30TH SEPTEMBER - KERNKRAFT 4000- Zombie Nation (2 wks)

 

http://images.musicdl.org/2012/02/Zombie_Nation_-_Kernkraft_400-DREH003-1-Vinyl-1999-SOB_INT.jpg

 

There is little doubt that this one of the big dance records of late 2000, and little doubt that I HATED this song at the time. Dull, Repetitive music for people on drugs was my opinion in 2000, and now? Well pretty much the same to be honest, coupled with the abomonation of Mariah Carey and Westlife at No 1 made the charts of the time an occasion to weep for the death of music as we knew it have no fear though, for by the time we reach the end of 2000 depths will have been plummeted which were unthought of by Zombie Nation.

 

An "underground" hit as they say in Europe in late 1999 before the techno hit (that term seems so 2 Unlimited circa 93 but hey ho) made a splash over here, there isn't a lot of positives that can be said here sadly, apart from I suppose that they never troubled the top 20 again.

 

21ST OCTOBER- KIDS- Kylie Minogue & Robbie Williams (1 wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Kids2.gif

 

I know I'm a Kylie fan, but there is something emminently unloveable about "Kids". It Should work on several fronts, that uplifting chorus, teaming up with just about pop's biggest star of the time, some cheeky and suggestive lyrics, even a raunhy video, but it all seems a bit forced. Always feeling more like a Robbie record than a Kylie song might account for it, but what I suspect is also at play here is that the whole thing seems to misunderstand the sexual appeal of Kylie. As previously mentioned the relaunch of Minogue in 2000 was aimed in part at the FHM crowd which probably led to her appearance here, but Minogue's appeal has always seemed steeped in a much more innocent appeal, and alluding to oral sex (for example) seems just somehow not right.

 

"Kids" seems like a retrospective step back to "Impossible Princess" and that Indie/ Rock experimentation that the public had by and large failed to connect with, I think this is the kind of song that Minogue would have liked doing but there isn't a lot of connection or sexual chemistry between Williams and Minogue for two stars who had traded on the sex appeal of their public persona's for many years and that's what probably rings untrue here. It's almost like they have to do this duet to fill a contractual obligation in some bizarre divorce ritual for former lovers, proof that not everything on paper can turn out to be music gold.

 

Some excellent #2's here, On A Night Like This, Kernkraft 400 (I was one of those rare breed that bought Against All Odds and this on the week of release so blame me for that top two Gezza :D) and Freestyler!

Some excellent #2's here, On A Night Like This, Kernkraft 400 (I was one of those rare breed that bought Against All Odds and this on the week of release so blame me for that top two Gezza :D) and Freestyler!

Oh GD, and we were getting along so well...... :( :D

28TH OCTOBER- WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?- Ba-Ha Men (2 wks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/15/Baha_Men_-_Dogs_single.png

 

THIS record is musical marmite, it was at the time and remains so. For my part it has to class as one of the worse records of the entire decade! It started off as a song used in the Trinidad & Tobago carnival of 1998 before making its way back to the UK with the tourists where it founds its way to the ears of one Jonathan King (can we still say his name?) where he recorded a version in 1999 under the name Fatt Jakk & his pack of pets. Needless to say that went nowhere though it was heard by one of King's friend who thought it might just be the ticket for a new group he was promoting called the Ba-ha Men (they all hailed from the Bahamas- gettit) and tragically it became a hit.

 

Sporting an unusual chart trajectory of 12-14-2 the song came to life thanks in part to a TOTP performance which saw the "novelty" value of the record cement intself in the mind of the great British public and the release of "Rugrats in Paris" the soundtrack of which featured the track (It was with grim apropos that the song sat at No 2 in November 2000, the same month that King himself was arrested on charges of sexual assault). Anyway it has to be the most annoying song in quite literally forever to grace the charts, so much so that I couldn't even listen to the whole thing through on the clip below, although it sold over 700k so clearly my finger was not on the pulse on this one.

 

4TH NOVEMBER- I'M OVER YOU- Martine McCutcheon (1 wk)

 

http://991.com/newGallery/Martine-McCutcheon-Im-Over-You-167307.jpg

 

After the direness of the last song, here's something to brighten up the day. As sassy a piece of pop a la 2000 as you could wish for and proved that McCutcheon could do life after Eastenders. Of course it wasn't her first foray into pop having recorded a rather forgettable dance track in the mid 90s, but after getting run over by Frank Butcher at Xmas 98 she had launched herself as a sophisticated popstar with the No 1 "Perfect Moment" in 1999. This was the comeback and would have returned her to No 1 but for the far bigger comeback of the Spice Girls who were in danger of being caught by her.

 

An ordinary tale of being a sucker in a relationship for a looker who deceives poor Martine, she's OVAH him, oh yes, and more of it if it produce this kind of track. Production wise it is SOOOO 2000, but I can't help love it all the more for it, a shame indeed the she abandoned the pop world to appear in films and Activia adverts but hey ho, this is the best track she ever did.

 

It's not the best novelty track that'll figure here (that one comes in 2003 :wub:) but "Who let The Dogs Out?" won't be the worst either IMO. It was also denied #1 by a pretty lousy pair of songs by Steps and Westlife :(

25TH NOVEMBER- ONE MORE TIME- Daft Punk (1 wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/DaftPunk_OneMoreTime.jpg

 

I was never a big fan of Daft punk circa 1997 I have to confess, but I loved "One More Time", and incessant call to the dancefloor which works along the lines of Alice Deejay back in 1999 in so much as there isn't much going on lyrically yet what it alludes to is so great. You know, that end of the evening feeling when "one more drink" seems like the best idea EVER! or the feeling that you don't want a great night to end, it's a joyous record without heeding to the stresses of the working day or the troubles of life. Some music tries to be tribal, about being divisive, saying one genre is better or cooler than the other, "One More Time" is the opposite, it's about the transcendency of dance music to appeal to all and to unite just at a time when music had started to diverge and become about niche acts competing. Music in the 90s and 80s, whilst of course offering diversity, had great "movements" in them (Brit pop, S/A/W, New Romantics, Madchester) in a way that the noughties didn't, partly because of the way music started to be consumed (i-tunes offering far more choice than a record store ever could) and partly through the increasing and unavoidable nature of the international music market, but this all had a knock on effect of breaking down "chart hegemony" if ever there was such a thing.

 

All of these things are of course a sideshow to the main point, that the song is flipping great, deceptively simple it showed that to make great pop you don't have to be clever or have major publicity behind you, just capturing a moment perfectly can (almost) take you to No 1.

 

30TH DECEMBER- WHAT MAKES A MAN- Westlife (1 wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/35/WhatMakesAManCD1.jpg

 

And here we are at the end of 2000 and tell me now- who DIDN'T have a smile on their face when this failed to make No 1? I know I did even though Bob The Builder was a worse record) but I have to say this is far from being the worse Westlife record, indeed it's probably a great deal better than most of thier No 1 singles which I know isn't saying much.

 

All the standard Westlife devices here the key change, the drippy ballad and the stirring orchestration and Mark clearly being given all the bits that require the big notes, so it's certainly nothing exceptional, but I suspect the joy at this losing out comes from the fact that it wasn't a song by them that went straight to No 1 (unlike the first 7 releases) and a No 1 that they couldn't manipulate via the release schedule, having said that it still sold 230k to debut at No 2, a guaranteed No 1 single in any other week of the year. It short this probably did deserve No 1 status over some of their other tracks but this is a little piece of pop karma.

 

25TH NOVEMBER- ONE MORE TIME- Daft Punk (1 wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/DaftPunk_OneMoreTime.jpg

I was so annoyed when this brilliance wasn't #1 :( Superb song and Discovery is an even better album!

Who Let The Dogs Out is HORRIBLE. I was never aware what caused that ridiculous climb to #2 having fallen the week before so thanks for explaining it there, who knew that TOTP was so instrumental back then :o

 

The Martine song is great, I quite liked Perfect Moment but I loved I'm Over You, didn't care for anything else I heard of hers mind. One of the most forgotten #2's of all time though surely. And agreed with Jester on Daft Punk, Discovery is absolutely excellent from start to finish, One More Time is great but still probably only my 4th or 5th favourite song on the album.

 

And that Westlife song is one of their more bearable imo, not that I was sad to see it miss #1, it was hilarious at the time!

Your views on Freestyler pretty much sums up my views on Who Let The Dogs Out :lol: I always had a soft spot for novelty records but that song just takes me back to my younger years (and indeed I remember watching that film!) and so I simply can't dislike it!

 

and much love for One More Time as well of course, what a shame that wasn't number 1 :(

I loved One More Time back in 2000 but I would never listen to it anymore. It is insanely overplayed and it is simply not the type of song that holds up well to that kind of thing, it's kind of lost the euphoria and shine to it if you ask me, and hence becomes dull. And although it's frequently cited as one of those criminal chart results (especially by dance fans), I should also remind that the LeAnn Rimes song that kept it off ended up racking up impressive, consistent sales and spending seven weeks in the top 10 during the competitive Xmas period so in that respect it was the right result, and despite the 'world party' feel of One More Time it ironically simply didn't have as much widespread appeal as Can't Fight the Moonlight!

 

Who Let The Dogs Out? is actually a very interesting one in terms of story (and you've only covered a small portion of it) as it actually was on the music channels for like six months before it eventually came out. I remember seeing the video on The Box several times in the spring (around May) but it didn't start taking off properly there until the summer as I recall, which was kind of an odd route for a song to take on that channel (indeed I can't remember any other song that did such a thing), and god knows why it didn't even come out as a single until OCTOBER. Anyway, it was a proper word of mouth thing more than something taking off on a wave of hype, which in the charts of 2000 is refreshing in retrospect. It was actually marketed as a dance single at first IIRC but obviously it ended up reaching out further to the kiddies after being picked up for the Rugrats soundtrack, which probably would go some way to explaining why it lasted in the charts forever once it took off as mums kept hearing it and buying for their kids. So eventually it went from being a novelty club-type track to more like the Teletubbies of 2000, shamefully. With The Tweenies and Bob The Builder also selling impressively then it was surely a great time to be 6 years old though - and to think when I was 6 all I had to make do with was The Smurfs.

 

I'm Over You is the clear gem from the last few. Even taking in the tinny production and the fact Martine in general was far more suited to the sophisticated pop rather than being a disco dolly, the song still works for the simple reason it just has a REALLY strong melody, especially the build-up to the chorus each time, and then the chorus itself which packs no punches and progresses exactly as you'd expect but is still insanely listenable despite (or perhaps because of?) that. Fab single and kinda wasted on Martine because, as gooddelta said, nobody even remembers it for that reason...

 

This post ended up being far longer than I intended it to be. Clearly I could go on about the #2s of 2000s forever. The last few months of 2000 is actually my favourite "mini period" for the charts ever though (along with the corresponding period from 1998) but the #2s don't really show it in a fantastic light admittedly. I promise I won't have as much to say for every entry, especially when we get to the diabolical 2002... :lol:

Edited March 7, 201213 yr by superbossanova

I'm Over You is the clear gem from the last few. Even taking in the tinny production and the fact Martine in general was far more suited to the sophisticated pop rather than being a disco dolly, the song still works for the simple reason it just has a REALLY strong melody, especially the build-up to the chorus each time, and then the chorus itself which pulls no punches and progresses exactly as you'd expect but is still insanely listenable despite (or perhaps because of?) that. Fab single and kinda wasted on Martine because, as gooddelta said, nobody even remembers it for that reason...

 

That bridge before the chorus is possibly one of my all time favourite bridges in a pop song, and then wham, the chorus is just as good!

Who Let The Dogs Out? is actually a very interesting one in terms of story (and you've only covered a small portion of it) as it actually was on the music channels for like six months before it eventually came out. I remember seeing the video on The Box several times in the spring (around May) but it didn't start taking off properly there until the summer as I recall, which was kind of an odd route for a song to take on that channel (indeed I can't remember any other song that did such a thing), and god knows why it didn't even come out as a single until OCTOBER.

Mr President's Coco Jamboo was huge on the box for nearly a year before it made it big (well, #8) in the UK. I remember it being in the Box Tops top 10 with the Spice Girls for much of Summer/Autumn 96.

Mr President's Coco Jamboo was huge on the box for nearly a year before it made it big (well, #8) in the UK. I remember it being in the Box Tops top 10 with the Spice Girls for much of Summer/Autumn 96.

Interesting info, thanks! That was a bit before my time so I'll take your word for it. We didn't even get The Box until 1999.

 

Although in that case it does beg the question as to why they waited so long to release it - they surely lost so many sales from people getting bored of or forgetting about it :o Clearly not a very savvy team behind that record (although it still did pretty well as I recall)...

Edited March 6, 201213 yr by superbossanova

Interesting info, thanks! That was a bit before my time so I'll take your word for it. We didn't even get The Box until 1999.

 

Although in that case it does beg the question as to why they waited so long to release it - they surely lost so many sales from people getting bored of or forgetting about it :o

I used to watch the Box all the time back in the mid 90s - the Spice Girls were practically (and possibly actually) #1 on Box Tops from June 96 all the way through until after xmas with their 3 singles :lol: I can remember Wannabe being played 8/9 times out of 10 at one point!

 

I loved Coco Jambo for ages before relase and just couldn't even get it on import. No idea why they waited so long to release it as it could have been much bigger.

 

Here is the vid anyway:

 

 

Good times :wub:

OMG at the love for "Who Let The Dogs Out"!! It was the very definition of annoyingly overplayed song of 2000 :angry: I formally dispair.....

Flowers was part of a 7 strong new entries in the top 10 iirc. Kept off by Craaaaaaaaaaaig David?

 

1 Craig David

2 SFA

3 Richard Ashcroft

4 Bloodhound Gang

5 Steps (DSofB)

6 Lock 'n' Load

10 Rank 1

Shame that the best of those seven new entries by far was right at the bottom :( Still, an instrumental trance track going top ten now would be absolutely unheard of so I suppose it was an achievement of sorts.