April 1997 in Britain. The campaign that would result in the election of Tony Blair as Prime Minister was under way. And Teletubbies had just debuted, to the delight of toddlers and stoners everywhere. This was the soundtrack.
40 - "U16 Girls," Travis
This Scottish band was formed in 1990, but didn't release their debut album, Good Feeling, until '96. It produced five Top 40 singles, the second being this guitar rocker about the perils of females who look older than they are. It's catchy and cool. But it was when they turned down and went more introspective on their next album, The Man Who, that they became U.K. superstars, and many feel that their success paved the way for Coldplay. So depending on your view, they're to thank/blame.
39 - "Alone," The Bee Gees
Not only did this midtempo pine for companionship go Top Five here, it helped spark another comeback for the Gibbs in the U.S., cracking the Top 40 and helping their Still Waters album go platinum. Say what you want about them, they were certainly adaptable to multiple eras and styles.
38 - "Remember Me," Blue Boy
The biggest hit for British DJ Lex Blackmore was this trip-hop adaptation of the 1969 song "Woman of the Ghetto," by soul singer Marlena Shaw, primarily employing the line "Remember me? I'm the one who had your babies." Pretty great.
37 - "Hush," Kula Shaker
Formed in London by Crispian Mills, the song of actress Hayley Mills (known to one generation as the star of the original version of The Parent Trap and to another as Miss Bliss, the teacher in the early episodes of Saved by the Bell), this band burst onto the scene the previous year with a psychedelic rock sound with more than a little East Indian influence (their third Top Ten single, "Govinda," is sung entirely in Sanskrit). Following up their multi-platinum debut album, they released this cover of Deep Purple's 1968 breakthrough hit, which became the last of their two #2s. It's pretty much a carbon copy, down to that familiar organ riff. Mills' adds a little swagger, but not enough to make this essential.
36 - "Consideration," Reef
From Glastonbury, namesake of one of the world's most famous music festivals, this four-piece, one of the many disparate bands lumped under the mid-90s catchall label "Britpop," scored nine Top 40s between 1995 and 2000. Their sixth was this ballad that seems to ask the listener to examine his or her capacity for kindness and inner strength. It's okay, but not quite the anthem it aims to be.
35 - "Love Guaranteed," Damage
Formed by students at a London performing arts school, this R&B boy band picked up nine Top 40s, and this was the second of their three Top Tens. Unremarkable modern uptempo pop-soul. Good singers, but not a great song.
34 - "Footprint," Disco Citizens
The second and last Top 40 by this incarnation of British DJ Nicholas "Chicane" Bracegirdle is your standard trance house track. I didn't hear anything special about it, but maybe certain chemicals would change my opinion. But I think Nicholas Bracegirdle is an awesome name.
33 - "Flash," B.B.E
More instrumental electronic dance stuff, this time from a French-Italian trio. Again, a lot of this stuff blends together in my mind. No hook.
32 - "Where Do You Go," No Mercy
The biggest hit for a German Eurodance boy band who were produced by Frank Farian of Boney M./Milli Vanilli fame. But he actually let these guys sing for themselves, for once. Anyway, a Top Five on both sides of the Atlantic, but just blandness to these ears.
31 - "Mr. Big Stuff," Queen Latifah, Shades, and Free
Before she became a sitcom star, a movie star, a singer of jazz standards, and a talk show host, New Jerseyite Dana Owens was a rapper, and that is her role on her second British Top 40, a teamup with vocal quartet Shades and fellow female MC Free on this reworking of the 1971 Jean Knight hit. The lyrics line up with the plot of the Whoopi Goldberg finance comedy The Associate. It's okay.
30 - "Rumble in the Jungle," Fugees featuring A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, and John Forte
The last major single by the combination of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill (and friends)was this song that contains references to the titular 1974 Muhammad Ali-George Foreman championship fight in Zaire that was depicted in the documentary the song was recorded for, When We Were Kings. Solid rhymes from all involved, with the only hiccup being Rhymes' possibly erroneous reference to Zimbabwe. And the movie is terrific, my favorite documentary ever.
29 - "Forever," Puff Johnson
The second of L.A. soul singer Ewanya Johnson's two U.K. Top 40s was this nice ballad of devotion. Immediately following this, she opened for Michael Jackson on a European tour, then pretty much disappeared from mainstream consciousness, eventually moving to South Africa, where she succumbed to cancer three years ago at 40.
28 - "If I Never See You Again," Wet Wet Wet
This quartet from Clydebank, Scotland broke through at the tail end of the "sophisti-pop:" movement, and would have a whopping 28 Top 40s and three Number Ones, the last being their massive cover of The Troggs' "Love is All Around" from the Four Weddings and a Funeral soundtrack. This one's a pretty good thanks-for-the-memories ballad, with a quality performance from singer Marti Pellow. They broke up shortly after this, but got back together in 2004, and they're still at it.
27 - "2 Become 1," The Spice Girls
Having debuted the previous July, Ginger, Posh, Sporty, Baby and Scary were already a culture-spanning phenomenon in their homeland and making "girl power" part of the vernacular. Their third of nine #1s, (and the 1996 Christmas charttopper) was this sultry sex ballad. It's actually a pretty good song, and they sing it quite well. It's probably the song of theirs that holds up the best with the passage of time.
26 - "Hondy (No Access)," Hondy
I can find neither lyrics to this song nor background on the artist. The song is a house track over which a female singer sings about wanting a flower and testifying her desire, and the chorus consists of her simply howling the word "Hondy." It's better than average, and the lack of info I could find intrigues me.
25 - "Naked Eye," Luscions Jackson
This New York alt-rock band was signed to the Beastie Boys' Grand Royal label (and featured drummer Kate Schellenbach, who was in the Beasties when they were a punk band in the early 80s). They're biggest hit, a Top 40 on both sides of the Atlantic. was this joyful dance rocker about finding clarity and joy. A definite favorite of mine. It feeeeels...allllllll riiiiiiiight.
24 - "Anywhere for You," Backstreet Boys
The Orlando based boy band were still unknown at home at this time, but they had gotten huge in Europe, as this was their fifth huge hit in the span of a year. It's your standard assemblage of sincerely crooned pleas and promises, which are apparently the kind of things a certain young female demographic always craves. It's a gap in the market that always seems to be filled, and these guys were pretty successful at supplying that demand.
23 - "Isn't it a Wonder," Boyzone
The major reason why the Backstreets hit in Europe first was because their boy band scene was already thriving, and these five from Ireland were among the leaders of the pack. This was their eighth U.K. hit, and to this point none of them had charted lower than #4. It's a ballad about appreciating the world around you and hoping that your true love can be part of it again. I think that's it. Anyway, for some reason I feel like there's a little more to it than a lot of American boy band stuff. Or maybe I'm just deluded.
22 - "My Love is Deep," Sara Parker
Another artist I wasn't able to find much out about. Again, it's house/dance, with some decent singing over a bed of bleeps and bloops. This is a genre that I seem to have a lot of trouble finding much interesting in. Maybe it's me.
21 - "Fresh," Gina G
Australian-born Gina Gardner moved to England in 1995, and the next year won the right to represent Britain at the Eurovision Song Contest. She didn't win, but the song, "Ooh Aah...Just a Little Bit," went to #1. She followed it up with two Top Tens, the last of which was this flirty dance popper that uses the title word in the old timey euphemistic sense. It's fun and throwaway.
In Part Two: more spice, ballin' monsters, and silence.
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