Top 10 UK Hit Songs Of 1999

 

Another retro list this year. The last time I did a list like this was for the UK hits of 2017. Now, 2017 itself isn’t very retro (yet), as it is quite recent compared to the year we’ll be looking at for this list. The main reason why I looked at 2017 was because it was at a time where I just took a huge interest in the music of that year.

Now it’s time to take a look at 1999, my birth year. This may be a tad  early to do so, since I haven’t been running this blogspot for very long, but I have been interested in what the charts were like in ‘99 for eight years now. I’m not the only one who has looked into the popular music of their birth year. If we look at the music reviews on YouTube, The Social Tune did a Worst Hits list for 1996, while Cicabeot1 did the same for 1994 (but with a Best list prior to doing so). And RGS did a best hits list for 1999 too.

Back in the January of ‘19, I was going to go through every UK Top 40 hit of 1999 and make a favourites list out of them. But oh my! There were at least 8-10 new entries in the Top 40 each week around that time, and that was too much for me to handle. So I opted for the year end list route.

The singles chart of 1999 was very different to the singles chart of 2020. In that it was mainly focused on sales of physical media such as CD singles, 7-inches, 12-inches and cassingles combined, but the biggest format of these at the time were CD singles. Another thing worth pointing out about the charts of ‘99 is that when a song debuted at a position, it immediately peaked at that position before falling off. There were a couple of exceptions (mainly some of the Top 10 hits). This could explain why all of the songs that have made the year end were Top 10 hits. The highest peaking YE entry of the ones that didn’t hit The Top 10 was Secret Smile by Semisonic (which made it to #114 on the year end, so that’s not saying much).

The year end for ‘99, overall, was pretty good. There were more songs I wasn’t fond of than the list of a hundred for 2017, but a quarter of the ones that did make it were at least excellent.

Outside the charts, there was the countdown to Y2K. Many people believed that the year 2000 would also mean the end of the world. This could have been due to a problem with the computer systems. Some were even rumoured to have caught fire in the dawn of the new millennium. Yikes!

So that was plenty of info I gave about the year. Let’s get to the rules!

Rules:

• Songs must have debuted on the Top 100 of the UK End Of Year Singles Chart of 1999 compiled by the Chart Information Network (or CIN for short)
• For a song to be eligible for a Top 10 Hit Singles of {Year} list. It has to have a maximum of five years between its year of release and the year it debuted on a year end list. So for this countdown, hits that came out before 1994 do not count.
• I also have a ‘one entry per lead artist’ rule in order for the list to have more variety. Bands and members’ solo material can be separate exceptions to this. 

Transition song picks:

• If Ya Gettin' Down by 5ive
• Bodyrock by Moby
• If Everybody Looked The Same by Groove Armada
• Stop The Rock by Apollo Four Forty
• Get Get Down by Paul Johnston

Or for the LOL's...

• Running In The 90's by Max Coveri
• 1999 by Charli XCX and Troye Sivan

Now onto the countdown

Number 10

When looking at certain years of the past, it’s worth looking at the musical trends that were big at the time. One of those trends in 1999 was the Latin pop explosion, where many pop songs containing elements of Latin music gained success. This helped spawn the musical careers of Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin and Marc Anthony, and even led to legendary band Santana coming with the successful comeback album Supernatural. It also brought another artist into the spotlight. That artist being Enrique Iglesias.

Bailamos by Enrique Iglesias

One thing I didn’t know about this song was that it was recorded for the 1999 movie adaptation of the 60’s Western TV show The Wild Wild West (Sadly, the song Will Smith did for that movie won’t make it onto this list).

This is one of those pop songs containing Latin pop elements, as well as a hint of Flamenco to be found. The lyrics detail a romantic dance, which Enrique encourages this girl to join him on. The guitars set the tone well, and make the song feel quite swaying and adventurous (like with what Geri Halliwell did on Mi Chico Latino around the time). 

I don’t know if there’s another song of his that will top Bailamos (Not In Love and Takin’ Back My Love may be up there), but this is a great one.

Number 9

Okay! Let’s get down to some electronic dance music!

Red Alert by Basement Jaxx

Basement Jaxx brought some fun dance music between the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Here is the electronic duo’s first Top 10 hit, Red Alert.

We have a funky sample from Far Beyond by Locksmith paired with the occasional synth line and those addictive ‘yo-yo-yo’ vocals. From what I can piece together from the lyrics, there’s this world with widespread panic going on, but the people are using music as a force for good in order to counteract the chaos. The vocals (provided by Blue James) add to the positive feeling that the music gives to the people in this world.

Aside from the theme song they did for The Rubbish World Of Dave Spud, I haven’t heard much from Jaxx since their last album in 2014. But hey! I can take what we have right now.

Number 8

King Of My Castle by The Wamdue Project

This was originally a slow chilled song with a spacey feel to it. The version that got popular was the Roy Malone’s King edit from the 1999 issue. The instrumentation is, in some way, similar to that of the original version (both of them use a synth line and bass guitar), but the sound and settings are different. I find myself gravitating more towards the Roy Malone edit thanks to the faster, more upbeat production.

The lyrics could show this person being reflective of the god complex they have and how ‘making examples of [this other person]’  led them to thinking over their attitude. The structure can be a bit repetitive, but the vocals and instrumentation are infectious enough to make it work.

Number 7

Let’s go back!

Further away from the 90’s and into the 50’s!

Ladies and gentlemen, this is song number 7!

Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of...) by Lou Bega

This hit puts an electronic spin on the 1950 song of a similar name by the brass ensemble of Perez Prado. The brass instruments blend well with the rhythmic acoustic guitar and drum machine, coming together to form an excellent beat. Oh, and that brass breakdown after the chorus slaps! Lou Bega is a charming loverman on this as he flirts with the different girls he comes across. All of this makes for a chorus that will stick in your head for years to come.

The song ends up being an enjoyable listening experience for me, overall. But you know what’s also an enjoyable listening experience? The Radio Disney edit.

Number 6

Let’s go back to the topic on the Latin pop explosion. 

Now, there was one big song that possibly started it all. I didn’t talk about it earlier on, because…

Livin' La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin

There’s a high chance that you were introduced to this song from seeing Puss In Boots and Donkey singing it near the end credits of Shrek 2, but here’s the real mccoy!

Throughout the song, Ricky Martin describes this dangerous girl whom he’s lovestruck by. The song starts with him saying she’s into ‘black cats and voodoo dolls’. He also says that this girl will ‘take away your pain like a bullet to your brain’. Her taking away that pain may be a good thing, but the image of a bullet from a gun going through your brain adds a grim contrast. It also makes for some good foreshadowing in the 3rd verse, where we see Martin end up in a hotel room without any money. Turns out the girl slipped a sleeping pill in his drink and robbed him, thus showcasing the negative consequences that giving in to infatuation can have on you.

The instrumentation has the Latin influence that Bailamos had (with the brass instruments), but it also adds some electric guitars to give off a rock vibe. There’s even a short instrumental part where it sounds like they’re playing some surf rock ditty.

Before we move on, here’s a fun fact! Ricky Martin voiced Hercules in the Spanish dub of the 1997 Disney animated film of the same name. Here’s a video of him singing Go The Distance in that language.

Number 5

I wasn’t familiar with this song until recently. I didn’t think too much of it when I first heard it. But upon relistens in preparation for this list, it became an unexpected grower for me.

Westside by TQ

The lyrical themes of Westside are reflective, as TQ looks back at his past with a positive outlook. This includes the hip hop he and his friends grew up with, and the time they stole some 40oz bottles from the liquor store (Guess Mambo No 5 isn’t the only song on this list to mention a liquor store). The piano and strings, along with the occasional guitar line, serve as a good fit for the lyrical tone of the song. He also gives a shout out to his friends that are serving a prison sentence in the bridge and gives them hope for better days, which comes out very heartfelt.

I also like the interpolation of 2Pac’s Hail Mary that comes in at the 4 minute mark. It adds a more lively feel to what is otherwise a dark song.

Number 4

Recently, we saw a batch of dance reworks/covers of classic songs entering the Top 40. Those include Flowers (Sweet Female Attitude; covered by Nathan Dawe), Dancing In The Moonlight (King Harvest; covered by Jubel) and of course, Ride It (Jay Sean; covered by Regard). Now, this isn’t exactly a new thing. The early 90’s had a handful of dance remixes ‘n’ covers on the UK charts (like with Brothers In Rhythm remixing Heaven 17’s Temptation), and there were a few in the late 90’s. One of them being a remix of a song by one of the most influential artists in reggae music that managed to chart six years before the original.

Sun Is Shining by Bob Marley vs. Funkstar De Luxe

The original Sun Is Shining is a reggae great. The guitar and organs come together to create some sounds that are relaxing and slow. The backing vocals represent the days passing by as Bob Marley sings about the sunny weather.

But weirdly enough, I prefer this remix by Funkstar De Luxe. He brings a psychedelic side of electronic music to this song, and even switches up the chord progression, which can be useful when it comes to remixes. We also get some funky guitars in here, and that’s often a good thing. The lyrics are just parts of the chorus and verse 2 of the original, with the ‘To the rescue’ part mainly serving as the remix’s own chorus. Interesting how on the remix, the chorus of the original is more of a verse, and a verse of the original is more of a chorus.

The chords can get repetitive, but there is a variation between the verses and the chorus. The strings are placed to the back of the mix with this washy effect (could be a phaser). This is done so to put more emphasis on Marley’s vocals. The volume of the strings is then increased in the chorus to bring a sense of release to the line ‘To the rescue / Here I am’.

Number 3

When I was planning this retrospective list, this song was going to end up as my #1. Funny thing is that when you go through the year-end to refresh your thoughts on these songs for lists like this, you may go through some unexpected changes in opinion. When I was working on my UK Hits Of 2017 list, my original draft had Lonely Together by Avicii and Rita Ora in my Top 10. That song didn’t even make it to the honorable mentions in the final cut (I still like it).

Let’s take a look at the song that was going to top this list, but didn’t do so in the end.

Tender by Blur

I hope to take a dive into Blur’s discography someday. At the time of making this list, I have listened to three of their albums (Parklife, 13 and The Magic Whip). All three of those were brilliant (Magic Whip made it to the Top 10 of my first ever EOY countdown back in 2015), but my favourite of them is probably Parklife. 13 comes close, and one of the main highlights of the album is the lead single Tender. It may be nearly eight minutes long, but it makes the most of its length with instruments that strike a chord and lyrics that are heartwarming.

We see Damon Albarn battling his inner demons while trying to move on from a breakup. The gospel choir represents the voices in his head motivating him to ‘get through it’, and they provide a cathartic feel of hope for the song. Near the end, we see the song getting closer and closer to release as Albarn waits for that feeling to come. This does feel like an album closer, but it’s actually the opening track of 13. So the uplifting buildup running through the song doesn’t give him a complete ‘happily ever after’ ending. The rest of the album shows him still dealing with the breakup later on.

Despite that small gloomy detail, it's a brilliant song all around. Albarn is still going strong with his music to this day. The 21st century so far has seen him working with Jamie Hewlett on Gorillaz (and voicing 2D), forming the supergroup The Good The Bad And The Queen, composing music for stage productions and even putting out a solo album of his own in 2014.

Number 2

This next section is going to look at some heavy themes. If ever this section ends up with inaccuracies or misinformation, feel free to correct me.

Warning: Themes of racism/discrimination

In the year of 2020, the world started to get a bigger picture of systemic racism and police brutality in the USA, following the tragic killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. This led to riots in some cities, but also some more peaceful protests around the states, including those of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

This isn’t a new issue going on in the world. There has been a long history of racism running through the US government and police system. Systemic racism and police brutality have also happened in the UK, such as the Windrush scandal, and the killing of Mark Duggan that led to the 2011 riots. In the words of Will Smith, “Racism is not getting worse, it’s getting filmed”. 

There are a lot of songs that have brought up society's perception of race, mainly those of hip hop, ska, funk, soul and reggae. This ranges from relatively recent stuff like The Blacker The Berry by Kendrick Lamar and Lockdown by Anderson .Paak to an older song like Fight The Power by The Isley Brothers and Fuck Da Police by NWA. In the latter category is a posthumously released song by a legend of hip hop.

Changes by 2Pac feat. Talent

This song integrates a piano line from The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby & The Range, and the way the two are linked is interesting. The Bruce Hornsby song itself looked at corruption and poverty, and how those aspects of the world sadly remain true. 2Pac’s Changes meanwhile focuses on black people and the struggles they went through, such as poverty, police brutality and how the war on drugs negatively affected them. 

Pac wasn’t a stranger to these sorts of topics. His first ever single Trapped had a large lyrical focus on police brutality and systemic racism. But this one has a more heartfelt feel to it, with Talent’s interpolation of the chorus hitting deeper when you look at the verses. 

Pac calls out the corrupt prison system as he raps about a penitentiary being ‘filled with blacks’.

He also talks about how Huey P Newton’s fight against police brutality helped give blacks more hope and strength, and how it was devastating for them after hearing the news of him being killed by ‘two shots in the dark’. 

The line ‘Take the evil out the people, they'll be actin' right / 'Cause both black and white are smokin' crack tonight’ expands upon the topic of the war on drugs by having people of both black and white come together through the illegal substances the corrupt government members were combating against at the time. It’s a line that adds to the powerfulness of the song.

Before we get to the number one spot, let’s look at some honorable mentions.

HM1. Praise You by Fatboy Slim

I’m quite surprised that this only made it as an honorable mention, as I do love the song. Why use one sample, when you can use two? Fatboy Slim does just that with the pianos of Balance And Rehearsal by Hoyt Ax and vocal snippets of Take Yo Praise by Camilie Yarbrough, and blends them wonderfully with his drum loops.

HM2. Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eiffel 65

Yo, listen up! Here's a story about a little Dalek that goes back to ‘99!

Small joke aside, Jeffrey Jey brings in some poetic verses to this Eurodance song as he sings about feeling isolated from the outside world, and uses the colour blue to emphasise his sadness. The autotune chorus sounds weird, but is pretty catchy.

Also, “the curtains were blue”. Look it up on Google Images for your own amusement.

HM3. Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer

I’m not much of a love songs guy, but this song has the right tone and atmosphere to make the scenario come to life, along with lyrical details that add a nostalgic feel. The blend of electric guitars and acoustic guitars sounds lovely, and they sound even better when they make use of unexpected chord extensions and variations throughout. The instrumentation and vocals remind me of the upbeat late 90s rock pop style that Beabadoobee would later try out on “Care”. Imagine her doing a live lounge version of Kiss Me? That would be cool!

HM4. Hey Boy Hey Girl by The Chemical Brothers

Warning, music video contains… skeletons!

Not my favourite off of Surrender (that would have to be The Sunshine Underground or Got Glint), but still an excellent song nonetheless. The three note synth line with the upper neighbour note can get repetitive throughout, but The Chems switch up the synth settings every now and then. There’s also a part where the synth line stops and there’s some guitars smothered in reverb. Also playing three notes, but with a lower neighbour note.

HM5. Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz

Funky guitars and drum machines go together to form a more electronic influenced style of rock. On his only UK #1 hit to date, Lenny Kravitz provides a great vocal performance over this beat as he wants to fly away with a lover of his.

HM6. Drinking In L.A. by Bran Van 3000

This was originally a minor Top 40 hit in 1998. But then it shot into the Top 10 a year later upon reissue thanks to its use in a Rolling Rock lager advert. And I’ve got to say, this is one of the more unique Top 10 hits of that year. 

The mix of gritty guitars and the syncopated drum loop (along with that irresistibly pleasing flute line in the verses) generate a similar feel to either a typical trip-hop record or Beck in his Odelay era. The 2nd chorus also uses an interpolation of Snoop Doggy Dogg’s Gin And Juice to represent James Di Salvo’s thoughts as he wonders where his life is heading while drinking in a bar.

HM7. My Name Is by Eminem

The song that introduced the witty antics of Slim Shady to the world. I prefer The Real Slim Shady, but this is still excellent. 

Em introduces himself as Slim Shady over a snappy guitar line sampled from Labi Siffre’s I Got The. The first verse opens with him poking fun at how little children copy what they see on TV, even going as far as to encourage them to take acid and ‘get fucked up worse than [his] life is’. It may be comedic, but this particular line does a good job at implying the negative effects a drug as hard as acid can have on a person if they succumb to addiction.

HM8. Man I Feel Like A Woman by Shania Twain

On the surface, this may seem like a wild party song about Shania Twain wanting to have a good time. But there’s one lyrical detail in the chorus in which she’s having fun in men’s shirts and short skirts. This shows her embracing a more masculine side that society would otherwise reject; she doesn’t care about society’s double standards, and instead chooses to enjoy being her true self as she’s going out for the night.

HM9. (Mucho Mambo) Sway by Shaft

Another electronic remix of a 1950’s song. 

Originally, Sway was an instrumental bolero mambo composition going by the name of “Quien Sera” by Luis Demetrio back in 1953, before being performed by Pedro Infante in the movie School For Tramps, with the addition of melancholy lyrics in Spanish. The song was then given an English version a year later, which was performed by Dean Martin and the Dick Stabile Orchestra. The lyrical themes for Martin’s version is different from Infante’s version as it focuses on a romantic dance.

Shaft’s remix takes the first verse of Dean Martin’s version and repeats it a few times over sustained strings and a bass synth. There’s also some brass instruments to link back to the bolero mambo of Quien Sera and they sound brilliant.

HM10. Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann

An unexpected moment on the charts as a speech hit the Top 10, and what’s even more surprising is that it was a number one hit.

The speech ‘Wear Sunscreen’ provides some useful advice for the youth and what they should think about for the future. On this single, the speech is narrated by Lee Perry over a sample of a choral version of Everybody’s Free by Rozalla from Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of Romeo And Juliet. The choir backing adds to the reflective feel of the speech.

I recommend you give this one a listen, and would also suggest you look into the lyrics.

NUMBER ONE

The #2 pick was a song that exhibited an excellent look at systemic racism. But what could possibly top it?

Is it something with more hard-hitting themes? Is it a song by Backstreet Boys? Britney Spears? S Club 7?

Well, it’s neither of them! But I can tell you that it is by an electronic duo whose vocalist may appear on my 2020 End Of Year countdown with her fantastic dance throwback album. It was in my original plan for this list, but I did not expect it to shoot up straight to the top.

Here it is! One of the few Top 10 hits scored by the duo Moloko!

Sing It Back (Boris Dlugosch Remix) by Moloko

Like with King Of My Castle, this is a song from 1998 that became more known for a remix being released the following year. The original version made use of tom-toms to establish a tense feel, while Boris Dlugosch’s remix (the one that is more recognizable) replaces them with a disco groove. The tense drums from the original do return near the end to further elevate this. Usually I would take the original as it feels more cinematic, but weirdly enough, I find myself coming back to the more danceable remix.

Roisin Murphy gives a smooth, sensual performance as she sings about infatuation and lust. The guitars not only give a funky feel, but they back up her performance greatly. They’re backed by these vibrant wave synths that add to the atmosphere. The instrumentation comes together to form a song with amazing production and a splendidly smooth vocal.

I can’t think of a good enough conclusion, but this is my favourite UK hit of 1999!

And that’s the end! Thanks to those who have read this!

The beginning of 2021 will be a pretty big period for me, as there will be the 2020 year end countdown. This will feature my favourite UK hits, my favourite albums and my favourite tracks of 2020.

A Christmas songs list is possible. But if I don’t manage to do it this year, then next Christmas will be a good time to do so.

I am unsure as to what retrospective list to do next, but I have 2005 and 2016 on my mind, or 2018 as a more recent pick.

Those Top 10 and ranking lists may get repetitive for this blog, so I have a few more plans for the future of Dalek Documents:

Retro Jams

Since a good amount of great songs get left off the official UK year end lists. I thought it would be a good idea to pick out some charting hits (I’m thinking 10-15 per episode) of the past and discuss my thoughts on them. There may be some obscure one week wonders and the occasional hit from another country. My proposed plan will mainly focus on singles from 2016 and before, due to possible recency bias.

Clash Of The Covers

Back in 2019, I did a thing on Buzzjack called DT32 Rates The UK Debuts, where I looked at the songs that debuted in the UK charts each week and talked about what I thought of them. But in the middle of 2020, I started to get bored of doing it, but it was fun while it lasted. One thing that I frequently came across were covers of classic songs. I would usually listen to the original first, then move on to the cover that charted. It was interesting in a fun way.

To make this more fun, I hope to do a series where I look at two covers of a classic and decide which one wins the battle. I got this idea after listening to three versions of Dancing In The Moonlight.

Another series called Remix Roundup is under consideration. It’s like Clash Of The Covers but with two remixes of the same song.

The year end list: https://www.ukmix.org/forum/chart-discussion/chart-analysis/24765-uk-90-s-single-end-of-the-year-chart?p=751980#post751980

Sources:

zobbel.de

Zywietz, Tobias (November 2000). Chartwatch - 1999 Chart Booklet

UKMix. UK 90's single end of the year chart (https://www.ukmix.org/forum/chart-discussion/chart-analysis/24765-uk-90-s-single-end-of-the-year-chart?24133-UK-90-s-single-end-of-the-year-chart=)