9 November 2002 Didn't we use to have more of these things? This is Westlife's first Irish number one in a year and their only Irish chart-topper of 2002. Maybe their stock-in-trade of wedding anniversary anthems wasn't the best mood music for Saipan-riven Ireland. Anyway, 'Unbreakable' is more of Westlife's usual boil-in-the-bag overwrought boyband balladry. … Continue reading Westlife – ‘Unbreakable’ →

19 October 2002 As a player who has several plus-ones on the go, I find a mail merge spreadsheet template an invaluable labour-saving and time-management tool to keep all my plates spinning and my squeezes keen: "Hiya {{term of affection}} hope ur keeping that fine {{part of body}} warm for some {{physical interaction}} {{day of … Continue reading Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland – ‘Dilemma’ →

12 October 2002 Hands up: who heard this and as a result assumed 'aserejé' was Spanish for a tomato? And up goes my hand. It's actually just a made-up word that runs together a few well-known anglophone pop vocalisms: "I said a-hey" and the like. To be precise, it's the character in the song, a … Continue reading Las Ketchup – ‘Aserejé (The Ketchup Song)’ →

28 September 2002 I recall hearing quite a few people at the time using the epithet 'anti-Britney' about Avril Lavigne's 'Complicated'. Two decades later, here's where I get to say: not so fast. Yes, there was a space in the early '00s for a young female singer who wasn't presenting sexualised content in sexualised wrapping. … Continue reading Avril Lavigne – ‘Complicated’ →

31 August 2002 I've given you fair notice by now that this trip through the '00s Irish number ones will not be, contrary to what we thought we remembered, an extended Xenomania victory parade. We've already seen Six score two number ones, more than either Girls Aloud or the Sugababes will manage, and now here … Continue reading Atomic Kitten – ‘The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)’ →

24 August 2002 Ireland went buck-wild for Euro-dance in the early 2000s. Why was this? Well, Ireland had gone buck-wild for Euro-dance in the early 1990s too and, as I proposed in my thesis here on 'Maniac 2000', those were both feel-good times for Ireland in general. To borrow the MBA vernacular of our Celtic … Continue reading Mad’House – ‘Like A Prayer’ →

27 July 2002 Remember in Argentina at the start of the '00s when there was an economic crash, a run on the banks, IMF intervention, and public riots? The President of Argentina at the time, Fernando de la Rúa, was unable to get a grip on the situation, and resigned in December 2001 in deep … Continue reading Shakira – ‘Underneath Your Clothes’ →

20 July 2002 I'm confused. This is Scooter's only Irish number one and by far their biggest hit here, so I expected it to be the one with the really long "SCOOTERRRRR!" and "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice". However, neither of those happen in 'The Logical Song'. In … Continue reading Scooter – ‘The Logical Song’ →

6 July 2002 Surprise! Yes, Six had a second single, never mind a second number one. Let's not be too harsh on ourselves, though. Public interest in TV talent show winners tended to be one-and-done; hopped up on the thrill of the vote, an over-enthusiastic viewership enables a rote valedictory chart-topper as series merch. In … Continue reading Six – ‘Let Me Be The One’ →