Slave's Top 500 Singles: 1990 - 1999

[Devil]

I didn't realise 'What Do I Have To Do' was meant to be second. Seems a rather odd decision not to push forward with that - 'Devil..' was a significant sized hit for her. The only thing I can think that comes to mind is the album under-performing (going from the first two topping one million to the third scraping the top 10 must've been a shock), but even then to revert back to the plan of 'new image/sound' by the third single makes it all a little strange.

Anyway, I do really quite like 'Step Back In Time', all four singles from the campaign are brilliant. The others are all decent, but Mel C is the only one I listen to by choice

[Slave]

195. JX - There's Nothing I Won't Do (Released: 1996, UK peak: #4)

Chart run: 7-4-7-9-12-17-17-20-26-31-41-56-63


JX (or Jake Williams in "real life") was a dance DJ who appeared during the mid-'90s and scored a number of hits before promptly disappearing again. This was his biggest single and remains for me one of those tracks that just invokes arms-aloft discotheque euphoria. A thumping, hi-NRG dance track featuring vocals from Shena, this doesn't have the musical depth or top-notch production of other songs from the genre at the time; it's simply a relentlessly catchy song and that's more or less all there is to it.

Indeed if further proof were needed that the 1996 release was pretty much perfect, you need only look at the version released by Ignition-X almost a decade later which is more or less identical to the original save for a slightly better sound quality. It's still got the same dizzying, frantically pounding synths, the vocals are more or less identical and it's still as uplifting as it ever was. Indeed I thought it was quite odd to not even attempt to update or alter the source track, but I suppose stranger things have happened (and the '00s version wasn't a hit in any case).

Although JX only charted a handful of singles, he never really had a proper "flop" (his worst performing track was 'Restless' which reached #22 in 2004). Equally his career in the '90s never really got going - although that's most likely because any momentum between hits was killed by the length of time for a follow-up. His first two tracks charted exactly a year apart and when he finally cracked the top ten in 1995 with a re-release of his debut single 'Son Of A Gun', 'There's Nothing I Won't Do' didn't appear for another nine months. Even the accumulation of two top ten singles didn't speed things up - his next release after this one came another ten months later. Needless to say anticipation was not high, indeed it was pretty much non-existent and a seven year hiatus from the charts ensued.

194. Next - Too Close (Released: 1998, UK peak: #24)

Chart run: 24-39-50
Billboard Hot 100 chart run: 45-29-24-22-14-13-11-10-4-3-1-1-1-1-2-1-2-2-3-3-3-3-4-6-7-6-8-9-9-14-13-11-9-11-13-17-18-16-17-16-20-20-32-28-30-32-39-34-27-30-43-48-50


In the UK this song is of course best known as Blue's second single (and their first to hit #1) after they covered it in 2001. In America it was also Next's second single and similarly their first (and only) to reach #1. If you're more familiar with Blue's version then all you really need to know is that they really didn't put their stamp on it at all - arguably they didn't need to given the original missed the top 20, but everything about theirs is more or less lifted wholesale from the original - to the point where it's debatable whether they even bothered to re-record the vocals in the chorus.

Although 'Too Close' doesn't exactly manage to forge a unique vocal identity for Next, their delivery of it does give the track a more genuine R&B tone and the ad-libs towards the end actually serve a purpose in bringing the song to a natural climax. One of the things definitely (and deliberately?) toned down in Blue's version is the sexual nature of the song - that's not to say Next's original is more explicit, but the production isn't as big and the beat just that bit more hypnotic - you get a much better sense of the lyrics and the intent of the track. I always felt that by comparison that side of things never really comes across in Blue's version despite the fact that both groups are singing exactly the same thing. In that sense I can totally see why this was such a massive hit since it's a very sexy club track, but I have no idea how they managed to garner such massive airplay on American radio - the spoken intro ("I wonder if she could tell I'm hard right now") could easily be edited out, but lines like "Step back you're dancing kinda close, I feel a little poke coming through, on you" seem like the kind of thing that would send concerned housewives into a FRENZY.

Clearly no one objected THAT strongly because 'Too Close' ended up being absolutely huge. It was the biggest song in America of 1998 and ended as the 16th biggest single of the decade. It was easily the group's biggest track; they did manage another top ten single in 2000 with 'Wifey' which reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 (it was also their highest peaking release in the UK, albeit only making it to #19) but ultimately they failed to generate any other significant hits and when their third album 'The Next Episode' missed the top 100 in 2002, they left their record label. The group is still active though; a fourth album has been stuck in pre-release purgatory for approximately seven years (and counting).

193. Bryan Adams - Cloud Number Nine (Released: 1999, UK peak: #6)

Chart run: 6-10-17-28-42-45-52-61-69


Before Chicane got their hands on 'Cloud Number Nine' it was a perfectly pleasant mid-tempo album track with more obvious guitar and piano leanings than the single version. I'm not sure that it would necessarily have performed significantly worse had it not been remixed - in the aftermath of 'When You're Gone' and with the 'On A Day Like Today' album plodding along, his profile was quite high. But I really do love what Chicane did with this - having previously turned down the opportunity to remix a Bryan Adams track, this was the first of several times that the pair worked together in subsequent years.

Far from turning 'Cloud Number Nine' into a dance track, Chicane merely makes it even more radio friendly with the addition of a drum loop and some obligatory synths alongside a few vocal tweaks. It's not a massive transformation, but it just makes the song sound a bit more current and streamlined. The additional production frills give the track a hint of that dreamy, blissful vibe that Chicane does so well - it's most evident in the parts where the vocals are more heavily processed, like the swirling "number nine, number nine, number nine..." intro and middle-eight (which might actually just be the best bit of the song). None of the remix treatment takes anything away from the track itself or compromise Bryan Adams' presence on his own single - it still sounds like it belongs in his back-catalogue and sits quite comfortably amongst his rockier efforts.

The pair would eventually top the charts the following year with 'Don't Give Up' but Bryan Adams hasn't actually scored a new top 75 single in the UK for almost a decade now ('Summer Of '69' reached #47 last year). That said he still maintains a fairly high-profile - his last studio album reached #6 in the UK and he made an appearance on The X Factor in 2011 where he championed “the lady in the blue dress” (Amelia Lily).

192. Jade - Don't Walk Away (Released: 1993, UK peak: #7)

Chart run: 36-20-11-9-8-7-13-51
Billboard Hot 50 chart run: 43-27-21-17-13-13-9-9-7-4-5-5-5-5-6-7-10-11-10-13-15-16-21-25-26-36-35-40-44-50


Jade were a briefly semi-successful R&B group from America. In the UK they scored three top 20 singles, this one being the only to reach the top ten, whilst in America they scored six entries on the Billboard Hot 100 and released two albums which failed to reach the top 50. 'Don't Walk Away' was unsurprisingly their biggest hit and continues to amass a small amount of recurrent airplay as well as making infrequent appearances on R&B compilations.

I think this is the perfect little R&B summer jam from the delivery through to the bouncy beat. Tthis really isn't the kind of track that would benefit from being sung to within an inch of its life; rightly so, the vocals are tight and cohesive without any showboating (even though there must have been the temptation to do so since TLC were rapidly setting the benchmark for R&B girl groups around the same time). The track has quite a "lightweight" sound about it; it's not a thumping R&B track but for the most part closer to a pleasant little radio-friendly pop ditty than anything. That is until the last minute or so when 'Don't Walk Away' suddenly veers into a particularly enjoyable stuttered breakdown which is nicely offset against the rest of the track before it recovers for a final chorus.

'Don't Walk Away' hung around the Billboard Hot 100 for quite some time, whilst in the UK it had a slightly bizarre chart run where it peaked at #7 in its sixth week on the chart and then dropped like a stone, leaving the top 75 just a few weeks later. The song has re-visited the chart in the years since it first charted - in 2004 it was covered by Javine and released as a "make or break" single after a series of underperforming releases. The obvious flaw being that whilst perfectly enjoyable and pleasant, 'Don't Walk Away' just isn't the kind of song that has enough legacy or punch to revive and sustain a career - if it couldn't do it for Jade then it wasn't going to do it for Javine.

191. Five - If Ya Gettin' Down (Released: 1999, UK peak: #2)

Chart run: 2-4-6-9-13-20-28-40-47-55-67-75


Five's second album really felt like the moment where their image and sound fell into place - they'd released songs along the same lines as this previously ('When The Lights Go Out' and 'Everybody Get Up') but here it all felt much more polished and deliberate - I particularly liked Abs and J ()'s black outfits in the video which looked like they were about to go and work the door at a nearby club.

There are so many highlights in 'If Ya Gettin' Down', it's a relentless assault of hook after hook and I could barely pick them apart. The rapping is absolutely perfect, it works so well - there are moments where the track almost sounds tongue-in-cheek, particularly with the inclusion of comedy record scratches alongside ridiculous lines like "Wiggy wiggy, I'm getting jiggy, open up the door, I got the keys to your city". What really makes it work for me is the conviction with which it's delivered - it never stops being a FUN pop song but it's the kind of track that wouldn't work if the group wasn't completely committed to it. It's brash, it's big and it's cocky, that's what really completes it - although credit also has to go to the bassline sampled from 'Last Night A DJ Saved My Life' which creates a looming undertone for Five to play around in.

I can't discuss 'If Ya Gettin' Down' without acknowledging the pre-chorus which is easily amongst the group's finest moments (it might even be the BEST). Usually moments in pop songs designed to invoke audience participation don't work at all for me (see: the whole of Justin Timberlake's 'Señorita') but this one was a personal pop music highlight of 1999 for me:

I heard somebody say (WHAT?)
She's at the party so (HUH)
I'm gonna get me some
AaaaaaaaAAAAAAHH


The song's recent inclusion in The Big Reunion concert confirmed that although it didn't reach #1 (it was held off by Ricky Martin's 'Livin' La Vida Loca'), it remains one of Five's most popular tracks and still sounds fantastic now - partially because it's not as obvious a choice as 'Keep On Movin' or 'Everybody Get Up' which seem to be the two most common tracks that DJ's reach for. 'If Ya Gettin' Down' really kickstarted probably the most successful phase of Five's career (in the UK at least) - although the 'Invincible' album was their lowest peaking studio release (their debut reached #1 whilst the follow-up peaked at #3), it went on to house two #1 singles and ended up their biggest seller, after which it all fairly quickly imploded.

[Devil]

Might give that JX track a whirl at home, sounds like something I'd love.

The Jade track is brilliant, even the Javine version was okay (though nothing on the original). As you say, the two versions of 'Too Close' are so similar that I don't really care which one I listen to as it's essentially the same song.

'If Ya Getting Down' I've only really come around to in recent years. Aside from 'Let's Dance' it's my Five tune of choice nowadays

[Jonfessions]

'There's Nothing I Won't Do' would possibly be in my top 40 of the '90s. It is utterly glorious

[Pipo]

The vocals in Blue's version are much much weaker than Next's, you simply cannot compete with a bunch of

[Krust]

Re: "Rhythm is a dancer"

One of my favourites of all-time but Snap! shouldn't get all the credit for it

[Slave]

190. Travis - Turn (Released: 1999, UK peak: #8)

Chart run: 8-16-24-37-52-59-50-57-48-51-58


Whilst most indie acts that emerged around or shortly after the pop dominance of the late '90s fell into the obnoxious "real music" bracket, I always had quite a lot of time for Travis. Partially I think it was because they were actually disowned by a lot of the critics who applauded their debut album's uptempo and harder rock sound. For 'The Man Who', their material became a lot more melodic and melancholic which did not go down well with many of the people who'd championed them. Therefore whilst they slipped into the charts in the late '90s with a series of increasingly successful tracks and positive media coverage, it never felt like they were on an anti-pop crusade - how could they be when they needed the mainstream arguably as much as any of the singers around them?

'Turn' has always stuck out as my favourite Travis single - actually it's pretty much the only one I'd voluntarily listen to now, having been exposed to commercial radio for eight hours a day in the early '00s. I think the chorus still sounds absolutely anthemic - it's typical of why the band became so successful, with a rousing melody and a sing-along chorus (well, you couldn't really NOT know the words to the chorus). The video, like those for many indie acts that came afterwards, contains a very simple idea that is executed in a really memorable way. I remember it was constantly played on The Box for what seemed like an absolute age.

At the time this became the highest peaking Travis single, although subsequent releases charted higher in the following decade. The extensive airplay it garnered, plus the ongoing media hype around the band pushed 'The Man Who' on to become one of the UK's biggest selling albums ever - after its release in 1999, it spent the rest of that year in the top 20 and the whole of 2000 in the top 75, reaching #1 on three occasions for a total of nine weeks. To date it's amassed 229 weeks in the top 200 with an estimated total of 2.7 million copies sold.

189. Thunderbugs - Friends Forever (Released: 1999, UK peak: #5)

Chart run: 5-12-15-26-35-45-68-69-66-x-x-x-71


Even during the "silly season" of the late '90s, 'Friends Forever' struck me as such a bizarre top five hit. Many people have a song that "soundtracks" their friendship, a track that holds special memories when it's played. You can almost hear a record label executive pitching the idea for this single - why let the public find their own song when you could just sell them one ready made (see also: allSTARS* - 'Best Friends'). The sceptic in me says this is such a ridiculously vapid, shamelessly twee attempt to do just that, but the end result works much better than it deserves to.

The lyrics borrow from pretty much every clichéd '90s high school movie about friendship ("Remember when we used to talk all night, we didn't get much sleep, talking 'bout and planning out our lives, and who we're going to be") - indeed the song itself ended up in one such film a few years later. It deals with uncertainty about the future, secrets, love - but not sex ("I know that he's been hurting you, I've known for a while, now you've found love in someone new, I can see it in your smile") and pretty much any other topic which might feature on the problem page of J17 magazine that it can fit into three and a half minutes. Under the weight of so many melodramatic issues, a lesser song would collapse, but 'Friends Forever' is supported by a really strong melody - the breezy pop-rock production actually sounds a few years ahead of its time and it's incredibly catchy. Leaving aside any cynicism I may have, the end result is highly enjoyable and whilst the video treatment probably wrote itself, it actually paints Thunderbugs with quite a lot of personality and a knowing sense of humour.

Although 'Friends Forever' was a pretty big hit which hung around the chart for a few months, the label made a massive mistake releasing the follow-up 'It's About Time You Were Mine' the week before Christmas. It got completely lost in the rush and missed the top 40 (though still managed to accumulate five weeks in the top 75). Their debut album was delayed and eventually cancelled in the UK (it was however released in Europe) after which Thunderbugs disbanded.

188. Jennifer Lopez - Waiting For Tonight (Released: 1999, UK peak: #5)

Chart run: 5-10-13-17-26-35-41-41-43-42-53-59
Billboard Hot 100 chart run: 56-37-25-19-18-11-9-8-9-8-12-16-19-17-14-24-36-56-66-74


After the song-stealing controversy surrounding her debut single, a lesser artisté would perhaps be reluctant to risk similar accusations the second time around. Not Jennifer Lopez, who marched on with the release of 'Waiting For Tonight’, which was originally recorded by flop girl group 3rd Party for their 1997 album 'Alive'. In fairness it's not an uncommon practice and the two versions aren't TOTALLY identical (this is not quite a case of miming along to Christina Milian's vocals) but listening to the two side-by-side you'd be hard pushed to claim that Jennifer Lopez put THAT much legwork into the final version.

Where her version really succeeds is polishing the awfully dated, plodding synth/looped beat-based production of the original track into something that feels of a much bigger budget. Granted some flamenco flourishes and a more club-ready beat, 'Waiting For Tonight' successfully underlined Jennifer Lopez's transition to fully-fledged pop star with a fantastic video (and with a slight stroke of marketing genius, managed to position itself as an obvious choice for a slew of millennium countdown parties). I think this still sounds great now - a lot of money was clearly thrown at 'On The 6' in an attempt to install her atop the charts as an A-list pop star and bypass the need for her to work her way to the top. This track really feels like a big production easily befitting of more than just a second single. Although it peaked a little lower than 'If You Had My Love', it gave Jennifer Lopez a solidly successful second hit where she could still have fallen into the trap of being a one hit actor-turned-singer novelty.

What has perhaps helped 'Waiting For Tonight' remain so notable in Jennifer Lopez's back catalogue is that until recently it was something of an anomaly, as subsequent releases veered down the R&B route (which was still a massively successful venue for her). It's not until the last few years that she really seems to have unapologetically embraced pop music in the same manner, resulting in her biggest hit - I really hope she stays there this time because the results are rarely bad.

187. George Michael - Outside (Released: 1998, UK peak: #2)

Chart run: 2-2-7-13-27-35-36-37-43-42-45-48-60-73-x-66-61


'Outside' was a massively successful single for George Michael after his very public outing following a little harmless cottaging in Beverly Hills. I think he actually played this really well and responded in the best way possible - with a killer pop song. There's absolutely no ambiguity in the lyrics, it's quite obvious what he's talking about ("I think I'm done with the sofa, I think I'm done with the hall, I think I'm done with the kitchen table, baby, let's go outside") but what I really like is that where this could so easily have ended up becoming a bitter attack on the undercover police operation and the media who got themselves into quite a furore over the whole matter, it never loses sight of being an enjoyable, disco-infused pop song which is more celebratory than apologetic or ashamed.

You can't really talk about the song without mentioning the video which is in part very tongue-in-cheek, such as the shots of George Michael dressed as a policeman whilst dancing in a discofied bathroom. However I think it's also an extremely accurate commentary on society and points out that people having sex outside isn't a new or particularly unusual habit. I guess it's also intended to highlight the hypocrisy of the many people that may have their own sexual quirks but felt entitled to criticise George Michael's own. The point is made most strikingly at the end of the video when after the two male policeman have apprehended several amorous couples, they begin to passionately kiss - the arresting police officer in the original case later sued for slander in a lawsuit seeking $10 million in compensation; the case was later dismissed.

All things considered, George Michael ended coming out of the whole thing quite well - it didn't massively damage his commercial appeal in the long-term (well, in America it did beyond repair - his last hit on the Billboard Hot 100 was 'FastLove' and radio would not go NEAR him in the aftermath of his arrest) and gave a renewed interest in the content of his material. I do think it was something of a tipping point into the next decade though; having made a pertinent observation here, his material started to become more of a social and political commentary without the solid tunes to back it up. I don't think people bought this because they wanted to hear about George Michael's sex life - they bought it because it was a really decent tune that just happened to be about his personal life.

186. Whitney Houston - I Have Nothing (Released: 1993, UK peak: #3)

Chart run: 9-3-3-6-11-18-28-39-57-71
Billboard Hot 100 chart run: 42-23-11-9-6-4-4-4-4-4-5-5-9-9-16-26-33-42-51-53


Released as the third single from 'The Bodyguard' soundtrack, 'I Have Nothing' faced something of an uphill task in climbing the Billboard Hot 100 since both previous singles were still residing within the top ten - and with Whitney Houston having found her new signature ballad, this was going to have to work hard to entice the public so soon afterwards. Ultimately though it did become a decent sized hit, quickly making its way to #4 (all three singles were in the top 11 at one point) where it stayed for over a month. In the UK it was also a top three hit, outpeaking 'I'm Every Woman', although having slightly less chart longevity.

Although Britney Spears later claiming that this was the song she performed to label executives to score herself a record deal isn't perhaps a glowing endorsement, for me this really is THE best vocal you will hear on a Whitney Houston recording. It's not that it's necessarily more technically impressive than her other songs - I'm sure she's previously covered a much wider range of notes within a single track, and it's not got that same level of effortless vocal gymnastics that leave me utterly AGOG at some of her uptempo recordings from the late '80s/early '90s. But what Whitney carried through right to the end of her career, even after "the voice" had undergone so much damage, was her ability to read a song and wring every last drop of emotion from it.

That's not to say 'I Have Nothing' isn't an impressive performance, because it truly is. There is SO much power behind the delivery that most of the time the accompanying orchestration actually sounds like it's physically being blown out of the water. But it's the raw emotion that you can hear which gets me EVERY time - the last minute and a half features crescendo after crescendo but you can feel Whitney absolutely living the lyrics in each note. There is an audible rawness and emotion wrapped into the richness of her voice; every syllable hits right to the centre of my heart and it's that which leaves a lasting impact long after the song has finished playing. I truly think it's an absolutely BEAUTIFUL piece of music that many reality TV contestants (and a 12 year old Christina Aguilera) have since taken on because you CAN belt it out and display a strong vocal, but that's really a small part of what makes it so special and none have gotten to the core and delivered it in anywhere near approaching the same way as Whitney did.

In the UK this was her final top three hit for almost five years and in 2012 returned to the top 75 as the fifth biggest selling (#44) of her back-catalogue tracks after her death.

[Devil]

What a great bunch.

'Waiting For Tonight' is tremendous. When I first heard it on the radio I had no idea who it was so waited until the DJ announced it. Quite surprising that it was J-Lo, given she'd looked to be an r&b-artist rather than dance-pop. The Travis one is my personal fave from them as well.

Thunderbugs really were rather amusing. I liked both singles, but who on earth thought they would ever be a long-term prospect? I guess like so many girlbands at the time the hope was to score a hit like 'Never Ever', 'Wannabe' or the like and then just let the money roll in. Fair enough in hindsight - it worked for Atomic Kitten.

[Slave]

185. Ace Of Base - Cruel Summer (Released: 1998, UK peak: #8)

Chart run: 8-11-29-41-61
Billboard Hot 100 chart run: 37-26-15-11-11-10-10-11-14-18-20-24-33-38-48-51-58-71-69-72


'Cruel Summer' was originally a #8 hit for Bananarama in 1983. It was revived by Ace Of Base 15 years later, chosen by Jonas Berggren after the group's record label insisted on including a cover version on the 'Flowers' album. It was something of a compromise because the label were pitching for "summery, sunny songs" and despite the title of the track, it's anything BUT summery - at least in its original guise with melancholic lyrics ("The city is crowded, my friends are away, and I'm on my own, it's too hot to handle, so I got to get up and go") and a mid-tempo, slightly brooding production.

For Ace Of Base's version, the lyrics remained the same but the production was ramped up dramatically - it's much more uptempo and if anything it sounds more like a Steps album track, to the point where it has the same drum kick as their version of 'Last Thing On My Mind'. There's still a slight hint of darkness to the production, but the main intention appears to be the creation of an arms-aloft party track, a point most reinforced by the jangly keyboard breakdown around halfway through the song. It does work, but it's hard to imagine that the group were especially thrilled about it given the stark difference to the mix of the track they'd originally agreed to cover.

Indeed the composition of the 'Flowers' album (released as 'Cruel Summer' in America) was almost drowned in record company politics. After setting out a specific vision for the album, insisting on a cover version and then a new mix of it, the label then became concerned that the final product was "too bubblegum" for America and began ordering re-writes and remixes of songs whilst chopping vocals left, right and centre. In the end it was only the fact that 'Flowers' was selling so well in Europe that convinced Arista to go ahead with the release - and despite the fact that 'Cruel Summer' was a pretty big hit on the Billboard Hot 100, the album ended up peaking at #101. This track ended up becoming Ace Of Base's final top ten hit in both the UK and America.

184. *NSYNC - Tearin' Up My Heart (Released: 1997, UK peak: #9)

Chart run (1997): 40-61
Chart run (1999): 9-14-20-25-34-51-57-64-x-x-x-74-73
Billboard Hot 100 chart run: 59


Originally released in 1997, 'Tearin' Up My Heart' scraped into the top 40 in the UK and when 'I Want You Back' followed a few months later reaching #62, *NSYNC looked set to join the many late '90s pop groups who fell by the wayside. The group's subsequent rise to success is almost a direct mirror of the Backstreet Boys a few years earlier (including the failed UK launch with singles that would later be re-released to become much bigger hits), for whilst they initially stalled here, they were very successful in Europe, particularly Germany. As their debut album continued to chart highly across the continent, *NSYNC caught the eye of RCA who eventually signed and readied them to launch in America.

'Tearin' Up My Heart' was re-released in the UK in 1999 - although it had previously been *NSYNC's debut single, the second time around it was the follow-up to 'I Want You Back' which had been the group's debut single in America and had also became a top five hit in the UK following their re-launch a few months earlier. An utter MAX TRACK (quite literally - this was one of three Max Martin co-writes on their debut album), I think this and 'I Want You Back' really stand out amongst his many late '90s uptempo hits because they came just before he really polished and turned the formula into something that could be easily replicated across several artists' output. So whilst it's still recognisable as belonging to that collection of tracks, it's a bit more bouncy and lightweight than the squelchy, synth-heavy hits that followed it, perhaps because of the more European market friendly sound of their debut album.

Whilst it might be a bit more bubblegum sounding, it's still a fantastic pop track with an image and sound that feels a bit rougher than the much slicker (but at times over-produced) package they delivered with the 'No Strings Attached' album. Vocally it's solid as well - as a collective *NSYNC always relied a bit more on having lead singers than the Backstreet Boys, but both Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez are great singers that bring absolutely the right mix of energy and angst to the track.

The Billboard Hot 100 peak for this single is a little misleading since it was released shortly before airplay-only tracks were included in the chart. 'Tearin' Up My Heart' was a fairly strong radio hit, but had long since peaked by the time it was elegible for inclusion, hence the lone week it registered on the chart.

In the end the delayed success of the group's first two singles worked out fairly well - their original record deal with RCA was cut short when they (along with a slew of other acts) accused their manager Lou Pearlman of defrauding them of more than 50% of their earnings. The case was eventually settled out of court, allowing *NSYNC to sign with Jive Records and release 'Bye Bye Bye' in early 2000. Had 'Tearin' Up My Heart' been a hit when it was released in 1997, the three-year wait for new material would likely have killed any momentum they had.

183. Steps - Better Best Forgotten (Released: 1999, UK peak: #2)

Chart run: 2-6-11-17-18-20-32-35-44-45-47-47-62-70-75-x-57-49


Although in the aftermath of 'Tragedy' you might have thought choosing a follow-up single would be quite difficult, I don't really think there was a lot left on 'Step One' that could realistically have been released. After such a huge #1 single, Steps had found their market and although I think there are better songs on their debut album ('This Heart Will Love Again', mainly), 'Better Best Forgotten' totally embodies the group's sound at the time.

Although not MASSIVELY different from the album version, the track was subtly remixed for the single - the jangly synth-piano accompaniment is amplified, the ending was changed to fade out instead of dropping the beat for the final chorus and then just stopping, and of course Lisa Scott-Lee was given an additional "better best forgotten" vocal between the two "woah-oh-oh, ho-OH" sections pre-middle eight (predictably, you can SEE the determination on her face to make the most of the additional three seconds of screentime it gives her in the video). The end result reinvigorated my interest in the song and I still think it's a perfectly enjoyable release from them - albeit easily one of their most bubblegum pop releases.

Indeed it's the fact that this is so naff which makes it endearing - to say there was minimal effort invested into the songwriting would probably be a compliment ("And baby we can't pretend, in time the scars will mend", "The story has just begun, and darling what's done is done" and considering just how big the group's previous single had been, the video is ridiculously low-budget. Furthermore in later interviews this was one of the songs that Steps were openly critical of, admitting that their voices had been altered well out of their range somewhere between recording the mastering - the chipmunk-esque "woah-oh-oh, ho-OH" sections in particular ARE quite ridiculous, but as an uplifting piece of pop FLUFF, it all comes together rather well.

The end result evidently gave enough justification for people to buy the single despite the fact that 'Step One' had been selling steadily over Christmas and into the new year - the success of 'Better Best Forgotten' gave the album a few extra weeks in the UK top ten and most importantly provided a solid chart performance which suggested Steps weren't entirely redundant having scored a hit they were unlikely to ever surpass.

182. Madonna - Beautiful Stranger (Released: 1999, UK peak: #2)

Chart run: 2-4-8-10-10-14-18-21-21-21-25-33-40-48-59-72
Billboard Hot 100 chart run: 78-55-38-29-23-23-19-22-21-21-31-45-56-66-78-84-87-92-99


Written and produced by Madonna and William Orbit, 'Beautiful Stranger' served as the soundtrack single for 'Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me' and, like the film, was a massive success.

Madonna herself was of course on a commercial resurgence after the 'Ray Of Light' album and I felt at the time that this was a very astute move. The Austin Powers series was still very popular and her contribution to the soundtrack suggested she was still au fait with popular culture. Moreover, the fact that the song and video are quite light-hearted and very much conform to the sound and image of the movies suggest a good humoured approach was applied to the whole thing.

Yet despite the fact that 'Beautiful Stranger' is a bouncy, radio-friendly pop song, it's much better than it probably needed to be for a comedy/spoof movie. I think if you just take it for the way it sounds, with its psychedelic production and simple chorus ("Da-da-da-dum da-dum da-dum da da da-da dum, beautiful stranger") then you could almost dismiss it as a rather throwaway track. But I think the production is absolutely fantastic - it's constantly evolving and changing tempo underneath the vocals; whether it's the comfortable toe-tapping of the verses, the more brooding, atmospheric middle eight or the frantic crashing of the chorus - each step of the way it perfectly complements the lyrics. And that's another side of the song where Madonna and William Orbit's professional relationship really delivers - there are so many gems here: "If I'm smart then I'll run away, but I'm not so I guess I'll stay"; "I looked into your eyes, and my world came tumbling down"; "I'd like to change my point of view, if I could just forget about you" to name but a few - however the whole thing is just really well written and delivered.

The quality of the song was recognised when 'Beautiful Stranger' was awarded a Grammy in 2000, although it's not like anyone really needed convincing given how successful it was in 1999. In the UK it was beaten to #1 by S Club 7's 'Bring It All Back' but was a much bigger airplay hit - at one point it was the most played song EVER on UK radio, racking up 2,462 plays in a single week. It was second only to '...Baby One More Time' in terms of European success that year, peaking within the top ten in most countries. In America the song reached #19 on the strength of airplay alone since no commercial single was issued.

Whilst Madonna didn't necessarily re-visit this sound all that much in subsequent years, the one thing that did seem to endure from 'Beautiful Stranger' was the use of pop-culture figures within her music and/or videos in an attempt to remain "cool": Ali G, Pimp My Ride, Timbaland/Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, etc. That's not to say they were universally dreadful moves, but for me they never worked quite so well as they did here.

[Slave]

181. All Saints - Never Ever (Released: 1997, UK peak: #1)

Chart run: 3-5-6-5-4-4-4-2-1-2-2-4-5-3-7-11-19-25-30-37-42-50-52-70
Billboard Hot 100 chart run: 13-8-8-6-4-5-9-9-13-15-16-16-12-20-19-18-17-22-22


Amongst the influx of girl groups in the late '90s there were some quite fantastic singles released, as well as some truly ropey ones. But there were two tracks for me that really set their respective acts apart from everyone else, two songs that simply couldn't have been done by anyone else. One of them was 'Wannabe' and the other was this. At the time most girl groups could really only aspire to be the second best in the game when it came to a Spice-dominated market, but 'Never Ever's commercial and critical success easily matched anything the Spice Girls had released in the UK.

Although 'I Know Where It's At' had peaked at #4, it didn't really suggest that All Saints were going to be a MAJOR pop force, let alone that they'd casually release something like this as the follow-up a few months later. The opening 45 second spoken monologue is such a BOLD move for a group who really weren't THAT well known (and it's still a risky move for acts that are - lest we forget "the manifesto of Mother Monster") but I think it's absolutely beautiful as the lyrics pick over a failed relationship and desperately search for an explanation ("Was it that I never paid enough attention? Or did I not give enough affection? Not only will your answers keep me sane, but I'll know never to make the same mistake again") - I think they perfectly capture the self-depreciation most people have probably felt in a similar situation. The spoken vocals were actually lifted from a demo of the song but after trying several times to re-record them, the group felt that they couldn't replicate the fragility and sadness from the original take and opted to keep them in the final version.

The production over the rest of the song is equally fitting - some of the accompanying music is loosely based upon 'Amazing Grace', but I've never found that element of the track particularly noticeable. Although it's the vocals and harmonies which really take centre-stage draped over a mid-tempo R&B beat, there's actually more going on in 'Never Ever' underneath that than initially seems obvious - the verses contain a quite lively guitar accompaniment that sounds like someone just casually picking out some chords and having a quiet jam in the background whilst the choruses have a hint of the swirling electronica (and a weird buzz which is actually a little off-putting now I've noticed it) that would become much more prevalent in songs like 'Pure Shores'. Despite the moderately busy production, 'Never Ever' is only ever really BIG in terms of the wonderfully involving, memorable chorus. Otherwise it never strays too far from the soulful, stripped back elements of the opening - the second verse almost acts as a reset to the growth in sound and brings it back to the finger clicks, the piano and the group harmonies. I really like that All Saints and the production team behind the track had the good sense to avoid what other pop acts were doing and rather than try to be bigger, louder and brighter than everyone else, were confident enough to keep things grounded.

As I earlier mentioned, 'Never Ever' wasn't just the biggest girl group hit scored in the shadow of the Spice Girls - commercially it was phenomenally successful and despite spending a solitary week at #1 (albeit nine weeks after being released and having already sold 770,000 copies), remains the second best-selling single in the UK by a girl group, having shifted some 1.31 million copies. For comparison's sake, 'Wannabe' is the biggest selling having sold 1.32 million copies - and it's only in the past few years that it's actually moved ahead of 'Never Ever'. However many #1 singles they scored afterwards, this one put All Saints on the map and brought them to the public's attention. It will rightly remain their signature hit and musical reference point - it's not just a brilliant track, most importantly for a time of the decade where an alarming amount of faceless pop music was being PUMPED into the charts, it's THEIR track and I think people will always remember them for it.

[Nathalie Tauziat's Analpony]

It was only a couple of days ago I put the big five N*Sync singles back on my ipod shuffle and they really such MAX pop tracks - I think that and all the sunny weather have put me in a really summery mood

[Donna Winter]

JX is a MARVEL although sometimes I love 'You Belong To Me' (YOU belong to ME YOU belong to ME YOU belong to ME A love we THOUGHT we'd NEVER SEE A love we THOUGHT we'd NEVER SEE A LOVE A LOVE A LOVE A LOVE we THOUGHT we'd NEVER SEE we'd NEVER SEE) even more than 'There's Nothing I Won't Do'

Outside was just Outrageously Fabulous

'Better Best Forgotten' rather APTLY reminds me of NIGHTS OUT in the VERY DIVIEST of Liverpool's GAY DIVE BARS and thus I could never criticise it

[Devil]

Wow, five out of five tracks I'm fully on board with. Love the shout out to LSL's extra three seconds - they're my favourite part of the song It hasn't aged all that well, but to open with 140k or whatever after the album had already shifted a million shows just how big 'Tragedy' had made them. That video is SHOCKINGLY bad

I didn't realise all the politics behind the 'Flowers' project. It's still quite baffling that 'Cruel Summer' was such a genuine hit in the US

[Pipo]

CHRIST ON A BIKE

I youtubed Cruel Summer for nostalgia purposes and I'm listening to the FUN for Europe mix of Cruel Summer, what a fucking TRAVESTY! It sounds like Dr. Jones from Aqua omg TRUMPETS and that drum kick!

I had the album and this was not the version in it! Oh a quick Wiki search tells me the version I had was the Cutfather & Joe Mix which I no doubt prefer since it's more faithful to the original by Bananarama!

[VoR]

I LOVE the Big Bonus mix! It's so TRASHY

[VoR]

I presume that's the one you mean. This was the mix that was a UK hit:

[VoR]

As a side note, the Cruel Summer video is perhaps my VERY FAVOURITE mental Linn "Look, I turned up didn't I? Stop FUCKING FILMING ME" moment.

*sits in chair GLOWERING*

[Andricicle]

There was also a bilingual version with ropey French boyband Alliage, where Loopy Linn didn't even bother to show for the video! And who could blame her?

[Devil]

That one you posted VOR, that was the UK version? I've never heard that before! I must've always had the US one - I didn't even know there was two

[Pipo]

I presume that's the one you mean. This was the mix that was a UK hit:

blocked in my country but if it's the cheap synth dance version then yes, it is awful. I much prefer the laid back US Remix, it flows much better. The UK mix sounds very dated and their voices have been sped up in a terrible way

[That One]

The single version in the UK was the Cutfather & Joe mix:



It was track 1 on both CD1 and the cassingle

[Pipo]

As a side note, the Cruel Summer video is perhaps my VERY FAVOURITE mental Linn "Look, I turned up didn't I? Stop FUCKING FILMING ME" moment.

*sits in chair GLOWERING*

I was browsing for live performances of this song and stumbled upon this



Is that HER pretending to play the keyboard while trying not to face the camera?? lol

[Andricicle]

Indeed it is, and she did the exact same shtick in the "Life is a Flower" TV performances. By the time of "Always Have, Always Will", she didn't even appear on stage anymore!

[Slave]

The single version in the UK was the Cutfather & Joe mix:

It was track 1 on both CD1 and the cassingle

This was indeed the case - but the Big Bonus Mix is definitely the one that was most prominent in terms of the UK (and European) release. I have it on several hit compilations from around the time and they all use the Big Bonus Mix as opposed to the Cutfather & Joe one. Despite the fact that their performance on TOTP doesn't use that mix.

[Slave]

180. Peter Andre - Mysterious Girl (Feat. Bubbler Ranx) (Released: 1995, UK peak: #1)

Chart run (1995): 53-68
Chart run (1996): 3-3-3-2-3-3-4-5-4-3-7-11-17-22-30-51-52-66
Chart run (2004): 1-3-4-9-15-21-19-28-41-50-61


Peter Andre originally had a record deal with Melodian Records who signed him after he appeared on New Faces, a talent show in Australia. The singles from his debut album were mildly successful there, at least enough to draw the attention of Mushroom Records, who wanted him to sign a joint deal so that they could release his material in the UK. 'Mysterious Girl' first charted in 1995 at a lowly #53 and with his UK label about to enter administration, things were not looking promising for Peter Andre. Nonetheless, Mushroom Records pushed ahead with the planned singles and when the follow-up 'Only One' reached the top 20, they re-released 'Mysterious Girl' and second time around the track found much more success, peaking at #2 and spending 11 weeks in the top ten.

I think Peter Andre and this song in particular were my first real taste of the divisive nature of pop music. At nine years old, many of the girls at school were obsessed with him when this song took off - and in fairness the music video is perfectly pitched to send girls (and a few gays, no doubt) into a bit of a TIZZ with its shots of his gyrating under a waterfall and showing off his absurd six-pack. Yet it never felt particularly SEXUAL - he was marketed to be a poster boy (and Smash Hits/TV Hits/TOTP Magzine duly obliged) but there was always something a bit plastic and fake about it all. I don't think any of the girls at school ACTUALLY fancied him or had any pre-pubescent desires towards him, he just looked like a human Ken doll. Conversely, I remember thinking that Peter Andre just came across as a massive twat in the video which seemed to be the opinion shared by most of the other boys - although unlike the majority of them I had to suppress the fact that I actually quite liked the song.

Unlike the reggae-pop of No Doubt or Ace Of Base which at one time or another was genuinely popular for a brief while, 'Mysterious Girl' has ALWAYS sounded utterly naff. There's no getting away from it - just WHO was Bubbler Ranx? Did the record producers just go onto the street and pluck the first Afro-Caribbean man they came across to rap on the song? What does "Well I've been sitting by the phone 'oping you'd call, when time me hear your voice I feel ten feet tall, body weh you have a make de man dem a bawl, man a trip over man when time your name call" even MEAN? Ridiculous as it might be, somewhere between Peter Andre's abs and Bubbler Ranx's sheer nonsense, the song just works really well. It's full of memorable hooks and is no hapless that you can't help but enjoy it.

Indeed people went full-circle with this really and in 2004 when Chris Moyles championed it following Peter Andre's appearance on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, a re-release went one better than the original's #2 peak and 'Mysterious Girl' finally topped the chart. I'm sure there was a certain amount of irony originally intended but as we're now seeing with the plethora of '90s comebacks, I think people are genuinely quite FOND of the song as evidenced by the fact that it didn't just plummet down the chart after it hit #1.

Although he's much more a reality TV star than a successful chart star these days, you can't fault the way he's revived his career since 2004. He may no longer score chart topping singles (his last top 75 single reached #48) but he's as well known now as he ever was at his '90s peak.

179. The Rembrandts - I'll Be There For You (Released: 1995, UK peak: #3)

Chart run (1995): 6-3-3-5-7-11-10-12-22-28-53-69
Chart run (1997): 11-5-7-12-12-22-31-22-29-25-33-39-36-47-74


Surely one of the most recognisable TV theme tunes ever; 'I'll Be There For You' was co-written by David Crane and Marta Kauffman (the producers of Friends) along with The Rembrandts, though it was initially offered to several other groups before they ended up recording it. Originally the track was just 45 seconds long - the right length for the title sequence to the TV show. However shortly after Friends grew in popularity, a radio DJ looped and playlisted it as a full-length song leading to The Rembrandts re-recording an official three minute version at their record label's request and including it as a hidden track on their album 'LP'.

Despite the fact that 'I'll Be There For You' has twice reached the top five in the UK and generated massive airplay in America (though wasn't released as a commercial single so didn't reach the Billboard Hot 100), I think most people, including myself, really struggle to separate it from Friends - even almost a decade after the TV show ended, I can't listen to this without feeling like I'm listening to an extended version of the theme tune. It continues to generate a small amount of recurrent airplay, but I tend to see that as indicative of the fact that Friends has remained popular in the decade since it ended, particularly when it was pretty much the only thing ever shown on E4 until Channel 4 ditched it.

Yet that probably does it a bit of a disservice because however you see it, 'I'll Be There For You' is nonetheless an INSANELY catchy, jangly pop-rock number that remains dizzyingly uplifting and enjoyable, quite a feat when you consider just how many times it's been heard in the last 20 years. I would still find it somewhat bizarre to hear it in any other context than a title sequence, but I think it manages to extend beyond its original running time perfectly - the additional two minutes are every bit as infectious as the first 45 seconds where it could so easily have been a case of "too much of a good thing". Whatever you think of the TV show, this is about as catchy as theme tunes come and if you haven't clapped along like an idiot to the sound effect in the first verse then a) you haven't lived, and b) you're a liar.

Unsurprisingly, the success of the song and Friends completely overshadowed The Rembrandts. Because 'I'll Be There For You' wasn't commercially available in America, their album did get a bit of a sales boost and was certified platinum after peaking at #23, whilst in the UK it peaked at #14. Most telling of the effect that this track had on their career were the two single covers for the UK release of the single. The first (above) prominently features the band with a small picture of the cast of the show. The second (below) has a slightly different emphasis. Needless to say, this was the duo's only top 40 single.



178. Boyzone - A Different Beat (Released: 1996, UK peak: #1)

Chart run: 1-4-6-7-11-28-42-45-64-69-x-74-x-62-75-65-75


Arriving around a year after Michael Jackson's 'Earth Song', it's hard not to see this as a rather transparent attempt to recreate that track's success as a socially aware, environmentally conscious power ballad. Yet for the originality it lacks in terms of concept, the actual execution is great and amongst the swathe of Boyzone ballads that littered the following years (which mostly all followed the same structure, production and featured increasingly less interested vocals from Ronan Keating), I've always thought this one stands out as quite different and effective. For a start it features Stephen Gately most prominently on vocals long before he emerged as the group's joint lead singer, and that sets the song at a very different tone - his more gentle voice is given a ghostly echo during the almost-acoustic first verse creating a quite ethereal effect, particularly with the addition of the "ee-yay-oh" backing choir.

'A Different Beat' gradually unfolds into a more involving number with a twinkly piano melody and some rousing interludes from Ronan Keating. I particularly like the middle-eight: "I've seen the rain fall in Ah-free-ca, I've touched the snow of Ala-HA-ska, I've felt the mists of Ni-ah-gah-rah, now I belieeeeeve, in you" - lyrically it's all a bit heavy-handed perhaps ("Let's not forget this place, let's not neglect the our race, let unity become, life on Earth be one") but the way it's all pulled together definitely makes good on the intention behind the track. The video isn't QUITE as striking as 'Earth Song', mind. It features a lot of stock shots of African tribes (and some obligatory shots of small kids to tug at the heartstrings) dancing around amidst Boyzone doing a lot of fist clenching against a very exuberant wind machine - but the two parts of the video never meet. They might be trying to sell the message of a united world and many cultures coming together, but it's all done from the comfort of a warm studio with a lot of green screen.

'A Different Beat' became the group's second #1 single, and whilst it didn't hang around at the top until Christmas like 'Earth Song' had done the year before, it was still very successful and remains amongst Boyzone's longest charting singles. I do think it's a shame they didn't do more stuff like this because for me, it's far more interesting than the likes of 'You Needed Me' and 'I Love The Way You Love Me', however unoriginal it might have been.

177. Paula Cole - I Don't Want To Wait (Released: 1998, UK peak: #43)

Chart run: 43
Billboard Hot 100 chart run: 19-15-15-15-12-12-12-14-14-17-17-11-13-15-15-13-14-17-18-21-21-28-28-26-27-29-29-29-32-32-32-30-32-33-35-38-36-42-41-37-38-37-40-37-36-37-35-37-41-42-45-45-42-45-47-50


Whilst 'I Don't Want To Wait' ended up as the theme tune to Dawson's Creek, it was actually a significant hit beforehand - the song debuted in the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 towards the end of 1997, a few months before the TV show began. The track had been garnering strong airplay prior to its commercial release and although no doubt helped by its association with Dawson's Creek in terms of exposure to a teen audience that might otherwise have overlooked it, the single would likely have always been a major success due to the amount of support it had at radio.

I absolutely adore this song - I think it's incredibly well composed and considering it was written and produced solely by Paule Cole, has a superb sense of radio and commercial appeal. Her previous single 'Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?' was also a major success and it's quite unusual to find an act on a major label who wouldn't then be pushed towards writers and producers with proven hit potential in order to try and ensure another hit. The truth is, it's hard to imagine that 'I Don't Want To Wait' would actually have benefitted from any additional input or a radio remix - at just over five minutes, it never feels too long or like it's dragging.

Lyrically the song doesn't actually fit Dawson's Creek at ALL - the chorus works ok, but essentially the song is about a woman whose partner has gone to war and how he changes when he comes back ("He showed up all wet on the rainy front step, wearing shrapnel in his skin; and the war he saw lives inside him still, it's so hard to be gentle and warm"). It's never quite so depressing as it seems from the lyrics though - the whole thing is dressed up in lovely, summery MOR production with finger-clicks, those little "doo doo doo doo-oooooh" moments and a chorus that will effortlessly worm its way into your head and remain there long after the song has finished playing.

I'm glad that 'I Don't Want To Wait's association with Dawson's Creek didn't end up working against it - the song continued to perform well on the Billboard Hot 100 in its own right, as well it deserved to. The difference between its success in the UK and America is quite marked - it failed to reach the top 40 here and spent one week in the top 75. However in America it's still one of the best performing singles in Billboard chart history - it amassed 56 weeks in the top 50 despite never quite managing to reach the top ten. The only week it significantly moved either way was the week it dropped 21-28 - otherwise it crept up and down not more than a few spots for over a year.

[Slave]

176. Snap! - The Power (Released: 1990, UK peak: #1)

Chart run: 12-1-1-2-3-4-7-10-13-17-30-37-47-71-62
Billboard Hot 100 chart run: 81-75-50-40-28-25-21-16-13-9-7-6-4-2-4-12-16-28-38-56-77-91


Although I think 'Rhythm Is A Dancer' has probably aged much better, I've always preferred 'The Power' of the two well-known Snap! chart toppers. You wouldn't think that a hip hop/dance track from Germany could have such a colourful history, but the story behind the song is laden with legal battles and actually, the group and their label don't come out of it looking very good at all.

The official line is that Snap! were originally called Power Jam Feat. Chill Rob G - 'The Power' sampled Chill Rob G's 'Let The Words Flow' for the rapped verses, but the group failed to get clearance on the sample and were forced to re-record the vocals with Turbo B. That seems simple enough, but what eventually emerged was a more realistic scenario: Chill Rob G was signed to a small independent label (Wild Pitch) and in order to garner interest, a 12" single of two tracks ('The Court Is Now In Session' and 'Let The Words Flow') featuring vocal, dub and acapella recordings was circulated to radio stations. Chill Rob G allegedly warned that circulating acapella recordings was risky as someone could easily lift them and use them on another track - which is essentially what happened when Snap! got hold of them. Wild Pitch licensed the sample to Arista Records when 'The Power' was released in Germany but seeing how big a hit it was shaping up to be, used the opportunity to release a single (also called 'The Power') credited to Power Jam Feat. Chill Rob G in America. Although very similar, the Snap! version contains additional samples like the jangly beat that accompanies the majority of the track, which is lifted from 'King Of The Beats' by Mantronix and a re-recording of some of the outro vocals from Chaka Khan's 'Some Love'.

As interest in Snap!'s version of the song started to grow in Europe, Arista Records looked to America. Realising that they couldn't release a song very similar to something that was already in circulation, they hurriedly dropped Chill Rob G's vocals and recruited Turbo B, who would front the group over the next few years, to re-record them. Wild Pitch as a small label didn't have the means to promote as widely or as aggressively as Arista Records and Snap!'s 'The Power' went on to become a massive hit and because they were no longer using the original vocals from 'Let The Words Flow', Chill Rob G was left uncredited and Wild Pitch records saw no royalties from the worldwide success of the song.

That's not the only issue with samples though - the main hook ("I've got the power") was lifted from Jocelyn Brown's 1985 recording 'Love's Gonna Get You' and was again unlicensed and uncredited. A lengthy (and seemingly unresolved) legal battle has ensued in the years since 'The Power' was released with Jocelyn Brown seeking a cut of the royalties earned from the song. It's hard not to feel some sympathy for her really - her contribution is a massive part of the overall appeal of the track and is probably THE thing that has kept it in regular circulation over the last 23 years - it's estimated that 'The Power' has been licensed for use in over 500 adverts and films, yet Jocelyn Brown has not earned a penny dirctly from it and wasn't consulted over its use in the first place (there is some speculation as to whether the line was re-recorded, but it doesn't sound like it and even so, the songwriters of 'Love's Gonna Get You' could still claim royalties).

Despite the fact that the actual composition of 'The Power' makes for quite a negative read, the song itself remains utterly fantastic. I like the fact that it now sounds a little bit tinny and very early '90s, it makes the crunchy electric guitar riff somehow even more striking. The song was a massive worldwide hit - there are few countries where it didn't hit the top ten and as previously mentioned, the "I've got the power" hook still makes semi-regular appearances throughout the media. It hasn't had quite the same chart shelf life as 'Rhythm Is A Dancer' however; in 1996 it was re-issued with a bizarre bhangra rap in place of the original. 'The Power '96' peaked at #42 and the song hasn't charted since.