Natural is one of my favourite S Club songs but it often is forgotten due to the fact that it was released in between Reach and Never Had a Dream Come True both of which are more well known and sucessfull

Definitely an S Club fan, they closed a club night I was at last week with 'Bring It All Back' and it got the best reaction of the whole night! Here's our last four of 2000:

 

7th October: BODY GROOVE - Architechs feat. Nana

 

Hello to secondary school, a world when you've gone from the oldest to youngest of the pupils and suddenly everything you thought was cool is no longer. Pokémon cards? Ha! Steps, S Club 7? No way, Artful Dodger and Craig David dude. Songs that remind me of that first year include 'Who Let The Dogs Out' (of course), David Gray's 'Babylon' (never off the radio), Shaggy's 'It Wasn't Me', HearSay's 'Pure and Simple', and, particularly, this. Why?

 

I went to a performing arts school (long story) and that included weekly contemporary dance classes where we'd learn choreographed routines to popular songs of the day. Some of these in Year 7 included 'Summer of Love' by Steps, the (er) theme tune to 'Big Brother', and indeed this, which often got used as a warm-up. So whenever I hear this I always think of dancing bizarre moves and attempting to keep up with the teacher, which is an odd if amusing memory. Finally our first look at the 2-step garage sound which for me is hugely evocative of the time, living in London especially it boomed out of seemingly EVERY pirate radio station and passing car stereo. Never a big fan of the genre I'll admit this one's ok at best, a little repetitive but I'm enjoying it a lot more now than I did then, probably because I'm not exhausted from class :P Like Christina earlier this year, extra points for nostalgia. Check out the old Nokia phone in the video too!

 

Ahh now this brings back memories. It was everywhere and even now I associate this song with videos/ shows etc set in Ibiza. I think I prefer Silence though, the one where they're running whilst tied together and the man has weird eyes.

 

Funny you should say that...

 

14th October: SILENCE - Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan :wub:

 

This, if you hadn't guessed, was the one that's up there with 'Sandstorm' as one of the best things I've ever heard.

 

Whew. Wow. Again, where to start?! The hypnotic, wispy floating synths zooming and illuminating the sky? Sarah McLachlan providing some of the most beautiful and heartstopping vocals ever heard in a dance track? That glorious breakdown where she sings her absolute heart out, and the strings and synths increase and build...and then that final 40 seconds or so, oh my god yes. Again, if it's not your thing I just don't know what else I can say. This song simply has everything and indeed is in my top 10 songs of all time, no question. Heartstopping utopian electronic euphoria.

 

And the last time I heard this in a club? Not since the summer of 2008. What is wrong with you, DJs!!

 

4th November: SHE BANGS - Ricky Martin

 

I keep forgetting just how massive Ricky Martin was here at the turn of the century. A big star in Latin American right since the start of the 90s, he had one hit here with 'Maria' in '97 but only really broke through with the success of 'Livin Da Vida Loca' the previous year. It was around this time he even had an 'Audience With' programme for him, and this hit is probably his most remembered since the song so famous that we've seen both Sisqo and Wyclef Jean reference it already.

 

At the time I think I first heard this on a lottery programme or something and thought he was singing "Shubang! Shubang!" which I assumed was just a made-up word, not quite as bad as when I misheard "Shake Your Bon Bon" as "Shake Your Bum Bum" and thought he was just being immature. Continuing the Latin vibes which even had Geri Halliwell getting in on the act, this is actually pretty good and I probably haven't properly heard it since it was released. Definitely easy to see why such megastardom occurred although by 2002 he already seemed yesterdays news and he's only had one #11 hit here since then.

 

Silence (DJ Tiesto's In Search Of Sunrise Remix) :wub: Lovely song, great vocals and a euphoric trance drop - it's nowhere near as good as Sandstorm but still a top quality tune

2nd December: WALKING AWAY - Craig David

 

The final #3 of the year and I guess he had to show up at some point. Another act who was everywhere this year and as we approached Christmas he could sit back and relax at having essentially conquered the planet. Not just a #3 hit here but a top 10 hit across the world, most notably in New Zealand of all places where it reached #1 and sold in bucketloads. Listen to all his singles from his guest spot on the Artful Dodger's 'Rewind' onwards and you'll see his sound slowly mutate from pure 2-step garage into this which is basically a generic pop track that anyone could release and make huge. Maybe that's the double meaning of the title, this song once and for all "walking away" from his dance roots?

 

As generic as it is, it's another nice and nostalgic chilled-out listen. He continued the hit-making career right up to his most recent top 10 smash in a surprisingly recent 2007, but since then #39's the best he's got. Cool video too which sees, him, er, walking away from things.

 

And finally we finish 2000 and move on to 2001! Gotta say that I think the #3s of that year are on the whole better than the #1s or even #2s, with some incredible dance tracks and enough variety to keep everyone entertained. A few classic #1s it'd be a shame to lose, but also note there'd be no Westlife ;)

 

Will continue the look-back soon. Having a sneak peak of the #3s to come this year we've got some more dance classics, some heavy nu-metal, lots of R&B, and, erm, Michael Jackson and Erasure cover versions?!

2000 was a great year for music all around tbh. IMO 2000-2007 were all pretty good then music just kind of died in 2008-2011 though things have improved now

I've always really liked Silence, but I've appreciated it more as I've got older and I think I prefer it to Sandstorm now as well. :wub:

 

Also, it's the perfect song to listen to if you're in a plane and scared of taking off. Magically, it actually works.

Edited June 10, 201312 yr by Griff

13th January 2001: EVERYTIME YOU NEED ME - Fragma feat. Maria Rubia

 

Think it's fair to say that 2000, as great as it was, didn't offer much new from the musical landscape that had built up through the late 1990s. Pop remained full of manufactured kid-friendly stars, homegrown rock was still on a downbeat post-Britpop sulk and dance music still pounded and buzzed with Ibiza trance. The main new sound of the year was the 2-step garage, although even that had began to bubble back in '99. 2001 sees the true sound of the noughties start to trickle in a bit, seeing the beginning of the (brief) end for pure pop and trance and the very early ripples of the indie scene thanks to the likes of The Strokes. Keep reading to see if any of that makes itself apparent in the 3rd biggest sellers of the week through the year!

 

For now poppy trance rests comfortably here with the follow-up to what had been a huge release in 2000. Truth be told, although 'Toca's Miracle' has its charms I've never quite thought it truly deserved the massive sales it got, much better dance tracks were released that year and I've always thought it needed to be just slightly more powerful to really work for me. This less-remembered sequel is a bit closer to my tastes with some wonderful synth-trance builds that I feel should have been on TM. It's still a bit 'Toca's Miracle Part 2' but at least tries a couple of new things and is an enjoyable listen.

 

The follow-up to this, 'You Are Alive' is almost unrecognisable and possibly the best thing Fragma ever released, but sadly just misses out by peaking at number 4!

 

3rd February: THE NEXT EPISODE - Dr Dre feat. Snoop Dogg

 

Back for more after the success of the previous year's brill #6 hit 'Still D.R.E.', this charted three places higher and also features the late Nate Dogg, although only Snoop's name features on the CD single cover.

 

This is another genre that needs a bit extra for me to really like a song, and while Still DRE has that ace piano riff running throughout, this, well...doesn't, and to my ears is just a load of guys talking about how great they are over a bland backing track. With no melody or really anything much other than just a drumbeat and some rapping, it's not my thing.

 

10th February: CASE OF THE EX - Mya

 

Not to be confused with MIA, this R&B artist was much more popular back in the States than she was here, although she scored a genuine worldwide hit with this which topped the charts in Australia and became her only solo top 10 hit here. Just crossing the line between an R&B track and a pop song, it's not brilliant but has a nice if subtle charm to it, much more pleasant to listen to than Dre & Dogg above. It kinda runs out of ideas after about three minutes but seems to grow on me after every play, not incredible but definitely in the Very Good category.

 

17th February: LAST RESORT - Papa Roach

 

And the brief but exciting nu metal craze begins. As said when we saw Limp Bizkit get this position the previous summer, this really wasn't my thing and I hated it as a twelve year old. But to many this sound must have come as a huge breath of fresh air after all the cheesy pop we'd endured since the late 90s, and although it had kinda fizzled out by the time we got into 2002, it was a fun boom while it lasted. At a club last week they played a few nu metal tracks like this and the dancefloor went CRAZY, everyone singing along to every syllable and me in the middle pretending I knew what the hell the songs were :P

 

Maybe I was just slightly too young at the time as a couple of years later I had long hair, dressed in black and rocked out to The Darkness, White Stripes and Evanescence (yep, I went through that phase) but back in 2001 I'm just covering my ears and wondering when they're gonna play that HearSay song again. This one's most definitely remembered as a classic and one of the defining tracks of this nu metal era, but...meh, it's ok, it's not helped by the fact I have no nostalgic connection to this or its music at all, even so I'm not particularly feeling it. If I travel back twelve years, blast it out my room and headbang to it I might have a different answer, but I think there's better examples than this.

 

August 2014 update: I am now most definitely feeling it, and take back all initial indifference I had for this. Bloody brilliant!!

 

Edited September 1, 201410 yr by BillyH

24th February: AMERICAN DREAM - Jakatta

 

I saw someone in another thread mention the sheer brilliance of dance music at the turn of the century like a "bubble about to burst", and while it didn't quite end that suddenly - there's still lots of great tracks to come until about 2003 - we've certainly began the dying days for the genre now, for me not truly recovering until it merged with R&B and the Guetta years beginning about 2009. Even then I wouldn't say the stuff today is on the level of what was being made here in the early noughties.

 

So here we're in a year that doesn't compare to the epicness of 2000 but is still far and away one of the best years for dance music of the decade, and here's one of the reasons why. Simple idea - take the acclaimed music from one of the best movies of all time 'American Beauty' and remix it, top 3 success assured and spent most of the year as a backing track to every advert, trailer and televisual feature in general to the point where I really got sick of it for a bit. This is the first time I've heard it in ages and it's still a great tune, not one I'd put up there with the greats but has an ace quality to it. The breakdown and piano sample in the middle in particular is a little bit of magic. Liked their follow-up 'So Lonely' a year later too!

 

Case if The Ex is absolutely marvellous. One of my favourite tracks of 2001

Three songs here that I love, none of them surprising. "Take A Look Around" I think is by far the best thing Bizkit did - the extra restraint makes the chorus hit that much harder whereas "Rollin'", whilst great fun, doesn't carry the same tension.

 

I far prefer "The Next Episode" to the other two hits from the album - like you I've never been a great fan of Dr. Dre's rapping but the little snippets of melody throughout help carry the verses in the same way as the keyboard melody in "Still D.R.E.".

 

"Last Resort" is one that I got into years later (having been eight in 2001) and I can't help but adore it whenever it comes on during a night out.

 

 

3rd March: ALWAYS COME BACK TO YOUR LOVE - Samantha Mumba

 

I feel a bit sorry for poor Samantha sometimes. Launched with a huge amount of hype and having an massive worldwide smash with 'Gotta Tell You', every one of her releases went top 6 in this country and all bar one going top 3 in her native Ireland, despite all this success I feel she's kinda disappeared from most people's memories. I saw her live supporting Cascada of all people back in 2008, when she tried to relaunch herself as a dance act, and even then to my shame I'd forgotten about her.

 

This is really good, to the point where I'd call it a bit of a forgotten gem. There's better pop songs from 2001 around but it's a lot more memorable than, say, a Louise Nurding song, it's stuck in my head after my first listen. A lot of this early noughties music is perhaps too recent to benefit from any revivals, but perhaps in a decade or so stuff like this will be covered or re-issued and get the recognition they deserve, and I'm always a sucker for a keychange as heard about 2:30 in. A few days ago she posted an Instagram photograph of her in a recording studio with the mysterious caption 'Puttin in werk', indicating a comeback might be on the cards. Will it work? We'll see!

 

Sadly the only copy of the video I can find has been badly webcam recorded from a TV screen, so here's some high-quality audio instead with a nice picture of the Now That's What I Call Music album that featured it.

 

7th April: BUTTERFLY - Crazy Town

 

...say what? First #3 we've got to where I have no memories of either the song or the artist, so this should be fun.

 

Oh ok, it's a nu metal song without any actual metal :P Given the look of the band and the fact that they've all got a ton of guitars I waited about a minute and a half for things to crunch into life, before realising, no, we're in chillout mode for the whole song. I really can't remember this at all and I'm baffled by learning that this was a #1 hit in the States and across Europe. It's...ok, I guess, but never really gets going, like it's the start of some 10 minute rock epic but fading out three minutes in. Did it appeal to people who wanted the sound of nu metal but without those loud guitars, thank you very much?

 

I dunno. What a curio. Guess it's kinda catchy, and sounds ok on a summer's day. Oh god I'm starting to like it now!! The clever fiends...

 

21st April: ALL FOR YOU - Janet Jackson

 

Don't remember this either, although at least in this case I recognise the artist. Surprised to see her still charting this high in 2001 and indeed this is her last top 10 hit to date. She's released a fair few good tracks in the past, right back to 1986's 'What Have You Done For Me Lately', through to the huge seller that 'Together Again' was during Christmas 1997. This one's an alright uptempo pop number pretty standard of the usual Janet sound. Another one to file in the "Ok" pile, scoring about 6 out of 10 for me but nothing particularly standing out except for the really quite cool 80s-influenced breakdown about three minutes in, sadly it only lasts twenty seconds before we return to the status quo. A fun song but maybe perhaps a bit too simplistic as we move into a decade for pop that took itself a bit more seriously and this style became a little out of fashion.

 

28th April: LIQUID DREAMS - O-Town

 

Apparently an American boyband who formed through a US reality TV show called 'Making The Band', which had aired the previous year as a sort of earlier American version of our Popstars. Released off the back of HearSay selling hundreds of thousands of Pure & Simple that Spring, they actually did pretty well here at first, getting two top 5 hits before the interest gradually fizzled out over the next couple of years.

 

The problem by now is that this musical sound has become so widespread with about three million manufactured acts being released every week that it's starting to get a bit silly. Indeed this couldn't be more of a parody if it tried, all members getting their own line each in the verses and a chorus so desperate to be a hit that it frantically namechecks the likes of Destiny's Child, Madonna and Janet Jackson for extra novelty value. Unlike 'Pure & Simple' it's a little hard to take the song as a piece of music in its own right and instead I imagine many of those who bought it are simply fans of Making the Band the show, rather than O-Town the band.

 

But would you believe it? Not only did they get another hit. but one that worldwide was even bigger, although charting a place lower here. 'All or Nothing' is just as cliched and unoriginal but drops the silly novelty gimmicks and gives a much better song that's much more memorable. Unfortunately, again, it didn't quite chart well enough so here's Liquid Dreams instead. Looking at some of these almost-but-not-quite top 3 misses, maybe I should do a #4s of 2000-2004 next...