I apologize for not giving an introduction to yesterday's post. I felt rushed, and I forgot.
So today, we wrap up our look at October of 1997. The week this countdown aired, the New York Times put a color photograph in their paper for the first time. Meanwhile, American lives were being colored by songs such as these:
20 - "Do You Know (What it Takes)," Robyn
19 - "The Impression That I Get," The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
18 - "Honey," Mariah Carey
17 - "On My Own," Peach Union
16 - "How Bizarre," OMC
The second half begins with Swede Robyn Carlsson and one of her two U.S. Top Tens, a bit of catchy dance pop that was one of the first international hits to be co-written and -produced by her countryman Max Martin, who has since become one of the hottest producers in the world. He's been pretty much a radio constant for over a decade. Whatever he does, people like it. I can't say I always do, but this is good.
Boston ska-punks The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are here with their only pop hit, a deceptively sprightly song about being afraid that one will not deal well with tragedy or other major life challenges. A catchy, accessible introduction to their sound.
Next is Mariah Carey with a song about being addicted to love which saw her move in a more hip-hop direction. Say what you will about Puffy, but this production does pretty well to accentuate her voice and give her attitude. One of her better hits.
Then it's British duo Peach Union with their only hit, a slick, cool little breakup dance-popper. Good use of piano on this one, and singer Lisa Lamb reminds me of Belinda Carlisle in spots.
This section closes with the biggest hit for a New Zealand group whose initials stand for "Otara Millionaires Club"; Otara being the Auckland suburb they hailed from. On the song, rapper Pauly Fuemana spins a tale about a round trip that he and his friends Pele and Zina took in a 1969 Chevrolet during which they encountered a circus, get surrounded by the media and the military, and well, as Fuemana says, "Wanna know the rest? Hey, buy the rights!" No thanks, I'm good. A fun, weird little artifact that was just edged out for this week's Uneasy Rider.
15 - "Building a Mystery," Sarah McLachlan
14 - "Men in Black," Will Smith
13 - "If You Could Only See," Tonic
12 - "Invisible Man," 98 Degrees
11 - "I Don't Want to Wait," Paula Cole
This quintet is led off by Canadian Sarah McLachlan with the hit that launched her into pop superstardom, a dark folk-pop number that seems to be about the dark side of religion. This was also the year she launched the successful all-female Lilith Fair tour. Myself, I prefer her earlier stuff, but I was very happy to see her succeed to such a great degree. Definitely a deserving success story.
Will Smith had been one of the more prominent players in the smash 1996 movie Independence Day, but it was his role as alien-hunting Agent J in the following summer's Men in Black that truly cemented him as an A-list movie star. And on top of that, Smith had his first post-Fresh Prince hit with the film's title song, a rap about what his character does over a track built on a sample from Patrice Rushen's 1982 hit "Forget Me Nots." Not high art by any means, but an enjoyable occasional listen.
Next is the biggest hit for Los Angeles rockers Tonic, a song that I think is about resisting the temptation of a would-be lover in favor of a devoted girlfriend. It hit the spot at the time, but has faded into obscurity just like the rest of the band. And I can't say that's any kind of injustice.
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Then it's the first hit for boy band 98 Degrees, a ballad about being in love with someone who doesn't know you exist. Not much. This group is probably best remembered for introducing the world to the Lachey brothers: Jessica Simpson's ex Nick, and Dancing with the Stars champ Drew. Quite a legacy.
This bunch is rounded out by the second-biggest hit by Paula Cole. It's a song about a man who comes home from World War II and grows distant from his wife and family. Somehow, it also became the theme for the teen drama Dawson's Creek. I like it better as a whole song.
You wouldn't like the Top Ten when they're angry.
10 - "4 Seasons of Loneliness," Boyz II Men
The Philly superstars last #1 was this ballad about missing an old lover in different ways throughout the year. Not one of their best, but still, these guys can sing.
9 - "Show Me Love," Robyn
Her other big hit. More Swedish catchiness. And not to be confused with the identically-titled hit by Robin S. from a few years earlier.
8 - "All for You," Sister Hazel
The biggest hit for these twangy rockers from Gainesville, Florida was this tune about sorting out your feelings for a lover that was all over radio and used in multiple movie trailers for a time there. Catchily annoying, or annoyingly catchy, depending on your point of view.
7 - "2 Become 1," The Spice Girls
Ah yes, the Spice Girls, the five ladies from England with prefab personalities (Sporty, Scary, Posh, etc.) who briefly ruled the world with their dubious version of "Girl Power." But they did have some good songs. "Wannabe" is good silly fun, and this ode to the first time a couple decides to "get it on" is an effective sex ballad. Still, they weren't ever meant to be long for this world.
6 - "How Do I Live," LeAnn Rimes
Rimes broke through on the country charts at the age of 14, and a year later she made her pop breakthrough with this big Dianne Warren ballad. A version by Trisha Yearwood was the one used in the film Con Air, but Rimes had the bigger hit. I like Yearwood's better.
5 - "Semi-Charmed Life," Third Eye Blind
The first and biggest hit by these San Francisco band was this peppy rocker who's "doo-doo-doo" hook belied lyrics about dysfunctional sex and "doing crystal meth." This song got annoying due to overplay, and to me, it's never quite recovered.
4 - "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)," Backstreet Boys
This Orlando boy band were already huge stars in Europe and Canada when they finally broke through in their homeland with this midtempo ballad that is yet another Max Martin co-creation. It's actually not a bad little song. On a song-by-song basis, I think I'd say these guys were better than N*SYNC.
3 - "Push," Matchbox 20
These guys are also from Orlando. And I despise them. They're just everything that's wrong with music. Cynically commercial, lacking in soul, and Rob Thomas is a mediocre singer and a terrible songwriter. All of that is just my opinion, but that's what you get here. Anyway, this was their first hit, it sucks, and I wish the world wanted to take them for granted.
2 - "Fly," Sugar Ray featuring Super Cat
These Californians were kind of a bratty, juvenile rock band until they broke through with this sunny bit of reggae-pop positivity featuring contributions from Jamaican toaster Super Cat. It holds up as a nice little pop song. After this, the band changed direction, becoming much more of a slick pop act. And eventually, singer Mark McGrath became a TV host. They came quite a way from the days when their debut album was called Lemonade and Brownies and featured a nude Nicole Eggert on the cover.
And at the top this particular week, we find...
1 - "Foolish Games," Jewel
In spite of my opinion that every song on Pieces of You sucked except "Who Will Save Your Soul," she kept putting out singles, and they kept being hits. This one is less terrible than "You Were Meant for Me," but I still feel it's overwrought and tries too hard to be deep by namedropping Mozart. I like this song best in the form of the one-second burst of hit heard at the beginning of Fastball's 1998 hit "The Way."
There were three Request and Dedications. In the first, Casey himself decided to dedicate R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" to an 11-year-old blind fan and his mother. Then, a woman dedicated The Pretenders' "I'll Stand by You," to the friend who helped her through a depression she went through after a divorce. And finally, a girl dedicated Mariah Carey's "Anytime You Need a Friend," to the accident victim she befriended while she worked as a candy-striper in a hospital.
Yes, there were commercials, but none of them really stood out. A lot of ads for the VHS release of The Jungle Book, though.
Next time: you guessed it, 1962. Nah, it'll be 1998.
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