Two days before this TOTP aired, Manchester United completed an historic treble when they dramatically came from behind to beat Bayern Munich at the death and win the Champions League to add to their Premier League title and FA Cup. It’s one of those sporting moments which everyone can remember where they were when it happened. For me, I had spent the day at work in the Our Price store in Altrincham which is only six or seven miles from Old Trafford. As such there were plenty of United fans in Altrincham (I worked with a couple) that day. The plan was to stay out after work, settle down in a pub and watch the game that way. What our group hadn’t banked on was how busy the pubs would be on the evening. We went into one place where it looked like the guys in there had staked their claims for their seats hours before and just stared down anyone who came in thinking that they had a chance of securing a decent spot. We left quickly. In the end, we resorted to our old faithful the Bricklayers Arms where we would often go for a post work drink. Inevitably, it was packed and they only had a small TV screen at the far end of the pub so it wasn’t the best vantage point. However, it was too late to find anywhere else so we stayed and watched the action as best we could.

For much of the match it seemed that United had stage fright and were blowing their chance of achieving the treble. Then came that finale. As the clock on the screen clicked past the 90 minutes mark and the score still 0-1 to Bayern, I recall saying to a United supporting colleague that it was all over. Three minutes later it was but with United with their hands on the big-eared trophy. It was truly gripping stuff. After the game, I got the tram home to Manchester which was full of celebrating reds wondering if my beloved Chelsea would ever be able to win the Champions League. Thirteen years later I would have my answer as we also beat Bayern Munich in dramatic style giving cause to doubt 1999 final commentator Clive Tyldesley’s remark that “nobody will ever win a European Cup final more dramatically than this”.

It seems like I might be back to a themed post so let’s get to it. First of all though, I should mention that this episode was quite historic, not for the music featured in it but its location. Filmed in Archaos nightclub in Glasgow, this was the first time ever a show was recorded outside of a studio environment and the first in over 30 years to be filmed outside London. Why? Well, Glasgow was the location of the BBC Music Live 1999 festival featuring over 100 events including performances from Ray Charles, Idlewild, Travis, and The Delgados. As part of the promotion for it, a nice little tie-in with TOTP saw the show shifted to Glasgow for one week only. As such, executive producer Chris Cowey seems to have squeezed as many Scottish acts as possible into the running order alongside Edinburgh born presenter Gail Porter. As for a link to the events at the Camp Nou, Barcelona two days prior, well, Glasgow is home to Celtic, the first ever British winners of the European Cup.

We start though with a performance back in London from the UK Eurovision entry Precious and their tune “Say It Again”. This was always going to happen as the song contest was held the day after this TOTP was broadcast (blimey, it was all happening this week in 1999 wasn’t it?) so the BBC was bound to plug our entry*. So how did we do? Not great, not great at all actually. Twelfth position with just 38 points received and to think we had won the thing just two years before and came second in 1998. These days, that sort of result would probably be seen as standard but it must have been a bit of a shock back then though I can’t recall the actual reaction at the time. As for Precious, they limped on for a couple more minor hits but their only album completely bombed and they split in 2000. Perhaps their biggest claim to fame is that one of their number – Jenny Frost – would go in to great chart success when she replaced Kerry Katona in Atomic Kitten.

*In fairness, they had gone straight into the Top Ten at No 6 as well.

Manchester United Treble link: Well, Gail Porter does say in her intro that Precious were hoping to do a Manchester United and become Eurovision champs and then mentions Alex Ferguson in her outro so there’s that.

It’s the first performance from Glasgow next and when I said Chris Cowey had squeezed as many Scottish acts as possibly the running order, I didn’t think he would have gone this far. What am I talking about? Well, Texas were there to perform their next single “Summer Son” but it wasn’t out in the shops until the 16th August! That’s nearly three months on from this TOTP! I’m sure it was viewed as a legitimate promotional opportunity by those involved but it didn’t help those poor saps working in record shops (i.e. me) who would be asked the following day for the new Texas single only to be told it’s not out for three months despite the fact that it was on TOTP the night before. Look, it was performed twice on the show when it was finally released so I’ll leave it until then to discuss the actual song.

Manchester United Treble link: Teddy Sheringham who scored United’s first goal in the final and Sharleen Spiteri were both participants in a 2011 Celtic FC famine appeal charity match to raise funds for East Africa. 

We’re back in London next for a band with a hit single which sounds very familiar. Who is it that Sugar Ray and their song “Every Morning” reminds me of? Well, take your pick from any of this lot:

• Smash Mouth
• Fastball
• OMC
• Len

Catchy, breezy, summery – yes, it was all those things and it had a flamenco flavour to it which seemed so popular in the 90s after the Gypsy Kings had crossed over at the start of the decade.

Not quite a one hit wonder but close to it, Sugar Ray had formed in 1992 – yes, they were a band not a person as in the boxers Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard – as a funk metal outfit in the style of the Red Hot Chili Peppers but shifted to a more pop sound in 1997 with their single “Fly” which was a No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. They fully embraced that more mainstream sound on their third album “14:59” from which “Every Morning” was taken. The album went triple platinum in the US but failed to get any commercial foothold in the UK. Diminishing returns set in after that peak but the band are still together mainly playing live with their last album having been released in 2019. Ethan Hawke lookalike singer Mark McGrath would eke out a parallel TV game show host career but for some people Sugar Ray will always be that band from the Scooby Doo movie…

Manchester United Treble link: Author Simon Hughes, who has written biographies of Manchester United legends such as Tommy Taylor, Dennis Viollet, Jimmy Murphy, and Denis Law, also wrote a book about the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.

Well, this is fortunate. A Scottish band who have a new entry in this week’s Top 40 and who are available to perform in this Glasgow based TOTP in support of the BBC Music Live 1999 festival. Having made the leap from post-Britpop indie rockers on the fringes of the chart to the mainstream of radio friendly pop/rock with their Top 20 hit “Writing To Reach You”, the next release for Travis would be an important one. At the very least it needed to consolidate on that breakthrough success and that’s exactly what “Driftwood” did when it became the band’s highest charting single to that point. A gentler, more acoustic sounding track than its predecessor, it showcased their melodic side with a lovely bridge part into the floating chorus. In some ways, it’s an almost semi-forgotten single compared to the what came after it but it helped to pave the way for next release “Why Does It Always Rain On Me?” which is surely one of their best known tunes. Global success was almost within reach and they didn’t need to write to anyone to get it.

Manchester United Treble link: Part of the backroom staff supporting interim United manager Michael Carrick is one Travis Binnion who currently serves as a first team and lead coach for the Under-21s.

Dagnabbit! Well, that just dills my pickle! Or something. It’s only Shania Twain again with a reshowing of her performance of “That Don’t Impress Me Much” from last week. Do I have to review this again? I made my feelings about it quite clear in the last post. I’ve told my Shania tribute act story before haven’t I? Yes, I’m sure I have. Erm…what about her fashion choices and specifically that leopard print all in one hoodie. What was all that about? Apparently, Shania loves leopard print. There’s even a video on YouTube which she made for Elle magazine in which she explains why leopard print is her neutral. How can that be?! How can leopard print be neutral?! It’s one of the most eye-catching/garish (delete as appropriate) things you could ever wear. To be fair, I didn’t watch the whole video – two minutes of Shania describing her ‘cowgirl’ fashion was more than enough – so maybe she does give a reason for that bizarre statement but I guess I’ll never know. I’ll live with(out) it.

Manchester United Treble link: United midfielder Roy Keane was famously suspended for the final (alongside Paul Scholes) so he missed out on all the drama and glory. However, how many of his team mates have a song about them to the tune of “That Don’t Impress Me Much”?

Now here’s a song that immediately takes me back to late Spring/early Summer 1999 when I hear it. It also has strong connotations with a certain American teen drama series but I’ll get to that later. Sixpence None The Richer formed in 1992 as a Christian alternative rock band (I never knew there was such a genre!) taking their name from a passage in a C.S. Lewis book. However, it wasn’t until 98/99 that they emerged from the closet (that’s a Narnia reference rather than any comment on their sexuality) into the pop mainstream with their worldwide hit “Kiss Me”. A rather lovely, jangly guitar piece, it was in a similar vein to “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories from 1994 and the soundtrack to the film Reality Bites. Perhaps a bit more indie in nature though. Certainly the music press likened it to something that The Sundays might have recorded. Like Loeb’s hit, “Kiss Me” was also the theme tune to a film – teen rom com She’s All That starring Freddie Prinze Jr and Matthew Lillard who, coincidentally, were also in that aforementioned Scooby Doo movie that featured Sugar Ray.

However, it’s not that film which is its strongest association for me. That would be its inclusion on the soundtrack to the US teen drama Dawson’s Creek. Featuring some of the most overly earnest and verbose teenage characters ever seen on TV, this show used to be shown on a Sunday morning on Channel 4 as part of their T4 output and it was perfect ‘hangover programming’ for those of us who’d had one drink too many the night before. Some of my Our Price colleagues were well into this show and would play its soundtrack constantly in the shop. Perhaps by osmosis, I also got into it and actually went back recently to finish watching all five series (I stopped initially at two). Was it worth my time and effort to see whether Dawson or Pacey ended up with Joey? Probably not but at least it was a more satisfying ending than Lost. As for Sixpence None The Richer, they would have one more UK hit – a brave possibly foolhardy cover of “There She Goes” by The Las – before splitting in 2004 and subsequently reuniting three years later and were still gigging with the likes of 10,000 Maniacs as recently as 2023.

Manchester United Treble link: Sixpence None The Richer are known for having a “jangly” guitars sound – a high-frequency, treble-heavy tone characteristic of 90s college rock.

After three different boybands occupied the No 1 slot in recent weeks and with ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell unable to dislodge them from their throne, it was time for a different strategy from women in music. Instead of all girl groups, a new wave of female chart hopefuls arrived in the form of all girl bands who played their instruments. Now of course this wasn’t a completely new phenomenon. In the 70s we had South African band Clout of “Substitute” fame, whilst in America came The Runaways. Into the 80s, the same country also gave us The Go-Go’s and The Bangles whilst in dear old Blighty we had heavy rockers Girlschool. In the 90s, we had a rush of almost all girl indie bands like L7 and The Breeders but an out and out all girl mainstream rock/pop band? I’m struggling to think of many before Hepburn. Obviously named after Audrey, their debut hit “I Quit” wasn’t a cover of the old Bros track (thank God!) but a song co-written and produced by Phil Thornalley who’d been one of the people behind Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn”. Indeed, the ex-Neighbours actor had been offered “I Quit” but had declined to record it. I think she might have made the right decision as it’s not the strongest track. I mean yes, it’s got a rather shouty chorus hook but there’s not a lot else to it. The lyrics are a bit clunky (rhyming ‘liar’ with ‘messiah’ for example, or is that actually genius?) and the lead singers vocals aren’t the best (is that southern twang affected or natural?).

As with Sugar Ray and Sixpence None The Richer, there was a TV/film tie in with Hepburn as “I Quit” appeared on the soundtrack to Buffy the Vampire Slayer which starred Sarah Michelle Gellar (who also starred in the Scooby Doo movie).Apparently, the band were meant to appear in an episode of Buffy in the background of a scene but it never happened. Talking of Sixpence None The Richer, doesn’t the intro to “I Quit” sound a bit like “Kiss Me”? I don’t know why I’ve been trying to shoehorn connections to Manchester United into this post – there are plenty of other links all over this TOTP! In Hepburn’s wake came Thunderbugs (bizarrely, the follow up to “I Quit” was called “Bugs”) and 21st Century Girls but the whole scene was short lived with all three bands named above barely making it into the new millennium before collectively saying “I Quit”.

Manchester United Treble link: David Beckham’s wife Victoria has cited Audrey Hepburn as a favorite actress. Their former home – ‘Beckingham Palace’ – famously had a bathroom featuring walls covered entirely in photos of Audrey Hepburn.

The boyband-at-No 1 sequence has been broken by a record that was an underground club sensation and his since secured a near legendary reputation in the UK Garage scene. Despite working in a record shop at the time, I didn’t pick up on any of this and to me, it was just another dance hit by some anonymous producers. The names Steven Meade and Danny Langsman probably don’t mean much to those of us on the outside of the world of garage music but the monikers Shanks & Bigfoot probably do cut through. “Sweet Like Chocolate” was the track that assured their fame and legacy. Originally released just as a promo with a limited run of 1,000 copies in 1998, it was heavily promoted by KISS FM despite not having an official release. Its saturation rotation caused a record label bidding war for the rights to the track which was eventually won by Jive and when it was finally made available in the shops, it stormed to the top of the charts selling a quarter of a million copies in the first week and more than the rest of the Top 5 combined.

Thankfully we don’t get a forced studio appearance here with the usual staging conundrums associated with a dance act but the rather sweet animated video which added to the song’s appeal, perhaps picking up some sales from the younger end of the record buying public to boot. I could have done without the personal message from Shanks & Bigfoot themselves though. Why was it so successful? Don’t ask me. I didn’t dare go near the dance collections section of the Our Price I worked in so confusing were the myriad of genres. It was genuinely more challenging to me than shoplifters.

Manchester United Treble link: Manchester United’s biggest rivals are Liverpool whose manager between 1959 and 1974 was the legendary Bill Shankly otherwise known as “Shanks”.

Order of appearance	Artist	Title	Did I buy it?
1	Precious	Say It Again	No
2	Texas	Summer Son	Nope
3	Sugar Ray	Every Morning	Negative
4	Travis	Driftwood	No but I had a promo sampler of the album
5	Shania Twain	That Don’t Impress Me Much	NEVER
6	Sixpence None The Richer	Kiss Me	I did not
7	Hepburn	I Quit	Nah
8	Shanks & Bigfoot	Sweet Like Chocolate	And 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/m002sjbj/top-of-the-pops-28051999