December 14, 201113 yr 18TH OCTOBER- STAY- Sash! Feeaturing Le Trec (1 week) See my comment for "Ecuador". 8TH NOVEMBER- TORN- Natalie Imbruglia (3 weeks) I can't quite tell if it was the massive overexposure this song got at the time that made me feel the way I do. But quite frankly, I find "Torn" to be a, er, torn in my side. Hey, one thing we can agree on: Natalie Imbruglia looks mighty good, whatever her hairstyle is! ^_^ But there's just something too flimsy about this that just can't manage to connect with me. I guess it's just that, for a song which speaks about a relationship achieving dead-end status, Imbruglia doesn't seem to actually sound very much engaged with the whole thing. Of course I'm not asking anyone to screech or put some over-dramatic spin on anything to somehow sound "emotional". But with such powerful lyrics, the delivery simply sounds staid and quite neutral, really. I guess the lyrical content was enough to connect it with listeners, as the song went on to become a monster hit all over the world. To be fair with her, it's just too bad she didn't have any hand at composing the song, or else she could be living pretty comfortably from its royalties by now. Such is this (torn) life!
December 14, 201113 yr Author 6TH DECEMBER- BABY CAN I HOLD YOU/ SHOOTING STAR- Boyzone (1 week) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e0/Bcihy.jpg Easily my fave Boyzone record of 1997, this is naturally a cover, this time of Tracy Chapman's 1988 single, the original failed to chart but chartwise was in safer hands with the, by now, mighty Boyzone. Perhaps the standard of songwriting is too high to spoil but this is atrack actually handled rather sensitively by Keating, who provides a vocal that for a change doesn't grate (no-one notices the rest of band who merely provide a background on this single). The song is oddly one which reminds me of Christmas now, the video is rather dark for a Boyzone song, its a contrast which works quite well, heartbreak is always a message that fits the medium of Boyband well, and with Chapman's penship it's a gift for those teenage girls. Released as a double A- Side with "Shooting Star" from the film "Hercules", that track barely received any airplay and indeed I never saw the video for it until very recently, but is song by Gately (presumably to make up for no part in the main event), the track itself is a competant enough ballad, but I wouldn't class it as a fine example of a Boyzone balladry. It's slightly too saccherine to appeal much beyond the kids/ teenage girls audience. During 1998 the band would go stellar with the million selling "No Matter What" but this is a song that Boyzone badly needed after the drift (quality wise) of the previous hits "Isn't It A Wonder" and "Picture Of You". Ronan must have recognised its comparable greatness as its one of the tracks he chose to re-record for his 2004 solo greatest hits album, even the song a release in Germany where it went top 10, in the UK it was digital release only so was not chart eligable at that time. In conclusion I can't be harsh to this to this version, any song that makes Ronan's vocals seem warm rather than nails down a blackboard has to be slightly special. iEHfTqfrLMA&feature=fvsr Edited December 15, 201113 yr by Dasher76
December 14, 201113 yr 6TH DECEMBER- BABY CAN I HOLD YOU/ SHOOTING STAR- Boyzone (1 week) this is a song that Boyzone badly needed after the drift (quality wise) of the previous hits "Isn't It A Wonder" and "Picture Of You". Fair enough with Isn't It A Wonder which isn't highly regarded anywhere but I thought that Picture Of You was pretty much generally thought of as one of Boyzone's best singles? It's certainly the only one I still regularly hear on the radio anyway. And it won the Boyzone rate I did on the old CHC forum back in 2008 pretty comprehensively! Twas 'the Boyzone song that it's ok to like' :lol: In my opinion Baby Can I Hold You maintained the quality that Picture Of You had delievered!
December 14, 201113 yr Author 17TH JANUARY 1998- BAMBOOGIE- Bamboo ( 1 week) http://www.vinyltap.co.uk/gallery/ba/bambob5092108867636300.jpg If I have one grumble about the period 97-01 it's records like this. I don't really see the point, just a sample repeated ad nauseam (actually i write that and there is a song from 99 that will appear in this thread which does the same that I absolutely love so I shan't make that a blanket rule of mine) but this got very very quickly. In January the record industry traditionally goes into hangover mode, allowed odd dance tracks to filter into the charts (well that used to happen around this period anyway) and this record really falls into the forgettable bracket. Sampling a K.C & The Sunshine Band record "Get Down Tonight" the song was unlucky to lose out to "Never Ever" by just 600 copies after leading mid week (how odd to think that that All Saints record was oh so nearly NEVER a chart topper!) anyway I never really it anymore anyway thankfully, and whilst this isn't the worst record ever made (that is obviously "Tease Me") neither it is going to be winning any awards, a slow week and poor sales is about all I can put this down to. ewp5oub9oLA Edited December 15, 201113 yr by Dasher76
December 14, 201113 yr Author Fair enough with Isn't It A Wonder which isn't highly regarded anywhere but I thought that Picture Of You was pretty much generally thought of as one of Boyzone's best singles? It's certainly the only one I still regularly hear on the radio anyway. And it won the Boyzone rate I did on the old CHC forum back in 2008 pretty comprehensively! 'The Boyzone song that it's ok to like' :lol: In my opinion Baby Can I Hold maintained the quality that Picture Of You had delievered! I never quite got the love for POY, it's OK but they were never a band at ease delivering up- tempo numbers (let us never forget a truly lacklustre "When The Going Gets Tough" which is still painful to this day :D
December 15, 201113 yr 6TH DECEMBER- BABY CAN I HOLD YOU/ SHOOTING STAR- Boyzone (1 week) Don't ask me to repeatedly beat a dead horse, please! 17TH JANUARY 1998- BAMBOOGIE- Bamboo ( 1 week) Let's put it this way: I didn't even remember this existed anymore! And now that I heard it again for aeons, I can see why: it's not really that memorable. It's a functional little handbag house record which, as already said, took advantage of the post-Xmas lull to grab itself a #2 placing. One thing, though: this samples "Get Down Tonight", indeed; but by KC & The Sunshine Band, NOT Kool & The Gang. Edited December 15, 201113 yr by jaxxalude
December 15, 201113 yr Author Oops you're right and I knew that as well- don't know why I put Kool & The Gang! Anyway altered- thanks! :D
December 15, 201113 yr Author 14TH FEBRUARY- ALL I HAVE TO GIVE- The Backstreet Boys (1 week) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/AIHTG1.png Those clever Backstreet Boys releasing this love ballad in time for Valentine's Day- how fortuitous! A third single from their second album it's every thing you'd expect from a BSB single, there's a lot of "yeah"'s and "baby"'s and over emoting, and "i'd die without you" posturing, the kinda thing the girls lapped up in the late 90s. Yes these are the golden years for boybands (and we'll see a lot of them 98-00 believe me), produced by Full Force it added (a slightly) more credible angle to the track than the pop they would be synonymous with very shortly. Unusually for a US band with a large female audience they actually had considerable trouble cracking their home market finding success in mainland Europe first, before the Far East, UK and finally the US where their first album was never released in it's original form, what this says about the US I ahve no idea. Whilst " All I Have" doesn't make the ears bleed, it does little to branch out or away from its primary audience, it's designed to get their posters on the walls of teenage bedrooms, and perhaps some space in the gay rags, and to that end I suppose its success lies in the fact that it appears in this thread, but it's the group on autopilot and treading water. In a way it's hard to knock (If it ain't broke) but what really lets this track down is that within just 18 months they would be making uplifting pop like "Larger Than Life" with a video costing millions and actually doing some quite arresting. If boyband records are all about the ups and downs of teenage relationships then consider this the bit where you fancied the person at school that would never look at you twice.......then you discovered drink and clubs! xUwYYxvpg8A Edited December 16, 201113 yr by Dasher76
December 15, 201113 yr Author 14TH MARCH- BIG MISTAKE- Natalie Imbruglia (1 week) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/Bm_single1.jpg Let's try to take "Big Mistake" as the first single by Imbruglia, or in other words to try not to compare it to "Torn". Looked at in this light there are quite a few good points to the single. It's co-written by Imbruglia, a sub rock number pre dating the kinda thing Lavigne would be pumping out five years later, trouble is it is also the kinda thing Morissette had been making three years previously. The song cannot therefore shake off the label that it is clearly derivative, now 98% of pop music is in some way so that's not exactly a criticism, but I remember at the time how this wrong footed many of us who had assumed after the first single that guitar pop is where we would be heading with Imbruglia, THIS appeared to be too angry, agressive, not the pop princess we had expected. Again this isn't a bad thing, confounding expectations is a powerful weapen in the armoury of any pop star, trouble is that that was not where pop was heading in 1998. I don't mind "Big Mistake" it's one of the more unusual No 2 hits of the year, but it wasn't a song I loved, perhaps my love for "Torn" was too great to match or exceed, the songs quick descent down the charts 2-6-20 perhaps evidenced the surprise of many who had purchased the song in week one expecting "Torn Pt 2" only to be dumb founded. As she co-wrote the song, and in view of what her subsequent career offered, "Torn" is the record that actually looks slightly out of place and this must be the kind of thing she had wanted to be singing all along, I absolutely love "Shiver" and "Wrong Impression" so that's not a minus point in my book, to this i'm ambivalent though. PNShXUIAIl8 Edited December 16, 201113 yr by Dasher76
December 16, 201113 yr 14TH FEBRUARY- ALL I HAVE TO GIVE- The Backstreet Boys (1 week) If I recall correctly, this was the third and last single to be released from what was their second album to the world outside America, Backstreet's Back. And it sure felt like that, as "All I Have To Give" carries with it the distinct air of non-description. Produced by Full Force it might have been; but this was Full Force in the late 90's. Quite far from the ones who, along with Jam & Lewis, helped define the sound of American urban contemporary music in the mid 80's, laying the groundwork for what would become new jack swing's ultimate collision between R&B and hip-hop - thus setting the foundations for most of we now know as modern pop music. It's as if everybody involved (label, management, the boys themselves) wanted to hurry this album's promotion ASAP, since Mother America was finally taking to them in a big way and Backstreet's Back had already outsold the debut by almost double in half the time anyway. 14TH MARCH- BIG MISTAKE- Natalie Imbruglia (1 week) And here it was, Natalie Imbruglia seemed like she was actually emotionally involved with the material she was singing - the fact that she co-wrote it might have something to do with it. Still, Gezza/Dasher already exposed the problem very well: it wasn't so much that this wasn't where pop music was headed, more that this sounded like an Alanis Morissette doppelgänger two or three years too late. In itself, it's a perfect fit to explain Natalie Imbruglia's pop career issue: she always lacked a clear identity. Edited December 16, 201113 yr by jaxxalude
December 16, 201113 yr Author 14th MARCH- STOP!- The Spice Girls (1 week) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/77/Stop_(Spice_Girls_single_-_cover_art).jpg I know, it was incredible at the time that a Spice Girls record COULDN’T make No 1, it even made Channel 5 news that Sunday, and whilst it may be true that it just ran into a stronger record at the top (in this case “It’s Like That” by Run DMC Vs Jason Nevins) but the truth is also that “Stop!” opened with the poorest sale of a Spice record since “Wannabe” some two years before. Does it deserve the dubious accolade of their only single pre split not to make No 1 (if released just a week before it would have made the top)? Well in my opinion definitely not, that honour should have gone to the infinitely more annoying “Spice Up Your Life”, for any faults it may have “Stop!” is as catchy a four minute pop single as anything producing in 1998 but it does reveal a trend which however good a song it is prevented it from making No 1. 1998 was the year that being a Spice Girl started to become a hindrance not a virtue, yes the backlash had happened, and only stemmed for the remainder of the releases in the year by first the departure of Geri in May, then the single “Goodbye” which many considered the final single (indeed had it been so then maybe the reputation of the group would be so much greater). In all fairness there is little the group had left to achieve, already the biggest selling band of the decade, their first 6 singles got to No 1, album sales over 4 million with just 2 releases, and a cultural impact second to none, and all within a couple of years. “Stop” as a single is a Motown influenced piece of sublime pop, as with most Spice singles, it pretty much goes for the jugular grabbing you by the ears and not letting up until you’ve finally succumbed, there is no drop in quality here that I can find, almost risking a aneurism, the song heads with abandon towards its end. Make no mistake this IS great pop in a year when there was an abundance of it. knQLu8lJ9K0 Edited December 17, 201113 yr by Dasher76
December 16, 201113 yr I have always loved Stop - superb slice of 90s pop. I agree they should've given in after Goodbye though.
December 16, 201113 yr Author 18TH APRIL- FIRE IT UP/ TURN IT UP- Busta Rhymes (2 weeks) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/Fire_It_Up.jpg Showing that the 80s were far from forgotten, Rhymes lifted the “Knightrider” theme and transformed it into a little hip hop/ Rap gem. Then I suppose, that depends on what you expect from the genre, the late 90s were a time when pop ruled supreme and to make any kind of headway other genres had to bend to accommodate, so you could easily sell this as a sell out, an attempt to water down the brand to sell. Personally not being overly enamoured of the genre, I really don’t mind this kind of fushion, there would be countless examples of this in 98 Will Smith, Jay Z and Pras Michel we’ll meet in this thread before the end of the year, all with varying degrees of success. To be honest is there much here outside of that sample though? For me the answer would be no, it was used to equally good effect on 2003’s “Mudian To Bach Ke” by Punjab Mc’s. 6NmxB6YiR5Q Edited December 17, 201113 yr by Dasher76
December 17, 201113 yr 14th MARCH- STOP!- The Spice Girls (1 week) So, a chance to talk about the biggest pop phenomenon of the decade, eh? Tell you what: the Spices got everything right: the image, the concept, the whole wrapping, really. They just failed at the one single most important thing: the music. For all of their carefully constructed personas, the Spice Girls' music was memorable and full of hooks, alright; but it didn't mean that it wasn't quite limp-wristed in its construction and, really, a considerable afterthought in regards to everything else. "Stop!"'s poor nth-generation Motown pastiche was just as significant of such as any other song in their catalogue. Its failure to become #1 might be more a result of the backlash that had already set in by then. But one cannot underrate the fact that that same backlash was probably just as much to do with their audience finally realising how little substance there was in their whole shtick as it was with simple overexposure. 18TH APRIL- FIRE IT UP/ TURN IT UP- Busta Rhymes (2 weeks) One thing (among a lot, if we think about it) where me and Gezza/Dasher are at odds is rap. Unlike him, I'm a fan, through and through. Good thing that the #2 position was occupied by such a firing track, no pun intended! This was Busta Rhymes still on top of his game, spitting his signature stream-of-consciousness rhymes in his unmistakable mad-as-a-hatter style over the kind of sampling material few would still dare to tackle at the time. One thing must be said, though: this "Knight Rider Theme"-sampling track wasn't the song's original version, but rather a remix specifically created for single release and radio/video airplay. Still a prime contender for best #2 record of the year hands down, regardless. Edited December 17, 201113 yr by jaxxalude
December 17, 201113 yr One thing (among a lot, if we think about it) where me and Gezza/Dasher are at odds is rap. Unlike him, I'm a fan, through and through. Good thing that the #2 position was occupied by such a firing track, no pun intended! This was Busta Rhymes still on top of his game, spitting his signature stream-of-consciousness rhymes in his unmistakable mad-as-a-hatter style over the kind of sampling material few would still dare to tackle at the time. One thing must be said, though: this "Knight Rider Theme"-sampling track wasn't the song's original version, but rather a remix specifically created for single release and radio/video airplay. Still a prime contender for best #2 record of the year hands down, regardless. Something you actually like! :o :lol:
December 17, 201113 yr Author 9TH MAY- RAY OF LIGHT- Madonna ( 1 week) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d4/Ray_of_light_cd_1_single.JPG And so the re-invention was complete. Probably simultaneously the most successful and the difficult reinvention that she had to do, it very much felt like a second wind for Madonna after years that were, not exactly in the wilderness (with 14 top 10 hits between 92-97) but for an artist used to consecutive top 5 hits only 5 of this made that mark, and she had since 1992 lost her crown as the biggest female in the charts to acts like Dion and Carey in that period, and so for the first time she was re-inventing from behind the market instead of reinventing whilst still at the top. After the birth of first daughter Lourdes in 1996 it was appropriate that the new image should be “Earth mother” and indeed considerably subtler and mature than some brasher attempts in the 80s and early 90s, fundamental to all of this however was the fact that the music was foremost. The album of the same name became her biggest studio album of the decade and the single “Ray Of Light” is a truly majestic song, drawing on themes of spirituality, and rebirth, Orbit’s production fingers are all over this, making Madonna sound quite ethereal and authoritative. Madonna’s great selling point was that she was always ahead of the competition, trend setting not trend following, that’s the gift that Orbit bestowed on her again, indeed since 1998 Madonna has tended to rely on producers to replicate this period, be that Mirwas (“Music” 2000) or “Confessions On A Dancefloor” with Stuart Price in 2005 the question therefore becomes how much of this is Madonna and how much is Orbit? Perhaps that’s another entry, but for sure “Ray Of Light” is an effortlessly great pop record, touches of greatness abound, and delivered by a pop star who seems convinced for the first time in years that she really is the queen of pop. a4tD8dy9Reg&ob=av2e Edited December 18, 201113 yr by Dasher76
December 17, 201113 yr Author 6TH JUNE- THE BOY IS MINE- Brandy & Monica (1 week) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8c/The_Boy_Is_Mine_(Brandy_single)_coverart.jpg In an era of “Girl Power” it was somewhat against the popular concensus to release a track called “The Boy Is Mine” in which basically the leading ladies duel over who just that boy belongs to. Stupid old man though as he dates next door neighbours (the video appears to suggest) and both of the ladies end up rejecting him though the song doesn’t imply this. 13 weeks at No 1 in the states proves how popular this track was at the time, and it’s a record that I bought at the time, taking inspiration from the kind of people who appeared on “Jerry Springer” it wasn’t going to be a duet until the writers, including Brandy, decided they could do a reply record to “The Girl Is Mine” by McCartney/ Jackson. It shimmers with enough pop elements to hold my attention, a piece of slinky, sophisticated R N B it was also quite a nice break from the prevailing “I don’t need a man” philosophy which would had began to dominate and would continue to well into the new decade. Though vocals were recorded separately the girls deliver their faux duet well and it remains of my personal favourites from the year. UOxMxHrnmBM&feature=fvst Edited December 18, 201113 yr by Dasher76
December 18, 201113 yr Author 13TH JUNE- HORNY- Mousse T Vs Hot N Juicy (1 week) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/38/Horny.jpg Yes what started out as a likeable enough quirky dance record had, by the end of the summer of 1998 turned into a bloody irritating record. Thanks radio. Let's try not to take away the likeable factor that the record initially had however (and let's be honest any song that CLIMBED to No 2 in 1998 had to have some kind of special appeal). There's no particular story behind the song, or no interesting one anyway, "horny" was typical of very late 90s dance, a little bit naughty and suggestive, whilst rarely resorting to the crudities that the noughties would reach (a plethora of "F**k"s would illuminate the charts) but we're in more innocent times here (just). Not a song that I would voluntarily listen to in 2011 to be honest, but FUN whilst it lasted. pWf8bBHrarM Edited December 19, 201113 yr by Dasher76
December 18, 201113 yr Author 20TH JUNE- VINDALOO- Fat Les (3 weeks) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Vindaloo_cover.jpg With lyrics by Keith Allen and music by Blur's Alex James, this was the alternative song to buy if you didn't fancy "Three Lions" again, looks we did prefer the lions going by chart history, but the track sold almost 200K in it's opening week, impressive. More a football chant than a song really, it played on the excesses of British yob culture and was written initially as a parody of football chants before before a fan favourite for the Euro's that year. The video famously parodies "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve, it is therefore a clever record, too clever by half, I couldn't stand it at the time and I can't stand it now. Football songs should be rights banned in the charts, they are rarely any good maybe "World In Motion" and "Three Lions" (the original) aside, I know this song was taking a sly side swipe at faux machoism but really, after one more listen I've had more than my fill. pf6JiRKKeqI Edited December 19, 201113 yr by Dasher76
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