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’
Tag: 90s
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)’
B*Witched – ‘C’est La Vie’
7 June 1998 'C'est La Vie' caught me on the hop. The first time I heard it—heard of it—was when B*Witched were already at number one in the UK and I saw them performing it on Top Of The Pops. At the start, I didn't even twig they were Irish: that only dawned on me … Continue reading B*Witched – ‘C’est La Vie’
The Tamperer ft. Maya – ‘Feel It’
17 May 1998 "What's she gonna look like with a chimney on her?" Not the trailer for a new Fred West-style homicidal home improvement show, but the most baffling pop lyric of 1998. Most of us thought it was some oblique reference to a black eye, and I recall a theory that it was a … Continue reading The Tamperer ft. Maya – ‘Feel It’
Boyzone – ‘All That I Need’
26 April 1998 Before re-listening to this Boyzone number one, I honestly couldn't remember it. I've just listened to it now and I still can hardly remember it. Of the impressions that have barely stuck with me, 'All That I Need' is vapid white-bread R&B-lite. Tasteful, over-produced acoustic guitar-picking and bossa nova rhythm on the … Continue reading Boyzone – ‘All That I Need’
Run-D.M.C. vs Jason Nevins – ‘It’s Like That’
29 March 1998 Re-listening to Run-D.M.C.'s original 'It's Like That' reminds me why I prefer Public Enemy. I find Run-D.M.C.'s rapping style here very stilted, like a primary schoolkid reciting a poem in class: they don't exactly make lines like "Street soldiers killing the elderly / Whatever happened to unity?" flow like a harpoon daily … Continue reading Run-D.M.C. vs Jason Nevins – ‘It’s Like That’
Celine Dion – ‘My Heart Will Go On’
15 February 1998 When Titanic came out on video, I reckon I saw it three times a day for two weeks. I should add that it was because I was working in Xtravision that summer, where it was playing non-stop on the shop-floor screens. People would come in to buy Titanic, then stand enthralled and … Continue reading Celine Dion – ‘My Heart Will Go On’
