And it’s the song that ended Cher’s reign at the top! And stopped Billie Piper from getting a third number one (if I remember rightly). All kinds of legendary on top of the Celtic vibes!

All That I Need, a bit of a "I wouldnt be able to hum that one!" vibe to me, and it rings no bells as I re-listen to it. Of course, if I was in Florida I will have missed it's chart run entirely, so no wonder - a quick check confirms that is not the case - it had a 6-week run and peaked at 36, so I lasted longer on it than the record-buying public, oops! It's OK, quite pleasant, but lower down for me.

Condolences on the Maypole dancing. If it helps, one of my Uni tutors who was very into olde english literature and customs thought it would be a whizz wheeze to get us 20-ish students out of the classroom and prancing around the grass area at the back in full view of other students in a sort of Maypole worship. Very much not a drama student, I think it would be fair to say I gave it zero effort and failed to see what it had to do with reading Effing Milton, Anglo-saxon epics or The Iliad, but I very much recall feeling like a complete twat whatever my response to it! 😄

While I enjoyed Celtic-tinged music at the time, let's just say I loved Bewitched, but was bemused by B*witched, had I been 9 or 10 I'm sure I would have loved C'Est La Vie in the same way I loved Cinderella Rockefella when I was that age, or I'm A Tiger (lulu). Sadly, I was 40 but it still peaked at 30 in my charts. So that's something of a victory really! Hey ho! 😄

Oh I do love C'est La Vie, it’s a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. I never owned it on single though, I’d have to wait until l got the album in early 1999 to listen to properly. Saying that though my sister did tape it off the radio along with the other pop music of the time, so I did get to listen to it on car journeys.

54 minutes ago, gooddelta said:

Oh? A Celtic ballad is generally one of my favourite things.

It finished 20 places higher than C'est La Vie in my 1998 End of Year chart at the time.

The one still to come is a beautiful ballad though, I agree.

It's a classic for me, it was the song that was everywhere as I started secondary school and it reminds me of a more innocent time in my life.

Of course, at the age of 11 I had no idea just how filthy the lyrics were! 🫣

For me, eventually cottoning on to what it was about was like realising what 2 Become 1 was actually about, or rewatching Friends as an adult and finally understanding half the jokes.

I’m a missing something with this lyric?

“I’ve got a house with windows and doors, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

It didn’t age sense then and it still doesn’t. I feel like I’m not getting it.

3 minutes ago, Paddington James said:

I’m a missing something with this lyric?

“I’ve got a house with windows and doors, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

It didn’t age sense then and it still doesn’t. I feel like I’m not getting it

You’re not missing the double entendre.

I still like C’est La Vie - pure pop at its finest.

Reminds me of Friday night at Heaven - trying to jig at the fake riverdance ha ha.

I probably can't answer that without incurring the wrath of Buzzjack's mods/Google having a go at us. But it's all metaphors for you know what.

9. Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On

Rank: 9/10

Reason: The biggest selling ballad in a very ballad-heavy year, My Heart Will Go On was famously the love theme to blockbuster film Titanic, which bar none must be the film I've seen the most times in my life, particularly between 1998 and 2000. James Cameron's epic instrumental motif of the melody runs throughout the film in various guises so if you saw it - which nearly everybody did - then there was no way you wouldn't remember the melody. Canadian singer Celine, from French speaking Quebec, came to fame a decade earlier than this, when she won the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland, with the non-charting Ne partez pas sans moi. Her first UK hit came four years later, with Beauty and the Beast, while her only other No.1 single, Think Twice, was covered by Jester in the 1995 thread.

Despite not hitting the top since then, Celine was a recognisable superstar of the 90s, with No.1 hits in the US and classic singles like Because You Loved Me and It's All Coming Back To Me Now. But it was with the powerful Titanic theme that she belted her way back to No.1, the song spending its first nine weeks in the chart in the top three, and even hitting No.1 for a second run after two weeks away. It was a gigantic hit, reached No.1 in almost every territory it was released in, won an Oscar for Best Original Song, and looked set to be the biggest seller of the year until a song still to come overtook in the closing moments of the year. It also made Celine the first woman to have two million-selling singles in the UK.

I'm going to post the version that I particularly recall having a lot of airplay at the time in the UK, with dialogue from the film played during the song. Titanic was a fantastic, landmark movie, and this was a fitting song to soundtrack it.

Edited November 26, 2025Nov 26 by gooddelta

I only seem to like Celine Dion’s number 1s!

I also think you mean 1995 for Think Twice ;)

3 minutes ago, Jester said:

I only seem to like Celine Dion’s number 1s!

I also think you mean 1995 for Think Twice ;)

Well spotted, oops, and edited!

It's all about that iconic penny whistle solo.

5 hours ago, Paddington James said:

Oh I do love C'est La Vie, it’s a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. I never owned it on single though, I’d have to wait until l got the album in early 1999 to listen to properly. Saying that though my sister did tape it off the radio along with the other pop music of the time, so I did get to listen to it on car journeys.

Loved it too, very catchy and bought their album.

I’m getting feelings - as a 12 year old who was obsessed with Celine, I was angry at another act for (temporarily) taking number one away from her. And you’ve placed them higher than her! Booo!

😜

2 hours ago, Jester said:

I only seem to like Celine Dion’s number 1s!

I also think you mean 1995 for Think Twice ;)

My faves are Because You Loved Me and It's All Coming Back To Me Now.

Never bought anything by her except her first hits collection, All The Way - A Decade Of Song.

Edited November 26, 2025Nov 26 by CRAZY CHRIS

12 minutes ago, Herbs said:

I’m getting feelings - as a 12 year old who was obsessed with Celine, I was angry at another act for (temporarily) taking number one away from her. And you’ve placed them higher than her! Booo!

😜

At least she took it back in the end!

My favourite Celine single is from 1999 (That's The Way It Is) but that made it nowhere near No.1 ☹️

11 minutes ago, gooddelta said:

My favourite Celine single is from 1999 (That's The Way It Is) but that made it nowhere near No.1 ☹️

No.12. Cheers. Polyhex.

Edited November 26, 2025Nov 26 by CRAZY CHRIS

Looking back, it's a wonder that Cornershop managed to outsell Celine's second week, given how long she stayed near the top - maybe that goes to show how much focus was put on week 1 even by early 1998.

Neither of two songs out today were huge faves of mine, but very much part of the fabric of 1998 and for good reason. I originally thought the double-meaning lines in 'C'est La Vie' sounded like a bit of a throwaway addition to the song, but I suppose it's cleverly done. Even if it's not as subtle as "zig-a-zig-ah" (even years later, people would openly question what that was), or Rihanna's 'Umbrella' (don't think keeping the rain off is what it's really about!)

My Heart Will Go On is such a classic, it’s almost the definition of a ‘song that was everywhere’. All over radio, all over tv and even all over the film’s advertising which was everywhere.

I quite like the song, as I do with a lot of music from 1998. Though I don’t go back to it as much these days.