Hello and welcome to the next Chapter in our Throwback Thursday series. We've traveled through 80's Pop/Rock/RnB/Reggae/Dance. Now we're having a stop-over in the 90's. It was a glorious 10 years for fashion, technology & of course music. Some songs changed the landscape of music forever whilst some were unfortunate one-hit wonders & for the next 2 weeks we'll be bringing you 5 great songs.
The Artist: Backstreet Boys
The Song: Larger Than Life
Released: 1999
CONTROLRadioUK Thoughts: I know, it's hard to believe we're almost at the end of our 90's journey. It's been fun right?! But rejoice, we're not quite there yet! We've still got 2 more weeks of memory lane and what better way to start that off than with this song? It charted quite well but didn't quite set the world alight (probably because it was too awesome to handle). Funny fact though? The video here was directed by Joseph Khan who also directed 'Everybody's Back' and there are similarities between the songs and the video. It's also 14th on the Guiness Book Of Record for most expensive video which not a lot of people can claim. The video whilst fun isn't what I remember or love most about the song. No, that praise is reserved for the music & lyrical content. 9yr old me enjoyed dancing and singing along to this at the top of my voice. 26yr old me agrees with 9yr old me that this song is quite fun, but also thinks if you go beneath the surface it is actually quite uplifting. Plus did I mention I loved Backstreet Boys as a kid?!
The Artist: The Chemical Brothers
The Song: Hey Boy Hey Girl
Released: 1999
CONTROLRadioUK Thoughts: My favorite song from The Chemical Brothers is 'Do It Again' (and if you have no blessed your ears with that beauty I don't know what you're doing) But this isn't a bad song. Before I knew music The Chemical Brothers were just someone I'd always hear on the radio, like the songs & have no idea who they were or what my ears had been blessed with. This peaked at #3 on the UK Chart & remained there for 10 weeks which is quite a feat to achieve. Do I think a song which only has one line of lyrics which reads 'Hey girls, b-boy, superstar DJ's here we go' is completely beyond the realms of basic? Absolutely. But the music! The Chemical Brothers make pretty bloody awesome music! Considering I'm still rocking out to this in 2016 & never get bored of 'Do It Again'? Gonna let them have this one.
The Artist: Steps
The Song: Say You'll Be Mine
Released: 1999
CONTROLRadioUK Thoughts: What more can I say about Steps? Well unless you fancy reading a 50 page dissertation (which I could easily write) we're gonna choose the safe option of nothing. This reached #4 on the UK Charts. I knew the chorus dance moves after studying this video meticulously for a week. It's a really fun song. The video's even better. I knew the lyrics off by heart within a day of exhausting the CD on my record player (which can actually be said about every Steps song). Steps made my childhood fun and I will never be ashamed of being the only kid in school to know all their songs, whilst everyone else was singing (and then crying) over other bands.
The Artist: S Club 7
The Song: S Club Party
Released: 1999
CONTROLRadioUK Thoughts: Ok yes Steps owned my late childhood, but I did listen to other bands to (I know! Massive shock) One of said bands was of course everyone's favourite Backstreet Boys (see what I did there) & S Club 7. I was glued to Miami 7 & L.A 7 on my returns from school. I bopped the heck out of this & 'Don't Stop Movin' like there was no tomorrow. This reached #2 on the UK Chart & even today? I will bop the heck out of this. I may also like S Club 7 so much because my school was one of those chosen to sing on the Children In Need version of 'Never Had A Dream Come True' (nowhere near as glamorous as it sounds. I was also a brief fan of S Club Juniors/S Club 8 but that didn't really last long. Also a rarity here? Everyone in my school loved S Club 7 as much as me! That's right, we all sang along like the gloriously adorable kids we were to their songs & danced like there was no tomorrow. It was a nice break from listening to my Steps album in the corner. Attempting to compare the two bands for a brief second here, Steps were a band you religiously knew all the lyrics & dance moves of & nearly injured yourself running into the living room to get a first look at their latest video. It wasn't until after they split, I got into new music & then rediscovered my love for them that I really appreciated their music. S Club 7 on the other hand I didn't know the dance moves & lyrics religiously & don't listen to them outside of 'Don't Stop Movin'.
The Artist: Destiny's Child
The Song: Bills, Bills, Bills
Released: 1999
CONTROLRadioUK Thoughts: I've spoken about my mother here before. She was a very strict, very protective woman in my childhood. She knew the world better than I did, she knew what was appropriate for me and whatnot. Except she refused to let me listen to Destiny's Child. When 'Bootylicious' came out I saw the video and thought it was funny. I asked my beloved mother if I could have it. She took me to the record store, made them play it all the way through 4 times, and the decided it was too sexual & inappropriate for a child to listen to. The other girls at school listened to their music religiously which my mother had no control over. But if she heard me singing any of their lyrics? Grounded for a month. All fun & games until you trick her into buying 'Survivor' & then you end up grounded for 2 months (still got the record so I won't complain there). 'Bills, Bills, Bill's' reached #1 in the US & #6 in the UK, so clearly not everyone was as illogical as my mother. Yes she probably had a point that some of their songs had undertones that weren't exactly U rated. This song here? Not one of them so I shall enjoy this along with the rest of Destiny's Child & indeed Beyonce's collection. This was my first proper foray into RNB music, I loved it then & I love it now. But mostly this is here so everyone else can joy me in questioning my mothers logic.
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