My Random Music

In the mid-90s The Offspring were much bigger than their chart positions would suggest. Once Kurt Cobain died grunge fizzled out and punk was to be the next big thing with The Offspring and Green Day being the main bands. It didn't last long and Britpop quickly took over as the guitar music of choice for people in the UK. 1999 was the time some of these guitar acts who were popular pre-Britpop came back out of the wilderness, The Offspring and Lenny Kravitz getting their only number ones and another notable comeback that springs to mind was the Red Hot Chili Peppers with "Scar Tissue". They also all seemed to have haircuts whilst they'd been away.

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.

Really like it, I have the album and had it shortly after it was released in the early 90s. I wasn't one of the people who bought the single during the anti-X-Factor campaign because as much as I dislike any song I've heard from the show the fact it always got Christmas number one never really bothered me.

5 Best: Christopher Cross - Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) Alton Edwards - I Just Wanna (Spend Some Time With You) The J. Geils Band - Centerfold D Train - You're The One For Me Iron Maiden - Run To The Hills Worst: Toni Basil - Mickey

Best: difficult to pick just one, depending on what mood I'm in it's either Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind or Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name Worst: so many candidates, probably one of the Spice Girls ones maybe "2 Become 1". The X Factor ones are probably worse but at least they're long forgotten after their week at number one and I'm not going to torture myself by listening to them again to remind myself how they go

The first number one I actually like has now featured, "Flatbeat" by Mr Oizo. Flat Eric may have given the impression it was a novelty record but just listening to the music it's a decent tune. Was never keen on "King Of My Castle" and hearing it multiple times down the pub on a Friday night at the time made me hate it more.

I've only just discovered this but thought you'd be interested to know, the "Serenade" you've crossed out is a different song to the one from 1955. 1955 song https://youtu.be/2aelb8rzqlY?si=8ZrYOoeVZU7rlMVo 1956 song https://youtu.be/LTaXxnshNJ0?si=klCh3JTc1D_LYALM

Agree that all the records featured so far deserve to be near the bottom. I'm not a big fan of boy bands or girl groups generally speaking but when it comes to the likes of Take That or the Spice Girls I remember all the hits and could probably hum them all beginning to end. I could also name every member and would likely recognise them all if I saw them walking down the street. With Westlife though they had a greater chart success at least at the start of their career. Yet I'd struggle to remember most of their number ones and the only member I could name top of my head is Bryan McFadden and that's more to do with his relationship with Kerry Katona than being part of the group. At least their music wasn't annoying I suppose, just boring. There is one boy band number one in 1999 though that I rather like but I won't mention it until it appears.

Could be because Chris Martin did backing vocals on "See It In A Boys Eyes".

Just a small correction, Coldplay didn't make their Top 40 debut until 2000. I was very much into my underground dance music and a bit snobbish towards the dance music that charted but I really couldn't fault a lot of the trance records that were in the Top 40 in 1999. At the same time the happy hardcore scene had gone stale and was starting to gravitate towards more of a trance sound, but I was liking trance itself more. The commercial trance did get silly in the end with the cheesy vocal stuff but that came later. Also agree with Cliff Richard down the bottom. There's nothing to like about it.

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.

The 5 best: Queen And David Bowie - Under Pressure Ultravox - The Voice Madness - It Must Be Love Jon And Vangelis - I'll Find My Way Home The Four Tops - Don't Walk Away The worst: Bucks Fizz - The Land Of Make Believe

You're not alone, I don't like it either. I like 4 of those records in the Top 10 but I count 10 number ones of the year that I actually like so naturally those 4 records would be in my Top 10. One of those records I'd put in my Top 3 but I'll say no more until the Top 3 is revealed. The other 2 records I'd put in my Top 3 are "Gym & Tonic" and "It's Like That".

I like 2 of the 3 records featured so far. Spacedust takes me back to a time when I listened to Dave Pearce on Radio 1 every Sunday night. I get the criticisms of it being a bit cheesy and ripping off someone else's idea but I enjoy listening to it. Mel B is the one I don't like, whilst the Spice Girls weren't quite finished the solo careers that followed were every bit as bad. All Saints have one of the more obscure number ones but that means you don't hear it much anymore as opposed to the overplayed "Never Ever" but I always thought "Bootie Call" was the better of the two. On a more personal note 1998 was the year I opened myself up to music that wasn't rave so my tastes had become more varied and give me fond memories as a result. At the same time there was complete dross such as Steps, B*Witched and worst of all Destiny's Child.

"You're Not Alone" is my favourite so not the same, but 3 records in common in our Top 5s.

Top 5: New Order - Procession New Order - Everything's Gone Green The Four Tops - When She Was My Girl Exploited - Dead Cities Electric Light Orchestra - Twilight As much as I like to pick a worst record I can't this time because all the candidates are supposed to be rubbish so I like to give some leniency.

A bit like 1996, we had some great records in 1997 but very few of them topped the charts. The vast majority of these number ones are dreadful to the point a record I'd put in the Top 10 would be more or less on a par with one I'd put outside the Top 20. I only like 4 of the records in the countdown so far and I know what the remaining 3 records are without looking anything up. I only like one of the 3 said records and it also happens to be my favourite number one of the year. At 2 it would be White Town, 3 is Tori Amos, 4 is R Kelly and 5 is No Doubt. It means we have 3 records in common in our Top 5 and possibly the same number one.

Best 5: Carl Carlton - She's A Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked) Electric Light Orchestra - Hold On Tight UB40 - One In Ten Genesis - Abacab Ultravox - The Thin Wall Worst: The Pointer Sisters - Slow Hand

I wouldn't put the Puff Daddy or LL Cool J records that far down but I can't say I particularly like either and that formula of rapped verses and 80s choruses sang by somebody else got very tired very quickly. I do like "I Believe I Can Fly" but all 3 of those records got to number one for non-music reasons.

Good shout to the above poster on Third World, I'm going to vote for it too. Top 5: Third World - Dancing On The Floor (Hooked On Love) Dead Kennedy's - Too Drunk To f*** Specials - Ghost Town Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood Depeche Mode - New Life Worst: Elaine Paige - Memory

There were some great records in 1996 but very few of them got to number one. I've not take a proper look at the list before, most of those records are dreadful. My Top 3 would be "Breathe" by The Prodigy, "Setting Sun" by Chemical Brothers and "Ready Or Not" by Fugees. I've never been able to get into Oasis which is a bit of a shame because I often find myself nodding and agreeing with what Noel Gallagher has to say. One factor is that I find their music too slow.

It depends how you would define an artist you listened to in your late teens/early 20s. When I was that age I had a huge list of CDs I wanted but only a limited budget to buy them with so for example Leftfield have only just become part of my music collection but would of been part of it in the 90s if I had limitless funds. I still see it as music of my youth though because it was music I was very much into at the time. Going with the music I was into definition, most of my teens were spent listening to nothing but rave but then I opened myself up to other genres and by my early 20s I was into all sorts of music. Most of the artists that I've got into since are older music acts such as Roxy Music and ELO. I did however go through a phase in my late 20s of getting into new music because I still felt too young to be just listening to the old stuff. The last new music act I got into was Fenech Soler when I was just about still in my 20s.

The 5 best: The Clash - The Magnificent Seven Freeez - Flying High The Undertones - It's Going To Happen! Kraftwerk - Pocket Calculator Squeeze - Is That Love The worst: Hazel O'Connor - Will You

I also cannot stand "Wannabe" or the Spice Girls in general. Not only was the music terrible but I also hated that girl power nonsense when in reality they were assembled by a male and all their singles were written by men. At the same time we had a genuinely talented female musician in Sister Bliss from Faithless yet even today few people seem to realise there's a female behind their music.

My Top 5: Kool And The Gang - Summer Madness Visage - Mind Of A Toy New Order - Ceremony Public Image Ltd - Flowers Of Romance John Lennon - Watching The Wheels Worst: Kim Wilde - Kids In America Tiebreak: Ultravox - Vienna