Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jan 2, 2012 20:04:03 GMT 1
24TH APRIL- TURN AROUND- Phats & Small (1 week)A little bit of dance royalty here (kinda). Sampling Tony Lee's "Reach Up" Phats & Small produced one of the most memorable dance records of 1999 in my view. As a pice of music to get you moving in a club this was hard to beat. Guest vocalist Ben Ofoedu was to go on to be currently engaged to Vanessa Feltz, whilst Russell Small is one half of probably the best producers of the last few years, the might Freemasons. It is little surprise therefore that "Turn Round" is a great dance track, founded in "handbag" house as it used to be called back in the day, it directs you to the dancefloor and refuses to take no for an answer. Really....what more do you expect from a dance song. Whilst 1999 has it's fault dance music was certainly not one, there are more examples of greats to come in this particular genre before the year is out, but this still brings a small to my face and a tap to my toe!
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Jan 2, 2012 20:29:18 GMT 1
And of course the Siffre sample used by Eminem contained the guitar and keyboard work of Chas & Dave.
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Post by Earl Purple on Jan 2, 2012 21:54:08 GMT 1
I didn't care much actually for "Thank You" by Dido. But Eminem is a strange one in my chart, pretty much a one-hit wonder but what a one hit he had, 7 weeks at #1 and the 5th biggest hit of the 00s, which would have been the 4th had Keane not cheated and charted with "This Is The Last Time" twice. With "Stan", it has such a strong lyric that it appealed to me in a way no other Eminem track did and then I started losing interest in him. He isn't totally a one-hit wonder as the D12 single "My Band" also reached my chart and he features on it.
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Post by evansabove on Jan 2, 2012 22:28:27 GMT 1
The Slim Shady LP album was a masterpiece although My Name Is had a very short irritation factor for me. Guilty Conscience was far better as the follow-up but the whole album hanged together so well as a cohesive body of work
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jan 3, 2012 18:32:23 GMT 1
1ST MAY- RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW- Fatboy Slim (1 week)How very 1999 this sounds now. The rise of the cult of the DJ had been in the pipeline for sometime, and with strings from the James Gang song "Ashes, the rain & I" this is the final calling card from his 1998 album "You've Come A Long Way Baby" which turned Norman Cook into just about the coolest thing in the planet back in the late 90s. He'd been all the way to the top of course as part of the Housemartins in 1986 and Beats International in 1990, and charted in several different guises in between, but his music has always left me cold. Of course the "art" of DJing is the feel for the beats, to blend seemlessly, to mash- up tracks and on that level it works, What he does on record is marry two tunes together to produce something else, if an modern artist took the Mona Lisa and painted it in the style of Picasso would that similarly work? Maybe to the extent of "that's interesting" as you walked by but a modern classic is something I doubt it would be hailed. To give the man his due he's always insisted that what he does is nothing special and I have to allow for the fact that he has some pretty amazing video's to accompany these singles. but I also have to say I think that's a sneeky admission that he probably understands that's because what he is selling is so relatively flimsy. Not really a pop star, more a DJ that made good "Right Here Right Now" is probably my favourite track of the singles he released, it has a slight ominous feeling about it and the video is also holds the attention for 4 minutes but never a song I'd think to play.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jan 3, 2012 18:44:57 GMT 1
8TH MAY- WHY DON'T YOU GET A JOB?- The Offspring (1 week)THIS was absolute tripe at the time and remains so to this day. His girlfriend in the video is played former Pussycat Dolls dancer Carmit Bacher, that's as close to interested as I can get on this one. After the quirky US college indie of "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) in January this came as a bit of shock, I remember being completely surprised when it debuted at No 2 and for one of the few times in my life was actually glad for a Westlife track to be at No 1. The track limps along almost apologetically, veering between ska influences and indie, and melodically nods to both "Ob-La-Di-Ob-la-Da" and "Cecilia" but until a couple of years ago I'd forgotten all about this song. Hearing it again I recall why.
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Post by Earl Purple on Jan 3, 2012 20:25:01 GMT 1
The Offspring song is a classic! Well maybe not, but it's nice to see some rock doing well in the charts. And still far better than Westlife or Fatboy Slim. I remember people on dotmusic raving how tragic it was that Westlife kept Fatboy Slim out. And whilst I agreed wtih them that Westlife's song was rather a mediocre bland ballad, I didn't see the one it kept out (i.e. Fatboy Slim) as much of a classic.
I think we are in April now and I think Seafruit were #1 in my chart at this time with "Looking For Sparks". That single didn't chart although their next single "Hello World" did manage top 75.
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Post by evansabove on Jan 3, 2012 20:34:14 GMT 1
I rather liked The Offspring although they tended to be a little rockier than that usually. You are right to say that song rips off Ob-La-Di but i think it makes a refreshing change for a #2 single
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Post by Earl Purple on Jan 3, 2012 22:15:28 GMT 1
The subject matter of the song was similar to "No Scrubs" by TLC which was a hit the same year but only peaked at #3 so didn't make it here, although it was in the chart so many weeks it outsold most of those that are. The main difference to No Scrubs is that it's a man singing to a woman instead of the other way.
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Post by evansabove on Jan 3, 2012 22:42:43 GMT 1
And then No Scrubs inspired a response song from Sporty Thievz called No Pigeons
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Post by Smurfie on Jan 3, 2012 23:25:42 GMT 1
And then No Scrubs inspired a response song from Sporty Thievz called No Pigeons No Pigeons is a good example of reply songs not working - it was truly awful. No Scrubs, however, is an excellent song and one of the best in the TLC back catalogue, even if the album it was spawned from was not great at all, and one of the only albums I have taken back to HMV and got a refund. (Groove Armada and M.O.P. being the other two). F.U.R.B. was also utter tawdry dross.
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Post by Smurfie on Jan 3, 2012 23:28:40 GMT 1
I'm pretty sure I should know the Offspring song, but it's not springing to mind right now. Offspring had a really excellent first UK chart hit with "Self Esteem", and then only "Pretty Fly For A White Guy" is the other of note as far as I'm concerned.
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Post by Earl Purple on Jan 3, 2012 23:34:03 GMT 1
"Hit That" in 2004 was a pretty big hit for them, and quite a good song.
"No Pigeons" was just awful. This however, is not only for me the greatest "reply" song ever, but is better than the song it was replying to:
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jan 4, 2012 18:21:15 GMT 1
22ND MAY- LOOK AT ME- Geri Halliwell (1 week)"Look At Me" is so much more than just a pop record. It's a record with ambition, a mission, and a determination to get Halliwell not only noticed but back on the pop landscape and in all of those respects it is a record that succeeds. Word is that Halliwell was none to impressed when she was beaten to No 1 by Boyzone as she was confident that she had made a chart topping track and to be fair it woul very hard to argue that their rendition of Anne Murray's "You Needed Me" was a better track. Trouble is it's rather poor, cobbled together and ill fitted, it's a rag tag of styles and a tune that fails to get going with any gusto until it's almost over. With a video refrencing her recent departure from the Spice Girls there is a lot to admire here, the confidence and yes even "swagger" of ealy Halliwell records helped to sell the myth of "girl power" for another year at least but this is a record to promote the star rather a record to stand the test of time. With short term aims fulfilled it was fit for purpose but this isn't the start of a musical legacy by a long chalk.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jan 4, 2012 18:29:41 GMT 1
05 JUNE- OOH LA LA- The Wiseguys (1 week)Budweiser advert. Song.... = number two hit. Thoughts on song= pants.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Jan 4, 2012 19:29:57 GMT 1
Wasn't there a balls up regarding La Geraldine that cost her the top spot? One of the formats had too many free gifts or something and she missed out by about five hundred?
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jan 4, 2012 19:44:22 GMT 1
It was 748 copies ;D No balls up, it was that Boyzone issued 2 cd's of their song with different b-sides/ remixes so fans bought both, whilst Halliwell had postcards in one CD but both versions of the Geri CD had the same tracklisting. So whilst boyzone sold more, more "different people" bought Geri's.
If all that makes sense!
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Post by evansabove on Jan 4, 2012 20:13:25 GMT 1
Love the Ooh La La song-still sounds great today. I couldnt stand those Budweiser ads so the song did well to make a mark with me as it was so associated with them
As for Geri, it was the worst of her songs and given how bad her musical career was, thats saying something
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Jan 4, 2012 20:14:54 GMT 1
Just proving how moronic the rules on formats were/are. Should have been one format, and one format only, to count. Instead the industry decided to permit itself to rip off consumers all the more by selling the same dross over and over and over again.
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Post by Earl Purple on Jan 4, 2012 20:36:39 GMT 1
The silly thing was you could have 2CDs with different track listings and they counted the same but 4 formats with the same tracks and one didn't count.
"Look At Me" actually sold more than many of her #1s did. I thought it was quite good for a solo Spice, although "Northern Star" will remain my favourite solo-Spice single.
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