April 1, 20205 yr Author A fabulous top 10 <3 I think among those the only ones that I wouldn't consider to be all-time favourite tier songs are 'Red Alert', 'You Don't Know Me' and '...Baby One More Time' (and I do still really like at least the first two, ...BOMT I'm not really personally as big a fan of as the rest but I do acknowledge it as a classic obvz). But then 11th-13th are all all-time faves as well. x Stanning Baz Luhrmann being as high as #3, wouldn't have expected that! Why thank you <3 Wow that's a lot of all-time faves *.* I guess I gravitate towards pure pop music more so I can understand you singling out '...Baby One More Time' as less good than the others, at least I know you're also a big fan of 'Toxic' x (stay tuned for 2004 omg xo) I clearly haven't displayed my love for 'Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)' enough on here :o well there you go, right up there as one of my faves of its respective year :heart: thank you for commenting <3 Great top 10 here, RHRN has to be Fatboy's absolute best track and Red Alert is up with BJ's best too. Sway, King Of My Castle, You Don't Know Me and Flat Beat are faves of the year too. Yay thanks Dan! I wholeheartedly agree with both of those statements :heart: (although 'Red Alert' is my outright fave as well of course). Excellent taste there! thank you for commenting <3 These are my top 20 favourite singles that made the top 40 that year. Five of them are on your list as well. It was a great year for chart hits and I had to leave many good songs out. Moby prevents the Chemical Brothers having a clean sweep of the top 3. 1. Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl 2. Chemical Brothers - Out Of Control 3. Moby - Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? 4. Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be 5. UNKLE featuring Ian Brown - Be There 6. William Orbit - Barber's Adagio For Strings 7. System F - Out Of The Blue 8. Humate - Love Stimulation 9. Supergrass - Moving 10. Solar Stone - Seven Cities 11. Groove Armada - At The River 12. Underworld - Push Upstairs 13. Fatboy Slim - Right Here Right Now 14. Travis - Writing To Reach You 15. Chicane featuring Maire Brennan - Saltwater 16. The Cardigans - Erase/Rewind 17. Pet Shop Boys - New York City Boy 18. Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) 19. Mario Piu - Communication (Somebody Answer The Phone) 20. Bryan Adams - Cloud Number 9 Great to see that we had a decent amount of crossover - most importantly my #1 is in your top 20 and your #1 is also in my top 20! :D Chemical Brothers killing it *.* Moby so high too - he may make an appearance in 2000, watch this space... thank you for commenting <3 An excellent winner, that would probably be my top pick too, it's so hypnotising and dramatic and has one of my favourite intros ever. Bloody Westlife keeping two of the best dance songs of the year off the top spot x Some great stuff in the rest of the top 10, like I said, 1999 was a great year for dance-pop. This would be (a very rough version of) my top 10 of the year: 01. Fatboy Slim - Right Here Right Now 02. William Orbit - Barber's Adagio For Strings 03. Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl 04. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee) 05. Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone 06. Blur - Tender 07. Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly 08. ATB - 9PM ('Til I Come) 09. Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca 10. Lou Bega - Mambo No. 5 (:kink:) Rollo's post made me realise, are you counting William Orbit as 2000 or when it was first released? If not consider me shocked it's not here! :o Thanks Chez *.* how amazing that we have a snap #1 for this year. Hypnotising and dramatic sums it up perfectly :heart: cannae deal with Westlife, it wasn't even one of their more memorable songs either -_- I like the look of your top 10 in general, 'Tender' and 'Mambo No.5' (:kink:) wouldn't have been too far off for me. I'm not sure if I know the Foo Fighters song! As for William Orbit, I find it difficult to listen to that song in any form ever since the original classical piece was played at my great grandad's funeral, otherwise yes I can understand why it may seem like a notable omission! thank you for commenting <3
April 2, 20205 yr A fantastic winner in 'Right Here Right Now '. Terrific tune. 'Red Alert' great tune from Basement Jaxx, wow that is a classic. Baz Luhrmann it may be that it will always climb into the iTunes Top 100 every time it is played in Radio 1. Definitely sends a message there for me. 'Sweet Like Chocolate ' the vocals and production are just pure magic. Less said that Tulisas version the better. 'Flat Beat' always enjoyed this in 1999 and now. Flat Eric made it me for in this song.
April 3, 20205 yr Hi Jade! Here are my faves from your faves! 01. Fatboy Slim - Right Here, Right Now 03. Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) I'll never be able to wrap my head around this being a #1 single. The power of Chris Moyles I guess! I do love it though, how could you not? So unique and full of good advice. I did think Baz wrote the speech himself so I'm surprised to learn that's not the case! 09. Fatboy Slim - Praise You 10. Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time 15. Sixpence None the Richer - Kiss Me This is such a perfect late-90s radio song, it certainly was all over the radio here at the time. Just a great-sounding, well-written song - simple but not too simple, and her vocals and the instrumentation are both so calming :wub: 16. DJ Jurgen Presents Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone 17. Smash Mouth - All Star Oh wow, I'm definitely disappointed to see this only peaked at #24 in the UK. But it's certainly made up for that with how well it's remembered now! Not sure if you know any other Smash Mouth songs (besides I'm A Believer surely), but they have a handful of other catchy tunes if you ever get curious! 19. Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle 20. Madonna - Beautiful Stranger 23. Cuban Boys - Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia Whaaaaat, add me to the list of those who never realized this was the origin of the Hampster Dance :o I've always wondered how that never made the charts, so that sort of explains it. This song sounds all right, but I guess I'm just too accustomed to the Hampster Dance, so I'll be sticking with that one :cool: 24. Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino So none of the Spices had any sort of solo success here. This was the only solo Spice single I knew growing up because it was on a compilation that I got as a random prize inside a cereal box *_* 26. TLC - No Scrubs 28. DJ Luck & MC Neat - A Little Bit of Luck Just discovered this a day or two ago listening to a March 2000 chart show on Mixcloud! That shows what a great run it had, debuting in '99 and still charting the following March. That impressive post-Christmas climb to the top 10! Kind of like Pump It Up or Baby Shark nowadays :kink: Anyway great garage tune, and I got some Showtek - Booyah vibes from it too :wub: 29. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee) 31. Eminem - My Name Is 32. Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca 33. Britney Spears - (You Drive Me) Crazy This might actually be my favorite single from Britney's debut. Baby One More Time is obviously the pop masterpiece to end all pop masterpieces, but I like how this sounded more mature for her, but still appropriate, without going overboard like I'm A Slave 4 U. 34. Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman! 36. Backstreet Boys - Larger Than Life Yeah, I have no idea how this only peaked at #25 in the US. It sure felt like it was everywhere at the time, plus with the album being absolutely massive. Baffling! 38. Destiny's Child - Bills Bills Bills Well done, looking forward to 2000! :D
April 10, 20205 yr Author A fantastic winner in 'Right Here Right Now '. Terrific tune. 'Red Alert' great tune from Basement Jaxx, wow that is a classic. Baz Luhrmann it may be that it will always climb into the iTunes Top 100 every time it is played in Radio 1. Definitely sends a message there for me. 'Sweet Like Chocolate ' the vocals and production are just pure magic. Less said that Tulisas version the better. 'Flat Beat' always enjoyed this in 1999 and now. Flat Eric made it me for in this song. Hey there Mack :hi: Glad you were a fan of my whole top 5! I love that the Radio 1 plays of Baz Luhrmann always result in a surge, I think it's due another one now tbh. I have listened to the Tulisa version of 'Sweet Like Chocolate' once and never again, definitely a pointless remake :lol: Flat Eric a true icon :cheeseblock: Thanks for commenting <3 Hi Jade! Here are my faves from your faves! 01. Fatboy Slim - Right Here, Right Now 03. Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) I'll never be able to wrap my head around this being a #1 single. The power of Chris Moyles I guess! I do love it though, how could you not? So unique and full of good advice. I did think Baz wrote the speech himself so I'm surprised to learn that's not the case! 09. Fatboy Slim - Praise You 10. Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time 15. Sixpence None the Richer - Kiss Me This is such a perfect late-90s radio song, it certainly was all over the radio here at the time. Just a great-sounding, well-written song - simple but not too simple, and her vocals and the instrumentation are both so calming :wub: 16. DJ Jurgen Presents Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone 17. Smash Mouth - All Star Oh wow, I'm definitely disappointed to see this only peaked at #24 in the UK. But it's certainly made up for that with how well it's remembered now! Not sure if you know any other Smash Mouth songs (besides I'm A Believer surely), but they have a handful of other catchy tunes if you ever get curious! 19. Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle 20. Madonna - Beautiful Stranger 23. Cuban Boys - Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia Whaaaaat, add me to the list of those who never realized this was the origin of the Hampster Dance :o I've always wondered how that never made the charts, so that sort of explains it. This song sounds all right, but I guess I'm just too accustomed to the Hampster Dance, so I'll be sticking with that one :cool: 24. Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino So none of the Spices had any sort of solo success here. This was the only solo Spice single I knew growing up because it was on a compilation that I got as a random prize inside a cereal box *_* 26. TLC - No Scrubs 28. DJ Luck & MC Neat - A Little Bit of Luck Just discovered this a day or two ago listening to a March 2000 chart show on Mixcloud! That shows what a great run it had, debuting in '99 and still charting the following March. That impressive post-Christmas climb to the top 10! Kind of like Pump It Up or Baby Shark nowadays :kink: Anyway great garage tune, and I got some Showtek - Booyah vibes from it too :wub: 29. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee) 31. Eminem - My Name Is 32. Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca 33. Britney Spears - (You Drive Me) Crazy This might actually be my favorite single from Britney's debut. Baby One More Time is obviously the pop masterpiece to end all pop masterpieces, but I like how this sounded more mature for her, but still appropriate, without going overboard like I'm A Slave 4 U. 34. Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman! 36. Backstreet Boys - Larger Than Life Yeah, I have no idea how this only peaked at #25 in the US. It sure felt like it was everywhere at the time, plus with the album being absolutely massive. Baffling! 38. Destiny's Child - Bills Bills Bills Well done, looking forward to 2000! :D Hey there Jordan :hi: - Yeah 'Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)' really was such an idiosyncratic #1! I'm glad that people rallied behind it in such a way and that it still gets a good reaction over 20 years later. Apologies for shattering the illusion that Baz wrote the speech :kink: I love that the actual speech went viral 'via email' :lol: The advice is so soothing <3 - Totally agree with what you said about 'Kiss Me'! Very wide-appealing and timeless with its charming simplicity :heart: - Yeah 'All Star' feels way more well known than its peak here would suggest thanks to its Shrek connection and of course the life it has taken on as a meme! I think the 'I'm A Believer' cover is the only other Smash Mouth song I know so I'll definitely have to check out more. - I think 'Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia' actually piggy-backed off the back of the Hampster Dance! I was so used to the Hampster Dance version back in the day but they're about equal in my affections now after hearing 'Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia' quite a lot over the years! - A shame that the Spice Girls never experienced solo success in the US! Winning a compilation in a cereal box though - brilliant :lol: - Woah what a coincidence with the Mixcloud discovery :lol: I've been listening to quite a few 2008 and 2010 charts while working from home! But worked through a lot of 90s ones in the past so I might've heard that one too. Indeed a very impressive run for 'A Little Bit Of Luck' anyway! Will have to listen out for 'Booyah' vibes :o - '(You Drive Me) Crazy' is a brilliant choice of favourite from Britney's debut! This and the title track are way out in front for me compared to everything else that era - such pop perfection. The 'Stop!' remix totally elevated it <3 It was definitely a step in the right direction as a single. - I wonder what went wrong with 'Larger Than Life' if it was everywhere! Madness :o Thank you for commenting <3 Really looking forward to 2000, enjoying this series of countdowns, Jade. Thanks so much Mack :cheer: I think I'll kick it off after Teams has concluded as balancing that and Club Bizarre alone has been quite time consuming on top of working!
April 10, 20205 yr All Star is an all-time classic. I can't believe how low it peaked in the UK. If only Shrek was released a couple of years earlier. Baby One More Time, King Of My Castle and The Fatboy Slim songs are great too :D
April 10, 20205 yr Author All Star is an all-time classic. I can't believe how low it peaked in the UK. If only Shrek was released a couple of years earlier. Baby One More Time, King Of My Castle and The Fatboy Slim songs are great too :D I know right? 'All Star' feels way more tied to Shrek now than the actual movie in its music video! Pleased that you're a fan of all of those too :yahoo: Thanks for commenting <3
April 13, 20205 yr Hi Jade, really enjoying following this, 1999 was such an incredible year and you've picked some great songs from it: 01. Fatboy Slim - Right Here, Right Now 02. Basement Jaxx - Red Alert Solid top two, British dance music was really on form this year 03. Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) I'll always adore this, so unique 04. Shanks & Bigfoot - Sweet Like Chocolate 05. Mr Oizo - Flat Beat 06. Wamdue Project - King of My Castle 07. Shaft - (Mucho Mambo) Sway 08. Armand Van Helden - You Don't Know Me (feat. Duane Harden) 09. Fatboy Slim - Praise You 10. Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time 11. Chicane - Saltwater (feat. Maire Brennan) 12. The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl 13. Five - Keep On Movin' 14. ATB - 9 PM (Till I Come) The song that got me into dance music <3 My ears were wowed when I first heard this on the Virgin Megastore listening post, incredible track 15. Sixpence None the Richer - Kiss Me 16. DJ Jurgen Presents Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone My favourite song of 1999, I adore everything about it 17. Smash Mouth - All Star 18. Groove Armada - At the River Such a chilled, relaxing song, all of their major singles sound so different from one another 19. Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle 20. Madonna - Beautiful Stranger 21. Basement Jaxx - Rendez-Vu I actually prefer this to Red Alert, quite a strange song vocally but I adore it 22. Artful Dodger - Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta) (feat. Craig David) 23. Cuban Boys - Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia 24. Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino 25. Terrorvision - Tequila (Mint Royale Shot) 26. TLC - No Scrubs 27. Paul Johnson - Get Get Down 28. DJ Luck & MC Neat - A Little Bit of Luck 29. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee) 30. Jamiroquai - Canned Heat 31. Eminem - My Name Is I remember the first time I heard this in a 50p shop on the radio, it stood out so much, didn't realise he'd still be a big thing over 20 years later though! 32. Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca 33. Britney Spears - (You Drive Me) Crazy 34. Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman! 35. Moloko - Sing It Back 36. Backstreet Boys - Larger Than Life 37. S Club 7 - Bring It All Back 38. Destiny's Child - Bills Bills Bills 39. Bran Van 3000 - Drinking In L.A. 40. Apollo 440 - Stop The Rock Wow, amazing list, I like all of them!
April 29, 20205 yr A bit late to the party here, but what a great thread! From your 1997 Top 40, Professional Widow, Encore Une Fois, The Age Of Love, Never Gonna Let You Go, Nightmare, Your Woman & Sunchyme would also be in mine. From your 1998 Top 40, I Can’t Help Myself :wub: , Intergalactic, Believe, Ray Of Light, Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life), Life Is A Flower, Straight From The Heart, Mysterious Times, It’s Like That, Music Sounds Better With You & Frozen would all be in my Top 40 too. And from your 1999 Top 40, Drinking In L.A, My Name Is, A Little Bit Of Luck, Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia, Beautiful Stranger, At The River, Better Off Alone, 9pm (Till I Come), Saltwater, Flat Beat & Sweet Like Chocolate. In fact, I bought them all at the time, which makes me feel very old :no: I'm looking forward to 2000 and beyond :heart:
April 29, 20205 yr Hi Jade, I won;t go through every track, I'll just by way of comparison list the number of each top 40 that got a "silver" record in my charts (or "sales" of 250,000) 1997: 17 1998: 20 1999: 15 Pretty good crossover appeal I think :lol: I've a few more US/UK/poprock tracks than yours (most notably the absent Texas), and less dance overall, but most of the biggies are present and correct :D
April 29, 20205 yr Author Haven't forgotten about this btw, still waiting for Teams to conclude, I think we're on the final task now so will hopefully continue next week! Hi Jade, really enjoying following this, 1999 was such an incredible year and you've picked some great songs from it: 01. Fatboy Slim - Right Here, Right Now 02. Basement Jaxx - Red Alert Solid top two, British dance music was really on form this year 03. Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) I'll always adore this, so unique 04. Shanks & Bigfoot - Sweet Like Chocolate 05. Mr Oizo - Flat Beat 06. Wamdue Project - King of My Castle 07. Shaft - (Mucho Mambo) Sway 08. Armand Van Helden - You Don't Know Me (feat. Duane Harden) 09. Fatboy Slim - Praise You 10. Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time 11. Chicane - Saltwater (feat. Maire Brennan) 12. The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl 13. Five - Keep On Movin' 14. ATB - 9 PM (Till I Come) The song that got me into dance music <3 My ears were wowed when I first heard this on the Virgin Megastore listening post, incredible track 15. Sixpence None the Richer - Kiss Me 16. DJ Jurgen Presents Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone My favourite song of 1999, I adore everything about it 17. Smash Mouth - All Star 18. Groove Armada - At the River Such a chilled, relaxing song, all of their major singles sound so different from one another 19. Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle 20. Madonna - Beautiful Stranger 21. Basement Jaxx - Rendez-Vu I actually prefer this to Red Alert, quite a strange song vocally but I adore it 22. Artful Dodger - Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta) (feat. Craig David) 23. Cuban Boys - Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia 24. Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino 25. Terrorvision - Tequila (Mint Royale Shot) 26. TLC - No Scrubs 27. Paul Johnson - Get Get Down 28. DJ Luck & MC Neat - A Little Bit of Luck 29. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee) 30. Jamiroquai - Canned Heat 31. Eminem - My Name Is I remember the first time I heard this in a 50p shop on the radio, it stood out so much, didn't realise he'd still be a big thing over 20 years later though! 32. Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca 33. Britney Spears - (You Drive Me) Crazy 34. Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman! 35. Moloko - Sing It Back 36. Backstreet Boys - Larger Than Life 37. S Club 7 - Bring It All Back 38. Destiny's Child - Bills Bills Bills 39. Bran Van 3000 - Drinking In L.A. 40. Apollo 440 - Stop The Rock Wow, amazing list, I like all of them! Hey there Rich :hi: I recall you mentioning 1999 as a strong year in the past so I'm pleased that you have shared your opinions on it here *.* glad you approve of my picks so much too! - British dance music really was incredible that year :wub: a lot of standout hits! - Yeah I don't think I've come across anything like 'Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)' before, it's in a lane of its own, genius! - Oh wow, what an introduction to a love of dance music :heart: I think my equivalent would've been 'Toca's Miracle' but years after it was actually released! Virgin Megastore, what a throwback *.* the last time I remember going there was to buy a Sims game rated 12, when I was slightly younger (rebel), so yeah a while ago! - Haha yes was waiting for your 'Better Off Alone' appreciation :heart: I feel so lucky to have witnessed that live last year, what a moment! - 'At The River' is just blissful :heart: yeah I agree with that comment, I was definitely shocked to discover that this was by them! - 'Rendez-vu' has really crept up on me over the past couple of years, feels underrated despite its peak, so I'm glad you are so fond of it! - 50p shop *.* yeah Eminem's longevity has been insane! Thank you for commenting <3 A bit late to the party here, but what a great thread! From your 1997 Top 40, Professional Widow, Encore Une Fois, The Age Of Love, Never Gonna Let You Go, Nightmare, Your Woman & Sunchyme would also be in mine. From your 1998 Top 40, I Can’t Help Myself :wub: , Intergalactic, Believe, Ray Of Light, Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life), Life Is A Flower, Straight From The Heart, Mysterious Times, It’s Like That, Music Sounds Better With You & Frozen would all be in my Top 40 too. And from your 1999 Top 40, Drinking In L.A, My Name Is, A Little Bit Of Luck, Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia, Beautiful Stranger, At The River, Better Off Alone, 9pm (Till I Come), Saltwater, Flat Beat & Sweet Like Chocolate. In fact, I bought them all at the time, which makes me feel very old :no: I'm looking forward to 2000 and beyond :heart: Hey there AH Gold :hi: No worries, better late than never, still here in time to experience the whole of the noughties + 2010s *.* glad you're enjoying the thread :heart: Wow so many highlights there <3 with a particular fondess for 'I Can't Help Myself' I see, I just had to sneak that in *.* Sorry for making you feel old :kink: but what a time to have properly lived through *.* Yay, thank you for commenting <3 Hi Jade, I won;t go through every track, I'll just by way of comparison list the number of each top 40 that got a "silver" record in my charts (or "sales" of 250,000) 1997: 17 1998: 20 1999: 15 Pretty good crossover appeal I think :lol: I've a few more US/UK/poprock tracks than yours (most notably the absent Texas), and less dance overall, but most of the biggies are present and correct :D Hey there John :hi: Haha fair enough, I guess 120 songs would be quite a lot to comment on at once :lol: Ooh that crossover is not bad at all :clap: looking forward to seeing what it will be like in the noughties. Texas passed me by a bit, need to delve into their discography more at some point, or at least revisit Now albums with their stuff on it! Thank you for commenting <3
May 4, 20205 yr Author Aiming to bring this back tonight :cheer: I discovered Fiona Apple's only top 40 single 'Fast As You Can' about two weeks ago and love it so that can be #41 for 1999 :kink:
May 4, 20205 yr Author Time for the beginning of a new millennium... a pretty significant time for the world! We survived the Y2K bug scare and filled the year with a lot of music. 2000 provided us with a whopping 43 UK #1 singles for example and you can bet that a bunch of them will be appearing here. The year was huge for the likes of Eminem and Britney who both scored multiple #1 hits. The Beatles were responsible for the most popular album of the year with compilation '1'. Coldplay were introduced into our lives with their debut 'Parachutes'. Robbie remained untouchable. Plus so much more! I turned 3 this year, so my musical memories are still very sparse, but there was one 2000 chart hit that I latched onto at the time, so we're getting there! Stay tuned to find out what that one is. Right, let's get into this... 40. *NSYNC - Bye Bye Bye (chart-run: 3-8-11-20-28-37-44-58) 39. Daft Punk - One More Time (chart-run: 2-7-13-19-28-29-22-26-35-46-59-70) 38. Marc et Claude - I Need Your Lovin' (Like The Sunshine) (chart-run: 12-20-27-39-50-63-73) 37. Moloko - The Time Is Now (chart-run: 2-4-11-16-25-38-36-44-58-75) 36. LeAnn Rimes - Can't Fight The Moonlight (chart-run: 1-2-3-5-6-7-8-11-15-19-26-31-37-43-61-64-74) bx3s99FNXzI It turns out that I intentionally delayed this until May, just so I could reference the it's gonna be May *NSYNC meme, as I knew they were kicking this off. Only kidding, I love a meme as much as the next person but I was genuinely too swamped for a while. Now I'm back, ready and pleased that this did happen to coincide with the month of May. It isn't the song referenced in the meme that is making an appearance though - instead 'Bye Bye Bye' has the honour of kicking off the entire 2000s part of this countdown! I wasn't too familiar with the group while growing up - of course Justin Timblerlake was a huge star in his own right during my childhood, but *NSYNC's music was a little before my time. I did happen to come across 'Bye Bye Bye' during my primary school years though! Rewind back to year 5 - we had an exciting games day, where everyone was encouraged to bring a game into school. This could either be a board game or one accompanying a console. My friend brought in an American Idol game for the Game Boy Advance and I got 'Bye Bye Bye' during some kind of song selection. The rest is history! It has stuck with me during all of these years as *NSYNC's defining song. It could've been a completely different scenario though. It was originally written for 5ive with the chorus in rap form! I'm so glad that those plans didn't end up working out and it instead became this pop juggernaut. It was released as the first single from the iconic album 'No Strings Attached' and was said to be written about the end of a romantic relationship. However, it has also been reported that it's actually about the group's separation from their manager Lou Pearlman too. This would tie into the music video really well as they're being controlled as puppets on strings. Those visuals are so striking! Definitely the ultimate *NSYNC music video moment that sticks in my mind. Here we have an absolute monster of a lead single. The chorus is ludicrously catchy but the song is equally as production driven, as the electronic elements have a real kick to them in addition to some strong drums. I was shocked to find out that 'Bye Bye Bye' has a higher peak in the UK compared to the US, as it reached #3 here but #4 there! However, the accompanying album was of course a mammoth success story. What an introduction to that era and to this first 2000s section! Next it's the return of French electronic duo Daft Punk after they previously appeared with 'Around The World'. Honestly this feels too low but 2000 was an extremely competitive year! It's full of familiar favourites and underrated gems. This definitely falls into the former category as I've heard 'One More Time' a lot over the years. I'll never get bored of it though! It's a French house song with all the right ingredients. Firstly, it's very loopy which is always a winner for me. Then I think the auto-tuned effect is utilised to perfection on the vocals provided by Romanthony. They're so heavily edited but I never really think about that fact. Instead they're just so effortlessly warm. Also the lyrics are an utter joy! "One more time we're gonna celebrate" is fine by me. Finally, the song builds up so well. Daft Punk cut to the chase with an instantly energetic single, but then it ends up slowing down for a little while, before then launching us back to the original tempo. What an incredible ride that is! The accompanying video is pretty outlandish as it portrays cartoon aliens performing. Why not! It doesn't quite impress me as much as the 'Around The World' video (not a lot does tbh) but this is definitely another standout moment for them in terms of visuals. 'One More Time' was a #2 hit in the UK and remained their highest charting single until 'Get Lucky' was released a whopping 13 years later! Now we move on to a song that gives me serious warm fuzzy feelings. This is 'I Need Your Lovin' (Like the Sunshine)' by German duo Marc et Claude. The two joined forces while German trance music was thriving. This is easily the lowest peaking song to appear so far for 2000, off the back of two top 3 hits, but it was the duo's ultimate moment in the spotlight. I'm pretty sure I discovered this beauty from Now 46 - an edition of the compilation that was absolutely bursting with dance music. I fell in love straight away with the soothing vocal delivery, romantic lyrics and electronic production. The song slowly draws us in with the softer features but takes on a life of its own when those trance beats hit hard. The record actually samples 'Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime' by The Korgis and would not be the last song to do so. This single has been pure bliss for me for years but I've only just watched the music video for the first time. It felt like a constant magnetic force, as it begins with a guy dreaming about public displays of affection with a girl, but then he wakes up and keeps running until he finds said girl right at the end. What is it with trance songs and running videos? Well, the visuals do suit this song I think. A very dreamy dance offering. At #37 the time is now for Moloko to return! 2000 saw the release of the electronic duo's third album 'Things to Make and Do' and this was the lead single taken from it. 'The Time Is Now' was rewarded with instant success as it achieved a #2 peak in the UK. This was a new personal best, as 'Sing It Back' settled for a peak of #4 for them. 'The Time Is Now' is a love song that is driven by plucky, flamenco-style strings and coupled with electronic production. The structure is very reminiscent to that of 'Rendez-vu' by Basement Jaxx which could only ever be a good thing for me. This alternative dance moment has a really urgent and anthemic feel to it, especially when coupled with Róisín's dramatic hair-blowing in the video. The strings are charging full speed ahead from the word go but we wait a little while until the piano also joins them. That playing sounds stunning when it does hit. Yaeji would later sample this song in her own record 'Last Breath' and I think she did a great job with it too. I've been listening to 'The Time Is Now' today in preparation for this commentary as I think I'd actually heard 'Last Breath' more recently prior to that. I've really enjoyed this reintroduction - what an incredibly fresh song 20 years later. Lastly, it is revealed that this section has pop music bookends as LeAnn Rimes is the closer today! 'Can't Fight The Moonlight' is a Diane Warren penned single taken from the movie Coyote Ugly. I was first introduced to the song while flipping through the music channels at my grandma's house in the late 2000s. She had Freeview so the only options were 4Music and Viva. This was playing on one of them and I instantly fell in love. 'Can't Fight The Moonlight' is such a sassy and catchy pop song. It is about an undeniable attraction so the passion is there in boatloads too. A really interesting element to it is also numerous key changes! The excitement really ramps up at the end both vocally and in the production. Speaking of vocals, I can't believe LeAnn was only 17 years old here - her vocal talent was definitely beyond her years! This song is quite Britney sounding actually so it makes sense that I've always been so fond of it when Britney has been a lifelong favourite too. She's still to come later! But first, LeAnn has her time to shine with the first #1 single to drop out. It sold over 500k copies in the United Kingdom and actually became the best-selling single of 2001 in Australia! Way to go.
May 4, 20205 yr Omg imma follow the 2000s closely (cus i'll actually know the songs moreso from here :kink:) *NSYNC has some TUNES and this is one of their best! Also major love for 'One More Time', a true timeless classic :wub: Still influential to today's music!
May 4, 20205 yr What a great start to 2000! :wub: Five strong tunes there, my favourite of those being Bye Bye Bye which I'm glad was able to grab a place in your top 40! Can't Fight The Moonlight is a classic pop tune as well, I was also surprised to find she was only 17 when she recorded it!
May 5, 20205 yr A pretty decent section of songs to kick off the millennium, 'One More Time' easily the best of them for me (though I would have predicted you to rank it much higher than #39!) I don't think I ever clocked that Yaeji's 'Last Breath' was a sample of 'The Time Is Now' ;o #education
May 5, 20205 yr One More Time such a classic, it just about made my top 1000 'best sellers' of the 2010s too despite its release date. the rest of that section is also great - 'The Time Is Now' is enjoying a mini-resurgence in my chart too as EDX has very recently done cover version.
May 5, 20205 yr Author Omg imma follow the 2000s closely (cus i'll actually know the songs moreso from here :kink:) *NSYNC has some TUNES and this is one of their best! Also major love for 'One More Time', a true timeless classic :wub: Still influential to today's music! Hey there Bal :hi: Nice to see you in here! The power of the noughties *.* a bit of a wait until Gaga but I'm sure there'll be plenty of other favourites in the mean time. Glad to see you picking out a couple of highlights already - *NSYNC seemed to pick up where Backstreet Boys left off in terms of boyband bangers! 'One More Time' is indeed timeless and influential <3 I'd very much welcome new music from Daft Punk, it was mean that a new era was falsely teased recently :lol: thank you for commenting <3 What a great start to 2000! :wub: Five strong tunes there, my favourite of those being Bye Bye Bye which I'm glad was able to grab a place in your top 40! Can't Fight The Moonlight is a classic pop tune as well, I was also surprised to find she was only 17 when she recorded it! Pleased that the noughties are off to a strong start for you *.* it was brutal cutting this top 40 down so yeah, good on *NSYNC managing to scrape in! I really couldn't bring myself to leave that out. Glad it wasn't just me who was surprised about LeAnn's age, it's just dawned on me that she would've only been 14 when 'How Do I Live?' was released also?! wow :o thank you for commenting <3 A pretty decent section of songs to kick off the millennium, 'One More Time' easily the best of them for me (though I would have predicted you to rank it much higher than #39!) I don't think I ever clocked that Yaeji's 'Last Breath' was a sample of 'The Time Is Now' ;o #education Why thank you *.* I did think 'One More Time' would be your favourite from that section, tune! Yeah the position does seem a bit low oops but it was genuinely so competitive so I was relieved that it didn't get completely cut out while I was ranking all my favourites. Ooh well there you go :o it's the 'You're my last breath, you're a breath of fresh air to me' part that's from the first verse in 'The Time Is Now'! thank you for commenting <3 One More Time such a classic, it just about made my top 1000 'best sellers' of the 2010s too despite its release date. the rest of that section is also great - 'The Time Is Now' is enjoying a mini-resurgence in my chart too as EDX has very recently done cover version. Hooray for the unanimous 'One More Time' appreciation so far *.* amazing that it was impactful enough to place in the 2010s countdown! I wasn't aware of this new version of 'The Time Is Now' so thanks for bringing it to my attention ;o -makes mental note to catch up on personal charts- thank you for commenting <3
May 5, 20205 yr I thought One More Time would be a little higher as well D: Pleased to see it here though, probably one of my all time favourite songs. Can never resist that opening synth line :wub: Also a big fan of Can't Fight the Moonlight, not often I'm really into a song like that, but it's got a great build to it, that chorus just takes you by surprise every time *. The Time is Now is great too, I always remember it from an advert that I think was from football or cars, can't remember which!
May 5, 20205 yr Author I thought One More Time would be a little higher as well D: Pleased to see it here though, probably one of my all time favourite songs. Can never resist that opening synth line :wub: Also a big fan of Can't Fight the Moonlight, not often I'm really into a song like that, but it's got a great build to it, that chorus just takes you by surprise every time *. The Time is Now is great too, I always remember it from an advert that I think was from football or cars, can't remember which! Apologies :kink: there were several songs that I'd rate 9/10 that I didn't have room to fit in, so it was just a bloodbath! But yes, it would've felt so wrong to have no 'One More Time' at all as I do love it, glad I found room :wub: Wow an all-time favourite for you is high praise! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your own list of favourite 2000 chart hits when I'm done with the year, if you're continuing with those. The opening synth line is so striking *.* it's the same with 'Around The World' for me too, the opening of Dua's 'Break My Heart' reminds me of it a bit, so no wonder I'm so fond of that right now. I'm pretty sure I knew you were a fan of 'One More Time' but 'Can't Fight The Moonlight' is pretty unexpected, I definitely approve of that *.* the chorus is definitely the highlight, especially when laden with key changes <3 and ooh I don't think I remember that advert so I'll have to trawl through YouTube later after work to see if I recognise it :kink: thank you for commenting <3
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