Great Moments In Pop – The 90s Part 53.

This is another group who were regulars on the singles chart in the late-90s, although they never really reached the heights and made the Top Ten, they did have a decent amount of hits, and a lot of them were rather good. Dubstar were a British group who formed in the early-90s, their most successful line-up featured frontwoman Sarah Blackwood, accompanied by Steve and Chris.

They were sometimes grouped into the Britpop category, but they weren’t that really, they made more of a dance sound, along with some risqué lyrics. It could be said that they were a sort-of saucier Saint Etienne. They were also rather keen to perform some of their songs on TV. In July 1995 their debut hit “Stars” was released, and reached no. 40. It seems that this had the potential to do better though.

Next in September 1995 was “Anywhere”, which reached no. 37. I was watching the video to this recently, when there was yet another BLUE HAIR ALERT! I couldn’t believe it, I don’t know how this keeps happening, but Sarah joins the now rather unexpectedly long list of terrifically haired 90s pop stars. In October 1995 the debut album “Disgraceful” made the Top 30, and is mostly remembered now for the original cover having to be withdrawn.

In January 1996 “Not So Manic Now” was released, which reached no. 18, their first Top 20 hit single. They performed this on Channel 4’s The White Room, and they even turned up on ITV’s This Morning, where they also braved an interview with Richard and Judy. In March 1996 “Stars” was re-released, and this time reached no. 15, their biggest hit single in the UK, and deservedly so. They performed this on ITV’s Hotel Babylon and Top Of The Pops.

Next in August 1996 was “Elevator Song” which reached no. 25. They also performed this on GMTV, but not in the studio, they were on location in Torremolinos. In July 1997 “No More Talk” reached no. 20. This was performed on BBC1’s The National Lottery Live (the midweek edition that is) and Top Of The Pops. In September 1997 “Cathedral Park” reached no. 41, narrowly missing the Top 40.

In October 1997 second album “Goodbye” made the Top 20. In February 1998 “I Will Be Your Girlfriend” reached no. 28. I remember seeing the video to this on The Chart Show. And in May 2000 “I (Friday Night)” reached no. 37, their eighth and final hit single. But in September 2000 third album “Made It Better” surprisingly missed the Top 100, and Dubstar split on a low note. But the story doesn’t end here…

Around 2003, a new group came on to the scene called Client. Nobody knew who the members of this group were. They were only referred to as “Client A” and “Client B”, and they didn’t appear in any publicity pictures either because “we wish to be judged on our artistic merit, as opposed to our personalities”. They were the first singings to the late Andy Fletcher from Depeche Mode’s record label.

It was eventually revealed that they consisted of Sarah formerly of Dubstar, along with Kate Holmes, formerly a member of Frazier Chorus as a flutist, who had some minor hit singles in the late-80s/early-90s, and are probably best remembered for “Dream Kitchen”, and their frontman being Tim Freeman, brother of Martin. She is also the wife of record label boss Alan McGee.

After two minor hits, their biggest success was in January 2005 when “Pornography” reached no. 22, which featured an uncredited guest vocal from the bloke from The Libertines. Client eventually became a trio, but around 2010, Sarah left, and joined a reformed Dubstar, now reduced to a duo. They have made many new songs, and their most recent album was released last year.

Great Moments In Pop – The 90s Part 51.

This is another group who were “bubbling under” on the singles chart in the mid-90s. Ruby were a duo consisting of Scottish-born singer Lesley and Mark. Lesley had already been on the music scene for a while though, having previously been a member of Silverfish. This was a group who were in a genre called “noise” (isn’t all music essentially noise?), but they took this to the extreme, and many people who attended their concerts reportedly had their ears fall off.

They released several singles from 1989-1993, although none of these made the chart, but one of their albums did make the lower end of the Top 75 in June 1992. Also in this year, Lesley appeared on the cover of Melody Maker alongside Brett from Suede, at which point she was rather lacking in the hair department, and looked rather scary.

After Silverfish ended, she decided to do something a little different, and her songs in Ruby were more to my taste, and could be described as acid trip-hop or smooth funk or some other genre that I’ve made up, some these songs were rather weird but good, and they had the added bonus of preserving your ears. In September 1995 “Paraffin” was released, which reached an unofficial no. 78, but this was still their highest peak in the UK.

The video was featured on an Indie Chart on The Chart Show, but this wasn’t played as far as I can remember. But something that I definitely did notice, and yes I am going to go on about this again, was at this time Lesley had blue hair, and I just can’t resist it really (but it was nice that she had any hair at all). Also around this time she appeared on BBC2’s Later… Next in February 1996 was “Tiny Meat”, which reached an unofficial no. 86.

The promotion around this time seemed to be increasing. Lesley appeared on the cover of French music magazine Les Inrockuptibles (possibly an attempt to break across Europe, along with America), and she also performed this on ITV’s late-night show Hotel Babylon. One critic said “the delightful Ruby, a group whose main purpose seems to be to go against the grain a la Garbage”. In April 1996 the album “Salt Peter” made the Top 100.

In June 1996 “Hoops” reached an unofficial no. 90, but this would be the final time that they would make the Top 100 in the UK. After a long break, Ruby returned (and was now essentially a Lesley solo project) in 2000 with the album “Short Staffed At The Gene Pool”. And by now she had bright red hair. There were further singles in 2001 including “Grace” and “Lamplight”, which really was rather strange and trippy, this should’ve been a hit, but unfortunately the days of making the chart had gone.

In more recent years, the Ruby project has been revived again, and there have been more tours and singles, including a cover of “Jolene”, which lots of groups have covered (including Strawberry Switchblade just before they went their separate ways). Although I don’t remember them from the time, it’s always good to track down groups like this from the 90s, if Garbage or Moloko had released some of these singles, they’d have been huge I’m sure.

Great Moments In Pop – The 90s Part 50.

Part 50? Yes, 50, because 90s pop music really is rather fabulous. This is another group who found fame in the mid-90s with some memorable songs. The Wannadies are from Sweden and formed in the late-80s, their frontman is Par. They had already been famous in Scandinavia for a while, releasing their first album as early as 1990, along with several singles.

They didn’t really get noticed in this country though until January 1995 when “How Does It Feel” was released, but this didn’t chart. Next in August 1995 was “You And Me Song”, which reached a rather lowly unofficial no. 119. It was thought that this one had the potential to do better though. In November 1995 “Might Be Stars” reached no. 51, their first hit single in the UK. By now they were playing festivals, and in February 1996 “How Does It Feel” was re-released, and this time reached no. 53.

And in April 1996 “You And Me Song” was re-released, and this time reached no. 18, their biggest hit single in the UK. This is also their most famous single, which has featured on adverts and film soundtracks. I also remember one critic said that they were fond of this because they liked they way that he says “I know you hate that“. Another said “the Swedish band combine Everything But The Girl-type of easy tune with Blur influenced brash guitar pop”.

In September 1996 “Someone Somewhere” reached no. 38, but their next single “Friends” was cancelled. In April 1997 “Hit” was indeed a hit, and reached no. 20, but this was the final time that they made the Top 40. They also appeared on Channel 4’s TFI Friday, and by this point they were being favourably compared to fellow Swedes The Cardigans. In May 1997 their fourth album (but the first to be a hit in the UK) “Bagsy Me” made the Top 40.

I remember an amusing magazine interview from around this time (presumably with Par) who explained that the album title came from when he was in a taxi and was trying to explain a Swedish phrase, and wondered what the equivalent in English would be, when the driver said “I know! Bagsy me!”. In July 1997 “Shorty” reached no. 41. They appeared on BBC1’s The National Lottery Live, which usually gave songs a boost, but not really in this case.

They were also on ITV’s This Morning, but Per said in this interview that he was rather upset because Richard and Judy were away that day, he said “they weren’t there” (with the italics and everything). Can you imagine appearing on This Morning but not meeting Richard and Judy because they were absent? There can’t have been a more terrible thing to happen to people in 90s showbiz.

I’m sure that also around this time they had a gig cancelled simply on account of their name following the immediate aftermath of Princess Diane suffering an extreme setback and “everyone went mad” (© Private Eye). And not long after this I think that “You And Me Song” was released for a third (or was it fourth?) time, but they couldn’t convince anyone else to buy this. After a break, they returned in March 2000 with “Yeah”, which reached no. 56, their final hit single in the UK.

I remember the rather odd video being shown on MTV, and getting the approval of Zane Lowe. These were the days when if Zane liked your song, you were rather cool. Also in this month, fifth album “Yeah” made the lower end of the chart. Par also appeared as a panellist on BBC2’s Never Mind The Buzzcocks, but the fortunes of The Wannadies were faltering by this point, and they split not long afterwards. “You And Me Song” went on to feature in some memorable episodes of Coronation Street, and in more recent years, they got back together, celebrating 35 years of hits!

Great Moments In Pop – The 90s Part 49.

This is a group who are in an area of pop music that I am not usually that interested in, but although they didn’t have that much success on the chart, they did some things that I remember and think are worth sharing. Now although Salad released a lot of singles in the mid-90s, they couldn’t really be accused of being in the Britpop genre… because their singer was in fact Dutch.

Marijne had already been in the music business long before Salad formed. She had previously been in a group called The Merry Babes, who released a single as early as 1988, and the video for 1991’s “My Life’s Crown” was even shown on MTV. And that wasn’t the only place where you would’ve seen her on that channel, because in the early-90s she was also a VJ on MTV Europe, meaning that she was mates with lots of other familiar names (pictured below in 1992) including Ray Cokes, Paul King, Sonya Saul, Pip Dann, and of course Sukie Bapswent.

Salad aimed to become as big as the likes of Blur, and in October 1993 their debut single “Diminished Clothes” was released. although this didn’t actually make the chart until February 1994, and even then this reached a rather lowly unofficial no. 191. They also performed this on Channel 4’s The Word. Next in April 1994 was “On A Leash”, which reached an unofficial no. 85. This was performed on late-night ITV music show The Beat. Then in July 1994, “Your Ma”/”Plank”/”Open” was released, a triple A-side no less, which reached an unofficial no. 82. One critic said “the first two tracks display a punk-like energy and directness”.

In March 1995 “Drink The Elixir” was released, which reached no. 66, their first hit single in the UK. I remember this one because the video (which featured some ballroom dancers) was played on the Indie Chart on an edition of The Chart Show that I found on an old tape. One critic said “a most addictive single. Try to get it out of your head, and admit you just can’t”. But here’s something unusual. Forgotten 80s is popular on the digital radio station Absolute 80s, playing lots of the songs that weren’t big hits in that decade, and gaining rather a lot of fans over the past ten years.

The Forgotten 90s equivalent has been less successful though. When I have listened, they haven’t played too many songs that didn’t do that well (and being on at the same time as Forgotten 80s hasn’t helped either). But one day, when I was beginning to lose interest, they played “Drink The Elixir”, which really surprised me, because this didn’t make the Top 40, and can’t have been played on the radio for years. Why did they pick this one out of everything?

In May 1995 their debut album “Drink Me” was released, and made the Top 20. Not bad, if they keep this up, they could be the new Echobelly, or, er, Belly. Also in this month, they featured on the “War Child” album, and contributed a cover of “Dream A Little Dream Of Me”, in a duet with Terry Hall. And they released “Motorbike To Heaven”, which reached no. 42, their biggest hit single in the UK, and again the video was played on the Indie Chart.

Next in September 1995 was “Granite Statue”, which reached no. 50. Again, I noticed the video to this one, as this was done in the presentation style of a sport channel, with things such as replays, clocks, and arrows being drawn on the screen, which was still a rather new and innovative idea in TV at the time. They also played various festivals, including T In The Park. In October 1996 “I Want You” reached no. 60, and in May 1997 “Cardboy King” reached no. 65, their final hit single in the UK.

Also in this month, their second album “Ice Cream” was released. This was given a big push, with a rather risque picture of Marijne (who has also been a model) on the cover, but this got nowhere near the Top 100 surprisingly. Finally in August 1997, “Yeah Yeah” reached an unofficial no. 84. Salad split in 1998, and Marijne joined the new group Cowboy Racer. Almost two decades on, they got back together and released some more singles and albums, which were promoted on BBC Radio 6 Music.

The One-Hit Wonders – The 90s Part 13.

Recently, I have been looking online at more videos of songs that were hits in the 90s, to determine if there are any more stories that I think are interesting enough to do a piece about, even if I don’t remember them from first time round. And when I was sat there and just thinking “well, whatever” at every video, and beginning to wonder why I was spending so much time doing this, I came across something that made me think “wow!” that made it all worthwhile.

The first thing that attracted me to Danielle Brisebois is that unlike some other women who have that first name, she has had a hit single in the UK, and it’s good to know that at least one Danielle has. It turns out that she has had a rather interesting career. Danielle was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1969. She first found fame in the late-70s as an actress in various TV shows.

She appeared as Stephanie Mills (not be confused with the Stephanie Mills who had a hit with “Never Knew Love Like This Before” of course) in the sitcom All In The Family (the American version of Til Death Us Do Part), and the spin-off Archie Bunker’s Place. She was then in other shows, but she doesn’t seem to have been one of those “child star goes off the rails” stories, and by the early-90s she had started to work in the music business.

Her first and only hit single in the UK was in September 1995 when “Gimme Little Sign” was released, a cover of the famous soul song by Brenton Wood which made the Top Ten in this country in 1968. This version was rather different though. I have to note that the producer was Gregg Alexander, who would go on to find fame (for a short while) as the frontman of New Radicals, and the video was co-directed by Kate Garner, who used to be in Haysi Fantayzee.

But the best thing about the video was that Danielle… had BLUE HAIR!! I know I sound ridiculous but, how terrific, I couldn’t believe it. “Gimme Little Sign” reached no. 75, the lowest place for a song to officially be a hit single in the UK, but surprisingly this wasn’t a hit in America. Eager to discover more, I found some videos on her Vevo, featuring singles released from her 1994 album “Arrive All Over You”.

They were “What If God Fell From The Sky”, and “Don’t Wanna Talk About Love” (where she had pink hair, and looked like Pink five years before Pink did), but neither of these were hits. After this, she continued to collaborate with New Radicals, and she has also been a songwriter for various singers. Among the most successful songs she has written is “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield, a Top Ten hit in the UK in 2004.

Great Moments In Pop – The 80s Part 26.

This is a British group who I wasn’t sure about featuring in this series because their story is rather well-known, and they have been popular for decades, but as they have made so many terrific singles, I do want to pick out my highlights. The Human League formed in the late-70s, and their frontman is Phil Oakey. I suppose that their philosophy is we’ve got a synthesizer and we’re gonna use it. In June 1978, their first single “Being Boiled” was released, but this didn’t make the chart.

By 1980, they did have some minor hits, and two members had left to form Heaven 17. But Phil wasn’t that concerned, because he discovered two women to replace them, and they never looked back really. 1981 would turn out to be a hugely successful year for them. In May 1981 they made the Top 40 for the first time with “The Sound Of The Crowd”, which is always a pleasure to hear on the radio. Next in August was their first Top Ten hit with “Love Action”, which was followed in October by “Open Your Heart”.

But it was in December 1981 when “Don’t You Want Me” was released that they finally became one of the best groups of the early-80s. This was the biggest-selling single of 1981 in the UK, and this was also a Transatlantic chart-topper. In January 1982, their debut “Being Boiled” was released again, and this time became a Top Ten hit nearly four years on, as interest in their earlier material increased after new fans wanted to discover more. They also won a Brit in 1982.

There would be further hit singles in 1982 with “Mirror Man”, in 1983 with “Fascination”, and in 1984 with “The Lebanon”, “Life On Your Own”, and “Louise”. The later songs hadn’t done as well though. In 1986, they decided to take a gamble and work with producers Jam And Lewis, who were much in demand at this point, and they would help to bring their sound into the mid-80s. Some sessions were reported to be tense, and Phil came close to walking out (I must avoid doing a “but this is Phil walking” pun here).

But even he had to concede that this was all worthwhile when in August 1986 “Human” became their first Top Ten hit single in the UK for three years, and also their second Number One in America. This left them in the rather unusual situation of being a British group who had more chart-toppers in the USA than they did in the UK. They didn’t make the Top 40 in the 80s again though, but at least they were still together.

And just when it looked like they were a group who had finally been confined to the past, 1995 turned out to be their most successful year for about a decade. In January 1995 “Tell Me When” made the Top Ten to become their biggest hit since the days of “Human”. Further hits “One Man In My Heart” and “Filling Up With Heaven” did well too. For some reason, they finished off this year with a remix of “Don’t You Want Me”, but this made the Top 20 for a second time.

Since then, The Human League have become more of a nostalgia group. When they occasionally release new singles or albums, the response is now usually “stop working on new songs and just give us the classics”. They have made nine albums, but unfortunately they are in the position of having had more best-ofs released than studio albums. And in March 2014, “Don’t You Want Me” made the Top 20 for a third time! They’re still on tour, and people will always be fond of them and their songs, together in electric dreams.

Down The Dumper – The 90s Part 20.

It’s well-known that trends and genres come and go very quickly in pop music, and I remember many years ago now, when I was much younger, that there was a time when there was a lot of what could be classed as “rave” music on the chart. This was rather different to a few years earlier, it took me a while to get used to this, and I don’t know how I could be so grumpy about something at such a young age.

But as the years have gone by and I have got older, despite the faceless producers and the thumping noises, I have come to appreciate this genre a little more, which contains what I think is one of the most extraordinary pop music stories of the 90s. Shut Up And Dance are a production duo from Hackney who formed in the late-80s, and they released their early singles and albums on their own record label.

They had already delighted us with some of their singles which reached the lower end of the chart in the early-90s, including “£20 To Get In” and “Autobiography Of A Crackhead”. But they caused a big stir in May 1992 when they released “Raving I’m Raving”. This was mostly based around American singer Marc Cohn’s 1991 hit “Walking In Memphis”, using the same tune, and some amended lyrics to describe rave culture.

There was also a contribution from Peter Bouncer (whoever he might be), and I’m sure that I can hear a dash of Raw Silk’s 1982 hit “Do It To The Music” in there too. But there were quickly problems, as the sample hadn’t been cleared, and Cohn had something of a sense of humour failure over the new lyrics. This meant that “Raving I’m Raving” had to be abruptly withdrawn, no further copies could be pressed, and any money made from the copies that were sold had to be donated to charity.

All of this did mean that “Raving I’m Raving” reached no. 2, and joined such other rave classics that made no. 2 in 1992 including “Sesame’s Treet” by Smart E’s, and, er, “On A Ragga Tip” by SL2. This also became the first single to peak at no. 2 and spend only two weeks on the chart. A version that sounded almost nothing like the original had to be performed on Top Of The Pops, and I’m still not sure if the original can be played on the radio all these years on.

They went on to have one more minor hit in 1992 with “The Art Of Moving Butts”. After this year of rather mixed fortunes, Shut Up And Dance returned in April 1995 with “Save It Til The Mourning After”, which sampled Duran Duran’s 1982 hit “Save A Prayer”, and sent them into the Top 40 for the final time. Finally in July 1995, “I Love U” reached no. 68. This sampled Perez Prado’s “Guaglione”, which had recently had a revival of interest after being used in a famous advert for Guinness.

Great Moments In Pop – The 90s Part 32.

This is a British group who were at the forefront of the Britpop genre in the mid-90s, or maybe they weren’t, because it’s always difficult to put groups into genres, but whatever they were, they made some of the most entertaining and catchiest songs of this era. Supergrass were a trio who were rather young when they came on to the scene.

But it didn’t take them that long to build a following with their singles including “Caught By The Fuzz” and “Mansize Rooster”. They were considered to be some of the breakthrough stars of 1995 though. I must admit that I don’t really recall “Lenny”, which was their first Top Ten hit. It was in July 1995 when “Alright” was released, and joined the list of famous songs that agonisingly reached no. 2.

This did seem to be everywhere for a short while, and frontman Gaz’s sideburns soon became as much of a cultural significance for music fans as Jarvis Cocker’s glasses or something. But like with most groups, they seemed to have had enough of their most famous hit after a while. Luckily for them they had a huge amount of other great hit singles that they could fall back on.

They would go on to have further Top Ten hits with “Going Out” and “Richard III”. By 1997 they were bringing us hits like “Sun Hits The Sky” and “Late In The Day”. But their single released in June 1999 is memorable for me. This was “Pumping On Your Stereo” (although they actually didn’t seem to say “pumping” at any point), and this was shown frequently around the time that I got access to MTV.

And it’s no surprise that this was shown so often, as this featured the group practically being turned into Muppet-style characters. There is also a story that around this time they were invited to appear in their own TV show where they would have silly adventures in a similar style to The Monkees, but they turned it down, as they didn’t really want to turn into cartoon caricatures of themselves.

Also in 1999 was “Moving” (their final Top Ten hit single), and “Mary”, which had a rather gruesome video that really was scary (another Sophie Muller classic!). Supergrass would return in 2002, but they would only make the Top 20 one more time. When they did finally split, a lot of people said “I didn’t realise that they were still going”, which must’ve been rather disappointing for them.

Gaz then went off to make some solo albums, and after a while, they did eventually get back together, as pleasingly they did finally realise that all of their singles really were rather good actually, they also made six acclaimed albums, and their teeth are nice and clean. I can imagine that plenty of these songs are still pumping on a lot of people’s stereos to this day.

Great Moments In Pop – The 90s Part 24.

I know that I have said before that I am not really interested in the rock or metal music genres, but I felt that I had to do a piece on this group because this was one of those moments in the 90s that made me (and probably many others) simply go “huh?”. Whale (not to be confused with later group Noah And The Whale) were a rock group from Sweden.

In March 1994 “Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe” was released. This was a song about, it says here, “effluent women who bring homeless men home to have their way with them”. The video was soon saturated by MTV, which meant that this was shown rather frequently, and this was also a winner at the 1994 MTV Europe Music Awards. I bet Beavis and Butt-Head were fans. This reached no. 46 in the UK, and no. 102 in the US.

In July 1995, “I’ll Do Ya” was released, which reached no. 53, and in August 1995, their debut album “We Care” just missed the Top 40. But for some reason, somebody clearly felt that “Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe” still had the potential to be their big breakthrough hit that would make them stars. So this was then re-released in November 1995, and this time reached no. 15.

This turned out to be their first and only Top 40 hit single in the UK. But this did lead to a memorably shambolic performance on Top Of The Pops, and they must be the only act in that show’s history to attempt some crowdsurfing, although they weren’t having any of it. I don’t know if this was intended to be amusing, but I remember just laughing at all of this, it was definitely one of the more bizarre hits of this era.

As far as Swedish rock groups go, it was rather unlikely they were going to be as successful as Roxette or The Cardigans. Whale returned in July 1998 with “Four Big Speakers”, which reached no. 69, and in August 1998 “Crying At Airports” reached no. 94. Both of these were a collaboration with Bus 75. Whale split not long after, but they definitely did something rather different.

Great Moments In Pop – The 90s Part 22.

This is a British R & B singer whose career took in some good songs along with a few unusual turns in the 90s. Desiree Weekes (wasn’t 80s singer Princess’s real first name also Desiree?) was born in London, and in August 1991, her debut hit “Feel So High” was released, but this reached only no. 51. It was determined that this could do better, and this one eventually managed to gain some more exposure.

At the end of 1991, Des’ree featured on The ITV Chart Show end of year special as one of the acts to look out for in 1992 (they usually got their tips of the big time totally wrong, but they turned out to be fairly successful in this case). In January 1992, “Feel So High” was released again, and this time reached no. 13, to become her first Top 40 hit single.

Her first of three hit albums (which all made the Top 30) was released not long after. I also remember that “Feel So High” featured on one of those CDs that were given away free with weekend newspapers when there was a brief craze for that. It was good to hear this again, and it’s one of the few songs on those compilations that I felt was worth listening to more than once.

After two minor hits that missed the Top 40, in June 1993, “Delicate” was released, this was a duet with Sananda Maitreya (as Terence Trent D’Arby would prefer you to call him now), and this reached no. 14. I remember that this often turned up fairly late at night on some local radio stations for a while, but it was always nice to hear this whatever time of day it was.

In April 1994, “You Gotta Be”, which is one of her more famous songs, was released, and this reached no. 20. After two more minor hits that missed the Top 40, in March 1995, “You Gotta Be” was released again, and this time did a little better, reaching no. 14. That big Top Ten hit single was still elusive though, and she released no singles in 1996 or 1997.

She returned after her break in June 1998 with “Life”, and this reached no. 8. It’s rather unusual for an act to have their first Top Ten hit single seven years on from their debut. However, the lyrics were much mocked, and they even won a competition to determine “the worst pop lyrics ever”. She was probably disappointed by all this, and then in November 1998 “What’s Your Sign” reached no. 19.

But she did go on to have the last laugh somewhat and probably didn’t worry about the stir around “Life” much more when she won Best British Female at the Brit Awards in 1999. And then, in April 1999, would you believe, “You Gotta Be” was released for a third time, and this time reached no. 10, to become her second and final Top Ten hit single in the UK.

It was great that this one had finally got there, although it was a little odd seeing a now five-year-old song in the Top Ten. I’m just surprised that they didn’t take the opportunity to give “Feel So High” a third go too, that should’ve been a bigger hit. But Des’ree never made the Top 40 ever again after this. And I got through this piece without making a joke about toast. Oops!