Post by Hervard on Mar 22, 2019 10:27:33 GMT -5
Last year, I posted critiques for the Shadoe Stevens years of American Top 40, up to its cancellation in early 1995, and as I was nearing the end, I got to thinking, why not go a little further and post critiques for the remainder of the 1990s? During that time, one show of choice was Casey's Top 40, which used as a basis the Radio & Records charts, which were very close to the Mainstream Top 40 charts that Shadoe used during the last two years of the show. Casey's Top 40 was pretty much in the same format as the old American Top 40, so that's why I decided to continue with that show, which itself was eventually replaced by the new American Top 40, in late March of this year, although they continued to use the Radio & Records chart. Anyway, I put each years' worth of songs in separate threads. As always, each song is listed in order of appearance on the chart. The number after each song represents the debut position on Casey's Top 40. For songs that charted in 1998 but debuted in 1997, check out this topic. Also, I used dark green ink to write down the charts, but that color won't show up against the black background, so I decided to go with yellow font.
JANUARY
No debuts to report the first week of January, as CT40 was doing part 2 of the Top 100 songs of 1997.
YOU'RE NOT ALONE – OLIVE (39) – Originally released in 1996 in the UK, from where this hip-hop trio hails, this song was re-released in late 1997 and, here in the US, the song was a one-week wonder on the charts (and this time around, hit #1 on the British chart). The song was OK, but nothing special.
MY HEART WILL GO ON – CELINE DION (24) – Since this was the theme song from an immensely popular movie (the first one to take in over a billion dollars at the box office), by a well-established artist at the height of her chart career, you would expect this to be a huge chart hit as well. That definitely applied here, as this song spent nine weeks at number one on the Top 40 chart. The song was played ad nauseum on the radio and, though I really liked it at first, I did eventually get very tired of it – in fact, the song almost dropped from my Personal Top 30 from inside the Top 20, which virtually never happened around that time, so that showed how sick of the song I got. It was pretty much the “You Light Up My Life” of the 1990s, especially because ever since it fell off the chart, you never hear the song outside of countdown shows.
KISS THE RAIN – BILLIE MYERS (29) – She was one of those artists that had two hits, the first of them being much bigger than the follow-up. This first song was another song that got heavy airplay during its chart run, but nowadays, it doesn't receive much, if any, recurrent airplay. I thought the song was pretty good, though nothing exceptional.
THE MUMMER'S DANCE – LORENNA McKENNITT (34) – Ah, a nice chill-out type of song here, by this Celtic singer from Canada. This was her only Top 40 hit and it peaked at #13 on the Top 40 chart. The song was most successful on the Hot AC chart, where it peaked at #3 and spent a good, long time on the charts. I thought it was pretty good, though I wasn't really into this kind of music at the time.
GETTIN' JIGGY WIT' IT – WILL SMITH (37) – Ah, a song from the greatest dancer! Well, maybe not; that was more or less a play on words about the Sister Sledge song that this samples. I was not a big Will Smith fan at all, but there was something about this song that I really liked, though I did get tired of it after awhile.
FEEL SO GOOD – MASE (40) – He was one of the artists who rapped on the song by the late Notorious B.I.G. “Mo Money, Mo Problems” and he also had a hit of his own, which got as high as #35 on the Top 40 chart. I wasn't a big fan of the song, of course, since it was rap.
I KNOW WHERE IT'S AT – ALL SAINTS (35) – This band was one of those acts that was the opposite of Billie Myers, in that their second hit was their biggest. This song didn't do too bad either, peaking at #17 and just barely making the year-end ranking, coming in at #99. The song was pretty good, but I slightly preferred the follow-up.
NO TENGO DINERO – LOS UMBRELLOS (40) – The only Top 40 hit for this Latin pop dance act was a Top Five hit in several different countries, including Denmark, where they were formed, and Austria, where it hit number one. Here in the states, it peaked at #38. The song was definitely quite different, but it wasn't too bad.
ARE YOU JIMMY RAY – JIMMY RAY (30) – No I am not, so get outta my face! This song was more a gimmick than anything else, and a supremely annoying one at that! The song wasted no time hitting the Top Ten, but thankfully, it began dropping soon after. If I never hear this song again, it will be just fine with me!
I WANT YOU BACK – 'N SYNC (35) – Another boyband came in to compete with the Backstreet Boys and Hanson, although the latter were pretty much out of the running at this point. I was never a huge 'N Sync fan, though I did rather like this song.
TOO MUCH – THE SPICE GIRLS (38) – Wow – the very same week that my least favorite song of 1998 hit the charts, my favorite song also debuted. The song spent eleven weeks on top of my Personal Top 30 chart and was on the chart long enough to become the top hit of that year. The song was actually the second release from their second album, which served as a soundtrack their 1997 movie Spice World – the first one, “Spice Up Your Life” just barely missed, peaking at #41. This song peaked at #19, which, of course, was nowhere near as successful as the songs from their first album and it would be pretty much downhill from here as fas as their chart career went.
FEBRUARY
ALL MY LIFE – K-CI & JOJO (31) – These two members of the band Jodeci, whom were on hiatus at the time, decided to record as a duet and did quite well, scoring two more Top 10 songs to add to the two they had with Jodeci, as well as a #21 hit. This was by far their biggest hit, spending seven weeks at #2, unable to dislodge Natalie Imbruglia's monster-hit from the top spot.
A SONG FOR MAMA – BOYZ II MEN (36) – This was the theme song to the 1997 motion picture Soul Food, as well as a track on the Boyz' album Evolution. The song was a number one hit on the R&B charts, but couldn't seem to push past #30 on the Top 40 chart, which I thought was a shame, since this was a great song – one that IIRC appeared as a LDD on AT40 several times around Mothers' Day.
I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN – UNCLE SAM (37) – Right below Boyz II Men is a singer who was signed to their Stonecreek Records imprint. This was another song that performed best on the R&B charts, but not so much on the Pop charts, where it peaked at #28, although it did spend quite awhile on the chart. IMO, it was a good song.
BRICK – BEN FOLDS FIVE (35) – A very heavy song, telling the story about when Ben impregnated his girlfriend when they were in high school, after which she decided to get an abortion, and the psychological effects on them after the procedure. This song was also a big hit on my Personal Top 30 chart, coming close to being the top song of the year. Nowadays, the song is a little depressing for my liking – somewhat of a chart regret at this point.
TURN BACK TIME – AQUA (33) – They dropped their bubblegum sound that they went with for their first two singles (including “Lollipop”, which stalled below the Top 40 back in December, 1997) for a more serious sound. Not sure whether or not that was instrumental in this song becoming their most successful Top 40 hit (peaked at #16). This song was good, but I slightly preferred “Barbie Girl”, which, of course, was their signature song.
TORN – NATALIE IMBRUGLIA (36) – This was the song that held “All My Life” by K-Ci & Jojo out of the number one spot. It ended up spending eleven weeks on top, becoming the second-longest running song on the R&R chart, behind “I Love You Always Forever” by Donna Lewis. Based on its long run at #1 and its 32 week tenure on the chart, one would guess that this came out on top for the year, but it was actually in the runner-up spot. The song that beat it out is coming up a little later on.
BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY – THE VERVE (38) – Not to be confused with the Verve Pipe, of “The Freshman” fame, this band, from Wigan, a town in England, also had a single Top 40 hit. This song's sample of an orchestral cover of the Rolling Stones' “The Last Time” was the subject of a plagiarism charge and, as a result, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were added to the songwriting credits. The song was pretty good, but nothing I'd go out and buy.
NOTE: The above chart, dated February 21, represents Casey's last show at Westwood One. The next two shows, still called Casey's Top 40, were hosted by David Perry, and the two after that were generically entitled “The Top 40 Countdown”. The weekend of March 28 was the official return of “American Top 40”, after being away from the airwaves for over three years. As stated in my intro, the show pretty much picked up where Casey's Top 40 left off, with the same show format and using the Radio & Records chart as a basis. As of the last weekend in March, American Top 40 will be the show referred to from there on out.
MY FATHER'S EYES – ERIC CLAPTON (33) – A personal song of Clapton's, inspired by the fact that he never met his father, who died in 1985, as well as referring to Clapton's son Conor, who died when he fell out of an apartment window when he was four. This song, which turned out to be Clapton's final Top 40 hit, peaked at #16 on the chart and was involved in a brief back-and-forth battle with “Truly, Madly, Deeply” by Savage Garden, for the top spot on the AC chart. During that time, this song did manage two weeks on top. As for the song, I thought it was a good one, though not quite my favorite song from Clapton.
I'LL BE – EDWIN McCAIN (38) – Now THIS was a song that took quite awhile to catch on. The song debuted the last week of February and did not hit the Top Ten until October! In fact, the song just might have been temporarily moved to recurrent had the rule been anything other than 25/26 (as by its 26th week (in the Top 50), the song was indeed at #25). The song peaked at #9 and, due to its long chart tenure (42 weeks in all), the song wound up at #18 on the year-ender.
SEX AND CANDY – MARCY PLAYGROUND (39) – This alternative rock band from San Diego had several hits on the rock charts, but only managed to have one pop hit. However, they definitely made it count, as the song got as high as #3, where it held for four weeks in May and June. I rather liked the song – takes me back to my days at the good ol' pizza joint!
MARCH
FROZEN – MADONNA (15) – This was the highest debut in the Top 40 in recent memory (it had been at #45 the previous week, so it did not debut on the entire chart that high). This was the first of four singles (released here in the states, anyway) from Madonna's 1998 album Ray Of Light. At this point, her songs were not quite as good as they used to be. This song wasn't too bad, but I preferred many of her earlier hits.
IT'S UP TO YOU – THE TUESDAYS (34) – Late in 1997, a band called the Sundays had a Top Ten AC hit called “Summertime”. Now, we have another band naming themselves after a day of the week. This Norwegian band, formed back in 1990, originally released this song from their first album When You're A Tuesday Girl in 1994, but not in the United States. They included this song on their self-titled second album and it did pretty well, peaking at #21. I liked it a lot – had sort of an early-80s flavor to it.
ME – PAULA COLE (37) – This song suffered Third Single Syndrome somewhat – after the first two singles from This Fire hit the Top Five, this one only got as high as #20, but it did stay on the chart for three months – not bad for a song that barely hit the Top 20. Lyrically, it's deeper than her previous two hits. I rather liked it, but still preferred “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone”.
A PROMISE I MAKE – DAKOTA MOON (40) – This song, by a rock band from L.A., was a very successful hit on the AC chart, where it peaked at #7, but could not seem to push past #31 on the Pop chart. Too bad, as I thought it was a good song.
DO YOU REALLY WANT ME – ROBYN (32) – This was the third and final single from this Swedish artist, all from her debut album Robyn Is Here. Though it was a pretty good song, I did not like it quite as much as the first two. Apparently, the pop audience felt the same, as this song did not last quite as long as those songs, though it was a Top Ten hit.
NICE AND SLOW – USHER (37) – Mr. Raymond's second Top 40 hit peaked significantly lower than his debut single, but it definitely showed tenacity, as it spent 20 weeks on the (Top 50) chart and even made an encore appearance in the Top 40 after dropping out for a week near the end of its run. It was a number one single on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Urban chart. I liked the song – especially on the Rick Dees show, when one of the staff members (Teniqua, I believe) pretended to be the girl that Usher was talking to in that one-sided phone conversation at the beginning.
AMNESIA – CHUMBAWAMBA (39) – They had that big hit at the end of 1997 called “Tubthumping”, and the tried to repeat its success with a follow-up. This song didn't do too bad, though, peaking at #18. It did not stay around very long and, unsurprisingly, was their final Top 40 hit. The song was pretty good, IMO – that #1 song was a little loud and obnoxious for my liking.
OPEN UP YOUR EYES – TONIC (40) – Here's another example of the “one huge hit, one minor hit, kaput” routine. Of course, they were most famous for their Top Ten hit “If You Could Only See”, but their second release, on the other hand, barely touched the Top 30. I actually preferred this song, since it wasn't quite as overplayed. This song reminds me a lot of bike riding around the lakes, which I did a lot of in the spring of 1998, often taking along tapes I had made of the Rick Dees show to listen to on my Walkman. I somehow remember this song playing several times during my rides. A great song indeed!
SOUTHAMPTON – JAMES HORNER (39) – This man, born in L.A., was a renowned composer, conductor and film score orchestrator. The Titanic was one of 100 that he did and this song actually made it to the Top 40, although this was the highest the song got. The only version I heard of this song included dialogue from the movie, which, as I've said before, I don't like, since it takes away from the beauty of the original song.
(At this point was the return of American Top 40 with Casey Kasem)
EVERYBODY (BACKSTREET'S BACK) – BACKSTREET BOYS (34) – The second single and more or less the title track from their second album Backstreet's Back, this was one of their gimmick songs that I tended not to like as much as their other hits.
YOU'RE STILL THE ONE – SHANIA TWAIN (37) – She had been charting at country for five years before crossing over to Pop. This was her first Top 40 hit and the most successful country crossover in recent memory, peaking at #3 and logging over a half a year on the chart. Back in the day, I had a crush on Shania Twain, so I liked pretty much everything by her as a result (I even had a poster of her on the bulletin board I had hanging up in my room). The crush, of course, has long since faded, as has my fascination for this song, which was quite overplayed.
APRIL
ANYTIME – BRIAN McKNIGHT (36) – This Buffalo, NY native had a pair of hits back in 1993 and made a pretty decent comeback, with two more Top Ten hits. This was the first one, the title track and only hit from his third studio album. It was a pretty decent song – nice and mellow.
WEIRD – HANSON (37) – This was the fourth and final Top 40 hit from their multi-platinum album Middle Of Nowhere. The song was a ballad, like their previous hit, “I Will Come To You”. However, I prefer this song over that one – not quite as schmaltzy as that song,
IT'S YOUR LOVE – SHE MOVES (39) – I vaguely remember this ballad, but then again, it was only on the chart for a few weeks (and usually replaced by a Hot AC song on the Rick Dees show). It was pretty good, though a tad cheesy. Not sure if I preferred this or “Breaking All The Rules”.
THIS IS HOW WE PARTY – S.O.A.P. (37) – This Danish duo, consisting of sisters Heidi and Saseline Sorenson, were a one-hit wonder on the Top 40 charts (no surprise, as they disbanded after two albums). I have a feeling that had they waited another month to release this, it might have done better, as it sounded like a song ideal for summertime. I thought it was pretty good, though nothing exceptional.
NO NO NO – DESTINY'S CHILD (40) – Ah, the breakthrough hit for one of the most successful R&B girl groups of all time. Their first hit peaked at #28, but stayed on the chart for quite awhile – looks like one of those sporadic songs that did well where played. The song was not bad, but I generally preferred their material from the 2000s, which was when they really hit the big time.
MY ALL – MARIAH CAREY (33) – Due to a conflict that Mariah had with Sony Music Entertainment, her record label at the time, the third and fourth singles from Butterfly (“The Roof” and “Breakdown”) were given limited worldwide release that did not include the U.S. As a result, the fifth single was only the third single from the album to hit the American charts. The song was a good one, but one of several ballads from her that were later remixed into dance versions that seemed to overtake the original, which, as I think I've made abundantly clear, I did not like.
ADIA – SARAH McLACHLAN (39) – The third release from Surfacing, this beautiful ballad was easily my favorite of the four singles from the album. Sarah describes the song about “(her) problems in dealing with feeling responsible for everyone else”. I'm kind of surprised that this song only got as high as #16, with all the airplay it got. Of course, I also listened to AC and Hot AC, where she hit the Top Ten at both formats, during that summer. Definitely a great song!
SIN SO WELL – REBEKAH (33) – This singer/actress from Cleveland released five albums, but had only one Top 40 single, from her debut album Remember To Breathe. I had to give ths one a listen on YouTube, since I had forgotten how it goes, but I do remember it now. It was a good song!
SEARCHIN' MY SOUL – VONDA SHEPARD (36) – Born in the Big Apple, this singer and actress hit the Top 40 in the summer of 1987 with her duet with Dan Hill “Can't We Try”. That song, of course, relieved Hill of his long-term one-hit wonder status and this song did the same for Shepard. Of course, this was the theme song for the TV series Ally McBeal, in which Shepard herself starred. The song peaked at #12 and was her last Top 40 hit, but she continued to be a regular in the show until its cancellation in the spring of 2002. As for the song, I wasn't a big fan of it. I preferred said Dan Hill duet by a fair margin
LET'S FORGET ABOUT IT – LISA LOEB (37) – Her second of two solo hits, as well as her final hit overall. I really liked it and felt it was somewhat underrated, as it only got as high as #34 and didn't stay around for long at all.
MAY
At this point, U93 had switched back to the CHR version of the Rick Dees show, so I'll be familiar with most of the songs from here on out – the only exceptions would be the R&B/rap songs that he either always skipped over or the low-charting ones that he did not chart (though he used the R&R chart, he sometimes monkeyed around with the chart near the bottom). I still did not have access to the new American Top 40, though – that did not come to my area until early 2002, when WKSC (Kiss FM) in Chicago picked up on the show.
IRIS – THE GOO GOO DOLLS (29) – This is the song that beat out “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia for top song of 1998. While it's true that this song spent seven less weeks at #1, the song spent much longer in the Top Ten (28 weeks vs. 21 weeks for “Torn”), plus it held at #2 for seven weeks when it dropped out of the top spot, so that's how it managed to grab the gold for 1998, although I imagine that the margin was rather slim. As for the song, it was a great one – possibly my favorite from them!
THE WAY – FASTBALL (31) – The first of four Top 40 hits from this Alternative rock band from Austin. The song was about an elderly couple who decide to leave their life behind by packing their stuff together and, without telling their kids, start driving aimlessly. The car eventually breaks down, so they abandon it and continue on foot. It never is known what happens to them by the end of the song, however. I thought it was a pretty good song – not sure if I prefer this or their other Top Ten, “Out Of My Head”.
UNINVITED – ALANIS MORISSETTE (38) – This was her first Top 40 hit since late 1996, when “Head Over Feet” hit #1. She picked right up where she left off, taking this song all the way to the top. This was one of three singles released from the City Of Angels soundtrack (as was “Iris” above. I really liked the haunting melody of this song – would be perfect for a haunted house!
HAVE FUN, GO MAD – BLAIR (40) – A British actor/singer (whose full name is Blair MacKitchan). This song was featured on the soundtrack for several movies since 1995, finally becoming a hit from the soundtrack of the movie Sliding Doors. I really liked the song – very catchy.
TOO CLOSE – NEXT (35) – This R&B band from Minneapolis had only one really big hit (along with two minor ones) on the Top 40 chart, but were most successful on the R&B charts, where this was a number one hit. This didn't do too shabby on the Top 40 chart either, peaking at #6 and it stuck around for quite awhile – well into November. The song was not bad, but quite overplayed.
I GET LONELY – JANET (38) – As big an album as the Velvet Rope was, it's a surprise that it only yielded a single Top Ten hit. Sure, there were other songs released from it – five here in the States, but none of them made the Top Ten on the Top 40 chart. This song came nowhere near, peaking at #32. No matter; it was a Top Ten hit at many other formats, including the R&B chart, where it hit #1. There was also a remix of the song that topped the dance charts. Not sure if Dees ever played the remix, but I preferred the slow version.
TIME AGO – BLACK LAB (39) – One of many Alternative one-hit wonders that charted in the late 1990s. This Berkeley, California band peaked at #33 on the Top 40 chart. The song didn't even do very well on the rock charts, peaking in the 20's on both of them, which is kind of surprising, as it's pretty much typical late-90s alternative rock music.
HEROES – THE WALLFLOWERS (40) – Originally recorded by David Bowie in 1977, this song was covered by the Wallflowers for the soundtrack to the movie Godzilla, which was set for release on May 20. The song was pretty much the only song on the soundtrack that did anything on the Top 40 charts, peaking at #21. Not sure if I prefer this or the original.
KIND & GENEROUS – NATALIE MERCHANT (36) – The first and only Top 40 hit from her sophomore album Ophelia. The song was OK, but very repetitive. This song turned out to be Merchant's final Top 40 entry.
ZOOT SUIT RIOT – CHERRY-POPPIN' DADDIES (39) – They were one of several bands to resurrect the popularity of ska-swing music in the late-1990s, even though this was their only Top 40 hit, peaking at #28. It did slightly better at Hot AC and Mainstream Rock, hitting the Top 20 on both charts. “Weird Al” Yankovic did a pretty funny parody of this song, called “Grapefruit Diet”.
RAY OF LIGHT – MADONNA (30) – This was the second single to be released from her album of the same title. It seemed to have that perfect summer sound to it, though it peaked somewhat quickly, at #10 and then moved down the chart. I liked this song at first, but got tired of it a little quickly.
NEVER EVER – ALL SAINTS (39) – This was the second of theit two Top 40 hits and the most successful, hitting the Top Five and spending an impressive 31 weeks on the chart. The funny thing is, it did not reach its peak of #5 until six months after it entered the chart. After that, people seemed to get tired of it fast, and it slid down the chart rather quickly. As stated earlier, I slightly preferred this ballad over their first hit.
STOP – THE SPICE GIRLS (40) – This was the second Top 40 hit from Spice World. I really liked this song – it was very catchy. In fact, the melody of the song sounded a little like a classic Sesame Street song, also called “Stop”. Too bad this song didn't get any higher than #38 – it was very underrated, but “Spice fever” had all but burned out at this point. They would only have one more minor Top 40 hit at the end of 2000 and were never heard from again.
REAL WORLD – MATCHBOX 20 (31) – This may have been the only debut on the last weekend of May, but the song certainly got a lot of mileage on the chart, like many of their big hits. This song peaked at #3 (though for only one week instead of multiple weeks like “3 am”). Both of those songs, by the way, are in a horse race for my favorite song from Yourself Or Someone Like You – great songs!
JUNE
I DON'T WANT TO MISS A THING – AEROSMITH (26) – After over 20 years of hitting the charts (and nearly 30 years together as a band), they finally netted their very first number one hit. I felt that they definitely earned it! I preferred several other songs from them, but this was still a great power ballad.
THE BOY IS MINE – BRANDY & MONICA (29) – These two girls having a catfight over a yet-unidentified boy – as far as I know, none of their parents had yet met when Aerosmith had their debut hit “Dream On”, since that was several years before they were born. I was thinking that this song might prevent Aerosmith from hitting #1, but, in fact, the song peaked at #3 (since “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls was hanging in there in the runner-up spot). That was good, because I did not like this song at all.
TO LOVE YOU MORE – CELINE DION (33) – This song had been around for several years, first appearing as a bonus track on the Japanese 1995 re-release of Celine's 1993 album The Color Of My Love. The song had gotten sporadic airplay on AC stations in 1996 right before “Because You Loved Me” came along. I also remember this being played as an extra on the Rick Dees show at least once in early 1997, though it was not yet included on any albums released here in the States. Later that year, Celine released her fifth album, Let's Talk About Love, which contained her monster hit from Titanic. As soon as that song was done, she finally officially released this song. Though the song only got as high as #21 on the Top 40 chart, it made a big splash on the AC chart, hitting #1 for eleven weeks! I guess they didn't promote the song very well at Top 40 radio. Too bad, as I thought this was a great song!
CLOSING TIME – SEMISONIC (31) – Another alternative band that was a one-hit wonder at Top 40 radio – only this was a really big hit, peaking at #6. It also did well at Hot AC, where it was a Top Five hit and especially Alternative – went all the way to the top there! It was a great song, IMO!
WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT – FIVE (32) – A British boy band who had many Top Ten hits in their country, as well as many countries worldwide, but never really caught on here in the states, as this was their only big hit here. It was OK, but I was never really crazy about it.
STOP – MEREDITH BROOKS (40) – One of two songs on the chart at the same time by this title and, since this one was a low-charter, they were always in close proximity to one another (one week, they were back-to-back). It's a good song, but I preferred the Spice Girls song.
JUST THE TWO OF US – WILL SMITH (31) – This was actually a rap remake of the old Grover Washington, Jr/Bill Withers song from 1981. The lyrics in the verses are different, giving the song a totally different meaning – instead of being about love between a couple, it is about love between a father and his newborn son. Smith's real-life son, Trey, also appears in the song – once at the very beginning, telling his dad about this being a sensitive subject, and at the end, asking how much he's going to get paid. Although this version of the song wasn't bad, considering how I feel about rap, I preferred the original.
TELL ME – BILLIE MYERS (35) – This song was obviously riding the coattails of her first hit “Kiss The Rain”, as it only got as high as #28. I thought the song was a good one – I especially liked the instrumental part at the beginning – reminds me a little of the Nintendo GameCube Zelda game “The Wind Waker” - more specifically, this music (those of you familiar with the game might recognize that from the Chu Jelly Juice Shop). But the song itself was good as well.
I WILL BUY YOU A NEW LIFE – EVERCLEAR (40) – Their biggest success was clearly on the Alternative rock charts, since none of their five songs that made the Top 40 chart hit the Top Ten (although this song, like their first hit “Santa Monica”, was on the R&R chart (Top 50) for an unusually long time (17 weeks) for how low it peaked (#28), so it might have been another one of those sporadic deals. The song was pretty good, like most of their hits.
CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF YOU BABY – SMASH MOUTH (37) – With this song, it looked like Smash Mouth might be another one of those bands that had one big hit and another not so big hit, but the best was actually yet to come for this rock band from San Jose. This song, which reminded me a little of “I'm A Believer”, was not bad, but I preferred “Walking On The Sun”.
CRAZY – ALANA DAVIS (39) – The second of two Top 40 hits for Ms. Davis. This song, which shares its title with many other Top 40 hits, by artists like Aerosmith, The Boys, Icehouse, and Seal, was actually a slightly better song than “32 Flavors” IMO. Too bad it only got as high as #33.
JULY
NOTE: Two songs that originally charted in 1997 re-entered the first AT40 chart of July. “To The Moon And Back” by Savage Garden was originally a hit in the summer of 1997 and the immense success of “Truly Madly Deeply” inspired the band to give the song another chance. It re-entered the R&R chart at #31 and reached a new peak of #15. The same week, “Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance)”, which had fallen off the chart just two months before, experienced renewed interest due to being featured in two high-profile TV shows, Seinfeld (which was wrapping up a decade-long series) and ER (in the episode entitled “Gut Reaction”) and, this week, returned to the chart at #40 for a nine-week encore.
CRUSH – JENNIFER PAIGE (35) – This artist from Marietta, Georgia released her debut album, which was self-titled, a month after this song hit the charts. However, this was the only single that made the Top 40 (as the other two petered out in the 40s). This song did manage to climb all the way to number two. I liked this song when it first came out, but got tired of it due to overplay, plus it was played over a few scenes in an episode of Sabrina The Teenage Witch that I found rather disturbing, so that made it worse. Fortunately, I never hear it on the radio anymore.
CRUEL SUMMER – ACE OF BASE (37) – This Swedish band returned to the chart after an absence of a little over two years, with a cover of Bananarama's debut hit from 1984 as their final Top 40 hit. This song didn't do quite as well on the charts, but did manage to climb to #19. This version didn't sound all that different from the original, so I'm not sure which of them I prefer.
GHETTO SUPASTAR (THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE) – PRAS MICHEL & OL' DIRTY BASTARD & MYA (36) – Meh, this was pretty much a ripoff of “Islands In The Stream” more than anything else.
OOH LA LA – ROD STEWART (37) – This song was originally recorded in 1973 by Rod's band Faces and he re-recorded it in 1998 for his album When We Were The New Boys. I liked the song, which had sort of a medieval sound to it, with the penny whistle – played by Andrea Corr of the Corrs. I wonder if it's the same one used in their 1995 song “Runaway”? Anyway, I remember this song more from Casey's Countdown, as it peaked at #2 there while #37 was all the higher it got on the Top 40 chart. It was also Stewart's final Top 40 entry.
TEARIN' UP MY HEART – 'N SYNC (38) – The chart performance of their second hit matched that of their debut hit “I Want You Back”, as both songs peaked at #5 and were on the chart for 26 weeks. I preferred the first one – this one just never really did anything for me.
TRUE TO YOUR HEART – 98 DEGREES f/STEVIE WONDER (40) – 98 Degrees had charted only once before, with “The Invisible Man” the previous year. Wonder, of course, had been hitting the charts since 1963 (although less frequently in the past decade). This, however, would end up being his final Top 40 hit. This song, which was featured on the soundtrack of the Disney film Mulan, was a good song, though I preferred other songs by both artists involved.
I'LL NEVER BREAK YOUR HEART – BACKSTREET BOYS (35) – Before releasing more singles from Backstreet's Back, they went back to their first album for this ballad, which was first released internationally in 1996. It definitely proved to be worthwhile, as the song became a big hit, peaking at #2. It did even better at AC, spending seven weeks at #1 in the fall. It was my absolute favorite from them thus far (and still remains one of their best).
SAY IT – VOICES OF THEORY (39) – The sole Top 40 hit from this Latino quintet from Philadephia. Though it only got as high as #33 on the chart, it managed to rank at #93 on the year-end Top 100 – the lowest peaking single on that survey.
MY WAY – USHER (40) – The third and final single from the album of the same name. This would be it for Usher for the next two years, but he would be back, stronger than ever in the 21st Century. This song was so/so, but nothing out of the ordinary.
HEY NOW NOW – SWIRL 360 (35) – Founded by twin brothers Denny and Kenny Scott, this band released several albums, but only managed to have a single Top 40 hit, which peaked at #26 in August. This song was good – had sort of an 80s sound to it.
STAY (WASTING TIME) – DAVE MATTHEWS BAND (37) – Their first single from Before These Crowded Streets, “Don't Drink The Water”, missed the Top 40, but the second one climbed as high as #29. It was a pretty good song, though not their best.
AUGUST
WISHING I WAS THERE – NATALIE IMBRUGLIA (32) – As massive as her first hit was, one would expect subsequent singles to have mediocre chart success (sort of like Donna Lewis), and that is pretty much what happened, only this song actually did pretty well, peaking at #14 and lasting three months on the chart. The song was OK, but I preferred “Torn”.
GO DEEP – JANET (38) – The fourth single from The Velvet Rope, and the final one to hit the Top 40 (as “Every Time” only got as high as #44). This song actually looked like it might hit the Top Ten, but it stalled at #11. I wasn't a huge fan of this song, for some reason.
ONE WEEK – BARENAKED LADIES (32) – Now THIS was one overplayed song – one that I never liked at all in the first place. The song actually spent SIX weeks on top instead of just one. The song's saving grace is that its playing time is less than three minute.
THIS KISS – FAITH HILL (36) – Of course, she had been regularly hitting the country charts since 1993 and finally had her first Pop crossover hit five years later. This song is pretty good, although the choruses weren't exactly what I expected, especially when she gets to the title. It's hard to explain, so let's just say that this is not one of my favorite songs from her. I preferred her other Top 40 crossovers.
JUMP JIVE AN' WAIL – BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA (37) – His rockabilly band the Stray Cats had three Top Ten hits in the 1980s before disbanding in 1984. In 1990, Setzer formed this swing and jump blues band, whose one Top 40 hit was a cover of this song first made famous by Louis Prima in the 1950s. I thought it was a pretty good song, considering I'm not generally a big fan of this type of music.
FLAGPOLE SITTA – HARVEY DANGER (39) – Back in the good ol' pizza joint days, one of the guys who had this CD brought it into work and hit repeat so this song would play over and over again. Whenever a waitress named Barb worked there, we'd always sing her name during the chorus in place of the “ba ba ba” part. We did the repeat thing several times and probably heard the song 30 times each time before out supervisor got sick of it and hit the “next track” button.
TIME AFTER TIME – INOJ (37) – The second hit for this Madison, WI native whose actual name is Ayanna Porter. Like her first chart entry, this was a remake of a hit from the 80s – in this case, Cyndi Lauper's first number one hit. I preferred this version, which had sort of a techno beat to it, so it wasn't quite as monotonous as the original.
SAVE TONIGHT – EAGLE-EYE CHERRY (39) – This Swedish artist comes from a musical family, as his father was a jazz artist and one of his half sisters, Neneh, had several chart hits, the biggest of those “Buffalo Stance” in 1989, but Eagle-Eye was the first to have a number one song. In fact, at one point, this song set the record for the slowest climb to the top, hitting #1 in its 22nd week on the chart. Pretty sure the record has been broken by now, but since that was likely on Ryan Seacrest's version of the show, as far as I'm concerned, that doesn't count. As for this song, it was pretty good.
INTERGALACTIC – BEASTIE BOYS (40) – Up to now, this rap trio from the Big Apple was a one-hit wonder on the Top 40 charts, but they finally hit the Top 40 for a second time, although this song was nowhere near as big as their first, peaking at #35. It did a lot better on the Alternative charts, where it was a Top Five hit. Of their two songs, I preferred this one.
HOOCH – EVERYTHING (37) – This band so far has remained a one-hit wonder, as this song was their only Top 40 hit (they did release a follow-up, but it did not make the Top 40). This song, which peaked at #14, wasn't bad, but nothing that I'd go out and buy.
SEPTEMBER
I WILL WAIT – HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH (24) – This band was on the chart steadily from October, 1994 through April, 1997 with at least one hit (although there were a few weeks in late 1996 when they did not have a song in the Top 40, but they were on the entire Top 50 chart consecutively). Anyway, they looked to be making a comeback with this song, but it was clear that their heyday was long past; even though this song's initial chart performance was impressive at first, it peaked rather quickly at #12 and faded away soon after that. The song ended up being their final Top 40 entry.
JUMPER – THIRD EYE BLIND (38) – This song, a plea for a friend to reconsider committing suicide, was this band's second number one song. It spent one week on top and, if not for Shawn Mullins' debut hit, the song would have spent several more weeks there. Of their number one hits, this one would definitely be my favorite.
ARE YOU THAT SOMEBODY – AALIYAH (40) – I did not like this song at all! The melody was mediocre at best, and the baby sound effect was supremely annoying! And naturally, this song was one of her biggest hits. Oh well, such is life.
MY FAVORITE MISTAKE – SHERYL CROW (34) – Her third album, The Globe Sessions, was set for release the following Tuesday, and this song, the first of two Top 40 hits from the album, was on its way to a peak of #6. The song reminded me a little of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”. It wasn't bad, but definitely not my favorite song of hers.
I HAD NO RIGHT – PM DAWN (40) – This R&B act from Jersey City were definitely a hot item back in the early 1990s, with three Top Ten hits, two of them hitting #1, but they were definitely burning out at this point, as this song only got as high as #28 – their lowest peaking Top 40 hit. It also turned out to be their last. The song was not bad, but nothing exceptional.
INSIDE OUT – EVE 6 (38) – The first of three Top 40 hits for this alternative rock band from Southern California, as well as the biggest, peaking at #9. The song did much better on the Alternative chart, hitting #1 and remaining in the Top Five for many weeks. I thought the song was pretty good, but preferred their hit “Here's To The Night”, from the summer of 2001.
BECAUSE OF YOU – 98 DEGREES (39) – The second hit from their sophomore album did significantly better than the first – the #38 hit “True To Your Heart”. This song climbed to #13, but the best was yet to come, as the next two releases hit the Top Five. This would probably be my least favorite song from the album, although it's nowhere near as depressing as the song of the same title by Kelly Clarkson from 2005.
THE FIRST NIGHT – MONICA (40) – Built around a sample of Diana Ross' “Love Hangover”, this song is about resisting temptation and practicing abstinence on the first date, which, of course, is a good idea. Even though I prefer this over “The Boy Is Mine” by a fair margin, there are still a few songs from her that I prefer.
YOUR LIFE IS NOW – JOHN MELLENCAMP (34) – His fifteenth studio album would be coming out on Tuesday of the following week and this lead-off single from it was off to a good start, but the song only got two spots higher and dropped off the chart very soon after. That's too bad, because I liked this song – it reminded me a little of one of his earlier songs, but I can't think of which one off the top of my head.
THE POWER OF GOODBYE – MADONNA (35) – A slight case of Third Single Syndrome here – after the first two Ray Of Light singles hit the Top Ten, this song ran out of gas at #17. The song did, however, spend two more weeks in the Top 40 than the title track and, IIRC, it didn't rank hideously lower on the year-ender either. Anyway, of the four Ray Of Light releases, this would be my favorite – a great song!
OCTOBER
FROM THIS MOMENT ON – SHANIA TWAIN (37) – The follow-up to her first Pop crossover hit was also a decent-sized pop hit, peaking at #14 on the chart. The song was most successful on the AC chart, where it peaked at #1 for three weeks. I seem to recall that it became a popular wedding song – in fact, a friend of mine who got married the following weekend used it as his wedding song – a good song indeed!
TOUCH IT – MONIFAH (40) – Meh, this was more or less a ripoff of “White Horse” by Laid Back, from 1984. I wasn't a fan of it at all.
THANK U – ALANIS MORISSETTE (22) – This was the final of five number ones in a row for this alternative rock singer. This song wasted no time at all hitting the Top Ten, as it arrived there its second week on. The song looked like it might hit the top in its sixth week, but it remained in the runner-up spot for two weeks before taking the gold. The song fell unusually fast for a number one song, dropping out of the Top 40 after only fifteen weeks on the chart, which could be a PPW record. But Alanis was quickly becoming yesterday's news at this point, as none of her further releases hit the Top Ten. As for the song, I thought it was a good one.
LULLABY – SHAWN MULLINS (36) – Here's the song that prevented “Jumper” by Third-Eye Blind from spending multiple weeks at #1. The song was about a girl, once a Hollywood Socialite, ending up a failure who could only keep the memory alive by turning to drugs. Despite the dark subject matter, the song itself was a good one.
SLIDE – THE GOO GOO DOLLS (37) – This band either hit number one or missed the Top Ten entirely. This was one of the former cases – their third and final chart topper. Another thing about them is that their number one songs all had impressively long chart runs. This song held on for 36 weeks, dropping off the chart the week after the recurrent rule changed to 20/20. Of their number one songs, it was my least favorite but it was still a great one!
BABY ONE MORE TIME – BRITNEY SPEARS (39) – This was the breakout hit for this Mississippi native, who was sixteen at the time this song hit the chart. Of course, she had a ton of Top 40 hits, six of them number one, including this song, which was her longest-running chart topper, spending five weeks up there. This was one of my favorite songs from her – a great one indeed!
BACK 2 GOOD – MATCHBOX 20 (40) – Wow, was this ever a lucky week! All three songs that debuted this week each spent at least 32 weeks on the chart! This was the only of them that did not quite make it to #1. It did peak at #8 for three weeks, though it took nearly half a year to get there! This was their last hit under the name Matchbox 20 – as of their next hit a year later, they'd spell out the number. As for this song, it was a good one, though I preferred their previous two hits.
HANDS – JEWEL (36) – The first of two Top 40 singles from Jewel's second album Spirit, as well as the most successful, peaking at #3. As cheesy as it was, I thought it was a pretty good song.
MAKE IT HOT – NICOLE f/MOCHA & MISSY ELLIOTT (40) – This song was the only Top 40 hit for the first two artists, but it helped pave the way for Missy Elliott, who would have five chart hits in the early 2000s. I wasn't a huge fan of this song, as you might expect.
HAVE YOU EVER – BRANDY (39) – The follow-up to her first Top Ten, her catfight with Monica over a boy, was her last one, as well as her only Top Ten solo hit. At least it was with a great song – in fact, it was possibly my favorite song by her of all time! If not for the Goo Goo Dolls leapfrogging over her, the song might have become her first number one as well.
LUV ME LUV ME – SHAGGY f/JANET JACKSON (40) – He first appeared as the featured artist on Maxi Priest's 1996 hit “That Girl” and now he had his very first hit as the frontman. Janet Jackson was featured on the song, singing the chorus of Rose Royce's “Ooh Boy”, making this the second Top 40 hit that used that song (the first was the sampling of that song in Candyman's “Knockin' Boots” eight years before). Just like that song, I liked this song as well, though my favorite Shaggy hit of all time is his late 2000 hit “It Wasn't Me”.
NOVEMBER
FIRE ESCAPE – FASTBALL (35) – The follow-up to the song about the old folks bailing on their kids was a song that didn't have such a disturbing subject matter. This song was about a guy who chooses to be himself instead of letting his gf manipulate him into being something that he isn't. Nobody is perfect, so he isn't even going to try. Anyway, even though this song wasn't anywhere near as big as “The Way”, it was still a good song.
I'M YOUR ANGEL – R. KELLY & CELINE DION (38) – There were several songs about angels on the countdown around this time of year. This was the first of those, a duet by two very popular artists. That said, I don't understand how this song missed the Top Ten, especially since it was number one on the AC chart for eight weeks. Maybe it just wasn't promoted to CHR as much as it was to AC and Urban. Anyway, this song, which was on each artist's current albums, was a great song, IMO.
MIAMI – WILL SMITH (37) – Like most of his songs, it sampled a previous Top 40 hit – in this case, the Whispers' 1980 hit “And The Beat Goes On”. The song continued a peak pattern that this artist had going since he first charted in 1997 with his #5 hit “Men In Black”, in that each song peaked a spot lower than the previous one. Since this was his fourth Top 40 hit, that meant it peaked at #8. The streak was broken with his next hit, which peaked at #4 and never even hit #9 on its way up or down. As for this song, it wasn't bad, but not his best.
THE SWEETEST THING – U2 (38) – Originally the B-side of “Where The Streets Have No Name” in 1987, this song was re-recorded and re-released for their first greatest hits compilation “The Best of 1980-1990”. I thought it was a great song and felt that it was underrated, as the song only got as high as #35 during a yo-yo style chart run.
LATELY – DIVINE (39) – This short-lived girl group, who formed in 1996 and disbanded four years later, put out two singles, this being the only one that made the Top 40 chart (the other was a cover of George Michael's “One More Try”). This song just narrowly missed the Top Ten, peaking at #11 for three weeks in early 1999. I really liked it and sometimes got it confused with “Have You Ever” by Brandy, since both were R&B ballads, sung by women that were climbing the charts around the same time.
GOD MUST HAVE SPENT (A LITTLE MORE TIME ON YOU) – 'N SYNC (29) – This boyband's first two hits peaked at number five and this song completed a hat trick. This was their first ballad and it definitely worked at AC, where this song hit #1 and spent virtually the entire year of 1999 on the chart – something that became quite common around the turn of the century (this century, that is), with the more liberal recurrent rule (20/20 vs three declining weeks at or below #15). As for the song, it took me awhile to warm up to it, and to this day, it's still not my favorite song from them.
WHEN YOU BELIEVE – WHITNEY HOUSTON & MARIAH CAREY (33) – Like “I'm Your Angel”, this song was by two popular artists that never really caught on at Pop (although this was during a slump in both artists' chart careers). Possibly for the same reason that the R. Kelly/Celine Dion duet ran out of momentum before hitting the Top Ten, only this song fared worse, peaking at #28. About the only format that this song performed well at was AC, where it was a Top Five hit. I thought it was a great song and feel that it should have been a bigger pop hit than it was.
DOO WOP (THAT THING) – LAURYN HILL (40) – Former Fugees member Pras Michel had charted earlier this year with “Ghetto Supastar” and now, Lauryn Hill hit the charts with what would be her only Top 40 hit. The song was so/so, but I think we know all too well that I'm not a huge fan of this type of music.
YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE – NEW RADICALS (33) – When I first heard this song, I thought that the Rolling Stones had put out a new song, since the singer, Gregg Alexander, sounded almost exactly like Mick Jagger. This band, who was only active between 1997 and 1999, had two Top 40 hits, this being the most successful, peaking at #12. I thought it was a great song and my favorite of the two.
ANGEL – SARAH McLACHLAN (36) – This was the song that finally took Sarah into the Top Ten, making a pretty good jump, moving 20-9 (although that was over the two-week break). It did not stop there, though, as it climbed to #3 at the end of February. For years, this was my favorite song from Sarah, as sad as it was. That all changed around 2007, when this song was used in a TV commercial for the ASPCA, in which McLachlan herself served as the spokesperson. In this commercial, the song plays over a video of dogs and cats in an animal shelter. As a cat person, I cannot watch this type of commercial and either flip the channel or mute the TV and look away whenever they come on. I disagreeociation of this song with these commercials has totally killed my love for the song.
IT'S THE THINGS YOU DO – FIVE (40) – Their first Top 40 hit was definitely mediocre, but this song was actually really good. Too bad it didn't get past #40. This one might have performed better if the Backstreet Boys had done it, as it is definitely their music style!
DECEMBER
FATHER OF MINE – EVERCLEAR (39) – The second of two Top 40 hits from their third studio album “So Much For The Afterglow” peaked at #23 but, like their first two songs, it stuck around in the Top 40 for a long time (14 weeks). As you might expect, this song fared best on the Alternative chart, where it was a Top Five hit. I thought it was a pretty decent song – one I remember hearing on U93 from time to time.
TAKE ME THERE – BLACKSTREET & MYA f/MASE & BLINKY BLINK (40) – An R&B supergroup of sorts (although this was the first hit for two of the acts), with a song from the Rugrats Movie soundtrack. I rather liked this song, which sampled the Jackson 5's debut hit “I Want You Back”. The song wound end up being Blackstreet's final Top 40 entry.
BIG BIG WORLD – EMILIA (40) – This Stockholm, Sweden native was clearly most successful in her home country, with seven Top 40 hits. This song was a Top Five hit in many different countries, but only got as high as #19 here in the States, so they decided there was no point in releasing the follow-up, “Good Sign”. I've never heard that song, that I know of, but I have heard this one many times (as I have it on a compilation tape of songs from early 1999 that I taped off of the countdown shows that I listened to back in the day). It's a pretty good song, IMO – reminds me a little of “Ode To My Family” by the Cranberries.
PRETTY FLY (FOR A WHITE GUY) – OFFSPRING (39) – When I first heard this song, I thought that my radio station was playing Def Leppard's 1983 hit “Rock Of Ages”, based on the “Gunter, glieben, glauchen, globen” intro. You can imagine my surprise when a completely different song began playing, by a band who'd had one minor chart hit four years before. This song was significantly more successful – in fact, it was this California rock band's biggest hit ever, peaking at #19. It was a good song!
ALL I HAVE TO GIVE – BACKSTREET BOYS (40) – Wrapping up 1998 is a band who had a great year, with three big hits, and a song that guaranteed that 1999 was going to at least start off great. The song, which many people confused with Monica's “Angel Of Mine”, a song that would debut in January, 1999 and climb the chart alongside this song, especially when they both reached the Top Ten, when the songs were back-to-back on the chart a few times. The songs did indeed sound alike and I'm not sure if I ever did learn to differentiate the two – then again, it's been twenty years, so I don't remember exactly. I do remember that I slightly preferred this song – a great song indeed!
As always, no debuts to report the final week of December, as AT40 started their two-part Top 100 countdown of 1998's biggest hits.
1999 - Coming soon!
JANUARY
No debuts to report the first week of January, as CT40 was doing part 2 of the Top 100 songs of 1997.
YOU'RE NOT ALONE – OLIVE (39) – Originally released in 1996 in the UK, from where this hip-hop trio hails, this song was re-released in late 1997 and, here in the US, the song was a one-week wonder on the charts (and this time around, hit #1 on the British chart). The song was OK, but nothing special.
MY HEART WILL GO ON – CELINE DION (24) – Since this was the theme song from an immensely popular movie (the first one to take in over a billion dollars at the box office), by a well-established artist at the height of her chart career, you would expect this to be a huge chart hit as well. That definitely applied here, as this song spent nine weeks at number one on the Top 40 chart. The song was played ad nauseum on the radio and, though I really liked it at first, I did eventually get very tired of it – in fact, the song almost dropped from my Personal Top 30 from inside the Top 20, which virtually never happened around that time, so that showed how sick of the song I got. It was pretty much the “You Light Up My Life” of the 1990s, especially because ever since it fell off the chart, you never hear the song outside of countdown shows.
KISS THE RAIN – BILLIE MYERS (29) – She was one of those artists that had two hits, the first of them being much bigger than the follow-up. This first song was another song that got heavy airplay during its chart run, but nowadays, it doesn't receive much, if any, recurrent airplay. I thought the song was pretty good, though nothing exceptional.
THE MUMMER'S DANCE – LORENNA McKENNITT (34) – Ah, a nice chill-out type of song here, by this Celtic singer from Canada. This was her only Top 40 hit and it peaked at #13 on the Top 40 chart. The song was most successful on the Hot AC chart, where it peaked at #3 and spent a good, long time on the charts. I thought it was pretty good, though I wasn't really into this kind of music at the time.
GETTIN' JIGGY WIT' IT – WILL SMITH (37) – Ah, a song from the greatest dancer! Well, maybe not; that was more or less a play on words about the Sister Sledge song that this samples. I was not a big Will Smith fan at all, but there was something about this song that I really liked, though I did get tired of it after awhile.
FEEL SO GOOD – MASE (40) – He was one of the artists who rapped on the song by the late Notorious B.I.G. “Mo Money, Mo Problems” and he also had a hit of his own, which got as high as #35 on the Top 40 chart. I wasn't a big fan of the song, of course, since it was rap.
I KNOW WHERE IT'S AT – ALL SAINTS (35) – This band was one of those acts that was the opposite of Billie Myers, in that their second hit was their biggest. This song didn't do too bad either, peaking at #17 and just barely making the year-end ranking, coming in at #99. The song was pretty good, but I slightly preferred the follow-up.
NO TENGO DINERO – LOS UMBRELLOS (40) – The only Top 40 hit for this Latin pop dance act was a Top Five hit in several different countries, including Denmark, where they were formed, and Austria, where it hit number one. Here in the states, it peaked at #38. The song was definitely quite different, but it wasn't too bad.
ARE YOU JIMMY RAY – JIMMY RAY (30) – No I am not, so get outta my face! This song was more a gimmick than anything else, and a supremely annoying one at that! The song wasted no time hitting the Top Ten, but thankfully, it began dropping soon after. If I never hear this song again, it will be just fine with me!
I WANT YOU BACK – 'N SYNC (35) – Another boyband came in to compete with the Backstreet Boys and Hanson, although the latter were pretty much out of the running at this point. I was never a huge 'N Sync fan, though I did rather like this song.
TOO MUCH – THE SPICE GIRLS (38) – Wow – the very same week that my least favorite song of 1998 hit the charts, my favorite song also debuted. The song spent eleven weeks on top of my Personal Top 30 chart and was on the chart long enough to become the top hit of that year. The song was actually the second release from their second album, which served as a soundtrack their 1997 movie Spice World – the first one, “Spice Up Your Life” just barely missed, peaking at #41. This song peaked at #19, which, of course, was nowhere near as successful as the songs from their first album and it would be pretty much downhill from here as fas as their chart career went.
FEBRUARY
ALL MY LIFE – K-CI & JOJO (31) – These two members of the band Jodeci, whom were on hiatus at the time, decided to record as a duet and did quite well, scoring two more Top 10 songs to add to the two they had with Jodeci, as well as a #21 hit. This was by far their biggest hit, spending seven weeks at #2, unable to dislodge Natalie Imbruglia's monster-hit from the top spot.
A SONG FOR MAMA – BOYZ II MEN (36) – This was the theme song to the 1997 motion picture Soul Food, as well as a track on the Boyz' album Evolution. The song was a number one hit on the R&B charts, but couldn't seem to push past #30 on the Top 40 chart, which I thought was a shame, since this was a great song – one that IIRC appeared as a LDD on AT40 several times around Mothers' Day.
I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN – UNCLE SAM (37) – Right below Boyz II Men is a singer who was signed to their Stonecreek Records imprint. This was another song that performed best on the R&B charts, but not so much on the Pop charts, where it peaked at #28, although it did spend quite awhile on the chart. IMO, it was a good song.
BRICK – BEN FOLDS FIVE (35) – A very heavy song, telling the story about when Ben impregnated his girlfriend when they were in high school, after which she decided to get an abortion, and the psychological effects on them after the procedure. This song was also a big hit on my Personal Top 30 chart, coming close to being the top song of the year. Nowadays, the song is a little depressing for my liking – somewhat of a chart regret at this point.
TURN BACK TIME – AQUA (33) – They dropped their bubblegum sound that they went with for their first two singles (including “Lollipop”, which stalled below the Top 40 back in December, 1997) for a more serious sound. Not sure whether or not that was instrumental in this song becoming their most successful Top 40 hit (peaked at #16). This song was good, but I slightly preferred “Barbie Girl”, which, of course, was their signature song.
TORN – NATALIE IMBRUGLIA (36) – This was the song that held “All My Life” by K-Ci & Jojo out of the number one spot. It ended up spending eleven weeks on top, becoming the second-longest running song on the R&R chart, behind “I Love You Always Forever” by Donna Lewis. Based on its long run at #1 and its 32 week tenure on the chart, one would guess that this came out on top for the year, but it was actually in the runner-up spot. The song that beat it out is coming up a little later on.
BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY – THE VERVE (38) – Not to be confused with the Verve Pipe, of “The Freshman” fame, this band, from Wigan, a town in England, also had a single Top 40 hit. This song's sample of an orchestral cover of the Rolling Stones' “The Last Time” was the subject of a plagiarism charge and, as a result, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were added to the songwriting credits. The song was pretty good, but nothing I'd go out and buy.
NOTE: The above chart, dated February 21, represents Casey's last show at Westwood One. The next two shows, still called Casey's Top 40, were hosted by David Perry, and the two after that were generically entitled “The Top 40 Countdown”. The weekend of March 28 was the official return of “American Top 40”, after being away from the airwaves for over three years. As stated in my intro, the show pretty much picked up where Casey's Top 40 left off, with the same show format and using the Radio & Records chart as a basis. As of the last weekend in March, American Top 40 will be the show referred to from there on out.
MY FATHER'S EYES – ERIC CLAPTON (33) – A personal song of Clapton's, inspired by the fact that he never met his father, who died in 1985, as well as referring to Clapton's son Conor, who died when he fell out of an apartment window when he was four. This song, which turned out to be Clapton's final Top 40 hit, peaked at #16 on the chart and was involved in a brief back-and-forth battle with “Truly, Madly, Deeply” by Savage Garden, for the top spot on the AC chart. During that time, this song did manage two weeks on top. As for the song, I thought it was a good one, though not quite my favorite song from Clapton.
I'LL BE – EDWIN McCAIN (38) – Now THIS was a song that took quite awhile to catch on. The song debuted the last week of February and did not hit the Top Ten until October! In fact, the song just might have been temporarily moved to recurrent had the rule been anything other than 25/26 (as by its 26th week (in the Top 50), the song was indeed at #25). The song peaked at #9 and, due to its long chart tenure (42 weeks in all), the song wound up at #18 on the year-ender.
SEX AND CANDY – MARCY PLAYGROUND (39) – This alternative rock band from San Diego had several hits on the rock charts, but only managed to have one pop hit. However, they definitely made it count, as the song got as high as #3, where it held for four weeks in May and June. I rather liked the song – takes me back to my days at the good ol' pizza joint!
MARCH
FROZEN – MADONNA (15) – This was the highest debut in the Top 40 in recent memory (it had been at #45 the previous week, so it did not debut on the entire chart that high). This was the first of four singles (released here in the states, anyway) from Madonna's 1998 album Ray Of Light. At this point, her songs were not quite as good as they used to be. This song wasn't too bad, but I preferred many of her earlier hits.
IT'S UP TO YOU – THE TUESDAYS (34) – Late in 1997, a band called the Sundays had a Top Ten AC hit called “Summertime”. Now, we have another band naming themselves after a day of the week. This Norwegian band, formed back in 1990, originally released this song from their first album When You're A Tuesday Girl in 1994, but not in the United States. They included this song on their self-titled second album and it did pretty well, peaking at #21. I liked it a lot – had sort of an early-80s flavor to it.
ME – PAULA COLE (37) – This song suffered Third Single Syndrome somewhat – after the first two singles from This Fire hit the Top Five, this one only got as high as #20, but it did stay on the chart for three months – not bad for a song that barely hit the Top 20. Lyrically, it's deeper than her previous two hits. I rather liked it, but still preferred “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone”.
A PROMISE I MAKE – DAKOTA MOON (40) – This song, by a rock band from L.A., was a very successful hit on the AC chart, where it peaked at #7, but could not seem to push past #31 on the Pop chart. Too bad, as I thought it was a good song.
DO YOU REALLY WANT ME – ROBYN (32) – This was the third and final single from this Swedish artist, all from her debut album Robyn Is Here. Though it was a pretty good song, I did not like it quite as much as the first two. Apparently, the pop audience felt the same, as this song did not last quite as long as those songs, though it was a Top Ten hit.
NICE AND SLOW – USHER (37) – Mr. Raymond's second Top 40 hit peaked significantly lower than his debut single, but it definitely showed tenacity, as it spent 20 weeks on the (Top 50) chart and even made an encore appearance in the Top 40 after dropping out for a week near the end of its run. It was a number one single on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Urban chart. I liked the song – especially on the Rick Dees show, when one of the staff members (Teniqua, I believe) pretended to be the girl that Usher was talking to in that one-sided phone conversation at the beginning.
AMNESIA – CHUMBAWAMBA (39) – They had that big hit at the end of 1997 called “Tubthumping”, and the tried to repeat its success with a follow-up. This song didn't do too bad, though, peaking at #18. It did not stay around very long and, unsurprisingly, was their final Top 40 hit. The song was pretty good, IMO – that #1 song was a little loud and obnoxious for my liking.
OPEN UP YOUR EYES – TONIC (40) – Here's another example of the “one huge hit, one minor hit, kaput” routine. Of course, they were most famous for their Top Ten hit “If You Could Only See”, but their second release, on the other hand, barely touched the Top 30. I actually preferred this song, since it wasn't quite as overplayed. This song reminds me a lot of bike riding around the lakes, which I did a lot of in the spring of 1998, often taking along tapes I had made of the Rick Dees show to listen to on my Walkman. I somehow remember this song playing several times during my rides. A great song indeed!
SOUTHAMPTON – JAMES HORNER (39) – This man, born in L.A., was a renowned composer, conductor and film score orchestrator. The Titanic was one of 100 that he did and this song actually made it to the Top 40, although this was the highest the song got. The only version I heard of this song included dialogue from the movie, which, as I've said before, I don't like, since it takes away from the beauty of the original song.
(At this point was the return of American Top 40 with Casey Kasem)
EVERYBODY (BACKSTREET'S BACK) – BACKSTREET BOYS (34) – The second single and more or less the title track from their second album Backstreet's Back, this was one of their gimmick songs that I tended not to like as much as their other hits.
YOU'RE STILL THE ONE – SHANIA TWAIN (37) – She had been charting at country for five years before crossing over to Pop. This was her first Top 40 hit and the most successful country crossover in recent memory, peaking at #3 and logging over a half a year on the chart. Back in the day, I had a crush on Shania Twain, so I liked pretty much everything by her as a result (I even had a poster of her on the bulletin board I had hanging up in my room). The crush, of course, has long since faded, as has my fascination for this song, which was quite overplayed.
APRIL
ANYTIME – BRIAN McKNIGHT (36) – This Buffalo, NY native had a pair of hits back in 1993 and made a pretty decent comeback, with two more Top Ten hits. This was the first one, the title track and only hit from his third studio album. It was a pretty decent song – nice and mellow.
WEIRD – HANSON (37) – This was the fourth and final Top 40 hit from their multi-platinum album Middle Of Nowhere. The song was a ballad, like their previous hit, “I Will Come To You”. However, I prefer this song over that one – not quite as schmaltzy as that song,
IT'S YOUR LOVE – SHE MOVES (39) – I vaguely remember this ballad, but then again, it was only on the chart for a few weeks (and usually replaced by a Hot AC song on the Rick Dees show). It was pretty good, though a tad cheesy. Not sure if I preferred this or “Breaking All The Rules”.
THIS IS HOW WE PARTY – S.O.A.P. (37) – This Danish duo, consisting of sisters Heidi and Saseline Sorenson, were a one-hit wonder on the Top 40 charts (no surprise, as they disbanded after two albums). I have a feeling that had they waited another month to release this, it might have done better, as it sounded like a song ideal for summertime. I thought it was pretty good, though nothing exceptional.
NO NO NO – DESTINY'S CHILD (40) – Ah, the breakthrough hit for one of the most successful R&B girl groups of all time. Their first hit peaked at #28, but stayed on the chart for quite awhile – looks like one of those sporadic songs that did well where played. The song was not bad, but I generally preferred their material from the 2000s, which was when they really hit the big time.
MY ALL – MARIAH CAREY (33) – Due to a conflict that Mariah had with Sony Music Entertainment, her record label at the time, the third and fourth singles from Butterfly (“The Roof” and “Breakdown”) were given limited worldwide release that did not include the U.S. As a result, the fifth single was only the third single from the album to hit the American charts. The song was a good one, but one of several ballads from her that were later remixed into dance versions that seemed to overtake the original, which, as I think I've made abundantly clear, I did not like.
ADIA – SARAH McLACHLAN (39) – The third release from Surfacing, this beautiful ballad was easily my favorite of the four singles from the album. Sarah describes the song about “(her) problems in dealing with feeling responsible for everyone else”. I'm kind of surprised that this song only got as high as #16, with all the airplay it got. Of course, I also listened to AC and Hot AC, where she hit the Top Ten at both formats, during that summer. Definitely a great song!
SIN SO WELL – REBEKAH (33) – This singer/actress from Cleveland released five albums, but had only one Top 40 single, from her debut album Remember To Breathe. I had to give ths one a listen on YouTube, since I had forgotten how it goes, but I do remember it now. It was a good song!
SEARCHIN' MY SOUL – VONDA SHEPARD (36) – Born in the Big Apple, this singer and actress hit the Top 40 in the summer of 1987 with her duet with Dan Hill “Can't We Try”. That song, of course, relieved Hill of his long-term one-hit wonder status and this song did the same for Shepard. Of course, this was the theme song for the TV series Ally McBeal, in which Shepard herself starred. The song peaked at #12 and was her last Top 40 hit, but she continued to be a regular in the show until its cancellation in the spring of 2002. As for the song, I wasn't a big fan of it. I preferred said Dan Hill duet by a fair margin
LET'S FORGET ABOUT IT – LISA LOEB (37) – Her second of two solo hits, as well as her final hit overall. I really liked it and felt it was somewhat underrated, as it only got as high as #34 and didn't stay around for long at all.
MAY
At this point, U93 had switched back to the CHR version of the Rick Dees show, so I'll be familiar with most of the songs from here on out – the only exceptions would be the R&B/rap songs that he either always skipped over or the low-charting ones that he did not chart (though he used the R&R chart, he sometimes monkeyed around with the chart near the bottom). I still did not have access to the new American Top 40, though – that did not come to my area until early 2002, when WKSC (Kiss FM) in Chicago picked up on the show.
IRIS – THE GOO GOO DOLLS (29) – This is the song that beat out “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia for top song of 1998. While it's true that this song spent seven less weeks at #1, the song spent much longer in the Top Ten (28 weeks vs. 21 weeks for “Torn”), plus it held at #2 for seven weeks when it dropped out of the top spot, so that's how it managed to grab the gold for 1998, although I imagine that the margin was rather slim. As for the song, it was a great one – possibly my favorite from them!
THE WAY – FASTBALL (31) – The first of four Top 40 hits from this Alternative rock band from Austin. The song was about an elderly couple who decide to leave their life behind by packing their stuff together and, without telling their kids, start driving aimlessly. The car eventually breaks down, so they abandon it and continue on foot. It never is known what happens to them by the end of the song, however. I thought it was a pretty good song – not sure if I prefer this or their other Top Ten, “Out Of My Head”.
UNINVITED – ALANIS MORISSETTE (38) – This was her first Top 40 hit since late 1996, when “Head Over Feet” hit #1. She picked right up where she left off, taking this song all the way to the top. This was one of three singles released from the City Of Angels soundtrack (as was “Iris” above. I really liked the haunting melody of this song – would be perfect for a haunted house!
HAVE FUN, GO MAD – BLAIR (40) – A British actor/singer (whose full name is Blair MacKitchan). This song was featured on the soundtrack for several movies since 1995, finally becoming a hit from the soundtrack of the movie Sliding Doors. I really liked the song – very catchy.
TOO CLOSE – NEXT (35) – This R&B band from Minneapolis had only one really big hit (along with two minor ones) on the Top 40 chart, but were most successful on the R&B charts, where this was a number one hit. This didn't do too shabby on the Top 40 chart either, peaking at #6 and it stuck around for quite awhile – well into November. The song was not bad, but quite overplayed.
I GET LONELY – JANET (38) – As big an album as the Velvet Rope was, it's a surprise that it only yielded a single Top Ten hit. Sure, there were other songs released from it – five here in the States, but none of them made the Top Ten on the Top 40 chart. This song came nowhere near, peaking at #32. No matter; it was a Top Ten hit at many other formats, including the R&B chart, where it hit #1. There was also a remix of the song that topped the dance charts. Not sure if Dees ever played the remix, but I preferred the slow version.
TIME AGO – BLACK LAB (39) – One of many Alternative one-hit wonders that charted in the late 1990s. This Berkeley, California band peaked at #33 on the Top 40 chart. The song didn't even do very well on the rock charts, peaking in the 20's on both of them, which is kind of surprising, as it's pretty much typical late-90s alternative rock music.
HEROES – THE WALLFLOWERS (40) – Originally recorded by David Bowie in 1977, this song was covered by the Wallflowers for the soundtrack to the movie Godzilla, which was set for release on May 20. The song was pretty much the only song on the soundtrack that did anything on the Top 40 charts, peaking at #21. Not sure if I prefer this or the original.
KIND & GENEROUS – NATALIE MERCHANT (36) – The first and only Top 40 hit from her sophomore album Ophelia. The song was OK, but very repetitive. This song turned out to be Merchant's final Top 40 entry.
ZOOT SUIT RIOT – CHERRY-POPPIN' DADDIES (39) – They were one of several bands to resurrect the popularity of ska-swing music in the late-1990s, even though this was their only Top 40 hit, peaking at #28. It did slightly better at Hot AC and Mainstream Rock, hitting the Top 20 on both charts. “Weird Al” Yankovic did a pretty funny parody of this song, called “Grapefruit Diet”.
RAY OF LIGHT – MADONNA (30) – This was the second single to be released from her album of the same title. It seemed to have that perfect summer sound to it, though it peaked somewhat quickly, at #10 and then moved down the chart. I liked this song at first, but got tired of it a little quickly.
NEVER EVER – ALL SAINTS (39) – This was the second of theit two Top 40 hits and the most successful, hitting the Top Five and spending an impressive 31 weeks on the chart. The funny thing is, it did not reach its peak of #5 until six months after it entered the chart. After that, people seemed to get tired of it fast, and it slid down the chart rather quickly. As stated earlier, I slightly preferred this ballad over their first hit.
STOP – THE SPICE GIRLS (40) – This was the second Top 40 hit from Spice World. I really liked this song – it was very catchy. In fact, the melody of the song sounded a little like a classic Sesame Street song, also called “Stop”. Too bad this song didn't get any higher than #38 – it was very underrated, but “Spice fever” had all but burned out at this point. They would only have one more minor Top 40 hit at the end of 2000 and were never heard from again.
REAL WORLD – MATCHBOX 20 (31) – This may have been the only debut on the last weekend of May, but the song certainly got a lot of mileage on the chart, like many of their big hits. This song peaked at #3 (though for only one week instead of multiple weeks like “3 am”). Both of those songs, by the way, are in a horse race for my favorite song from Yourself Or Someone Like You – great songs!
JUNE
I DON'T WANT TO MISS A THING – AEROSMITH (26) – After over 20 years of hitting the charts (and nearly 30 years together as a band), they finally netted their very first number one hit. I felt that they definitely earned it! I preferred several other songs from them, but this was still a great power ballad.
THE BOY IS MINE – BRANDY & MONICA (29) – These two girls having a catfight over a yet-unidentified boy – as far as I know, none of their parents had yet met when Aerosmith had their debut hit “Dream On”, since that was several years before they were born. I was thinking that this song might prevent Aerosmith from hitting #1, but, in fact, the song peaked at #3 (since “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls was hanging in there in the runner-up spot). That was good, because I did not like this song at all.
TO LOVE YOU MORE – CELINE DION (33) – This song had been around for several years, first appearing as a bonus track on the Japanese 1995 re-release of Celine's 1993 album The Color Of My Love. The song had gotten sporadic airplay on AC stations in 1996 right before “Because You Loved Me” came along. I also remember this being played as an extra on the Rick Dees show at least once in early 1997, though it was not yet included on any albums released here in the States. Later that year, Celine released her fifth album, Let's Talk About Love, which contained her monster hit from Titanic. As soon as that song was done, she finally officially released this song. Though the song only got as high as #21 on the Top 40 chart, it made a big splash on the AC chart, hitting #1 for eleven weeks! I guess they didn't promote the song very well at Top 40 radio. Too bad, as I thought this was a great song!
CLOSING TIME – SEMISONIC (31) – Another alternative band that was a one-hit wonder at Top 40 radio – only this was a really big hit, peaking at #6. It also did well at Hot AC, where it was a Top Five hit and especially Alternative – went all the way to the top there! It was a great song, IMO!
WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT – FIVE (32) – A British boy band who had many Top Ten hits in their country, as well as many countries worldwide, but never really caught on here in the states, as this was their only big hit here. It was OK, but I was never really crazy about it.
STOP – MEREDITH BROOKS (40) – One of two songs on the chart at the same time by this title and, since this one was a low-charter, they were always in close proximity to one another (one week, they were back-to-back). It's a good song, but I preferred the Spice Girls song.
JUST THE TWO OF US – WILL SMITH (31) – This was actually a rap remake of the old Grover Washington, Jr/Bill Withers song from 1981. The lyrics in the verses are different, giving the song a totally different meaning – instead of being about love between a couple, it is about love between a father and his newborn son. Smith's real-life son, Trey, also appears in the song – once at the very beginning, telling his dad about this being a sensitive subject, and at the end, asking how much he's going to get paid. Although this version of the song wasn't bad, considering how I feel about rap, I preferred the original.
TELL ME – BILLIE MYERS (35) – This song was obviously riding the coattails of her first hit “Kiss The Rain”, as it only got as high as #28. I thought the song was a good one – I especially liked the instrumental part at the beginning – reminds me a little of the Nintendo GameCube Zelda game “The Wind Waker” - more specifically, this music (those of you familiar with the game might recognize that from the Chu Jelly Juice Shop). But the song itself was good as well.
I WILL BUY YOU A NEW LIFE – EVERCLEAR (40) – Their biggest success was clearly on the Alternative rock charts, since none of their five songs that made the Top 40 chart hit the Top Ten (although this song, like their first hit “Santa Monica”, was on the R&R chart (Top 50) for an unusually long time (17 weeks) for how low it peaked (#28), so it might have been another one of those sporadic deals. The song was pretty good, like most of their hits.
CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF YOU BABY – SMASH MOUTH (37) – With this song, it looked like Smash Mouth might be another one of those bands that had one big hit and another not so big hit, but the best was actually yet to come for this rock band from San Jose. This song, which reminded me a little of “I'm A Believer”, was not bad, but I preferred “Walking On The Sun”.
CRAZY – ALANA DAVIS (39) – The second of two Top 40 hits for Ms. Davis. This song, which shares its title with many other Top 40 hits, by artists like Aerosmith, The Boys, Icehouse, and Seal, was actually a slightly better song than “32 Flavors” IMO. Too bad it only got as high as #33.
JULY
NOTE: Two songs that originally charted in 1997 re-entered the first AT40 chart of July. “To The Moon And Back” by Savage Garden was originally a hit in the summer of 1997 and the immense success of “Truly Madly Deeply” inspired the band to give the song another chance. It re-entered the R&R chart at #31 and reached a new peak of #15. The same week, “Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance)”, which had fallen off the chart just two months before, experienced renewed interest due to being featured in two high-profile TV shows, Seinfeld (which was wrapping up a decade-long series) and ER (in the episode entitled “Gut Reaction”) and, this week, returned to the chart at #40 for a nine-week encore.
CRUSH – JENNIFER PAIGE (35) – This artist from Marietta, Georgia released her debut album, which was self-titled, a month after this song hit the charts. However, this was the only single that made the Top 40 (as the other two petered out in the 40s). This song did manage to climb all the way to number two. I liked this song when it first came out, but got tired of it due to overplay, plus it was played over a few scenes in an episode of Sabrina The Teenage Witch that I found rather disturbing, so that made it worse. Fortunately, I never hear it on the radio anymore.
CRUEL SUMMER – ACE OF BASE (37) – This Swedish band returned to the chart after an absence of a little over two years, with a cover of Bananarama's debut hit from 1984 as their final Top 40 hit. This song didn't do quite as well on the charts, but did manage to climb to #19. This version didn't sound all that different from the original, so I'm not sure which of them I prefer.
GHETTO SUPASTAR (THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE) – PRAS MICHEL & OL' DIRTY BASTARD & MYA (36) – Meh, this was pretty much a ripoff of “Islands In The Stream” more than anything else.
OOH LA LA – ROD STEWART (37) – This song was originally recorded in 1973 by Rod's band Faces and he re-recorded it in 1998 for his album When We Were The New Boys. I liked the song, which had sort of a medieval sound to it, with the penny whistle – played by Andrea Corr of the Corrs. I wonder if it's the same one used in their 1995 song “Runaway”? Anyway, I remember this song more from Casey's Countdown, as it peaked at #2 there while #37 was all the higher it got on the Top 40 chart. It was also Stewart's final Top 40 entry.
TEARIN' UP MY HEART – 'N SYNC (38) – The chart performance of their second hit matched that of their debut hit “I Want You Back”, as both songs peaked at #5 and were on the chart for 26 weeks. I preferred the first one – this one just never really did anything for me.
TRUE TO YOUR HEART – 98 DEGREES f/STEVIE WONDER (40) – 98 Degrees had charted only once before, with “The Invisible Man” the previous year. Wonder, of course, had been hitting the charts since 1963 (although less frequently in the past decade). This, however, would end up being his final Top 40 hit. This song, which was featured on the soundtrack of the Disney film Mulan, was a good song, though I preferred other songs by both artists involved.
I'LL NEVER BREAK YOUR HEART – BACKSTREET BOYS (35) – Before releasing more singles from Backstreet's Back, they went back to their first album for this ballad, which was first released internationally in 1996. It definitely proved to be worthwhile, as the song became a big hit, peaking at #2. It did even better at AC, spending seven weeks at #1 in the fall. It was my absolute favorite from them thus far (and still remains one of their best).
SAY IT – VOICES OF THEORY (39) – The sole Top 40 hit from this Latino quintet from Philadephia. Though it only got as high as #33 on the chart, it managed to rank at #93 on the year-end Top 100 – the lowest peaking single on that survey.
MY WAY – USHER (40) – The third and final single from the album of the same name. This would be it for Usher for the next two years, but he would be back, stronger than ever in the 21st Century. This song was so/so, but nothing out of the ordinary.
HEY NOW NOW – SWIRL 360 (35) – Founded by twin brothers Denny and Kenny Scott, this band released several albums, but only managed to have a single Top 40 hit, which peaked at #26 in August. This song was good – had sort of an 80s sound to it.
STAY (WASTING TIME) – DAVE MATTHEWS BAND (37) – Their first single from Before These Crowded Streets, “Don't Drink The Water”, missed the Top 40, but the second one climbed as high as #29. It was a pretty good song, though not their best.
AUGUST
WISHING I WAS THERE – NATALIE IMBRUGLIA (32) – As massive as her first hit was, one would expect subsequent singles to have mediocre chart success (sort of like Donna Lewis), and that is pretty much what happened, only this song actually did pretty well, peaking at #14 and lasting three months on the chart. The song was OK, but I preferred “Torn”.
GO DEEP – JANET (38) – The fourth single from The Velvet Rope, and the final one to hit the Top 40 (as “Every Time” only got as high as #44). This song actually looked like it might hit the Top Ten, but it stalled at #11. I wasn't a huge fan of this song, for some reason.
ONE WEEK – BARENAKED LADIES (32) – Now THIS was one overplayed song – one that I never liked at all in the first place. The song actually spent SIX weeks on top instead of just one. The song's saving grace is that its playing time is less than three minute.
THIS KISS – FAITH HILL (36) – Of course, she had been regularly hitting the country charts since 1993 and finally had her first Pop crossover hit five years later. This song is pretty good, although the choruses weren't exactly what I expected, especially when she gets to the title. It's hard to explain, so let's just say that this is not one of my favorite songs from her. I preferred her other Top 40 crossovers.
JUMP JIVE AN' WAIL – BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA (37) – His rockabilly band the Stray Cats had three Top Ten hits in the 1980s before disbanding in 1984. In 1990, Setzer formed this swing and jump blues band, whose one Top 40 hit was a cover of this song first made famous by Louis Prima in the 1950s. I thought it was a pretty good song, considering I'm not generally a big fan of this type of music.
FLAGPOLE SITTA – HARVEY DANGER (39) – Back in the good ol' pizza joint days, one of the guys who had this CD brought it into work and hit repeat so this song would play over and over again. Whenever a waitress named Barb worked there, we'd always sing her name during the chorus in place of the “ba ba ba” part. We did the repeat thing several times and probably heard the song 30 times each time before out supervisor got sick of it and hit the “next track” button.
TIME AFTER TIME – INOJ (37) – The second hit for this Madison, WI native whose actual name is Ayanna Porter. Like her first chart entry, this was a remake of a hit from the 80s – in this case, Cyndi Lauper's first number one hit. I preferred this version, which had sort of a techno beat to it, so it wasn't quite as monotonous as the original.
SAVE TONIGHT – EAGLE-EYE CHERRY (39) – This Swedish artist comes from a musical family, as his father was a jazz artist and one of his half sisters, Neneh, had several chart hits, the biggest of those “Buffalo Stance” in 1989, but Eagle-Eye was the first to have a number one song. In fact, at one point, this song set the record for the slowest climb to the top, hitting #1 in its 22nd week on the chart. Pretty sure the record has been broken by now, but since that was likely on Ryan Seacrest's version of the show, as far as I'm concerned, that doesn't count. As for this song, it was pretty good.
INTERGALACTIC – BEASTIE BOYS (40) – Up to now, this rap trio from the Big Apple was a one-hit wonder on the Top 40 charts, but they finally hit the Top 40 for a second time, although this song was nowhere near as big as their first, peaking at #35. It did a lot better on the Alternative charts, where it was a Top Five hit. Of their two songs, I preferred this one.
HOOCH – EVERYTHING (37) – This band so far has remained a one-hit wonder, as this song was their only Top 40 hit (they did release a follow-up, but it did not make the Top 40). This song, which peaked at #14, wasn't bad, but nothing that I'd go out and buy.
SEPTEMBER
I WILL WAIT – HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH (24) – This band was on the chart steadily from October, 1994 through April, 1997 with at least one hit (although there were a few weeks in late 1996 when they did not have a song in the Top 40, but they were on the entire Top 50 chart consecutively). Anyway, they looked to be making a comeback with this song, but it was clear that their heyday was long past; even though this song's initial chart performance was impressive at first, it peaked rather quickly at #12 and faded away soon after that. The song ended up being their final Top 40 entry.
JUMPER – THIRD EYE BLIND (38) – This song, a plea for a friend to reconsider committing suicide, was this band's second number one song. It spent one week on top and, if not for Shawn Mullins' debut hit, the song would have spent several more weeks there. Of their number one hits, this one would definitely be my favorite.
ARE YOU THAT SOMEBODY – AALIYAH (40) – I did not like this song at all! The melody was mediocre at best, and the baby sound effect was supremely annoying! And naturally, this song was one of her biggest hits. Oh well, such is life.
MY FAVORITE MISTAKE – SHERYL CROW (34) – Her third album, The Globe Sessions, was set for release the following Tuesday, and this song, the first of two Top 40 hits from the album, was on its way to a peak of #6. The song reminded me a little of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”. It wasn't bad, but definitely not my favorite song of hers.
I HAD NO RIGHT – PM DAWN (40) – This R&B act from Jersey City were definitely a hot item back in the early 1990s, with three Top Ten hits, two of them hitting #1, but they were definitely burning out at this point, as this song only got as high as #28 – their lowest peaking Top 40 hit. It also turned out to be their last. The song was not bad, but nothing exceptional.
INSIDE OUT – EVE 6 (38) – The first of three Top 40 hits for this alternative rock band from Southern California, as well as the biggest, peaking at #9. The song did much better on the Alternative chart, hitting #1 and remaining in the Top Five for many weeks. I thought the song was pretty good, but preferred their hit “Here's To The Night”, from the summer of 2001.
BECAUSE OF YOU – 98 DEGREES (39) – The second hit from their sophomore album did significantly better than the first – the #38 hit “True To Your Heart”. This song climbed to #13, but the best was yet to come, as the next two releases hit the Top Five. This would probably be my least favorite song from the album, although it's nowhere near as depressing as the song of the same title by Kelly Clarkson from 2005.
THE FIRST NIGHT – MONICA (40) – Built around a sample of Diana Ross' “Love Hangover”, this song is about resisting temptation and practicing abstinence on the first date, which, of course, is a good idea. Even though I prefer this over “The Boy Is Mine” by a fair margin, there are still a few songs from her that I prefer.
YOUR LIFE IS NOW – JOHN MELLENCAMP (34) – His fifteenth studio album would be coming out on Tuesday of the following week and this lead-off single from it was off to a good start, but the song only got two spots higher and dropped off the chart very soon after. That's too bad, because I liked this song – it reminded me a little of one of his earlier songs, but I can't think of which one off the top of my head.
THE POWER OF GOODBYE – MADONNA (35) – A slight case of Third Single Syndrome here – after the first two Ray Of Light singles hit the Top Ten, this song ran out of gas at #17. The song did, however, spend two more weeks in the Top 40 than the title track and, IIRC, it didn't rank hideously lower on the year-ender either. Anyway, of the four Ray Of Light releases, this would be my favorite – a great song!
OCTOBER
FROM THIS MOMENT ON – SHANIA TWAIN (37) – The follow-up to her first Pop crossover hit was also a decent-sized pop hit, peaking at #14 on the chart. The song was most successful on the AC chart, where it peaked at #1 for three weeks. I seem to recall that it became a popular wedding song – in fact, a friend of mine who got married the following weekend used it as his wedding song – a good song indeed!
TOUCH IT – MONIFAH (40) – Meh, this was more or less a ripoff of “White Horse” by Laid Back, from 1984. I wasn't a fan of it at all.
THANK U – ALANIS MORISSETTE (22) – This was the final of five number ones in a row for this alternative rock singer. This song wasted no time at all hitting the Top Ten, as it arrived there its second week on. The song looked like it might hit the top in its sixth week, but it remained in the runner-up spot for two weeks before taking the gold. The song fell unusually fast for a number one song, dropping out of the Top 40 after only fifteen weeks on the chart, which could be a PPW record. But Alanis was quickly becoming yesterday's news at this point, as none of her further releases hit the Top Ten. As for the song, I thought it was a good one.
LULLABY – SHAWN MULLINS (36) – Here's the song that prevented “Jumper” by Third-Eye Blind from spending multiple weeks at #1. The song was about a girl, once a Hollywood Socialite, ending up a failure who could only keep the memory alive by turning to drugs. Despite the dark subject matter, the song itself was a good one.
SLIDE – THE GOO GOO DOLLS (37) – This band either hit number one or missed the Top Ten entirely. This was one of the former cases – their third and final chart topper. Another thing about them is that their number one songs all had impressively long chart runs. This song held on for 36 weeks, dropping off the chart the week after the recurrent rule changed to 20/20. Of their number one songs, it was my least favorite but it was still a great one!
BABY ONE MORE TIME – BRITNEY SPEARS (39) – This was the breakout hit for this Mississippi native, who was sixteen at the time this song hit the chart. Of course, she had a ton of Top 40 hits, six of them number one, including this song, which was her longest-running chart topper, spending five weeks up there. This was one of my favorite songs from her – a great one indeed!
BACK 2 GOOD – MATCHBOX 20 (40) – Wow, was this ever a lucky week! All three songs that debuted this week each spent at least 32 weeks on the chart! This was the only of them that did not quite make it to #1. It did peak at #8 for three weeks, though it took nearly half a year to get there! This was their last hit under the name Matchbox 20 – as of their next hit a year later, they'd spell out the number. As for this song, it was a good one, though I preferred their previous two hits.
HANDS – JEWEL (36) – The first of two Top 40 singles from Jewel's second album Spirit, as well as the most successful, peaking at #3. As cheesy as it was, I thought it was a pretty good song.
MAKE IT HOT – NICOLE f/MOCHA & MISSY ELLIOTT (40) – This song was the only Top 40 hit for the first two artists, but it helped pave the way for Missy Elliott, who would have five chart hits in the early 2000s. I wasn't a huge fan of this song, as you might expect.
HAVE YOU EVER – BRANDY (39) – The follow-up to her first Top Ten, her catfight with Monica over a boy, was her last one, as well as her only Top Ten solo hit. At least it was with a great song – in fact, it was possibly my favorite song by her of all time! If not for the Goo Goo Dolls leapfrogging over her, the song might have become her first number one as well.
LUV ME LUV ME – SHAGGY f/JANET JACKSON (40) – He first appeared as the featured artist on Maxi Priest's 1996 hit “That Girl” and now he had his very first hit as the frontman. Janet Jackson was featured on the song, singing the chorus of Rose Royce's “Ooh Boy”, making this the second Top 40 hit that used that song (the first was the sampling of that song in Candyman's “Knockin' Boots” eight years before). Just like that song, I liked this song as well, though my favorite Shaggy hit of all time is his late 2000 hit “It Wasn't Me”.
NOVEMBER
FIRE ESCAPE – FASTBALL (35) – The follow-up to the song about the old folks bailing on their kids was a song that didn't have such a disturbing subject matter. This song was about a guy who chooses to be himself instead of letting his gf manipulate him into being something that he isn't. Nobody is perfect, so he isn't even going to try. Anyway, even though this song wasn't anywhere near as big as “The Way”, it was still a good song.
I'M YOUR ANGEL – R. KELLY & CELINE DION (38) – There were several songs about angels on the countdown around this time of year. This was the first of those, a duet by two very popular artists. That said, I don't understand how this song missed the Top Ten, especially since it was number one on the AC chart for eight weeks. Maybe it just wasn't promoted to CHR as much as it was to AC and Urban. Anyway, this song, which was on each artist's current albums, was a great song, IMO.
MIAMI – WILL SMITH (37) – Like most of his songs, it sampled a previous Top 40 hit – in this case, the Whispers' 1980 hit “And The Beat Goes On”. The song continued a peak pattern that this artist had going since he first charted in 1997 with his #5 hit “Men In Black”, in that each song peaked a spot lower than the previous one. Since this was his fourth Top 40 hit, that meant it peaked at #8. The streak was broken with his next hit, which peaked at #4 and never even hit #9 on its way up or down. As for this song, it wasn't bad, but not his best.
THE SWEETEST THING – U2 (38) – Originally the B-side of “Where The Streets Have No Name” in 1987, this song was re-recorded and re-released for their first greatest hits compilation “The Best of 1980-1990”. I thought it was a great song and felt that it was underrated, as the song only got as high as #35 during a yo-yo style chart run.
LATELY – DIVINE (39) – This short-lived girl group, who formed in 1996 and disbanded four years later, put out two singles, this being the only one that made the Top 40 chart (the other was a cover of George Michael's “One More Try”). This song just narrowly missed the Top Ten, peaking at #11 for three weeks in early 1999. I really liked it and sometimes got it confused with “Have You Ever” by Brandy, since both were R&B ballads, sung by women that were climbing the charts around the same time.
GOD MUST HAVE SPENT (A LITTLE MORE TIME ON YOU) – 'N SYNC (29) – This boyband's first two hits peaked at number five and this song completed a hat trick. This was their first ballad and it definitely worked at AC, where this song hit #1 and spent virtually the entire year of 1999 on the chart – something that became quite common around the turn of the century (this century, that is), with the more liberal recurrent rule (20/20 vs three declining weeks at or below #15). As for the song, it took me awhile to warm up to it, and to this day, it's still not my favorite song from them.
WHEN YOU BELIEVE – WHITNEY HOUSTON & MARIAH CAREY (33) – Like “I'm Your Angel”, this song was by two popular artists that never really caught on at Pop (although this was during a slump in both artists' chart careers). Possibly for the same reason that the R. Kelly/Celine Dion duet ran out of momentum before hitting the Top Ten, only this song fared worse, peaking at #28. About the only format that this song performed well at was AC, where it was a Top Five hit. I thought it was a great song and feel that it should have been a bigger pop hit than it was.
DOO WOP (THAT THING) – LAURYN HILL (40) – Former Fugees member Pras Michel had charted earlier this year with “Ghetto Supastar” and now, Lauryn Hill hit the charts with what would be her only Top 40 hit. The song was so/so, but I think we know all too well that I'm not a huge fan of this type of music.
YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE – NEW RADICALS (33) – When I first heard this song, I thought that the Rolling Stones had put out a new song, since the singer, Gregg Alexander, sounded almost exactly like Mick Jagger. This band, who was only active between 1997 and 1999, had two Top 40 hits, this being the most successful, peaking at #12. I thought it was a great song and my favorite of the two.
ANGEL – SARAH McLACHLAN (36) – This was the song that finally took Sarah into the Top Ten, making a pretty good jump, moving 20-9 (although that was over the two-week break). It did not stop there, though, as it climbed to #3 at the end of February. For years, this was my favorite song from Sarah, as sad as it was. That all changed around 2007, when this song was used in a TV commercial for the ASPCA, in which McLachlan herself served as the spokesperson. In this commercial, the song plays over a video of dogs and cats in an animal shelter. As a cat person, I cannot watch this type of commercial and either flip the channel or mute the TV and look away whenever they come on. I disagreeociation of this song with these commercials has totally killed my love for the song.
IT'S THE THINGS YOU DO – FIVE (40) – Their first Top 40 hit was definitely mediocre, but this song was actually really good. Too bad it didn't get past #40. This one might have performed better if the Backstreet Boys had done it, as it is definitely their music style!
DECEMBER
FATHER OF MINE – EVERCLEAR (39) – The second of two Top 40 hits from their third studio album “So Much For The Afterglow” peaked at #23 but, like their first two songs, it stuck around in the Top 40 for a long time (14 weeks). As you might expect, this song fared best on the Alternative chart, where it was a Top Five hit. I thought it was a pretty decent song – one I remember hearing on U93 from time to time.
TAKE ME THERE – BLACKSTREET & MYA f/MASE & BLINKY BLINK (40) – An R&B supergroup of sorts (although this was the first hit for two of the acts), with a song from the Rugrats Movie soundtrack. I rather liked this song, which sampled the Jackson 5's debut hit “I Want You Back”. The song wound end up being Blackstreet's final Top 40 entry.
BIG BIG WORLD – EMILIA (40) – This Stockholm, Sweden native was clearly most successful in her home country, with seven Top 40 hits. This song was a Top Five hit in many different countries, but only got as high as #19 here in the States, so they decided there was no point in releasing the follow-up, “Good Sign”. I've never heard that song, that I know of, but I have heard this one many times (as I have it on a compilation tape of songs from early 1999 that I taped off of the countdown shows that I listened to back in the day). It's a pretty good song, IMO – reminds me a little of “Ode To My Family” by the Cranberries.
PRETTY FLY (FOR A WHITE GUY) – OFFSPRING (39) – When I first heard this song, I thought that my radio station was playing Def Leppard's 1983 hit “Rock Of Ages”, based on the “Gunter, glieben, glauchen, globen” intro. You can imagine my surprise when a completely different song began playing, by a band who'd had one minor chart hit four years before. This song was significantly more successful – in fact, it was this California rock band's biggest hit ever, peaking at #19. It was a good song!
ALL I HAVE TO GIVE – BACKSTREET BOYS (40) – Wrapping up 1998 is a band who had a great year, with three big hits, and a song that guaranteed that 1999 was going to at least start off great. The song, which many people confused with Monica's “Angel Of Mine”, a song that would debut in January, 1999 and climb the chart alongside this song, especially when they both reached the Top Ten, when the songs were back-to-back on the chart a few times. The songs did indeed sound alike and I'm not sure if I ever did learn to differentiate the two – then again, it's been twenty years, so I don't remember exactly. I do remember that I slightly preferred this song – a great song indeed!
As always, no debuts to report the final week of December, as AT40 started their two-part Top 100 countdown of 1998's biggest hits.
1999 - Coming soon!
