http://s11.postimg.org/uo301hlvn/boybandheader.png

 

Happy new year one and all! So as promised, today marks the start of a new, second column to accompany my ongoing girl group top 40 hit review thread for the 21st century. Except there's not a totter of a heel, a flutter of a false eyelash or a hair straightener in sight here (OK, I tell a lie there. All I'll say is wait till we get to 2004-5). Nope, it's all muscle vests, flashes of abs, tightly knit harmonies and fine tuned choreography (oh, and a few guitars here and there a bit later on) on this here thread as I bring you my reviews of every top 40 hit in this century from that most hallowed of pop institutions: the boyband. As with the girl group thread, strict criteria is as follows:

 

1) Songs that made their debut or peaked inside the Official UK Top 40 between 1st January 2000 and now.

2) Boybands of a minimum of two members i.e. duos are included (yay for Jedward).

3) Re-entries e.g. in the case of more recent years where download boosts have been a result of performances by contestants on reality TV shows etc are disqualified.

 

For now, just whilst the girl group thread is still needing cause for more than two entries a week, new entries to this thread will be posted every Friday. All feedback, memories and comments welcome as always!

Edited July 15, 20178 yr by ThePensmith

2000

 

2ND JANUARY 2000

 

Westlife - "I Have a Dream / Seasons in the Sun"

Official UK Chart peak: #1

 

http://www.rixrecords.com/IMG/8130340.jpeg

 

So who else to start this new thread then the band who, even with all the sea changes in sounds and styles, will be the very backdrop of this thread for the first half of it at least. This is the first of 21 entries from Westlife, so it's best we make ourselves comfortable now. Whilst this technically contravenes the review criteria I set out above - this after all, made it's debut a couple of weeks before the new milennium, as 1999's official Christmas number one - it seems a bit harsh denying the first number one of a new century a slot in this thread.

 

Nicky, Shane, Kian, Mark - and not forgetting Brian - had arrived on our charts in the spring of the previous year, fresh from winning the coveted Smash Hits 'Best New Tour Act' award at Poll Winners '98. And with Louis Walsh mindful of the fact his other charges, Boyzone, were going to be a taking an extended hiatus following the release of their million selling greatest hits album and with Ronan's solo career taking off, they seemed like the perfect stopgap.

 

 

What he hadn't banked on, of course, was just how extraordinarily huge they would be. By the year's end, all four of their first four singles - 'Swear It Again', 'If I Let You Go', 'Flying Without Wings' and this entry - had debuted at number one in the UK and Ireland, their self titled debut album was a multi platinum winner, and it was clear they were on the way to pop legend status. But, whilst I had been a fan of Boyzone's (my mum and dad were fans, ergo, I was too. Such is the joy of a part Irish Catholic upbringing in the 90s), Westlife didn't really make much of an impression on me at all.

 

In fact, by the end of this particular year in this thread, I was finding them really rather irritating indeed as their continued success grew and grew and so did their level of smugness. Still, I was clearly in the minority at the time. Their fourth straight number one, as has been mentioned, was a double-a-side of two cover versions - one of which, from their self titled debut, was of Terry Jacks' 70's chart topper 'Seasons in the Sun'.

 

 

The other wasn't originally destined to be a single, but following it's performance and appearance on the ITV charity 'Abbamania' album and TV show, and in a year where Abba's own popularity was at a new zenith thanks to a bestselling repack of their 'Gold: Greatest Hits' album, public demand skyrocketed for 'I Have a Dream' to be a single, and at Pete Waterman and Louis Walsh's mutual agreement, and with no chance of the Spice Girls claiming the festive crown again for another year, the suitably festive winter warmer sold by the truckload well into the new century.

 

I can see now, somewhat reluctantly, why it did so well, much was my annoyance that they blocked S Club 7's surgent 'Two in a Million' from being another number one for them in the new millennium. They do take 'I Have a Dream' and make it their own at least, giving it a distinct feel of the Emerald isle, the less of which can be said for 'Seasons in the Sun' which is by far the weaker of the two tracks here and not a patch on Jacks' original.

I realise I somewhat neglected this thread...as of next Friday I'll start doing more entries to this!

Almost a year on from that promise...I really am cracking on again with this thread!

 

16TH JANUARY 2000

 

Point Break - "Stand Tough"

Official UK Chart peak: #7

 

 

Looking back at it, 2000 was essentially just one last year of the 90s before the 21st century got under way properly, even if the Christmas sales period that had just gone wasn't littered with the decade's usual suspects vying for a place at the top of the tree. There wasn't a Spice Girl to be seen - solo or group - and Westlife had seen out the old century and ushered in the new one. Coupled with Boyzone's phenomenal success with their greatest hits package in 1999, it seemed as if boybands were back in focus following three years of unending girl power.

 

And, perhaps owing to the 'Y2K bug' phenomena that turned out to be a load of piffle once February rolled around, the music industry was the quietest it had been for some time, with no major new releases lined up. For the whole month, in fact. Still, it gave the prime opportunity for some lesser known new acts to take up residency in the top 10 whilst sales were so low. Step forward then Ollie, Declan and Brett - aka Newcastle based lads Point Break.

 

 

Having met, like Ant and Dec before them, on the set of CBBC's Tyneside teen favourite Byker Grove, they were formed at the start of 1999 and signed immediately with Warners. Their first single, the punchy but insubstantial 'Do We Rock' came out in October the previous year but debuted just inside the top 30.

 

Following a support slot with B*Witched on their arena tour, their second single 'Stand Tough' was unleashed to the public as the last 'Y2K' streamers were shoved into bin liners and the wine stains were being removed from the carpet, and it saw them zoom to a much more respectable #7 debut.

 

It seemed as if they were going for the Five 'bad boy' end of the market rather than the stool sitting, 'Oirish' end with this track, coming on like Jon Bon Jovi taking a wrong turn into an audition for *NSYNC or Backstreet Boys. A good if unmemorable start to their appearances in this thread - of which there are three more yet to come before this year is out...

Edited July 15, 20178 yr by ThePensmith

The guy on the right now plays Charlie Cotton in Eastenders I presume. If not he has a doppelganger!

As of this week, new entries to this thread will be posted every Saturday. Onwards into 2000 we go...

 

30TH JANUARY 2000

 

Lyte Funkie Ones - "Girl on TV"

Official UK Chart peak: #6

 

 

This is an entry where I'm going to point out some recommended reading, viewers. Chiefly, that of Dermot O'Leary's 2014 autobiography, 'Soundtrack to My Life'. It's a great book - written as wittily and charmingly as you'd expect from the man known for his hug giving, head patting and Louis Walsh ribbing duties on 'The X Factor'.

 

In the chapter where he chronicles his time starting out as a presenter, on Channel 4's Sunday morning youth strand T4, he mentions several bands and solo artists that came into the studios, bleary eyed at 7am on a Sunday to plug their latest release: Five (we'll be meeting them shortly), Ian Brown (who kicked off in a major way about being called a scally by Dermot), Made in London (see the first page of the girl group review thread. S'all I'm saying).

 

And he also mentions this lot, who got on the show in lieu of T4's then producer, Andi Peters - formerly of the Broom Cupboard, now best known these days for giving away money on ITV's Good Morning Britain - insisting on having them on the show because their song mentioned Abercrombie and Fitch, a clothes store where the staff are dressed to look like they're in need of a good meat pie and a blanket.

 

 

Hailing from America, LFO - or Lyte Funkie Ones to give them their full name - first hit the charts the previous September with aforementioned song about Abercrombie and Fitch (rhyming with the line 'Chinese food makes me sick'. Poetic etc) entitled 'Summer Girls', which got as high as #16 before - shock horror - falling away fast.

 

As the eerie quiet of the first two months of Y2K rolled on, they too found themselves landing in the top 10 with this cheesy as anything song about falling in love for, erm, a girl on TV. Said girl, in this instance, being played by 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' starlet Jennifer Love Hewitt.

 

I can't say I was ever a fan of this at the time. For every good boyband - and Lord knows we'll be meeting several candidates along the way - around this time, there were 10 awful ones, and LFO fall neatly into that bracket. We'll meet them just once more in this thread in 2002 - under much reduced fortunes, thankfully.

27TH FEBRUARY 2000

 

Backstreet Boys - "Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely"

Official UK Chart peak: #3

 

 

A1 - "Like a Rose"

Official UK Chart peak: #6

 

 

Our first double header week of this thread now. And from an example of a really naff US boyband, we meet one of two that, let's be honest, are among the all time greats. Kevin, Nick, AJ, Howie and Brian - the Backstreet Boys of course - had had a pretty spiffing end to the 90s, and were well and truly in the midst of their imperial phase with third album, the aptly titled 'Millennium' slaying all before it in global sales and appeal.

 

Solid gold pop classic 'I Want It That Way' had crowned them with their first UK number one the previous May, and 'Larger Than Life' had given them another top 5 hit in October. The third single from the album however, was one that, against the shining power pop of the first two releases, was decidedly more downbeat - but understandably so given its context.

 

The work of Max Martin and the Cherion team - who produced this and many of their biggest hits - 'Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely' may, to the untrained ear, sound like a stock heartbreak ballad that they'd got down pat on previous occassions ('All I Have To Give', 'As Long as You Love Me', hello to you).

 

 

One of their earlier producers, another Swede pop writing heavy weight by the name of DenniZ PoP (he'd done 'We Got It Goin' On' and 'Get Down' for them), had passed away in August 1998, following a particularly aggressive battle with stomach cancer. As such, the song is about their response to their grief, and coping with the loss of someone who was such a key part of their success, whilst trying to move on.

 

Hard hitting stuff, but despite the tragic circumstances from which it emanated, this single makes for a thoroughly engaging listen even now, and was well deserved of its Top 3 placing - Brian and Nick shine vocally here especially. I dare say that as their other slower numbers we'll meet in this thread go, they never bettered this.

 

Meanwhile, a bit further down the top 10 that week saw the first UK chart appearance of the year from four boys who'd got off to a fine start in 1999. Formed by the same management team behind Steps, A1 had won hearts with their poptastic vibes and were winking all over the pages of Smash Hits from the moment their debut hit, 'Be The First to Believe', vaulted in at #6 that June.

 

Quickly following that up with 'Summertime of Our Lives' (#4 in August) and double-sided 'Everytime' and 'Ready Or Not' (#3 in November), they were on the ascendancy, and as if to prove it, scored their fourth straight top 10 hit from their debut album 'Here We Come', with their first self penned number (a fact they were always keen to emphasise, more so in the latter stage of their career).

 

 

Written by the band's main heartthrob, Ben Adams, 'Like a Rose' was tied neatly into a release around Valentine's Day - hence the especially romantic video, which was every 'Random boyband reveal their love secrets!' interview from a teen mag ever in visual form. Slightly cheesy video aside, it was a nicely harmonised ballad that did the trick - even if it wasn't able to join the previous two releases in the top 5 by peaking at its #6 entry point.

 

A1 then duly headed to South East Asia - where they were absolutely huge in comparison to the UK - for a round of promo - and then onto America where they begun work on their second album with several big name producers. And, as we'll see a bit later in 2000, it was to be the start of the biggest period of success for them...

The guy on the right now plays Charlie Cotton in Eastenders I presume. If not he has a doppelganger!

 

A quick Google has confirmed this is the case! Fancy that, one in EastEnders, two in Byker Grove. I should also point out here that we'll be meeting Ollie from Point Break several times later in this thread after 2000...

5TH MARCH 2000

 

*NSYNC- "Bye Bye Bye"

Official UK Chart peak: #3

 

 

Northern Line - "Love on the Northern Line"

Official UK Chart peak: #15

 

 

Dum Dums - "Everything"

Official UK Chart peak: #21

 

 

98° - "The Hardest Thing"

Official UK Chart peak: #29

 

 

Deary deary me. I've had instances of double header weeks on this thread, and on the girl group thread. Occasionally a triple week. Never though, have I had the arduous task of covering four new entries from boybands or girl groups on a given week in the 21st century. Until now. Not for nothing was Eminem loudly protesting that he was 'sick of all you little girl and boy groups' on his chart topping 'The Real Slim Shady' a few short months after this.

 

For just as thousands of girl groups were being launched by record companies in the wake of the Spice Girls' global dominance, so too were the boybands. But more on the also rans in a bit - we've got more important things to discuss. So first up, it's time for the second of the two biggest US boyband titans - and shining examples of the format done properly to make their first appearance on this thread - and what a song to do it with. It's strange with hindsight, that *NSYNC were merely regarded as also rans here in the UK.

 

For any success they had here was a mere drop in the ocean compared to their mega fame across the Atlantic. Their self titled debut album had been released as far back as 1996 in Germany and mainland Europe to great success, but here in the UK and in the US, Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone and a certain man by the name of Justin Timberlake practically couldn't get arrested.

 

 

But after finally catching the eye of RCA Records in the States, they finally hit the big time there in 1998, when their first two singles 'I Want You Back' and 'Tearin' Up My Heart' were re-released and stormed the Hot 100 there and the top 10 here in 1999 - and along with a certain Britney Spears (more on her connection with the lads in later entries), they were kings of the new teen pop wave, inspiring hysteria every which way they went.

 

However, if it's sounding a bit too easy going, it was anything but for them during 1999. Following the release of their festive album 'Home for Christmas', they filed a lawsuit against their manager, the late Lou Pearlman (who also founded Backstreet Boys), for defrauding them of more royalties than he initially promised. After an out of court settlement was reached, they jumped ship to Jive Records and never looked back.

 

'Bye Bye Bye', complete with its now iconic puppeteer video and a storming Scandopop chorus to match, was the first single off their second album 'No Strings Attached', and rocketed straight into the top 5 in the US and the UK. Meanwhile, the parent album broke records as one of the fastest selling US album releases that year, shifting a whopping 2.42 million in its first week alone, on its way to becoming that year's biggest selling album in the States.

 

Now for the also rans. Despite a backing by Sir Elton John of all figureheads as the next big thing, UK upstarts Northern Line were proof that good connections could only get you so far. Their debut single 'Run for Your Life' had made a largely unnoticed #18 debut the previous September. A support slot with Steps to boost their profile duly followed, which thus meant its follow up, 'Love on the Northern Line', made an improvement by three places - however slight it was.

 

 

This is one of only two entries we have to come from Northern Line. My thoughts on this now remain largely the same as 17 years ago. Cheesy and risible as anything with its lyrics of matchmaking on the London Underground, and its pecs ahoy video, this was firmly in the 'Lyte Funkie Ones' bracket of boybands for failing to add anything different or exciting to the format.

 

Six places down from that we find the first of four entries in this thread from three guys who were, at the very least, trying to offer a break from the norm - even if they were all but two years too early to find success with it. Coming on very much like a blueprint to two bands we'll be meeting a lot of later in this thread, Josh, Steve and Stuart - aka Dum Dums - got their big break supporting their labelmate and 80s pop legend Nik Kershaw on tour in March 1999.

 

 

A year later, they made a respectable top 30 debut here with 'Everything', a furious, frenzied punk pop effort that had a big, anthemic chorus to match. In many ways, it sounds to the ear like early Muse if they suddenly decided to go a bit more poptastic, but it's none the worse for that and a strong effort.

 

And finally, bringing up the rear this week in the boyband pecking order were, let's not lie here, the Jessica Simpson to *NSYNC's Britney Spears (obvious comparison in more ways than one, I know). Fronted by Nick Lachey, and quite possibly being the ugliest boyband we've encountered thus far in this thread, 98° were aiming for the more R&B, urban end of the market populated by the likes of Blackstreet and Boyz II Men.

 

 

Asserting this desire to corner that end of the market from supporting Janet Jackson on her 'Velvet Rope Tour' and collaborating with the likes of Mariah Carey, they had a modest following in the States, but an even more miniscule one here in the UK. 'Because of You' had conked out at #36 the previous August, and the virtual indifference from the British public was illustrated by this low top 30 entry point for 'The Hardest Thing'. Uninspiring if inoffensive R&B styled pop, it was never going to get them noticed in the long run, hence this is our only meeting with them. I think it's safe to say I've completed a marathon when it comes to write ups now!

Edited August 19, 20177 yr by ThePensmith

12TH MARCH 2000

 

Five - "Don't Wanna Let You Go"

Official UK Chart peak: #9

 

 

Two years on from when they first slam dunked their funk into the UK charts with, er, 'Slam Dunk (Da Funk)', things appeared to finally be going stratospheric for everyone's favourite bad boys of UK Pop 2K. J, Abs, Ritchie, Sean and Scott - Five to little you and me - were positively bubbling from the success of their first ever UK number one at the seventh attempt after a run of three number 2 hits - that of course, being October 1999's legendary 'Keep on Movin'.

 

And they'd also not long picked up their first BRIT award for 'Best Pop Act', and also opened that year's ceremony with some special guests (more on whom in their next entry). Meanwhile, it was business as usual as they embarked on their first headline UK arena tour to rave reviews, and released the third single from their second album 'Invincible'.

 

 

And foolishly, they didn't go for the wiser choice of 'Battlestar' - a totally bonkers rap rock offering sampling the theme to cult sci-fi series 'Battlestar Galactica'. Instead their label - much to their consternation - went for 'Don't Wanna Let You Go', a remedial, slightly creepy Cherion-esque rip off that wasn't a patch on the first two singles off their sophomore effort.

 

Still, it did the trick of keeping their top 10 streak in place - even if by peaking at a relatively low number 9, it became their lowest charting single since that 1997 debut. Even greater success was to follow with their next entry on this thread - and one which some readers, then and now, may have deemed sacriligeous...

Edited August 19, 20177 yr by ThePensmith

19TH MARCH 2000

 

Mero - "It Must Be Love"

Official UK Chart peak: #33

 

 

And you thought we'd be waiting until the end of the noughties for our first duo in this thread? How wrong you were. Now, at the risk of sounding old (which I have noticed is advancing on the present writer, I turn 28 this time next week), for readers born after 1998, I need to do a bit of scene setting.

 

At the end of the nineties, the much missed magazine Smash Hits was still the affirmative bible on all things pop, and the Poll Winners' Party, shown every December on BBC One, was an equally affirmative barometer on all things pop, and in particular, bands consisting entirely of boys.

 

One of its most notable awards was the 'Best New Tour Act' award, presented to an up and coming band who'd got their start on that year's Smash Hits Tour, that played the length and breadth of the country's town halls and theatres, and who more often than not went onto phenomenal success thereafter - kind of a BRITs 'Critics' Choice' of its day, only with more hair gel and baggy pants. Previous winners of the gong included Boyzone, 911, Five and Westlife.

 

 

Joining that little roll call at the 1999 ceremony, in the hope of going on to bigger and better things in the following twelve months, were Scottish teenagers Tommy Clark and Derek McDonald, aspiring to be Wham for the new millennium as new duo Mero. Signed up by a then unknown Simon Cowell, all seemed set for them to take over the hearts of a nation.

 

And then...well, they kind of didn't, as the chart position above shows. All told it's a bit of a crying shame they never did make it. Surprisingly upbeat and sunny from the off, 'It Must Be Love' was a fine slice of hand jiving, foot tapping, Motown aping soul pop that wouldn't have sounded out of place on the first S Club 7 album. Suddenly, Smash Hits appeared to have lost the golden touch at predicting the next big thing - something that was to continue at that year's ceremony.

 

Just a month or so after this disappointing start, Simon Cowell and BMG axed the boys from the label to give priority to...well. Let's just say if you're reading this in conjunction with the first couple of pages of the girl group thread, you'll know who Messr Cowell was splashing a big load of cash in the direction of to equally dismal effect. Meanwhile, Derek - as the more urban sounding D-Mac - attempted a solo career two years later, only for his single 'The World She Knows' to, spookily enough, also stutter to #33 in July 2002.

2ND APRIL 2000

 

Westlife - "Fool Again"

Official UK Chart peak: #1

 

 

Now here's one for a future pub quiz. In UK chart history, which act scored the quickest succession of number one hits from their debut? Answer: the act behind our next entry. Even though 'Fool Again' was the fifth single from their self titled debut, it was quickly becoming apparent that this was no barrier for Westlife. If anything, it was a target for even more success, as just three weeks shy of the first anniversary of their debut with 'Swear it Again', their fifth straight chart topper came within 49 weeks - a feat no act before or since has duplicated or bettered.

 

Displaying a level of consistency that few others could beat, they were even giving the girl groups a run for their money. Fellow country women, B*Witched, you may remember, scored a succession of four number one singles debuting at the very top only a year previous to this, but this very same week were down on their luck with the #16 entry point for what proved to be their final single, 'Jump Down'. And - spoiler alert - they wouldn't be the only girls succumbing to smug Irish boy power by year's end.

 

 

All of this is actually to do some disservice to 'Fool Again'. More at the 'If I Let You Go' end of their spectrum - i.e. with a slightly more modest BPM count than say, 'Flying Without Wings' - the single was given a special '2000 Mix' that differed greatly from the version on their self titled debut album, thus boosting its sales kudos. Even as a seasoned Westlife hater back in the day, with hindsight this is actually one of their more bearable singles to reach the summit, the kind of record Backstreet Boys would have knocked off on a lunch break at Cherion c. April 2000.

 

But proving that some boyband chart cliches weren't dead in the new millennium, 'Fool Again' had a very brief spell at the top indeed. As a wealth of new entries stormed the top 5 the following week, it plummeted to #8, and was all but absent from the top 40 a month later, proving that the single had got to the top, in common with the majority of their future entries to come, on fan power alone rather than any kind of broader appeal. Which in my view, is fine so long as the music's good, but more often than not as we'll see with Westlife, it really wasn't good.

16TH APRIL 2000

 

Point Break - "Freaky Time"

Official UK Chart peak: #13

 

 

The second of four entries from Point Break in this thread now. And in a sudden switch from the brazen rap-pop of 'Stand Tough' and 'Do We Rock', 'Freaky Time', their second top 20 hit on the trot, went for a jangly guitar pop vibe with a rather rude lyric that was the early 00s equivalent of a request to 'Netflix and chill' with a hot babe.

 

If the effect was to act as a saucy come on to potential female fans/groupies, such as in the mumbly low bits in which they declared 'So baby bring your aah over here just for a second / You're looking at me I reckon you're checkin' / Not respecting just what my intentions are / You want me all the way up, I want you half way down / I'm gonna lay down naked make you feel hotty / Every curve every swerve all over your body / Will not go undiscovered by the end of the night', then it instead came across as desperate and a bit rape-y in all honesty.

 

 

In comparison to Another Level's 'Freak Me' and even Five's attempt at after dark sauciness on 'When the Lights Go Out' just two years previously, it fell some way short on the genuinely alluring factor, and was hardly going to be the single to return them to the top 10 in what was already turning into quite an overcrowded market. A shame then, that more of the same befell their next entry, which (in my view) was really quite special indeed.