Hits 21 - 1999 (6): Vengaboys, ATB, Ricky Martin, Ronan Keating, Westlife

Episode Date: June 4, 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 and welcome back to Hitch 21, the 90s, where me, Rob, me, and me, are looking back at every single UK number one of the 1990s. Email us at Hitz21 Podcast at gmail.com if you want to get in touch with us. Thank you for joining us again. We are currently looking back at the year 1999 and this week we'll be covering the period between the 20th of June and the 22nd of August, which, judging by the five songs we are covering the, this week was a permanent summer that never ever ended. Andy, the UK album charts, how are they doing at this point? So, just a few to talk to you about this week. We've got by request by Boise Ode hanging around at the top of the charts, but like an unwanted TED that just won't flush, which went number one for two weeks and went six times platinum. Then that's

knocked off the top by Synchronised by Jim Iroquai, which went number one for one week, went single platinum. and the Chemical Brothers followed that with Surrender, which went number one for just one week, and went single platinum, before it's toppled by an absolute monolith, which went number one for seven weeks, and saw us through the rest of that endless summer. Just an extraordinary run on the chart,

from what we'll all agree, is the album we've all been waiting for. It's by request by boys, I went back in for another seven weeks at the top. I know, that's ridiculous, and really, there's not a lot of it. nothing more to be said about that. I say at best when I say no more.

In the news, IRA member Patrick McGee is released from prison under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. McGee had been serving a life sentence for the Brighton Hotel bombing in 1984, which killed five people. In Scotland, the Queen

opened Scottish Parliament, as dissolved powers are officially transferred. In sports and entertainment news, the Millennium Dome and the Millennium Stadium in London and Cardiff are both open to the public. Meanwhile, Manchester United announced that they will withdraw from next season's F.A. Cup competition following their invitation to the Club World Cup in Brazil. In America, John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Carolyn are killed in a plane crash in Massachusetts, and three people are killed as the Woodstock

99 festival descends into chaos. Temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius are recorded as dwindling water supplies and poor sanitation are followed by rioting vandalism and physical violence. And in TV news, it's revealed that Gary Linneker will become the new face of football on the BBC following the departure of Des Linem. The films to hit the top of the UK box office were as follows, The Mummy, Star Wars Episode 1, The Phantom Menace, Austin Powers, the Spy Who Shagged Me, and Wild Wild West. Wow, that's three very memorable films from that era and that last one. Ed, the US charts.

I think World War West is the only one of those I actually saw at the cinema. You didn't see Phantom Menace at the cinema. I saw it five times. Oh, of course. Oh, no, I did. It's the trade one. The trade negotiations won. Yeah, how could I forget?

The Calactic Republic, the taxation of traders throughout laying stars. I know that whole crawl off by heart, despite it being the most boring one. I've never felt as distant from you generationally. It just zoomed straight over my head. We're not different generations. No, no, but there's a lot in those few years, I tell you. Right, from the start of June to the start of September, only two albums battle it out for the US number one spot.

Backstreet Boys have 10 non-consecutive weeks on top with Millennium, broken up by four non-consecutive weeks of nooky advocating cultural whipping boys limp biscuit with significant other talking about the woodstock fiasco we wouldn't actually really get them over here in any major way until they were chocolate starfish absolutely and totally that's not fair they did some singles that i like let's let's let's not lie here singles wise jenny finally concludes her block booking in mid-july and let's destiny's child take the room. But alas, they can't pay the bills,

can't pay the telephone bills, can't pay the auto bills for any longer than a single week. Then someone asks Will Smith, if he is to the 90s what Stevie Wonder was to the 70s, he responds with, I wish.

That's a single week of rough riding steam-powered money laundry from the Wild Wild Wild West soundtrack. That's just, That's really, that's a properly exquisite joke that works on many levels. Well done, Ed. You're in the vault this week. Thank you.

Thank you very much. So, speaking of Kenneth Brunner in a wheelchair, we've already had Jailo. Now it's time for Christina Aguilera, who spends the whole of August on top before bottling it. Okay, that wasn't my best transition. But it's very warm today. It's been very warm. Very, very, very poor, is it? All right, thank you both very much.

We are going to move on to the first of, as I said, five songs this week. Never say we shortchanged you. And the first of those is this. Okay, this is Boom Boom Boom, Boom, Boom by Vengar Boys. Released as the third single from their second studio album titled The Party album, Boom Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom. is Venger Boys' third single to chart in the UK and their first to reach number one, and it's not the last time we'll be coming to Venger Boys during our 90s coverage.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, went straight in at number one as a brand new entry. It stayed at number one for one week. In its first week atop the charts, it sold 134,000 copies, beating competition from Sometimes by Britney Spears. I breathe again by Adam Rickett and tearing up my heart by NSYNC. After one week at the top, boom, boom, boom, boom, fell two places to number three. It stayed inside the top 104, 17 weeks. The single is currently officially certified two times platinum.

In the UK, as of 2026, glad I don't have to say that song title again. Ed, this one, how do we feel? I don't know if folks would agree with me, but it's, It's not quite we like to party. I don't know. Is this the one that seems to have displaced that in people's hearts? Certainly. Really?

Are you more boom, boom, boomers? Okay. I actually agree with you. I'll come to that, but I do think this is the one for the Venga Boys that has been decided as their big song. Yeah. But it's just lacking the idiot poetry of the concept of the Venga Bus that's coming

and everybody jumping. New York to San Francisco. evidently only America even though they are from Europe but never mind yeah boom boom boom boom that said I do like this it's hard not to like it

it's really upbeat it knows what it is it's fun Euro pop unpretentious stuff it's got that fun kind of tooth jangling ebitha glong tone in it that was in all the poppits of the time it doesn't really do anything after about the first minute and a half.

I mean, you know, it's a bit of fun. It's a bit of dance floor stuff. It's not a bloody headphone listening. But at the same time, there is no dynamic variation whatsoever, which is a little problematic. But it's not a tremendously long song. Also, one thing I did notice was, for a song with so few ingredients, one of them, as you have probably picked up,

is clearly stolen from Abba. Yes. Did you not notice the fact that the verse melody is basically the verse melody to lay all your love on me? It's like, all right, okay. This is a time of sudden and very transparent Abba love, but even steps weren't that sort of direct. But anyway,

I, it's hard not to enjoy this. It's hard not to feel a little bit buoyed when it comes on. It is so perky. It is so chirpally guilelessly what it is. But I just wish it did a little bit more. Then I would just give it that extra nudge. And also, yeah, I wish it was we like to party. But that's just me.

I had honestly forgotten how many acts were ushered into the charts by Aqua's success, you know, almost as many as the Spice Girls because you have cartoons you get fast food rockers a little bit after this steps to a degree in that kind of regard steps are a bit classier but only a little bit classier and the 18s and it's funny you mention Abba Ed

because their first album was called the Abba Generation and the whole album was just Abba covers that was it yeah they would just like be on again for kids basically and of course Venger Boys who manage seven top 10 hits between 98 and 2000, and 99's the big peak. You get the enduring popularity if we like to party, you know,

Vengabus stuff, this song, you also get we're going to Ibiza later this year, Uncle John from Jamaica, you know, they go from playing clubs in the Netherlands to having number one hits all around Europe in the space of about 18 months. And like, they're the kind of group who you'd expect to have one hit and then a load of rubbish imitator songs that go nowhere. But to be fair to them, they had at least three very memorable, very well constructed very knowingly executed hits that lean on that line between sincerity and self-parody, you know, I think there was awareness by now with these groups that if the Spice Girls

could only last three years before one of them left and it all kind of came to an end, that they wouldn't last much longer either. So they threw all their silly ideas at the wall. And for the Venger Boys, three of them managed to stick. And there is the sort of sickly kids disco charm to all this. You know, that synth hook that they know will sound like the bees' knees. to 10-year-olds, but like the third circle of hell to anyone over 14, the kind of cheeky, playful innuendo where everything is very, very heavily implied,

but never explicitly stated. The fact that it gives up on verses after the first go-round and just keeps repeating the main sections with enough variation to keep them a bit fresh, it's hard to really deny any of this. I don't think it was written with the intention of it lasting as long as it has, but sometimes brainless fun, it just lands and it stays, jaws and this is the kind like this is kind of what this has done i can see people being irritated by this and i wouldn't entirely disagree with them the late 90s are as i keep saying to the point

where i think i need to keep putting 50p in a jar each time i do this is all a very frothy era and if you were opposed to the frothy nature of the charts at this point i imagine you were having a terrible time but i don't think this is too bad at all i think it comes in with a smile in its face makes the symbol with its hands where your right index finger is going into a hole created by your left thumb and left index finger and like going in and out again and then leaves and yeah okay okay fine that sounds like a seven out of ten pop experience to me Andy finger boys yeah I mean another example really of um just the endless party atmosphere that I think of when I think of 1999 it just felt like it was just such a fun time

the late 90s and especially 1999. Not every song this week follows that theme, I'll say that but this one certainly does. Yeah, I do really like this. I think it's very economical and does very straightforward things very well so it's like, yeah, I can't really argue with that.

That's a sort of precise precision assault on the charts really. I agree with Ed that we like to party, I think should be the one that is more well remembered. And at the time I think it was, I think I mean, it's hard to say contemporary because nothing's like remembered when it's contemporary.

But I do think that was the one that was sort of more in the zeitgeist at the time. But this one has really stuck around. I think there's a little bit of unavoidable dating to, we like to party because it plays so heavily on introducing the Venga Boys and announces their name, you know, a million times like, you know, the Venga Bus is coming. And just like sort of doing a brand and exercise. It's like their S-club party or their hey-ha with the monkeys, you know, whereas this one, It does have that annoying bit.

The only bit the song that I think is not economical and is really unnecessary, that branding exercise of, Venger boys are back in town, just to remind you who you're listening to, and this is our second single. Listen to this. You know,

I think that's unnecessary, but this one is more timeless, both in the sense that it's not like a sort of 1999 artifact in the way that we elected parties, but also I think it's definitely more interested in terms of its sound. It's more kind of got, one ear on the way things are going.

It's quite a lot here that reminds me of the sort of clubbland scene of the early Nauties. Stuff like, especially Scooter and like DJ Sammy and things like that. Especially in that I could totally hear that coming out of the logical song or something like that

by Scooter. So I think this had a little bit more longevity because of that and at some point that became exponential and now it's just like it's their big hit. I can sort of see why it's really sing along. really, really easy to get into. It's got a great, great thumping beat behind it.

And it has some really nice moments where it follows the beat and has this really bouncy effect that, this is what I want to do. That's just a really nice sort of, like, um, but, like,

comedy music, but it just straddles that line, like Rob says, between sincerity and taking the mic, basically. So, yeah, I can see why it's so popular.

And I think it's, it's, there's nothing complex about this. And I don't, don't like it more than we like to party, but I do really have quite a soft spot for this. My main memory of the Venger Boys is with my mum, with the way she was with me at this time, because, I mean, I should say I don't consider this an act of cruelty by any sort of stretch of the imagination. It taught me a lesson really that I think you should take the piss out of your kids a bit,

keep them grounded, you know, sort of, you know, teach your kids to take a joke, and my mum did that with me. I don't know if I told this story before where she, convinced me that one of my friends' mum's was in the Venga Boys because she looked a bit like her and I really truly believed it and she carries it on for a ridiculous amount of time like months which to a kid is like a lifetime

that she carried it on for and when she finally pulled the rug from the room and she's not in the Vengar Boys I felt like I'd been slapped in the face and it was really funny but it was yeah it was perhaps needlessly extended so the Venga Boys are a bit of a standard joke in my family because of that

But yeah, this is really nice. I think in some ways it reminds me of my dog, Richie, because it's definitely very loud and announces itself every time that it's in the room. But it's fun. It's really cute, and I love it. Oh, and it licks the insides of your ears. All right then, so the second song up this week is this. Till I come. Okay, this is 9pm in brackets, Till I Come.

by ATB. Released as the lead single from his debut studio album titled Move In Melodies, 9pm is ATB's first single to chart in the UK and his first to reach number one. However, as of 2026, it is his last. 9pm first entered the UK charts at number 68, reaching number one during its 13th week. It stayed at number one for two weeks. In its first week atop the charts,

It sold 270,000 copies beating competition from My Love is Your Love by Whitney Houston, if you had my love by Jennifer Lopez, and be the first to believe, by A1. And in week two, it sold 108,000 copies beating competition from Wild Wild West by Will Smith, and Viva Radio by Lolly. After two weeks at the top, 9 p.m. dropped one place to number two. It stayed inside the top 100 for 30 weeks. the single is currently officially certified two times platinum in the UK. As of 2026, I love how the first song this week, it was all a bit like playful and, you know, a bit like, ooh, it's about sex, but oh, it can't be.

And then with this one, it's just like, till I come. Andy, ATB. The first thing I want to mention with this is because I don't know if this is something that was just unique to me or whether this was more of a common thing at the time. I'm interested whether you remember this rock because you're a couple of years younger than me, but I remember this being out, and it was a contemporary of Better Off a Lowe by Alice DJ that was out around the same time,

and they're in very similar sound worlds. They're not exactly the same, and Better Off a lot is better than this, but they're very, very similar. They're going to the exact same market. They sound like they've been made by the same people. And to a six-year-old's brain, that's like it's very hard when things are very similar like that but not the same and they come from two different artists and

I remember that both this and better off alone were on would have been now 43 I think and because they sounded so similar they both had female vocalists and they both began with an A I remember that I just decided that Alice DJ and ATB were just the same artist that she just renamed herself from Alice DJ and I just had canonised that in my head and I don't know why I did that, why I just decided, well, I'm confused which is which, so they're the same, there's only one. Such is the way the brain works when you're a kid. And Alice DJ, that's stuck around more than this. I think that's still fairly, I wouldn't say it's beloved, but people are still fairly fond of it, that most people would know that when it comes on, whereas this has kind of

fallen by the wayside, and my memory at the time is that these two were sort of equally prominent in the charts that they were getting a lot of their play, that they were very kind of similar songs that were both kind of patting each other on the back. But this one sort of disappeared over the years. I see why, though, because there isn't a whole lot to this. I think it's really nicely produced, and I do it like that. That really nice little bendy noise that they have in that. That's a technical term, bendy noise.

But there's not a whole lot to it. It's very nicely produced, and it certainly doesn't offend the ears at all. But it's definitely style of a substance. And, of course, the thing that was completely lost. on me as a kid and this time around I was like ah right was the whole till I come thing and it's I'm not going to call it an innuendo because it's not an innuendo because funny thing about the word about the word come is that to the listener whether it's spelled C-O-M or C-U-M the listener can't hear that so you're just saying come and it's funny I was talking to Ed about this last

week about the James Bond films about how two of the most winceworthy moments in the Bond films both fall into that trap where Lulu in her song for the man with the golden gun says love is required whenever he's hired he comes just before the kill which is like there's no innuendo there you've just said he comes it's like you're talking about Christopher Lee's actual spunk that's not sexy and then there's also the infamous you know when he sleeps with Christmas Jones and says well I thought Christmas only came once a year oh it's also the I mean I don't think it's in the actual but obviously with Alan Partridge doing his James Bond thing,

I've got to go, love, sorry, something's come up. He means his cock! Yeah. And it's just, you know, it's, it steps over the line, really, where it's like you're not doing a du blanc on and you're not doing innuendo. You're just, like, you're just saying sex words. And that's what this is. It's just a woman saying over and over again, like, come.

It just makes me feel a bit gross. And certainly, you know, it's not lost on me that I'm a homosexual, so a woman just constantly talking about till I come in my ear is not something that appeals to me but I just think it's all a bit naff and a bit crass and a little bit No Sex Please, we're British, kind of makes me feel

that way and yeah so I don't know it sort of unlocks the inner prude in me but yeah that bit I don't like but I do think it's a really nice sound to it it's just sort of like not a whole lot going on in this to be honest and when I compare this against better off alone

it sort of reminds me of my dog Richie and the way he treats his water when he won't drink it unless I fill it up with cold water where it's like, you know, I see what I want slightly better than the other Richie, but these two are basically the same. So let's move on. Head, 9pm.

I think history bears that out. I would be willing to say that Alice DJ's track was probably slightly better. Oh yeah. Van this. A little bit. Not that this is bad, but did you know that?

actually, speaking of all this chat about the initials ATB, or the acronym ATB, perhaps, there was like a tabloid rumour that it might be a celebrity in disguise and it was actually rumoured that it was Alan Titchmarsh's brother. But it's got the same

lack of variation problem as Venga Boys. It's all over fairly quickly. But this doesn't have the character or sense of fun. It's just a little bit mopey and it just sounds, it's got that vibe of like the, the in-house tracks

in the early wipeout games. You know, the ones that, they weren't by left field, they weren't by the chemical brothers, they were by, like, acid chamber, which is just like the design's brother. Horizon's fine. Yeah, this

sounds kind of echoey and grimy. But, you know, it's very, you know, get your stellar on, get some red bull down you, you know, that kind of thing. But this is beyond that one hook, as I say, the nice memorable bendy. There's not much here because the problem is, and this is why Alastiche is quite patently better, actually. I revise my original statement, is that aside from the fact that she says come, the till I come thing, it's not a hook.

No. It's repeated over and over again, it's just something like, till I come. Ah, ooh, sexy, me. But I didn't know what come was, I don't think, at the time. I mean, I'd already seen Austin Powers, but I think the scene with the evacuation complete thing completely went over my head, if you'll excuse the bizarre image there. I'm just making conversation.

Aside from the bendy thing, there's not really much to say here. It's decent, if thoroughly unspectacular, late 90s kind of, moody, semi-propulsive semi-dance. That sounds really withering. It wasn't meant to, but that's basically it. Not to be like everyone's least favourite maths teacher about this, but like, you know, do what till you come? It's like, oh, you just put one, do you mean one apple? What do you mean what? Like, it's like, what's she saying? Do what till she comes? Like, put the chips in until I come?

That's a fair point. I don't think anyone's early, I don't think anyone's really probed that before. I do remember, though, that because I didn't know that use of the word come or that spelling of the word come yet, I did think she was saying too late to come. So 9pm, too late to come. And in my head, because of the mood of the song, I honestly had the image of a woman who was like missing the bus to get home. Like, it's too late to come. The Venka Bus is gone. It was coming and now it's gone. The boss...

Lisa, you're saying common awful one. Oh my God, you've psychologically destroyed that Simpson's bit. You've internetised it. Yeah. I honestly have no more to say than that. So I'll just do the... I'll do the bendy noise one more time. There you are.

That's fun. You start this song thinking, oh, very slick. Lovely sample. I remember this now. I can hear Groove Jet in the near future, almost. Surely something else happens in a bit, though, like maybe a different sample or a new bridge section or something different is going to happen.

Go on. Do something different. Go on. Oh, you're not going to do anything different. And just when you think he's already stretched the idea out too far, he then uses the same sample on his next single called Don't Stop, just chopped up and fiddled with a bit differently. This glazes over me a bit, to be honest.

I get that it's jet engine streamlined, and that's the point, but I find it hard to make contact with it. It runs that sample into the ground. There's virtually nothing new after the 90 second mark. But what it is, I happen to be fine with. It is a very memorable and effective sample. How many times have I said sample here? Just going to control...

You're saying... Yeah, I'm saying sample an awful lot. Just going to control F this. Six times. Apparently I said that word in that little segment, and that's that segment done. It's fine. Six out of ten for me, a real six out of ten experience. That's right.

You heard it here first. 9pm is worse than the Venga Boys, and I stand by that. I think that's fine. I think that's a pretty uncontroversial take, to be honest. It sounds weird when you say it, but you're just saying what we're all thinking. I do. And I'm not afraid. The third song up this week.

is this. the lead single from his fifth studio album, but his first English language album titled Ricky Martin, Living Lovida Loca is Ricky Martin's third single to chart in the UK and his first to reach number one. However, as of 2026, it is his last. Living Lovida Loka went straight in at number one as a brand new entry. It stayed at number one for three weeks. In its first week atop the charts it sold 131,000 copies in a week where there were no new entries in the top 10. In week two, it sold 125,000 copies, beating competition from Love's Got a Hold of My Heart by Steps, Bills, Bills, by Destiny's Child, and Synth and Strings by Yamanda.

And in week three, it sold 97,000 copies, beating competition from If You're Getting Down by Five, better off alone by Alice DJ and Love Struck by Madness. After three weeks at the top, Living Lovida Loka dropped one place to number two. It stayed inside the top 104, 19 weeks. The single is currently officially certified three times platinum in the UK. As of 2026, Ed, Ricky Martin. Well, it's never too late to come in Ricky's sexy cook game.

he's got going on here. We're British, no sex, please. Do you know what? At the time, you know, he basically got the message and it seemed very like, oh, you know, do a sort of, you know,

race-coded spicy salsa girl with some sampled trumpets in and the good times begin. But we all enjoyed it. And I still enjoy it. And his delivery has got a lot of punch to it. And I do like the fact that it's been, it's been double-tracked.

So the main voice is that deep kind of thing like that. But there's a higher octave that's like the clean melody thing. It creates really quite an appealing, appealing sound to it. It's punchy. It wasn't a sound that was that common in the charts at the time. So it felt fresh. It's catchy. And it's almost, it's adjacent to one of those, you know, what a bit.

my ex-wife is and I kept going back to her kind of songs that artists seem to love doing in like the 70s and 80s. But here there's an element of sort of the complicit and it's like a celebration of this sort of mildly kinky back and forth they've got going. You know, it's like it does fall in some of the conventions of the devious she devil, but he's loving it. He wants to, he wants to, he wants to smell that boot. He wants to drink the sweat out of their shoe. Oh yeah, I've got something else to say about the song here. I did only notice today because one of my only major complaints about this track is actually

that, again, it doesn't quite need to be as long as it does, because it doesn't actually vary up even the peaks and troughs enough to warrant its length. He does put some seeming improvisations in at the end, including a little. little musical gesture to where In Agarda Davida, did you catch that? And I'm like, okay, okay, I like that. That's a weird little, weird little joke to pop right at the end of the song, but I appreciate that. And it kind of captures the spirit of the song. Yeah, it's completely manufactured, but it is fun. It knows it's fun. It knows it's cheeky, and it never quite oversteps the line into anything that's particularly sexist or anything, in my view,

not that I'm necessarily the best judge. It's just fun, this, isn't it really? That's about all I've got to say, but that's no demerit to the song. Yeah, I actually completely agree with where you are on this. Similarly to the Venger Boys, sometimes, in this particularly summary and frothy and very kind of front-loaded camp era of pop, sometimes a song comes along, and it leans full bore into all three of those things, constructs a really solid idea, and then executes it really professionally.

and even though it doesn't really fit your taste profile, you do just kind of have to sit in admiration almost. You know, Ricky Martin's not the strongest vocalist in the world, but Ed, listen close. The way they've double and triple-tracked his vocals makes it feel warm and sweaty and appropriately loker. It tells... I concur.

Yeah, it does. It tells a fun story about meeting an intense and fiery woman who will be in your life for a very short while, but will endure in your memory for as long as you live. it traverses the North and South American continents, both lyrically and stylistically. There's elements in here of Cuban salsa, California surf, Mexican mariachi. The lyrics mention French champagne and then go to New York. You know, I don't know why, but as I was kind of typing my notes about this,

it reminded me of like those old, grizzled, like, army or navy guys in Hollywood films of the 70s and 80s who are recounting their experiences of the Second World War. and they're like, well, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, I signed up to the military, I waited around for a while, got the call, and then we got shipped down to Cuba in 43. We saw some action, but we wasn't fighting all the time. We was mostly just drinking Roma cola in the sunshine, watching the waves on the beach, watching the girls walk by. And one girl, that one girl, I've forgotten a lot in my old age, but I'll never forget that girl.

Maria, she was just passing through, she told me. But that love affair lasted two weeks. And before she moved on, she gave me an address. I wrote to her for years, but she never replied. And sometimes when I'm back in New York and I'm staring at the Atlantic from Battery Park and I see the waves crashing, I still think of her. Maria. But it imbues all of that with, like, reminiscing and nostalgia.

And, like, with really intense and hot imagery. Living the crazy life, bullets through brains, voodoo dolls, candles, fire, drugs, money, even coffee. You can feel the temperature of this and it rises through most of it where it, you know, like it just, when it reaches a bit of a fever pitch, you know, it's like, yeah, a bit hot under the collar there, Ricky. I can see what you're going on about. Where it falls short of the vault for me is just in its length. I wish it was a bit faster to get in and out. It does that late 90s thing of just copying and pasting the chorus one too many times. And I wish at the end of the bridge, when it goes back into the pre-chorus,

and you get that run, don't you? She'll make you live a crazy life, but she'll take away your pain like a bullet through your brain. Come on. Come on. Come on. And when it goes back into the final chorus, it's like, yeah, that's great. But I wish so much that it added another measure on just to emphasize that it's the final chorus. Just something like, you know, she'll make you live a crazy life, but she'll take away your pain,

like a bullet through your brain. shall make you go insane upside you know just something like that but this probably comes about as a result of Ricky I don't think he has the strongest voice in the world

he has a lot of character and punch but not a lot of power and I think he suits the material but I wish he had a bit more you know I just kind of wish that somebody like Chris Cornell had done this where like if he'd sold out like seven years earlier

and had not done that scream album with Timberland if he'd done something similar, but in the late 90s, he may have ended up doing this, and he would have really gone for it on that final punch, just like, he made you go inside, you know, something like that.

But we don't get it. But that's all really. I think this is a great dose of fun, and much like the Venga boys, just a very competently and steadily handled hit. Yeah, another good seven out of ten experience for me. Andy, got to go to go be. But yeah, yeah, Ricky Martin.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's Liv and Lovina Loka. I'm not really sure what I'm expected to say. It's one of those songs is just like, yeah, sort of like rating the YMCA or something. Or Mambo number five, like if we were asked to review that at some point. It's like, it's just like, you know, rating a kids party classic, really.

And I think that's where this is kind of landed now, that it's like, it's a throwback. It's something that you just, you know, indulgent in spite of its cheese, you know, that you sort of know that this is a bit serious. really, but you just have a bit of fun with it, and I think it's always got that slight nudge, nudge, wink, wink to the audience, that

like, this woman who he's talking about, there's so many features, that she must just look absolutely ridiculous, you know, with cake full of makeup, three drinks in her hands, like a trail of men behind her, just some sort

of pantomime dame, you know, it's sort of the opposite of sexy, the more he adds to her story, the more I'm like, this woman can't possibly exist. She can't She wouldn't be attractive at all. She's a mess. Just like, oh God, she waits for being hung over in the night and her mouth's all dry.

And she's like, ah, give me the rest of that champagne, will you? Oh, my mouth's still dry. I know, yeah, she's got quite the life that lady. But, I mean, I can really only say that this is just lightning in a bottle, that everything just comes together on this, really. That Ricky Martin is the right kind of, I don't think, I agree with Robin, in the sense that he's not got the strongest voice,

but do you think he's the right kind of character for this? the right kind of thing to do this, that he oozes charisma, he uses sex appeal, and also, you know, it's got that lovely mixture of instruments in it, that it's got that Latin feel, but it's also, you know, touching on so many different other things, that it's name-checking all those different places around the world, it has this international, cool, jet-setter feel, which gives it an odd sense of class that it doesn't actually have, I don't think, really. It's quite a tacky, silly song, but it feels quite classy,

because of the instrumentation and the lyrical content it's quite a good trick where they managed to have things both ways here and it's got a fantastic hook with that Living Lovina Loka and the way it sort of lands on the off-beats on the upside in the down don't get many choruses of a big pop song like this

that keep on sort of like doing this triplet across bars thing like that that's an unusual rhythmic thing to do and it really works and again gives it a sort of Latin feel because it's hitting in between the notes, it's got a syncopated rhythm. It's, yeah, it's nicely put together. I do think that it really could go further,

and, you know, it could do with some stronger vocals. And it's just got a general air of mild naffness around it, to be honest. But it's, you know, it's all right. I've not gotten that much more to add about it, to be honest. I remember I had this Disney CD that was very similar to the Smurfs Go Pop, actually. And there was a Disney CD that basically did the same thing. with Disney characters and there was a version of this called Live in Lovina Mickey.

It's just basically the song was Living Lovita Mickey. It's really lazy. It was no, you know, the smirfs are back now. It was nowhere near as good as that, unfortunately. But yeah, and I do also find it quite funny

that, you know, despite, not even take it into account that this woman obviously isn't real because she's such a ridiculous character, but I do find funny that not only is that, not real, but Ricky Martin doesn't like any women at all. So I think that was quite well known at the time, apparently.

That was always quite well known. So there's a sort of camp value to that as well. I didn't actually know that. Well, I didn't know that until he came out. But when he did, all the comments were like, well, yeah, duh. Same with Barry Manilow. I didn't know he was obviously gay. And everyone was like, well, yeah, duh.

I don't know anything about Barry Manolo. I didn't know Barry Manolo was gay either. Sorry to interrupt. He came about 10 years ago and he'd been with the same guy for like 50 years. Oh, fair do. But yeah, apparently that was just an open secret, so it's quite funny that he's got this song about this sexy lady. But anyway, yeah. In many ways, this song reminds me of my dog, Richie, funnily enough.

In that it's really so peppy and energetic and really particularly loved by kids and by mums. But goodness, he will wear me out. The woman that I sort of think of, or fictional character that I do sort of, of think of actually with regards to like the character that Ricky Martin's describing is kind of similar to um have either have you seen the color purple uh 1985 yeah i haven't shug avery the the the blues and jazz singer you know mr's mistress who turns up and is initially yeah kind of hostile but then she's the one that seeley and shug they kind of have sort of they end up having a sexual relationship actually that's kind of toned down in the film but not in the

books in the book. But yeah, that's kind of who reminds me of where, like, she's kind of constantly, she's kind of transient, you know, she's kind of like, she pops in, she stays for a week, she does some singing, him, her and Mr. have loads and loads of sex, and then she goes away again, and Mr, even though he's obviously married to Seeley, it's just kind of, it's just kind of like, well, she's my mistress, that's just how we do it, you know, like that sort of thing. And whenever she comes back, it's like, oh my God, Shug's coming, Shugs coming home, sort of thing. And it's all really exciting and the whole town knows about it. And then she goes away again.

And that's kind of how I imagine the woman in my head in this song these days for having seen it. But yeah, okay. So, number four, song number four this week is this. It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart. If I'd say, try as I may, I can do. Says you can. You'll say it best. Okay, this is When You Say Nothing at all by Ronan Keating.

Released as the lead single from the soundtrack album for the film Notting Hill and from his debut studio album titled Ronan. When You Say Nothing At All is Ronan Keating's first single to chart in the UK and his first to reach number one. It's not his last number one overall, but it is his last number one of the 90s. The single is a cover of the song, a written and recorded by Keith Whitley in 1988, which did not chart in the UK. When you say nothing at all went straight in at number one

as a brand new entry. It stayed a number one for two weeks. In its first week atop the charts, it sold 198,000 copies, beating competition from Straight from the Heart by Dulley. And in week two, it sold 100,000 copies, beating competition from a rendezvous by Basement Jacks, guilty conscience by Eminem and Dr. Dre,

feel good by fats and sports, all let forever be by the Chemical Brothers and why does it always rain on me by Travis. After two weeks at the top, when you say nothing at all fell three places to number four. It stayed inside the top 100 for 23 weeks. The single is currently officially certified two times platinum in the UK. As a 2026, Ed. I may have laid some subtle, subtle subcutaneous hints over the past few months that

I'm not the biggest boyzone fan. I mean, shocker, I know. Not a huge one for the Bozoin. And that's why I feel like I might have been indoctrinated

into some sort of cult between the release of that last Boisone number one and the beginning of Ronan's solo career. Because I remember listening to you talking about life is a roller coaster in the 2000s episodes. And recognizing that I was probably wrong,

but I do quite like that song. I'm not entirely sure why. I don't know why. Maybe it's its friendly, easy, strummy nature, I'm not sure. Unfortunately, I actually quite like this. I don't know. Maybe it's just that the shift in intended audience from

Bozoin, because I guess I'm now just like a childless dad with a number of banal hobbies or something that I like some sort of soft adult, adult contemporary sort of pop. Maybe it is because

it is a catchy song and it has a surprisingly dynamic arrangement that does mix things up a little bit. Maybe it's because it has that plankle bonckel bunkal bunkal that's what I've written here plankle bonckel step up bitch does which I think is

lovely yeah it's got that river dance shite on the step up in the keys they just can't seem to get away from it's like we do know he's Irish you don't have to do that you don't have to do it and yeah the coda is lazy

the song basically just stops and he just sort of wimpers a bit over the top but I quite like this I mean it's not amazing but can you heal me do you know what

Roman's voice means this loses quite a few marks I can't believe I've turned on him this much something has just clicked in my head in the 90s era and I can't seem to click it back but I agreed

this isn't bad at all I will confess that this may be the first song I ever knew all the words to my mum was a new mum, she was listening to music that matched how she felt at the time, she kind of left it behind as the years went on. But that hasn't really made a difference to the bozoin material that I've disliked as we've come back on the podcast to it. With this though, I really honestly don't think it's too bad. They keep going back to this well for Ronan,

this kind of country cover well. And he gets another number one out of it in the 2000s with If Tomorrow Never Comes. And I think this is the Modi's sort of most suited to. I prefer if Tomorrow ever comes to life as a roller coaster, to be honest. Even if that is, no, wait, is it written by the guy who did get what you give, or was that loving each day? They want to make him 40 years old. So, okay, yeah, stuff like this seems fine for that.

I've listened to the Keith Whitley and Edie Brickle versions, and while Keith brings a softness that Ronan can't find, and while Edie Brickle brings a sense of gravitas and class that Ronan isn't capable of, the arrangement of Ronan's version feels a little bit more direct, and I think it places stronger emphasis on some of the more emotional musical flourishes in the song. I think it transposes it quite nicely from a country setting

into a kind of 90s adult contemporary one. In particular, I know that it goes all river dance, but I think when it goes up, when the key goes up and the pipe, well, it's a whistle, and the accordion kind of have to go with it, I think that that little bit, that bridge section, when that instrumental lead is played by James McNally, who spent a bit of the 90s in the Pope,

when that rises up, it brings a little bit of a smile out of me. There's that nice rendering of the Coda section too, with all the overlapping vocals, you know. And in that bridge section, I think the instrumental lead, it finds, like, if it seems like it has a better grasp of how to keep everything lively, despite it being a relatively stayed thing, I find that the bridge sections in the Keith Whitley and Eadrickle

versions, they kind of drift a little bit. It goes up the key, but there's nothing to really accompany it. And I feel like, oh, you know, it does kind of need a, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, it's got, you know, it's got to have something like that. And it does. It's still got Ronan honking all over it, which is the issue for me, really. But the arrangement itself, I think, is a slight improvement on the things that Edie Brickle and Keith Whitley had to sing over. I've seen Edie Brickle live, actually. She didn't do this. but she was very briefly, she did a collaboration with Steve Martin.

Yes, that's Steve Martin. He's also a bluegrass musician and vocalist. And he was doing a tour with his band at the time, who I think were called the Canyon Rangers. I saw them in 2013, and they played a lovely, lovely venue in Philadelphia, the name of which I've forgotten, where the inside of the hall is shaped like the inside of a cello.

And Edie Brickle joined them for a few songs. which was nice. That was 2013. A story I do have about this song though, when I was really small, one of my first proper know-it-all moments came during this song, because as I said, I got to know all the lyrics quite well,

even when I was about five or six years old. And I remember this being on in the car one time, and that line comes in quite early, you know, with that single word, you can light up the dark. And me, only just beginning to grasp what a metaphor was, said, yeah, Ronan,

you can flick a light switch. And my mum just went, yes, yes, yes, very clever and carried on driving. So, yeah. Well, yeah, you can light up the dark without saying a word, just go, and there you go.

Andy, I know you hate this, so go ahead. Good advice, Ronan. Is that everything? Good advice, Ronan. No, what I will say, no, what I will say, I'm not going to leave it,

just that, which is that I was brought up by my mum, They're very similar kind of thing of, if you've got nothing nice to say, then say nothing. So good advice, Ronan. Piehole, I have nothing nice to say about this whatsoever. One out of ten, garbage shit for people who can't hear. What?

I think you're going to have to justify your score a little bit there. No, I'm joking. You can just have it be an emotional reaction. It's Ronan Keating, does he? Really? if an alien arrived on earth and all that was left of humanity

was this song and they put it on and listened to it they would conclude that this planet had no evidence of life that is fundamentally the problem which is that he's saying feelings but he's not feeling feelings he's bereft of soul

he is a vacant body he's a vacant vessel is what's that thing that Glenn Cullen says about Olly in the inquiry, he is a man worm. I'm not going to say that

about Roaning, because that's a bit mean, a bit personal. Truly, he cannot conjure up even the slightest bit of sincerity in me, and this is hot garbage, and I'll say nothing more because I have to find my mum's own advice, I did say something, and it wasn't nice.

Sorry. Yes, but it was Kurt. It was economical. So, the fifth and final song this week is this. Time ass away. Get you off my searching. Okay, this is If I Let You Go by Westlife, released as the second single from the group's debut studio album titled Westlife. If I Let You Go is Westlife's second single to chart in the UK and their second to reach number one, and it's not the last time we'll be coming to

West Life during our 90s coverage. If I let you go went straight. to number one as a brand new entry. It stayed at number one for one week. In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 90,000 copies, beating competition from Drinking in LA by Brandvan

3,000. After one week at the top, if I let you go, fell two places to number three. It stayed inside the top 100 for 11 weeks. The single is currently officially certified platinum in the UK as

of 2026, Louis Walsh has two number ones in a row. I have very, very short notes on this, so I'll go first. It sounds a bit like the Weezer B-side, the prettiest girl in the whole wide world. It's not the worst thing they've ever done. I'm still pie-hulling it. Ed, Westlife. Not terrible. There's even a little fake melitron in there, and I do like a bit of a fake melaton. It's a little bit of cute. but then I saw that it was halfway through and I'm like right, yeah, this is very sort of toothpastey

and then I noticed that it said radio edit on the version I was listening to and it was three and a half minutes long and I thought there's a longer version somewhere of this and you need to find it fuck that

it's already too long I've never listened to the whole thing I've done it three times I'm like a minute and a half I'll skip to the end is it exactly the same in like a cut and copy? Yeah, it's exactly the fucking same. It's, yeah, it's pretty poor,

but it is unquestionably one of their best. And Andy, to finish us off for this episode, Westlife. Yeah, I mean, I was relatively kind about, swear it again, you know, that I thought it had something to it, that it was, you know, not that bad. Yeah, change my tune a bit on this one. It's really weird to me, you know,

because this is like, it's another dreary ballad and this is the second single, you know, and the rules of all pop music say that they should have been a one hit wonder because they've done basically exactly

the same thing again, but less good. It's not showing any contrast from the original song. There's clearly a big amount of interest because it went straight into number one and it's not telling us anything new about them and it's not as good as the first single. every single factor there is pointing to them crashing after this and then being a one hit wonder.

I know that they're kind of pretty boys and, you know, people are sort of swooning over them, but that must be going a hell of a long way because they really do rip up the whole rulebook here, that this should have finished them. It really should, that this is the moment, you know, this is the whole phenomenon of difficult second album, difficult second single. It's based off this thing. If you've got to do something, you've had that hit now, what now? They just do the same shit again, but worse. and that seals their fate as successful?

That's not how the script goes. Very strange Westlife. I don't understand them. I really don't. Yeah, this is just really just dull and very, very dreary. And dull and dreary are the only two words I can summon up, really. There's just nothing else for me to say, except that, funnily enough, it sort of reminds me of my dog, Richie, or it reminds me of the stuff that comes out of my dog Ritchie's bum

because it's sometimes slightly different from day to day in terms of their output. But really, they're predictable, they're relentless, and they're shit. Literally. That's fair. It's funny, though, if you added dull and dreary to Westlife, you get the seven dwarves. Tell you what, tell you what,

do you remember back in the first season, or, I don't know, for the actual first episode of the first season of a show I said can we name Westlife Can we do it now? Can we name Westlife? Sleepy, dopey No There's Brian Lethargic

Horizontal Oh we see, actually their names Sorry I didn't get it Oh that's one, Nikki, Nicky Byrne That's one Shane Oh God, who's the other one Nicky Byrne

Kean Egan Shane Feeleyn Mark Feeley and Brian McFee There we go, Mark Feely. Actually, before we finish, Bozoin have a member, Shane Lynch. And Shane Lynch, his sisters, Keevy and Adele, their two members of Bewitched. Really?

Ooh! That's a cool little factlet, I like that. And Bewitched is so much better than both of these groups! Fuck! Imagine how bad it had been if Louis Walsh was in charge of him! Jesus! It's making me wonder if... I wonder if, you know, the next appearance, it might be time for the Westlife quiz.

The Westlife quiz. All right then, so, Andy, before we go, Venger Boys, ATB, Ricky Martin, Ronan Keating, and Westlife, where are they all going? Boom, boom, boom, boom. I don't want it in my vault, unfortunately. It's close, but it's, it's, as another Irish personality would say, it's good, but it's not there. It is good, but it's not up there. Till I come, isn't till I,

oh God, I can't say till I pie, can I? It's, no, it's, oh, goodness me, I've walked right to a hornet's nest here. It's staying where it is, and I'm moving sharply on from that. Lavin Lovina Loka, way, upside, inside, out, up, down here, there.

No, stays where it is, no. I say it best, when I say stick it in the pie hole the smile on my face lets me know it's been pie holed yeah can you just just for me I don't think you did a richy comparison

for that can you just say it's a dog or something to make it symmetrical I deliberately didn't because my plan this is a bit of inside baseball for you my plan at the start was to not do anything except say nothing at all so the joke would have been there was no richie

comparison. But now I've gone and spoiled my act, haven't I? Thanks for that, Roan, and I blame you for it. I'd say it's similar to the stuff that Richie sometimes coughs up in that it's regurgitated, it's worthless, and all I want to do is put it in the bin and never think about it again. And both of their names begin with R. So, you know, there's that too, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And as for if I let you go, well, I am going to let you go right down into the pie hole. Bye, Westlife. I don't want to play with you anymore. So for me, Venger Boys, just missing the vault, ATB, very comfortably in the middle. Ricky Martin, just missing the vault. When you say nothing at all, very comfortably in the middle. And if I let you go, is just appearing

in the pie hole, just very just. So Ed, boom, boom, boom, boom, 9 p.m. Live in the Vidaloka. say nothing at all and if I let you go. The vaulting board is calming and nobody is jumping, though it's not best like Bisto. It's not a shitty disco. Yeah, that didn't scan great. But anyway, yeah, it's not quite going anywhere, but it's not far off. I just wish it was the other track. ATB couldn't even think of a gag for this one.

So evidently I've just left a note that says all taint's bulletin. It's not going anywhere I mean that's Anyway Alright as for living in a Vida Loka I like Ricky I mean it's no Reaching Bill or Million Dilla

Baby But Ricky It's fun God these are desperate But yeah That's not quite going anywhere either Yeah as for Oh yeah

Ronin yeah I do quite like it But let's not go crazy here. The vault to Ronan Keating is beyond that Hereby Dragons legend on an old map. The only way he'll be vaulted is if he accidentally gets

caught in a huge trebiochet. Anyway, yes, Westlife. West life? Well, only in the sense that it's not West quite reached the point of West Brain Death yet. It is their best single,

I think. I will kill. it last. Okay, so oh God, that was so good. You know, my voice is a little horse for some reason, and I feel like I've got only one chance to do this, and if anybody's seen Garth Marengi's dark place, you'll laugh,

but if you haven't seen it, you won't know what I'm going to talk about, but you and he were bodies, weren't you? It's the only time my voice has ever felt significantly, you know, like gruff enough to a, you and here were, That is. But is.

Need I say more? Let's get out of here. Let's run. Let's get out of here. We've done five songs this week. It's warm and we've all gone a bit mad. We'll see you next time where we're back down to the normal four. Everything's normal.

We're turning on Radio 4 and making tea and toast for Sophie and we're getting out of here. So yeah, we'll see you soon. Bye. Bye.