Amen! UK 'Passion'

Chart Peak: 15

YouTube

Amen! UK are Panos Liassi, Luvain Maximaba and Candy Girl Pauls Masterson... 'Passion' was a major floor filler in the clubs and then crossed over to make the national Top 15 in early February '97.

The illustration of the single cover shows the "UK" part of the name hidden away in the exclamation mark, which does rather suggest they were forced to add it, presumably due to legal action from the US rock act Amen. And when the starting point of a post is typography, you can probably guess how excited I am about the song.

I've had to listen to 'Passion' several times to try and form any memory of it at all, and I'm still struggling: it's an utterly generic commercial dance track whereon an uncredited female singer informs us about some passion which is not only running through her brain, but also driving her insane. It's nice of her to let us know but I don't especially care. This is precisely the sort of thing that put me off dance music: there's no energy, no surprises in the rhythms or melodies, just three minutes of boredom.

It all makes for a dull ending for what had been a relatively interesting album. Burying a lot of samey dance tracks at the end wasn't a great move.

Available on: Classic Dance Anthems

B.B.E. 'Flash'

Chart Peak: 5

YouTube

Due for release on 17th March '97, 'Flash' is the storming follow-up to the huge British and European anthem 'Seven Days And One Week'.

They mean British in the sense that it was popular in Britain, of course, since B.B.E. were Italian and French. And yes, "British and European" is a bit of a tautology, but we all knew what they meant. There's something quite mid-late 1990s about a dance act from mainland Europe scoring consecutive Top 5 singles (and in this case, two more Top 20s thereafter) with obviously club-oriented material: no cover versions or big name guest stars here.

'Flash' is another totally instrumental track, though a more eventful one than DJ Quicksilver's attempt. Some of the percussive sounds on it remind me a bit of 'Gunman' by 187 Lockdown. It's not quite the sort of think I'd listen to out of choice still, but it has less of the sense of going round in circles than most big trance hits.

Also appearing on: Now 35
Available on: Brave New World 6

DJ Quicksilver 'Bellissima'

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

'Bellisssima' is the European club anthem that looks set to invade the the Uk chart sometime around 31st March '97... You have been warned!

I realise it's pretty standard practice to refer to any dance record as a "club anthem" but it rarely seems truer than this. 'Bellissima' is one of those tracks that are so functional it almost feels unfair to try and form an opinion on them out of the intended context, but then again this is exactly the sort of challenge I was trying to set myself when I started this. It's an entirely instrumental track that starts with a standard progression and builds in an odd whistling note every so often to give the track structure. Not really for me, I must admit.


Also appearing on:Now 38, 39
Available on: Positiva Presents Essential Club Anthems

Sash! 'Encore Une Fois'

Chart Peak: 2 YouTube

Sash!'s Faithless-inspired smash 'Encore Une Fois' flew into the chart at No.2 on 23rd February '97... It is one of the fastest-selling dance tunes of recent times selling around 200,000 copies in just 2 weeks.

Few would have guessed at the time, but Sash! were embarking on a record-breaking career: this was the first of three hits to peak in the runner-up position in 1997 alone, and they ended up with five number 2s, more than any other act who never managed a Number One. And by the way, I did say "they" - although Sascha Lappessen is the public face of the act, they are in fact a trio; I presume the other two DJS shown in this video are the other two members of the groups, but it's hard to tell as they're rarely seen publicly. As usual, they worked with various guest vocalists, sometimes credited, sometimes not: this one is fronted by their fellow German Sabine Ohmes, who capitalised on this success by adopting the stage name Encore! and singing only in French hereafter, most famously on her hit 'Le Disc Jockey' (see what she did there?), which is even more similar to the original of this track than to the British hit version.

I do recall hearing this for the first time on the chart rundown and being totally unable to grasp the appeal of it to anyone. Although it was hardly the first record in this style to become a hit (hence the sleevenote reference to Faithless), it still remained utterly beyond my ken. This wasn't even the "serious" dance I was reading about in the NME, to my ears just a lot of humming noises with somebody speaking French over it. Over the years, Lappeson became a more endearing presence on the pop scene and I can get into "imagining why people might like it" territory with this one now, but it's not a favourite of mine still.

Also appearing on: Now 37 [with Rodrigues], 38 [with LaTrec], 39, 41 [with Shannon], 42, 45, 71 [with Stunt]
Available on: Ministry Of Sound: The Rush 2010

The Source Featuring Candi Staton 'You Got The Love'

Chart Peak: 3 [4 in 1991]
YouTube

John Truelove's club anthem was originally a Top 5 smash in 1991... New mixes saw the powerful cut, which features the timeless vocals of Candi Staton, return to the chart at No. 3 in February '97.

In fact, Candi Staton's original gospel single crept into the Top 100 just before Christmas 1986, but it's fair to say that more people are familiar with Truelove's dance reworking, originally a bootleg that later went legit. And if they missed it the first time around, they'll probably have caught up with the seemingly endless stream of revivals since: this is the highest-charting version to use Staton's vocal, although of course 'You Got The Dirtee Love' outdid this by one place in 2010.

The main result of all this is that my ears are quite fatigued of this song. It's been just about long enough since the last remix that I can stand to hear this now, but I still find it hard to give it the sort of close listen that would reveal why people might prefer this mix (by Rhythm Masters, says the sleeve note here) over any other. Indeed it's hard to escape the suspicion that they didn't and it was just an excuse to milk a few more bob out of a one-hit wonder.

Also appearing on:Now 19, 63 [other mixes of this track]
Available on: This Is... 1997

Ant & Dec 'Shout'

Chart Peak: 10
YouTube

Released on 3rd March '97, 'Shout' looks certain to become Ant McPartlin and Dec(lan) Donnelly's 12th Top 20 hit in barely 3 years... They have been described as a cross between Reeves & Mortimer and Zig & Zag (!)

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you might be faintly surprised to learn that the only two song from it I have a physical single of are this and 'Beetlebum'. I was slightly surprised there weren't more of them myself, really. But as for my possession of this single at all, well, that's nothing anomalous. You can probably see in the image that I didn't pay full price and my purchase of the single itself was mainly out of curiosity about Steve Lamacq's remix on the B-side. I already knew the song from the album though because my brother had it; both of us had rather a soft spot for Ant & Dec. As dabbling actors, they always seemed to be having more fun being pop stars than most, distancing themselves from the other boy bands who insisted they were serious RnB groups.

By the time the duo had reverted to their own names they'd embraced Britpop more than any of their peers , presumably because this was nearer their own taste than the watered-down swingbeat of their earlier hits. 'Shout' goes a bit further by adding a bassline after the fashion of 'Walk On The Wild Side' and stinging fuzz guitar as well as the slightly odd lyric which the boys themselves presumably had a hand in. It's a slightly odd mix but an enjoyable pop record. It's just a pity that they followed up with the dull ballad 'Falling' and then retired from pop, if we forget the England 2002 single. Which we probably should.

Also appearing on: Now 31 [as PJ & Duncan], 35 Available on: Ant & Dec - The Essential Collection

The Divine Comedy 'Everybody Knows (Except You)'

Chart Peak: 14

YouTube

Due for release on 10th March 1997, 'Everybody Knows' finds mainman Neil Hannon in real romantic mood this time around... It is tipped to give them their biggest hit to date.

In the end, it didn't quite make it - this matched the peak of breakthrough hit 'Something For The Weekend' but spent one less week in the Top 75. Perhaps I should take the blame as I bought none of the three CD single formats available: it seemed unnecessary when I'd got the album for my birthday two days earlier: it seems to have been a matter of policy for the Divine Comedy to release albums before singles. Apparently you were supposed to buy all three (card-sleeved) CD singles and fit them into the large box around the album CD, but I didn't realise that at the time, and probably wouldn't have bothered anyway.

I did like the song though. Like most people, I'd only become aware of Neil Hannon and his work the previous year, although I had read a review about him in the NME before Chris Evans started playing him so I'm almost cool. Anyway, this seemed like a refinement of the template of his previous album, aided by the fact that he could now afford to record the whole orchestra at the same time: the album was officially recorded at soundchecks at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, although probably with a little touching-up in a studio afterwards. It lends the production a certain lightness of touch that prevents Hannon's ironic lyric from being too irritating. Mind you, even at the most jokey (his dramatic delivery of the line "I made a small boy cry") there's always some sort of sense that the desperation is real - within the scope of the performance, at least, not necessarily in Hannon's own personal life - that saves this from sounding like a joke at the listener's expense.

Also appearing on: Now 42
Available on: A Secret History? The Best Of The Divine Comedy

Cathy Dennis 'Waterloo Sunset'

Chart Peak: 11

YouTube [warning: contains John Barrowman]

Cathy hit big in the early 1990s with tunes such as 'Just Another Dream', 'Too Many Walls' and the Top 5 smash 'Touch Me'... She returned to the UK Top 20 in 1997 with this cover of the Ray Davies classic 'Waterloo Sunset'.

It's not on YouTube, but the original video for this single actually featured a cameo appearance from Ray Davies, so presumably he had no objections to this version. I recall reading at the time that they'd met up at a songwriting retreat or something, and presumably Dennis got her money's worth from that as she has of course become a hugely successful songwriter.

Here we find her at the tail end of her career as a pop star, when she'd made an unexpected swerve into sixties-styled pop, with original material as well as covers. Presumably this was to at least some extent a reaction to Britpop, but commercially it didn't pan out brilliantly for her even here (and needless to say, it made no impact at all in the US, where she'd been more successful than I expected before this). This is, in all fairness, a perfectly respectable version of the song but it lacks some of the depth of the original, not really conveying the mixed emotions of the Kinks version. I'm open-minded enough not to hate it but I can't really see the point.

Also appearing on: Now 16 [D Mob introducing Cathy Dennis], 20
Available on: Am I The Kind Of Girl ?

Space 'Dark Clouds'

Chart Peak: 14

YouTube

'Dark Clouds' was the 4th hit single in a row for Liverpool's Space... It is the latest in a string of successes following 'Female Of The Species', 'You And Me Vs The World' and 'Neighbourhood'.

Second Merseyside act in a row (and Mansun were from Chester, which isn't all that far away), and another single that I remembered not minding at the time. I suspect that's more because it seemed to tone down the self-conscious quirkiness of their previous hits than because it was an especially appealing song; to be frank it sounds pretty useless now and I can understand why it's almost entirely forgotten. I also recall that one of the B-sides was a song called 'Influenza' which I'd previously had on a free cassette from Select Magazine (this feels like it must have been about a hundred years ago, doesn't it?) and had genuinely liked. I'm somewhat reluctant to go back to it now, but the album I've linked to below contains both tracks should you with to disagree.

Also appearing on: Now 34, 35, 39, 41
Available on: Invasion of the Spiders

Cast 'Free Me'

Chart Peak: 7

YouTube

Due for release on 24th March '97, 'Free Me' is the stonking new single from the top Mersey combo they call Cast... It is likely to storm into the chart in a fairly big way, like.

So I was all set to start this post by talking about how forgotten this song and band were and then what do I hear on Steve Wright's Non-Stop Oldies the day I start to write this post? Well, actually it was the follow-up to this, 'Guiding Star' but still, it was a bit of a surprise.

At the time, though, Cast were very much on a roll and the first single from their second album cruised easily into the Top 10. I recall quite liking it a the time, although I noticed the very similar middle eight to David Bowie's 'Little Wonder' from earlier in the year. I probably hadn't heard it for a good five years when I bought my copy of Now 36. Sadly it proved to be the track that disappointed me most: not that it's a bad song, but it's not an outstanding one either, and even though all the same people were involved it seems to lack the surefooted production of the singles from their first album. Probably just as well I never bought Mother Nature Calls, then.

Also appearing on: Now 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 43
Available on: True 90s (3 CD Set)

Mansun 'Wide Open Space'

Chart Peak: 15

YouTube

Mansun are Paul, Chad, Stove and Andie... They have hit the singles chart with titles such as 'Take It Easy Chicken', 'Stripper Vicar' and this track, the pulsating Top15 hit 'Wide Open Space'.

It might have seemed more logical to use the bigger and more recent hit 'She Makes My Nose Bleed', but posterity has rather vindicated this selection. Though far from their biggest chart hit in the UK, 'Wide Open Space' is perhaps their most-remembered song nowadays - it's also the closest they came to a hit in the US, although that's still not very close to be fair.

Not unlike James, there was always something rather self-admiring about Mansun, and their obsession with gimmickry and in-references. Nonetheless, I have to hand it to Paul Draper, who wrote produced and sang this (apparently he claims to have played all the instruments as well): this is a brilliant piece of record-making, cleverly arranged for multiple guitars, pianos and Mellotron. Importantly there's enough variation in the arrangement to hold your attention without it distracting from the melody. The words were apparently an afterthought, which is a good excuse for me not to try and make sense of them - but don't think I didn't notice you slipping the word "bugger" into the backing vocals, Draper! Tut tut. It's not the rudest word ever on a Now! album but that's another story.

My one complaint is that the edit featured here (and on other compilation albums) has a rather inadequate fade (presumably because somebody was afraid of running into the next track) rather than the full close of the original single and video.

Also appearing on: Now 40
Available on: Attack Of The Grey Lantern (Collectors Edition)

James 'She's A Star'

Chart Peak: 9

YouTube

James have been making melodious, lyrical and intimate music since way back in the early 1980s... 'She's A Star' saw them back in the UK Top 10 with a bang in early '97.

I'm not entirely sure what's supposed to be so "intimate" about this song, and if anything I'd call it rather the opposite - it has a stately quality that makes it seem a bit like they're trying to write a classic song self-consciously, as it were. And the result is that like a lot of James records it leaves me rather cold. There are parts of it I can admire: it's catchy, there's a nice slide guitar part and the little bit of wordplay where Tim Booth sings "She knows where to hide in the dark/She's nowhere to hide in the dark" is sort of cute. But is set against a backdrop that's fundamentally chugging and Booth's vocal mannerisms tend to irritate rather than charm me.

But like the sleevenote says, this did get them a massive radio hit and their third Top 10 appearance, starting something of a revival in the band's fortunes for the next few years. I just don't really get it.

Also appearing on: Now 20, 21, 26, 37, 41, 43
Available on: Whiplash

Blur 'Beetlebum'

Chart Peak: 1 (1 week)

YouTube

'Beetlebum' marked a winning return to the chart for Blur when it entered at No. 1 in late January '97... The quartet are now into their 7th year of hit-making. 

I was slightly surprised to get as far as seven tracks into the second disc of an album from this era before I got to a single that I had a photographable physical copy of. For the record, I did buy 'Breathe' as a download, though obviously not at the time. No way I was going to miss out on the long-awaited comeback single from my then-favourite band, even though I'm not sure I'd heard it beforehand: in fact, I even went against my usual principles and bought one of the CD singles as well as the 7", although when I later conferred with my brother it turned out we'd both got the same CD. Darn.

You might have deduced from the above intro, and the fact that this song was widely perceived at the time as an attempt to jettison the kind of fans who'd
cheer when they get to the chorus on Top Of The Pops, that this was heading in the direction of me being disappointed. But no, not a bit of it. I loved this record from the moment I heard the intro. For all that it superficially seems to be the opposite of their other Number One, 'Country House', it's actually a very cleverly structured track: yes, the mood it achieves is very different but it does that through a much more subtle arrangement than is first apparent: listen out for the piano in the chorus and the synthesised trumpet in the verses.

Even the difference in tone seems to me at least partly a matter of choice. It's widely held - and no longer denied by Damon Albarn - that 'Beetlebum' is a song about heroin use, probably inspired by people very close to him indeed. So it's dark territory of course but then again a lot of their earlier songs had darker sides too, they just weren't played up as much. And even this track has a melodic base to it that makes it easier on the ear than if they'd worked as far into the free-jazz direction as they'd threatened to. That didn't stop it being one of the least successful Number One singles ever, but it should have.

Also appearing on: 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 37, 42, 43
Available on: Blur

Sheryl Crow 'Everyday Is A Winding Road'

Chart Peak: 12

YouTube

Sheryl won Best International Female award at the Brits recently and performed this rousing worldwide hit on the show... 'Everyday Is A Winding Road' was a No. 12 smash in late '96.

Apologies for the break in transmission back there. I wasn't feeling well and I try to avoid writing up anything I actually like when I'm out of sorts because I fear not doing it justice.

Anyway, whilst she may not have been a very close fit with my britpop-dominated early record collection, I was very keen on the first two Sheryl Crow albums at the time, particularly her self-produced second set; perhaps shamefully, I worked out that buying it doubled the number of albums I owned with female producers. In all honesty, she pretty much lost my interest after that point and I don't drag these two out much either, but this track has remained a favourite. Listening with a critical ear now, I admit that the lyric comes over as a little self-conscious, and perhaps over-reacts to her pop-star image; there's an element of "ooh look, I mentioned nicotine because I'm sooo edgy", but this remains a fine-sounding record full of looped percussion and "duelling" harmoniums (harmonia?) to create a genuinely interesting sound picture. You can almost hear the dust. Neil Finn's only-really-noticeable-when-you-know-they're-there backing vocals probably weren't wholly necessary, but nice of him to chip in anyway. It turns out to be his last Now appearance to date as well. 

Also appearing on: Now 35, 37, 39, 41, 52
Available on: The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow

Monaco 'What Do You Want From Me?'

Chart Peak: 11

YouTube

'What Do You Want From Me?' is Monaco's debut single... They are the legendary former Joy Division/ New Order bassist Peter Hook and singer David Potts and they make a right good racket too!

Of course, both Hook and Potts had also been members of the less-celebrated Revenge, and if we want to be picky about this, New Order officially still existed in 1997, although they were effectively silent in the second half of the decade. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that the success of Monaco (admittedly this is one of two Top 40 hits, but that's two more than Revenge ever had) was due to this lack of new New Order material at the time.

Certainly - and unsurprisingly - the instrumental of this track does sound very like the parent act, especially but not only because of Peter Hooks' typical high-lying bass part, but the finished article is slightly different. Hook's lead vocal on the verses suggests why he wasn't the lead singer in New Order, whilst Potts' sha-la-la backing vocals give it something of a flavour of the janglier side of Britpop, laid on top of the post-punk-dance foundation. It probably shouldn't work but for most of the running time of this song it does. It's not flawless; the drum programming is less imaginative than on some of the tracks earlier in this disc and they seem to have been undecided about whether to use a piano solo, a guitar solo or a synth-string solo. But this is a good enjoyable track that deserves to be remembered more than it is.

Available on: True 90s (3 CD Set)

Placebo 'Nancy Boy'

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

Placebo are Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal and Steve Hewitt... Singer Brian met Stefan at school in Luxembourg but they didn't form the band until they ran into each other in London years later... The driving 'Nancy boy' gave them their first UK smash in January '97 when it reached No. 4

Another of the songs I associate very closely with that coach trip at the start of the year. At the time I hated this track - and Placebo in general - for their pseudishness, and their rather tiresome "Oooh look we're singing about sex! Isn't that naughty?" atmosphere. When I saw the video a few months later I hated that even more for the same reasons, although I did think it was amusing that Steve Hewitt's face is obscured throughout: he presumably doesn't play on this track as it was originally released on the album before he joined the band. To me the band's name seemed all too accurate.

This single mix is heavily reworked from the original album version and in all honesty the best parts of it do seem to lie in the remix. I'm rather more tolerant of this record now and can appreciate it for what it is, a well-put-together rock single, but I'll never really love it. I certainly wasn't one of the people who helped the album re-enter the Top 200 at 5, a rare achievement.

Available on: 101 Indie Classics [Explicit]

The Chemical Brothers 'Block Rockin' Beats'

Chart Peak: 1 [1 week]

YouTube

Due for release on 24th March '97, 'Block Rockin' Beats' is the follow-up to last year's chart-topping collaboration with Noel Gallagher... It could be very large indeed!

On my copy of Now 36, and presumably on everyone else's too, the first note of this track is missing, which would be highly annoying if I didn't have a copy of this track already. It's the only example I've ever encountered of such a production error on a Now album, unless anyone else knows different.
It's particularly irritating that it interrupts the otherwise rather neat intro (better on this single edit than the album version, which starts with a sound effect). Like 'Breathe', this is dependent on a bassline, allegedely inspired by Pink Floyd's 'Let There Be More Light', which hooks in the listener as the Chems run through their familiar repertoire of siren like effects, pounding beats and out-of context vocal samples. Even more so than the previous track, it's a truly outstanding shot of drum programming, twisting and turning with remarkable feel.

Like 'Breathe', it became the act's second consecutive Number One single, although even by 1997 standards  this wasn't a particularly big one: it entered at the top (in a week when the Chart Show on ITV had anointed their old friends and collaborators The Charlatans as chart-toppers instead) but it managed to slip all the way down to 8 the next week. Despite that, it actually feels a more commercially acceptable track than the Prodigy's effort, possibly because it lacks the full-on aggression of their work: indeed, the Chemical Brothers, despite their druggy-sounding name, never seemed to have a controversial or confrontational public image. They've always preferred to come across as craftsmen more than the agitators of their more established rivals.

The other difference is that 'Block Rockin' Beats' stays much closer to the established structures of rock music, and indeed won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance the following year. With their wide understanding of musical history, it was the Chemical Brothers, rather than 2Unlimited, who became the dance act that the Britpop fans could and did enjoy. In a way perhaps they were emblematic of the way pop's relationship with the past changed in the 1990s.

Also appearing on: Now 43, 51, 60, 67
Available on: Brotherhood [+digital booklet]

Prodigy 'Breathe'

Chart Peak: 1 [2 weeks]

YouTube

'Breathe' was the Prodigy's 11th consecutive Top 15 hit single... It topped the chart in November '96 as the follow-up to the astonishing 'Firestarter' and propelled Liam, Maxim, Keith and Leeroy into the super-league of UK groups.

Coming at dance-rock from rather the opposite direction to U2, (The) Prodigy are of course one of the biggest singles acts of the 1990s (and beyond - their unbroken Top 20 run stretched from 1991 to 2009) but are largely absent from Now! albums. Doubtless this suited their rather annoying self-conscious outsider image to a tee, but I suspect the more prosaic explanation was that XL Recordings were reluctant to licence the tracks (of their other commercial big-hitters, The White Stripes never appeared in the series, Dizzee Rascal didn't until he'd left the label and Adele only shows up sporadically). That said 'Breathe' does push towards the fringes of what might be acceptable to the mass audience these compilations are aimed at, with its confrontational nature and heavy bass.

The aforementioned 'Firestarter' was a major shift in direction for the act, most obviously because it was their first record to feature any musical contribution from a member other than Liam Howlett, with Keith Flint bawling out a lead vocal. As that had also been their first chart-topping single, the follow-up had to up the ante somewhat, and 'Breathe' does so, not least because Maxim joins Flint as a vocalist: Leeroy Thornhill remains silent, which may be why he eventually left the group. It also goes one better compositionally; where 'Firestarter' relies rather on shock value - both to the general public and to fans expecting something more electronic - 'Breathe' is a much more thoroughly structured piece, if no less aggressive. The lyrics make little or no literal sense, but they work to conjure a suitably dark atmosphere, underlined by the multiple outstanding bass parts - and the (evidently synthesised) drums are remarkably intricate as well. The result was a record both disturbing and exciting, and one that even a long-term disliker of the Prodge like myself had to admit was pretty good. It was a creative pinnacle they couldn't sustain, although they sold plenty of albums off the back of this, and my enthusiasm soon juddered to a halt like the ending of this track.

Oddly, my strongest personal recollection of this track - hearing it in the the chart rundown on a summer evening - is entirely incompatible with its release date in November. I also thought, before I started studying these things, that I remembered it being on Now 34, though it obviously isn't and indeed couldn't have been. Memory is a funny thing sometimes.

Also appearing on: Now 28
Available on: Their Law The Singles 1990 - 2005

U2 'Discotheque'

Chart Peak: 1 (1 week)

YouTube

U2 were formed at Dublin's Mount Temple School nearly 20 years ago... They are regarded by many as the biggest band in the world today and this cracking cut, 'Discotheque', entered the chart at No. 1 on release in February '97.

I suspect most people who bought the album might have had some inkling of who U2 were already, but nice of the note to clarify things anyway. 'Discotheque' became the sixth consecutive one-week chart-topper, an unprecedented sequence at the time, and gave way after only one week itself, although it was reportedly their fastest selling single yet. And if you've been reading this blog all week, you'll get Mark Goodier's Brian Harvey joke.

Of course we're deep into U2's ironic, experimental era here, as exemplified by their much-trailed Village People impression in the video and the album title Pop. With hindsight, the band have dismissed this album as rushed (they recorded it in only two years!) and especially now there is something rather confused about it. Perhaps it's not wholly surprising that their next move was to rerecord an old B-side as the lead track for a best of album, but it was still disappointing. I wouldn't have admitted it in 1997, but a U2 who don't know what they're doing still have more to offer than the autopilot band that took over in later years. Intentionally or otherwise, the record sounds as confused as the situation I suppose it's supposed to be about, and that distorted Edge guitar riff is impossible to get out of your head. Even Bono's voice isn't that annoying once Howie B's messed with it enough. At worst, an interesting failure.

Also appearing on: Now 4, 5, 20, 22, 32, 37, 41, 47, 48, 49, 53, 57 [LMC vs U2], 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 72
Available on: Discotheque [3 track]

911 'The Day We Find Love'

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

'The Day We Find Love', which was a No. 4 smash in February '97, gave Lee, Spike & Jimmy their biggest hit to date... it followed their previous successes with 'Don't Make Me Wait', 'Love Sensation' and 'Night To Remember'

Yes, 1996-7 was the era of the teen-oriented Shalamar cover version. I've got to admit that at the time I did have a little bit of a soft spot for 911, who always seemed of the more fun boy bands of their era, especially compared to the rather po-faced likes of the Backstreet Boys. But for my money they never bettered 'Bodyshakin', which is one hit of theirs that never made the Now! series.

Like most acts of this type, they let the side down with too many slow songs (especially considering they were originally discovered as dancers), and this is one of those; it's another song that I remembered existing but not the sound of. It sounds like a record that's trying too hard to be grown-up and fails to work on any level at all really. Don't say I didn't warn you about the end of Disc 1, eh? See you on the other side.

Also appearing on: Now 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 43
Available on: The Greatest Hits And A Little Bit More