9 December 2000 Only now has it struck me that 'Stan', with its chorus by the then-unknown Dido, may have been influenced by 'You Got Me', that fabulous single the year before by The Roots which features a similar sweet chorus by a female singer, Erykah Badu. Certainly at the time I remember the cognitive … Continue reading Eminem – ‘Stan’ →

19 December 1999 How should we approach the landmark of the final Irish number one of the millennium? The same way we approached it at the time: ignore the symbolism completely and just put a Westlife single there. Not just any Westlife single, though - a double-A-side of covers of two remarkably dreadful songs. 'I … Continue reading Westlife – ‘I Have a Dream’ / ‘Seasons In The Sun’ →

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’ →

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’ →

28 November 1997 There wasn't a Band Aid in the '90s but this was the closest thing. It was for a worthy cause too: the BBC Children in Need appeal, although it was originally conceived and broadcast as a public service announcement for the BBC licence fee. So, despite its Irish contingent, Ireland's 1997 Christmas … Continue reading Various Artists – ‘Perfect Day’ →

20 December 1996 If you list every Irish number one single in alphabetical order, starting with those which begin with numerals, '2 Become 1' by the Spice Girls is first on the list. It was also Ireland's 1996 Christmas number one, and its Christmassy New York video (actually shot with green screen in a London … Continue reading Spice Girls – ‘2 Become 1’ →

1 December 1995 Just as East 17 did the previous year, Boyzone had the first and last Irish number one of 1995. ('Love Me For A Reason' re-took the number one spot at the start of the year.) That's where the similarity ends. Anyone with a passing acquaintance of the Boyzone oeuvre will know that … Continue reading Boyzone – ‘Father And Son’ →

16 December 1994 Anyone putting money on the 1994 Christmas number one being a slow ballad by a boyband would surely have had Take That and Gary Barlow's piano-driven singer-songwriter aspirations in mind. But no: it's East 17 who take pop's most coveted prize in the UK as well as here in Ireland, holding off … Continue reading East 17 – ‘Stay Another Day’ →

19 December 1993 By the time Take That get to number one in Ireland, they're no longer Robbie Williams' Take That—cheeky dance routines and disco bops—but instead Gary Barlow's Take That: 'classic' songwriting and Gary at the piano with four bored-looking backing singers. As it happens, the lead vocal on 'Babe' is by Mark Owen, … Continue reading Take That – ‘Babe’ →

3 December 1992 Thump, and then The Note Heard Round The World. I almost feel stupid trying to consider Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' as any normal record. Despite the efforts of Celine Dion and Mariah Carey, that teed-up money note by Whitney is the emblematic gesture of the '90s power diva vocal … Continue reading Whitney Houston – ‘I Will Always Love You’ →