"Party people... friday night" - The 911
I was surprised to remember that Joey, Jeffy, and Jimmy recorded a second album. Or that this evanescent lead single was as big as it was.
We'll have forgotten this song as soon as it finishes. Those balloons on stage will last longer.
Anyway, evening all.
"Da ya think I'm sexy" - N-Trance featuring Rod Stewart
It's about a year since the BBC showed the first series of "Muppets Tonight!"
One recurring skit began with a bartender singing "Da ya think I'm sexy", then going on to make a vile new drink, and introducing his singing friend Clueless. Based on a recurring Jackie Gleason routine, apparently.
Who needs professional cockneys when we have Riccardo Da Force!
https://amuchdeeperlevel.blogspot.com/2012/10/ill-have-usual.html
"Spice up your life" - Spice Girls
The quality of this show is going up. Unlike the single, off the top after one week.
New album's out on Monday, with a movie to follow later in November.
Word is that the Spices face a rival for the Christmas number one, after BBC Worldwide and BMG brokered a deal to bring The Teletubbies to the singles chart. Simon Cowell, the BMG exec responsible, promised the single would sell 400,000 and be number one for Christmas.
"Everything I wanted" - Dannii Minogue
It's the one with the video of Dannii relaxing in Las Vegas with her bloke. Second single from the album "Girl", and it's turned into one of Dannii's favourites.
This was her dance guru era, and there's a segment of the audience who loves this sort of thing.
Good to see the backing singers are doing the sort of dance step I can do, literally swaying in the breeze.
"Ripgroove" - Double 99
Very much a classic of the dance scene, this has been remixed and rehashed, sampled and swiped from here to eternity. Guitar music has "Here comes the sun", funk had "Get up, get on up", garage music had "Ripgroove".
Couple of years ago, Mixmag celebrated the tune's long afterlife.
https://mixmag.net/feature/the-12-best-ripgroove-drops-double-99-ukg-speed-garage-birthday
Puff Daddy was in the studio to perform "Been around the world", but the old pervert is not being shown for editorial reasons.
In its place, here's the must-see clip of the week: the Bee Gees have a perfectly normal chat with Clive Anderson.
"Telling stories" - Charlatans
Title track from the album, and later the title of Tim Burgess' autobiography.
At the start of the decade, they were just outside the Madchester scene. Seven years later they stood just outside the Britpop detritus: loud and guitary without being Oasis levels of stoopid.
"Barbie girl" - Aqua
Selling 190,000 copies - compared to the Spices' 162,000 - the brighter-than-cartoons band rise to the top.
Take the world's most popular toy and turn it into - well, whatever the lyric is.
And sell it with all the commitment of No Doubt (and more than a bit of the look).
More Top of the Pops after this intermission!
Episode two is... better.
"As long as you love me" - Backstreet Boys
Max Martin's written a sweet little song, all about reciprocated love and warm fuzzies.
Would have been a classic in any era - one can imagine Doris Day or Englebert Humperdinck crooning this to their paramours.
And surely Day or Engles would have been in similarly washing-powder-white outfits...
"Torn" - Natalie Imbruglia
Every 90s kid comes of age three times: Eighteenth birthday. Twenty-first birthday. The day they find out Natalie Imbruglia's version of Torn is a cover.
Absolutely love this song: writing, performance, vocal ability are all superlative.
I may have written an extended essay on "Torn"'s utter brilliance.
https://weaversweek.tumblr.com/post/767376233113780224/3-torn-natalie-imbruglia
"All you good good people" - Embrace
Another absolutely massive song, this time in the sense of being very long and covering a lot of ground without ever sounding like there's six minutes of it.
Danny McNamara fronts the wall of sound, recorded in front of a 20-piece orchestra.
This top ten single proved something of a false dawn for Embrace, they won't hit the big time till the new century.
"Lonely" - Peter Andre
I'd completely forgotten about this man's follow-up album, and certainly this snoozesome single.
The echo you might be able to hear comes from the sides of The Dumper, as Peter goes hurtling down it.
Can they play the rest of Embrace's song?
Actually, can they play "Love shine a light" again? We haven't heard that in a few weeks.
"How could an angel break my heart" - Toni Braxton
More smooth soul from the silky-voiced songstress.
It's the fourth single to be lifted from last year's album "Secrets"; even at this point, radio preferred "Un-break my heart", and I can understand why.
"The best of love" - Michael Bolton
Ten years ago, this man was a regular in Kerrang! magazine, the heavy metal weekly. He's now singing this glomp of a song, co-written with Babyface.
Early next year, Bolton will release an album of opera arias. "Nessun dorma till Hammersmith", or something.
Song of the night was [checks notes] Natalie Ubrulija.
More snooker next, Ronnie O'Sullivan was in trouble last session.
Followed by a Mystery Year hosted by David Jensen; won't start before 10pm, could be much later.
Snooker on BBC2 tomorrow night, too.
Next week on BBC4: two from 1997, one Mystery Year, and two-and-a-half hours of #TOTP brilliance from 1985.
Whatever you're doing this long weekend, have a good one!
Our group declare to be true
Ebly Pamplemousse