Day 45 brings us to Now! #45, released on 17th April 2000.
Let’s see how chart music sounded now that we’d entered a new millennium.
Track 1: Gabrielle – Rise
The tune’s too boring for me – not keen on this one.
Track 2: Melanie C and Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes – Never Be The Same Again
Another gorgeous track from Melanie C – lovely tune, great atmosphere. This was a real favourite of mine at the time.
Track 3: Craig David – Fill Me In
Great upbeat danceable track, but I do find the chorus a bit annoying.
Track 4: Britney Spears – Born To Make You Happy
Urgh, super saccharine! Not a fan of this at all.
Track 5: Backstreet Boys – Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely
I shouldn’t like it, ’cause it’s a slow, saccharine ballad, but the instrumentals and atmosphere are great.
Track 6: Lene Marlin – Sitting Down Here
Too high-pitched and cheesy for me – no edge to it.
Track 7: Tom Jones and Stereophonics – Mama Told Me Not To Come
Great, energetic cover of the ’60s classic. Really like this one.
Track 8: Shania Twain – Man! I Feel Like A Woman!
Anthemic song – it did get a bit overplayed at the time, but I’ve always had a soft spot for it. Awesome singalong chorus.
Track 9: Geri Halliwell – Bag It Up
It’s a bit of a daft track, but I really like it. Another fabulous singalong song.
Track 10: S Club 7 – You’re My Number One
Nice retro-tinged tune, but the vocals are pretty annoying.
Track 11: Aqua – Cartoon Heroes
Good atmosphere to the track – this one’s sort of interesting, and I find I quite like it.
Track 12: Vengaboys – Shalala Lala
Originally a Danish glam rock track from the early ’70s, fact fans! Love that slightly chilled-out electro hook.
Track 13: Daphne & Celeste – Ooh Stick You
Hilariously awful then, hilariously awful now! Classic Pop magazine tells me these two are making a comeback as well, if you can believe that!
Track 14: Atomic Kitten – See Ya
Generic, squeaky pop – pretty boring track.
Track 15: Madison Avenue – Don’t Call Me Baby
I’ve always quite liked this one – it’s got a nice edge and is very danceable.
Track 16: Martine McCutcheon – Love Me
Quite a nice tune, but it’s pretty forgettable.
Track 17: Steps – Say You’ll Be Mine
Solid pop track from Steps – there’s a nice atmosphere to this one.
Track 18: Honeyz – Won’t Take It Lying Down
Bit more interesting and edgy than previous Honeyz songs on these compilations – quite like this track.
Track 19: Precious – Rewind
Another atmospheric track with great instrumentals. Good stuff.
Track 20: Montell Jordan – Get It On Tonite
Dull tune, but it’s got an okay beat.
Track 21: Fierce – Sweet Love 2K
Fairly pointless cover of the Anita Baker track. Too slow for me, though the tune’s quite pretty.
Track 22: Boyzone – Every Day I Love You
Slow, saccharine, generic ballad. Not keen on this one.
Track 23: Chicane and Bryan Adams – Don’t Give Up
Dance track, which sounds a bit odd with Bryan Adams’ vocals. It’s not very interesting otherwise.
Track 24: Fragma – Toca’s Miracle
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Quite liked it at the time, find the chorus annoying now.
Track 25: Moloko – The Time Is Now
I’ve always liked this one – great atmosphere.
Track 26: Artful Dodger and Craig David – Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta)
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Craig David. This track’s a bit of a legendary one though, inspiring the Bo Selecta! TV series, so they couldn’t really have left it out. It’s a bit repetitive for me, but it is a classic.
Track 27: DJ Luck & MC Neat – A Little Bit Of Luck
Interesting vocals, but it’s pretty repetitive.
Track 28: Sisqó – Thong Song
Awkward then, awkward and dated now. Let’s gloss over this one.
Track 29: Jamelia and Beenie Man – Money
Nice epic operatic-style intro, good atmosphere. Great track.
Track 30: Kelis – Caught Out There
Oh, it’s this one! I always assumed it was called I Hate You So Much Right Now. The verses are pretty dull, but it is nice and danceable.
Track 31: Artful Dodger and Romina Johnson – Movin’ Too Fast
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Artful Dodger. Really, the Now! compilers should just have gone with Re-Rewind for Artful Dodger and Craig David and saved themselves a couple of slots (especially as the number of tracks on these compilations is starting to get a bit bloated now).
I like the nice tinkly instrumentals, but the vocals are fairly boring.
Track 32: Nu Generation – In Your Arms (Rescue Me)
I like the Rescue Me sample, but the rest of the stuff in this track is pretty poor – it’s largely a lot of strange special effects.
Track 33: Basement Jaxx – Bingo Bango
Oh, it’s this one! Great Latin-tinged instrumental hook, quite like this track – very danceable.
Track 34: ATB – Killer 2000
Cover of the Adamski and Seal classic that samples bits of the original. Utterly pointless – there’s nothing new here.
Track 35: Sash! – Adelante
Pretty tune on this dance track, but it’s fairly repetitive, and some of the instrumentals are a bit headache-inducing.
Track 36: Watergate – Heart Of Asia
Quite like the Eastern-inspired synthy bits – nice tune.
Track 37: Progress and The Boy Wunda – Everybody
Love that Papa Don’t Preach sample – the rest of the track is pretty uninspired though.
Track 38: Lock ‘N’ Load – Blow Ya Mind
No melody, irritating screechy noise-based lines. Not keen.
Track 39: Precocious Brats and Kevin & Perry – Big Girl
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Bit of a messy mishmash of ’60s-inspired instrumentals and irritating vocal samples from Harry Enfield and Kathy Burke’s comedy characters. Not a fan of this one.
Track 40: The Tamperer and Maya – Hammer To The Heart
Quite like the electro line on this one – shame the vocals are irritating and generic.
Track 41: Cuban Boys – C vs I
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Oh, it’s this one. I hadn’t thought about this track for a long time, but the yodeling bit is still just as annoying as it was back in the day, even if it did spawn the singing hamster toy craze and provide great hilarity via novelty Christmas gifts for a couple of years.
Track 42: Robbie Williams – It’s Only Us
Nice tune, still sort of hanging off the back of Britpop. Great singalong chorus too.
Track 43: Blink-182 – All The Small Things
Absolute classic piece of pop-punk. I remember dancing to this on Millennium Eve – great times.
Track 44: Moby – Natural Blues
Great tune, but it’s a little repetitive for me.
Track 45: John Lennon – Imagine
This track periodically re-enters the charts, and has probably done so a good dozen times since Lennon’s death in 1980. Surprisingly, this is the first time the Now! compilers have picked it up though. It’s a classic tune – there’s not much else to say about it.