I don't think that Wasteoflife song is as bad as a lot of theirs, but Alice Deejay was cruelly and totally unfairly robbed here!

 

I'd even say the same the following week too, although I don't know by how much 'Mi Chico Latino' beat it by.

'Mi Chico Latino' was ahead by almost 55,000 copies...

 

Edit: just noticed coi's post.

Edited August 20, 20195 yr by Robbie

the worst karaoke act from the EU ever then :D

 

Omg THIS

 

Definitely 'Better Off Alone', no contest...having said that, since they came back this year I've given Westlife's back catalogue a reappraisal of sorts and 'If I Let You Go' is one of their better singles for me. Not their best overall, but better than some of the others. Their best overall for me though is still a toss up between 'When You're Looking Like That' and 'World of Our Own'.

 

Looking back on this 20 years ago though you realise just how damn lucky they were for their first seven singles. They always managed to choose a quiet week to release and always went to number one. I think the fact that it kept happening and that they kept getting a bit cockier about it each time it happened - as boys in a boyband with girls throwing themselves at them and having a few quid in the bank are likely to feel, certainly before the fame gets too much - was very annoying.

 

Which was why it was so funny when they finally stumbled at Christmas 2000 to Bob the Builder. Of course they did have more number ones after that - not all of which deserved - but you just wouldn't get a boyband having that sustained level of success today. Or any pop band for that matter.

^but thats not luck, thats very well calculated strategy, their label were very good at it, we cannot deny that, with a more useless label they would have missed on most of their 1s

Alice Deejay by an absolute mile! :lol:

Definitely 'Better Off Alone', no contest...having said that, since they came back this year I've given Westlife's back catalogue a reappraisal of sorts and 'If I Let You Go' is one of their better singles for me. Not their best overall, but better than some of the others. Their best overall for me though is still a toss up between 'When You're Looking Like That' and 'World of Our Own'.

 

Looking back on this 20 years ago though you realise just how damn lucky they were for their first seven singles. They always managed to choose a quiet week to release and always went to number one. I think the fact that it kept happening and that they kept getting a bit cockier about it each time it happened - as boys in a boyband with girls throwing themselves at them and having a few quid in the bank are likely to feel, certainly before the fame gets too much - was very annoying.

 

Which was why it was so funny when they finally stumbled at Christmas 2000 to Bob the Builder. Of course they did have more number ones after that - not all of which deserved - but you just wouldn't get a boyband having that sustained level of success today. Or any pop band for that matter.

 

It's odd, some of their worst singles went to No.1 - Mandy and The Rose in particular but Queen Of My Heart, I Have A Dream/Seasons In The Sun and Unbreakable weren't really all that either.

 

And some of their best got nowhere near - When You're Looking Like That didn't even get a UK single release, Hey Whatever was really good and ended up at No.4, What Makes A Man became notorious for being the song to end their streak but imo is a much better ballad than a lot of their other singles, especially the covers.

^but thats not luck, thats very well calculated strategy, their label were very good at it, we cannot deny that, with a more useless label they would have missed on most of their 1s

 

Calculated maybe, but it'll only get you so far unless people actually buy the records in the first place.

It's odd, some of their worst singles went to No.1 - Mandy and The Rose in particular but Queen Of My Heart, I Have A Dream/Seasons In The Sun and Unbreakable weren't really all that either.

 

And some of their best got nowhere near - When You're Looking Like That didn't even get a UK single release, Hey Whatever was really good and ended up at No.4, What Makes A Man became notorious for being the song to end their streak but imo is a much better ballad than a lot of their other singles, especially the covers.

 

Another thing they became notorious for - in pop circles anyway - was always releasing some 'dead cert' ballad #1 in November and somehow end up winning the old 'Record of the Year' phone poll on ITV. Admittedly it only happened four times but it was annoying all the same, especially when it was nowhere near one of the top 10 best sellers of whatever year it happened to be.

Another thing they became notorious for - in pop circles anyway - was always releasing some 'dead cert' ballad #1 in November and somehow end up winning the old 'Record of the Year' phone poll on ITV. Admittedly it only happened four times but it was annoying all the same, especially when it was nowhere near one of the top 10 best sellers of whatever year it happened to be.

 

That's true, my sister and I used to affectionately refer to it was the Worst Record of the Year for that reason. Safe to say Mandy and My Love were very much not the best records of their respective years.

 

The big November ballad/No.1 album/disappearing for the rest of the year cycle/rinse and repeat formula became very tedious indeed.

That's true, my sister and I used to affectionately refer to it was the Worst Record of the Year for that reason. Safe to say Mandy and My Love were very much not the best records of their respective years.

 

The big November ballad/No.1 album/disappearing for the rest of the year cycle/rinse and repeat formula became very tedious indeed.

 

I know. Then again about 10 years ago when JLS were huge I remember thinking that if it was still on telly at that point they would have walked it. Likewise One Direction when they became massive. In fact it probably would have just been theirs by default for all the years they were active :lol: Never underestimate the power of the lovelorn teenage girl and their mums.

^ its role has been essentially replaced by the BRITs' """Best British Video""" then :P

I actually think it's wildly impressive Better Off Alone managed to do SO well without having the radio edit on the CD single. The 'UK short cut' was available on the cassette single and the mix played in the chart and on the radio could be found on Now 43 towards the end of Disc 2 (I don't think anybody expected this track to do SO well), but the CD only featured a few club mixes.

 

It was the other way round. The short cut on the cassette was the one they played on the radio. Now 43 featured the longer version which was in the video.

 

The video in the OP is the U.S. video. Here's the UK one.

 

 

What a record. Also really enjoyed David Guetta's Play Hard which heavily sampled it.

Edited August 21, 20195 yr by AcerBen

It was the other way round. The short cut on the cassette was the one they played on the radio. Now 43 featured the longer version which was in the video.

 

I see, I didn't realise that mix was played on the radio but it makes sense as the video version takes a long time to reach a point with vocals.

 

The only compilation album I've ever come across the short cut on is Hits 2000, so it must be surprisingly hard to find on CD considering it was the version played on radio, but Discogs suggests it's also on The Ibiza Box and Dance Hits 2000.

Edited August 21, 20195 yr by gooddelta

Alice Deejay.

 

Most songs > Most Westlife songs

I see, I didn't realise that mix was played on the radio but it makes sense as the video version takes a long time to reach a point with vocals.

 

The only compilation album I've ever come across the short cut on is Hits 2000, so it must be surprisingly hard to find on CD considering it was the version played on radio, but Discogs suggests it's also on The Ibiza Box and Dance Hits 2000.

 

It was also on the CD single of Back In My Life

Better off alone!

I am truly stunned that as many as 10 people have voted for Westlife :P

So, err, Westlife for a country mile for me! :lol:

 

I really dislike 'Better Off Alone' and plenty of dance songs from that time, not quite as bad as the horridly repetitive 'Another Chance' though. While post-cover Westlife, I love most of their singles and they hold such a special place for me because of how much my mum used to be obsessed with Westlife so they're a pretty big part of my childhood. If I Let You Go is great!

Alice deejay plus I loved the album.

I voted for Alice Deejay but I adore the Westlife track too.

People are doing the absolute most in here acting as if everything Westlife did was shit.

Yes they had some crappy covers and MOR ballads towards the last half of their run but they also had some amazingly crafted pop songs throughout their discography.