16. Lou Bega - Mambo No.5 (A Little Bit Of...)

Rank: 8/10

Reason: Potentially the most inescapable song of 1999, German singer Lou Bega brought mambo back to the charts with the huge global smash hit Mambo No.5, which on its first 'official' week on release was at No.1 while British dance act Shaft were at No.2 with Mucho Mambo (Sway). Mambo No. 5 was originally an instrumental mambo song recorded by Cuban Pérez Prado in 1949 - he would later have a No.2 hit in 1995 when Guaglione became very popular after appearing on an advert.

Lou Bega gave it a lyrical makeover and modernised the track by turning it into a flirty anthem and reeling off a list of names of women that had caught his eye, namely Monica, Erica, Rita, Tina, Sandra, Mary and Jessica. The first time I ever heard the track was when it debuted in August in the top 40, at No.40, on import. Import charting singles were not rare, but them reaching the top 40 was very unusual. My first thought while hearing the song was 'this is very catchy and unique, surprised it only got to No.40'. To be fair, Mark Goodier did then say at the end of the song that it was an import position, and suddenly it all made more sense.

After climbing on import for a few weeks the track went to No.1 on full release for two weeks, in the great Europop summer/autumn period that the UK No.1 seemed to enjoy, and ended the year as the fourth biggest selling single, one of two German acts in the top five along with an Italian act. It also got to No.1 pretty much everywhere it was released, with the one exception of the US, where it peaked at No.3 but obviously that was still an impressive result.

The song is still very well known here, particularly as it was used for a long time as the theme for Channel 4's cricket coverage. And then of course Bob The Builder took it back to No.1 only two years later with a cover, where the lyrics were changed to suit Bob's profession. But Lou would remain a one-hit wonder in top 40 terms here, as follow-up I Got A Girl peaked at No.55 and was one of the many causalties of the December chart just before Christmas week that had far too much going on and also saw top 40 misses for top 10 follow up singles from Enrique Iglesias, Thunderbugs and Bryan Adams and surprise underperformances for B*Witched and TLC too.

I remember when Lou Reed died there was panic on social media from people thinking he was Lou Bega 😂

Praise You was one that I wasn't really keen on at the time, but I do remember being captivated by the music video on Saturday mornings to the points that I'd just leave the song on to watch the music video.

The song itself has grown on me over time and I actually like it now.

Like 'Praise You' I wasn't the biggest fan of Mambo No. 5. but I did like it a little. It's got one of those insanely catchy choruses that most people will remember the words to I think. It's also grown on me over the past 26 years as well and whilst I never actively seek it out it is a bit of joy when it comes on some of my playlists.

Interestingly the start of Mambo No 5. is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5....

He's follow up single I Got A Girl started with 6, 7, 8, 9, 10....

Part of me wishes he kept it going with future releases. 🤣

1 hour ago, Paddington James said:

Like 'Praise You' I wasn't the biggest fan of Mambo No. 5. but I did like it a little. It's got one of those insanely catchy choruses that most people will remember the words to I think. It's also grown on me over the past 26 years as well and whilst I never actively seek it out it is a bit of joy when it comes on some of my playlists.

Interestingly the start of Mambo No 5. is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5....

He's follow up single I Got A Girl started with 6, 7, 8, 9, 10....

Part of me wishes he kept it going with future releases. 🤣

Good spot! It's so weird how the follow up did so badly here but then he didn't exactly change the formula whatsoever. Not that it stopped acts like ATB and Eiffel 65 taking soundalike follow up singles into the top five within a few months of release of their big hits. I see that I Got A Girl at least made the top 40 in Australia.

11 minutes ago, gooddelta said:

Good spot! It's so weird how the follow up did so badly here but then he didn't exactly change the formula whatsoever. Not that it stopped acts like ATB and Eiffel 65 taking soundalike follow up singles into the top five within a few months of release of their big hits. I see that I Got A Girl at least made the top 40 in Australia.

I agree, it is really strange, considering how big Mambo no 5. was. It was the highest selling song of 1999 in Australia too, so for I Got A Girl to underperform the way it did was surprising.

Also on the topic of Mr. Bega I remember this. My friend from primary school had one.

Crikey at that, Lou Bega merchandise. That's when you know something has become part of the zeitgeist! Earlier in the week I saw a market selling K-Poe Demon Hunters fake tat (notice the typo) and thought 'oh wow, it's like when my mum got my sister a Furdy as she couldn't afford the real thing'.

I know, i thought it was so crazy even then!

Praise You is fantastic, would be my number 1 of the year.

15. Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca

Rank: 8/10

Continuing on with the huge summer global smash latin or ballroom inspired songs, next is Ricky Martin, who was actually on his third charting hit with Livin' La Vida Loca, having previously reached the top 10 here in 1997 with Maria and then the top 30 with World Cup anthem for 1998 The Cup Of Life, which was a mega worldwide smash but got rather lost here amongst the likes of 3 Lions '98, Vindaloo and Carnaval De Paris. Fast forward a year to July 1999 and he was ready to unleash the lead single from his self titled Ricky Martin album - his first in English - Livin' La Vida Loca.

Another of those extremely instant obvious smashes that gives you no time to breathe from start to end, the blistering instrumental intro gives way to an irresistible verse complete with surf guitar and some ska elements in there too, a fantastic bridge (my favourite part of the song), and then one of the catchiest choruses of the year, as Ricky tells with an admirable level of energy a tale about a femme fatale kind of woman living the crazy life, and seducing others into her world. The song is produced in a way, with such full instrumentation, that it kind of sounds like it's a live recording from a latin dance club, which really works in its favour.

Livin' La Vida Loca has continued to be used in popular culture ever since, with a notable appearance in Shrek 2, while I believe it's a Tui ad that it's currently used in here too. The track spent three weeks at No.1 in the UK, seeing off lead singles by Steps and Five somewhat against the odds in both cases so was a very large hit and ended the year as the sixth biggest seller. It hit the top in a lot of countries it was released in but not all, peaking at No.2 in Norway and Spain and No.4 in Australia, Italy and Sweden, surprisingly only No.6 in Germany. But here in the UK we really took to it, and it also hit No.1 in the US.

Livin' La Vida Loca - my least favourite single from 1999 year.

I wasn't huge into the latin inspired trend of 1999 so this wasn't really one I liked, but I can really enjoy it now. A great late 90's song that suits parties, nights out and karaoke.

Funny you mentioned The Cup Of Life, that was massive in Australia. It was the #1 single of 1998 in Australia alongside it's double a 'Maria".

14. Shanks & Bigfoot - Sweet Like Chocolate

Rank: 8.5/10

Reason: Nearly every popular dance sub-genre has experienced its first UK No.1 at some point; the moment it finally passes fully from the underground to becoming a major commercial concern, and for garage that came in May 1999 courtesy of Shanks & Bigfoot. There had been a few notable garage hits in the prior 18 months, arguably kicking off in a major way with Tina Moore's Never Gonna Let You Go, which was remixed from its original R&B form into a garage/2-step track for release here and made the top 10, hanging around for quite some time too. But it wasn't really until 1999 that the popularity of garage was truly reflected high in the charts, when we were introduced to the likes of Artful Dodger and DJ Luck & MC Neat.

But beating them to it were Doolally, a UK production duo who charted in 1998 with the top 20 hit Straight From The Heart. This song would also later be re-released in summer 1999 following the success of Sweet Like Chocolate and made the top 10. But for Sweet Like Chocolate the duo, Steven Meade and Danny Langsman, were called Shanks & Bigfoot and were joined by singer Sharon Woolf, who also did the vocal on Straight From The Heart.

It's absolutely clear to see why this song took the genre overground; essentially it had crossover appeal to children, but was still accessible enough to garage fans and other older music fans. This was largely due to the earworm melody and production, the lyrics – who doesn't love chocolate? – and the charming but now dated video that looked like an advert for Cadbury's (in fact, I believe that around the same time there were idents before the start of Coronation Street sponsored by Cadbury's that looked like this video).

Sweet Like Chocolate is not the best garage single that was ever released in my opinion, but it was easily the most commercial, and a lovely and very catchy dance track. It managed huge sales during its fortnight at No.1 and finished 1999 as the eighth biggest selling single, although garage being a genre of largely UK concern it did not do amazingly elsewhere, with No.6 in Australia and No.9 in Ireland and New Zealand the best it could manage otherwise. They managed one more hit, over a year later, with another nice song called Sing A Long, but the moment had long passed for another big smash and why they took 14 months to follow-up (Straight From The Heart re-release aside) I'm not quite sure.

7 minutes ago, Paddington James said:

I wasn't huge into the latin inspired trend of 1999 so this wasn't really one I liked, but I can really enjoy it now. A great late 90's song that suits parties, nights out and karaoke.

Funny you mentioned The Cup Of Life, that was massive in Australia. It was the #1 single of 1998 in Australia alongside it's double a 'Maria".

Yeah it’s crazy how badly The Cup Of Life did here but then it’s a bit like Waka Waka by Shakira, which is actually seen as a classic here that has big total sales, but never made the top 20.

I think because we have our own football songs for England, the international singles underperform at the time of release. But Waka Waka is way more remembered here than the dreadful Dizzee Rascal and James Corden football song from 2010 that got to No.1. Not sure The Cup Of Life is actually all that remembered but Now did put it on their main Yearbook for 98 this year.

3 minutes ago, gooddelta said:

Yeah it’s crazy how badly The Cup Of Life did here but then it’s a bit like Waka Waka by Shakira, which is actually seen as a classic here that has big total sales, but never made the top 20.

I think because we have our own football songs for England, the international singles underperform at the time of release. But Waka Waka is way more remembered here than the dreadful Dizzee Rascal and James Corden football song from 2010 that got to No.1. Not sure The Cup Of Life is actually all that remembered but Now did put it on their main Yearbook for 98 this year.

I love Waka Waka, that and The Cup Of Life are probably my two favourite football songs. I'm coming around to 3 Lions now I've heard it.

I'm not a huge fan of Sweet Like Chocolate, not then and not now ever. It's not horrible by any stretch either. I'd probably give it a 5 or 6 out of 10. I think there are other dance/garage songs I like more.

17 minutes ago, gooddelta said:

14. Shanks & Bigfoot - Sweet Like Chocolate

Rank: 8.5/10

Reason: Nearly every popular dance sub-genre has experienced its first UK No.1 at some point; the moment it finally passes fully from the underground to becoming a major commercial concern, and for garage that came in May 1999 courtesy of Shanks & Bigfoot. There had been a few notable garage hits in the prior 18 months, arguably kicking off in a major way with Tina Moore's Never Gonna Let You Go, which was remixed from its original R&B form into a garage/2-step track for release here and made the top 10, hanging around for quite some time too. But it wasn't really until 1999 that the popularity of garage was truly reflected high in the charts, when we were introduced to the likes of Artful Dodger and DJ Luck & MC Neat.

But beating them to it were Doolally, a UK production duo who charted in 1998 with the top 20 hit Straight From The Heart. This song would also later be re-released in summer 1999 following the success of Sweet Like Chocolate and made the top 10. But for Sweet Like Chocolate the duo, Steven Meade and Danny Langsman, were called Shanks & Bigfoot and were joined by singer Sharon Woolf, who also did the vocal on Straight From The Heart.

It's absolutely clear to see why this song took the genre overground; essentially it had crossover appeal to children, but was still accessible enough to garage fans and other older music fans. This was largely due to the earworm melody and production, the lyrics – who doesn't love chocolate? – and the charming but now dated video that looked like an advert for Cadbury's (in fact, I believe that around the same time there were idents before the start of Coronation Street sponsored by Cadbury's that looked like this video).

Sweet Like Chocolate is not the best garage single that was ever released in my opinion, but it was easily the most commercial, and a lovely and very catchy dance track. It managed huge sales during its fortnight at No.1 and finished 1999 as the eighth biggest selling single, although garage being a genre of largely UK concern it did not do amazingly elsewhere, with No.6 in Australia and No.9 in Ireland and New Zealand the best it could manage otherwise. They managed one more hit, over a year later, with another nice song called Sing A Long, but the moment had long passed for another big smash and why they took 14 months to follow-up (Straight From The Heart re-release aside) I'm not quite sure.

We actually had similar styled Cadbury adds in Australia.

Did the UK have these as well?

Oh these bring back memories.

No I don't think we did get them here! But sure it's a very similar art design to what was shown before Coronation Street.

My favourite football song is related to Euro 1992.

Peter Joback and Towe Jaarnek - More Than A Game

Also I love Allison - Dreams Of Glory - for World Cup 1994.

Garage was having a bit of a dry spell in the Top 40 when "Sweet Like Chocolate" topped the charts. The only UK Garage records I can think of that we'd had in the Top 40 in 1999 up to that point was the two Da Click records. Then afterwards aside from the re-issue of "Straight From The Heart" I don't think there was anything until we got the Dreem Teem, Artful Dodger and DJ Luck & MC Neat at the end of the year.

I love UK Garage but "Sweet Like Chocolate" was far too cheesy for me. I thought garage was going to fizzle out commercially after it topped the charts but then it became bigger than ever the following year.