Post by Hervard on Mar 29, 2019 14:53:02 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 much of 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 the previous 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 1999 but debuted in 1998, check out this topic. Also, I used purple ink to write down the charts, but decided to go with lavender font, since, after all, that color is a shade of purple and will show up against the black background a great deal better.
JANUARY
No debuts to report the first week of January, as AT40 was doing Part 2 of the Top 100 songs of 1997.
IT'S ALL BEEN DONE – BARENAKED LADIES (32) – So odd that their only Top Ten hit was a huge number one. This song looked like it might be Top Ten bound, but it ran out of steam once it hit the Top 20. Lead singer Steven Page wrote this song in response to how embarrassed he was about how wordy their song “Brian Wilson” (which was a Top 40 near-miss the year before) was, which accounts for how simple the chorus is (just a few “woo hoo hoo's” and the song title). I actually liked this song much better than their annoying last hit before this one.
HOW DO I DEAL – JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT (40) – Hey, how about this – the only song that debuts along with the Barenaked Ladies is a singer who had a hit called “Barenaked”, in 2002. Hewitt is known more for her acting in TV shows like Party Of Five and movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer, but she did have a pair of Top 40 hits, both of which peaked in the 30s. This was from the soundtrack of the movie I just mentioned. I thought it was a good song, though I slightly preferred her other Top 40 hit.
BELIEVE – CHER (32) – Unbelievable that a singer who started out in the 1960s would have possibly her biggest hit ever over 33 years later! The song peaked at #2 on the R&R chart and not only did it top the Hot 100, but came out on top for the entire year. Is that amazing or what? Anyway, this song was a departure from her usual pop music style, as it had a techno beat to it. I thought it was a great song!
ANGEL OF MINE – MONICA (34) – As I mentioned in my 1998 critique, the melody of this song was very much like “All I Have To Give”. I'm wondering if this factor affected airplay of either song (i.e. had it not been for one of them, would the other one have climbed higher?). No matter; both songs hit the Top Ten, this one peaking the highest, at #2. I slightly preferred the Backstreet Boys song, but this was a great song as well.
NO MERCY – KHALEEL (36) – This hip-hop recording artist is better known by his stage name Bronx Style Bob, but he went by his new identity – his last name – when he had his sole Top 40 hit, which I thought was not bad, but nothing special.
EVERY MORNING – SUGAR RAY (40) – Their second Top 40 hit went all the way like their debut hit. Not only that, the song went on to become the top song of 1999. The song sounded familiar to me when I first heard it, and that's because it samples two oldies - “Suavecito” by Malo and “Grazing In The Grass” by Hugh Masekela. I liked this song significantly better than “Fly”, but still, there are several other Sugar Ray songs that I preferred.
FLY AWAY – LENNY KRAVITZ (37) – His fifth studio album, appropriately titled 5, spawned six singles, though only three of them made the Top 40 chart. This was the first one and it became his second of three Top Ten hits, peaking at #6. The song did best at the two rock formats, hitting #1 on both charts. The song was OK, but a little overrated, IMO.
CRUSH – DAVE MATTHEWS BAND (38) – Definitely one of their less successful hits, though it did well on the Alternative chart, peaking at #11. I thought it was one of their better songs and felt it deserved a higher peak than #38.
UNSENT – ALANIS MORISSETTE (32) – This song's structure was definitely unusual, as it did not have chorus – just verses, each consisting of letters written to former boyfriends of Alanis. This was when her popularity began taking a nosedive, as this song peaked at #16, becoming her first song not to hit the Top Ten. I thought it was a pretty good song, though I can see why it tanked so fast.
AT THE STARS – BETTER THAN EZRA (37) – This New Orleans-based alternative rock band had charted three times before earlier in the decade, and their fourth one became their highest peaking hit, hitting #17, a spot higher than “Good” (although the latter would be considered their biggest hit, since it spent much longer on the chart). This song was a good song, IMO. Alas, it would be their final Top 40 hit.
FEBRUARY
I STILL BELIEVE – MARIAH CAREY (38) – Brenda K. Starr first charted with this song in 1988, peaking at #13. This remake did not do quite as well, though it did make the Top 20. I preferred the original, but this version was not bad at all.
CHANGES – 2PAC (40) – This song, dealing with heavy social issues in African American culture, including racism and difficulties of ghetto life, was 2Pac's only posthumous hit. The song was a one-week wonder, as it dropped out the following week. As you might expect, I wasn't a big fan of the song at all.
STAY THE SAME – JOEY McINTYRE (34) – Back in the late-1980s New Kids On The Block were all the rage. Ten years later, two members of the boyband, currently on hiatus, decided to try out solo careers, with McIntyre being the first one. He had a pair of Top 40 hits, both ballads. I preferred his second one, but this one, which hit the Top 20, was a good one too.
RUN – COLLECTIVE SOUL (38) – This band hadn't had a Top 40 hit in three years. They had released a song in the spring of 1997, called “Listen”, which just missed the Top 40. This song, which was their final Top 40 entry, got as high as #26. It was pretty good, but my favorite of their Top 40 hits was “The World I Know”.
MALIBU – HOLE (39) – This female rock band from L.A. was quite successful on the Alternative charts, but only had a single Top 40 hit, which would peak at #35 the following week. I thought it was a really good song and can't help but wonder, as big as they were at Alternative radio, why they didn't fare better at Pop than they did.
NOBODY'S SUPPOSED TO BE HERE – DEBORAH COX (40) – The second of two Top 40 hits for this Canadian R&B artist. This song was not bad, but not one of my favorite songs either.
C'EST LA VIE – B*WITCHED (37) – This was the only Top 40 hit for this Irish girl group. I took a listen to this on YouTube just now and I tell you what, I had forgotten how great a song it was! Too bad it only got as high as #24, but at least it made the Top 100 of 1999 (though we never got to hear but the Top 40 of those songs due to the frankly half-assed Top 40 of the 1990s on the other holiday weekend).
WHAT IT'S LIKE – EVERLAST (38) – Earlier, we talked about the only Top 40 hit for Khaleel. He provided back-up vocals for this song by this singer, who also ended up being a one-hit wonder. The only thing is, this song ended up being a much bigger hit, peaking at #5 in early May. When I first heard it, the song instantly reminded me of “What I Am” by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, a Top Ten hit from almost exactly ten years before. The song is OK, but was quite overplayed during its chart run.
KISS ME – SIXPENCE NONE THE RICHER (29) – This song was by somewhat of a rare bird – a Christian alternative rock band. The song looked like it would peak at #2, as it was stuck in that position for four weeks behind “Every Morning”, but it managed to unseat that song and spend a pair of weeks at #1. Of their two Top 40 hits, this was by far my favorite! A great song indeed!
THE ANIMAL SONG – SAVAGE GARDEN (34) – This song looked like another number one song for them, as it made a ten-spot jump two weeks in a row, moving 34-24-14. Top Ten next week, right? Not quite – the song fell back to #15. Moreover, the song never made the Top Ten at all, although it did recover and moved back up, peaking at #11. This was another one of those acts who either hit number one or missed the Top Ten altogether.
SPECIAL – GARBAGE (38) – This alternative rock band from Madison, Wisconsin, had two minor hits earlier in the decade, but this was the song that finally put them in the Top 20. It was also their final Top 40 entry. I thought it was a pretty good song, though I preferred said minor hits.
MARCH
NO SCRUBS – TLC (30) – Never liked this song – basically a song about man-bashing. They come off as sounding like total snobs in this song and frankly, if I never hear this song again, it'll be too soon. Fortunately, I never hear this song on the radio anymore.
NOTHING REALLY MATTERS – MADONNA (36) – This was the final release from Ray Of Light. The song was so/so, but definitely not one of her best. The fans apparently thought the same thing – the song peaked at #20 and fell like a rock right afterward.
HEARTBREAK HOTEL – WHITNEY HOUSTON f/FAITH EVANS & KELLY PRICE (37) – This was the second of five singles from her My Love Is Your Love album (the first was her duet with Mariah Carey “When You Believe”. In this song, she recruits two R&B singers as back-up singers and this time, she got a Top Ten out of it. I liked this song, but preferred most of the others from the album.
ANYTHING BUT DOWN – SHERYL CROW (37) – The second single from the Globe Sessions, “There Goes The Neighborhood” did not make the chart, but this third single certainly did. Though it did not hit the Top Ten like “My Favorite Mistake”, the song did get as high as #14. After this, she would not hit the Top 40 again for three more years. I liked this song, though it is certainly not her best.
THE HARDEST THING – 98 DEGREES (40) – The third single from 98 Degrees And Rising turned out to be their most successful chart hit, peaking at #4, and deservedly so, as it was a great song – one of my favorite songs from them!
MY NAME IS – EMINEM (38) – He was one of the biggest rappers of the 21st Century (so far), but he got his feet wet in 1999 with his breakthrough Top 40 hit. I wasn't a huge fan of this song, as you might guess. I did like a few of his later releases, though, but unfortunately, we won't be getting to any of those.
REAL LIFE – BON JOVI (38) – They were back on the charts as a band for the first time since the fall of 1995. From the soundtrack of the film Edtv, this song got as high as #32 on the chart. I thought it was a good song, but I prefer many other songs from them.
THESE ARE THE TIMES – DRU HILL (39) – This R&B act from Baltimore was a one-hit wonder on the Top 40 charts, and this song was a one-week wonder on the chart, as it dropped out the week after. Too bad, as I thought it was a pretty decent hit.
WE LIKE TO PARTY – THE VENGABOYS (40) – Another one-hit wonder, in this case, a Dutch Eurodance band. However, this song stuck around much longer – twelve weeks to be exact. Pretty good for a song that only got as high as #28 (not to mention the fact that spent twenty weeks on the full Top 40 chart before going recurrent). I'm generally not much for this type of music, but there was something about this song that I really liked.
APRIL
THAT DON'T IMPRESS ME MUCH – SHANIA TWAIN (31) – Her album Come On Over had come out in late 1997 and she was still cranking out hits from it. In fact, eleven songs from the album would hit the country charts by the summer of 2000. That is one hot album – so hot that four singles crossed over to the Pop chart. This was the second biggest Top 40 hit from the album, peaking at #4. I thought it was a neat song, putting self-absorbed men trying to get with her in their places.
DOWN SO LONG – JEWEL (34) – Even though Casey didn't do a full Top 100 of 1999, he apparently did put together a chart just in case. Of course, since R&R, which he was following to the letter at the time, had compiled a Top 99 chart, all he had to do was figured out the #100 song, and I heard somewhere that this was the song, which sounds about right, as the song peaked at #19 for three weeks and spent nine weeks on the chart. Until I heard this, I guessed that “From This Moment On” by Shania Twain was #100. I wonder how close that came to the list? Anyway, this song, which would end up being her final hit for another two and a half years, was pretty good, but I preferred a few other songs from her, including that next hit after this one, “Standing Still”.
EVERYBODY'S FREE TO WEAR SUNSCREEN – BAZ LUHRMAN (36) – This spoken word song, the first to hit the Top 40 in recent memory, was an ideal inspirational graduation speech for the class of 1999. Though it did make the chart, it had a fast-rise, fast-fall chart run, peaking at #18 and on the chart for seven weeks. The song was OK, but it's not something I'd want to hear on a regular basis
I DRIVE MYSELF CRAZY – 'N SYNC (37) – This was the fourth and final single from this boyband's self-titled debut album. People were probably thinking that this song would peak at #5, like the first three singles, but in fact, it didn't even hit the Top Ten. The song peaked at #12, which was almost exactly two years after the album had been released. I really liked the song and it's pretty much a toss-up between this and “I Want You Back” as my favorite song from the album.
CAN I GET A... - JAY-Z f/AMIL & JA RULE (40) – This song was actually entitled “Can I Get A F--- You”, but the radio edit was censored to “...What What”. Even though the song only got as high as #30, the song spent seventeen weeks on the chart and was ranked on R&R's Top 99 of 1999, at #74 – the lowest peaking song to make the cut. I wasn't a huge fan of it, as you probably already guessed.
GIVE IT TO YOU – JORDAN KNIGHT (39) – The second former New Kid On The Block to have a short-lived solo career (although he'd already had experience singing away from the group when they were still together, singing a duet with Ana (Rodriguez), on her album Body Language called “Angel Of Love”). This was his first song to hit the chart. The song was not bad, but I preferred the follow-up, which we'll be getting to before long.
HARMLESS – MULBERRY LANE (40) – This band, consisting of the four Rizutto sisters, based in Omaha, named after the street they lived on in their childhood (though I forget which town they lived in then). I actually remember hearing this song on U93 on my way to the library, where I was volunteering at that point, and was thinking, wow, this is a good song. However, the song didn't get any higher than #32. I remember the song most from hearing it on AT20, where it peaked at #15.
LIVIN' LA VIDA LOCA – RICKY MARTIN (31) – This was definitely one of the big summer hit of 1999! This former member of the boyband Menudo is regarded as the “king of Latin Pop”. He certainly had a great year in 1999, with four Top 40 hits, all from his self-titled fifth studio album, and this one was by far the biggest, logging seven weeks at #1. It was a great song, though I got tired of hearing it ten times a day, but now that you don't hear it much anymore, it's great to hear every now and again.
HEY LEONARDO (SHE LIKES ME FOR ME) – BLESSID UNION OF SOULS (37) – They had gone the Alternative way at this point, even though none of their singles ever made that chart. They just had that sound to them with this song, the first of two Top 40 hits from their third studio album Walking Off The Buzz, as well as their second biggest hit overall, behind their debut hit “I Believe”, as this song peaked at #4. It was a good song, though definitely not my favorite song from them.
ALL ABOUT THE MONEY – MEJA (39) – This artist from Sweden had two Top 40 hits – this one, as well as one of the hits from the Ricky Martin album mentioned above. Of course, that was the song “Private Emotion”, which is my favorite song from both artists involved (one of the biggest songs of the 2000s, according to my Personal Top 30 chart), but this song was a pretty good one too.
FREAK OF THE WEEK – MARVELOUS 3 (40) – This was this Atlanta rock band's only Top 40 hit and it looked like it might be a one-week wonder as well, as it dropped out of the Top 40 the following week, but returned for a two-week encore, peaking at #39. The song, which reminded me of “So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star” (especially Tom Petty's version), was a good one – sort of underrated, IMO.
I WANT IT THAT WAY – BACKSTREET BOYS (31) – The first of four Top Ten hits from their third studio album Millennium (which was set for release in mid-May) and the biggest of them all, spending three weeks at #1. I thought it was a great song, though not quite their best.
WHY DON'T YOU GET A JOB – OFFSPRING (35) – This was the second of two Top 40 hits from their Americana album. This song is a dead ringer for the Beatles' song “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, especially during the chorus. You can literally listen to one and sing the other. The verses don't sound too different either, though the chord progressions aren't as similar. Of their five Top 40 hits, this just might be my favorite.
PRAISE YOU – FATBOY SLIM (38) – This British singer; who helped to popularize the genre of electronic music known as Big Beat, had a pair of Top 40 hits in 1999. Though I prefer this song over his annoyingly repetitive second single, it still wasn't one of my favorite songs, so I don't think I would have liked the Big Beat genre too well.
WAIT 'TIL I GET HOME – C-NOTE (40) – One of several songs that samples “I Can't Go For That” by Hall & Oates (though I believe this is the only one that made the Top 40). This was the only Top 40 hit for this boyband, named after the slang term for a hundred dollar bill (although the band name is an acronym for “Creating Nothing Other Than Excellence). It was a pretty good song, IMO.
MAY
MILLENIUM – ROBBIE WILLIAMS (37) – A song that was released at an appropriate time, as we were getting ready to enter a new millennium. Of course, that might have had something to do with why they decided to release this song about now, though I don't believe the song's lyric had anything to do with it. Anyway, Williams was the second former member of the recently-disbanded Take That to hit the charts (the first being Gary Barlow in 1997), and this was his first of two Top 40 hits (ironically, his other one did indeed span the millennium). I preferred that song, though this one wasn't bad either.
SWEET LADY – TYRESE (40) – This was the first of three Top 40 hits for this man who was an R&B singer, among several other professions. This song was a pleasant slow jam and my favorite of his three hits by a fair margin.
ALMOST DOESN'T COUNT – BRANDY (36) – There was somewhat of a trend of country artists covering Pop and R&B songs during the turn of the century (this century, that is). Already, in 1999, Alabama had done a cover of 'N Sync's “God Must Have Spend (A Little More Time On You)” and this song, along with Brian McKnight's “Back At One” would be covered by Mark Wills for his 2000 album Permanently, which he recorded during 1999. There were a few other examples, but those are the ones that stick out in my mind at the moment. As for this song, I preferred this version.
OUT OF MY HEAD – FASTBALL (37) – Even though it had been several months since their second hit from All The Pain Money Can Buy had flopped on the charts, the band decided to release a third single – which proved to be worthwhile, as the song became their second Top Ten hit, and had a relatively lengthy chart run. Although I liked all three releases, this would be my favorite.
SOMETIMES – BRITNEY SPEARS (24) – Her second Top 40 hit started out nearly halfway up the chart, en route to number four, proving that she was already an established artist (though really – who knew just how big she would be)? Although I preferred her first Top 40 hit, this one was pretty good as well.
BETTER DAYS (AND THE BOTTOM DROPS OUT) – CITIZEN KING (37) – This band's musical style seemed to be a cross between alternative rock and hip-hop. This was their only Top 40 hit, but it did quite well – in fact, it was one of two songs that made the AT40 Year-End Top 40 despite not hitting the Top Ten, due to its chart momentum (in fact, since it was #17 in its 20th week on, I'm sure the song got plenty of recurrent airplay. It was a really good song, IMO.
BLUE MONDAY – ORGY (39) – This song was a huge club hit for the band New Order for many years, and this industrial rock band from L.A. gave it a brand-new sound. Of course, I preferred the original, but this song, Orgy's only song to make the Top 40, was definitely an interesting cover.
IF YOU HAD MY LOVE – JENNIFER LOPEZ (35) – Generally an artist associated with the 2000s, J-Lo had a pair of hits in 1999, both of which peaked at #2 on the chart. Not sure which one I prefer, as both of them were really good. Taylor Swift's #1 hit from 2015 “Style” reminded me a lot of this song.
WILD WILD WEST – WILL SMITH (37) – This song was a semi-remake of Kool Moe Dee's 1988 song of the same title (in fact, Dee himself sings the chorus in this), and contains a sample of Stevie Wonder's 1976 hit “I Wish”. It wasn't bad, but definitely not one of my favorite songs from Smith.
I WILL REMEMBER YOU – SARAH McLACHLAN (39) – This song was originally a minor Hot AC hit in 1995, from the soundtrack of the movie The Brothers McMullen, but this live recording from her Mirrorball album, which would be released in mid-June, was the one that finally made it to the Top 40 chart. It did quite well, too, peaking at number ten. I didn't really like the song at first, but I really did like this new version of the song.
SHE'S SO HIGH – TAL BACHMAN (40) – This may have been the only Top 40 hit for this Canadian artist, but a great song it was! The song peaked at #7 on the chart, but ranked in the year-end way up at #17 due to its tenacity on the chart. The song did quite well on my Personal Top 30 chart, peaking at #4.
ALL STAR – SMASH MOUTH (38) – Earlier, I mentioned that “Livin' La Vida Loca” was one of the big summer hits of 1999. This would be the other one, since it was number one for multiple weeks during the latter half of the season, and it definitely had that summer sound to it. I wasn't a huge fan of the song, however. I preferred “Walking On The Sun” by a sizable margin.
JUNE
STRONG ENOUGH – CHER (36) – Well, her comeback didn't seem to last too long, though it did produce her biggest hit ever. This song was another dance song, though a little more laid back than “Believe”. I actually preferred this song, most likely since it wasn't quite as overplayed (though I thought both songs were great).
GENIE IN A BOTTLE – CHRISTINA AGUILERA (37) – I got my first taste of her music the year before, as “Reflection”, from the Disney film Mulan, was a Top 20 AC hit. Her first Top 40 hit went all the way to the top – her first of four number one hits. It was not bad, but one of my least favorite of her big hits.
MY OWN WORST ENEMY - LIT (40) – This rock band from California formed in 1988, but did not have a Top 40 hit until eleven years later. The song only got as high as #29 but spent fifteen weeks on the chart, good enough to place at #83 on the year-ender. It was a pretty good song, IMO.
BEAUTIFUL STRANGER – MADONNA (31) – She had just come off of a great singles album, Ray Of Light, which spawned four Top 20 hits, and not long after that last song dropped off the chart, she retured with this song from the soundtrack of one of the most popular movies of 1999, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. This was a great song – I preferred it over the Ray Of Light singles.
I COULD NOT ASK FOR MORE – EDWIN McCAIN (37) – The follow-up to his everlasting hit “I'll Be” did quite well on the chart as well, peaking at #17, and lasting an even 20 weeks on the chart. The song performed even better on the two AC charts, hitting the Top Five on both. This was another song later made into a country remake – Sara Evans covered it on her 2000 album Born To Fly and released it in early 2001, taking it into the Top Five on the country charts.
TELL ME IT'S REAL – K-CI & JOJO (38) – They had one of the biggest hits of 1998 with their first hit and this song, the first and only Top 40 hit for their second album It's Real didn't perform too badly either, though I was disappointed that it only got as high as #21, since it was definitely my favorite song from them up to that point – a great song indeed!
SOMEDAY – SUGAR RAY (39) – Their third Top 40 hit didn't quite hit the top like their first two, but it did get as high as #3, which is definitely nothing to sneeze at either. I thought this was a great song, though my favorite song from them would be “When It's Over”, from 2001.
IT'S NOT RIGHT, BUT IT'S OKAY – WHITNEY HOUSTON (40) – This song, about a woman confronting her lover when she finds out she's been cheating on him, was the third Top 40 hit from her My Love Is Your Love album. The song was not bad, but definitely my least favorite song from the album.
UNPRETTY – TLC (38) – The second single from their album FanMail was, IMO, significantly better than their first. The song has been compared to Hanson's signature hit “MMMBop”, since the melody of the songs sound alike, especially when they start singing. But apparently, it worked, as this song peaked at number three and was on the chart for 30 weeks – their longest-running hit ever. However, this would be their final Top Ten hit.
LOVE SONG – SKY (40) – One of several bands by this name. This one was formed in Montreal earlier in the decade and they had a handful of hits in their home country, but were a one-hit wonder here in the states. This song, from their album Piece Of Paradise, peaked at #34 on the chart. I thought it was a pretty decent song – one that is included on my countdown show mix tape from the summer of 1999.
JULY
BLACK BALLOON – THE GOO GOO DOLLS (35) – This was a case of Third Single Syndrome here – well, sort of, if you'd like to consider “Iris” the first single off of the Dizzy Up The Girl album even though it was originally written for the soundtrack of the film City Of The Angels. Whatever the case, this song peaked at #12, following two number one songs. But, like the Citizen King song, this one ranked within the Top 40 of the year due to all the time it spent in the Top 20. I thought this was a great song – I preferred it over “Slide”, but I did slightly prefer the two other singles from the album (including “Broadway”, which was a Top 20 hit in the spring of 2000).
LAST KISS – PEARL JAM (32) – They finally reached the Top Ten with this hard rock cover of the Wayne Cochrane classic from 1961, which first saw chart success three years later when J. Frank Wilson & The Cavaliers took it to #2. Though this song peaked two spots lower, its longer chart run makes it the slightly bigger hit. I liked both versions, in different ways, of course, since the musical styles of both songs were very diverse. Not sure which one I prefer, though.
PROMISES – DEF LEPPARD (38) – After an absence from the chart of about three and a half years, this hard rock band, once one of the biggest in the business, returned with what would be their final Top 40 hit. Too bad this song didn't get any higher than #33, as I thought it was a great song!
BAILAMOS – ENRIQUE IGLESIAS (28) – His father, Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias charted with two Top 20 hits in 1984, but Enrique was much more successful on the Top 40 chart with over 20 Top 40 hits, including this one that got as high as #5. It was a great one, like most of his earlier material.
SMILE – VITAMIN C f/LADY SAW (31) – I always thought that the two artists of this song produced a clever play on words. This song, which was used for Hershey's Chocolate commercials in the early 2000s, was not bad, but my favorite Vitamin C song was “Graduation”, which charted in time for the Class of 2000 (in fact, it peaked the first week of June, around the time that most high schools held their graduation ceremonies).
SUMMER GIRLS – LFO (33) – I wonder if this song helped the Abercrombie & Fitch industry, as the popular casual wear retailer was mentioned several times in the song, including the chorus. Anyway, I'm kind of surprised that this song didn't hit the Top Ten, as much airplay as it got. Not that I'm complaining, as I never really got into this song.
THE CUP OF LIFE (LA COPA DE LA VIDA) – RICKY MARTIN (35) – This song, which was originally released from Martin's 1998 album Vuelve, topped the charts in many countries around the world, including France, where it became the official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Here in the States, however, when it was re-released from his self-titled album,
it only got as high as #25 (possibly since it hit the charts while “Livin' La Vida Loca” was still riding high). The song wasn't bad, but it was never one of my favorite songs from Martin.
NO MATTER WHAT – BOYZONE (38) – The boyband craze was still in full swing, with such groups from all over the world trying to get in on the fun. This was the only Top 40 hit for this quintet from Dublin. Like the Ricky Martin song above, this song hit #1 in numerous countries (and hit the Top Ten in quite a few as well). However, on the AT40 chart, this song only got as high as #32, though it was a Top Ten AC hit, which was good, since I really liked the song.
SOMEDAY WE'LL KNOW – NEW RADICALS (40) – This was the second and final single from their album Maybe You've Been Brainwashed. The song was nowhere near as successful as their first hit (presumably since the band had broken up shortly before this song was released). I preferred said first hit, but this was a great one as well.
I LOVE YOU CAME TOO LATE – JOEY McINTYRE (35) – This was the second Top 40 hit for this former New Kid. However, the song barely touched the Top 30, which was a shame, since I preferred this one over his debut solo hit by a fair margin.
WHERE MY GIRLS AT – 702 (36) – This band, named after the area code of Las Vegas, where they were formed. Their music style reminded me a lot of Destiny's Child. However, they were nowhere near as successful, as this was their sole Top 40 hit. The song got as high as #12, but spent 22 weeks on the chart, since it had yo-yo style chart movement during its time in the Top 20. The song was OK, but nothing exceptional.
SO PURE – ALANIS MORISSETTE (38) – Her chart career was continuing to decline, as this song only peaked at #33. The song would not be her final Top 40, however, though it definitely looked that way for several years, until her 2002 comeback, which produced a final hit called “Hands Clean”, which got as high as #20. This song wasn't bad, though I wasn't a huge fan of it myself.
I DO (CHERISH YOU) – 98 DEGREES (31) – The fourth and final single from 98 Degrees And Rising was almost as big as “The Hardest Thing”, peaking a spot lower. This would probably be my favorite song from the album – a great song indeed!
SMOOTH – SANTANA f/ROB THOMAS (36) – Now THIS was a major, major hit! Santana had not seen Top 40 chart action since the fall of 1982, when his hit “Hold On” peaked at #15. This song became by far his biggest hit ever, spending seven weeks at #1, and 37 weeks in the Top 40. However, that was small peanuts compared to its performance on the Hot AC chart, where it spent an unbelievable 23 weeks at #1 (I believe that was the record number of weeks at the top for any R&R chart) and nearly 70 weeks on the chart overall. I myself thought the song was quite overrated, but, up to now, Santana had never had a number one hit – in fact, he had only hit the Top Ten twice. The saying that the best things come to those who wait definitely rang true in this case, and he finally hit the top exactly 30 years after he began charting! Not to mention that it marked Rob Thomas' first hit away from Matchbox 20, as he was the one who provided the vocals. He would hit the chart on his own several times a few years later. Anyway, of Santana's hits during his incredible second wave of popularity, my favorite song would be his collaboration with Michelle Branch “The Game Of Love”.
STEAL MY SUNSHINE – LEN (39) – The first thing many people noticed about this song was that it sampled the 1976 hit by the Andrea True Connection, “More More More”. It was the only Top 40 hit for this Canadian rock trio, consisting of siblings Marc and Sharon Costanzo, but it was a big one, peaking at #3 in November. I rather liked the song.
YOU'LL BE IN MY HEART – PHIL COLLINS (40) – The same week that the biggest hit in Hot AC history debuted, so did one of the most successful hits on the AC chart, where this song was currently in its twelfth week at #1. The song spent a cumulative total of nineteen weeks at the top and, if not for “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys, which spent a total of six weeks at #1, this would have most likely set the R&R record of weeks on top, though, without airplay for the Backstreet Boys song, the 'N Sync/Gloria Estefan collaboration might have hit #1 sooner than it did. Anyway, with so many weeks atop the AC chart, you might guess this was a big Pop hit as well, but, surprisingly, this song only got as high as #36 on the Top 40 chart. Must have been promoted almost exclusively at AC, although Collins was no longer as big a Top 40 artist as he was earlier in the decade – in fact, this ended up being his final Top 40 hit. I thought it was a great song and, despite its excessive airplay at AC radio, I never got tired of it.
AUGUST
SHE'S ALL I EVER HAD – RICKY MARTIN (36) – His two previous hits from his self-titled album were still on the chart, meaning that he had three songs on the chart at the same time, a rare feat that lasted for four weeks, before “Livin' La Vida Loca” went recurrent. The first time I heard this song, I thought it was totally excellent, but I found myself getting tired of it rather quickly. Don't get me wrong; it's still a good song, but I prefer several others from him.
SCAR TISSUE – RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS (38) – This song is definitely in the running for the Most Misheard Lyrics record, mainly for the chorus line “With the birds, I'll share this lonely view”. A long list of these “mondegreens” can be found at amiright.com. Anyway, this song, which became their second Top Ten pop hit, was a pretty good song, though I prefer a few others from them.
BILLS BILLS BILLS – DESTINY'S CHILD (40) – They still hadn't quite caught on at this point, as this song, their second Top 40 hit, peaked at #24. They would finally hit the big time in early 2000, with their first Top Ten – the first of eight I a row. As for this song, I was never a big fan of it, but one day, near the end of its chart run, it was stuck in my mind all day and was driving me nuts. I don't believe I've heard the song since then and that's just fine with me!
WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN – BLINK 182 (39) – This rock band from the San Diego area placed four singles on the Top 40 chart, this being their first. It climbed to #24, but the format at which it enjoyed the most success was Alternative, where the song was a Top Five hit. It was a decent song, but I preferred their next release “All The Small Things”.
YOU'VE GOT A WAY – SHANIA TWAIN (40) – This song, both from her Come On Over album and the soundtrack of the romantic comedy film Notting Hill, was certainly a flop at Top 40 radio, as this was the song's only week on the chart, so apparently this was another song not promoted at that format, but it did well on the country chart, where it hit the Top 20, and AC, where it was a Top Ten hit. Of her Top 40 hits, this beautiful ballad was possibly my favorite.
THERE SHE GOES – SIXPENCE NONE THE RICHER (36) – Their follow-up to their number one hit “Kiss Me” just missed the Top Ten, peaking at #11. This song also ended up being their final Top 40 hit. It was pretty good, but my favorite of their two hits was definitely their first.
MUSIC OF MY HEART – 'N SYNC f/GLORIA ESTEFAN (40) – This was the song that had the strength to finally put an end to the back-and-forth battle for the #1 spot on the AC chart in which Phil Collins and the Backstreet Boys were engaged for several months. The song spent four weeks on top at AC, but surprisingly only got as high as #21 on the Top 40 chart. That was quite a shock, considering that it was by one of the top boybands around. Nevertheless, the song brought back Cuban singer Gloria Estefan back to the charts after an absence of about three and a half years, and, on the other hand, it far outpeaked her last hit “Reach”. I thought the song was a really good one. 'N Sync, by the way, would return in 2000, bigger than ever, with two #1 hits, both of which spent multiple weeks up there!
MEET VIRGINIA – TRAIN (40) – The first of so far ten Top 40 hits for this rock band from San Francisco, as well as one of the biggest. This was the third song in the past four years to mention the name Virginia. While the song by Blessid Union referred to the state, this and the Rod Stewart song was about a person by that name. In this song, it was about a woman who had several bad habits and was a little on the eccentric side. The song itself was good – one of my favorites from them.
SEPTEMBER
MAMBO NO. 5 – LOU BEGA (28) – This song, which sampled the last 30 seconds of a song by the same name recorded by Perez Prado about fifty years before, was the first of two Top 40 hits for this young German artist, as well as his biggest, spending five weeks at #1 in October. It was a very catchy song and, though I was tired of it due to overplay during its chart run, it's good to hear now that it receives very little recurrent airplay.
I NEED TO KNOW – MARC ANTHONY (40) – This singer, born in New York City to parents of Puerto Rican descent, had four Top 40 hits, this one being the only one that hit the Top Ten, peaking at #5 in the closing weeks of 1999. The song was OK, though a little too whiny for my liking. I preferred the three follow-ups, most likely because they weren't as overplayed as this song.
(YOU DRIVE ME) CRAZY – BRITNEY SPEARS (31) – This song might bear slight resemblence to her debut hit “...Baby One More Time”, but I prefer that song by a sizeable margin, as this song never really did anything for me (though I still preferred it over most of her later hits).
LARGER THAN LIFE – BACKSTREET BOYS (34) – One of their gimmicky songs, basically thanking their fans for their devotion and encouragement, which I guess was nice of them, but still, I never cared much for this song, which was the second release from Millennium.
I COULD NEVER TAKE THE PLACE OF YOUR MAN – JORDAN KNIGHT (40) – Wow, one New Kid replaced another on the chart. As Joey McIntyre stepped off the chart with his second Top 40 hit, bandmate Knight debuted with his – a cover of Prince's Top Ten hit from early 1988. This song, however, was quite different from the original, which was a bouncy, upbeat song, while this was a tender love ballad. This was my favorite of the four New Kid solo hits that charted in 1999 (in fact, it made it to #1 on my Personal To 30 chart); however, it was the least successful on the Top 40 chart, peaking at #31 and fading away soon after, which I thought was a shame, but so it goes.
MAN! I FEEL LIKE A WOMAN – SHANIA TWAIN (36) – I had been hearing this song at country radio for a few months and was hoping that the song would not cross over to Pop. The fact that “You've Got A Way” was released sort of gave me hope, but this song eventually popped up on Top 40 stations and hit the chart. As you might guess, I did not like this song at all, though I eventually grew to tolerate it. Still, it was my least favorite of her Top 40 crossover hits. It was also her last.
HEARTBREAKER – MARIAH CAREY f/JAY-Z (38) – This was the lead single from Mariah's seventh studio album, Rainbow which yielded two Top 40 singles, both collaborations with other artists. In this one, she teamed up with rapper Jay-Z, who had recently gotten his chart career started with his #30 hit “Can I Get A...”. However, I didn't really like this song – one of my least favorite songs from her. I have a feeling that many of her fans might have felt the same way, since this was the first single from her new album (which would be released a little over a month later), yet it came nowhere near the Top Ten.
CANDY – MANDY MOORE (38) – The first of a handful of singles for this young artist, who was fifteen at the time of this song's release. The song actually charted twice – after twelve weeks in its first run, it somehow returned to the chart for an eight-week encore. Coincidentally, it peaked at #26 in both chart runs. It was a pretty good song, IMO.
(BTW, at this point, I had finally left the pizza joint to start a new job at the library, where I am still working after nearly 20 years! In some ways, it doesn't seem like quite that long, while in others, it feels like I've been there forever!)
OCTOBER
ANGELS WOULD FALL – MELISSA ETHERIDGE (34) – Her sixth studio album, Breakdown, was her last to produce any Top 40 hits, this being the only one. The song got as high as #28 on the chart. It fared best on the AC chart, where it peaked at #10 for seven weeks. I thought it was a pretty good song, though there were a few others from her that I preferred.
BACK AT ONE – BRIAN McKNIGHT (37) – From his fifth studio album of the same name, this was his biggest solo hit, peaking at #3. The song did well on several other American charts, such as AC, R&B and Rhythmic, hitting the Top Ten on each of those charts. As stated earlier, this was another song that country singer Mark Wills remade the song and took it to #2 on the country charts. I preferred this version.
AMERICAN WOMAN – LENNY KRAVITZ (38) – This, of course, was a cover of the #1 song in 1970 for Canadian band The Guess Who. I never really liked that song at all – too hostile sounding. I did prefer this version, but that's not saying much.
IF I COULD TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME – R. KELLY (40) – This was a one-hit wonder on the chart, as it dropped out the following week. I don't remember hearing this one at all, so perhaps Dees skipped over this one during its only week on the chart. I had to check this one out on YouTube. It was actually pretty good – reminded me a little of “Unchained Melody”.
WAITING FOR TONIGHT – JENNIFER LOPEZ (33) – Her second Top 40 entry and, like the first, this one peaked at #2, kept out of the top by Santana's behemoth hit “Smooth”. I slightly preferred “If You Had My Love”, but this was a good one as well. I still preferred several others from her.
ANGELS – ROBBIE WILLIAMS (36) – This song was originally released in the United Kingdom in December, 1997, from his debut album Life Thru A Lens, but after the success of “Millennium”, he decided to release this song in the States – a decision that proved to be worthwhile, as the song got as high as #25 on the Pop chart and #6 at Adult Contemporary. It was a good song – one I preferred over his first U.S. hit.
I BELIEVE IN LOVE – PAULA COLE BAND (38) – This song was the only song of hers with her newly formed band (and ultimately turned out to be her final chart entry). The song was not bad – sounded a little like Taylor Dayne's “Love Will Lead You Back”.
I WANNA LOVE YOU FOREVER – JESSICA SIMPSON (40) – This was the debut hit for this singer/actress from Texas – the first of her ten Top 40 hits, one of which was a cover of the Robbie Williams song above, “Angels”. This was definitely one of her best songs – I liked the eerie melody.
I KNEW I LOVED YOU – SAVAGE GARDEN (39) – Another song that made a huge splash on the charts, like “Smooth”. The song was the first number one song of the 2000s, spending five weeks up there. The song was even bigger on the AC chart, spending seventeen weeks on top! I loved the song at first – it was even number one on my Personal Top 30 chart – possibly my biggest chart regret of all, as the song was grossly overplayed and I got sick of it pretty quickly. I'm still somewhat burned out on it, though I could stomach an occasional listen. I do prefer this one over “Truly Madly Deeply”.
HOPE – SHAGGY (40) – This was his second Top 40 hit, and his first without any back-up singers. I found this song somewhat annoying and was not disappointed that the song only got as high as #38.
THEN THE MORNING COMES – SMASH MOUTH (35) – The follow-up to their biggest hit ever came another pretty big one, peaking at #4 and becoming their final Top Ten hit. I did slightly prefer this over the overplayed “All Star”, but it's still not my favorite song from them.
MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE – WHITNEY HOUSTON (39) – This was the fourth and final Top 40 hit from Heartbreak Hotel as well as the second Top Ten, albeit just barely, as it peaked at #10 for a week. This would probably be my third favorite from the album. My favorite is the final single from the album, “I Learned From The Best”, which missed the Top 40, but peaked at #15 on the AC chart in early 2000. That one reminded me of old school Chicago, with Peter Cetera on lead vocals!
GIRL ON TV – LFO (35) – This song was written about Jennifer Love Hewitt, whom band member Rich Cronin was dating at the time. This song was actually pretty good. Not sure if I prefer this or their biggest hit, “Every Other Time”, which peaked at #10 in 2001.
THE ROCKEFELLER SKANK – FATBOY SLIM (40) – His second Top 40 hit, and one that I did not care for at all. Really – what is so good about a song in which pretty much all he says is “Right about now, the funk soul brother, check it out now, the funk soul brother” over and over again? No – I actually preferred “Praise You” over this one.
NOVEMBER
WILL 2K – WILL SMITH (28) – Of course, this was a play on words for Y2K, a series of catastrophes anticipated for the upcoming new millennium. People feared that computers would crash, planes would fall out of the sky, and life as we knew it would end. Of course, none of that happened. This song, which paid homage to the upcoming celebrations planned for the millennium change, sampled “Rock The Casbah” by the Clash. Since it was more or less a novelty song, it had a fast-rise, fast-fall style chart run, peaking at #12. It wasn't bad, but definitely not his best.
COWBOY – KID ROCK (39) – This is a song that I'm pretty sure that Dees skipped every week, as this was about when he developed his anti-rap attitude (which was odd, seeing that, not too long before, his countdown had used a chart that favored that type of song). I'm glad that he never played it, as this song was very annoying. I preferred Kid Rock's other Top 40 hits, all by a huge margin.
THAT'S THE WAY IT IS – CELINE DION (33) – This was Celine's final Top Ten hit on the pop chart, but, of course, she still had much more success to come at AC, where this song made a very strong effort to hit #1 on the chart, but just could not seem to unseat Savage Garden from the top spot and ended up spending an incredible thirteen weeks in the runner-up position. This song wasn't bad, but one of my least favorite songs from her.
HANGINAROUND – COUNTING CROWS (35) – The first and only Top 40 single from their third studio album This Desert Life. Actually, I don't believe that there were any other songs from the album that charted anywhere else. Perhaps they were just concentrating on album sales (which apparently worked, as the album went platinum),
SHAKE YOUR BON BON – RICKY MARTIN (37) – This was the third release from his self-titled album (fourth, if you count the re-release of “The Cup Of Life”). This song, though it hit the Top Ten, zipped up and down the chart rather quickly. The song was so/so, but I much preferred the next release from the album “Private Emotion”, which, according to my Personal Top 30, was the top song of 2000.
BRING IT ALL TO ME – BLAQUE (39) – Their first single, “808” literally had an on-again, off-again relationship with the R&R chart. The song peaked at #46 and spent eighteen VERY non-consecutive weeks on the chart (in fact, the song never was within the Top 50 for more than five weeks at a time). Apparently, they didn't know this was going to happen, as this song was released right after “808” had spent a single week on the chart. This song's chart performance was quite a lot better, as it peaked at #5. I thought it was a really good song.
THE RHYTHM DIVINE – ENRIQUE IGLESIAS (34) – His second Top 40 hit, as well as one of my favorites from him. I'm kind of surprised that this song didn't hit the AC chart, as it didn't seem too out of for that format. Here on the Top 40 chart, the song got as high as #15, which isn't bad, but I feel it should have hit the Top Ten like his debut hit “Bailamos”.
STANDING AT THE EDGE OF THE EARTH – BLESSID UNION OF SOULS (39) – This song, which turned out to be their final Top 40 entry. The song did not measure up to the first single from Walking Off The Buzz, “Hey Leonardo”, peaking at #29 in early 2000. I thought it was a pretty good song – my favorite of the two releases from the album.
LITTLE BLACK BACKPACK – STROKE 9 (40) – From what I can tell from the lyrics, this song is about a guy whose girl is cheating on him and instead of talking things out with her, he takes it out on the guy (who, as far as we know, could be oblivious to the relationship of the two) by kicking his ass, or at least slamming him to the ground and bashing his head in. As for the backpack, well, she might have left it at his house and he's getting back at her by not giving it back to her. As for the song, which peaked at #36 on the chart, I liked it and thought it was mildly amusing.
WHAT A GIRL WANTS – CHRISTINA AGUILERA (28) – The second single from Aguilera's debut album, and like the first, it went to #1. I preferred this over “Genie In A Bottle” quite significantly – in fact, this song became the first #1 song of the new millennium on my Personal Top 30 chart. A great song indeed, though my favorite of her four #1 songs would be “Beautiful”.
LEARN TO FLY – THE FOO FIGHTERS (36) – The second and final Top 40 hit for this rock band from Seattle didn't quite equal the success of their first, as it peaked at #21, which was a shame, as this was my favorie of their two Top 40 hits.
ME MYSELF AND I – VITAMIN C (40) – This was the second Top 40 song of the decade to sample Santana's “No One To Depend On”, following rapper Mellow Man Ace's “Mentirose” back in 1990. I'm not sure if I prefer this or her first hit, “Smile”, but neither hold a candle to her graduation anthem “Friends Forever”.
DECEMBER
DON'T SAY YOU LOVE ME – M2M (40) – This was the only Top 40 hit for these two young girls from Oslo, Norway, who were both fifteen years of age when this song charted. The song couldn't manage to get past #40, a position that they held for three non-consecutive weeks. The song was pretty good. Their follow-up, “Mirror Mirror” just barely missed the Top 40, peaking at #42 in June, 2000. Can't say I've ever heard that song.
BLUE (DA BA DEE) – EIFFEL 65 (31) – Like “Scar Tissue”, this song had many misheard lyrics, most from people who did not know the full title of the song. Of course, the chart guru that I am, l knew what they were saying from the first time I heard this, but I found some of the misheard lyrics quite funny. The lyrics in the chorus “I'm blue, da ba dee, da ba die”, which has been misheard as “I'm in need of a guy”, “gotta beat up a guy”, “I got beat up and died”, “if I was green, I would die” and many, many more, all found on the amiright.com website. As for this song, it was played ad nauseum by just about every radio station you could think of, so I eventually was so sick of it that I wasted no time changing the station when it came on. Now that it's virtually ignored by radio, with very little, if any, recurrent airplay, it's actually good to hear it every once in awhile.
THIS GIFT – 98 DEGREES (33) – This was a holiday song, from this boyband's third studio album This Christmas, so as you can guess, it climbed the chart during the holiday season and pretty much plummetted off the chart in January. I thought it was a nice song.
ALL THE SMALL THINGS – BLINK 182 (39) – This band's second single from Enema Of The State performed significantly better on the chart than the first one, “What's My Age Again”, as this song became their first (and only) Top Ten, peaking at #9. Of their four Top 40 hits, this would likely be my favorite.
TAKE A PICTURE – FILTER (40) – This song was based on a real-life experience of Filter's frontman Richard Patrick, who was intoxicated on a plane and literally taking all of his clothes off. Of course, when he wakes up, he's in a paddy wagon and, of course, has no memory of the incident; the only way he would if someone had taken a picture which, of course, did not happen, as this, mind you, was in the age before cellphones with cameras were as widely available and owned by virtually everyone. The song was pretty good, IMO.
EVERYTHING YOU WANT – VERTICAL HORIZON (38) – The final song to hit the charts during the millennium certainly made an enormous splash in 2000. The song, by an alternative rock band from our nation's capital, climbed the chart slowly, but surely, eventually peaking at #2 for three non-consecutive weeks, and lasting eighteen weeks in the Top Ten and 37 weeks in the Top 40. This impressive chart run was enough to become the top song of the entire year – the first non-number one to rule a year-end chart since 1965, when “Wooly Bully” by Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs topped the year-ender for that year – and the first time in R&R history that ever happened. I thought it was a great song and am glad it topped the very first year-end Top 100 of the 20th Century!
Well, we have come to the end of the 1990's and the end of my AT40/CT40 commentary series. I have had a lot of fun posting it - a true trip down memory lane. I hope you had a great time reading it. Well, as Casey would say at the end of each show, keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!
JANUARY
No debuts to report the first week of January, as AT40 was doing Part 2 of the Top 100 songs of 1997.
IT'S ALL BEEN DONE – BARENAKED LADIES (32) – So odd that their only Top Ten hit was a huge number one. This song looked like it might be Top Ten bound, but it ran out of steam once it hit the Top 20. Lead singer Steven Page wrote this song in response to how embarrassed he was about how wordy their song “Brian Wilson” (which was a Top 40 near-miss the year before) was, which accounts for how simple the chorus is (just a few “woo hoo hoo's” and the song title). I actually liked this song much better than their annoying last hit before this one.
HOW DO I DEAL – JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT (40) – Hey, how about this – the only song that debuts along with the Barenaked Ladies is a singer who had a hit called “Barenaked”, in 2002. Hewitt is known more for her acting in TV shows like Party Of Five and movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer, but she did have a pair of Top 40 hits, both of which peaked in the 30s. This was from the soundtrack of the movie I just mentioned. I thought it was a good song, though I slightly preferred her other Top 40 hit.
BELIEVE – CHER (32) – Unbelievable that a singer who started out in the 1960s would have possibly her biggest hit ever over 33 years later! The song peaked at #2 on the R&R chart and not only did it top the Hot 100, but came out on top for the entire year. Is that amazing or what? Anyway, this song was a departure from her usual pop music style, as it had a techno beat to it. I thought it was a great song!
ANGEL OF MINE – MONICA (34) – As I mentioned in my 1998 critique, the melody of this song was very much like “All I Have To Give”. I'm wondering if this factor affected airplay of either song (i.e. had it not been for one of them, would the other one have climbed higher?). No matter; both songs hit the Top Ten, this one peaking the highest, at #2. I slightly preferred the Backstreet Boys song, but this was a great song as well.
NO MERCY – KHALEEL (36) – This hip-hop recording artist is better known by his stage name Bronx Style Bob, but he went by his new identity – his last name – when he had his sole Top 40 hit, which I thought was not bad, but nothing special.
EVERY MORNING – SUGAR RAY (40) – Their second Top 40 hit went all the way like their debut hit. Not only that, the song went on to become the top song of 1999. The song sounded familiar to me when I first heard it, and that's because it samples two oldies - “Suavecito” by Malo and “Grazing In The Grass” by Hugh Masekela. I liked this song significantly better than “Fly”, but still, there are several other Sugar Ray songs that I preferred.
FLY AWAY – LENNY KRAVITZ (37) – His fifth studio album, appropriately titled 5, spawned six singles, though only three of them made the Top 40 chart. This was the first one and it became his second of three Top Ten hits, peaking at #6. The song did best at the two rock formats, hitting #1 on both charts. The song was OK, but a little overrated, IMO.
CRUSH – DAVE MATTHEWS BAND (38) – Definitely one of their less successful hits, though it did well on the Alternative chart, peaking at #11. I thought it was one of their better songs and felt it deserved a higher peak than #38.
UNSENT – ALANIS MORISSETTE (32) – This song's structure was definitely unusual, as it did not have chorus – just verses, each consisting of letters written to former boyfriends of Alanis. This was when her popularity began taking a nosedive, as this song peaked at #16, becoming her first song not to hit the Top Ten. I thought it was a pretty good song, though I can see why it tanked so fast.
AT THE STARS – BETTER THAN EZRA (37) – This New Orleans-based alternative rock band had charted three times before earlier in the decade, and their fourth one became their highest peaking hit, hitting #17, a spot higher than “Good” (although the latter would be considered their biggest hit, since it spent much longer on the chart). This song was a good song, IMO. Alas, it would be their final Top 40 hit.
FEBRUARY
I STILL BELIEVE – MARIAH CAREY (38) – Brenda K. Starr first charted with this song in 1988, peaking at #13. This remake did not do quite as well, though it did make the Top 20. I preferred the original, but this version was not bad at all.
CHANGES – 2PAC (40) – This song, dealing with heavy social issues in African American culture, including racism and difficulties of ghetto life, was 2Pac's only posthumous hit. The song was a one-week wonder, as it dropped out the following week. As you might expect, I wasn't a big fan of the song at all.
STAY THE SAME – JOEY McINTYRE (34) – Back in the late-1980s New Kids On The Block were all the rage. Ten years later, two members of the boyband, currently on hiatus, decided to try out solo careers, with McIntyre being the first one. He had a pair of Top 40 hits, both ballads. I preferred his second one, but this one, which hit the Top 20, was a good one too.
RUN – COLLECTIVE SOUL (38) – This band hadn't had a Top 40 hit in three years. They had released a song in the spring of 1997, called “Listen”, which just missed the Top 40. This song, which was their final Top 40 entry, got as high as #26. It was pretty good, but my favorite of their Top 40 hits was “The World I Know”.
MALIBU – HOLE (39) – This female rock band from L.A. was quite successful on the Alternative charts, but only had a single Top 40 hit, which would peak at #35 the following week. I thought it was a really good song and can't help but wonder, as big as they were at Alternative radio, why they didn't fare better at Pop than they did.
NOBODY'S SUPPOSED TO BE HERE – DEBORAH COX (40) – The second of two Top 40 hits for this Canadian R&B artist. This song was not bad, but not one of my favorite songs either.
C'EST LA VIE – B*WITCHED (37) – This was the only Top 40 hit for this Irish girl group. I took a listen to this on YouTube just now and I tell you what, I had forgotten how great a song it was! Too bad it only got as high as #24, but at least it made the Top 100 of 1999 (though we never got to hear but the Top 40 of those songs due to the frankly half-assed Top 40 of the 1990s on the other holiday weekend).
WHAT IT'S LIKE – EVERLAST (38) – Earlier, we talked about the only Top 40 hit for Khaleel. He provided back-up vocals for this song by this singer, who also ended up being a one-hit wonder. The only thing is, this song ended up being a much bigger hit, peaking at #5 in early May. When I first heard it, the song instantly reminded me of “What I Am” by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, a Top Ten hit from almost exactly ten years before. The song is OK, but was quite overplayed during its chart run.
KISS ME – SIXPENCE NONE THE RICHER (29) – This song was by somewhat of a rare bird – a Christian alternative rock band. The song looked like it would peak at #2, as it was stuck in that position for four weeks behind “Every Morning”, but it managed to unseat that song and spend a pair of weeks at #1. Of their two Top 40 hits, this was by far my favorite! A great song indeed!
THE ANIMAL SONG – SAVAGE GARDEN (34) – This song looked like another number one song for them, as it made a ten-spot jump two weeks in a row, moving 34-24-14. Top Ten next week, right? Not quite – the song fell back to #15. Moreover, the song never made the Top Ten at all, although it did recover and moved back up, peaking at #11. This was another one of those acts who either hit number one or missed the Top Ten altogether.
SPECIAL – GARBAGE (38) – This alternative rock band from Madison, Wisconsin, had two minor hits earlier in the decade, but this was the song that finally put them in the Top 20. It was also their final Top 40 entry. I thought it was a pretty good song, though I preferred said minor hits.
MARCH
NO SCRUBS – TLC (30) – Never liked this song – basically a song about man-bashing. They come off as sounding like total snobs in this song and frankly, if I never hear this song again, it'll be too soon. Fortunately, I never hear this song on the radio anymore.
NOTHING REALLY MATTERS – MADONNA (36) – This was the final release from Ray Of Light. The song was so/so, but definitely not one of her best. The fans apparently thought the same thing – the song peaked at #20 and fell like a rock right afterward.
HEARTBREAK HOTEL – WHITNEY HOUSTON f/FAITH EVANS & KELLY PRICE (37) – This was the second of five singles from her My Love Is Your Love album (the first was her duet with Mariah Carey “When You Believe”. In this song, she recruits two R&B singers as back-up singers and this time, she got a Top Ten out of it. I liked this song, but preferred most of the others from the album.
ANYTHING BUT DOWN – SHERYL CROW (37) – The second single from the Globe Sessions, “There Goes The Neighborhood” did not make the chart, but this third single certainly did. Though it did not hit the Top Ten like “My Favorite Mistake”, the song did get as high as #14. After this, she would not hit the Top 40 again for three more years. I liked this song, though it is certainly not her best.
THE HARDEST THING – 98 DEGREES (40) – The third single from 98 Degrees And Rising turned out to be their most successful chart hit, peaking at #4, and deservedly so, as it was a great song – one of my favorite songs from them!
MY NAME IS – EMINEM (38) – He was one of the biggest rappers of the 21st Century (so far), but he got his feet wet in 1999 with his breakthrough Top 40 hit. I wasn't a huge fan of this song, as you might guess. I did like a few of his later releases, though, but unfortunately, we won't be getting to any of those.
REAL LIFE – BON JOVI (38) – They were back on the charts as a band for the first time since the fall of 1995. From the soundtrack of the film Edtv, this song got as high as #32 on the chart. I thought it was a good song, but I prefer many other songs from them.
THESE ARE THE TIMES – DRU HILL (39) – This R&B act from Baltimore was a one-hit wonder on the Top 40 charts, and this song was a one-week wonder on the chart, as it dropped out the week after. Too bad, as I thought it was a pretty decent hit.
WE LIKE TO PARTY – THE VENGABOYS (40) – Another one-hit wonder, in this case, a Dutch Eurodance band. However, this song stuck around much longer – twelve weeks to be exact. Pretty good for a song that only got as high as #28 (not to mention the fact that spent twenty weeks on the full Top 40 chart before going recurrent). I'm generally not much for this type of music, but there was something about this song that I really liked.
APRIL
THAT DON'T IMPRESS ME MUCH – SHANIA TWAIN (31) – Her album Come On Over had come out in late 1997 and she was still cranking out hits from it. In fact, eleven songs from the album would hit the country charts by the summer of 2000. That is one hot album – so hot that four singles crossed over to the Pop chart. This was the second biggest Top 40 hit from the album, peaking at #4. I thought it was a neat song, putting self-absorbed men trying to get with her in their places.
DOWN SO LONG – JEWEL (34) – Even though Casey didn't do a full Top 100 of 1999, he apparently did put together a chart just in case. Of course, since R&R, which he was following to the letter at the time, had compiled a Top 99 chart, all he had to do was figured out the #100 song, and I heard somewhere that this was the song, which sounds about right, as the song peaked at #19 for three weeks and spent nine weeks on the chart. Until I heard this, I guessed that “From This Moment On” by Shania Twain was #100. I wonder how close that came to the list? Anyway, this song, which would end up being her final hit for another two and a half years, was pretty good, but I preferred a few other songs from her, including that next hit after this one, “Standing Still”.
EVERYBODY'S FREE TO WEAR SUNSCREEN – BAZ LUHRMAN (36) – This spoken word song, the first to hit the Top 40 in recent memory, was an ideal inspirational graduation speech for the class of 1999. Though it did make the chart, it had a fast-rise, fast-fall chart run, peaking at #18 and on the chart for seven weeks. The song was OK, but it's not something I'd want to hear on a regular basis
I DRIVE MYSELF CRAZY – 'N SYNC (37) – This was the fourth and final single from this boyband's self-titled debut album. People were probably thinking that this song would peak at #5, like the first three singles, but in fact, it didn't even hit the Top Ten. The song peaked at #12, which was almost exactly two years after the album had been released. I really liked the song and it's pretty much a toss-up between this and “I Want You Back” as my favorite song from the album.
CAN I GET A... - JAY-Z f/AMIL & JA RULE (40) – This song was actually entitled “Can I Get A F--- You”, but the radio edit was censored to “...What What”. Even though the song only got as high as #30, the song spent seventeen weeks on the chart and was ranked on R&R's Top 99 of 1999, at #74 – the lowest peaking song to make the cut. I wasn't a huge fan of it, as you probably already guessed.
GIVE IT TO YOU – JORDAN KNIGHT (39) – The second former New Kid On The Block to have a short-lived solo career (although he'd already had experience singing away from the group when they were still together, singing a duet with Ana (Rodriguez), on her album Body Language called “Angel Of Love”). This was his first song to hit the chart. The song was not bad, but I preferred the follow-up, which we'll be getting to before long.
HARMLESS – MULBERRY LANE (40) – This band, consisting of the four Rizutto sisters, based in Omaha, named after the street they lived on in their childhood (though I forget which town they lived in then). I actually remember hearing this song on U93 on my way to the library, where I was volunteering at that point, and was thinking, wow, this is a good song. However, the song didn't get any higher than #32. I remember the song most from hearing it on AT20, where it peaked at #15.
LIVIN' LA VIDA LOCA – RICKY MARTIN (31) – This was definitely one of the big summer hit of 1999! This former member of the boyband Menudo is regarded as the “king of Latin Pop”. He certainly had a great year in 1999, with four Top 40 hits, all from his self-titled fifth studio album, and this one was by far the biggest, logging seven weeks at #1. It was a great song, though I got tired of hearing it ten times a day, but now that you don't hear it much anymore, it's great to hear every now and again.
HEY LEONARDO (SHE LIKES ME FOR ME) – BLESSID UNION OF SOULS (37) – They had gone the Alternative way at this point, even though none of their singles ever made that chart. They just had that sound to them with this song, the first of two Top 40 hits from their third studio album Walking Off The Buzz, as well as their second biggest hit overall, behind their debut hit “I Believe”, as this song peaked at #4. It was a good song, though definitely not my favorite song from them.
ALL ABOUT THE MONEY – MEJA (39) – This artist from Sweden had two Top 40 hits – this one, as well as one of the hits from the Ricky Martin album mentioned above. Of course, that was the song “Private Emotion”, which is my favorite song from both artists involved (one of the biggest songs of the 2000s, according to my Personal Top 30 chart), but this song was a pretty good one too.
FREAK OF THE WEEK – MARVELOUS 3 (40) – This was this Atlanta rock band's only Top 40 hit and it looked like it might be a one-week wonder as well, as it dropped out of the Top 40 the following week, but returned for a two-week encore, peaking at #39. The song, which reminded me of “So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star” (especially Tom Petty's version), was a good one – sort of underrated, IMO.
I WANT IT THAT WAY – BACKSTREET BOYS (31) – The first of four Top Ten hits from their third studio album Millennium (which was set for release in mid-May) and the biggest of them all, spending three weeks at #1. I thought it was a great song, though not quite their best.
WHY DON'T YOU GET A JOB – OFFSPRING (35) – This was the second of two Top 40 hits from their Americana album. This song is a dead ringer for the Beatles' song “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, especially during the chorus. You can literally listen to one and sing the other. The verses don't sound too different either, though the chord progressions aren't as similar. Of their five Top 40 hits, this just might be my favorite.
PRAISE YOU – FATBOY SLIM (38) – This British singer; who helped to popularize the genre of electronic music known as Big Beat, had a pair of Top 40 hits in 1999. Though I prefer this song over his annoyingly repetitive second single, it still wasn't one of my favorite songs, so I don't think I would have liked the Big Beat genre too well.
WAIT 'TIL I GET HOME – C-NOTE (40) – One of several songs that samples “I Can't Go For That” by Hall & Oates (though I believe this is the only one that made the Top 40). This was the only Top 40 hit for this boyband, named after the slang term for a hundred dollar bill (although the band name is an acronym for “Creating Nothing Other Than Excellence). It was a pretty good song, IMO.
MAY
MILLENIUM – ROBBIE WILLIAMS (37) – A song that was released at an appropriate time, as we were getting ready to enter a new millennium. Of course, that might have had something to do with why they decided to release this song about now, though I don't believe the song's lyric had anything to do with it. Anyway, Williams was the second former member of the recently-disbanded Take That to hit the charts (the first being Gary Barlow in 1997), and this was his first of two Top 40 hits (ironically, his other one did indeed span the millennium). I preferred that song, though this one wasn't bad either.
SWEET LADY – TYRESE (40) – This was the first of three Top 40 hits for this man who was an R&B singer, among several other professions. This song was a pleasant slow jam and my favorite of his three hits by a fair margin.
ALMOST DOESN'T COUNT – BRANDY (36) – There was somewhat of a trend of country artists covering Pop and R&B songs during the turn of the century (this century, that is). Already, in 1999, Alabama had done a cover of 'N Sync's “God Must Have Spend (A Little More Time On You)” and this song, along with Brian McKnight's “Back At One” would be covered by Mark Wills for his 2000 album Permanently, which he recorded during 1999. There were a few other examples, but those are the ones that stick out in my mind at the moment. As for this song, I preferred this version.
OUT OF MY HEAD – FASTBALL (37) – Even though it had been several months since their second hit from All The Pain Money Can Buy had flopped on the charts, the band decided to release a third single – which proved to be worthwhile, as the song became their second Top Ten hit, and had a relatively lengthy chart run. Although I liked all three releases, this would be my favorite.
SOMETIMES – BRITNEY SPEARS (24) – Her second Top 40 hit started out nearly halfway up the chart, en route to number four, proving that she was already an established artist (though really – who knew just how big she would be)? Although I preferred her first Top 40 hit, this one was pretty good as well.
BETTER DAYS (AND THE BOTTOM DROPS OUT) – CITIZEN KING (37) – This band's musical style seemed to be a cross between alternative rock and hip-hop. This was their only Top 40 hit, but it did quite well – in fact, it was one of two songs that made the AT40 Year-End Top 40 despite not hitting the Top Ten, due to its chart momentum (in fact, since it was #17 in its 20th week on, I'm sure the song got plenty of recurrent airplay. It was a really good song, IMO.
BLUE MONDAY – ORGY (39) – This song was a huge club hit for the band New Order for many years, and this industrial rock band from L.A. gave it a brand-new sound. Of course, I preferred the original, but this song, Orgy's only song to make the Top 40, was definitely an interesting cover.
IF YOU HAD MY LOVE – JENNIFER LOPEZ (35) – Generally an artist associated with the 2000s, J-Lo had a pair of hits in 1999, both of which peaked at #2 on the chart. Not sure which one I prefer, as both of them were really good. Taylor Swift's #1 hit from 2015 “Style” reminded me a lot of this song.
WILD WILD WEST – WILL SMITH (37) – This song was a semi-remake of Kool Moe Dee's 1988 song of the same title (in fact, Dee himself sings the chorus in this), and contains a sample of Stevie Wonder's 1976 hit “I Wish”. It wasn't bad, but definitely not one of my favorite songs from Smith.
I WILL REMEMBER YOU – SARAH McLACHLAN (39) – This song was originally a minor Hot AC hit in 1995, from the soundtrack of the movie The Brothers McMullen, but this live recording from her Mirrorball album, which would be released in mid-June, was the one that finally made it to the Top 40 chart. It did quite well, too, peaking at number ten. I didn't really like the song at first, but I really did like this new version of the song.
SHE'S SO HIGH – TAL BACHMAN (40) – This may have been the only Top 40 hit for this Canadian artist, but a great song it was! The song peaked at #7 on the chart, but ranked in the year-end way up at #17 due to its tenacity on the chart. The song did quite well on my Personal Top 30 chart, peaking at #4.
ALL STAR – SMASH MOUTH (38) – Earlier, I mentioned that “Livin' La Vida Loca” was one of the big summer hits of 1999. This would be the other one, since it was number one for multiple weeks during the latter half of the season, and it definitely had that summer sound to it. I wasn't a huge fan of the song, however. I preferred “Walking On The Sun” by a sizable margin.
JUNE
STRONG ENOUGH – CHER (36) – Well, her comeback didn't seem to last too long, though it did produce her biggest hit ever. This song was another dance song, though a little more laid back than “Believe”. I actually preferred this song, most likely since it wasn't quite as overplayed (though I thought both songs were great).
GENIE IN A BOTTLE – CHRISTINA AGUILERA (37) – I got my first taste of her music the year before, as “Reflection”, from the Disney film Mulan, was a Top 20 AC hit. Her first Top 40 hit went all the way to the top – her first of four number one hits. It was not bad, but one of my least favorite of her big hits.
MY OWN WORST ENEMY - LIT (40) – This rock band from California formed in 1988, but did not have a Top 40 hit until eleven years later. The song only got as high as #29 but spent fifteen weeks on the chart, good enough to place at #83 on the year-ender. It was a pretty good song, IMO.
BEAUTIFUL STRANGER – MADONNA (31) – She had just come off of a great singles album, Ray Of Light, which spawned four Top 20 hits, and not long after that last song dropped off the chart, she retured with this song from the soundtrack of one of the most popular movies of 1999, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. This was a great song – I preferred it over the Ray Of Light singles.
I COULD NOT ASK FOR MORE – EDWIN McCAIN (37) – The follow-up to his everlasting hit “I'll Be” did quite well on the chart as well, peaking at #17, and lasting an even 20 weeks on the chart. The song performed even better on the two AC charts, hitting the Top Five on both. This was another song later made into a country remake – Sara Evans covered it on her 2000 album Born To Fly and released it in early 2001, taking it into the Top Five on the country charts.
TELL ME IT'S REAL – K-CI & JOJO (38) – They had one of the biggest hits of 1998 with their first hit and this song, the first and only Top 40 hit for their second album It's Real didn't perform too badly either, though I was disappointed that it only got as high as #21, since it was definitely my favorite song from them up to that point – a great song indeed!
SOMEDAY – SUGAR RAY (39) – Their third Top 40 hit didn't quite hit the top like their first two, but it did get as high as #3, which is definitely nothing to sneeze at either. I thought this was a great song, though my favorite song from them would be “When It's Over”, from 2001.
IT'S NOT RIGHT, BUT IT'S OKAY – WHITNEY HOUSTON (40) – This song, about a woman confronting her lover when she finds out she's been cheating on him, was the third Top 40 hit from her My Love Is Your Love album. The song was not bad, but definitely my least favorite song from the album.
UNPRETTY – TLC (38) – The second single from their album FanMail was, IMO, significantly better than their first. The song has been compared to Hanson's signature hit “MMMBop”, since the melody of the songs sound alike, especially when they start singing. But apparently, it worked, as this song peaked at number three and was on the chart for 30 weeks – their longest-running hit ever. However, this would be their final Top Ten hit.
LOVE SONG – SKY (40) – One of several bands by this name. This one was formed in Montreal earlier in the decade and they had a handful of hits in their home country, but were a one-hit wonder here in the states. This song, from their album Piece Of Paradise, peaked at #34 on the chart. I thought it was a pretty decent song – one that is included on my countdown show mix tape from the summer of 1999.
JULY
BLACK BALLOON – THE GOO GOO DOLLS (35) – This was a case of Third Single Syndrome here – well, sort of, if you'd like to consider “Iris” the first single off of the Dizzy Up The Girl album even though it was originally written for the soundtrack of the film City Of The Angels. Whatever the case, this song peaked at #12, following two number one songs. But, like the Citizen King song, this one ranked within the Top 40 of the year due to all the time it spent in the Top 20. I thought this was a great song – I preferred it over “Slide”, but I did slightly prefer the two other singles from the album (including “Broadway”, which was a Top 20 hit in the spring of 2000).
LAST KISS – PEARL JAM (32) – They finally reached the Top Ten with this hard rock cover of the Wayne Cochrane classic from 1961, which first saw chart success three years later when J. Frank Wilson & The Cavaliers took it to #2. Though this song peaked two spots lower, its longer chart run makes it the slightly bigger hit. I liked both versions, in different ways, of course, since the musical styles of both songs were very diverse. Not sure which one I prefer, though.
PROMISES – DEF LEPPARD (38) – After an absence from the chart of about three and a half years, this hard rock band, once one of the biggest in the business, returned with what would be their final Top 40 hit. Too bad this song didn't get any higher than #33, as I thought it was a great song!
BAILAMOS – ENRIQUE IGLESIAS (28) – His father, Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias charted with two Top 20 hits in 1984, but Enrique was much more successful on the Top 40 chart with over 20 Top 40 hits, including this one that got as high as #5. It was a great one, like most of his earlier material.
SMILE – VITAMIN C f/LADY SAW (31) – I always thought that the two artists of this song produced a clever play on words. This song, which was used for Hershey's Chocolate commercials in the early 2000s, was not bad, but my favorite Vitamin C song was “Graduation”, which charted in time for the Class of 2000 (in fact, it peaked the first week of June, around the time that most high schools held their graduation ceremonies).
SUMMER GIRLS – LFO (33) – I wonder if this song helped the Abercrombie & Fitch industry, as the popular casual wear retailer was mentioned several times in the song, including the chorus. Anyway, I'm kind of surprised that this song didn't hit the Top Ten, as much airplay as it got. Not that I'm complaining, as I never really got into this song.
THE CUP OF LIFE (LA COPA DE LA VIDA) – RICKY MARTIN (35) – This song, which was originally released from Martin's 1998 album Vuelve, topped the charts in many countries around the world, including France, where it became the official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Here in the States, however, when it was re-released from his self-titled album,
it only got as high as #25 (possibly since it hit the charts while “Livin' La Vida Loca” was still riding high). The song wasn't bad, but it was never one of my favorite songs from Martin.
NO MATTER WHAT – BOYZONE (38) – The boyband craze was still in full swing, with such groups from all over the world trying to get in on the fun. This was the only Top 40 hit for this quintet from Dublin. Like the Ricky Martin song above, this song hit #1 in numerous countries (and hit the Top Ten in quite a few as well). However, on the AT40 chart, this song only got as high as #32, though it was a Top Ten AC hit, which was good, since I really liked the song.
SOMEDAY WE'LL KNOW – NEW RADICALS (40) – This was the second and final single from their album Maybe You've Been Brainwashed. The song was nowhere near as successful as their first hit (presumably since the band had broken up shortly before this song was released). I preferred said first hit, but this was a great one as well.
I LOVE YOU CAME TOO LATE – JOEY McINTYRE (35) – This was the second Top 40 hit for this former New Kid. However, the song barely touched the Top 30, which was a shame, since I preferred this one over his debut solo hit by a fair margin.
WHERE MY GIRLS AT – 702 (36) – This band, named after the area code of Las Vegas, where they were formed. Their music style reminded me a lot of Destiny's Child. However, they were nowhere near as successful, as this was their sole Top 40 hit. The song got as high as #12, but spent 22 weeks on the chart, since it had yo-yo style chart movement during its time in the Top 20. The song was OK, but nothing exceptional.
SO PURE – ALANIS MORISSETTE (38) – Her chart career was continuing to decline, as this song only peaked at #33. The song would not be her final Top 40, however, though it definitely looked that way for several years, until her 2002 comeback, which produced a final hit called “Hands Clean”, which got as high as #20. This song wasn't bad, though I wasn't a huge fan of it myself.
I DO (CHERISH YOU) – 98 DEGREES (31) – The fourth and final single from 98 Degrees And Rising was almost as big as “The Hardest Thing”, peaking a spot lower. This would probably be my favorite song from the album – a great song indeed!
SMOOTH – SANTANA f/ROB THOMAS (36) – Now THIS was a major, major hit! Santana had not seen Top 40 chart action since the fall of 1982, when his hit “Hold On” peaked at #15. This song became by far his biggest hit ever, spending seven weeks at #1, and 37 weeks in the Top 40. However, that was small peanuts compared to its performance on the Hot AC chart, where it spent an unbelievable 23 weeks at #1 (I believe that was the record number of weeks at the top for any R&R chart) and nearly 70 weeks on the chart overall. I myself thought the song was quite overrated, but, up to now, Santana had never had a number one hit – in fact, he had only hit the Top Ten twice. The saying that the best things come to those who wait definitely rang true in this case, and he finally hit the top exactly 30 years after he began charting! Not to mention that it marked Rob Thomas' first hit away from Matchbox 20, as he was the one who provided the vocals. He would hit the chart on his own several times a few years later. Anyway, of Santana's hits during his incredible second wave of popularity, my favorite song would be his collaboration with Michelle Branch “The Game Of Love”.
STEAL MY SUNSHINE – LEN (39) – The first thing many people noticed about this song was that it sampled the 1976 hit by the Andrea True Connection, “More More More”. It was the only Top 40 hit for this Canadian rock trio, consisting of siblings Marc and Sharon Costanzo, but it was a big one, peaking at #3 in November. I rather liked the song.
YOU'LL BE IN MY HEART – PHIL COLLINS (40) – The same week that the biggest hit in Hot AC history debuted, so did one of the most successful hits on the AC chart, where this song was currently in its twelfth week at #1. The song spent a cumulative total of nineteen weeks at the top and, if not for “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys, which spent a total of six weeks at #1, this would have most likely set the R&R record of weeks on top, though, without airplay for the Backstreet Boys song, the 'N Sync/Gloria Estefan collaboration might have hit #1 sooner than it did. Anyway, with so many weeks atop the AC chart, you might guess this was a big Pop hit as well, but, surprisingly, this song only got as high as #36 on the Top 40 chart. Must have been promoted almost exclusively at AC, although Collins was no longer as big a Top 40 artist as he was earlier in the decade – in fact, this ended up being his final Top 40 hit. I thought it was a great song and, despite its excessive airplay at AC radio, I never got tired of it.
AUGUST
SHE'S ALL I EVER HAD – RICKY MARTIN (36) – His two previous hits from his self-titled album were still on the chart, meaning that he had three songs on the chart at the same time, a rare feat that lasted for four weeks, before “Livin' La Vida Loca” went recurrent. The first time I heard this song, I thought it was totally excellent, but I found myself getting tired of it rather quickly. Don't get me wrong; it's still a good song, but I prefer several others from him.
SCAR TISSUE – RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS (38) – This song is definitely in the running for the Most Misheard Lyrics record, mainly for the chorus line “With the birds, I'll share this lonely view”. A long list of these “mondegreens” can be found at amiright.com. Anyway, this song, which became their second Top Ten pop hit, was a pretty good song, though I prefer a few others from them.
BILLS BILLS BILLS – DESTINY'S CHILD (40) – They still hadn't quite caught on at this point, as this song, their second Top 40 hit, peaked at #24. They would finally hit the big time in early 2000, with their first Top Ten – the first of eight I a row. As for this song, I was never a big fan of it, but one day, near the end of its chart run, it was stuck in my mind all day and was driving me nuts. I don't believe I've heard the song since then and that's just fine with me!
WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN – BLINK 182 (39) – This rock band from the San Diego area placed four singles on the Top 40 chart, this being their first. It climbed to #24, but the format at which it enjoyed the most success was Alternative, where the song was a Top Five hit. It was a decent song, but I preferred their next release “All The Small Things”.
YOU'VE GOT A WAY – SHANIA TWAIN (40) – This song, both from her Come On Over album and the soundtrack of the romantic comedy film Notting Hill, was certainly a flop at Top 40 radio, as this was the song's only week on the chart, so apparently this was another song not promoted at that format, but it did well on the country chart, where it hit the Top 20, and AC, where it was a Top Ten hit. Of her Top 40 hits, this beautiful ballad was possibly my favorite.
THERE SHE GOES – SIXPENCE NONE THE RICHER (36) – Their follow-up to their number one hit “Kiss Me” just missed the Top Ten, peaking at #11. This song also ended up being their final Top 40 hit. It was pretty good, but my favorite of their two hits was definitely their first.
MUSIC OF MY HEART – 'N SYNC f/GLORIA ESTEFAN (40) – This was the song that had the strength to finally put an end to the back-and-forth battle for the #1 spot on the AC chart in which Phil Collins and the Backstreet Boys were engaged for several months. The song spent four weeks on top at AC, but surprisingly only got as high as #21 on the Top 40 chart. That was quite a shock, considering that it was by one of the top boybands around. Nevertheless, the song brought back Cuban singer Gloria Estefan back to the charts after an absence of about three and a half years, and, on the other hand, it far outpeaked her last hit “Reach”. I thought the song was a really good one. 'N Sync, by the way, would return in 2000, bigger than ever, with two #1 hits, both of which spent multiple weeks up there!
MEET VIRGINIA – TRAIN (40) – The first of so far ten Top 40 hits for this rock band from San Francisco, as well as one of the biggest. This was the third song in the past four years to mention the name Virginia. While the song by Blessid Union referred to the state, this and the Rod Stewart song was about a person by that name. In this song, it was about a woman who had several bad habits and was a little on the eccentric side. The song itself was good – one of my favorites from them.
SEPTEMBER
MAMBO NO. 5 – LOU BEGA (28) – This song, which sampled the last 30 seconds of a song by the same name recorded by Perez Prado about fifty years before, was the first of two Top 40 hits for this young German artist, as well as his biggest, spending five weeks at #1 in October. It was a very catchy song and, though I was tired of it due to overplay during its chart run, it's good to hear now that it receives very little recurrent airplay.
I NEED TO KNOW – MARC ANTHONY (40) – This singer, born in New York City to parents of Puerto Rican descent, had four Top 40 hits, this one being the only one that hit the Top Ten, peaking at #5 in the closing weeks of 1999. The song was OK, though a little too whiny for my liking. I preferred the three follow-ups, most likely because they weren't as overplayed as this song.
(YOU DRIVE ME) CRAZY – BRITNEY SPEARS (31) – This song might bear slight resemblence to her debut hit “...Baby One More Time”, but I prefer that song by a sizeable margin, as this song never really did anything for me (though I still preferred it over most of her later hits).
LARGER THAN LIFE – BACKSTREET BOYS (34) – One of their gimmicky songs, basically thanking their fans for their devotion and encouragement, which I guess was nice of them, but still, I never cared much for this song, which was the second release from Millennium.
I COULD NEVER TAKE THE PLACE OF YOUR MAN – JORDAN KNIGHT (40) – Wow, one New Kid replaced another on the chart. As Joey McIntyre stepped off the chart with his second Top 40 hit, bandmate Knight debuted with his – a cover of Prince's Top Ten hit from early 1988. This song, however, was quite different from the original, which was a bouncy, upbeat song, while this was a tender love ballad. This was my favorite of the four New Kid solo hits that charted in 1999 (in fact, it made it to #1 on my Personal To 30 chart); however, it was the least successful on the Top 40 chart, peaking at #31 and fading away soon after, which I thought was a shame, but so it goes.
MAN! I FEEL LIKE A WOMAN – SHANIA TWAIN (36) – I had been hearing this song at country radio for a few months and was hoping that the song would not cross over to Pop. The fact that “You've Got A Way” was released sort of gave me hope, but this song eventually popped up on Top 40 stations and hit the chart. As you might guess, I did not like this song at all, though I eventually grew to tolerate it. Still, it was my least favorite of her Top 40 crossover hits. It was also her last.
HEARTBREAKER – MARIAH CAREY f/JAY-Z (38) – This was the lead single from Mariah's seventh studio album, Rainbow which yielded two Top 40 singles, both collaborations with other artists. In this one, she teamed up with rapper Jay-Z, who had recently gotten his chart career started with his #30 hit “Can I Get A...”. However, I didn't really like this song – one of my least favorite songs from her. I have a feeling that many of her fans might have felt the same way, since this was the first single from her new album (which would be released a little over a month later), yet it came nowhere near the Top Ten.
CANDY – MANDY MOORE (38) – The first of a handful of singles for this young artist, who was fifteen at the time of this song's release. The song actually charted twice – after twelve weeks in its first run, it somehow returned to the chart for an eight-week encore. Coincidentally, it peaked at #26 in both chart runs. It was a pretty good song, IMO.
(BTW, at this point, I had finally left the pizza joint to start a new job at the library, where I am still working after nearly 20 years! In some ways, it doesn't seem like quite that long, while in others, it feels like I've been there forever!)
OCTOBER
ANGELS WOULD FALL – MELISSA ETHERIDGE (34) – Her sixth studio album, Breakdown, was her last to produce any Top 40 hits, this being the only one. The song got as high as #28 on the chart. It fared best on the AC chart, where it peaked at #10 for seven weeks. I thought it was a pretty good song, though there were a few others from her that I preferred.
BACK AT ONE – BRIAN McKNIGHT (37) – From his fifth studio album of the same name, this was his biggest solo hit, peaking at #3. The song did well on several other American charts, such as AC, R&B and Rhythmic, hitting the Top Ten on each of those charts. As stated earlier, this was another song that country singer Mark Wills remade the song and took it to #2 on the country charts. I preferred this version.
AMERICAN WOMAN – LENNY KRAVITZ (38) – This, of course, was a cover of the #1 song in 1970 for Canadian band The Guess Who. I never really liked that song at all – too hostile sounding. I did prefer this version, but that's not saying much.
IF I COULD TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME – R. KELLY (40) – This was a one-hit wonder on the chart, as it dropped out the following week. I don't remember hearing this one at all, so perhaps Dees skipped over this one during its only week on the chart. I had to check this one out on YouTube. It was actually pretty good – reminded me a little of “Unchained Melody”.
WAITING FOR TONIGHT – JENNIFER LOPEZ (33) – Her second Top 40 entry and, like the first, this one peaked at #2, kept out of the top by Santana's behemoth hit “Smooth”. I slightly preferred “If You Had My Love”, but this was a good one as well. I still preferred several others from her.
ANGELS – ROBBIE WILLIAMS (36) – This song was originally released in the United Kingdom in December, 1997, from his debut album Life Thru A Lens, but after the success of “Millennium”, he decided to release this song in the States – a decision that proved to be worthwhile, as the song got as high as #25 on the Pop chart and #6 at Adult Contemporary. It was a good song – one I preferred over his first U.S. hit.
I BELIEVE IN LOVE – PAULA COLE BAND (38) – This song was the only song of hers with her newly formed band (and ultimately turned out to be her final chart entry). The song was not bad – sounded a little like Taylor Dayne's “Love Will Lead You Back”.
I WANNA LOVE YOU FOREVER – JESSICA SIMPSON (40) – This was the debut hit for this singer/actress from Texas – the first of her ten Top 40 hits, one of which was a cover of the Robbie Williams song above, “Angels”. This was definitely one of her best songs – I liked the eerie melody.
I KNEW I LOVED YOU – SAVAGE GARDEN (39) – Another song that made a huge splash on the charts, like “Smooth”. The song was the first number one song of the 2000s, spending five weeks up there. The song was even bigger on the AC chart, spending seventeen weeks on top! I loved the song at first – it was even number one on my Personal Top 30 chart – possibly my biggest chart regret of all, as the song was grossly overplayed and I got sick of it pretty quickly. I'm still somewhat burned out on it, though I could stomach an occasional listen. I do prefer this one over “Truly Madly Deeply”.
HOPE – SHAGGY (40) – This was his second Top 40 hit, and his first without any back-up singers. I found this song somewhat annoying and was not disappointed that the song only got as high as #38.
THEN THE MORNING COMES – SMASH MOUTH (35) – The follow-up to their biggest hit ever came another pretty big one, peaking at #4 and becoming their final Top Ten hit. I did slightly prefer this over the overplayed “All Star”, but it's still not my favorite song from them.
MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE – WHITNEY HOUSTON (39) – This was the fourth and final Top 40 hit from Heartbreak Hotel as well as the second Top Ten, albeit just barely, as it peaked at #10 for a week. This would probably be my third favorite from the album. My favorite is the final single from the album, “I Learned From The Best”, which missed the Top 40, but peaked at #15 on the AC chart in early 2000. That one reminded me of old school Chicago, with Peter Cetera on lead vocals!
GIRL ON TV – LFO (35) – This song was written about Jennifer Love Hewitt, whom band member Rich Cronin was dating at the time. This song was actually pretty good. Not sure if I prefer this or their biggest hit, “Every Other Time”, which peaked at #10 in 2001.
THE ROCKEFELLER SKANK – FATBOY SLIM (40) – His second Top 40 hit, and one that I did not care for at all. Really – what is so good about a song in which pretty much all he says is “Right about now, the funk soul brother, check it out now, the funk soul brother” over and over again? No – I actually preferred “Praise You” over this one.
NOVEMBER
WILL 2K – WILL SMITH (28) – Of course, this was a play on words for Y2K, a series of catastrophes anticipated for the upcoming new millennium. People feared that computers would crash, planes would fall out of the sky, and life as we knew it would end. Of course, none of that happened. This song, which paid homage to the upcoming celebrations planned for the millennium change, sampled “Rock The Casbah” by the Clash. Since it was more or less a novelty song, it had a fast-rise, fast-fall style chart run, peaking at #12. It wasn't bad, but definitely not his best.
COWBOY – KID ROCK (39) – This is a song that I'm pretty sure that Dees skipped every week, as this was about when he developed his anti-rap attitude (which was odd, seeing that, not too long before, his countdown had used a chart that favored that type of song). I'm glad that he never played it, as this song was very annoying. I preferred Kid Rock's other Top 40 hits, all by a huge margin.
THAT'S THE WAY IT IS – CELINE DION (33) – This was Celine's final Top Ten hit on the pop chart, but, of course, she still had much more success to come at AC, where this song made a very strong effort to hit #1 on the chart, but just could not seem to unseat Savage Garden from the top spot and ended up spending an incredible thirteen weeks in the runner-up position. This song wasn't bad, but one of my least favorite songs from her.
HANGINAROUND – COUNTING CROWS (35) – The first and only Top 40 single from their third studio album This Desert Life. Actually, I don't believe that there were any other songs from the album that charted anywhere else. Perhaps they were just concentrating on album sales (which apparently worked, as the album went platinum),
SHAKE YOUR BON BON – RICKY MARTIN (37) – This was the third release from his self-titled album (fourth, if you count the re-release of “The Cup Of Life”). This song, though it hit the Top Ten, zipped up and down the chart rather quickly. The song was so/so, but I much preferred the next release from the album “Private Emotion”, which, according to my Personal Top 30, was the top song of 2000.
BRING IT ALL TO ME – BLAQUE (39) – Their first single, “808” literally had an on-again, off-again relationship with the R&R chart. The song peaked at #46 and spent eighteen VERY non-consecutive weeks on the chart (in fact, the song never was within the Top 50 for more than five weeks at a time). Apparently, they didn't know this was going to happen, as this song was released right after “808” had spent a single week on the chart. This song's chart performance was quite a lot better, as it peaked at #5. I thought it was a really good song.
THE RHYTHM DIVINE – ENRIQUE IGLESIAS (34) – His second Top 40 hit, as well as one of my favorites from him. I'm kind of surprised that this song didn't hit the AC chart, as it didn't seem too out of for that format. Here on the Top 40 chart, the song got as high as #15, which isn't bad, but I feel it should have hit the Top Ten like his debut hit “Bailamos”.
STANDING AT THE EDGE OF THE EARTH – BLESSID UNION OF SOULS (39) – This song, which turned out to be their final Top 40 entry. The song did not measure up to the first single from Walking Off The Buzz, “Hey Leonardo”, peaking at #29 in early 2000. I thought it was a pretty good song – my favorite of the two releases from the album.
LITTLE BLACK BACKPACK – STROKE 9 (40) – From what I can tell from the lyrics, this song is about a guy whose girl is cheating on him and instead of talking things out with her, he takes it out on the guy (who, as far as we know, could be oblivious to the relationship of the two) by kicking his ass, or at least slamming him to the ground and bashing his head in. As for the backpack, well, she might have left it at his house and he's getting back at her by not giving it back to her. As for the song, which peaked at #36 on the chart, I liked it and thought it was mildly amusing.
WHAT A GIRL WANTS – CHRISTINA AGUILERA (28) – The second single from Aguilera's debut album, and like the first, it went to #1. I preferred this over “Genie In A Bottle” quite significantly – in fact, this song became the first #1 song of the new millennium on my Personal Top 30 chart. A great song indeed, though my favorite of her four #1 songs would be “Beautiful”.
LEARN TO FLY – THE FOO FIGHTERS (36) – The second and final Top 40 hit for this rock band from Seattle didn't quite equal the success of their first, as it peaked at #21, which was a shame, as this was my favorie of their two Top 40 hits.
ME MYSELF AND I – VITAMIN C (40) – This was the second Top 40 song of the decade to sample Santana's “No One To Depend On”, following rapper Mellow Man Ace's “Mentirose” back in 1990. I'm not sure if I prefer this or her first hit, “Smile”, but neither hold a candle to her graduation anthem “Friends Forever”.
DECEMBER
DON'T SAY YOU LOVE ME – M2M (40) – This was the only Top 40 hit for these two young girls from Oslo, Norway, who were both fifteen years of age when this song charted. The song couldn't manage to get past #40, a position that they held for three non-consecutive weeks. The song was pretty good. Their follow-up, “Mirror Mirror” just barely missed the Top 40, peaking at #42 in June, 2000. Can't say I've ever heard that song.
BLUE (DA BA DEE) – EIFFEL 65 (31) – Like “Scar Tissue”, this song had many misheard lyrics, most from people who did not know the full title of the song. Of course, the chart guru that I am, l knew what they were saying from the first time I heard this, but I found some of the misheard lyrics quite funny. The lyrics in the chorus “I'm blue, da ba dee, da ba die”, which has been misheard as “I'm in need of a guy”, “gotta beat up a guy”, “I got beat up and died”, “if I was green, I would die” and many, many more, all found on the amiright.com website. As for this song, it was played ad nauseum by just about every radio station you could think of, so I eventually was so sick of it that I wasted no time changing the station when it came on. Now that it's virtually ignored by radio, with very little, if any, recurrent airplay, it's actually good to hear it every once in awhile.
THIS GIFT – 98 DEGREES (33) – This was a holiday song, from this boyband's third studio album This Christmas, so as you can guess, it climbed the chart during the holiday season and pretty much plummetted off the chart in January. I thought it was a nice song.
ALL THE SMALL THINGS – BLINK 182 (39) – This band's second single from Enema Of The State performed significantly better on the chart than the first one, “What's My Age Again”, as this song became their first (and only) Top Ten, peaking at #9. Of their four Top 40 hits, this would likely be my favorite.
TAKE A PICTURE – FILTER (40) – This song was based on a real-life experience of Filter's frontman Richard Patrick, who was intoxicated on a plane and literally taking all of his clothes off. Of course, when he wakes up, he's in a paddy wagon and, of course, has no memory of the incident; the only way he would if someone had taken a picture which, of course, did not happen, as this, mind you, was in the age before cellphones with cameras were as widely available and owned by virtually everyone. The song was pretty good, IMO.
EVERYTHING YOU WANT – VERTICAL HORIZON (38) – The final song to hit the charts during the millennium certainly made an enormous splash in 2000. The song, by an alternative rock band from our nation's capital, climbed the chart slowly, but surely, eventually peaking at #2 for three non-consecutive weeks, and lasting eighteen weeks in the Top Ten and 37 weeks in the Top 40. This impressive chart run was enough to become the top song of the entire year – the first non-number one to rule a year-end chart since 1965, when “Wooly Bully” by Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs topped the year-ender for that year – and the first time in R&R history that ever happened. I thought it was a great song and am glad it topped the very first year-end Top 100 of the 20th Century!
Well, we have come to the end of the 1990's and the end of my AT40/CT40 commentary series. I have had a lot of fun posting it - a true trip down memory lane. I hope you had a great time reading it. Well, as Casey would say at the end of each show, keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!
