1995
Bobby Brown - Two Can Play That Game (remixed by K-Klass) - this version was released in 1994 but re-entered the charts in April 1995, when my eldest son was born. There was a TV on in the Stepping Hill Hospital delivery room and this song came on, so whenever I hear this one, it stops me in my tracks and reminds me of when he was born.
Take That - Back For Good - the week my son was due, my brother drove down from Scotland to stay with us until he was born, and he had this song playing on his car stereo constantly - so again, a song that reminds me of when my eldest was born.
Simply Red - Fairground
U2 - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
Blur - Country House
Pulp - Common People
Oasis - Wonderwall
Bjork - It's Oh So Quiet
The Human League - Tell Me When
1996
Baddiel & Skinner and Lightning Seeds - Three Lions - what a song, what a Summer - and yet another case of 'what if'. More importantly, however, this was on the radio all the time leading up to my youngest son's birth, so it always reminds me of when he was born!
George Michael - Fastlove
Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life - Epic song!
The Beautiful South - Rotterdam
Space - Female Of The Species
Space - You & Me Vs The World
I'd include Alanis Morissette's 'Ironic' here, but it was anything but, so she's not getting in my list - if only she'd just called it 'sh*t happens!'
1997
Terry Hall - I Saw the Light - a brilliant cover of the Todd Rundgren classic
No Doubt - Don't Speak
Will Smith - Men In Black
Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
James - She's A Star - I've included these two together deliberately, not only because they are both great songs, but also because 'Torn' completely ripped off the slide guitar riff from the James hit, but apparently there was nothing Tim & co. could do as it's just a slide guitar riff - bizarre.
Speaking of rip-offs...
The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony - I'm not even going to start to unravel this one, just Google it - but what a tune from Ashcroft and co!
Kula Shaker - Hush
Robbie Williams - Old Before I Die - He's a bit of a tw##, but he was bloody brilliant for those first two solo albums!
1998
Robbie Williams - Millennium - Not least for its Bondness!
Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha - Norman Cook should take the credit for this one, because the original slower-speed version is a pile of shite!
Fat Les - Vindaloo - Absolutely rat-arsed with my workmates and my brother, we watched England beat Columbia in Hazel Grove Snooker in the '98 World Cup, and ended up getting kicked out of there about 5 minutes from the end as we were just too noisy. We then marched literally down the middle of the A6 to the old Bull's Head singing this at the top of our lungs! When we got to 'The Bull', the car park/beer garden was absolutely rammed with England fans also singing it, I remember looking up mid-song onto one of the benches in the beer garden to see this idiot pouring his pint over his own head and shaking it everywhere like some human fountain, I remember thinking "f***ing kn*b head". Then there was a moment of recognition, and I realised it was my brother - ah, well!
The Beautiful South - Perfect 10
Jennifer Paige - Crush
Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
Madonna - Ray Of Light - probably her best tune for me
U2 - Sweetest Thing
Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing)
1999
Will Smith featuring Dru Hill - Wild Wild West
Lou Bega - Mambo No 5 (A Little Bit Of...) - you can't beat 'a little bit of' Perez Prado, and Lou did him justice with this one
Phats & Small - Turn Around
Bryan Adams featuring Melanie C - When You're Gone
The Vengaboys - We Like To Party! (The Vengabus) - My youngest used to love these guys, and this was his favourite!
Whitney Houston - It's Not Right But It's Okay
The New Radicals - You Get What You Give - I thought about getting this on 12" single recently, but {cough} that's never gonna happen with the prices I saw them going for on Discogs!
Shaft - (Mucho Mambo) Sway
Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away
Blur - Tender
Fatboy Slim - Right Here Right Now
Terrorvision - Tequilla
I can't pick one favourite here, as both of my sons were born within this window, so - with the precedent already set with joint-winners being added to our compilation - I'm going with...
Take That - 'Back For Good' & Baddiel, Skinner & Lightning Seeds - 'Three Lions' as my joint-favourites.
Cheers, Thankyou!
