Hits 21 - 1998 (1): All Saints, Oasis, Usher, Aqua

Episode Date: February 20, 2026

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to Hits 21, the show that's taking a look back at every single UK #1 hit..You can follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hits21UKYou can email us: [e-mail] 21 DOES NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO ANY MUSIC USED IN THE EPISODES. USAGE OF ALL MUSIC USED IN THIS PODCAST FALLS UNDER SECTION 30(1) OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT 1988

Hi there, everyone. Welcome back to Hits21, the 90s. Where me, Rob, me, Andy. And you are looking back at every single UK number one of the 1990s. Email us at Hits21 Podcast at gmail.com. Twitter us at Hits21 UK. Thank you ever so much for joining us again. It feels like it's been a while.

Since we recorded for you, we are taking our first steps this week into the year, In 1998, this week, we'll be covering the period between the 1st of January and the 14th of February. So it is time to press on with this week's episode. Andy, the UK album charts in the first six weeks of 98. How are they looking? We've got a new, not a new entry. We've got a returning number one, returning to the top spot after a few months away.

It's The Verve with Urban Hymns, who, just to remind you, went 10 times platinum with that back in 97. the whole first six weeks of 1998 are dominated by the Verve at the top. And that's a hotbed for you. Just a one album, yeah. In the news, and there is a lot of bad news during this little period, the Algerian Civil War escalates, and 600 people are killed across two massacres in the space of a week, carried out by the armed Islamic group of Algeria.

20 people are killed in Italy. that's when a military plane crashes into a cable car system in the Dolomite Mountains. Four thousand people are killed and almost a thousand people are injured after a 5.9 magnitude earthquake strikes in northeast and Afghanistan. But in better news, Enoch Powell finally shuffles off this mortal coil at the age of 85. No rivers of blood in his veins anymore. In America, President Bill Clinton insists that he did not have sexual relations with his 24-year-old secretary Monica Lewinsky. The affair was fully exposed seven months later.

Smoking is banned in all bars in California and the Denver Broncos win the Super Bowl, defeating the Green Bay Packers by 31 points to 24. Oh, the Denver Broncos. Yeah, it's funny because that happened not very long after that episode came out, which I've always found quite funny. Ed, they were dancing in the streets of Denver,

not so much in the streets of Green Bay, Wisconsin, but what was everybody buying in America? Well, a little bit more than the verve. In fact, unfortunately, they weren't buying the verve at all. The Billboard number one albums, covering greed, sloth, envy, Roth, for that is how I pronounce it. Pride, vanity and lust in just one record is a tall order. But if anyone's going to do it, it's Garth Brooks, who sins big for a fortnight with sevens. Why doesn't he just go away?

That's my question. I'll tell you what, Andy, he wrote one of your favourite songs. Did he? Which one? If tomorrow never comes. Oh, God. Anyway, for a week, we have Let's Talk About Love by Celine Dion, which is refreshing because previous albums had presumably all been about drug dealing and gridiron football. And just when you think her extemporising on matters of the heart will stop, it goes,

on and on and on James Horner's Titanic soundtrack proves rather more immutable than the ship taking us all the way to mid-February and that's your lot for albums for singles a Gale Force wind finally extinguishes Elton's

multi-purpose candle in mid-January and the people obviously wanting a break from toe-warming mid-tempo fluff Get Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden A song which is so enemically toe-warming and fluffy It sounds like it belongs on one of those Christian hits compilations You could only order by phone if you remember those Yeah, music for a sofa shop

God damn it, it's so bland Anyway, after that two-week hiatus from Mordlandity We have a tribute to some friends of the singer who died of AIDS. It's actually really good, though, this one, and not an unsuttle cash-in. Janet Jackson longs to be together again. I forgot how big that song was.

It keeps popping up, isn't it? Oh, yeah. I've never got the big deal about that song. I know we'll never really talk about it. I've never really got that one. I didn't at the time, because I thought the chorus is a bit like, oh, it's a bit chirpity chirp.

But actually, listening to the rest of the track, it's a remarkably well-written song. There's some interesting harmony in modulation shit going on in the verses. But anyway, finally, it's not a long list today, seeing us into mid-month, or might I say, ushering in the next episode? Yes, it's Garth Brooks.

No, no, it is usher with nice and slow. And we may be talking about Mr. Brooks later in the show. Again, I kid. That joke's gone too far. Anyway, Rob. then. So in the first week of January, it was too much by the Spice Girls that brought us in to the new year. The first track to get to number one was, we have to make a brief stop, perfect day by various artists for the BBC. It went back to number one for one more week. In its third and final week atop the charts, it sold 83,000 copies beating competition from high by the lighthouse fans.

family and avenging angels by space. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Perfect Day fell three places to number four. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 22 weeks. The song is currently officially certified two times platinum in the UK as of 2026. So, we'll take a brief pause.

And the first new number one of 19, is this. A few questions that I need to know how you could ever hurt me so. I need to know what I've done wrong and how long it's been going on. Was it that I never paid enough attention or did I not give enough affection?

Not only will your answers keep me sane But I'll know never to make the same mistake again. In my face. You can write it in a letter. Treat you right. Did I always start the fight? Either way, I'm going out of my mind. All the answers to my questions I have to find.

Okay, this is never ever. Saints. Released as the second single from the group's debut studio album titled All Saints, Never Ever is All Saints fourth single to be released in the UK and they're first to reach number one and it's not the last time we'll be coming to All Saints during our 90s coverage. Never Ever first enter the UK charts at number three, reaching number one during its ninth week. It stayed at number one for one week. In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 54,000 copies beating competition from Bamboogie by Bamboo and Renegade Master 98 by Wild Child. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, never ever dropped one place to number two.

By the time it was done on the charts, it had a bid inside the top 104, 26 weeks. The song is currently officially certified three times. platinum in the UK. As of 26, this is a big deal. Andy, All Saints, how we feel it? Oh, well, you know, I'm going to be a little bit of a downer, unfortunately, because I think if you look at the track record that we've had on this show with All Saints, which I'm aware is all in the future, obviously.

But Black Coffee loved that, really loved that, and Pure Shores is serious contender for one of my favourite ever number ones. you know like really like the absolute peak of pop music I think but this like it gets quite a lot of attention and it's probably probably their most famous single I would say and I'm not feeling it as much to be honest I have a random memory of this at the time I would have been very young but my sister like for some reason

I remember my sister used to have an in for all saints she really didn't like them I think maybe it's because she was such a big spice girls fan she saw another girl group as a competitor and she made up lyrics to this which I can't remember the rest of the lyrics but it was basically trash talking them and I remember it went Never Ever had a number one single

And first of all it wasn't true As it turns out FATE news This very song It's Fite News As did a whole bunch of others But it's just That's a lot of blow

Isn't it? Like leave off all saints There's room for two And they're not very much like the spice girls, so leave them alone. But anyway, I think the problem I have with this is that melodically, I think it's very straightforward and unadventurous. I mean, of course, there is that kind of infamous intro, which I can never decide whether I like or not,

because it's so raw and so, like, exposed to the elements. You know, there is something that I need to know. You know, it's like, it's almost like something like Kate Nash or something. like it's a really odd like unpolished thing to open with but I do think it's interesting at least but then I'm always just so disappointed

when it gets to certainly the choruses because it's just very kind of sing-song and kind of juvenile sounding I think where it's just like it almost feels a bit like nah na na na na na na you know like it's just very straightforward and plain as a melody

and that's kind of emphasised me the fact that the harmony, you know, the chord sequence that goes through this, is actually very, very nice. That do-do-do-do-thing that runs through it, where it's amazing grace, essentially. It is. It's amazing grace.

But it's a really interesting thing to listen to, and I really love how it turns on the seventh like that. And it's a very, very nice thing. But the melody of this just doesn't live up to it at all. And it's way too long as well. So I'm not that. answered about it. I do think vocals are lovely. The production is lovely.

And if I had to bite the bullet and give my opinion I would say, yes, I probably do like that intro, quite a bit. But it just doesn't really fully come to life for me, and I think they're more interesting materials ahead of them.

Like, much, much more interesting. But, like, it's fine. I just think, you know, in the landscape that we're in right now where you've got the spice skills, like, there is so much more interesting, you know, girl band music out there and this feels very safe it feels like it's like let's go for a catchy tune and that's enough and i'm not sure that that is enough in the 1990s just before i start my analysis of this i found out this week i was actually quite surprised uh never ever this is their most successful single

all saints uh top the charts in the uk australia new zealand uh reached number one uh sorry number 10's all around European in America, got to top 10 in America. It is the third best-selling single by a girl group of all time in the UK. That's just mad to me that. That's absolutely mad. And the thing is, like, it's a really high bar because, like I say, I loved black coffee and I adore Pure Shores. I do think this is easily by some distance, the weakest of the three that we've covered

by them. And so, yeah, that rankles quite a bit. Who do we think the top two are, the top two biggest selling singles by Girl groups of all time. Both Spice Girls. Surely both Spice Girls. One is Spice Girls, the other is not. So it's going to be wannabe, surely. It is wannabe, that's number one.

Number two. Oh, is it? Sound to the Underground? It is. Shout out to my ex by Little Mix. What? And would you believe that Little Mix are in the top 10 more than Spice Girls? That does surprise me. Whoa.

Shout out to my ex, Black Magic and Touch are all. top 10 and the only other Spice Girls one in the top 10 is to become one. For me with this I think there's lots to like here like I think whether you like it or not and I do like it that is a bold cold open like how often do you get pop songs with cold opens like this one I imagine if you were just kind of idly driving to Morrison's and that intro came on the radio like a few questions that I need to know that would prick your ears up the effect on her voice makes it sound like she's like writing by candlelight in an empty room or speaking a

alone on a stage, you know, like the Elizabethan kind of opening prologue sort of thing. I'm even slightly charmed by the slightly stilted reading that she gives of it, because I end up feeling sort of captivated by what she might say next. It makes her feel human and normal and emotionally vulnerable, and like you could find her in the Morrisons that you drive into. Atomic Kitten had a similar appeal when they came along a few years later, actually. it reminds me of like you know like the beginning of things like leader of the pack or that um that Henry Rollins song that the name's got out of my head from around this time when he was trying alternative metal the name will come to me in a bit but um i think it's the sort of intro that leaves you wondering like

okay where is this going and actually is this ever going to get going or is this a bit of experimental pop that's accidentally ended up getting a bit popular and the whole song is this extended spoken word section. I'm always a fan really of when pop songs do things that completely rip the map up and I'm kind of trying to draw that map out and it's tearing it up as I'm going and so I don't know where its destination might be

but then we do get going and like listening to it straight away I think you can hear Atomic Kitten in the distance. You can hear a lot of other girl groups that came in the wave after the Spice Girls and above anything else though I can hear say this is pure and simple. Pure and Simple pretty much nicks this

instrumental verbatim doesn't it? When you think about it all saints have been trucking away for about six years at this point and chasney lewis was the only consistent member but i think they needed something like the spice girls to happen so they could be presented as the convincing alternative much to your sister's chagrin apparently um something a bit more hip a bit trendier maybe a bit more grown up and that sound that's slightly more grown up british rmb sound that comes out of the speakers when the song begins in earnest that's something that sticks around in the charts for quite a while it definitely makes it into to the new millennium. You know, maybe All Saints were taking cues from American acts like SWV

or something, but this gives space to girl groups to be more downbeat and introspective, and it paves the way for things like Sugar Babes come in later as well, I think, in the late, late 90s. I also want to give this credit for allowing itself to sound genuinely confused. The lack of answers here reveal a real darkness, I think. You know, she's not even asking her ex to come back. She's just trying to work out what the fuck has happened. My mom. Once knew a woman who came home from work one day, found out that husband had taken all of his possessions, left divorce papers on the kitchen counter and vanished.

And she's literally never heard from him ever since. Goodness me. And I can imagine this being sung from her perspective. That, yep, she just came home, normal day, gone. There was a bit of an argument the night before, but nothing dreadful. Honestly, she tried tracking him down through counts. and governments and all sorts of things, no trace of him at all.

Changed his identity, left the country. Wow. And I can imagine this song being sung from that kind of like, even in a less, you know, ITV drama kind of situation, you know, like it's still that confusion, the lack of answers, the what happened, what went wrong. I just start to lose patience with this after a while, though, sadly. Like, there is a radio edit that's three and a half minutes.

There's another radio edit that's nearly five minutes. and the album version is pushing over six minutes. And I don't know if there's enough to justify that. I think once we've done the first go-round of the chorus, which I think is withheld really bravely, actually. But after that point, I'm waiting for something new, but all we really get is at the end, the new vocal line with the fade-out,

the ride it in a little bit, you know, but I'm unsure if that's enough for me to feel like it's justified how long it takes to arrive and how long the song takes to fade out. And I think the most striking thing, thing this song does is over after 50 seconds and there's still another four minutes to fill on the radio edit and at some points during the verses i can feel it's sort of just marking time because like on the one hand lyrics take lyrics like take a shower i will scour i will run like can be taken as an

attempt to convey the kind of listlessness you feel after a breakup on the other hand i'm just like what are we doing why are we taking up this much space with lines like like that. A lot of times it feels like they're just chatting. It kind of feels improv a lot of the time. Like they're just kind of vibing and just saying things. Which. Yeah, it's odd.

Which, you know, that could be a good thing. But then with the repeat of the alphabet runs from A to Z, A to Z, a joke. Like, I'm like, it just feels like they had this joke. And they were like, right, we need to put this in the song somewhere instead of just maybe thinking of a different song to put it in. But I'm just, I'm feeling unsure as to, this song fulfills its potential. I think what's really enjoyed for everybody

is that chorus, which I find is ostensibly simplistic, but I don't think it's overbearing. You know, it's sung softly, and the chorus kind of creeps up on you over time, which maybe partly explains why it took nearly two months to get to number one. But outside of that chorus,

I'm left looking for things for it to stick to, and I struggle a little bit. I think it needed, it clearly needed to become part of the ambient British landscape for a bit before we all decided, yeah, we like you. Let's give you a day in the sun. And yeah, it managed to get a week and it's sold like 1800, sorry, I'm saying 1800, 1.8 million copies over the, over the course of time. But yeah, not my favourite, but lots to be interested in. Ed, I'm looking at the spreadsheet here and it seems like you're going to give a much more

positive assessment than me and Andy, so take it away. Yeah, I really, really, like this at the time, and I still do. I saw the length of the song when I was replaying this in its entirety for the first time since, well, 1999, maybe, and I was like, oh no, that's long. But this really works for me, even formally. There's a lot of restraint here, and I think you use the word experimental, Rob, and I think it is. This is like the anti-spice girls. in a way. It's got more in common with, it's like a chic Brit pop version of Bobby Womack or something. If you listen to any of his album tracks, I really like them, but some of them are like nine minutes long, where we'll do a really cool, heartfelt cast off cover version, and then they'll just start chatting.

And there's a song where in the middle, he stops for four minutes to make some jokes about the engineer. But it's part of the song, and it's part of the vibe. Some people might find that incredibly annoying. pointless, but it's a matter of perspective. I love the restraint of this. It's almost, it's, what I love about it is the melody is simplicity itself. The harmony is simplicity itself. The fact that it is, it's not only the harmony of Amazing Grace. It has actually playing the melody of Amazing Grace in the background, almost like a big middle finger. It's the tension between the two that works so well. I love the interplay between something profoundly major and those seventh scale super bluesy gospel influence melody going on in the

foreground. I just love the way they work together and it kind of pushes it an extra step further with that coda which is all about that that major minor tension and it's just a last little treat at the end. It is long and if you actually had to put your finger on it and say well, What actually happens as an event, as a peak and trough in this period, you can't really say that very much has taken place. But I don't necessarily think that's a problem. I think it's a groove more than anything else. And imagine, I think it's incredible that a girl group basically did their big,

I know it's not their first single, but the big breakout hit was on this sort of really slow groove-based track. I mean, unlike the Spice Girls, there's not an ounce outside like her cagey kind of estuary accent at the beginning. There's not an ounce of Europe in this at all. It's kind of, but the combination of that and that very kind of dry English delivery, almost sort of a proto-Charlie X-CX era of indifference about it. I don't think it's deliberate necessarily, but it kind of ends up being oddly, on an odd precursor in that regard. But it gives this sort of worn, slightly edgy vibe

compared to a lot of the peppy, busy, everything packed into every possible, you know, all the chord changes, all of the string swoops and things, background kind of chart pop we were used to, especially from girl groups at this point. Now, nothing wrong with that. Spice Girls have done some fucking amazing stuff. But this is, to its credit, aesthetically, as well as stylistically, a million miles away.

And I have to tip my hat to it for that. And just something about its slow, snaky insistence, I really like it. And I don't skip it. I'm quite happy to just sit there and, yeah, vibe with it. but yet I do understand full well, why some people would listen to the five and a half minutes of this and go, there's not much happening, is there? I wish this was doing something else,

but for me there's just enough addition and subtraction and little variations in the vocals to keep that sinewy, snaky element without boring me. Ooh, never ever would have anticipated that, Sorry. I'll cut myself off with Oasis in the edit there. Yeah, because the next song is this. All right, this is All Around the World by Oasis.

Released as the third single from the band's third studio album titled Be Here Now. All Around the World is Oasis's 13th single to be released in the UK and their fourth to reach number one. It's not the Gallagher's last number one, but it is their last number one of the 1990s. All around the world went straight in at number one as a brand new entry and stayed at number one for one week. In its first and only week, atop the charts,

it sold 110,000 copies beating competition from, oh God, no surprises by Radiohead, and My Star by Ian. Brown. When it was knocked off the top of the charts all around the world fell four places to number five. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 104. 11 weeks. The song is currently officially certified gold in the UK. As of 2026, this is going to be like, what's the opposite of a shit sandwich where like, you know, good, bad, good in terms of its assessment. whereas this will be a bread

like the bread is the filling and the shit is the bread so Andy all around the world utter shit that's my section any expansion on utter shit well no it's not worth any more time

it's already taken nine minutes from me strong contender for the worst thing we've ever had on this show that's it oh am I the reprise then yes the 11 minutes if you include the I'm pretty sure to date this is still the longest ever number one single in the UK

because the official single release was nine minutes and 38 seconds it's longer than the album version the edit comes under five minutes there's a video version that's seven minutes yeah I don't know Ed do you want to

do you want to go next I'm offering people up this shit sandwich and I've taken it away from them so Ed What about you? To paraphrase Frazier, if less is more, imagine how much more more is. Oh, I was about to read the opening line of my Allsaint's notes by mistake, which was, Restraint is the key here, which would have been sorely ironic.

Anyway, yes, right, because louder, louder, as we all know, is more important. the louder something is, the more important it is, and the more it cuts through. I mean, that's obviously an intractable, impermeable truth, right? Right, everyone? I mean, I think that's just, it's just logic, logic. Muse, the band Muse, Starlight. I take it we're all familiar with that song. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I like it. I think it's a good song. The biggest part of the song, the singularity of the song, if you were, will, is also the quietest bit of the song. Yes, though. His hopes and expectations. Black holes and revelations. A genius move from someone who is not that well accustomed with subtlety.

Everything drops out pretty much. But you listen all the more intently. It's an inspired chorus, really. But that's, yeah, it's not. something you would have done on Origin of Symmetry, a couple of albums back. Mews did grow. Admittedly, they sort of shriveled and died gradually after that point, but they grew. Apparently, all around the world was the first complete song Noel ever wrote. Apparently, he wanted to wait, though, until they could make the song big enough, to give it its proper due,

uh, Ray, loud enough. And yeah, it just becomes a grating racket by about three minutes for my money, and it's seven minutes long, and then they do the fucking thing again, just to stick the middle finger right up your nose. But he was true to his word. He did, you know, his first ever song, he wanted to wait for it to be suitably big so they could make it bigger and louder, and its core conceit, which is truly conceited, to be sure,

was obviously perfect. There is obviously no growth required between the ages of 16 and 25, say, you just take your childhood songs and you make them gradually louder and louder and longer and louder and longer and louder and longer. It's repulsive. I have fucking lost my patience with this group. Now, I didn't like Oasis as a kid, but I gradually adjusted to the attitude and I can appreciate that debut and some of the tracks on the second album. Fuck me, though. I don't, I've never liked not liking Oasis.

It's always felt me, felt like I'm missing something crucial and, you know, fun. And it makes me feel like a snob. And I already sound a bit like a snob, so I don't need any help there, but they just sound like a fucking scam, especially with stuff like this. I mean, just that goddamn,

intro. It's like they don't know what to do. Just play the chords and just do some open... It sounds like it's part of a rehearsal session which considering the amount of time spent on the same elements in this song and the amount of money spent

and the amount of months and man and woman hours spent on this fucking track. It's just so blasé. Well, I hope it was all that you wished for, Noel. Because to be quite honest, this is just gross.

I, this is, this is the fucking pits. This is about as bad as it got with them for me as far as I've concerned. Their later stuff honestly don't mind as much. At least that has a sane sense of how long songs are supposed to be in relation to their aesthetic intentions and their ingredients. But, oh God, sorry, I don't like it. Did you notice? Rob.

Oh, I find this baffling. I think, in a weird way, I imagine Ed, you probably think this is like the least interesting oasis song that we've covered so far. Well,

it depends what you mean by interesting. I mean, it's the peak of their hubris. That's interesting. It's true. Yeah. I think, do you know what I mean

is less interesting than this? Just as a repost. I think, I think, do you know what I mean is less interesting. interesting than this. Yeah, that's good shit.

This is worse, but at least it's something. Yeah. I found this baffling, really. I don't really know where to start, probably at the beginning. Like, I heard a lot about all around the world before I actually went and really listened to it. Like, you sort of hear snippets about it over the years and, you know, and in terms of, like, radio rotation, though, and, like, in terms of, like, albums by Oasis that people would

recommend to you first, be here now is always kind of, faded into the background a bit. Definitely maybe and what's the story are always first. And when I became like fully cognizant and like a proper pop kid, Oasis were in their post peak phase and it was heathen chemistry and don't believe the truth that had all the successful new singles on them. So like the first time I ever knowingly heard something from Be Here Now was around 2008 and it was when it was I was deep. I was 13, 14 years old and I was deep in my one Republican obsession. And they covered don't go away during a live session for like, you know, like iTunes or AOL. You know, there's like indoor, no audience, carpeted floor kind of live set. Strip, they'd normally be called something like

stripped or, like MTV's unplugged or something, you know, something like that. And that was about it until I turned about 16, 17, maybe a little later. Because I remember, Ed, we were walking down Market Street in Manchester, this is like 2013, talking about Oasis. And I remember you saying like, oh, God, and all around the fucking world, as if we don't have nine minutes of it already, you also get a fucking reprise section that makes the whole thing, 11 minutes, as if we don't have enough all around the world to go around. And so when I finally sat down ready to endure it a little bit after that, and I, you know, I expected the kind of overblown, substanceless vibes over genuine emotion schlock, the Oasis has kind of become known for in my head.

But like, I listened to it and I didn't feel that coming on. I just remember finding Liam's lead melodies to be actually kind of sweet. The verse lyrics left a little bit to be desired, but the overall message from the chorus was one of like positivity and togetherness and reassurance and every key change and every extra minute that went by. I just kind of laughed each time at how far they were stretching this idea, how much they were attempting and not quite managing to do their own hey Jude, how this actually felt strangely earnest for a mid-era Oasis song.

The key changes felt invited towards as well, which means the song does feel like it's building naturally even after the eight-minute mark. It started to remind me of a song Robbie Williams did that I've always liked, which was strong. And yeah, it's clear to see where Robbie probably got the idea to do that song from this, although Robbie's song has more of a power pop edge that I'm more into. I think Noel finds power pop to be a bit gay, to be honest.

I think if you asked him, and therefore, scary. But this is about as open-hearted and brave and risky a mood as you're ever going to find a way to say, I think. They'd had this in the vault since 92, and they finally had the money to put it together the way that Noel wanted, so they gave it a big splash of cash, and they took this song, and it clearly meant a lot to them to keep on to it for so long, and turned it into an event as big as they could.

And I sort of admired that. Over time, though, each time I've gone back to it, I've liked it less and less. I appreciate the ambition, but I'm not sure actually how much ambition there is on show if you just repeat the same thing over and over for about five minutes until you've run out of things to just overdub onto the top of it.

The mixing choices are unusual. It does this thing a couple of times where it builds up and up and up into a cacophony of noise. And then just when you need that release as it jumps into the chorus, it pulls everything away again, but not everything to the point

where only Liam's voice is what you hear and that's really striking, like Starlight by Muse, fully enough. It's still noisy, but there's just less there, which makes it feel like a car suddenly slowing from 60 to 30, which means it's got to put more effort in so it can get back to where it was about to go

10 seconds ago. Each leap does begin to feel like it's just large for the sake of it because of that. And there's a seven-minute version of the song, which achieves just as much as the nine-minute version, and a five-minute version that achieves just as much as the nine-minute version.

And then it kind of clicks that they're not extending this to nine minutes because they have to, because they just, you know, it feels like it's going that way. They're doing it because they're high as fuck. Everybody's saying, yeah, mate, to whatever idea they're coming up with,

and simply because they can. is humoristic. It starts to feel hollow at the center, despite how much stuff is ostensibly happening. Then I found out that what I thought Liam was saying at the end, which I thought he was saying, please don't cry, we're never going to die. Which, an oasis song asking somebody to please don't cry, like that's, you know, a bit unexpected, especially in 97. But apparently there's a belief among the fandom that he's saying pigs don't fly, never say die, which, oh, fine, okay, as if the Peppelan video wasn't enough. But then this week, I went back and I watched an Oasis band rehearsal from 1992 of the more performing this song, a very early version of it, just in someone's garage. The song

isn't quite there yet. The band aren't quite there yet, but the bones of something are there. And there's the Mustique demo from 1996, which is more stripped back and Noel sings that one instead. And that clocks in at six minutes instead of seven or nine. This might, and it makes me think that this might have gone over better on definitely maybe. I think it would have been noisier, slower, more sincere, but shorter, which brought me to the realization that I don't really have a problem with the bones of the song itself. I think the bones are really lovely. Liam sounds sincere and compassionate, which is a rare turn for him and the band. The lyrics are hurried, but understandably hurried. Apparently Noel just kind of locked himself in a room for two weeks

and was like, I just need to get this finished. It's only excess and success that turns the longer and longer edits of the song into something bludgeoning and claustrophobic. I think this had real potential to be something like Don't Go Away, which feels more stripped back and naked and is, I think don't go away is a real outlier on Be Here Now. This had the potential to be that. It had the potential with me to be vaulted, but the bombast is unnecessary and takes the shine off it,

you could say. so yeah I have gone around in circles with this all around the world with this and I've settled on it's pretty fine yeah it's fine Andy I don't know if you want to add anything to what you said before

no just that it really it felt like an actual physical theft of my time and that I do think this is like Emperor's new clothes to a degree That is remarkable But I think this is true Garbage That is only getting number one

Because it's oasis I think this is truly awful Yes I wonder if me or Ed spoke for long enough But if you played the audio Of what we've said in our notes It would last longer than the song Because I don't think that it would

All right So the third single this week is this. This is what you do. This is what you do. The thing began between us. You were like my best friend. I used to run and talk to when me and my girl was having problems. Say it'll be okay.

Suggest little nice things I should do. And when I go home at night and leave my head down, all I seem to think about. I'm a relationship with you. This is what you do to make me... Okay, this is You Make Me Wanna by Usher. Released as the lead single from his second studio album, titled My Way. You Make Me Wanna is Usher's third single to be released in the UK and his first to reach number one.

It is his last number one of the 1990s, but it's not his last number one overall. Check our naughty shows for that. Wait for our 2010 shows for everything else. You Make Me Wanna first entered the UK show. at number 82, reaching number one during its fourth week. It stayed at number one for one, one week, as is the fashion this week. In its first and only week atop the charts,

it sold 107,000 copies beating competition from Mulder and Scully by Catatonia and Amnesia by Chumbabwamba. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, You Make Me Wanna dropped one place to number two. By the time it was done on the charts, the charts that have been inside the top 1004, 18 weeks, the song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK. As of 2026, Ed, you make me want to listen to your notes

about Usher. How do we feel? Unfortunately, I've not got many of them, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately, this week, it seems that the amount of things to say I have actually reduces as the songs go along. But again, that's no measure of quality. I really like this. I love the kind of busy syncopated groove, the cross-rhythmic melody. I love the breathlessness of it.

And I really, really liked this new stuttery, kind of jazzy flamenco-inflicted R&B sound at the time. I liked all of this stuff. And I still do, actually. I mean, it was the template for everyone, from Craig David to Timberland in the years to come, you'll probably tell me this was produced by Timbland or something now. But anyway, he took a lot of notes, if not.

But it's not a big standout track or anything, this. It's not quite a massive melody or a massive chorus, but it's nicely seductive. And it's a sensible length. So, yeah, look, seriously, on this episode, that's a big win. That's about all I've got to say about it, but I do like this. I think it's a tasty little groove.

Producer was Jermaine Dupree. Oh, okay. A big name, of course, in the 2000s, but a big name in my life because guess what he produced? I can't stop party in, party in. Oh my shit. With our buddy little way.

Yes, Weezer and Weezy, upside down MTV. Andy, you make me want to listen to your note. as well. How do we feel on Usher? I'm similar to Ed, really. I don't really have a huge amount to say on it, other than just mild appreciation, to be honest. I had never heard this before. Did not know it existed. I instantly just thought of the JLS song, You Make Me Wanna. You Make Me Wanna, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Which is basically how all of their songs go.

Yeah. Yeah. But this is like, it's just bizarre to hear a sound like this at number one. in 1998. It's really odd where my instant like my head just instantly went to Craig David

sounds like that and then of course to usher himself in the early naughtyies you know things like Ben and I just did not know that it was around

at this time and it feels really anachronistic and just just totally like it's arrived too early because I think maybe it actually did

because this didn't stick around as far as I'm aware like it's certainly not to the extent that any of his hits in the Nauties or the Tens did

it hasn't really stood the test of time and I just think maybe he just arrived a little bit too early because like this is kind of the finished article for his naughty sound to be honest like there's not much work to be done and the rest of the world just kind of needs to wait to catch on really because this is just an anomaly and then he'll have no other big hits

for about another five years so it's a really odd thing to hear and I don't really know what else to say except that like this is like the trailer for the naughties that we're hearing here It's never been a genre that I've loved exactly But I always like to hear the start of a genre I always like to hear the start of something happening

And be able to trace things through history And it's nice to hear this kind of missing link That you know The late 90s and the early noughties Sound very different to each other But here we have a commonality You know, there's this shared ground here It's the meme of shaking hands

You know that we're hearing here It's not a transitional track either is it It's like this new style of R&B just suddenly appears. It's quite jarring. Yeah, like it was here in the 90s and we just, like I said, we had to sort of wait until it became

something that we would regularly hear. It's the same way that, you know, we act like disco started in 1977 and ended in 1979. No, it's not what happened. And, you know, and like rock and roll didn't go from 1955 to 1958. It's like we compartmentalize these things very, very easily.

But no, it's like, it's just a bizarre thing to hear and I never really got that past that, to be honest. Like, it's fine. I don't think it's, like, particularly catchy song. I think it's a bit dull, to be honest. But, like, it's all about the sound. It's all about the production.

That's what's interesting about this. And for 1998, it sure as hell is interesting. So, yeah, get a vague thumbs up for me this. Yeah, I agree with you both. That first few seconds is really striking. I think, you know, there's two songs in this episode, this one and never ever that seemed to set a bit of a template for how American and British R&B groups

and acts are going to maybe move forward over the next bit. of time. Almost a decade this kind of sound lasts actually, the Usher one. Lots of snappy percussion, little flicks of acoustic guitar, to give it that central and intimate flavor, stylish, effortless. You know, usher's a newcomer, but he sounds

confident enough here in the chorus, especially. The verses, he sounds a little unsure of himself and the material. Some of the lines feel a bit overstuffed with lyrics, and I think he runs out of places to go before he has to kind of bring each line to a landing. That one where he's like, the one I'd run and talk to a

me and my girl was having problems. And it's like, you need to maybe find somewhere else to go with that. I find myself willing it on a little bit too much as well. Slight problem with this style of R&B is that it takes a lot from the static nature of 80s and 90s hip-hop instrumentals. But where on those songs, a rapper would provide lots of fresh dynamics with each line and each verse. If you're approaching it like a pop singer, the arrangement isn't always going to be

able to compensate the further into the track that you go. But, like, the other thing is that I'm kind of surprised. and this is in it, if the song's favour, I'm surprised at the lack of songs we've covered about this exact situation, which you can find yourself in, even if you are careful, you know, sometimes, you know, the heart sometimes just wants what it wants

and sometimes your head has to be the thing that stands in the way. Like, I was in this situation when I was 15. You know, Christmas 2009, I was in a pretty miserable and possessive relationship, a bit too scared to leave it. I can feel myself falling for one of my best friends who is showing me the opposite of everything I'm sad about. There's this chemistry between us.

It very nearly like, you know, goes from like holding hands into something more, but then I have the opportunity to seize the moment and end this terrible relationship I'm in and move on. I back down as soon as that thought actually hits my mind and stays concrete. Phone my dad to come and pick me up and I just waited outside in the snow until he turned up

and just left the house. And I stayed in that possessive relationship for 18 months. Some of the times were good after that, not many. Is this a happy story? I'm not 100% sure. Well, to be honest, I mean, it's all, you know, it's all turned out okay. Like, you know, I'm married and like, I love my wife. We've been together for like a decade and stuff.

You know, it's like everything's turned out. It's just started with the kind of like, yeah, I did the right thing. My mom ain't it? I was fucking miserable. Well, to be honest, yeah, I did do the right thing. But, like, I think when I went home that night, what I should have done, was have a very honest conversation with a certain someone who was making me a bit sad. And then, but I didn't even do that.

I just kind of tried to pretend I'd not even had the thought. Well, you were 15. It's kind of understandable. You're not that articulate and you're not that assertive. I don't think anybody in the world is. No, exactly. But it was, I don't know, it was kind of nice to hear a song about this because I'm trying to think of like songs, there were songs about cheating and there were songs about people

who've done the cheating, who have been cheated on. But there were rarely songs about songs where it's like, well, it's not like I want to cheat, but it's like I do want something different in my life. And I think you might be it. But also, I am still in love with someone who I do have issues with and I'm maybe going to try and make it work with them,

but oh, I don't know what to do. Songs are usually more declarative than that, if you know what I mean. They're normally a bit more, like you were saying it, a bit more assertive, a bit more let's decide what to do, whereas this one's just uncertain about what the next step is.

And you're sort of left on a little bit of a cliffhanger, not a massive one, because I don't think it's like, this isn't dramatic in the way that, like, Survivor is by Destiny's Child. You know, this is quite intimate and studio-feely, whereas, like, I said when we covered Survivor, it's, like, you've walked in halfway through an Indian soap opera. Like, whereas with this, it's, he's trying to play it cool.

and I appreciate that. I think, yeah, a bit static, maybe wanted to do a bit more. I was down in London last week for a work thing and I had about an hour to kill before my train and I was just kind of walking around

Kings Cross St. Pankwas Station and I was listening to the playlist for this year that I've put together with all the number ones. And when this came on, I was like, oh, hey, hey, now that, that's, you could have talked,

this could have been 2003. This could have been 2003 and I would not have known the difference. I think he needed those six years in between this and yeah, to kind of bridge the gap a little bit. But yeah, this is a good effort from Usher. It's nice to see him. All right. The fourth song and the final song up this week is this.

All right, this is right. You fall in love for the first time. Heart beat and kisses so sweet. Somatime love in the moonlight. All right, this is Dr. Jones by. Aqua. Released as the fourth single from the group's third studio album titled Aquarium, Dr. Jones is Aqua's second single to be released in the UK and their second to reach number one, and it's still not the last time we'll be coming to Aqua during our 90s coverage.

Dr. Jones went straight in at number one as a brand new entry and stayed at number one for two weeks. In its first week atop the charts, it sold 102,000 copies beating competition, from Getting Jiggy with it by Will Smith and Crazy Little Party Girl by Aaron Carter and in week two it sold 117,000 copies beating competition from All I Have to Give by Backstreet Boys and Cleopatra's theme by Cleopatra. When it was knocked off the top of the charts

Dr Jones dropped one place to number two by the time it was done on the charts had a bit inside the top 100 for 18 weeks The song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK As of 2026 Andy Aqua First of all, of course they called their album Aquarium I just, yeah, could have guessed that

I love that late 90s thing of calling your album basically just the name of the group but slightly different I love that. Obviously Spice and the Spice World by the Spice Girls but like, Steptacular by Steps and the A-Lens.

by A1. And the S Club albums, S by S Club and Club. No, it says S Club by S Club and 7 by S Club. Yeah. Yeah, I enjoy that. But with this, right,

I'll tell you this for starters. What do you reckon my childhood doctor's name was? Oh. S Club 7? No. Williamson. He was Dr. Jones. Yeah, my doctor was Dr. Jones.

And then he got replaced. Because Dr. Jones was like, I remember, I used to be the kid. used to give me a lollipop. And when I was about 10, I had a real struggle going to the doctor because I found the doctor's name so funny because Dr. Jones left and my doctor became Dr. Wigglesworth.

And what a fantastic name that is. Wigglesworth. Wigglesworth. Yeah. Anyway, this, I think at the time, after Barbie Girl came out, you probably, I mean, I certainly would have bet anything,

bet the house that they would be a one-hit wonder. Barbie girl has all the makings of being one of the biggest one-hit wonders ever because it's novelty. It's about a very specific niche topic that you can't recapture in any other song. It's balls to the wall cheesy, and it has a shtick to it. Like, it has all the makings of a one-hit wonder,

and it's really nice that they weren't, and they have another decent song here, another really nice pop song here. It's no Barbie girl, but it's very little, is. Like, it's a really hard act to follow. But I do remember at the time, actually, that this was, like, equally as big as Barbie girl. Like, Barbie Girl has definitely taken on a life of its own in the 30 years since.

But this was really big at the time. This was one of the first songs I ever learned to play on an instrument, bizarrely, because my dad had a music of 1998 songbook because my dad plays the guitar. And he taught me to play a little, a few little chords on the guitar to Dr. Jones. Yeah. I think one of the things I love to have barbie girl was that it goes for hooks all the time

like that song is it just entirely hooks and with this I feel like they're trying to do it again and it doesn't quite work as well like I feel like their tricks are a little bit too obvious like they're I need I you and the BB I am missing you like it just seems like they're trying to wheel

things out a little too obviously in this and I don't think it has the staying power of Barbie Girl. But I think this is really nice. When I think of the late 90s, I think of this sort of thing. Like this sound,

you know, this really like hyperpop, extremely high-pitched voice, you know, really cheesy bubble-cump pop. This is what the late 90s is to me. You know, this,

the Venga boys, much a mango mabo sway, you know. Like this sort of thing is like, that's the sound of like summers in Blackpool in the late 90s to me.

So I'm really, really fond of this sort of thing. And I think AQAQ don't really get the credit they deserve for being real taste makers at the time, to be honest. Fallen so far out of fashion now.

But I really quite like this. Nowhere near as much as Barbie Girl, but I've got quite a lot of time for this. And it was really nice to revisit. It was a big nostalgia hit for me this one. Ed, how about you with Dr. Jones? Oh, I've got one, two, three, four, five, six, eight words. Eight words. Oh, Barbie Girl, but slightly lesser.

Only slightly, though. Rob. Yep, that's. pretty much me, but TLDR. I thought the eight words were going to be Dr. Jones, Dr. Jones, call me Dr. Jones. This song makes me think, just in terms of, like, if it were done in a 2026 context,

is that something like this would be dripping in irony and postmodern winking if it was released today, where the group doing it would probably be all like, well, we're doing it, yeah, but come on, you know, we're not really doing it. We don't really do this stuff. It's a joke, it's a pastiche, we're commenting on something,

which means it's quite nice to go back to this era and experience this in its 99% earnest form. There's a little wink here and there, but I think on the whole, Aqua gleefully adopt what they're doing here and lean into it with full force. They're sort of taking the early 90s dance sound and making it as pink and sugary as they can, sort of in the way that three of a kind would do to UK Garage in about six years after this. Although Aqua have kind of already done that with Barbie girls, so they go one better than three of a kind and actually have a follow-up number one. they're the sort of act, I agree, Andy, that should be either a one-hit wonder or a bit like Hansen or Wigfield, where they break out of the gate with a massive single that they never quite match again in terms of performance, but they get a few top tens, you know, that sort of thing.

But here they are, matching Barbie in terms of the achievement. But for me, in terms of the song falling a few degrees short, the same but less is never going to be a bad thing for me, but I can't get away from it really. It's joyful and delightfully artificial. They've embraced the camp and are now attempting to stick the camp to Indiana Jones, which is definitely the logical next step after Barbie. I wonder if this song colored the perception of Barbie in later years.

Because any kind of sinister underlying aspect of Barbie, whatever there might be, definitely nothing here. Like, it's still doing the traditional male and female stereotypes sort of thing, but it seems more at ease with them when it's just Indiana Jones and a damsel in distress, which means it's a bit more face value, a bit more surface level, maybe not as devilish in the hooks department, maybe a bit fluffier and a bit less resolute.

It's got the, you be a, you way, you, and the title of the song is said a lot in the chorus. But I don't know, I feel like in another world, maybe in an, like, earlier in the decade,

this would fall short of the number one. And like, Oasis is still at number one or like never ever is still at number one for like four or five weeks instead of this. But this was the longest stayer. of this episode. So I don't know. As much as it's really cheap and tacky in retrospect, this was the zeitgeist, this kind of sounds.

It was what was growing. Yeah, yeah, it was big at the time. I just, I think, yeah, like you were saying, Andy, Barbie Girl has lasted, Dr. Jones. I feel like Barbie is something you remember. Dr. Jones is something you have to Google, if you know what I mean. I feel like that's the kind of where the line is crossed.

And with their next one, I think you have to actually go on their Wikipedia page to find but think about turn back time. Oh, no, I know that. Yeah, and cartoon heroes as well. I think I'm a bit more well read with that word than you are. So, before we go, Andy, All Saints, Oasis, Usher, Aqua, all the stars are here. What do you make of them?

Ariaga, Ariaga, too. I was just thinking about to find out who's the greatest singer of all time, Usher or Aqua. I was actually also thinking of the Norm MacDonald bit at the YouTube comedy the YouTube comedy awards or whatever the fuck it is that they're getting to present. All the stars are here. I'm going to steal the pun that surely someone would have had

for never ever, which is I'm going to take them out of that pie hole. They're not going in there. They're staying right in the middle. All around the world, well, it's gone all around the world. It's flown over continents. It's seen the seven, and it's got boom right to the very pits of the pie hole.

Yes. You make me want to leave you where you are, Usher, and that's what I'm going to do. And as for Dr. Jones, Dr. Jones, call him Doctor, right here. Stay here now. Stay here now. Ed. Never ever, all around the world, you make me want to and Dr. Jones. On feel and groove alone, all saying,

just slither into the vault. This felt refreshing to me in 1998, and it still charms me today, it turns out. For Oasis, here's a repriezing fellow. They're reprising him off the bottom of my shoe. What a hollow, meagre caricature of triumph. I've been trying to force this into the pie hole with all my might,

but it takes up too much room. So I'm actually going to take out a song I've previously pyehold just to make room for around the world. So, well done, Michael Jackson. Blood on the dance floor may also be a shallow rehash of older successes, but at least it's fucking short.

Usher, not quite a vaulting as I feel there are more interesting takes on this sound to come, but I do like it. I like it rather a lot. lot. Aqua, decent, ample, better than one might expect from a follow-up, but more Temple of Doom than the Last Crusade. It's going nowhere, really. By that do you mean better? I'm just going to leave it on that hot take. There's always one. There's always one, isn't there?

Look, hey, hey, basically, until they reach India, that opening section of Temple of Doom is the most fun in the whole fucking franchise as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately that's quite early in the movie. Yes, then they get to India. Yeah, that opening is killer though, but anyway. I mean, neither are as good as crystal skull,

so we'll just leave it out. You're just being a spicy Susan now. Well, I'll tell you what, I tell you what, because I'm not putting the songs anywhere, they're not being pie-hole, they're not being vaulted, I'm going to rank the Indiana Jones films. Okay.

So the best one is Raiders. Everybody knows that. Raiders is fucking great. Next up, Last Crusade. That's the second best one. Entar. Fathers Day movie of all time. Third is that Dial of Doom or Destiny or whatever the fifth one was. I never saw it. It was decent. It was all right. I thought it was decent. A fun action film, Harrison Ford being reluctantly dragged through a two-hour film by Phoebe Waller Bridge. and they nearly go for a nice bold ending

that would cap off the whole thing and then they backtrack fourth place Kingdom of the Crystal Skull I don't give a shit that I don't give a shit that he gets in a fridge and survives a nuclear attack

I don't care than Temple of Doom I think Temple of Doom once they get to India I think it is one of the most outrageously racist and sexist films I've ever seen in my life that woman that woman in the film

all she does in that film is complain about broken nails and literally anybody that's not white all they do is chant incantations and try to eat people's hearts come him all I find it outrageous I think the first 10 or 15 minutes

are a good laugh I think short round is fine I like the fact that the last 15 minutes kind of turns into a fucking theme part ride but oh no oh no no no no no, I find it pretty abhorrent, but I will stand by the dial of destiny. It's not too bad. I think

it's all right. It's just that no fucker saw it, though. I didn't honestly think Crystal Skull was that bad. I think Temple of Doom is more memorable and entertaining, but yes, it's, it's, I, it's not even beyond that, even when I was younger, Temple of Doom. Just the real tone switch up and how it became incredibly dark and he was getting possessed by that bloodshed and I was like it just felt wrong. It felt

odd to me in a way that the other two didn't. The one thing that I will say is that my ranking enshrines I think in concrete in my heart that Indiana Jones films work best when he's punching Nazis in the face. If he's not punching Nazis I'm

probably not going to enjoy it as much because Raiders, last crusade, dial the destiny, it's all Nazis, he's fighting Nazis, we want him to fight Nazis. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it's Russians, it's a bit murkier, it's less good versus evil, it's not as convincing, and the group of people in that temple, in Temple of Doom, well, they're not Nazis when it comes to being good villains, are they? I think it's just a motto to live life by Punch Nazis in the face. Yes, a fantastic motto.

We'll be back next time to continue our journey through 1998, and we will see you for it. Bye-bye now. Bye-bye.