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.
