It’s been a great few weekends travelling and seeing friends, but I’m enjoying getting back to normal – it was back to work today, and other than the Blaydon Race this upcoming Saturday, I’m going to be enjoying a quiet few weeks – which means I’ll finally be able to get cracking on the house again!
Maybe by the end of June I’ll have broken the back of it. Maybe? I just have to hope nothing else gets in the way work-wise – you never know when you’re a freelancer!
Day 55 brings us to Now! #55, which came out on 21st July 2003.
Time for another round of summer hits!
Track 1: R Kelly – Ignition [Remix]
I’ve not thought about this one for a while. It was a big summer hit and was played in all the clubs in Zante when I was there with my mates. I still quite like the tune.
Track 2: 50 Cent – In Da Club
A classic. Love this one – it still gets stuck in my head every time it’s my birthday.
Track 3: Justin Timberlake – Cry Me A River
Nice tune, great epic atmosphere. Awesome track.
Track 4: Wayne Wonder – No Letting Go
Oh, it’s this one. The tune’s pretty dull, but it’s got some good instrumentals going on.
Track 5: Javine – Real Things
Nice epic blaring intro, quite like it.
Track 6: Kym Marsh – Come On Over
Very bland tune – not my kind of thing.
Track 7: Girls Aloud – No Good Advice
The tune and lyrics on this are really poor quality and awkward. It sounds like it was written by a twelve-year-old. Just awful.
Track 8: t.A.T.u – Not Gonna Get Us
Dull, repetitive follow-up to All The Things She Said. Should have been a one-hit wonder.
Track 9: S Club 8 – Fool No More
So after S Club 7 changed their name to S Club (see yesterday’s review), S Club Juniors then went and changed their name to S Club 8, presumably ’cause they weren’t so junior anymore. Confused? I certainly am.
This track is a dance track, but the vocals still sound pretty kiddie to me.
Track 10: Fast Food Rockers – Fast Food Song
We used to sing this daft kids’ song in the church hall at Girl Guides meetings back in the mid-’90s. I have no idea why anyone thought it would make a good pop song. Really makes me hungry though.
Track 11: XTM, DJ Chucky and Annia – Fly On The Wings Of Love
Highly irritating vocals, cheesy tune, dodgy misplaced pan pipe instrumentals over a trance beat. Appalling track.
Track 12: Lisa Scott-Lee – Lately
Uninspired vocals, bland tune. Not keen on this.
Track 13: One True Voice – Shakespeare’s (Way With) Words
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Too saccharine for me, but I suppose the tune’s alright.
Track 14: Bhangra Knights and Husan – Husan
Good tune, good beat – quite like this one.
Track 15: Tomcraft – Loneliness
Good head-nodder, very danceable. I remember this being number one for quite a few weeks.
Track 16: Tiga and Jake Shears – Hot In Herre
Fairly pointless cover of the Nelly track, which was only a year old itself at this point (see Now! #52). Jake Shears’ voice doesn’t suit the track at all, and all the fun is missing from the original.
Track 17: Lisa Maffia – All Over
There’s some interesting lines, but the track’s a bit messy in general. I could do without the two rappers shouting over each other.
Track 18: Benny Benassi and The Biz – Satisfaction
The track’s tuneless and repetitive, but the video‘s a dubious classic (I was NOT a fan of the awful hiking-boots-with-stiletto-heels trend it encouraged, which has unfortunately made a few reappearances in the intervening time).
Track 19: Deepest Blue – Deepest Blue
Boring tune, uninspired dance beat.
Track 20: DJ Sammy – Sunlight
Good beat, but the tune’s very irritating.
Track 21: Plummet – Damaged
Interesting lines, but there’s not enough of a solid tune for me.
Track 22: Paul van Dyk and Hemstock & Jennings – Nothing But You
Generic dance track. The vocals are quite nice, but it’s nothing special.
Track 23: Scooter – The Night
The high-pitched vocals on the chorus give me a headache, but the rest of the track’s quite danceable if it’s post-2am.
Track 24: Robbie Williams – Come Undone
Nice tune, but it’s a bit slow for me.
Track 25: Busted – You Said No
Urgh, whiny can’t-handle-rejection lyrics *shudder*
Track 26: Daniel Bedingfield – I Can’t Read You
Bland acoustic-y track with an annoying chorus, not to my liking.
Track 27: Amy Studt – Misfit
Nice vocals, but the tune’s not interesting enough for me.
Track 28: The Thrills – Big Sur
It’s nice that the mid-’00s festival stalwart bands are starting to make appearances. My mate Gemma absolutely loved this lot.
The track’s a nice retro-sounding soft rock tune. Love that Monkees reference.
Track 29: Coldplay – God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
Nice atmosphere – this one’s got an okay tune.
Track 30: Appleton – Everything Eventually
Slow to start (as befits the title). The vocal intro is nice, but after that it gets a bit generic.
Track 31: David Sneddon – Don’t Let Go
Boring slow tune – not keen.
Track 32: Ronan Keating – The Long Goodbye
Like the piano intro, but the rest of the track’s too saccharine for me.
Track 33: Darius – Incredible (What I Meant To Say)
Irritating tune that sounds like pretty much everything else. Utterly forgettable.
Track 34: Feeder – Just The Way I’m Feeling
LOVED this track at the time and bought the single – it’s still a great tune. I must have gone to see Feeder about three times that year, as they played the Glasgow Barrowlands a lot at the time.
Track 35: Sinéad Quinn – What You Need Is
Love the rock-edged instrumentals – this is quite a good track.
Track 36: Melanie C – On The Horizon
Boring, irritating tune. I don’t find Melanie C’s second solo album anywhere near as good as her first.
Track 37: Emma Bunton – Free Me
I find the tune really irritating, and it’s too slow.
Track 38: S Club – Say Goodbye
Slow and saccharine. You might have guessed I’m not a fan.
Track 39: Sugababes – Shape
Love the Sting sample – great atmosphere on this one.
Track 40: Jay-Z and Pharrell Williams – Excuse Me Miss
Some interesting lines going on here – quite like it, but it could do with a bit more melody.
Track 41: Mariah Carey and Cam’Ron – Boy (I Need You)
Boring, messy, irritating. Next, please.
Track 42: Ja Rule and Ashanti – Mesmerise
Urgh. Uninspired, repetitive tune, and the rap is awful. Not my cup of tea at all.
I used to drink a lot of Stella Cidre – when Geth and I lived in Southampton, our local Sainsbury’s often had it on offer. To be honest, Sainsbury’s probably do still often put it on offer, but as my drinking has massively reduced since I joined Slimming World, it’s been a very long time since the days when I would buy a whole box of cider to drink over the course of a weekend. As such, this cider is now a very occasional treat.
It’s got a lovely sweet taste, just the right level for an apple cider. It’s a real favourite, and now I’ve been reminded of it, I may start drinking it more often again. Not a whole box at once though! Those days are behind me.
Day 54, and Now! #54, which was released on 14th April 2003.
I don’t want to jinx things, but I’ve got a vague memory that this was the year when chart music started to improve a bit and became more rock-oriented.
Track 1: t.A.T.u – All The Things She Said
Loved it at the time and bought the single. It’s still a great tune, but there are obvious issues with the creepy male-gaze manufacturing of a couple of faux-lesbian Russian schoolgirls. I remember the Top of the Pops performance – the BBC refused to show a same-sex kiss on stage at 7pm and cut to an opposite-sex couple kissing in the crowd instead. We’ve come a long way since the early ’00s.
Track 2: Justin Timberlake – Like I Love You
I like the stop-start guitar at the beginning, but the tune to the vocals annoys me.
Track 3: Nelly and Kelly Rowland – Dilemma
One of my first-year uni flatmates was obsessed with this song and played it over and over. As such, I’m amazed I still quite like it.
Track 4: Richard X and Liberty X – Being Nobody
Dodgy pointless cover of Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody with an irritating ’00s backing track. I strongly advise listening to the original instead.
Track 5: Room 5 and Oliver Cheatham – Make Luv
Classic dance track, good head-nodder, though it’s a little repetitive.
Track 6: Junior Senior – Move Your Feet
I’ve always found the chorus on this one highly irritating, but the song reminds me of my friend Sarah (who loved it at the time) so it’s not all bad.
Track 7: Girls Aloud – Sound Of The Underground
Still really like this one – great atmosphere, classic pop track.
Track 8: Busted – Year 3000
Yup, it’s awful (although the sanitised Jonas Brothers cover was even more awful). I remember the looks of horror on everyone’s faces when the DJ decided it would be a good idea to play this in Studio 24 (Edinburgh’s biggest rock club at the time). It only happened once, probably due to complaints.
Track 9: Melanie C – Here It Comes Again
The tune’s a bit bland, but I like the instrumentals.
Track 10: Sinéad Quinn – I Can’t Break Down
Great Spanish guitar, great atmosphere. Quite like this one.
Track 11: Darius – Rushes
Irritating vocals, but the tune on the chorus is okay.
Track 12: Appleton – Don’t Worry
Slow, dull acoustic-y ballad with an annoying tune. Not keen.
Track 13: Atomic Kitten – Love Doesn’t Have To Hurt
Cheesy, generic song. Not a fan of this one.
Track 14: Blue – U Make Me Wanna
Great atmosphere, great instrumentals, but the vocals are pretty irritating.
Track 15: Jay-Z and Beyoncé – ’03 Bonnie And Clyde
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Love the guitar on this track – awesome theme, great song.
Track 16: Jaimeson and Angel Blu – True
Quite interesting for a dance track – like the atmosphere.
Track 17: Zoe Birkett – Treat Me Like A Lady
Generic tune, pretty bland really.
Track 18: S Club – Alive
S Club 7, now calling themselves S Club due to one of them having left. The music is as irritating as ever.
Track 19: One True Voice – Sacred Trust
Repetitive, uninspired song – this one’s very dull.
Track 20: Kym Marsh – Cry
Appallingly saccharine, twee song. Don’t like this one at all!
Track 21: Ainslie Henderson – Keep Me A Secret
Boring and generic. We’re really getting into the nadir of the talent show era now.
Track 22: Daniel Bedingfield – If You’re Not The One
Awful track – whiny tune, hugely problematic stalker-y theme. It really creeps me out.
Track 23: David Sneddon – Stop Living The Lie
Nice tune, but the vocals leave a lot to be desired.
Track 24: Robbie Williams – Feel
Lovely tune, great atmosphere.
Track 25: Oasis – Songbird
It’s better than other Oasis tracks of this era, but it’s still a bit drone-y.
Track 26: Turin Brakes – Painkiller
Good bit of soft rock – quite like this one.
Track 27: Coldplay – Clocks
The piano instrumental is nice, but I find the rest of the track pretty dull.
Track 28: Lulu and Ronan Keating – We’ve Got Tonight
Painfully bland cheesy ballad. Not my thing.
Track 29: Sugababes – Stronger
Nice atmosphere, good tune. Quite like this track.
Track 30: Beenie Man – Street Life
Good head-nodder, but the tune’s a bit boring.
Track 31: Cam’Ron, Juelz Santana, Freekey Zeekey and Toya – Hey Ma
Oh, it’s this one. Repetitive and tuneless, but I suppose it’s got a good beat.
Track 32: Nelly and Justin Timberlake – Work It
Double repeated artist alert! We’ve already had both Nelly and Justin Timberlake on this Now! compilation.
The track’s okay, but there’s a bit too much going on.
Track 33: Panjabi MC – Mundian To Bach Ke
Absolute classic – brilliant piece of bhangra. Love this tune.
Track 34: Scooter – Weekend!
More daft rave from Scooter, with some insanely irritating chipmunk-tuned vocals in the middle. The rest of the track’s quite danceable.
Track 35: DJ Sammy – The Boys Of Summer
Awful trance cover of the Don Henley classic. Not a fan.
Track 36: Divine Inspiration – The Way (Put Your Hand In My Hand)
More trance. This has got quite a good atmosphere, though.
Track 37: Queen and DJ Vanguard – Flash
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Semi-cover of the 1980 classic with lots of repetitive hi-hat over the top. It kind of loses the epic atmosphere of the original.
Track 38: Erasure – Solsbury Hill
Good to see Erasure back in the charts for the ’00s, especially as they sound exactly like they did in the ’80s. This is a nice synthpop cover of the Peter Gabriel song.
Track 39: The Mock Turtles – Can You Dig It? [Fatboy Slim and Simon Thornton 2003 Remix]
Nice feelgood soft rock song, quite like this one.
Track 40: Counting Crows and Vanessa Carlton – Big Yellow Taxi
Pointless cover of the Joni Mitchell classic, but it’s a good song whoever does it (well, maybe I wouldn’t be saying that if it were one of DJ Sammy’s trance covers, but you know what I mean).
Track 41: Richard Ashcroft – Science Of Silence
Dull, drone-y track, but it’s at least more upbeat than most of Richard Ashcroft’s stuff.
Track 42: Massive Attack and Sinéad O’Connor – Special Cases
Love the slightly spooky atmosphere on this one – great track.
I’m back in Newcastle again, for a good long while now! I’ve spent the last three days at the UK Games Expo in Birmingham, which has been a brilliant weekend. Geth and I went for the first time last year, but I think this year was even better, largely because we were able to travel down on the Thursday and have the full three days.
Sharpy came down on the Wednesday to play boardgames and drink beer with Geth (I did not partake in either, as I was furiously stockpiling Now! reviews for the weekend and being super careful with my diet in a last-ditch attempt to hit target – it worked, as I may have already mentioned). After I got back from Slimming World on Thursday – stopping briefly for a quick hen do lunch for my fellow SW member Alison – we all piled into Sharpy’s car and headed off down to Birmingham.
What was great about arriving on the Thursday was that after we checked into the Hilton and got unpacked, we were able to head across to the NEC and get our three-day passes without having to queue for more than a minute or so. We then headed across to Resorts World for food. Because of all the people arriving in the complex for two conventions plus various other things going on, we had to wait half an hour for a table at Pizza Express, but we were able to grab a quick pint in TGI Friday while we were waiting – and I bought my first boardgame of the weekend, a copy of vintage ’80s game Nightmare On Elm Street, which is (obviously) a tie-in with the film of the same name. A fairly good condition copy had shown up on eBay for a tenth of the price that it normally goes for, so in the spirit of the Expo I decided to go for it!
After the meal, we headed back to the NEC for a game of Sonar in one of the halls, and then to the Ibis on the other side of the complex to meet up with Heulwen and Laura (Geth’s sister and sister-in-law) and various other friends. Unfortunately, when we decided to head back, it was too late to get back through the NEC as it was closed, so we had to walk right round the outside of the complex. It took forty-five minutes, and at one point there was a torrential rainstorm. Not fun. When we finally got back to the Hilton, Geth and Sharpy went for a drink in the hotel bar, but I was knackered so I went straight to bed.
Friday morning proved that we had made the right decision in showing up on the Thursday evening – the queues for passes were just ridiculous! As we already had ours, we were able to go straight in, which was great. The morning was mainly spent investigating all the stalls in the main hall and then going shopping. I bought a few things – Mamma Mia, HMS Dolores, various geekery-themed scented candles and a cheap but important D20 (its function is to help with future dice-buying decisions) – but my main aim was to make a list of all the stuff I wanted to get on the Sunday. Geth, meanwhile, spent pretty much all his spending money in the space of ninety minutes. I went outside to meet him and Sharpy for lunch and found them sitting on a bench surrounded by bags and bags of games. I’ve got some serious reorganising of the game shelves to do this week.
Friday afternoon was spent chilling out and having a go at some new games in the open gaming room back at the Hilton, before heading through to the suite on the other side of the Hilton lobby to see the MMORPG Live show. We’d seen Knightmare Live last year, and this was done by the same guy, but it wasn’t anywhere near as good – there was too much audience participation for my liking, and by the end I was getting really irritated by the sound of fifty or so people all thinking they were funnier than they actually were.
Back to the open gaming room for the rest of the evening – it was great that so many people we knew were able to come and join us at our bit of trestle table. Due to a longer-than-expected game of Lords Of Waterdeep, Geth and I weren’t able to get quite as much of an early night as we’d planned, but five hours of sleep is better than nothing, and in the morning we dragged ourselves out to Perry Hall parkrun and got some exercise in.
Once back at the NEC, we met up with Sharpy and his girlfriend Steph (who had arrived on Friday evening) and we all had a quick go at a prototype of a game called Chocolate Factory, which was quite fun. We then split up and did a bit more shopping – I picked up Ghostel, some more dice, and a print of some Stormtrooper art for the house, and Geth got some paintbrushes and a board for his planned new hobby of miniatures painting – and then went for lunch, met up with Sharpy and Steph again, and headed back to the Hilton open gaming room to settle in for the afternoon and evening. Geth managed to go see the This Game Is Broken show, and we got lots and lots of gaming in with lots and lots of people before the late-night The Dark Room Until You Die show. We all made it until the interval at about half past midnight, at which point I think everyone drifted back to their various hotels for some sleep.
This morning, I went and did my big shopping haul – Timeline: Music And Cinema, some expensive-but-beautiful wooden inserts for all the Eldritch Horror expansions that we now have, another gorgeous piece of artwork for the house, some more dice (I have a problem) and a portable rubber dice tray that says ‘UK Games Expo 2018’ on it. Geth, meanwhile, went and talked to lots of game designers about games that he will probably buy at some point in the near future.
Then we went back to the hotel, got all of our luggage and piles of games down to Sharpy’s car and packed away in the boot, had some lunch in the sunshine, and drove back to Newcastle. It’s been a great weekend, but it is good to be home. With our massive haul of stuff.
Will we be back next year? Well, put it this way: Geth’s already booking the hotel. We’ll see you there.
Day 53 brings us to Now! #53, released on 18th November 2002.
Let’s see what was played at all the Christmas parties that year.
Track 1: DJ Sammy, Yanou and Do – Heaven
Trance cover of the Bryan Adams classic that was everywhere at the time. Give me the original any day.
Track 2: Las Ketchup – Aserejé
Daft novelty song with accompanying dance. It was fun to dance to in the Cav after a few VK Apples, but the less said about that the better.
Track 3: Enrique Iglesias – Love To See You Cry
Enrique Iglesias’ song themes are just getting creepier and creepier *shudder*
The Spanish guitar is nice, but I can’t get past the creep factor.
Track 4: Sugababes – Round Round
Great solid pop song, really like this one.
Track 5: Atomic Kitten – The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)
Pointless cover of the Blondie classic with a sort of extra bad song tacked onto the end of it. Should have left well alone.
Track 6: Blue – One Love
Irritating chorus, pretty bland otherwise.
Track 7: Darius – Colourblind
Another irritating, saccharine song. Not my thing at all.
Track 8: Busted – What I Go To School For
Busted are a good example of what I call ‘pop-pop-punk’ – very obviously fake ‘alternative’ aesthetic, present themselves as playing their own instruments, but they’re far too manufactured to be in any way actually alternative. This track is a bit of a guilty pleasure though.
Track 9: Liberty X – Got To Have Your Love
The instrumentals on the intro are okay, but then the generic vocals kick in and make everything very dull.
Track 10: Romeo and Christina Milian – It’s All Gravy
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Uninspired rap track with boring sung vocal interjections. Nothing exciting about this.
Track 11: Samantha Mumba – I’m Right Here
It’s better than a lot of the Samantha Mumba tracks featured recently, but it’s still pretty bland.
Track 12: Abs Breen – What You Got
Instrumentals a bit more interesting than most of these tracks, but the vocals are very generic.
Track 13: Britney Spears – I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll
Really awkward pointless cover of the Joan Jett classic. There’s just no edge to this at all.
Track 14: S Club Juniors – Automatic High
More irritating kiddie warbling. Let’s move on.
Track 15: Kylie Minogue – Come Into My World
Nice tune, but it’s a bit repetitive.
Track 16: Jakatta and Seal – My Vision
Fairly dull dance chillout track, though the vocals are good.
Track 17: Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Music Gets The Best Of Me
Highly annoying chorus – not keen on this one.
Track 18: Kelly Llorenna – Heart Of Gold
More irritating vocals and a highly generic dance hook.
Track 19: Milk Inc – Walk On Water
Yet more annoying, generic vocals. The tune’s pretty awful too.
Track 20: Jan Wayne – Because The Night
Starts off as a fairly pointless cover of the Patti Smith classic, then it turns into an uninspired dance track. The tune’s good, ’cause it’s a good song originally, but I get very irritated by covers like this.
Track 21: Lasgo – Pray
Utterly grating vocals, generic tune.
Track 22: Scooter – Posse
The shouty vocals are a bit daft, but the tune is good.
Track 23: Coldplay – In My Place
It’s Coldplay-by-numbers – dull and depressing.
Track 24: Oasis – Little By Little
Good atmosphere, but it’s too slow for me, and the chorus annoys me.
Track 25: U2 – Electrical Storm
Nice instrumentals, but I find the rest of the track too repetitive.
Track 26: Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott – Hero
I’ve always found the tune to this Spiderman tie-in track really annoying. Not a fan.
Track 27: Richard Ashcroft – Check The Meaning
The tune’s okay, but it’s pretty forgettable.
Track 28: Eva Cassidy – Imagine
Slow acoustic cover of the John Lennon classic. As ever with Eva Cassidy, the vocals are gorgeous, but the style is too slow for me.
Track 29: Vanessa Carlton – A Thousand Miles
Really like this tune! Great track.
Track 30: Badly Drawn Boy – You Were Right
Good, interesting tune – quite like this one.
Track 31: Ronan Keating – I Love It When We Do
Irritating chorus, boring tune. Not keen.
Track 32: Appleton – Fantasy
Follow-up band comprising half the members of All Saints. It’s got a slightly rockier edge than the All Saints stuff, but the tune’s not much to write home about.
Track 33: Ms Dynamite – Dy-Na-Mi-Tee
The tune’s a bit repetitive, but the chorus is quite fun.
Track 34: Beenie Man and Janet Jackson – Feel It Boy
Messy track, boring tune. Nothing interesting here.
Track 35: Daniel Bedingfield – James Dean (I Wanna Know)
Another dull, repetitive tune, though the hook on the chorus is okay.
Track 36: Eminem – Without Me
Classic and hilarious. Love this one, especially the fact that MTV still to this day mute out the ‘they wanna shut me down on MTV‘ line.
Track 37: Puddle Of Mudd – She Hates Me
Found the theme stupid at the time, still do now. The tune’s okay though.
Track 38: Bowling For Soup – Girl All The Bad Guys Want
Great track! Loved it then, love it now. Classic piece of pop-punk.
Track 39: Supergrass – Grace
Nice feelgood tune, quite like this one.
Track 40: Status Quo – Jam Side Down
Amazed that enough people were still buying new Status Quo singles in 2002 that this actually charted!
This track’s quite refreshing for a 2002 playlist – it’s the same kind of classic rock that Quo have always done.
Track 41: Raven Maize – Fascinated
Repetitive, boring dance track.
Track 42: Who Da Funk and Jessica Eve – Shiny Disco Balls
Dull dance track with daft, irritating vocals.
Track 43: Paul Oakenfold – Starry Eyed Surprise
Another uninspired dance track with ‘bonus’ generic rap over the top. A poor end to a poor Now! compilation.
This morning, Geth and I were able to go to one of our favourite parkruns in the UK – Perry Hall. It’s a lovely three-lap course with interesting out-and-back sections on the second and third lap, so every lap is a new adventure!
It’s also quite a small parkrun – 156 runners this morning – although I think it is getting bigger, as there were only about 120 when we last ran it about a year ago. The way the course is set up is really well designed, though, and you don’t really get sections where there are huge amounts of runners lapping each other.
I finished in 33 mins 33 secs, which is not bad for a boozy, foody weekend! Love this parkrun – will definitely be back again next year.
Day 52 equals Now! #52, which came out on 22nd July 2002.
Let’s see what dodgy trance and other chart hits we would have been dancing to in the clubs of Kardamena.
Track 1: Ronan Keating – If Tomorrow Never Comes
Super saccharine, irritating ballad. Not my kind of thing.
Track 2: Liberty X – Just A Little
I always quite liked this one. I’m not sure why, ’cause it’s not the kind of style I’d normally be into at all.
Track 3: George Michael – Freeek!
The song’s great, but the video‘s even better!
Track 4: Sugababes – Freak Like Me
Wonderful use of the Are Friends Electric? sample. Great track.
Track 5: Kylie Minogue – Love At First Sight
Good danceable tune, nodding along quite happily here.
Track 6: Enrique Iglesias – Escape
It’s a great tune, but the theme is super creepy!
Track 7: Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Get Over You
Great pop tune, quite like this one.
Track 8: S Club Juniors – One Step Closer
Urgh, it’s S Club Juniors. Even more irritating than their adult counterparts. Two of them would grow up to be Rochelle Humes and Frankie Bridge from the Saturdays, fact fans.
The track is as cheesy and irritating as you might expect from eight singing twelve-year-olds.
Track 9: Nigel & Marvin – Follow Da Leader
Daft chant-along song. I actually quite like it.
Track 10: Scooter – The Logical Song
Hilariously random dance cover of the Supertramp classic. Always had a soft spot for this.
Track 11: Dee Dee – Forever
Uninspired, irritating dance track with super annoying vocals.
Incidentally, my friend Sarah calls me Dee Dee, but I’d rather not be associated with this lot (who are a Belgian group of dance producers, apparently).
Track 12: Flip & Fill – Shooting Star
More irritating vocals, and the tune’s very grating too. Not keen on this one.
Track 13: Paffendorf – Be Cool
The hook’s okay, but it’s pretty repetitive.
Track 14: Kelly Llorenna – Tell It To My Heart
Super irritating chorus – not a fan of this one.
Track 15: Shy FX, T-Power and Di – Shake Ur Body
Good upbeat track with interesting instrumentals – quite like it.
Track 16: Tim Deluxe and Sam Obernik – It Just Won’t Do
Highly irritating vocals, repetitive tune. Not my thing.
Track 17: Shakedown – At Night
Oh, it’s this one. Annoying tune, dull beat.
Track 18: Moony – Dove (I’ll Be Loving You)
Another boring tune.
Track 19: Intenso Project – Luv Da Sunshine
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Repetitive and dull. This is becoming a bit of a theme.
Track 20: 4 Strings – (Take Me Away) Into The Night
Can I have an interesting tune soon, please? And preferably not a dance track as well. The bassline’s okay, though.
Track 21: Mad’house – Like A Prayer
Pointless Madonna tribute act doing a pointless cover of Like A Prayer. I have no idea why bands like this were actually in the charts in the early ’00s. Why not just listen to the original?
Track 22: S Club 7 – You
Another awful cheesy track from S Club 7. Nothing redeeming about this at all.
Track 23: Atomic Kitten – It’s OK!
The vocal is at least interesting, but it’s still very cheesy and annoying.
Track 24: Britney Spears – I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman
Awful cheesy song released to tie in with Spears’ awful movie, Crossroads.
Track 25: Ashanti – Foolish
Some interesting lines on the backing track, but it’s otherwise pretty dull.
Track 26: Mary J Blige – No More Drama
The tune’s quite nice, but the atmosphere’s a little depressing.
Track 27: NSYNC – Girlfriend
I’ve always quite liked this tune – it’s got a good atmosphere too.
Track 28: Christina Milian – When You Look At Me
Another good tune – things are picking up!
Track 29: Nelly – Hot In Herre
Stupid theme, but the tune’s a classic! It was played at pretty much every nightclub in 2002.
Track 30: Ms Dynamite – It Takes More
Great tune, great atmosphere. Really good track.
Track 31: Omero Mumba – Lil’ Big Man
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 3: Can’t Find It Anywhere!
It looks like the Now! compilers have finally exhausted the stock of poorer-quality Samantha Mumba tunes, ’cause they’ve resorted to including this appalling offering from her little brother. This song is so awful that neither Spotify, YouTube or DailyMotion have it available for listening, so we’ll have to move on!
Track 32: Aaliyah – Rock The Boat
Boring tune, not keen on this one.
Track 33: The Reelists – Freak Mode
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Nice tune, but I don’t like the vocals.
Track 34: Robbie Williams and Maxi Jazz – My Culture
Great track, really like this one – there’s some awesome chant-along bits.
Track 35: Amy Studt – Just A Little Girl
Highly irritating vocals from the off. Everything about this track is horrifically grating.
Track 36: Sheryl Crow – Soak Up The Sun
Nice guitar line, but it’s a bit boring otherwise.
Track 37: Doves – Pounding
Good head-nodder if you ignore the drone-y vocals.
Track 38: Space Cowboy – I Would Die For You
It’s quite an interesting track, if a bit messy.
Track 39: Idlewild – American English
Nice tune from my fellow Edinburghers here. Good singalong chorus.
Track 40: Puddle Of Mudd – Blurry
The tune’s pretty uninspired, but it’s nice to hear some rock among a world of bad dance tracks.
Track 41: Moby – We Are All Made Of Stars
Good beat, interesting guitar line – it’s just the vocals that are a bit dull.
Track 42: Oasis – Stop Crying Your Heart Out
I know there was at least one track off Oasis’ Heathen Chemistry album that I actually liked, but this was not it. Dull and drone-y track, not keen.
I had this delicious pint in the pub last night to celebrate hitting my Slimming World target. Yes, I hit target! It required taking my jewellery off, but I did it, and now I am thoroughly enjoying the weekend!
For some reason, I keep misremembering the name of this cider as ‘Happy Orchard’. Bit of a leap to make! Maybe it’s just because I was so happy about hitting my Slimming World target (I may be mentioning that a few more thousand times this week).
It doesn’t taste angry at all. It’s a lovely strong, sweet cider, exactly the kind of celebratory taste I needed. Will be looking out for this one again!
Day 51 brings us to Now! #51, which was released on 25th March 2002.
Let’s see what was in the charts as I was finishing high school.
Track 1: Enrique Iglesias – Hero
Nice tune, but the vocals are far too saccharine for me.
Track 2: Blue – Fly By II
I can’t really remember how this differs from the original Fly By, but never mind. It’s a nice enough tune, with a good singalong chorus.
Track 3: Ali G and Shaggy – Me Julie
A novelty song by a comedy character shouldn’t have this good an atmosphere. Shaggy’s contribution helps as well.
Track 4: Daniel Bedingfield – Gotta Get Thru This
When I was in my final year of high school, pretty much every first year had this as their ringtone (this was the era when MIDI ringtones were a thing). They would all sit on the bus showing off their ringtones on their Nokias, which is probably why I mostly walked to school that year. (My MIDI ringtone on my Nokia 3310 was the Bergerac theme tune. I never claimed to be a normal teenager.)
Um, the track’s okay, actually, when it’s not being MIDI-beeped at you from several different phones at once.
Track 5: Aaliyah – More Than A Woman
Great instrumentals, great atmosphere. Not so keen on the vocals, but it’s an okay track in general.
Track 6: Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman – Somethin’ Stupid
Fairly pointless cover of the Frank and Nancy Sinatra classic. Considered a Christmas song nowadays, as it was the Christmas number one for 2001.
Track 7: R Kelly – The World’s Greatest
Dull, cheesy, repetitive. Not my thing.
Track 8: S Club 7 – Have You Ever
Saccharine ballad, irritating tune. Next, please.
Track 9: Britney Spears – Overprotected
Annoying theme, but I quite like the tune.
Track 10: Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Murder On The Dancefloor
I always quite liked this track, although it became a bit overplayed when Sophie Ellis-Bextor did Strictly many years later.
Track 11: Kylie Minogue – In Your Eyes
Great atmosphere, great pop tune. Really like this one.
Track 12: DB Boulevard – Point Of View
Quite a nice tune, until the annoying vocals kick in.
Track 13: Lasgo – Something
Great atmosphere, but the vocals are really generic.
Track 14: PPK – Resurection
Yes, they did spell ‘resurrection’ with a missing ‘r’, and yes, it is killing me to have to type it out like that.
It’s a dance track with a nice hook – quite like the tune.
Track 15: DJ Aligator Project – The Whistle Song
Yes, they did spell ‘alligator’ with a missing ‘l’. Musicians must have had it in for proofreaders in 2002.
Irritating, repetitive track with a lot of whistle blowing, as you might expect.
Track 16: Flip & Fill and Kelly Llorenna – True Love Never Dies
Lovely tune on the vocals – really quite like this one.
Track 17: Hear’Say – Everybody
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Nauseatingly cheesy theme, irritating tune. Just awful.
Track 18: Allstars – The Land Of Make Believe
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Very bad cover of the Bucks Fizz classic. Poor quality vocals, muddy backing track, generally pointless cover.
Track 19: Victoria Beckham – A Mind Of Its Own
Messy, jarring track. Not keen on this at all.
Track 20: Steps – Words Are Not Enough
Cheesy, boring track. Steps had really gone downhill at this point.
Track 21: Geri Halliwell – Calling
Nice atmosphere, classic sound. Quite like this one.
Track 22: Rik Waller – I Will Always Love You
Uninspired cover of the Dolly Parton track in Whitney Houston style. Unless you’ve got a better voice than Whitney – and who does? – you should leave this song well enough alone.
Track 23: Stereophonics – Handbags And Gladrags
It’s a little less depressing than most Stereophonics tracks, but that’s not saying much.
Track 24: Nickelback – How You Remind Me
When I get annoyed by this song, I just remember a show on afternoon TV at the time where kids were encouraged to phone in and sing along to their favourite songs. This song is a lot better when the lyric about having ‘been down into the bottom of every bottle‘ is being creepily sung by seven-year-olds.
Track 25: Alien Ant Farm – Movies
Good pop-punk head-nodder – quite like this one.
Track 26: Sum 41 – In Too Deep
Another pleasant pop-punk tune – it reminds me of all the house parties I went to at the time.
Track 27: Puretone – Addicted To Bass
I always really liked this one – great vocals, great bassline (as you might expect).
Track 28: Christina Milian – AM To PM
Great tune, good singalong chorus. A favourite from that time.
Track 29: Ja Rule and Ashanti – Always On Time
Quite like the chorus on this one – I was really annoyed when it was covered by Raye and Mr Easi as Decline a few months ago.
Track 30: City High and Eve – Caramel
Irritating vocals, dull tune, not keen.
Track 31: Beverley Knight – Shoulda Woulda Coulda
Boring track, nothing interesting here at all.
Track 32: Samantha Mumba – Lately
Another bland tune, very forgettable.
Track 33: Backstreet Boys – Drowning
Dull, saccharine ballad – not keen.
Track 34: Mary J Blige – Dance For Me
It’s nice to have an upbeat track after some very dull ones, but the tune’s pretty uninspired.
Track 35: Afroman – Crazy Rap
The guitar’s nice, but the endless incoherent shouting at the start is really irritating. Once it gets into the track, it’s pretty dull and tuneless. Also, I’m listening to the explicit version, and I can’t imagine any of these lyrics would have been allowed on the radio or on a Now! compilation – maybe they just played an instrumental version or something.
Track 36: Princess Superstar and High & Mighty – Bad Babysitter
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Loved this one at the time! It was often played at Uluru, which was the pub that my mates and I frequented during my final year of high school.
Track 37: Platinum 45 and More Fire Crew – Oi!
Tuneless and repetitive. Not a fan of this at all.
Track 38: Goldtrix and Andrea Brown – It’s Love (Trippin’)
More repetitive beats, and the tune’s very forgettable.
Track 39: X-Press 2 and David Byrne – Lazy
I like the piano instrumentals, but I’ve always found the vocals really annoying.
Track 40: Jakatta – So Lonely
Fairly pointless cover/remix of the ’80s hit Ever So Lonely, using the original vocals.
Track 41: The Chemical Brothers – Star Guitar
Tuneless and messy. Not for me.
Track 42: Lange and Skye – Drifting Away
Beat-driven track that is so dull I can’t concentrate on it.
Track 43: Dreamcatcher – I Don’t Wanna Lose My Way
The tune’s nice, but it’s pretty generic and forgettable trance.