Billie 'Honey To The Bee'

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube

Due for release on March 15th, 'Honey To The Bee' is a sophisticated, sultry number from sixteen-year-old pop diva Billie Piper... With its classy mix of catchy pop and R&B groove, the single is sure to be a hit with fans and new converts alike.

One of at least two tracks on Now 42 to feature the London Community Gospel Choir, the almost title track of her debut album Honey To The B (see what they did there?) was its fourth single. It was presumably chosen for that slot as a possible bridge to her future career, when the novelty of her being a teenager had worn off. As it turned out, things didn't really work out that way, but this is certainly her most grown-up sounding single. It doesn't wholly convince on that score, and it does have that slight feel of a little girl who's been in the dressing-up box, but that probably isn't a bad thing at her age in all honesty. It's her most musically satisfying single at any rate, with a charmingly undulating melody and a production that's aged surprisingly well. It even gives her the chance to do some pretty decent singing for once.

By the time this song surprisingly returned to the chart in early 2007, thanks to Chris Moyles taking advantage of the full inclusion of downloads, she seemed faintly embarrassed by her musical career. I can see why, but this is probably the least shameful part of it.

Also appearing on: Now 40, 41, 46, 47
Available on: The Singles Collection

Starring: Steps, Tina Cousins, Cleopatra, B*Witched and Billie 'Thank Abba For The Music'

Chart Peak: 4

Knowing Me, Knowing YouTube

This sensational collaboration of pop's hottest young stars - Steps, Tina Cousins, Cleopatra, B*Witched and Billie - was revealed at the 1999 Brit Awards, when this fantastic medley was performed as a tribute to one of pop's greatest ever groups - the legendary Abba.

Apparently the video of that performance is still on Youtube, but blocked in the UK due to the recent intervention of the BPI, who've taken down a lot of unofficial Brits uploads now they have their own channel.  So I've had to make do with an unofficial upload that's oddly synced to pictures of the real Abba, though fortunately the below is still available:


You almost have to wonder whether somebody saw that and didn't think it was a joke, don't you? Mind you, even as late as 1995 such a medley might have been an odd thing for such acts to be associated with - it really seemed like the social acceptability of Abba built during the 1990s, from the band nobody would admit to liking to the one nobody could admit to not liking. 1999 was the year that saw the 25th anniversary of their Eurovision and thus their British chart debut, and was duly marked by such promotional activities as a repackage of Abba Gold (which returned to the top of the chart), ITV's ABBAmania TV special and its accompanying charity album and the UK premiere of the musical Mamma Mia, which as we now know proved to be one of the biggest phenomena in theatre in recent years and spawned countless imitators, though only Queen's We Will Rock You really succeeded.

The teen oriented stars gathered here are sometimes billed as the Supertroopers, though this name wasn't used on the single cover (maybe there was some contractual issue?). Instead they're billed under their separate names  - in order of appearance, in case you're wondering how Tina Cousins gets second billing. Between them they (and some uncredited backing singers) work through 'Take A Chance On Me', 'Dancing Queen', 'Mamma Mia' and of course 'Thank You For The Music', of which this is technically the highest-charting version ever. It's not so much a medley as bits of four songs being sung in sequence, though, with no attempt to join the parts together beyond the fact that they're all being played on the same cheap-sounding keyboards. In fact, with the rushed production and anonymous singing, this sounds more like one of those "soundalike" versions that get thrown onto cheap compilations and lurk on download stores to trick the unwary. It does provide a sort of tribute to Abba, if not the one intended - it certainly emphasises how much effort went into the sound of the original Abba singles, and the fact that this isn't painful to listen to says something for the quality of the original songwriting. Just ask Jeremy Hardy.

Steps also appear on: Now 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51
Tina Cousins also appears on: Now 43, 44
Billie also appears on: Now 40, 41, 46, 47
Available on: Thank Abba for the Music

Billie Piper 'Day And Night'

Chart Peak: 1 [1 week]

YouTube

Billie had a lot to live up when she returned to the chart this year; the youngest female solo artist ever to debut at No1, she'd had 3 hit singles by the time she was 16... But there was no stopping her when, at the ripe old age of 17, she made a blazing return to the top of the UK chart with her new single 'Day And Night'.

For reasons not adequately explained, somebody has also uploaded a backwards version of the video. Perhaps it's her only opportunity to "live up" the record of being the youngest female etc. as she couldn't really be expected to get younger. Indeed, the two years she'd aged since 1998 were a significant amount within her teens and in the minds of record companies, that means an inevitable adultifying of her image and a more "urban" sound, helped in this case by the mixing skills of prolific Swedes Stargate. And her surname appearing on the sleeve too.

As a record, 'Day And Night' is somewhat perfunctory. The part where she sings the actual title of the song is unmistakably catchy, the rest of the chorus let alone the remainder of the song instantly forgettable. It does what EMI wanted it to do, scoring her a third Number One single (which was at the time a record-equalling achievement for a British woman) but leaves little trace and her musical career was effectively over by the end of the year. You have to wonder how she feels about this brief interlude now.

Also appearing on: Now 40, 41, 42, 47
Available on: Walk Of Life

Billie 'Because We Want To'

Chart Peak: 1 (1 week)

YouTube

Well, the energy levels are up a bit at least, with the first music you could describe as "fast" since the upbeat section of 'Summer Lovin'. In fact, I remember 'Because We Want To' as being the point when I decided to like "pop" music, rather than the Britpop stuff that was my main interest before then. I was already too old (and possibly too male) to claim to identify with it, and anyway I was far too cynical to consider this any sort of authentic voice of youth, but there's a level of positivity and fun that was lacking in a lot of other music around this time. And a proper memorable chorus, more to the point. I always liked the way it built up to the chorus too, and sort of imagined that it should be the closing track on an album; which apparently it was, though only in America. Over here the nearest it got was ending a Top 40 rundown, at which point she also became the youngest female singer to enter the chart at Number One. Whoever would have guessed that within ten years she'd be the ex-wife of Chris Evans?

Inevitably, what worked so well then is a bit less convincing now. To some extent my memory was just flattering the record: certainly, I'd forgotten the weird beatboxy intro part and the odd mockney rap that uses "upbeat" as a noun. Somehow, I'd even managed to forget the video, where Billie and friends are ushered into a rooftop club by a rhincerous in a suit. The bigger problem is that it's more of its time than I realised, a little too in thrall to the fashionable RnB production of a couple of years earlier. Perhaps it's part of the job of pop to be ephemeral and of the moment, though, and there was enough music in 1998 that didn't even sound good then.

Also appearing on: Now 41, 42, 46, 47
Available on: The Best of Billie