Lutricia McNeal

TOTP 25 SEP 1998

Posted on by 80stastic

I’ve long talked about the number of hits featured in these TOTP repeats that I can’t recall despite working in a record shop at the time. However, I sometimes think that the proliferation of new entries ushered in by first week of release price discounting worked against the show and my poor, overworked memory. Six of the eight hits on this TOTP are new entries (including an obligatory new No 1) and I don’t think any of them featured on the show again. This rapid turnover of songs is not conducive to prolonged residence in the brain.

Anyway, Jayne Middlemiss is our host and we start with one of the two non-new entries this week – “Crush” by Jennifer Paige. Now, I should probably give some thanks at this point to Jennifer as she didn’t give the world a load of minor hits as a follow up to her one big smash that I would have no doubt not been able to remember either. No, with her it was one huge song and then nothing. A classic one hit wonder. That hit though has proved to be remarkably hardy and must provide Jennifer with not insubstantial royalties. Aside from any airplay it continues to receive (of which there must be plenty), it has also featured in many a TV show and film soundtrack including Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Beverly Hills 90210, Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City (that’s what it says here!) and The Crush (natch). It’s also been covered in long running Fox comedy-drama series Glee but then hasn’t just about every song ever recorded? You might even say it was caught up in the crush. Ahem.

Now, if you looked at Lutricia McNeal’s UK chart stats (and I have), then you would understandably get the impression that she pretty much disappeared from public view after the end of the 90s. The latter part of that decade had given her four hits (including three Top 10s of which “Someone Loves You Honey” – which obviously I don’t remember – was the last) but then nothing. Correction, not nothing – nothing in the UK. In other territories, Lutricia continued to have success especially Sweden, Germany and Japan. Although she hasn’t recorded an album since 2004, she has released a number of non-album singles and continues to perform live at festivals across Europe. All of which proves that, even today, someone (still) loves her honey. As minimal as it is, that’s all I’ve got for this one. Sometimes, ain’t that just the way.

Now, this one I do remember but then, wouldn’t most people be able to recall a song with the word ‘sex’ (or derivative of) in the title? Through pop music history, any hit that dared to go there was almost guaranteed some form of notoriety and more often than not success. Look at this list of such songs:

  • “I Want Your Sex” – George Michael (No 2)
  • “Let’s Talk About Sex” – Salt-N-Peppa (No 2)
  • “I Wanna Sex You Up” – Color Me Badd (No 1)
  • “Sexual Healing” – Marvin Gaye (No 2)
  • “Sex On Fire” – Kings Of Leon (No 1)
  • “I’m Too Sexy” – Right Said Fred (No 2)
  • “You Sexy Thing” – Hot Chocolate (No 2)
  • “Do You Think I’m Sexy?”. – Rod Stewart (No 1)
  • “Sex On The Beach” – T-Spoon (No 2)

Add to that list “Generation Sex” by The Divine Comedy. The lead single from sixth studio album “Fin De Siècle”, it features a spoken word intro by TV presenter and newspaper columnist Katie Puckrik (who seemed to be everywhere in the 90s) before Neil Hannon’s distinctively theatrical vocals annunciate some typically satirical lyrics about millennial attitudes to sex, promiscuity and the hypocrisy of the media. Lines like “telephoto lenses that chase Mercedes-Benzes” and “a mourning nation weeps and wails” seem to reference the death of Princess Diana just over a year before. Then there’s “Generation Sex injects the sperm of worms into the eggs of field mice so you can look real nice for the boys” which must be one of the most out there lyrics of the decade and yet you understood the intended meaning. It’s all delivered with Hannon’s trademark impish, tongue-in-cheek style and deservedly returned a Top 20 hit. In early 1999, perhaps the band’s most famous tune “National Express” with perhaps Hannon’s most famous line (“It’s hard to get by when your arse is the size of a small country”) would give them their biggest ever hit. The Divine Comedy were on a roll.

It’s time for the second non-new entry on the show and it’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith. Again. It’s a third week on the trot for this one and you could be forgiven for thinking someone at TOTP (*cough* Chris Cowey) was determined to make this a big hit by giving it repeated exposure even when its chart status didn’t warrant it. The band even get their own, specially recorded intro for it this time though, ironically, given the name of their hit, it’s so blink-and-you-miss-it that it really wasn’t worth the effort. I said in a recent post that I hadn’t ever seen the film the song was taken from – Armageddon – all the way through but there was another rival film released in 1998 that had a very similar plot that I’ve never seen a second of. Deep Impact told the tale of humanity’s attempts to abort a comet on a collision course with Earth that could cause mass extinction. Although Deep Impact would be the sixth highest grossing film of the year, it ultimately lost out to Armageddon which topped that list. Crucially perhaps, although it had a soundtrack composed by James Horner, it didn’t have a huge hit single associated with it as its rival did so yes, Armageddon didn’t miss a thing whilst Deep Impact did miss a trick.

No, I’ve got nothing for this one either. Deetah and her song “Relax” anyone? Nothing to do with Frankie Goes To Hollywood, this rap hit was all based around a sample from the unlikely source of the Dire Straits track “Why Worry” from their blockbusting “Brothers In Arms” album. Eh? Dire Straits and rapping? I know. I did say it was unlikely. Or was it? Hadn’t we already seen a rap track in the charts in this year from Sweetbox that was based on “Air On The G String” by Johann Sebastian Bach? Well, yes we had (that was meant to be a rhetorical question) so if a German Baroque period composer who had been dead for nearly 250 years could be used for a contemporary rap hit, why not Dire Straits? What’s that? Because their sound was more dead than Bach? Ouch! For the record though, having listened to Deetah’s track, I don’t mind it. No idea what she’s going on about mind.

If asked, how many Eels songs could you name? I could do one without cheating I think which would be their first hit “Novocaine For The Soul”. There have been others though – follow up “Susan’s House” also went Top 10 whilst 2000’s “Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues” missed three-peating that feat by just one place. Then there’s this one – “Last Stop: This Town”. The lead single from what would prove to be a difficult second album in “Electro-Shock Blues”, it would spend just this solitary week in the Top 40 when it debuted at No 23. And yet it warranted a TOTP appearance and therein perhaps was the issue; it felt a bit like TOTP was chasing its tail rather, a perception that was magnified by the emergence of cd:uk and its more up to date chart format. With the case of an artist like Eels, despite having had two big-ish hits 18 months previously, there must have been doubts that such a streak would continue and the fact that their first new material since entered the chart much lower was maybe a good indicator of their trajectory. I guess what I’m saying is…actually, I’m not sure what I’m saying. I spend enough time slagging off Chris Cowey for platforming the same old hits week after week and here I am slagging him off for showcasing new entries!

Maybe I should just talk about the music because it’s a pretty good tune. Written by Mark ‘E’ Everett about the suicide of his sister (a subject which informed the content of much of the album), it’s an interesting yet tuneful* bit of alternative rock. Its chord structure reminds me of something else as well…is it “Closing Time” by Semisonic? Or is it (whisper it) “MMMBop” by Hanson? Surely not.

*I’m not too sure how tuneful the bass guitarist’s singing is though

OK, I’m still trying to organise my thoughts about what I’m trying to say about the show seemingly wanting to feature all these new chart entries and I’m still not sure what that is. Whatever it is though is amplified by following Eels with PJ Harvey. Maybe it’s that it appears that Chris Cowey was trying to hard to prove the show’s (and his?) eclectic music credentials? “Look, we’re not all about bands like Boyzone and Five. Here’s some more serious artists” Cowey seemed to be saying and I should be welcoming that but it’s confusing after all those boy band and pop fluff repeat performances. Maybe I’m just a natural moaner.

Anyway, the reasoning behind P J Harvey getting a look in this week according to Jayne Middlemiss is that “when you get a chance to get this turn on, you always say yes”. That clears that up then. Did PJ not like playing pop music shows? Or was it that she rarely had a Top 40 hit? “A Perfect Day Elise” was just Polly Harvey’s fifth in five years and it’s peak of No 25 made it her highest charting ever. What to say about this one? That it’s ’interesting’? I think that’s the kindest thing I can say. Alternatively, I could say it’s relentlessly miserable. I keep thinking I should explore her back catalogue more – she does have an MBE for services to music after all – and then I hear a track like “A Perfect Day Elise” and I think “No, I’m alright thanks”.

Was it inevitable that after Geri Halliwell splintered the Spice Girls by leaving the group earlier in 1998 that it would usher in solo careers for every member? All five would have hits in their own right but if I’d had to say who was the first, I’m not sure I would have gone with Mel B. I’d have maybe plumped for Geri (who has the most No 1s of them all totalling four) but I’d have been wrong. Maybe Mel B was first past the post because she had someone else doing the heavy lifting for her? Supposedly, rap artist Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott just rang her up while she was on tour with the Spice Girls and said that she had a song all ready for her and would she record it. Within a month it was all done including the memorable green hue video. Simples!

Sadly, the track – “I Want You Back” – wasn’t very memorable. In fact, I would say it was one of the weakest No 1s of the whole year. Elsewhere, it didn’t get anywhere near the top of the charts with No 6 in Holland being its second best chart position. Clearly in the UK we were still under a Spice spell. Either that or it’s that pesky first week discounting again creating an inflated demand for it. It certainly didn’t hang around too long. Just one further week in the Top 5, one inside the Top 20 and then three at the bottom end of the Top 40. Apparently, it was taken from the soundtrack to a film called Why Do Fools Fall In Love which was a biopic of 50s teenage pop sensation Frankie Lyon but I have zero recall of that. Having been first out of the traps as a solo artist, it would take Mel B nine months to release a follow up (her dreadful cover version of Cameo’s “Word Up”) by which point Mel C had released “When You’re Gone” with Bryan Adams and Geri Halliwell had announced herself on the solo stage with No 2 single “Look At Me” and suddenly it wasn’t just all about Mel B. Even a name change to Mel G following her marriage to Spice Girls dancer Jimmy Gulzar (as referenced by Jayne Middlemiss in this TOTP) couldn’t return her to the top of the charts with “Word Up” stalling at No 13. What I will say about her debut solo hit though is that it pulls together nicely a couple of this post’s themes by including the words “deep impact” and “sex” in its lyrics.

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1Jennifer PaigeCrushIt’s a no
2Lutricia McNealSomeone Loves You HoneyNegative
3The Divine ComedyGeneration SexNo but I had their Greatest Hits with it on
4AerosmithI Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”Nope
5DeetahRelaxNah
6EelsLast Stop: This TownGood song but no
7PJ HarveyA Perfect Day EliseI did not
8Mel B I Want You BackNo

Disclaimer

I make no claim to the rights of this show and all ownership and contents including logos and graphics belongs totally to the BBC or copyright holder(s).

All opinions on the music and artists featured are my own. Sorry if you don’t agree

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002lvjt/top-of-the-pops-25091998

TOTP 12 JUN 1998

Posted on by 80stastic

It’s the Summer of 1998 and there’s only one game in town – the World Cup. Yes, France ‘98 is in full swing and, despite only starting two days before this TOTP aired, Scotland have lost a game already! It was hardly the embarrassment many were expecting (or hoping for if you were English maybe) going down 2-1 to the reigning champions and pre-tournament favourites Brazil to a late own goal. England are there as well for the first time since Italia ‘90 and after the hysteria and heartache of the Euros ‘96 tournament, expectations for Glenn Hoddle’s squad were high despite the omission of Gazza.

Now before you all start thinking I’ve turned this blog into a football fest (again), there’s a valid reason why I mention the World Cup which is the plethora of football themed hits that it generated in the UK Top 40. There’s two on this show but there’ll be a further three on the following week’s as well. Of course, football related songs were nothing new. Going right back to 1970 and the England World Cup Squad’s No 1 “Back Home”, there have always been attempts to merge the two worlds of football and music, some successful, some dreadful. 1972 saw my beloved Chelsea riding high in the charts with “Blue Is The Colour” whilst the 80s saw teams competing in the FA Cup final regularly releasing singles to mark the occasion. Who can forget the cringeworthy “Ossie’s Dream” from 1981 and that line from Spurs legend Ossie Ardilles “In the cup for Tottingham”? Into the 90s, we had the unspeakably awful “Come On You Reds” by Manchester United which topped the charts but at other end of the scale, we also had the sublime “World In Motion” by New Order. Then, of course, came Euro ‘96 and terrace anthem “Three Lions” – we would never see the end of that particular hit. So what are the class of ‘98 football songs like? Let’s find out with our host Jo Whiley (who is a Spurs fan – boo!)…The football songs are coming (I promise/warn you) but we start with two established Top 10 hits that have already been on the show previously beginning with “Horny ‘98” by Mousse T featuring Hot ‘N’ Juicy.

Despite just being on the previous week, I’d saved a couple of tidbits to wheel out for future appearances starting with the fact that it was included on “Chef Aid: The South Park” album. Around the end of 1998, the animated sitcom South Park became a TV ratings sensation and made household names of its four protagonists Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. Known for its profane, dark and satiric humour, it soon gained a reputation for being outrageous beyond the normal standards of broadcasting decency. It was also fabulously funny and to this day continues to push the boundaries by being a constant thorn in the side of man-baby Donald Trump. The Our Price chain for whom I worked stocked all the show’s merchandise and, of course, the album and hit single “Chocolate Salty Balls” by Chef which would appear at Christmas. We could never play the album in store because of the Parental Advisory sticker but, having found the version on the album with the conversation between show creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker and the character of Sid Greenfield (America’s Most Wanted director) bracketing it, that version is much more palatable.

However, that’s nothing compared to this almighty mashup that appeared in 2006 that blended the track with “Bohemian Like You” by The Dandy Warhols. I’d never been aware of this until now but this is truly epic…

The second song we’ve seen before comes from Lutricia McNeal who is marooned outside of the Top 5 but still in the Top 10 at No 7 this week with “Stranded”. There really isn’t that much to say about this one and indeed, Lutricia doesn’t have the biggest online presence with even her Wikipedia page’s last update on her whereabouts being as long ago as 2011. As such, I’m forced to bang on again about how unusual her first name is. According to the mynamestats.com website, only 785 people in the whole of America are called Lutricia making the name the 10,377th most popular. That means there are 0.25 people per every 100,000 Americans called Lutricia. Even the name Lucretia with all its connotations is more popular. There is a singer called Lucretia – Lucretia Death whose LinkedIn bio refers to ‘vampiric longing’, ‘eternal darkness’ and ‘unholy ascension’! Gulp! Don’t fancy being stranded with her!

Still no football songs! Perhaps I should have realised that there was another trend going on in the charts which was the amount of female artists having hits at this time. Following Lutricia McNeal here’s Shania Twain (and there are two more solo artists and an all girl group at No 1 to come). In my head, Shania’s run of hits started with “You’re Still The One”, continued with “That Don’t Impress Me Much” and culminated in “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!”. It turns out that these are just the ones I know and not a reliable account of her discography as there are other hits in that run and loads after it as well. Should I be embarrassed by my lack of Shania knowledge? I’ll live with it thanks. Anyway, one of those hits that I missed out was “When” which having heard it, does sound faintly familiar, presumably because of its catchy hooks. The lyrics however…I mean. Really? Look at these…

“I’d love to wake up smiling, full of the joys of Spring

And hear on CNN that Elvis lives again

And that John’s back with The Beatles and they’re going out on tour

I’ll be the first in line for tickets

Gotta see that show for sure

Songwriters: Robert John Lange, Shania Twain
When lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

Is it me or do they seem a little bit…unsophisticated? Is that the right word? Clunky maybe? Ham-fisted? I don’t want to come across as a pseud or condescending but I think I prefer a bit more mystery in my lyrics. Maybe I’m missing the point of Shania though which, according to Jo Whiley, is that she’s gorgeous describing her as “drool-inducing” and instructing us to wipes our mouths after her performance. Really Jo?!

It’s another female solo artist now with her second hit single but that term is a complete antonym for the product she released. Nothing to do with the title of her song which was called “Gimme Love” but rather the amount of versions and mixes that were made of it. I’m talking about Alexia whose debut hit “Uh La La La” had made the Top 10 in March which itself had been the subject of multiple remixes that were commissioned by her record company Sony in an attempt to launch their artist in Europe. “Gimme Love” took it to another level with 20 different versions listed on its Wikipedia page. Single? They should have promoted it as a ‘multiple’. Now apparently “Gimme Love” is an example of Europop whereas “Uh La La La” was classified as Eurodance and the shift of genre disappointed her fan base. I can’t say I’m expert enough to be able to pinpoint the differences but what I can say is that “Gimme Love” is repetitive in the extreme which also renders it rather insubstantial – in my humble opinion of course. The initial pressings of the single contained a listing error showing the title as “Gimmi Love” which is rather appropriate as the word ‘Alexia’ can refer to an acquired reading disorder characterised by the inability to read.

We’ve finally got to a football song but this one was not a typical example of the genre. “Don’t Come Home Too Soon” was the official World Cup song of the Scotland squad and was recorded by Del Amitri providing the band with what would be their final Top 20 hit. Eschewing the traditional notion of the singalong football song, this was a slow ballad and, in truth, a rather mournful one and I say that as someone who is quite partial to a bit of Del Amitri. If it’s sound was mournful then its lyrics were positively pessimistic (if it’s possible to be such a thing) referring to the team as “long shots” and saying that the rest of the word “may not be shaking yet” and limiting Scotland’s chances to not being on “that stupid plane” and not coming home too soon. Not winning the damn thing, just staying a bit longer than usual. In fairness, that probably was the limit of their ambitions given that they’d never (and still haven’t) got past the group stage of any major tournament. Even so, the song didn’t go down that well with some of the Tartan Army. I’m sure I read something about lead singer Justin Currie saying he’d been abused in the street for writing such a negative song. As for Jo Whiley’s hope in her intro that Scotland would stuff Norway and Morocco, they drew 1-1 to the former and got hammered 0-3 by the latter leaving them bottom of Group A and on that ‘stupid plane’ home that Del Amitri feared.

Heck, we really were in the era of ‘lad culture’ back in the late 90s weren’t we? In her intro to yet another female artist on tonight’s show, Jo Whiley says “a woman who’ll always get her tassels out for the lads, this is Mariah Carey”. Or does she say “tonsils” not tassels? The subtitles say ‘tassels’. Either way, you were better than this Jo surely?! Or was she perhaps using irony to undermine the “get your t**s out for the lads” line? Nah, I think she was going along with the predominant narrative.

Anyway, Mariah is here with her new single “My All” which was taken from her “Butterfly” album the lead single from which (“Honey”) had combined hip-hop and R&B and gone Top 3. Its follow up – the album’s title track – was a pop gospel ballad which had only managed a high of No 22. As a result, Mariah edged her bets with her next release as “My All” is both a ballad and an R&B dance track. The first 2:20 of the track is in a slow paced, whispered vocals style reminiscent of Toni Braxton but with Latin guitars before the bpm winds up (the subtitles literally say ‘Beat kicks in, audience cheers’) and Mariah gets almost hysterical proclaiming she’d risk her life to feel someone’s body. Blimey! The blending of styles worked and gave Ms Carey a No 4 hit here and yet another Stateside chart topper. As with Alexia before her, there were loads of different mixes of the track to accommodate every radio station sub genre and she also recorded a Spanish version but the first line of that version was mistranslated and was grammatically incorrect. As a blogger, I can confirm that these things matter you know.

And so we get to the second football song of the night and like Del Amitri’s, it’s also the official World Cup song for a competing nation but this time England. After the terrace anthem and official song that was “Three Lions” just two years prior for Euro ‘96, the English FA wanted to go in a different direction for the ‘98 World Cup. The result was “(How Does It Feel) To Be On Top Of The World” by England United who were Echo and the Bunnymen, Ocean Colour Scene, Space and, rather inexplicably, the Spice Girls. The song was written by Ian McCulloch and Johnny Marr though the latter wasn’t officially part of England United. The reaction to it was overwhelmingly negative. ‘You can’t sing it on the terraces’ seemed to be the main complaint about it but I think, in truth, its major failing was that it wasn’t “Three Lions”, a song so durable, it still to this day gets trotted out for every international tournament. Indeed, the first reworking of it would will be along in the next repeat and would easily outsell “(How Does It Feel) To Be On Top Of The World” reaching No 1 again. According to Wikipedia, when the latter was played at Wembley in a pre-World Cup friendly, the crowd that day booed it.

Going against national taste once more, I quite liked the England United effort. Sure, it wasn’t much of a football song but it was a decent track. It’s nicely constructed and has an uplifting, soar away chorus. I wonder actually, if it was ultimately rejected as a potential Echo and the Bunnymen release for being too pop? As for the other artists on the record, I’m not entirely sure what linked them altogether. OK, you could draw a very basic line between The Bunnymen, Space and Ocean Colour Scene as being rock/pop groups whose paths might have crossed at some point or another? The first two were both Liverpool bands of course so there might be a potential association there but the Spice Girls? Mel C was another scouser so was there a link there? Talking of the Spice Girls, as with the “Viva Forever” performance the other week, this TOTP appearance was also clearly recorded some time previous to its broadcast date as the recently departed Geri Halliwell features and executive producer Chris Cowey must have thought himself doubly lucky to have another bit of film with Ginger Spice there in the ranks still. She doesn’t look too unhappy with her lot in life, bouncing around deliriously alongside Mel C and Emma Bunton. If anything you might have thought Victoria and Mel B were the ones potentially uncommitted to the cause, separated from the other three on the other side of Ian McCulloch and Simon Fowler of Ocean Colour Scene and turning in a much more reserved performance. So there you have it. England United. The forgotten English football song. I don’t see it being revived any time soon.

B*Witched remain at No 1 with “C’est La Vie”. Watching this performance back, it’s clear that they were being promoted as purveyors of bouncy, good time, care free pop music. The catchy tune, the hyper-energetic dance routine…and yet behind the image, as all too often happens, there was sadness, despair and dark times. The ridiculously long days the group would work and their relentless schedule was sometimes too much. So much that in the case of Keavy Lynch, it would cause a major mental health issue. Keavy is an interesting figure in pop being an identical twin whose sister was chosen as the focal point of an internationally successful group over her. That must mess with your head! Are there any other cases of this? The Proclaimers are identical twins but they very much come as a pair and are seen as a unit. I love The Proclaimers and I’m not sure I know which one is which! Bros? Again, I’m not sure that the screams and adulation were reserved just for singer Matt Goss. As the vocalist, I guess he commanded more profile than his drummer brother Luke but they had a ready made stooge in bassist Craig ‘Ken’ Logan. Maybe the other B*Witched members Lindsay Armaou and Sinead O’Carroll felt aggrieved as well as Keavy but they didn’t have the mind f**k that the chosen lead singer looked exactly like them. Having to sing a song called “C’est La Vie” just twisted the knife a little deeper.

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1Mousse T featuring Hot ‘N’ JuicyHorny ’98No
2Lutricia McNealStrandedNah
3Shania TwainWhenAbsolutely not
4Alexia Gimme LoveNope
5Del AmitriDon’t Come Home To SoonNo but I had it on a Best Of album of theirs
6Mariah CareyMy AllBig NO
7England United(How Does It Feel) To Be On Top Of The WorldIt’s another no
8B*WitchedC’Est La VieAnd no

Disclaimer

I make no claim to the rights of this show and all ownership and contents including logos and graphics belongs totally to the BBC or copyright holder(s).

All opinions on the music and artists featured are my own. Sorry if you don’t agree.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002jmlm/top-of-the-pops-12061998?seriesId=unsliced

TOTP 29 MAY 1998

Posted on by 80stastic

It’s the end of May and, in international terms, there a lot going on. Civil unrest and riots in Indonesia, nuclear weapon testing being conducted by India and in America, there’s a tornadoes outbreak hitting places such as South Dakota and New York. However, in the UK, there were only two stories making the headlines and they pretty much broke at the same time sending the tabloids into a frenzy – Geri Halliwell announced that she was leaving the Spice Girls and national team manager Glenn Hoddle left Paul Gascoigne out of the England World Cup squad. All leave must have been cancelled within the offices of the nation’s newspapers as they scrambled to get the lowdown and inside story on these two huge events. And they were huge events despite my attempt to add some perspective to proceedings at the top of the post. The Spice Girls were a global phenomenon so losing perhaps their most prominent member was massive. Rumours had been circulating after Halliwell failed to appear with her band mates on an appearance on the National Lottery Show on the Wednesday before this TOTP was broadcast and then, four days later, a short statement was read out by her solicitor outside the offices of the group’s representatives Lee & Thompson in central London confirming that Geri had left the Spice Girls because of “differences between us” and with a cryptic P.S. added saying she’d “be back” which she was almost a year later with her debut solo single “Look At Me”. The remaining Spice Girls vowed to carry on which they did and, on the surface, with their success unaffected as their next three singles topped the charts. However, it was a fragile holding position and come the end of the decade, the group seems to be splintering with solo careers pursued and a hiatus called in December 2000…

Then there was Gazza. Despite coming towards the end of his career, he was still seen as the national team’s talisman and few would have seen his omission coming. The preliminary squad comprised 30 players of which eight needed to be discarded but when two declared themselves unfit and reduced the number to six, Gazza not making the cut seemed even more unlikely. Manager Hoddle wanted to go a different way though and two days after this TOTP aired, Gazza was given the bad news. It didn’t go down well and Gascoigne reportedly started to destroy Hoddle’s office with lamps broken and tables smashed. Was Glenn right all along though? It had been eight years since Italia ‘90 and Gaza’s tears and two years since his Indian Summer at Euro ‘96 and that goal versus Scotland. He was now plying his trade with Middlesbrough in the old first division and although they had won promotion to the Premier League, Gazza had made just seven appearances for them by this point. Internationally, England’s bright new hope was 18 year old Michael Owen and at 31, Gazza had to prove to his manager he was fit. In the end he didn’t and never played for England again. I bet he would have scored that penalty in the shootout against Argentina that David Batty missed though.

Inspiring Gazza-level of fury in me is Chris Cowey and his insistence on featuring the same songs on TOTP week after week. In this show, only three of the eight songs on view have not been on before. This is getting tedious. Our host is Zoe Ball who seems to have some insider knowledge on the whole Geri Halliwell story and is auditioning to be her replacement in her Union Jack design top. We start with The Corrs who have gone back up the charts with “Dreams” from No 10 to No 8 having fallen from its debut at No 6 which is more than enough justification for Cowey to have them on the running order again. To be fair, three consecutive weeks inside the Top 10 does rather indicate a strong, consistent seller so maybe Cowey gets away with this one. Despite being the focal point, Andrea Corr is actually the youngest of the group. I guess it’s a bit like The Osmonds where Donny was the poster boy. What? What about Little Jimmy Osmond? Oh…just forget I wrote that last bit!

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: In 1999, Andrea Corr dated Robbie Williams briefly whilst in 2000, Geri Halliwell was in a romantic relationship with him which goes to show celebrities inhabit just as small a world as the rest of us.

Less justifiable for a place on the show for a second consecutive week is the rise of one place from No 13 to No 12 for “Kung Fu Fighting” by Bus Stop featuring Carl Douglas. Really? A rise of a solitary position but that still doesn’t crack the Top 10? My perception is that this wouldn’t have happened back in the day though no doubt there would be examples to disprove my theory if I could be bothered to trawl back through the archives (which I can’t). Watching this back, the little bow all those on stage do before the performance starts – it’s actually called Bao Quan Li with an open left palm against a clenched right fist – reminds me of when I saw Morrissey at the Hull Ice Arena a few years back when, as I recall, Moz and his band came on in kimonos and bowed at each other before starting. Bao Quan Lah signifies respect, humility and gratitude so that would make sense as a way to instil a team ethic before kicking off a show. It’s also very theatrical so perfect for Morrissey. Apparently, when Geri Halliwell was in a relationship with Russel Brand back in 2013, the comedian’s cat was called Morrissey and the animal took an instant dislike to Geri’s dog and began attacking it when they first met. Miaow!

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: There’s no connection between Geri and Kung-Fu that I can find. Now if it had been Mel C and Kung-Fu…all those high kicks she used to do would have gone down a treat in this performance. As for Gazza, he once commandeered a bus (not sure if it was stationary at a stop) when he was stuck in a taxi in traffic and then rode it to a media awards ceremony he wasn’t invited to whilst conducting a sing sing with the passengers which sounds typical of Gazza.

Beverley Knight is one of those artists who seems to have been around for ages and whom you know something about (British R&B trailblazer with huge voice) and yet, how many of her songs could you actually name? I don’t think I could come up with one and certainly not this one – “Made It Back”. This was actually her second Top 40 hit and featured US rapper Redman though heaven only knows what his contribution to the track is as there previous little evidence of him in this performance. Maybe he was more heavily involved in a remix or extra track on the CD single? As for the song, it’s all a bit repetitive and seems more like a vocal exercise to demonstrate the power of Beverley’s voice than a song. Just my opinion of course. “Made It Back” was rereleased a year later as “Made It Back ‘99” where it peaked at No 19, two places higher than the original.

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: Beverley is a huge Wolverhampton Wanderers fan and in 2003, Paul Gascoigne trained with Wolves in an attempt to regain enough fitness to be able to resume his top flight football career. After three games for their reserve team, no contract was forthcoming and Gazza had to accept the inevitable.

There have been loads of female singers who go by a single name. Cher, Adele, Madonna, Shakira, Enya, Beyoncé…How long though would it take before you got to Robyn in that list? If I hadn’t been doing this blog, I’m not sure I would have ever come up with her name to be honest. I don’t remember any of her three 90s hits and by the time of her 2007 No 1 “With Every Heartbeat”, I’d long since stopped following the charts. For what it’s worth, my take on this one – “Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect)” – has an almost nursery rhyme style chorus that is actually quite grating which I can’t really get past. In fact, it’s like a primary school playground taunt or something Horrible Henry might have said to his nemesis Moody Margaret – “ner ner ne ner nerr!”. It’s not for me. However, having read up on Robyn, there seems to be much more to her than my churlish comments would suggest and she has become quite the influence on modern day artists such as Charli XCX, Lorde and Ariana Grande as well as being the inspiration for the term ‘sad banger’ (which is an actual thing apparently) after the release of her song “Dancing On My Own”.

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: None, not even one I can tenuously manufacture.

What the…? What is this?! Who were N.Y.C.C. and why were they in the charts with an horrific Beastie Boys cover?! Well, they were a German hip hop act who blatantly sought to cash in on the success of 1998’s uber chart topper “It’s Like That” by pinching its backbeat and laying it over “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)” which introduced us to the Beastie Boys back in 1987. Renaming it “Fight For Your Right (To Party)”, these berks somehow managed to take it to No 14 in the UK chart. Now potentially I suppose, there may have been punters who bought it who were too young to remember the original and so got off on its lyrics about teenage revolt (even though they were an ironic attack on such values) but even so. How could anyone have fallen for this horse shit?! It’s no shock, given that the sound of their hit has ripped off “It’s Like That”, that the staging of this performance lends from the Run-D.M.C. promo video with the two break dancers twirling about on a black and white surface the design of which makes it all look like the worst game ever of Twister but in monochrome.

Thankfully, this whole dirty episode seems to have been removed from our collective memory banks. I certainly didn’t remember N.Y.C.C. and they don’t have much of an online presence. If you google NYCC the top result is North Yorkshire County Council followed by New York Comic Con which is apt as N.Y.C.C. the group were absurdly comical. As for the real thing, the Beastie Boys would be back in our charts within a couple of weeks for the first time in four years with their biggest ever hit “Intergalactic” which made No 5.

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: Well, there is this…

Ah damn! It’s The Mavericks again and, once more, it’s just a repeat of the same performance as every time so far. What else is there to say about “Dance The Night Away”? Well, it’s up to No 4 which would be its highest chart position after five weeks inside the Top 10 and it would spend a further three there before a slow descent of the Top 40 that would take just over two months before they exited for good. A quick search online for content inspiration sadly shows that lead singer Raul Malo is currently undergoing hernia surgery to address complications from previous cancer surgery treatment and, as such, the band are having to withdraw from touring commitments. Let’s hope all goes well for Raul in his recovery.

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: There’s an obvious one and a tenuous one (of course there is!). Firstly, Gazza? Maverick? Come on – he was the very definition of a footballing maverick bringing back memories of those great 70s free spirits like Rodney Marsh, Stan Bowles, Tony Currie and Alan Hudson. The tenuous connection involves Raul Malo whose name is very nearly identical to someone who loomed large in one of the weirdest chapters in Gazza’s personal story…

You really don’t get many people called Lutricia do you? Apart from Lutricia McNeal who is back on the show with her single “Stranded”, I can only find one other ‘celebrity’ with that first name who is one Lutricia Norris who is an actor and producer who has been in the ITV show Bad Girls and The Importance Of Being Earnest alongside Rupert Everett and Colin Firth. She’s also worked on the music video for “Dancing Is Healing” by Rudimental apparently. As insignificant the above information is in relation to this blog, it’s still more interesting and relevant than “Stranded”.

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: This one’s a hoot. In 2008, Geri Halliwell was stuck in a lift at the Lakeside shopping centre in Essex delaying her book signing appearance by an hour while firefighters worked to free her. Yes, she was literally stranded.

It’s taken six weeks but “Feel It” by The Tamperer featuring Maya has made it to No 1. Now admittedly it’s not the epic four months journey to the top that Celine Dion experienced with “Think Twice” in 1994/95 nor the nine weeks that it took All Saints to scale the heights with “Never Ever” but it was still not the norm in 1998. It sort of feels like it got there by default though what with no big, week one releases gatecrashing the charts (there were no new entries into the Top 10) and with last week’s No 1 by All Saints having already been at the top twice in non consecutive weeks. Unfair? Possibly but it only just made the Top 20 of the year’s biggest sellers. They would have two further big hits over the next six months so let’s not worry about them too much.

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: “Feel It”, of course, borrowed heavily from “ Can You Feel It” by The Jackson 5 and there was a bloke in Lindisfarne with whom Gazza had a hit with his version of “Fog On The Tyne” called Ray Jackson. Too tenuous? OK, how about this? There was an American comedy series on Hulu called Pen15 which featured its two main characters dressing up as the Spice Girls in one episode and one of the characters was called Maya. No, you’re right. I’m not feeling it either.

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it ?
1The CorrsDreamsN
2Bus Stop featuring Carl DouglasKung Fu FightingNot likely
3Beverley KnightMade It BackNot for me
4RobynDo You Really Want Me (Show Respect)Nope
5N.Y.C.C.Fight For Your Right (To Party)Lord no!
6The MavericksDance The Night AwayNegative
7Lutricia McNealStrandedNah
8The Tamperer featuring MayaFeel ItI didn’t

Disclaimer

I make no claim to the rights of this show and all ownership and contents including logos and graphics belongs totally to the BBC or copyright holder(s).

All opinions on the music and artists featured are my own. Sorry if you don’t agree.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002j9qn/top-of-the-pops-29051998?seriesId=unsliced

TOTP 22 MAY 1998

Posted on by 80stastic

It might just be because I’m getting fed up of having to write something different about the same songs that keep appearing in these TOTP repeats every week but I’m starting to really dislike the Chris Cowey era of the show. Take this episode for example. It features nine songs of which only three haven’t been on before and this new practice of having the host list the names of the artists appearing on each show in their introduction isn’t convincing me. Was the landslide of names meant to distract the watching TV audience hoping they wouldn’t notice it was the same acts each week? It’s clever in a way – dazzling us with a cavalcade of names but which were blatantly the same ones each week. Talk about hiding in plain sight. Tonight’s list-reader (literally – the placard is shown on camera at one point) is the increasingly prevalent Jamie Theakston and we start with The Mavericks and their hit “Dance The Night Away”. Judging by the cutaway shots, this seems to be a reshowing of their previous performance on the show which got me thinking about just how many artists were actually in the studio with an audience on a weekly basis under Cowey? Was the show under budgetary restrictions meaning performances had to be recycled whatever their respective chart positions may be? Anyway, I think The Mavericks had a genuine case for being back on the show having risen to No 8after falling to No 10 the week before. It would rise to a peak of No 4 when the next chart was published and you know what that means…yes, they’ll be featuring in the next repeat as well. Here’s a thing though, whilst “Dance The Night Away” is undoubtedly their best known song over here, in America it seems it might be one of their least known if chart positions have any sway. Of their 15 entries on the US Country chart, only two have placed lower than “Dance The Night Away”. What does this mean? Does it, in fact, mean anything? I think I’m past caring.

OK so this next performance isn’t just a rerun of a previous one. You can tell by the camera shot that travels from Jamie Theakston positioned high up on a gantry down to the studio floor where we find Steps. Again. I think this is the third time they’ve been on performing “Last Thing On My Mind” but, as with The Mavericks before them, have a legitimate spot on the show having risen from No 9 to No 7 in the charts after falling two weeks prior. You can tell also that it’s a new performance as the group have changed their outfits to be dressed in all white. Was this to project an image of virtue and wholesomeness? To be fair, I can’t recall many Steps controversies in the press. Have there been any?

*checks internet*

Hmm. Well, there was the time Lee Latchford-Evans made some comments in an interview in 2000 that were perceived as racist that required an apology from the group’s representatives. Then there’s the upset caused by the announcement of their split on Boxing Day 2001 that some of their fan base felt was a betrayal. However, my favourite controversy is the disclosure by Lisa Scott-Lee that on the group’s 1999 US tour, Ian ‘H’ Watkins upset the other members by travelling for three months on the private jet of one Britney Spears whilst the rest of them slummed it on a tour bus. Ha!

It’s the third hit on tonight’s show in a row that we have already seen now as Imaani gets to enjoy the last few seconds of her 15 minutes of fame. She was, of course, the UK’s 1998 Eurovision entry but with the contest having been and gone nearly two weeks ago, interest in her and her song “Where Are You?” was starting to wane. That being said, she had moved up 17 places in this week’s chart which was the biggest leap of the year to that point but her position of No 15 would be where her trajectory stopped. Had she won instead of losing by a mere six points would things have turned out differently for Imaani? I’m not so sure. I just don’t think her song was that memorable. Gina G didn’t come anywhere near to winning two years before yet “Ooh Aah…Just A Little Bit” was a huge seller going all way to No 1 precisely because it was memorable whether you liked it or not. Instead, Imaani became the first UK Eurovision artist not to make the Top 10 since Frances Rufelle in 1994.

A new song! Finally! Yeah, but it’s that remake of “Kung Fu Fighting” so careful what you wish for…Officially credited to Bus Stop featuring Carl Douglas as it featured samples of the latter’s original No 1 from 1974, this was another example of that heinous trend for taking songs from the past and ‘updating’ them with the addition of a nasty Eurodance backbeat and a rap, the lyrics of which, read as if they were literally being made up freeform, on the hoof (see also Clock). Daz Sampson was the main guy behind Bus Stop who would go on to represent the UK at Eurovision in 2006 coming 19th out of 24 acts.

The original 1974 hit capitalised on the popularity of the martial arts films of Bruce Lee in the early to mid 70s and the TV series Kung Fu starring David Carradine and included prominently the ‘Oriental Riff’*, a Western trope to represent the setting of East or Southeast Asia. It’s also used in Aneka’s “Japanese Boy” and “Turning Japanese” by The Vapors. Is it in Iggy Pop’s “China Girl” as covered by David Bowie as well? Not sure.

*I believe the use of the word ‘oriental’ is not considered racist as long as it isn’t referring to a person.

It’s sometimes concluded by the sound of a gong. Off the top of my head, I can think of two songs that utilise that – “Big In Japan” by Alphaville and “Burning Sky” by The Jam but there must be more. Anyway, back to “Kung Fu Fighting” and it has twice been voted the No 1 One Hit Wonder in Channel 4 polls even though Carl Douglas had two other minor hits and despite the fact that the 1998 remake made it a hit all over again when it reached No 8. As for Bus Stop, they forged themselves a small pop career with two further remakes of songs that were hits way back when from Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Van Halen before doing us all a favour and knocking it on the head. I did quite enjoy the high kicking by the backing singer in this performance though, plus I noticed her doing that arm roll move that the Steps routine was based around. Was that a thing back then? Bizarrely, this was the second Kung Fu themed hit in this month after 187 Lockdown’s No 9 hit “Kung Fu”. However, my favourite song featuring “Kung Fu” in the title would be this…

It’s taken a while but Lutricia McNeal has finally released her follow up to “Ain’t That Just The Way” that debuted on the chart back in November 1997. I’m guessing that the reason for the delay was the chart longevity of that single which stayed inside the Top 40 for nigh on four months. Her management had to wait for the sales to subside so as not to affect those of any follow up. “Stranded” was said follow up and it was more of the same, radio friendly R&B/pop hybrid that was beloved of daytime radio controllers. I mean, it’s pleasant enough chugging away on a radio in the background but it was never going to grab my ears and make me want to turn the volume up LOUD! What’s more interesting to me than her song is the lighting on this performance. It seems to be in black and white except for some pools of spotlight of a blue-ish/purple hue. Was that Cowey trying to be all arty? Or is my TV on the blink?

It’s a third time on the show for The Tamperer featuring Maya with “Feel It” which, like the Bus Stop hit before it, was heavily based around a hit from a previous era – “Can You Feel It” by The Jacksons. Didn’t anyone have any original ideas in 1998? OK, that’s not really a fair comment. The notion of combining The Jacksons with a little known track by a little known outfit in Urban Discharge and creating one of the most unlikely but memorable hooks of the decade with the line “What’s she gonna look like with a chimney on her?” was creative inspiration in action. After two more hits though, Maya went missing in action and left the project. Well, she wasn’t exactly missing in action. She actually went to join the cast of Rent on Broadway and when her contract with her record label was up, it wasn’t renewed. Mystery solved. Maya Days would continue her acting career with roles in Jesus Christ Superstar and Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida. As far as I can tell, she has yet to play a character that involved wearing a chimney.

Now I thought my knowledge of Shed Seven hits was pretty good – not infallible but not bad at all. However, I find myself undone by this one – “The Heroes”. Nothing to do with Bowie’s classic track – the addition of a definite article in the title makes that clear and in any case, if they were tempted to do a cover version then Oasis had already beaten them to it – this was actually the third single taken from their third studio album “Let It Ride”. In my defence, it lasted only two weeks on the Top 40 suggesting that it was just the completists in their fan base buying it. It doesn’t sound strong enough to be a single to me – much more of an album track. It’s… well… a bit downbeat and glum. Maybe they should have released a cover of “Heroes” after all.

Eh? All Saints have gone back to No 1 after being deposed by Aqua last week? Looking at the rest of the Top 10, I’m thinking it wasn’t the biggest week for new releases with the highest being Lutricia McNeal at No 5 which might have accounted for this. To mark the occasion, we get both songs of their double A-Side single “Under The Bridge / Lady Marmalade”. Who did All Saints think they were? Oasis? The Jam? It’s just the previous appearances on the show spliced together though rather than a new exclusive performance.

In a couple of weeks, another all girl group will be at No 1 and it’s not the Spice Girls. Que Será Será or should that be C’est La Vie?

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1The MavericksDance The Night AwayI did not
2StepsLast Thing On My MindNever happening
3ImaaniWhere Are You?Negative
4Bus Stop featuring Carl DouglasKung Fu FightingNope
5Lutricia McNealStrandedNot for me thanks
6The Tamperer featuring MayFeel ItNah
7Shed SevenThe HeroesNo
8All SaintsUnder The Bridge / Lady MarmaladeNo but my wife had the album I think

Disclaimer

I make no claim to the rights of this show and all ownership and contents including logos and graphics belongs totally to the BBC or copyright holder(s).

All opinions on the music and artists featured are my own. Sorry if you don’t agree.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002j0xt/top-of-the-pops-22051998?seriesId=unsliced

TOTP 20 FEB 1998

Posted on by 80stastic

There seems to have been a clear decision by Executive Producer Chris Cowey to big up the recent BRIT Awards for this show, presumably to promote a connection between TOTP and what was then a huge brand. Indeed, the BRITS was enjoying a massive media presence in the mid to late 90s with controversy after controversy occurring. 1996 saw the Jarvis Cocker/Michael Jackson incident whilst 1997 gave us Geri Halliwell’s iconic Union Jack dress and her wardrobe malfunction. 1998 delivered another huge moment when Chumbawamba’s Danbert Nobacon poured a jug of water over Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott who was in the audience. Cowey didn’t seem to what to distance himself from such behaviour though and so the first three acts on tonight’s show are all BRIT winners. Our host is Jo Whiley and we start with the person named the best British Female Solo Artist gong Shola Ama. In all honesty and with the greatest respect to those nominated, it wasn’t packed with stellar names that year (I’m possibly doing Lisa Stansfield a disservice here) but you can only beat who’s in front of you as the saying goes. I never really understood all the fuss about Shola who undoubtedly could sing pretty well but was that enough? The fact that her most famous hit was a cover version which was pretty faithful to the original also undermined her credibility for me. Still, here she was with the title track of her debut album which was her fourth hit on the trot. “Much Love” was a competent R&B/soul number but I would have thought that you might need somebody who had a little more to them than that to be declared ‘The Best’. Sorry Shola. Much love and all that.

Our next BRIT winner are Stereophonics who collected the award for Best British Breakthrough Act beating the likes of All Saints (themselves two times winners on the night) and my personal faves Embrace. The award was presented by Jo Whiley (and actor Max Beesley) so there’s a nice sense of continuity with her introducing them on this TOTP. After three Top 40 hits in 1997, a rerelease of their debut single to cash in on their BRIT award success was always likely and so “Local Boy In The Photograph” would become the band’s then highest charting song when it peaked at No 14 having initially stalled at No 51. A fan favourite to this day, you can hear why as this is a mighty tune. Perfectly showcasing Kelly Jones’s knack for creating vignettes of small town life – this one with a tragic twist chronicling the suicide of a teenager from his youth – it’s powerful guitar sound supplies a driving intensity that is the perfect complement to its lyrics. Jones’s capacity for storytelling shouldn’t have been a surprise as he had pursued a parallel career as a scriptwriter, even sending off some of his creations to the BBC who recognised his potential by paying him enough to purchase his first computer. However, music was always Jones’s first love and when the band were signed there was no turning back. Word had got around about the Stereophonics.

Oh this is just silly now and clearly a case of opportunism. Having won BRIT Awards for British Single and British Video of the year for “Never Ever”, Chris Cowey couldn’t resist sneaking in one final appearance of All Saints performing the ubiquitous track to further that link between TOTP and the BRITS. What number was this now? Nine? I’ve lost count and have certainly lost my words to say anything more about this one other than it’s so shoehorned into the running order here that it doesn’t get an intro from Whiley (and just the briefest of mentions in the outro) and it’s just a re-showing of one of those other eight or so previous performances. What a swizz!

That’s the BRITS winners done with and so we move onto another new(ish) guitar band that appeared in the post-Britpop era. Hurricane #1 had their origins in shoegaze outfit Ride whose Andy Bell (yes, that Andy Bell, the latterly Oasis bass player) was the driving force behind them. Similar to Stereophonics, they’d also had a trio of minor hits the previous year but would begin 1998 with their biggest hit to date. “Only The Strongest Will Survive” was the title track of their second album and is a nifty little tune that puts me in mind of another lost 90s band The Lemon Trees. It’s actually a softer sound than I remembered them as having – maybe their band name was playing tricks with my mind. As I recall, they were tipped for great things but it never quite happened for them (despite being signed to Creation) after said second album failed to sell in any meaningful way and the band split up. They did reform in 2014 without Bell and have been prolific in releasing new material with four albums made in just eight years. As for Bell, after being in Oasis for ten years he followed Liam Gallagher into Beady Eye before concentrating on a solo career and doing soundtrack work. Then came that announcement on 24 August 2024…

There seemed to be something going on with TOTP and male guitar bands this week. After Stereophonics and Hurricane # 1 earlier, here comes another one and it doesn’t stop with The Lilys either but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Yes, you read that right – The Lilys and no, I don’t remember them either. Despite having been around since 1988 and having a list of past band members to rival The Fall and The Waterboys, this No 16 hit “A Nanny In Manhattan” seems to be their only 15 minutes of fame in nigh on 40 years.

Within the show’s predilection for guitar bands this week, there appears to be a sub genre which is ‘guitar bands who had a song used in an advert’. What am I talking about? Well, Hurricane # 1 had “Only The Strongest Will Survive” used in an ad campaign for The Sun newspaper and The Lilys were the 1998 recipients of the Levi’s Jeans advert golden chalice although it proved to be more of the poisoned variety. The Washington DC band must have thought that the good times had arrived when their song was chosen to soundtrack the latest Levi’s advert directed by Roman Coppola but they couldn’t replicate the success of the likes of Stiltskin, Babylon Zoo and Freak Power*.

*Did you notice Jo Whiley pull a face when she name checked those bands in her intro? This from the woman who would present a show on the musical significance of The Teletubbies if it kept her on TV!

Listening to “A Nanny In Manhattan”, I’m not surprised. What a racket! I know I’m a very middle aged man now but even 27 years ago I would have hated this if I’d been aware of it. Their Wikipedia page says that they earned a reputation for copying the styles of other artists down the years but I’m not sure who they were trying to sound like here. A shite version of The Strokes three years before they were a thing? Frontman Kurt Heasley seems to think he’s in The Byrds whilst the bass player has cultivated the type of facial hair that was last seen on Mr. Claypole in Rentaghost. I think I’d rather watch Dobbin the pantomime horse curl one out on stage. Gadzooks!

French electronic music was a bit of a thing around this time. First we had Daft Punk and before the end of the decade Cassius arrived. In between them came Air. The duo of Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin delivered their ‘Best Albums of the 90s’ list featuring “Moon Safari” collection three weeks before they’d even released a single from it which was surely the wrong way round in terms of promotion. Or maybe it wasn’t as “Sexy Boy” gave them a No 13 hit straight off the bat and what a classy track it was. All slinky rhythms and vocoder vocals, it brought sensual dance music to the charts. The problem here though was how to promote it as Dunckel and Godin, by their own admissions, weren’t classic pin up material (see box out below) but, in a bold move, they resisted the temptation to get some male models in to be the titular “sexy boys” and just fronted it out themselves with a pair of keyboards and a band of slacker dudes behind them. Bravo chaps!

“Moon Safari” would be a huge hit in the UK going double platinum with 600,000 sales (one of which was to my wife) whilst Air would enjoy a career of success, critical acclaim and longevity. How though, did I manage to think they were singing “sexy body” for years?

It’s time for that final male guitar band on the show and is it just me or is Jo Whiley’s intro to them a bit odd? She refers to The Bluetones as “one of our brightest hopes for ‘98”. What’s wrong with that you might ask? Well, on the one hand…nothing. Having been one of the breakout stars of 1996 with platinum selling, No 1 album “Expecting To Fly”, much would have been anticipated of their sophomore album “Return To The Last Chance Saloon”. And yet…the phrase “brightest hopes for…” suggests a brand new artist doesn’t it? Not one that is pretty well established already no? Well, semantics aside, sadly for the band, Jo’s hopes were dashed and their album title proved to be prophetic as it underperformed significantly compared to its predecessor and although lead single “Solomon Bites The Worm” would debut at No 10, it would be the last of their four consecutive Top 10 hits and indeed last ever. Although on first hearing it advances at you all robust and angular with that twangy guitar rift, it seems to be all posturing and no substance to me. There’s not much to it although Wikipedia informs me it is based upon the English nursery rhyme “Solomon Grundy” which reads:

Solomon Grundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Worse on Friday, 
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy

James Orchard Halliwell, 1842

“Solomon Bites The Worm” apes those words and structure about the cradle to the grave concept but to be honest, there’s another song that does that much better…

The Bluetones would release two more singles from the album to diminishing returns but would return in 2000 with perhaps their best song “Keep The Home Fires Burning” and are still a touring entity to this day.

Right, what on earth was going on here. Why was a song that had been in the charts solidly for three months including seven weeks in the Top 20 only just appearing on TOTP when it had peaked and was going down the charts? Seriously, what happened here? Was this actually the first time that Lutricia McNeal had been on the show? Why was she not on in late November/early December ‘97 when “Ain’t That Just The Way” debuted inside the Top 10? Even if Lutricia wasn’t available in person (it was a hit all over Europe so she may have been on promotional duties) why wasn’t the video shown? Explain yourself Chris Cowey!*

*I’m not counting the fact that it was used to soundtrack the Top 20 countdown for a minute or so one week

Anyway, “Ain’t That Just The Way” was originally a 1975 B-side to Barbi Benton’s single “The Reverend Bob” (and featured in an episode of TV series McCloud!) but it was reactivated by Lutricia two decades later to launch her solo career after being the singer with Swedish rap duo Rob’n’Raz. It transcends both the dance and pop markets with its beats and singalong chorus which might explain its wide appeal and ability to hang around the charts for so long. Or maybe I’m just talking crap. Lutricia will be back in the charts again in a few weeks with another hit “Stranded” which, like its predecessor, would also hang around for months. Wonder if Chris Cowey will allow that one on the show?

We have arrived at one of the biggest selling hits of the decade – “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion which, of course, was from the film Titanic. What to say about this monster hit? Well, it was a No 1 in just about every country in every territory and sold 18 million copies worldwide. It’s racked up 728 million streams in the US. It won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, four Grammys…like the song itself, it goes on and on. However, the comment I’d most like to make about it is that it’s dreadful. Awful. Horrible. The only saving grace in all these facts about its commercial success is that it wasn’t actually the best selling single of 1998 in the UK. That was…well, we’ll come to that in a future post. That and the fact that somehow it was only No 1 over here for two non-consecutive weeks although it did spend nine weeks on the trot inside the Top 3. And that’s all I’m saying about it at this time. Unlike Celine’s heart, I won’t go on.

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1Shola AmaMuch LoveNegative
2StereophonicsLocal Boy In The PhotographNo but I had the album
3All SaintsNever EverNo
4Hurricane #1Only The Strongest Will SurviveNah
5The Lilys A Nanny In ManhattanHell no
6AirSexy BoyNo but my wife had the album
7The BluetonesSolomon Bites The WormI did not
8Lutricia McNealAin’t That Just The WayNope
9Celine DionMy Heart Will Go On Never

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002g805/top-of-the-pops-20021998?seriesId=unsliced