31 January 1999 It's clear that the anti-hero of 'Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)', played memorably in the video by a young actor whose actual first name is Guy, is the village Vanilla Ice and really putting his back into crass cultural appropriation and stereotyping. I suppose it's just a bit awkward that the … Continue reading The Offspring – ‘Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)’
Chef – ‘Chocolate Salty Balls’
3 January 1999 The last year of the decade, the first of chart pop's new golden age, begins in early-'90s throwback style with a TV cartoon show tie-in at number one. Okay, so it's Isaac Hayes, an actual soul star, which has to be better than Sabrina Carpenter's aunt rapping on 'Do The Bartman' and … Continue reading Chef – ‘Chocolate Salty Balls’
Spice Girls – ‘Goodbye’
27 December 1998 If the Spice Girls watched Saved By The Bell, they'd know the episode where Zack dreams of his band Zack Attack hitting the big time, only to fall apart fighting while on their—what irony—Friends Forever tour. Geri leaving the Spice Girls in 1998 and specifying in her statement that it was "because … Continue reading Spice Girls – ‘Goodbye’
Cher – ‘Believe’
15 November 1998 Another piece of the '99 and '00s pop renaissance starts to move into place. Among the seven (7) co-writers on 'Believe', along with Cher herself, is Brian Higgins, soon after this to join forces with Miranda Cooper and form Xenomania, the celebrated writing-production team behind that string of fantastic Girls Aloud singles … Continue reading Cher – ‘Believe’
Kerri Ann – ‘Irreplaceable’
8 November 1998 When even U2, with 'Sweetest Thing', are upcycling a clunky B-side from their big-hat '80s into a jaunty 1998 number one, you know there's something in the air. Ironically for U2, if they weren't already sick of irony by then, it was the very thing they had tried unsuccessfully to sell in … Continue reading Kerri Ann – ‘Irreplaceable’
U2 – ‘Sweetest Thing’
25 October 1998 Our obvious starting point here is to compare the two versions. The original 'Sweetest Thing' is the B-side to 'Where The Streets Have No Name', and Bono's vocal on that version is his '80s throaty, bluesy shtick, which doesn't suit the song. On this 1998 single version Bono's vocal is softer and … Continue reading U2 – ‘Sweetest Thing’
Aerosmith – ‘I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing’
11 October 1998 Surprisingly, given how her big-budget power ballads were on '80s and '90s radio more often than the traffic news, this is only Diane Warren's second Irish number one single. The first was 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now', from a movie about a shop-floor dummy who comes to life. This one is also … Continue reading Aerosmith – ‘I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing’
Robbie Williams – ‘Millennium’
20 September 1998 September 1998 is earlier than I had remembered for Robbie Williams' 'Millennium', though I suppose it was only a year and a bit until the Y2K bug and flying cars on the moon. Anyway, here it is. This isn't the first piece of James Bond music to go to number one in … Continue reading Robbie Williams – ‘Millennium’
Boyzone – ‘No Matter What’
9 August 1998 Tepid on the heels of 'All That I Need', 'No Matter What' is another step in Louis Walsh's succession planning, where late-era Boyzone morph into a proto-Westlife: white suits, cruciform posing, milquetoast R&B-lite ballads superannuated with vaguely Christian spirituality and a climactic key change. And if that isn't appealing enough, 'No Matter … Continue reading Boyzone – ‘No Matter What’
Pras Michel ft. ODB & Mya – ‘Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)’
19 July 1998 A bit like 'The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)', 'Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)' is a movie promotional single that completely outgrew the quickly-forgotten source movie, as well as also having a (pointless) (subtitle) (in) (brackets). It's hip hop grafted onto a country song written by the Bee … Continue reading Pras Michel ft. ODB & Mya – ‘Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)’
