Geth and I arrived back home in Newcastle today after a lovely few days in Edinburgh – we ran the EMF 10k for the second year running, met the tiny baby daughters of our friends Lisa and Kieran, and had a good catchup (and Indian takeaway in Geth’s case) with my mum and dad last night. Great weekend!
Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #48
Day 48 means Now! #48, which was released on 9th April 2001.
Wikipedia has an interesting factoid about Now! #48: it is the favourite album of the character Kayleigh from Peter Kay’s Car Share (NO SPOILERS FOR THAT PLEASE, I know the final special episode aired last night but Geth and I have not seen any of the series yet and we want to catch up with it at some point!). As a result, it charted on Amazon in spring 2017 despite being out of print. Impressive!
Track 1: Atomic Kitten – Whole Again
Found it too cheesy at the time, still do nowadays. This was the one where Kerry Katona left and they released a new version of the video with Jenny Frost replacing her, so there’s still two versions of it kicking about on the music channels.
Track 2: Hear’Say – Pure And Simple
The first of the noughties talent show winners, which was where pop music really started to go downhill. Awful, irritating song.
Track 3: S Club 7 – Never Had A Dream Come True
It’s one of those ones that is a Christmas song nowadays. Nice tune, but it’s a bit overplayed.
Track 4: Nelly Furtado – I’m Like A Bird
I’d not thought about this one for a while. The tune’s okay, but I’ve always found the chorus a bit annoying.
Track 5: Shaggy and RikRok – It Wasn’t Me
Absolutely awful theme, but it’s a great tune!
Track 6: Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood
I remember everyone going on at the time about how ‘revolutionary’ the idea of a virtual band was, but really all it involved was the musicians using pseudonyms and getting some cartoons made for the videos. It’s a good song, other than the fact it’s a bit drone-y.
Track 7: Modjo – Chillin’
Slight ’70s tinge, which is no bad thing. The tune’s pretty dull though.
Track 8: Chocolate Puma – I Wanna Be U
Boring, tuneless, not my thing.
Track 9: Fragma and Maria Rubia – Everytime You Need Me
‘Every time’ should be two words ARGH.
Leaving aside their awful grammar, though, I quite like this tune.
Track 10: Samantha Mumba – Always Come Back To Your Love
I find the vocals on this one a bit annoying – not hugely keen.
Track 11: Britney Spears – Stronger
Great atmosphere, good tune, though I’ve always been really annoyed by that callback to …Baby One More Time in the chorus!
Track 12: Steps – It’s The Way You Make Me Feel
Nice tune. It’s pretty saccharine, but I still quite like this one.
Track 13: Emma Bunton – What Took You So Long
Good tune, but it’s a bit slow for me.
Track 14: Ronan Keating and Bryan Adams – The Way You Make Me Feel
It’s almost a repeated title from the Steps offering above, but it’s a very different song – this one is a dodgy nausea-inducing guitar ballad.
Track 15: Backstreet Boys – Shape Of My Heart
Super saccharine, but the tune’s okay.
Track 16: LeAnn Rimes – I Need You
Extremely boring ballad with overblown vocals. Not my thing at all.
Track 17: Damage – Still Be Lovin’ You
Another irritatingly cheesy track with a dull tune.
Track 18: Kaci Battaglia – Paradise
Nice atmosphere, like the Latin tinge and Spanish guitar. Good track.
Track 19: Martine McCutcheon – On The Radio
Pointless cover of the Donna Summer classic. Nothing new here at all, except the irritating ’00s hi-hat on the backing track.
Track 20: Kylie Minogue – Please Stay
Lovely atmosphere, with more Spanish guitar – loving that trend! Gorgeous tune.
Track 21: Bob The Builder – Can We Fix It?
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
I read ages ago (I can’t find a link so hopefully this daft concept has disappeared from the public imagination) that your ‘life song’ is supposed to be the song that was number one on your sixteenth birthday. Being a tail-end-of-Christmas baby, my birthday number one is usually still whatever was number one for Christmas. For my sixteenth birthday, it was this novelty charity single from the kids’ TV show Bob The Builder. I’m not sure what that’s supposed to say about my life.
Track 22: Eva Cassidy – Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Slow, acoustic cover of the Judy Garland number from The Wizard Of Oz. Beautiful vocals, but the style’s not my kind of thing.
Track 23: U2 – Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
I’ve always quite liked this one – good tune, interesting lyrics.
Track 24: Stereophonics – Mr Writer
Good guitar riff, but the vocals are depressing and drone-y.
Track 25: Coldplay – Don’t Panic
Oh, it’s this one. The tune’s okay, but it’s pretty dull.
Track 26: Texas – Inner Smile
Great tune, great singalong chorus – really like this one.
Track 27: Robbie Williams – Let Love Be Your Energy
Nice tune, interesting vocals, though Robbie Williams is still trying to do the Britpop thing a few years after it ended.
Track 28: Feeder – Buck Rogers
Great, classic singalong rock track. Loved it at the time, still really like it now, with bonus amusement at the notion that a car having a CD player made it top of the range in 2001. Also, I could never work out whether the lyric was ‘drink cider from a lemon‘ or ‘drink cider from eleven‘.
Track 29: Papa Roach – Last Resort
This pop-punk classic was a bit of a soundtrack song in my teens – we always had it blasting at parties and in cars and so on. I still quite like the track.
Track 30: Planet Funk – Chase The Sun
Nice tune, but it’s too repetitive for me.
Track 31: Safri Duo – Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song)
Good beat (obviously), good danceable track, though the trance bit is fairly generic.
Track 32: Dario G – Dream To Me
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Cover of the Cranberries’ Dreams. High-pitched classical/opera-style bit irritates throughout, and is joined by an uninspired trance beat. The whole thing is a bit messy.
Track 33: Jakatta – American Dream
Oh, it’s this one. Quite like the clangy instrumental, but it’s a bit dull otherwise.
Track 34: Sonique – I Put A Spell On You
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Spiky, upbeat, atmospheric cover of the ’50s rock ‘n’ roll classic. Really like this one.
Track 35: Melanie B – Feels So Good
Irritating, repetitive tune – not keen on this track.
Track 36: Mýa – Case Of The Ex
Great atmosphere, good tune, great singalong bit on the bridge and chorus. Good stuff.
Track 37: Chanté Moore – Straight Up
Highly irritating tinkly xylophone-sounding instrumental at the start, then it launches into an uninspired tune. The vocals are okay, but it’s generally not my thing.
Track 38: Joe – Stutter
Boring tune, irritating lines, annoying theme. Not keen on this one.
Track 39: Architechs – Show Me The Money
Too repetitive for me, and the tune’s very generic.
Track 40: DJ Luck & MC Neat – Piano Loco
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Nice Latin flavour – good danceable track. Could do without the added ‘wub’ bits and rap though, it makes it very messy.
Track 41: Fun Lovin’ Criminals – Loco
A slower type of loco here, maybe because there’s no piano this time. Still a good helping of Spanish vocals though, so I quite like it.
Stuff I like about my parents’ house #1: Rarities of Chinese Painting poster
This poster has been in the house for as long as I can remember…
…which makes sense, given that the exhibition took place a few months before I was born. The poster used to hang on the wall, but as Mum and Dad’s book collection has expanded, that wall space has been taken over by bookshelves, hence the poster being moved to the window shutters.
Given that the big work project I just finished a couple of weeks ago was on the subject of art in Edinburgh, I’m interested to see that the Talbot Rice gallery has been going for some time. No Edinburgh Art Festival back then, either – it all seems to have been under the banner of the International Festival.
I’ve always liked this poster – the black leaves are really pretty, and remind me of the numerous houseplants we used to have in the family home before they all died. The ’80s lettering on the poster is just a bonus!
Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #47
Day 47 takes us to Now! #47, which was released on 20th November 2000.
Let’s see what the hits were going into the winter.
Track 1: Robbie Williams – Rock DJ
Great, danceable, singalong track – loved it at the time, love it now.
Track 2: Modjo – Lady (Hear Me Tonight)
I don’t normally like this kind of repetitive turn-of-the-millennium house music, but I quite like the tune on this one.
Track 3: Ronan Keating – Life Is A Rollercoaster
Super annoying chorus, cheesy theme. Not a fan.
Track 4: Texas – In Demand
Really like this track – great tune. Love the video with Alan Rickman too.
Track 5: Bon Jovi – It’s My Life
Loved it at the time, still really like it now. Always had a soft spot for Bon Jovi.
Track 6: U2 – Beautiful Day
The perceived wisdom is that U2 took a nosedive in quality sometime in the mid-’90s, but to be honest I’ve always really liked the stuff off the All That You Can’t Leave Behind album. This is a nice epic track – I don’t like it as much as I did at the time, but it’s still solid.
Track 7: David Gray – Babylon
Nice chillout track, quite like this one. I don’t know why I’ve always liked David Gray’s White Ladder album, ’cause it’s not the sort of thing I’d normally be keen on, but I do enjoy most of the tunes.
Track 8: All Saints – Pure Shores
The soundtrack song for the film The Beach. I really like the tune on the chorus.
Track 9: Spice Girls – Holler
The now-Geri-less Spice Girls with a fairly bland tune. The end was clearly nigh, especially as they were all launching solo careers.
Incidentally, it always annoys me when British artists sing songs written in American vernacular. ‘Holler’ is not a word over here!
Track 10: Architechs and Nana – Body Groove
Quite like the hook, but the vocals are irritating.
Track 11: Craig David – 7 Days
Always had a soft spot for this one – really like the theme! I was really annoyed when it was sampled by Kojo Funds and Raye for Check earlier this year.
Track 12: Samantha Mumba – Body II Body
Love the Ashes To Ashes sample, but the rest of the track is pretty generic.
Track 13: Britney Spears – Lucky
This is a highly cheesy, irritating song. Thankfully, at the time, some of my mates at school livened it up by coming up with alternative German history themed lyrics:
He’s so lucky
He’s Bismarck
And he tries so hard at this union lark, thinking:
If there’s nothing missing in my reich
Then why won’t the states unify?
As a result, I think of nineteenth-century Germany whenever I hear it. Good effort, friends!
Track 14: LeAnn Rimes – Can’t Fight The Moonlight
Soundtrack song for the film Coyote Ugly. It’s okay, but the chorus is a little annoying.
Track 15: S Club 7 – Natural
Quite like the interesting instrumentals on this one, but the vocals are pretty irritating.
Track 16: NSYNC – It’s Gonna Be Me
Timely, as the meme related to this this track actually went viral again about a month ago when NSYNC received their Hollywood Walk Of Fame star. The track is a great solid pop tune with an awesome atmosphere – good stuff.
Track 17: Anastacia – I’m Outta Love
Great, classic singalong song. Really like this one!
Track 18: Tom Jones and Heather Small – You Need Love Like I Do
Two great voices on this duet, but I find the song a bit so-so.
Track 19: Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue – Kids
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Robbie Williams. This duet with Kylie is great, though, so I won’t complain too much. Nice upbeat track, awesome tune.
Track 20: Coldplay – Trouble
I like the piano intro, but one it launches into the vocals it gets very depressing.
Track 21: Martine McCutcheon – I’m Over You
Nice tune, but the vocals are super saccharine, which puts me right off.
Track 22: Kylie Minogue – On A Night Like This
Repeated artist alert…again. We already had Kylie on the Kids duet – give some other artists a chance!
This is a great track, though – lovely tune, good atmosphere.
Track 23: Steps – Stomp
Disco-tinged track, very Abba-inspired. Good solid pop song.
Track 24: Vanessa Amorosi – Absolutely Everybody
Found it highly irritating at the time, still do now. Twee, annoying theme.
Track 25: Billie Piper – Walk Of Life
Not my favourite Billie Piper track – it’s a bit generic.
Track 26: True Steppers, Dane Bowers and Victoria Beckham – Out Of Your Mind
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Quite like this one, mainly due to the tune on the chorus.
Track 27: Melanie C – I Turn To You
Gorgeous dance-infused track from Melanie C – beautiful tune.
Track 28: Delerium and Sarah McLachlan – Silence
Classic tune, lovely vocals.
Track 29: Sonique – Sky
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Slightly messy lines, but the vocal is nice.
Track 30: Zombie Nation – Kernkraft 400
There’s a common misconception that ‘Zombie Nation’ is the name of the song and ‘Kernkraft 400’ is the name of the band, but it’s actually the other way round. This misconception is especially prevalent in the goth/industrial scene, largely due to Grendel calling the track ‘Zombie Nation’ when they covered it. Great tune, either way.
Track 31: Storm – Time To Burn
Highly irritating squawky/scratchy instrumentals, uninspired vocal sample, generic electro hook. Not keen.
Track 32: Darude – Feel The Beat
Generic dance track for about two minutes, then it switches gears into a more chilled out version of itself, which is a bit jarring. After that, there’s some washing machine noise and it goes back to where it was at the start. Also, I’m pretty sure that’s a sample from 9PM (Till I Come), which is highly uninspired if so.
Track 33: Aurora – Ordinary World
Fairly pointless cover of the Duran Duran song with a dance beat over the top. I love Duran Duran (as you might be aware by now) so I’m always going to side-eye a bit when somebody attempts a cover. It’s still a great song, but nothing can touch the original.
Track 34: SuReal – You Take My Breath Away
Boring, uninspired, forgettable dance track. Not a fan.
Track 35: Madison Avenue – Who The Hell Are You
Too similar to Don’t Call Me Baby – guess they only really had one song in them.
Track 36: Azzido Da Bass – Doom’s Night
Irritating ‘wub wub’ bit at the start, then the rest of the track is fairly tuneless. Not my thing.
Track 37: Baha Men – Who Let The Dogs Out?
I’ve always quite liked this song and its comedy tone – it soundtracked quite a few summer holidays in the early ’00s for me. Great chant-along chorus.
Track 38: Nelly – Country Grammar (Hot…)
Generic, messy track. Too much going on and not enough melody for me.
Track 39: Sisqó – Unleash The Dragon
Nice instrumentals, but the rap is fairly generic.
Track 40: Melanie B – Tell Me
The squeaky intro is annoying, though there’s some interesting stuff going on with the vocals.
Track 41: Louise – Beautiful Inside
Good beat, but the vocal is boring.
Track 42: Gabrielle – Should I Stay
And we return to a dull ballad as the last track of a Now! compilation. Nothing interesting about this track.
Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #46
Day 46 means Now! #46, which takes us to 24th July 2000.
Let’s see what the hits were that summer.
Track 1: Britney Spears – Oops! I Did It Again
I thought it was okay at the time, but find it insanely annoying now after hearing it intermittently for eighteen years.
Track 2: S Club 7 – Reach
Thought it was insufferably awful then, still think that now. Cheesy and twee.
Track 3: Sonique – It Feels So Good
Nice tune – quite like this one.
Track 4: Mary Mary – Shackles (Praise You)
Great atmosphere, good tune. Happily nodding along.
Track 5: Samantha Mumba – Gotta Tell You
Loved this at the time and bought the single. I still quite like the tune.
Track 6: Gabrielle – When A Woman
Upbeat, head-noddable track, but the feelgood vocals are a bit irritating for me.
Track 7: Kylie Minogue – Spinning Around
Classic tune, classic video. Always really liked this track – it’s very danceable.
Track 8: Tom Jones and Mousse T – Sex Bomb
Another great danceable track that was everywhere at the time. Good stuff.
Track 9: Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch
Generally known as ‘the Discovery Channel song’, this one is an absolute classic – I’ve always loved that instrumental, and the theme is hilarious.
Track 10: Shania Twain – Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)
Quite like the folky instrumentals, but the vocals on this one annoy me.
Track 11: Billie Piper – Day And Night
Billie Piper going for a more grown-up sound on her second album meant that her stuff was no longer squeaky and irritating but was instead nice solid pop. This one is a great tune with a good atmosphere.
Track 12: Louise – 2 Faced
Generic, dull tune – not keen on this one.
Track 13: Aaliyah – Try Again
Great atmosphere, interesting lines. Really like this one.
Track 14: NSYNC – Bye Bye Bye
I don’t remember NSYNC being that huge generally in the UK, but this track was a fairly big hit. It’s got a good atmosphere – solid piece of pop.
Track 15: Damage – Ghetto Romance
You know it’s the noughties when lyrics like ‘body like a racecar‘ start to show up in the charts. Generic, irritating track.
Track 16: Steps – When I Said Goodbye
This was released as a double A-side with Summer Of Love, which is a much, much better song, so I can’t help wishing the Now! compilers had chosen that one instead for this summer release. If previous patterns are anything to go by, though, it’ll probably show up on the November one.
This track is a slow, boring ballad, and I’m not keen on those.
Track 17: Stephen Gately – New Beginning
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Nice atmosphere on this one, nice epic chorus. Quite like this track.
Track 18: Backstreet Boys – The One
Good beat, interesting instrumentals, but the vocals are pretty generic and dull.
Track 19: Moby – Porcelain
Oh, it’s this one! Nice chillout track, like the tinkly piano.
Track 20: Coldplay – Yellow
Another indicator it’s now the noughties: Coldplay show up for the first time. Yellow has quite a good intro, but it all goes downhill when Chris Martin opens his mouth, which may become a bit of a theme, as I’ve got a feeling this is not the last time they’ll feature on these Now! compilations.
Track 21: Richard Ashcroft – A Song For The Lovers
The Verve frontman goes solo. Unfortunately this track’s just as depressing as the stuff he was doing with the Verve, although I do quite like the sax on the intro.
Track 22: Black Legend – You See The Trouble With Me
Irritating house cover of the Barry White classic that gets rid of most of the melody. Not keen at all.
Track 23: Spiller and Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)
Great tune, great atmosphere, great danceable beat – love this track.
Track 24: Darude – Sandstorm
Oh, it’s this one! Classic dance track, great hook.
Track 25: York – On The Beach
Another dance track with a memorable hook that I’m guessing most people would recognise but couldn’t name. Quite like this one.
Track 26: Marc et Claude – I Need Your Lovin’ (Like The Sunshine)
Good atmosphere on the intro, segueing into a great dance track. Really like this.
Track 27: Frankie Goes To Hollywood – The Power Of Love [Rob Searle Club Mix]
Remix of the 1984 classic, which is very definitely considered a Christmas song nowadays and hence feels out of place both in May 2018 as I write this and in July 2000 when this compilation was released. It is nice to see some love for old ’80s tracks, although this remix only really uses one instrumental line from the track to begin with, and as such the first four minutes are fairly unrecognisable before it launches into the well-known first verse. After that, it gets a bit messy and super trance-y.
Track 28: Different Gear and The Police – When The World Is Running Down (You Can’t Go Wrong)
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM)
Irritating sample on the intro, before it launches into the remix of the 1980 Police track. It’s pretty dull and repetitive.
Track 29: Southside Spinners – Luvstruck
Boring, generic dance track with irritating orgasm noises over the top.
Track 30: Alice Deejay – Will I Ever
Annoying tune, not keen. I’m starting to fear that the imaginary ’00s nightclub (the setting for these Now! disc 2s full of dance tracks that started to become the pattern in the mid-’90s) will be even worse than the ’90s one.
Track 31: Angelic – It’s My Turn
Quite like the instrumentals and the atmosphere, but the vocals annoy me.
Track 32: Rank 1 – Airwave
Generic dance tune, very dull. Not a fan.
Track 33: B-15 Project, Crissy D and Lady G – Girls Like Us
Quite like the chorus, but otherwise it’s a bit messy for my liking.
Track 34: Lonyo – Summer Of Love
Quite like the Latin-tinged backing vocals, but the main tune is a bit cheesy.
Track 35: MJ Cole – Crazy Love
Really like the tune on the intro…then it launches into the world’s most annoying vocals. Urgh.
Track 36: DJ Luck & MC Neat and JJ – Masterblaster 2000
Cover of the 1980 Stevie Wonder track, with ‘bonus’ No Diggity sample. It’s upbeat and danceable, but I’m not sure about the tune.
Track 37: Tru Faith and Dub Conspiracy – Freak Like Me
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Great atmosphere on this cover of the Adina Howard track, later made more famous by the Sugababes. Love those instrumentals.
Track 38: Jamelia – Call Me
Nice tune, but it’s a bit slow for me.
Track 39: Vengaboys – Uncle John From Jamaica
More lively Eurodance from the Vengaboys. The tune on this one’s a little irritating.
Track 40: Fe-M@il – Flee Fly Flo
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
I’d forgotten about this daft call-and-response track. It’s at least different, but it’s pretty cheesy and annoying.
Track 41: Scooch – For Sure
Twee and irritating tune – not keen on this one.
Track 42: Atomic Kitten – I Want Your Love
I quite liked this retro-tinged atmospheric track at the time, but I find it a bit headache-inducing nowadays.
Track 43: Steps – Deeper Shade Of Blue
Repeated artist alert! Now I’m even more annoyed that they didn’t include Summer Of Love.
This dance-infused track’s got a good beat and atmosphere, but the tune on the vocals irritates me a bit nowadays.
Race Review: EMF 10k 2018
So, the EMF 10k, which is always a memorable race. I first signed up to do it in 2016, but then it turned out to be the wee bro’s wedding in Toronto the same weekend, and I obviously couldn’t be in two places at once, so I had to wait till 2017 before I could do this challenging race for the first time.
2017 certainly did not disappoint in terms of challenge – the 30°C weather, almost unheard of for Edinburgh, took care of that. This year was much more amenable with the temperature, and so not only did I take almost fifteen minutes off my time from last year, but I was only one minute and two seconds slower than the PB I set in Sunderland a fortnight ago. That’s pretty good going considering the ridiculous elevation of the EMF 10k and its steep climb up Arthur’s Seat!
Geth was only about a minute off his Sunderland time as well, so we’re both pretty happy today. Next up is the Blaydon Race in another fortnight’s time!
Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #45
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.
TV Review: Britain’s Fat Fight with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
In early 2017, I started seeing adverts for Newcastle Can shared by all my diet and fitness groups and in other places – Slimming World, parkrun, dance class, at my physio, in the doctor’s waiting room, on posters around town, etc. I’ve been logging my weight loss on their website (I’ll log my final weight on there when I hit my Slimming World target – only half a pound to go!), and it’s been nice to contribute to the city effort!
As such, I was looking forward to the accompanying TV series with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and I wasn’t disappointed – it was really great to see so much of Newcastle on the show, and it finally explained why there had been all these orange footprints around Central metro station a few months back.
As for the main discussion about obesity, it was interesting to hear the thoughts of different groups of people about ways of solving the problem, but I didn’t really feel there was anything said that I didn’t already know – although maybe that’s just because I’ve done so much reading on the subject over the last sixteen months since joining Slimming World. The conversation with the government felt pretty unfinished as well, so I’m going to keep following the website and see if there’s ever any update on that (the cynic in me doubts it, but we’ll see!).
All in all a good watch, and I think it’s important to make more people aware of the issue through TV shows like this.
Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #44
Day 44, and Now! #44, which was released on 22nd November 1999.
Let’s see what was in the charts as we approached the end of the millennium.
Track 1: Britney Spears – …Baby One More Time
Loved it at the time, bought the single. It’s pretty overplayed these days, but I still have a bit of a soft spot for it.
Track 2: Shania Twain – That Don’t Impress Me Much
I’ve always quite liked this one, and I love her daft leopard-print outfit in the video.
Track 3: Lou Bega – Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of…)
The turn-of-the-millennium Latin pop craze was in full swing by this point, and so songs like this were huge. I’ve always loved this one – the lyrics are great, and it’s really danceable. I know it’s early on, but I’m going to make this my top wedding disco track of today.
Track 4: Eiffel 65 – Blue (Da Ba Dee)
I absolutely adored this one at the time, mainly because people were constantly singing it at me (I had, and still have in storage, a bright blue chenille cardigan that I wore constantly between 1998 and 2004 – you can see it in the picture for the Now! #40 review). I still love the tune and the lyrics – great song.
Track 5: Steps – Tragedy
Daft, epic cover of the Bee Gees classic. I can’t not mention the ludicrous video, which I must have seen a hundred times back in the day.
Track 6: Geri Halliwell – Mi Chico Latino
Geri Halliwell hopping on board with the Latin craze. I quite like this tune, and I always appreciate a bit of Spanish guitar.
Track 7: Robbie Williams – She’s The One
I shouldn’t like this ballad (and apparently Robbie Williams didn’t like it himself for quite a number of years), but I do actually really like the tune. Not sure why, as it’s the kind of thing I’d normally find depressing.
Track 8: Ronan Keating – When You Say Nothing At All
Cover of the country song. I actually prefer this version, mainly ’cause it’s not country, but it’s still pretty cheesy and pedestrian.
Track 9: Melanie C – Northern Star
I had the Northern Star album and pretty much every track on it was a cracker – Melanie C’s solo stuff was far and away the best out of all the Spice Girls, and not just because she had the best voice. This track is beautiful and melancholy, with an absolutely gorgeous atmosphere.
Track 10: Sixpence None The Richer – Kiss Me
The tune’s pleasant enough, but I find the theme a bit twee and irritating.
Track 11: Texas – Summer Son
Really like this one – it’s one of my favourite Texas tracks. Love the instrumentals, love the edgy atmosphere to the song.
Track 12: Moloko – Sing It Back
Great upbeat tune – I’ve always quite liked this track. Happily nodding along.
Track 13: Bob Marley & The Wailers and Funkstar De Luxe – Sun Is Shining
Remix of the 1971 track that adds a slightly messy dance beat over the top. Still a great tune though.
Track 14: Diana Ross – Not Over You Yet
Dance track with a good atmosphere and interesting instrumentals. Quite like this one.
Track 15: Tina Turner – When The Heartache Is Over
I’ve always quite liked this tune, though it mainly reminds me of an episode of Ally McBeal in which Tina Turner featured at the time.
Track 16: Jamiroquai – Canned Heat
Really like this tune – one of my favourite Jamiroquai tracks – though before I became aware of the title, I always misheard the lyric as ‘candy in my heels‘ rather than ‘canned heat in my heels‘.
Track 17: Tom Jones and The Cardigans – Burning Down The House
I owned and loved the Reload duet album that Tom Jones did, and this was probably one of the best tracks on it. Great tune, wonderful singalong chorus, excellent stuff.
Track 18: Bran Van 3000 – Drinking In LA
Always really liked this one, to the extent that on the one single occasion in my life I have gone drinking in LA (at LAX airport in 2012 while waiting for a connection) I made sure to photograph the moment just so I could caption it appropriately on Facebook.
Track 19: Supergrass – Moving
I find this one a bit depressing – it’s just kind of slow and drone-y.
Track 20: Phil Collins – You’ll Be In My Heart
Boring tune, and I don’t like the country-tinged guitar.
Track 21: R Kelly – If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time
Slow, irritating ballad. Not my thing.
Track 22: Geri Halliwell – Lift Me Up
Repeated artist alert! This track’s a bit twee and cheesy, so really I think the Now! compilers should have just gone with Mi Chico Latino for this compilation.
Track 23: Tin Tin Out and Emma Bunton – What I Am
We’re certainly getting a lot of Spice Girls solo stuff at the moment. This one is a fairly uninspired cover of the Edie Brickell & New Bohemians track from 1988. It’s okay to nod along to.
Track 24: Martine McCutcheon – I’ve Got You
Boring ballad, depressing tune. Not keen.
Track 25: Backstreet Boys – Larger Than Life
The track’s a great danceable song (especially that epic guitar solo!), and I always liked the Y2K-themed video.
Track 26: Jordan Knight – Give It To You
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Interesting fairground-y instrumental during the intro, and there’s a good atmosphere to this one. There’s a lot going on, but I quite like it.
Track 27: Gabrielle – Sunshine
Nice tune, but it’s a little slow for me.
Track 28: Honeyz – Never Let You Down
Slow, dull ballad, and I don’t like those.
Track 29: S Club 7 – S Club Party
Another irritating track from S Club 7, though there are some good singalong hooks if you’re in the right mood (approximately six or seven pints should do it).
Track 30: Lolly – Mickey
Pointless cover of the Toni Basil classic, with the only change being the more muddy and electro instrumentals. Unlike with most pointless ’90s covers, I was actually aware of the original when this one came out, and I remember being totally confused about why someone would release a cover that was so similar, and why anyone would buy it (I did have a friend who actually bought it, though I won’t name and shame!).
Track 31: Ann Lee – 2 Times
Pretty, feelgood, interesting track – I’ve always really liked this one.
Track 32: Vengaboys – We’re Going To Ibiza!
It’s a fairly typical daft Vengaboys track, with the added major irritation that they don’t know how to pronounce ‘Ibiza’, so the lyric sounds like ‘whoa – we’re going to eat pizza‘. Which is definitely something to get excited about, but maybe not to the point of releasing a song.
Track 33: Enrique Iglesias – Bailamos
Loved it at the time, requested an Enrique Iglesias album for Christmas off the back of loving this track (and then it turned out to be an earlier album that didn’t have this track on it. Oh well). Still a great tune.
Track 34: Shaft – (Mucho Mambo) Sway
Oh, it’s this one! Great atmosphere, great Latin beat. Good stuff.
Track 35: ATB – Don’t Stop!
ATB using a similar irritating instrumental hook to the one on their last track, 9PM (Till I Come). Bored already.
Track 36: DJ Jean – The Launch
Annoying, repetitive hook. Not keen.
Track 37: Groove Armada and Gram’ma Funk – I See You Baby [Fatboy Slim Radio Edit]
Classic dance track, great vocal hook.
Track 38: Wamdue Project – King Of My Castle
I’ve always found this one pretty interesting, mainly due to the utterly incomprehensible lyrics (she’s doing what with her trestle?). Good tune too.
Track 39: Alice Deejay – Back In My Life
Irritating, repetitive vocals, generic dance backing track. Never really liked this one.
Track 40: Alena – Turn It Around
Boring dance track, nothing good about it.
Track 41: Tina Cousins – Angel
Pretty vocals, but the track is otherwise very uninspired.
Track 42: Liquid Child – Diving Faces
The vocal sample is awful, but I quite like the electro hooks.