6 minutes ago, gooddelta said:

The only other time I got kicked out was also music related. I was caught miming to hymns in assembly (as wasn't in the mood to sing that day)! Made to stand outside the hall, the shame.

Oh that's totally understandable miming and your teachers would have gone insane at my school in North Hykeham - many of us mimed to hymns, and I still do to this day, because it wasnt fun, they were invariably dreary and turgid, and I can't sing for toffee ("They are all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order!" ©Eric Morecambe 1971). The Head got so fed up with the lacklustre singing of the entire school he commented on it and insisted we try harder. Thing is, you can't shove the entire school into the hall to stand in shame... hah! 😄If you want kids to sing along pick something with a good tune, don't blame the kids!

2. Spice Girls - Viva Forever

Rate: 10/10

Reason: 1998 was a time of major upheaval for the Spice Girls, with Geri announcing her departure between the release of Stop and Viva Forever. The fourth single from the Spiceworld album, Viva Forever had been pushed back from around the time Geri left in May and was originally pencilled in to be a double a-side with Never Give Up On The Good Times, but that idea was dropped and Viva Forever eventually became a standalone release in July. The stunning highlight of Spiceworld for me, the tender latin tinged ballad - for me - is the best song Spice Girls ever did, although 2 Become 1 runs it very close. Despite their big and bold pop anthems, I always loved them more for their ballads.

The track was given a radio edit for its single release but still features Geri, although due to the upheaval there is no sign of the band in the music video, and we indeed got a rather quirky video featuring the band as animated fairies in a real life meets fantasy setting.

I think I have to take this track bit by bit as to why I love it so much, because it is very much the sum of many brilliant parts - first that lovely vocal/string into is absolutely gorgeous, and then the effective Spanish guitar takes the track into some of the most restrained but impressive vocals the band ever put on record - Emma sounds beautiful opening the track (she always excels on their ballads) and the chorus is stunning, and took on a deeper meaning lyrically following Geri's unexpected departure. Then in the second verse we have a lovely lower register breathy vocal from Melanie B, and a typically clear and powerful vocal from Melanie C. The Spanish guitar provides a gorgeous breakdown before Victoria leads a briliant middle eight before we get more trademark Melanie C ad libs and back to Melanie B's lower register. All of the band members have a great part to play in how good the track is, and it is produced so well, sounding grand but also understated at the same time.

The track went to No.1 with a big sale and was far bigger than Stop, and is very highly regarded by many Spice Girls fans as one of the group's finest singles. It was also a big hit around Europe plus Australia and New Zealand, but would be the last single until Headlines to feature all five band members. This era also always reminds me of the Spiceworld game on the Playstation because the animated characters looked similar to their characters in the game, as well as the very rainy summer of 1998, which this seemed like the perfect indoors soundtrack to somehow.

Viva Forever is very nice, pretty sure it would make my top 10 of the year, and the video is sweet too. I never saw Spiceworld so that had zero impact on me (still not seen it). I like your analysis of what makes it good! 👍

1. Cher - Believe

Rate: 10/10:

Reason: Cher is one of those artists that has always been there, for as long as I can remember and is still scoring hits, DJ Play A Christmas Song top 20 only two years ago. The 1990s was quite a fruitful period for her, as every era pretty much has been in one way or another for the pop icon and actress, and she had already topped the charts in 1991 with The Shoop Shoop Song and in 1995 on Love Can Build A Bridge. She was more into radio rock/pop during much of the 1990s but come 1998 it was time for a reinvention. Gloria Estefan beat her to the female icon dance reinvention slightly with the rather underperforming Heaven's What I Feel earlier in the year, although you could argue Madonna's Ray Of Light was the blueprint for superstar pop females going dance, although that was more electronica. This style of commercial dance as a genre hop would be emulated by everyone from Diana Ross to Tina Turner in the following 12 months, but it definiely worked the best for Cher.

Released in October 1998, Believe is one of those amazing compositions that could work well in any genre, I've heard fantastic rock versions of it, a gorgeous ballad take on it by Ella Henderson etc. Among the songwriters on the track was Brian Higgins from Xenomania, and it doesn't surprise me at all that he played a part in such a pioneering single - the notable element of it of course being the use of the vocoder and autotune manipulation to make Cher sound robotic on parts of it. Although the track would have been big without that, it clearly drew more attention to the track, which is just an unbelievably powerful record, with Cher's strong vocal on top of an amazing composition. The middle eight 'well I know that I'll get through this'...) is one of my favourite parts of any song ever, but the chorus is so euphoric and melodic, the lyrics work so well and the verses with the vocoder are so standout and were emulated by so many people over the coming months including, notably, Eiffel 65 on Blue (Da Ba Dee) which we will come to in the 1999 thread.

Believe was released, as Gezza has just documented in his 1998 Top of the Pops thread, on a very busy week alongside George Michael's Outside (which had been expected to get to No.1 over Cher), plus U2's The Sweetest Thing, Culture Club's comeback I Just Wanna Be Loved, and Thank U, the lead single from Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill follow up album. All five debuted in the top five - a first in the UK charts - but Cher surprisingly came out on top ahead of George Michael, and would then stay at No.1 for seven weeks until the Christmas girlband ballads proved too much, seeing off all manner of singles by boybands and rap stars in the interim (George Michael, Five, Boyzone, E-17 and Jay-Z were all left behind, as well as Steps initially although that single's story is still to come in 1999). It also ended the year as the biggest seller, to the disappointment of Celine Dion who lost her grip in the last few days. And how impressive is that, for a woman who was 52 at the time? Although tbf age never seems to be a problem for Cher, who is eternally ageless and relevant.

For me, Believe is the reason I love the charts and it will always be the one and only song that has that claim. I was well aware of pop music before this song but not that interested in following it in detail, and actually listened to classical music at home most of the time on my little radio. I remember first hearing Believe the week we went on a half-term holiday to the Isle of Wight in late October 1998 and I was absolutely obsessed on first listen, it was like nothing I'd ever heard before.

I didn't own anything apart from a radio at the time (I quickly got a CD/cassette player at Christmas along with this single and Hits '99, where this was the first track) so needed a way to hear this song, and the guaranteed way was to tune into the charts. Obviously I was elated to hear it was No.1, but I also loved so many other songs on the countdown up to the top that I was addicted, and from that point onwards had to check out the charts every week. This song was my route into proper music discovery, and I will forever love it for that. An incredible single by an incredible artist and, by a mile, my favourite No.1 single of 1998. One of the few times I look at an end of year sales chart and think 'well we got that right'. The track was obviously gigantic worldwide too, peaking at No.1 in the US in March 1999, as well as most other countries it was released in.

Thank you all for following this, it's been an honour to count down my favourite No.1 singles of 1998! I will do 1999 soon, at a slower pace than 1998 while I host BJSC until mid December, but that was another amazing and very diverse year at the top of the charts, with plenty of stories to tell, so I look forward to hearing everybody's memories of that year. Interested to see everybody else's ranks for 1998 too. Here is mine for ease of use.

1. Cher - Believe

2. Spice Girls - Viva Forever

3. All Saints - Never Ever

4. Madonna - Frozen

5. Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

6. B*Witched - To You I Belong

7. Aqua - Turn Back Time

8. Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha (Norman Cook Remix)

9. Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On

10. B*Witched - C'est La Vie

11. Boyzone - All That I Need

12. Boyzone - No Matter What

13. Spice Girls - Goodbye

14. Run DMC vs. Jason Nevins - It's Like That

15. Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds - 3 Lions '98

16. Spice Girls - Too Much

17. The Tamperer feat. Maya - Feel It

18. Robbie Williams - Millennium

19. Aqua - Doctor Jones

20. Jamiroquai - Deeper Underground

21. Various Artists - Perfect Day

22. Usher - You Make Me Wanna

23. B*Witched - Rollercoaster

24. Another Level - Freak Me

25. Chef - Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)

26. All Saints - Under The Bridge/Lady Marmalade

27. Billie - Girlfriend

28. Billie - Because We Want To

29. Oasis - All Around The World

30. All Saints - Bootie Call

31. Melanie B feat Missy Elliott - I Want You Back

32. Spacedust - Gym and Tonic

Me and my Mum both bought 'Believe' on single the same day without realising, showing the real cross-generational appeal that song had!

It's a forever classic that doesn't get old.

"Believe" is fantastic. Absolutely fantastic song backed up with great mixes by Almighty, Xenomania, Grip and Club 69. I have used the Almighty Mix in several of my mixes.

"Believe" is actually #2 in my listing only topped by "If You Tolerate This ..." from the Manics.

Looking forward to your 1999 ranking!!!

Edited December 2, 2025Dec 2 by DaTilt

Great countdown, thanks Rich!

I don't entirely agree with your ranking (especially not the number 1), but I am not too far off:

1. Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

2. Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha (Norman Cook Remix)

3. Madonna - Frozen

4. Spice Girls - Viva Forever

5. Aqua - Turn Back Time

6. Spice Girls - Goodbye

7. Robbie Williams - Millennium

8. All Saints - Never Ever

9. Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On

10. Boyzone - No Matter What

11. B*Witched - To You I Belong

12. Run DMC vs. Jason Nevins - It's Like That

13. The Tamperer feat. Maya - Feel It

14. Cher - Believe

15. B*Witched - C'est La Vie

16. Aqua - Doctor Jones

17. Chef - Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)

18. All Saints - Under The Bridge/Lady Marmalade

19. B*Witched - Rollercoaster

20. Oasis - All Around The World

21. Various Artists - Perfect Day

22. Spice Girls - Too Much

23. Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds - 3 Lions '98

24. Jamiroquai - Deeper Underground

25. Usher - You Make Me Wanna

26. Melanie B feat Missy Elliott - I Want You Back

27. Spacedust - Gym and Tonic

28. Billie - Girlfriend

29. Billie - Because We Want To B

30. Boyzone - All That I Need

31. Another Level - Freak Me

32. All Saints - Bootie Call

I didn't notice the ELO samples (from the Prologue and Epilogue of their 'Time' album) in Cher's 'Believe' at the time it came out. They are some of the swirly electronic sounds in the background, not part of the song's main beat, but I could only recognise them when I found out they were part of the song a few years ago.

It's a good year for number 1 singles so I can stretch to a top 10:

1. Madonna - Frozen (I don't like many Madonna singles but this would be in my top 2, with Like A Prayer)

2. Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

3. Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds - 3 Lions '98

4. Various Artists - Perfect Day

5. Spice Girls - Viva Forever

6. Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha (Norman Cook Remix)

7. Run DMC vs. Jason Nevins - It's Like That

8. The Tamperer featuring Maya - Feel It

9. Aqua - Turn Back Time

10. Cher - Believe

Here is my listing in one post:

1) Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

2) Cher - Believe

3) Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha

4) The Tamperer feat. Maya - Feel It

5) Madonna - Frozen

6) Spice Girls - Viva Forever

7) Jamiroquai - Deeper Underground

8) Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On

9) All Saints - Never Ever

10) Chef - Chocolate Salty Balls

11) Robbie Williams - Millennium

12) Steps - Heartbeat

13) Aqua - Turn Back Time

14) Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds - Three Lions '98

15) Another Level - Freak Me

16) Boyzone - All That I Need

17) Usher - You Make Me Wanna

18) Spice Girls - Goodbye

19) Oasis - All Around the World

20) Billie - Because We Want To

21) Boyzone - No Matter What

22) Melanie B Featuring Missy ''Misdemeanor'' Elliott - I Want You Back

23) All Saints - Bootie Call

24) Aqua - Doctor Jones

25) Billie - Girlfriend

26) All Saints - Under The Bridge

27) B*Witched - C'est La Vie

28) Spacedust - Gym And Tonic

29) B-Witched - Rollercoaster

30) B*Witched - To You I Belong

31) Run-D.M.C. Vs. Jason Nevins - It's Like Tha

Our number 5's are the same, then it would be in reverse order Jamiroquai, Spacedust, Cornershop and Run DMC for me.

Just quickly going through the list I would class 25 of the 32 number ones as cheesy pop. Not all cheesy pop is bad and the other 5 records I like fit that category and obviously it is the pop charts but that quantity is too much.

Without looking at the list for 1999 I recall it improved in that respect and there were several decent dance records topping the charts.

Another thing I notice with my Top 3 is they're not the original records.

Believe is a great winner, I think it would rank quite highly for me too. The use of the vocoder is masterfully done and complements her voice well rather than overpowering it, very impressive for a singer whose career had spun three decades already to come back with something so effortlessly current.

The Spice Girls gradually went downhill after their debut, I do really like Viva Forever though, great Spanish guitar and subdued vocals, it really should've been their last single as it's very fitting for that and so much better than what came after. That video with that giant dispenser and cartoon fairies was utterly ridiculous and I kind of love it.

Never Ever is a classic too, they were a bit hit and miss as a group, but they really got this one right.

1999 was the first year I was vaguely aware of the music around me so looking forward to it!

I wasn't huge on Viva Forever at the time, nor the Spice Girls if I'm being honest. It's grown on me over the last 28 years years though and especially the last month as I've had a deeper dive into the Spice Girls back catalogue. I'm not sure if it's m favourite ballad from them, but it'd definitely be right up there.

Believe is a fantastic choice for #1! I remember hearing it for the first time in the lead up to Christmas 1998 and was just captivated by that stunning chorus. It finished 1998 at 43 on the year end charts. Though it blew up massively in 1999 as it finished that year at #6.

Thank you so much for hosting this @gooddelta, you did an amazing job!

I've loved revisiting and rediscovering some childhood favourites and reading not just your thoughts and insights but everybody else's along the way. You've also inspired me to do my own rank of the ARIA top 50 for 1998, which I'll be doing on here in the new year.

Looking forward to the 1999 edition!

My top 10 in alphabetical order as I wouldn't want to spoil what I'll be doing in the new year with the Australian edition. It was so hard making a top 10, so I've got about another 10 sitting just outside.

1. All Saints - Never Ever

2. Aqua - Doctor Jones

3. Aqua - Turn Back Time

4. B*Witched - To You I Belong

5. Boyzone - No Matter What

6. Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On

7. Cher - Believe

8. Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha (Norman Cook Remix)

9. Madonna - Frozen

10. The Tamperer feat. Maya - Feel It

11. All Saints - Bootie Call

12. All Saints - Under The Bridge/Lady Marmalade

13. B*Witched - C'est La Vie

14. B*Witched - Rollercoaster

15. Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

16. Robbie Williams - Millennium

17. Spice Girls - Goodbye

18. Spice Girls - Too Much

19. Spice Girls - Viva Forever

20. Usher - You Make Me Wanna

Great rundown, well done, and I think on balance I agree with Cher on top, for being iconic - just ahead of the Manics, Robbie and Madonna. My Cher "moment" was I Got You Babe as a 7-year-old, mad on that song, and then mad on Cher repeatedly on songs in the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's, 10's, and still good in the 20's! A Pop legend of ever-changing styles, and Believe was a jaw-dropping moment when it landed. Your Believe chart moment echoes my Hey Jude moment, when I discovered the sunday afternoon Chart Show with Alan Freeman as hype was building for Mary Hopkin's Those Were The Days with Hey Jude new at number one. Musical gateway "drugs" in terms of addiction.....!

My other iconic Believe moment was a demon room-mate tormenting Buffy with it over and over and over....😄

Loved this countdown, 1998 being one of my favourite years for music ever! Thanks!

5 minutes ago, T Boy said:

Loved this countdown, 1998 being one of my favourite years for music ever! Thanks!

1998 is my favourite too! I think by some margin too, I’d have to give it some thought as to what year I’d place second.

1998 is the year I properly got into music (and was known at school as the B*Witched kid) so this has been a nice trip down memory lane