Groove Armada ft Gram'ma Funk 'I See You Baby'

Chart Peak: 17

YouTube

Note: according to the list I'm writing from, the version on the album is the Fatboy Slim remix edit, although that didn't become an A-side until 2004. It's just as well, because Groove Armada apparently won't let me view the original video from the UK. Anyway, I'm open to correction on this point from anyone who owns Now 44.

Groove Armada are an act who've grown on me somewhat in recent years, for reasons I can't wholly explain. Perhaps it's because ten years ago everyone seemed so determined that they were going to be massive, and so much of their material got used for adverts, trailers and so on that it got rather tiresome. One reason I'm not typically a fan of dance music is the heavy use of repetition, and there's certainly plenty of that here, which was a problem at the time but when I hear the track now, I don't mind so much. In fact, I even heard their later hit 'Superstylin' on the radio yesterday and didn't mind it. That's progress.

Also appearing on: Now 50, 67, 68
Available on: The Best Of

DJ Jean 'The Launch'

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

Another one kept off the top by Lou Bega, which certainly puts him higher in my estimation. I try not to be driven by my prejudices when I write these things, but this is the sort of thing that really doesn't do it for me. There's something in the tone of that parping synth line that grates on me, but I think the worst thing about this is that we get a lot of "Get ready for the launch" and a big countdown, followed by... exactly the same tune that was playing before anyway.

If I concentrate hard enough, I can imagine how this might fit into a DJ set as a way to build up anticipation and get the crowd going on the way to a more interesting track. But it's beyond me why anyone would feel it worth their money to buy this as a single and listen to it at home.


Available on: Massive Dance Hits 2000

AtB 'Don't Stop'

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube

It's pretty much all dance from this point onwards, folks. Andre Tanneberger had one of the biggest dance tracks of the year with '9pm (Till I Come)', which managed to hit the Top 75 on two different imports and a white label before it eventually topped the chart. That was on Now 43, though, so what we get here is the typical underwhelming follow-up: by his own admission 'Don't Stop' is just a weedy rehash of the original idea, but less well done. Despite its obvious success at the time (Top 3, and only one import version in the Top 75) I didn't remember much about it at all, and now I can tell why - it's just not memorable enough.


Also appearing on: Now 43, 45
Available on: Seven Years: 1998-2005

Shaft '(Mucho Mambo) Sway'

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

You can see why I was starting to get tired of the Latin music, can't you? For one week the Top 3 was this, 'Mambo No 5' and 'Mi Chico Latino'. This Shaft are not the same ones who did that novelty version of 'Roobarb & Custard' in 1991, but the difference isn't vast: it's still a sample-based track fitting in with a current trend. This Shaft were also Da Muttz, who did a 'Wassup' cash in...

The sample in this instance was from Rosemary Clooney's version of 'Sway', initially a UK hit for Dean Martin, although for legal reasons the released single uses a soundalike vocal. Either way, it's treated in the typical way of the time, looped in the usual way, treated with the usual effects and so on and so forth. It turns out better than many of these things do, which I'd attribute to the source material: it's good and was of course always intended for dancing, but it's not so unimpeachable that you can really object to it being played about with. Still not exactly my scene though.

Available on: The Ultimate Collection - Nineties

Enrique Iglesias 'Bailamos'

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube

It says on his YouTube profile that he's been a one-man ambassador of global culture since 1997. Back in 1999, though, it didn't seem that way - he was just another singer (albeit one with a famous parent) having a hit in the fashionable Latin style. In fact, I barely gave this record a second thought at the time.

I've given it a second one now. I can appreciate it's well put together, but it doesn't interest me much more than it did then. Perhaps it gains from the fact that there aren't dozens of similar tracks in the charts at the moment, but I still don't want to dance with him. Neither indeed do I want to see the film Wild Wild West which apparently includes this track. Maybe it's because this was from a movie that when the follow-up missed the Top 40 (in the very same week as Lou Bega's) I didn't think we'd be hearing from him again. Spare a thought for Julio Iglesais Jr...


Also appearing on: Now 51, 52, 53, 57 (with Kelis), 67, 68
Available on: Greatest Hits

The Vengaboys 'We're Going To Ibiza!'

Chart Peak: 1 (1 week)

YouTube

It's slightly difficult to know how to approach this one. It'd be very easy, but not very interesting, to dismiss it as rubbish. After all it is the Vengaboys. However,I can't deny that it's a record I look upon somewhat more favourably now than at the time, possibly because I'm not in the thick of it, so to speak. The other interesting way to look at it is to recall that it's based on Typically Tropical's 'Barbados', a song that sounds a bit disreputable nowadays. By turning it into a song about partying, they neatly avoid any potential offence, although they did undo this somewhat with their later hit 'Uncle John From Jamaica'.

One thing that I do recall bothering a lot of people at the time was the pronunciation of "Ibiza": if it's any consolation, it would appear that we in the English-speaking world have been mispronouncing the group's name all along. So, I don't really have the heart to be too critical of this record, but those computer-generated Vengaboys in the video - no, just no.


Also appearing on: Now 41, 42, 43, 45, 46
Available on: Pop Party [Includes Bonus Karaoke CD]

Ann Lee '2 Times'

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

I doubt anyone who knows me will be at all surprised to learn that I hated this record at the time simply for not being called 'Twice'. Additionally, dance records that feature long stretches of somebody singing "Doo-doo-doo-doo" have never been a favourite of mine.

Ten years on this wasn't as annoying as I thought it would be. That might partly be because I've only listened to it the once, but I'd also forgotten that there were any lyrics other than the title. Lee's voice is somewhat better than I'd recalled too, and vaguely makes me wish she'd used it on something more interesting: her one other UK hit, 'Voices' is little more than a re-run of this one.

Available on: Dreams