GATW: UKT40 July 18, 1998 Part One

Summer 1998.  Around this time, DVDs were introduced in Britain, with one of the first releases being Jumanji.  Who knew that in less than twenty years, the DVD format would be at death's door, and the world would be anticipating a new Jumanji movie starring a then-current member of the World Wrestling Federation's Nation of Domination.  And what was dominating the U.K. music scene?  Well...

40 - "Stranded," Lutricia McNeal 

American soul singer McNeal had most of her success in Europe, and the biggest of her four U.K. hits was this slick take-me-back tune.  Good song, very good voice.

39 - "Carnaval de Paris," Dario G 

This DJ from Crewe had seven hits, the second being this fun combination of samba, French music, and a musical theme similar to "My Darling Clementine," with some bagpipes thrown in.  It was inspired by that summer's World Cup in France.  Though the tournament was now over, it's influence lingered over this chart in more ways, as we shall see.

38 - "Say it Once," Ultra

This Buckinghamshire group may have played instrumentsome,  but they were still a boy band, as indicated by this bland effort.  Yes, bad rapping with an English accent is still bad rapping.

37 - "Vindaloo," Fat Les

This "band" was formed by Blur bassist Alex James, artist Damien Hirst, and comedian Keith Allen (father of future pop star Lily).  Together they created this unofficial anthem for England's 1998 World Cup effort, a nonsensical football chant featuring references to the titular curry dish, cheese, and knitting, as well as a boast that their team will do at least the minimum to win their games ("We're gonna score one more than you!")  In spite of this inspiration, England would crash out in the second round after Argentina was able to score one more than them in a penalty shootout. The song retains its strange charms, however, and gets this week's Uneasy Rider.

36 - "This is How We Party," S.O.A.P.

Malaysian-born Danish sisters Heidi and Saseline Sorenson had a few dance-pop hits at home, but their biggest success elsewhere came with this middling party jam.  Boy band material sung by girls, nothing more.

35 - "You'll Never Walk Alone," The 3 Tenors

In July of 1990, on the eve of the World Cup final, opera stars Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti performed a concert at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome to raise money to fight leukemia, which Carreras had recently recovered from.  The event was seen by millions around the world, and a recording of the show became the best-selling classical album of all time.  The success of the concert prompted them to repeat the performance at the following two World Cups, first in 1994 st Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, then four years later in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  The finale of the latter performance was this Rodgers and Hammerstein number from the musical Carousel which has since become the anthem of Liverpool FC.  It's a powerful, emotional song about overcoming adversity, but I wasn't sure what to make of this version, so I asked the opinion of my wife, who is not only a classically trained soprano but also someone for whom this song holds great meaning.  She thought it didn't work at all, as it wasn't written to be a showcase for voices like theirs.  And my opinion?  Yeah, what she said.  But I will give it an Uneasy Rider too.

34 - "Pavane," Wimbledon Choral Society 
More World Cup-related classical, in the form of an amateur choir from the section of London best known for tennis performing a piece by French composer Gabriel Faure that was used as a theme for BBC 's coverage of the tournament.   The lyrics are overheated poetry about the trials of romance, with imagery of "running dogs," and "tyrants of our hearts."  Of course, it sounds prettier in French.  Still, it gets the week's third Uneasy Rider.   I can do that.

33 - "Lost in Space," Lighthouse Family

The duo's fourth of five Top Tens was this bit of midtempo soul about needing someone.  It exists.

32 - "Three Lions '98," Baldiel and Skinner and the Lightning Seeds

An update of the collaboration's '96 #1, this time including references to that year's penalty heartbreak against Germany, and to the draw in Italy that clinched their appearance in France '98.  It went to #1 again, but I've already told you what happened in the tournament.

31 - "The Rockafeller Skank," Fatboy Slim

The first of what would be six Top Tens for ex-Housemartin Norman Cook was this combination of sampled beats, surf-style guitar, and a snatch of rap about "the funk soul brother."  There's was about a year where this song was ubiquitous in films and TV commercials, but removed from that, it holds up as an electronic masterpiece.

30 - "Angel," Massive Attack 

Seven years after "Unfinished Sympathy," the Bristol trip-hop trio had their eighth hit with this spacey track about a force that seems to bring love but might in fact be something more menacing.   Hauntingly fantastic.

29 - "How Do I Live," LeAnn Rimes

The Mississippi-born country-pop star got her first British Top Ten with this Diane Warren-penned treacle.  She's better than this.  But it was massive, so nuts to me.

28 - "Tell Me," Billie Myers

Coventry singer Myers debuted with "Kiss the Rain," which was a hit in both the U.K. and the U.S.  Her second, and unfortunately final, hit was this Indian-flavored ode to passionate sex.  It's pretty damn good, and evidence that she deserved a bigger career.

27 - "Intergalactic," Beastie Boys

The Boys' biggest Brit hit was this fun brag rhyme.  The beats are terrific, and my favorite line is probably "I'll stir fry you in my wok."  Among their best.

26 - "Dance the Night Away," The Mavericks 

This Miami band, led by Cuban-American singer Raul Malo, scored 6 Top 40 country singles, but they scored a surprise Top 5 here with this Latin-tinged number about being newly unattached and enjoying that freedom.  Very cool.

25 - "Rendez-Vous '98," Jean-Michel Jarre featuring Apollo 440

Another World Cup tie-in was this team-up between Jarre, best known for "Oxygene" and massive outdoor concerts, and a Liverpool electronic group.  It's a dance track that contains crowd noise and a bit of "La Marseillaise."  Very good, as these things go.

24 - "The Heart's Lone Desire," Matthew Marsden

From Walsall, Marsden is an actor whose credits include Black Hawk Down and the second Transformers movie.  He also had a couple hit songs, the first and biggest being this dance-rocker about how we are compelled to find a romantic partner.  It was much better than I imagined.

23 - "Can't Let Her Go," Boyz II Men

The Philly harmonizers' tenth and last U.K. hit was this uptempo track about a lady theyes can't live without.  I like it, probably because they have too many ballad hits for my taste.

22 - "I Think I'm Paranoid," Garbage

This group formed when three American producer/musicians (including Butch Vig, the man behind the boards on Nirvana's Nevermind) recruited Scottish singer Shirley Manson, formerly of the band's Goodbye Mr. McKenzie and Angelfish.  Their third of five Top Tens here was this dark rock tune about a relationship that seems to have an S&M tinge to it.  Good, but probably near the bottom of their singles to me.  I still tend to go for their early singles "Vow" and "Queer."

21 - "Life," Des'ree
London soul singer Desiree Weeks had her biggest success in the States with the 1994 Top Five "You Gotta Be."  She didn't hit the Top Ten at home, however, until this slick pop ditty about joyfully dealing with fears and superstitions which includes references to walking under ladders, hot air ballooning, and bungee jumping.  Apparently, respondents to a BBC poll once voted it the worst pop lyric ever.  It is a bit cheesy in places, but I'm ultimately charmed.  There are many worse offenders.

In Part Two:  randiness, eternal life, and repuposed Kenny and Dolly.

November 13, 1999 Part One

This week, we arrive just weeks before the turn of the Millennium.  The world is anticipating a party, yet still wondering about that whole Y2K bug thing that could have potentially thrown the enitre world into chaos and disaster.  Spoiler alert: it didn't.  Meanwhile, as the countdown clocks ticked down, these songs were popular.

40 - "Music of My Heart," Gloria Estefan featuring 'N Sync

39 - "Bring it All to Me," Blaque

38 - "Cowboy," Kid Rock

37 - "Shake Your Bon-Bon," Ricky Martin

36 - "The Rockafeller Skank," Fatboy Slim

35 - "Hanginaround," Counting Crows

34 - "Girl on TV," LFO
33 - "That's the Way it Is," Celine Dion
32 - "My Love is Your Love," Whitney Houston
31 - "What's My Age Again," Blink-182

We'll begin with two songs fearuting contributions from N' Sync.  First, they teamed up with Gloria Estefan for a treacly ballad from the soundtrack of Music of the Heart, a film in which Meryl Streep teaches violin in Harlem.  It was directed by none other than horrormeister Wes Craven.  That fact is way more interesting than this song.  And the Syncsters' JC Chasez guests on the biggest hit by Atlanta R&B trio Blaque, a song in which the women don't care about JC's "thug appeal."  I had no idea he had such a thing.

Three male solo acts are here.  Robert James Ritchie came from suburban Detroit, became a rapper, and released his major-label debut in 1990, when he was only 19.  It bombed, he was dropped, and it took him most of the rest of the decade to get another shot at the big time.  But when he did, it was with a mix of rap and Southern rock that propelled his Devil Without a Cause CD to multiplatinum sales.  His hit here epitomizes that sound, with pimp-and-ho imagery combined with a swampy rock track.  I just have two questions for Mr. Rock regarding the lyrics to this song.  One, what are "all the right reasons" to start an escort service?  And two, what kind of words of wisdom are "Radio edit?"  Anyway, too bad about Romney losing, Kid.  Puerto Rican Ricky Martin had been a successful Spanish-language artist before and after leaving Menudo, but it wasn't 1999 until he broke through to the Anglo market.  His entry here was the third single from his eponymous album, and it's the one that time has been least kind to.  First of all, out of all the silly euphemisms for the female rump that humanity has come up with over the years, "bon-bon" has to be one of the most laughable.  And lyrics like "Up in the Himilayas/Come on I wanna lay ya," don't help matters.  I must admit, however, that I do kind of like his 1998 World Cup anthem "The Cup of Life."  And British DJ Norman Cook had his second major American hit with this dance track built on a surf guitar line and a snatch of rap from a self-proclaimed "funk soul brother."  The song had already been used frequently in films and commercials before becomins a radio hit, so people did get a little burned out on it.  But now that it's time of ubiquity has long passed, it stands up as a fun little floor-filler.

Three groups also call this section home.  Counting Crows picked up another hit with this fun little rock groove about laziness.  It's probably my favorite song of theirs, because it's so loose and casual, and they seem to be actually enjoying themselves for once.  The Massachussets trio whose initials stood for Lyte Funky Ones had their second and last Top Ten with what I would say is probably the worst popular song of this particular era of boy bands.  Terrible lyrics, an awful lead vocal, pathetic rapping.  Plus it's apparently about Jennifer Love Hewitt, who I've never liked.  At least "Summer Girls" is almost charming in its spectacular stupidity.  This is just bad.  And California punk-poppers Blink-182 had their first major pop hit with this ode to prolonged adolescence and how girls don't like it when you prank-call their mothers claiming you're a cop who's arrested their husbands.  Silly, but crazily catchy, and probably still the best thing they've ever put out.

We finish this first quarter with two female superstars.  Celine Dion had her last U.S. Top Ten pop hit with this fizzy little lite-pop tune about believing in yourself and having faith and stuff.  And our good Swedish friend Max Martin co-wrote and co-produced it.  The guy has the touch.  And Whitney Houston had her last pop Top Five with this midtempo ballad, co-written and co-produced by Wyclef Jean of the Fugees, about how she can get through anything as long as she is with the one she loves, the one with whom she has a bond so strong that "the chains of Amistad couldn't hold us."  If you don't know what Amistad is, Google it.  Or go find the Spielberg movie.  Anyway, this was probably her last really good song.

　

30 - "Last Kiss," Pearl Jam
29 - "Angels Would Fall," Melissa Etheridge
28 - "Angels," Robbie Williams
27 - "Bailamos," Enrique Iglesias
26 - "Candy," Mandy Moore
25 - "She's All I Ever Had," Ricky Martin
24 - "I Wanna Love You Forever," Jessica Simpson
23 - "Heartbreaker," Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z
22 - "American Woman," Lenny Kravitz
21 - "Will 2K," Will Smith featuring K-Ci

This section includes just one band, and two "Solo acts featuring X," so I'm lumping them together. Seattle grunge stars Pearl Jam had their biggest pop hit with this cover of J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers 1964 hit about teenage traffic tragedy.  Certainly not representative of the band's overall sound, but Eddie Vedder treats it seriously instead of with winking irony, and it works.  Mariah Carey had her whopping 14th Number One hit with this slinky "Can't live with you, can't live without you" jam that features a guest rhyme from one Shawn Carter, who was then just a mere rapper.  Now he's an entertainment mogul, a clothing-line owner, and the part-owner of the Brooklyn Nets.  Oh, and he's also married to Beyonce.  I suppose he's doing all right for himself.  And Will Smith is here, with vocal assistance from K-Ci of Jodeci, celebrating the coming New Year's Eve and the start of what he calles the "Willennium."  Unlike some people, he wasn't letting millennial anxiety dampen his enthusiasm for the massive celebration to come.  "Chaos, the cops gonna block the street?  Man, who the hell cares?  Just don't stop the beat." he declares.  That attitude makes the song's extensive use of The Clash's "Rock the Casbah" almost appropriate.

Three solo women are in this group.  Melissa Etheridge had one of her last pop hits with this song that was apparently inspired by feelings she had toward another woman while she was in the process of splitting up with longtime partner Julie Cypher.  That kind of raw emotion usually works in her favor, and it does again in this case.  One of her best.  Nashua, New Hamspshire's Mandy Moore was part of a wave of teenage female pop singers that sprang up in the wake of Britney Spears, and she was only 15 when she scored her first hit with this dance pop confection (pun intended).  Not much here, and she didn't have all that much musical success afterward.  But she has had a decent acting career, so I guess she came out ahead.  And Dallas' Jessica Simpson rode that same wave, despite being a relatively ancient 19 when she debuted with this sexy ballad.  I wasn't that familiar with it, and frankly, I was surprised at how well she sings on it.  I'd never thought she was that good on her other stuff, but this actually shows some skills.  She'd have more overall musical success than Mandy Moore, but that's kind of gotten lost over the years amid weight battles, Tony Romo, and "Is this chicken or fish?" 

We finish the first half with four guys.  Robbie Williams never broke through in America to the extent he did in the rest of the world, but he did pick up a couple of midsize radio hits there in 1999, one of which was this anthemic ballad about hoping for otherworldly protection and love.  It fell short of hitting #1 in Britain, but it has grown in stature to the point where it is considered one of the greatest pop songs that country has produced in recent years.  I'm not sure I'd go that far, but it's a fine song, sung well.  Another of 1999's major pop trends was the "Latin Explosion," and one of those poised to capitalize on that was the son of Spanish superstar Julio Iglesias.  Enrique's first English hit ironically had a Spanish title (translation: "We Dance"), but was otherwise typical, accented loverman crooning over flamencoey guitars.  Not my thing, but better than that Jersey Shore song, for sure.  Ricky Martin was arguably the leader of the whole Latin-pop wave, and he makes his second appearance this week with a ballad about a woman who's really, really important to him.  Possibly the one song of his that still kind of holds up, even though we know now that the gender of the person he was singing about isn't the same one he's attracted to.  And Lenny Kravitz is here with a choppy cover of the Guess Who's 1970 #1 that wasn't about a female at all but rather the United States itself ("I don't need your war machines, I don't need your ghetto scenes").  Like I've said before, I like it when a cover version tries to differ from the original, and I'll give Lenny credit for trying, but I'm not a fan of this at all.  The rage of the original is blunted into bland lite-funk artificiality.  But at least Burton and Randy must have made some good coin from the royalties.

In Part Two:  a cynical commericial ploy works spectacularly well, more examples of those trends we discussed today, and what I consider to be one of the great one-hit wonders of all time.