around like them today I'd just laugh at them and hate them, probably!

 

I'll have a look when I get back to Brighton and see if the Poundland there has any. Maybe it's just a northern thing?

 

I can't agree with that I'm afraid, Friends Forever is one of my favourite songs ever - as confirmed by the countdown I did in the Lounge recently where it was featured! I bought their album, albeit on Mini-Disc because that's the only format that it was released on - lucky I had a Mini-Disc player! Must have sold all of five copies!

 

Yes! They reunited in 2009 and they did quite a few of the summer festivals over in Norway last year. I watched the Youtube videos and the roars for Everytime were insane, not to mention that everyone in the crowd seemed to know and be singing along to every word, even the young children! :lol: I like Everytime a lot, Ready Or Not feels quite cheap to me production wise although the melody's alright. Lets not forget that Christian from the band IS Norwegian, hence them now adopting it as their home territory I guess, they're still churning out the hits there!

 

 

I can confidently predict that if they came and performed this track at a UK festival, maybe 1% of the crowd at best would recall it :lol: On closer inspection it had a really lengthy chart run there back in 1999 so I guess it was hammered on the radio for years.

There's talk on their facebook page about having Now 80' as a triple disc! How amazing would that be? It would mean more tracks for me (who is living in 1995, and doesn't download music at all)

I'll have a look when I get back to Brighton and see if the Poundland there has any. Maybe it's just a northern thing?

 

I can't agree with that I'm afraid, Friends Forever is one of my favourite songs ever - as confirmed by the countdown I did in the Lounge recently where it was featured! I bought their album, albeit on Mini-Disc because that's the only format that it was released on - lucky I had a Mini-Disc player! Must have sold all of five copies!

 

Yes! They reunited in 2009 and they did quite a few of the summer festivals over in Norway last year. I watched the Youtube videos and the roars for Everytime were insane, not to mention that everyone in the crowd seemed to know and be singing along to every word, even the young children! :lol: I like Everytime a lot, Ready Or Not feels quite cheap to me production wise although the melody's alright. Lets not forget that Christian from the band IS Norwegian, hence them now adopting it as their home territory I guess, they're still churning out the hits there!

 

 

I can confidently predict that if they came and performed this track at a UK festival, maybe 1% of the crowd at best would recall it :lol: On closer inspection it had a really lengthy chart run there back in 1999 so I guess it was hammered on the radio for years.

 

Love that song!

They should come here, we like that kind of a music!