ThePensmith

"HE WINKED AT US!!!" 🤣🤣🤣

Good set of episodes last night. Shame that B*Witched fell off as swiftly as they did on their second album. The trouble is is that "Awake and Breathe" was a good album but possibly not a great album where singles for them were concerned, there was nothing like a "C'est La Vie" or "Rollercoaster" on their debut to really sell it. I do still love "Jesse Hold On" though, it's one of my favourites. Loved Honeyz and Steps as well, "After The Love Has Gone" in particular has always been one of my favourite singles of theirs. Ditto I was surprised re: 911 failing to go top 10 at least with their last single before they split. Maybe it was just they'd fulfilled their purpose once they'd had their number one earlier in the year. Again, I thought it was a good song "Wonderland" but I was clearly in the minority. Mind you the same could also be said of Eternal on the second episode. If anyone hasn't read Jazz Summers' book (renowned music manager in the 80s and 90s) I would highly recommend you do, as there is a rather interesting chapter in there about when he managed them in this period, post them sacking Kelle by fax. Eye opening / amusing to say the least. Hot chocolate was involved 🤣 Tina Turner being the first of multiple divas we'll see in the next few weeks all working with Brian Rawling / Metrophonic in hopes of having a Cher "Believe" moment. Good song (and what turned out to be her last major UK hit of her lifetime) but again, "Believe" was a lightning in a bottle moment that could only be truly captured once in terms of its success and impact. Never got the point of that Liam Gallagher / Steve Craddock / Jam tribute thing that's been on the last two weeks. Like a duller indie version of ABBAmania. Westlife were again, incredibly lucky to make number one when they did, but at least in the case of "Flying Without Wings" it did, in hindsight, feel worthy of it, it's a great song, their signature tune where their ballads are concerned. Plus it also always reminds me of this sketch from SMTV Live 🤣

Interesting couple of episodes tonight. How timely that as Mel C enjoys her highest charting album as a solo artist this week that she should be on the first rerun with the first single from her debut. "Goin' Down" was definitely a risky choice in sound and style, but as we'll see into the 2000 reruns it paid off in the end for her with the Northern Star era. Loved Gabrielle, Eurythmics and James tonight as well, "Just Like Fred Astaire" from the latter in particular is one of their best singles and it should have been bigger. Very surprised a few artists didn't make it on the episodes tonight, Adam Rickitt for one on the second episode. I actually thought "Everything My Heart Desires" was better than "I Breathe Again", and it was still top 20.

Yes! It was the following: Undefeated Champion What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Never Be The Same Again Northern Star Sweat / Attitude (Medley) Spice Up Your Life 2 Become 1 Drum Machine I Turn To You

You can get Thunderbugs' album on CD as well! I got a copy imported from Germany via Discogs a few years back for not very much. And YES to Nerina Pallot's cover of "Moving"! Beautiful version she did, sort of a soft Donna Summer disco vibe.

I was at the Union Chapel show last night. Never been there before and hopefully not the last time as it's such a beautiful venue! Here's my videos I took:

I do remember 10 year old me being salty that "S Club Party" wasn't a second consecutive number one for S Club 7 despite the fact "Blue" was miles ahead of it. It did feel eternally like my favourite acts at the time seemed to rarely have a clear run for the top spot with their new singles when others *cough*WESTLIFE*cough* did. It's still one of their best singles for me though, and I loved the "Back to the Fifties" special that accompanied it. I actually rather liked Tom Jones in his "Reload" era, especially The Cardigans and also Stereophonics on later singles. Now that is one album that must surely be overdue a vinyl reissue of some kind! I quite liked Everything But The Girl on the first episode tonight as well, nice continuation of their "Missing" / "Walking Wounded" era. I LOVED Kelle Bryan as well, she was my favourite in Eternal, wish we'd got her solo album in full.

It's been all over socials this week - Olly is doing a mammoth 5 day challenge in less than two weeks' time for Soccer Aid this year: https://banijayuk.com/olly-murs-heads-into-the-unknown-in-brutal-400km-endurance-challenge-for-soccer-aid-for-unicef/

Oh this is gorgeous. It puts me in mind of Ladyhawke a little bit but that's a very good thing! Can't wait to hear what the rest of the album sounds like.

I managed to get Olive online last night ☺️

Hope those that did RSD today got what they wanted! I might try for Olive - Extra Virgin when the online sales start on Monday night, as I completely overlooked that being on the list. I had a pre-order arrive for me today from Spinning Around Records of a new pressing MusiconVinyl have done of Alisha's Attic - "Alisha Rules The World" for its 30th anniversary (albeit one Karen and Shelly themselves aren't best pleased about. Something I found out when I tagged them both on socials all excited when it was announced. Oops 😬) I've also got Pussycat Dolls - PCD (the lilac lava lamp coloured variant) on pre-order from HMV and also the first time pressing of Alexis Strum "Addicted" on pink vinyl on pre-order, both out next month.

Another great set of episodes this week and a heady mixture of classics and forgotten gems. Firstly I really don't remember Martine McCutcheon having blonde hair, that must have passed me by! She looked more like Janine Butcher than Tiffany 🤣 Good follow up to "Perfect Moment" though, very summery sounding, almost Corrs-esque. A1 releasing "Summertime of our Lives" literally as the school holidays were finishing. Rookie mistake from their record label, much? Same as Paddington James, I have a soft spot for Lolly - the lady herself follows us on Instagram as it happens. It was an inspired move to get her to cover to "Mickey", she kept the spirit of the original by Toni Basil but made it her own. Shout out to Thunderbugs as well, of all the masses of girl groups that got launched in the Spice Girls' wake c. 1998 - 2000, they really were the ones that got away for me. Still love "Friends Forever", and their album which only got a full digital issue here about six years ago after being cancelled due to the second single ("It's About Time You Were Mine") flopping in the pre-Christmas chart. To my mind they could have been like the Bangles for the new millennium.

Just done a little bit of further investigation. It would appear, as per his bio on his site here, that as of last year Peter has knocked music journalism on the head altogether and is now moving into therapy and coaching: https://www.peterrobinson.net/

Something tells me the dramas that happened on there regarding Taylor Swift / her team verbotening any images of her being posted on there at all last autumn that I read about have accelerated towards this set of circumstances, and that it was getting harder to run and regulate effectively. I was very briefly on the Popjustice forums during my late teens, but only briefly because it was, much like today, a bit cliquey and rife with the kind of cultural snobbery and eliteism that the blog itself was pushing back against, certainly where pop music was concerned. The actual blog itself however, back in the day, was essential daily reading for me, and Peter Robinson is a fantastic journalist and authority on pop music, in fact he remains one of my biggest inspirations with my own writing and blogs I've done. But I suspect his heart simply is no longer in keeping a website alive that, if we are all honest, passed its overall wider apex of excitement and relevance in the wider pop cultural landscape well on a decade ago. It's all too easy to forget that similar conversations were being had 20 years ago when Smash Hits magazine closed, about how it was the end of days etc, when with hindsight it was obvious that it was a shadow of what it once was. There will always be spaces championing pop music and communities that fans can share and connect on. These will look different to future generations and evolve with the times, but they will carry on.

Quite the plethora of classics on tonight's shows and the skipped ones which are on YouTube! LOVED Bran Van 3000, Texas, Supergrass, TLC and Travis, also Groove Armada "At The River". Like most of the songs to come between now and the end of 1999, many of them were on my first Now (Now 44) so I feel nothing but fondness for them and that time of music. My favourite year of music by far. Having softened on Westlife since they returned in 2019 (I was very anti them to begin with, largely by dint of the fact they always got number ones on quiet release weeks), "If I Let You Go" is actually one of their better singles for me I'd say. Good as well that Geri got her first solo number one with "Mi Chico Latino" after being denied it with "Look At Me". I know so much gets said about her these days but on the Schizophonic era at least she was huge, and deservedly so.