“Reload” this site at the top level.

      

Welcome to The Music Page! Music’s quite a personal thing, and everyone has their own tastes regarding what they enjoy, so if what I have here isn’t your cup of tea, or bottle of pop, there’s no hard feelings of course. I like my music really vibrant, upbeat and happy. I want a song to make me feel good and hopefully to give me a buzz. But sometimes a good, epic ballad can give you other powerful emotions that really make it special as well. Sometimes feeling in awe can be just as great. I don’t go in for rap, opera that’s too snooty sounding or any songs with squeaky guitar fret noises. That’s just something that makes my blood curdle, because of the way my brain reacts to it, I guess.
I bought a lot of CDs around 1998, through to about 2001 or so, and then kind of took a break for about 8 years, before trying to see what Japanese music there was in 2009. Then in 2017 I got into Korean pop music, or K-Pop, as it’s abbreviated to. Now, in 2021, I’m trying to branch out further into whatever I can find. Although finding music in other languages can be pretty difficult, since I only speak English. That said, I’m going to try adding in some Japanese text here and there to make it easier if you want to search for stuff. Depending on what fonts you have installed for your operating system, this may not show up correctly. If you want a good one, try getting SimSun by the Zhongyi Electronic Company. It also has Chinese characters, Greek, Cyrillic & a bunch more. It is 10 MB though.
Also, if you’re looking for Japanese music, check out CD Japan. I had a good experience there with my Hi-Fi POPS CD from Oresama, and they seem very generous when it comes to discounts too.
Anyway, I’ll start with the older stuff, and work down to newer music. If I have time to add pictures or links to music videos elsewhere on the web, I’ll shove ’em in when I get a chance. Just click on any musical TV images to go to a video for the song. All external links will open in a new tab / window.

Performer:
Product Name:
Year:
Songs:
Comments:
Music Video Links:
(If applicable.)
Various
Ghostbusters 2 (sound track)
1989
1. On Our Own
2. Supernatural
3. The Promised Land
4. We’re Back
5. Spirit
6. Ghostbusters
7. Flesh ’N’ Blood
8. Love Is A Cannibal
9. Flip City
10. Higher & Higher
I was at my Nanna’s place @ Coogee when I got this. I think the movie’d been on the night before. It must’ve been around one of the final times at her place, after she’d passed on, going by the receipt. But I thought it might’ve been earlier. Anyway, this was my 1st CD! My family had only had a CD player for 2 years or so at this stage anyway. They were very expensive back then. Not like now.
I was hoping at the time that the CD might have the original Ghostbusters theme from the 1st movie, but it’s just the newer version. (Track 6.)
The cover has the Ghostbusters on it, and on the other side is another picture with Dana / Sigourney Weaver and 4 pictures from the movie. The inside is just the credits of who did the music.
As I remembered, I got this at David Jones in the main Sydney store, for $26.95 on the 7th of May, 1994. That receipt has gone incredibly brown after 28˝ years! (Since it’s now November, 2022.)
The usual “jewel” case with a black insert, and the CD itself is just reflective with big MCA writing, and the songs & stuff in black.
 
Adam Reily
Best Friend
(Single CD)
1995
1. The “Short Fling” Radio Edit
2. The “Met her in a club, but it didn’t last long” Club Mix Edit
3. The “Serious Relationship” Album Version
4. The “Met her in a club and it’s still going strong…” Extended Club Mix
5. The “I’d sail the seven verses” mix
6. The “Aren’t they some of the dubbest song names for a mix you’ve ever heard” Club Mix Dub
Adam Reily used to be the host of The Zone, which talked about video games in the early hours of the morning on the TV. Probably Saturday at 7:30 on Channel 9 if I can remember right. Anyway, he decided to leave the show, and not reveal that he was really Superman, but was going to get into music. (And after that, the show went down hill.) So of course I got his single CD too. As Muttley pointed out on the show, they’re all the same song. Mmm, but remixes as well. I like the 5th one, and the lyrics are quite amusing in places.
There is a music video for this, but I dunno if it’s on the ’net anywhere.
Adam also did a 10 track album called The Beginning, but you’d probably be hard pressed to find much about it, if you missed getting it, like I did.
(This one cost me $4.95 from Plaza Records [which used to be @ Penrith] on the 4th of June, 1995. The CD comes in a full size jewel case with a black CD holder.)
 
Various
Mortal Kombat (sound track)
1995
1. A Taste Of Things To Come
2. Gravity Kills — Goodbye
3. KMFDM — Juke-Joint Jezebel
4. Psykosonik — Unlearn
5. Traci Lords — Control
6. Oribital — Halycon + On + On
7. Utah Saints — Utah Saint Stake On The Theme From Mortal Kombat
8. G//Z/R — The Invisible
9. Fear Factory — Zero Signal
10. Sister Machine Gun — Burn
11. Type O’ Negative — Blood & Fire
12. Bile — I Reject
13. Napalm Death — Twist The Knife
14. Mutha’s Day Out — What U See / We All Bleed Red
15. The Immortals — Techno Syndrome 7 Mix
16. Goro vs Art
17. Demon Warriors / Final Kombat
I probably only got this for the main theme song for the movie. But it’s not even on there, from what I can tell from a quick re-listen. Yet some of the tracks listed, weren’t even in the movie! What a load of bull $#!+! I guess they just wanted to fill up the space with some of their fave tunes and forget about the main theme! A lot of the other stuff I’d never listen to in a squillion years. It’s interesting how there’s a performer called Traci Lords, for track 5, ’cos that was the name of Princess Grace’s character in High Society. I remember a few of the guys from back at high school who liked heavy metal music, wanting to hear this album. Although I haven’t played it for a while, so I’d forgotton what some of the tracks were like. I think some are more techno sounding.
(It’s the usual shmusual kind of box, with a black CD holder, [although I may’ve replaced it,] and the stony looking Mortal Kombat dragon on the front with the red eye.) I wouldn’t buy this ever again. If it cracks, tough titties. I should probably try & sell this one day.
 
       
The Steps Section:
 
Steps
5, 6, 7, 8
(Single CD)
1997
1. 5, 6, 7, 8 — Radio Edit
2. 5, 6, 7, 8 — Extended Version
3. Words Of Wisdom
4. 5, 6, 7, 8 — Instrumental
I don’t think I really liked this song at first. It was the beginning point for Steps, and they started with a line dancing style tune which became quite popular in Australia. I remember we had it at our year 12 formal in 1998, and I liked it by that stage. I missed out getting the CD for my Steps collection, and it wasn’t until December 2013 that I acquired it, from an online store called Vinyl Tap, in Britain.
This one came in a slim plastic case. It has the lyrics, but no dance moves. As this was 2nd hand, I don’t know if it once did.

(A lot of these aren’t as good in quality as what you’d get on Steps’ official DVDs and the like, but at least you can have a squizz all the same. )
Steps
Last Thing On My Mind
(Single CD)
1998
1. Last Thing On My Mind — Radio Edit
2. Last Thing On My Mind — Wip’t Up In The Disco Mix
3. A Love To Last
4. Last Thing On My Mind — Instrumental
5. 5, 6, 7, 8 — Radio Edit
My Mum beat me to it buying this, and I probably still do prefer this one more than 5, 6, 7, 8. This was originally done by another group. Sunscreem, was it? Somebody, anyway. Steps went to Cuba in the MV, and some of their outfits were pretty retro looking then. Especially Faye’s dealie by the pool. There’s a bit of a “nod” to ABBA in there as well, with views of Steps’ heads facing the camera, and with another looking side on.
This time the CD came in a cardboard sleeve thing, with a fold out sheet of paper with the dance moves.
Steps
One For Sorrow
(Single CD)
1998
1. One For Sorrow
2. One For Sorrow — W.I.P. Remix
3. One For Sorrow — Acapella Mix
I remember when the video for this came on, and I was like: Oh my gosh! It’s Steps. Quick, record that on my video! I LOVED this one, and I still do! It’s more of a ballad, so it didn’t really get as high up in the Australian charts. Although I think it did quite well in England. Steps go out for a beautiful day in Italy, although what you don’t see in the MV, is the sewage treatment facility and the hundreds of bugs that plagued them. Lisa got stung, and Faye had grasshoppers, or something, up her skirt. But they had to carry on and look happy. This CD came in a full size jewel case, and has a poster with the dance moves, which I had laminated.
I didn’t find an official link to this.

There is the Tony Moran Remix from You Drive Me Crazy though.
Steps
Step One
(Album CD)
1998
1. Steptro
2. Last Thing On My Mind
3. 5, 6, 7, 8
4. One For Sorrow
5. Heartbeat
6. This Heart Will Love Again
7. Experienced
8. Too Weak To Resist
9. Better Best Forgotten
10. Back To You
11. Love U More
12. Stay With Me
13. One For Sorrow (Remix)
I knew I really liked Steps, so I had to get their album! & I did, on my birthday in 1998. (15th of October.) I’d gone to Parramatta for the day to play games at Intencity, and I decided to get this CD as well from Grace Bros. What a great day that was! Unlike several other albums, I like all the songs on this CD, which made it a little more special for me.
Steptro is a short, 56 second introduction dealie, rather than a full proper song. The CD comes in a regular size “jewel” case with a transparent CD holder, so you can see the group on the back cover. The booklet has the lyrics to all the songs, comments from each member of Steps, and their thank you messages.
 
Steps
Heartbeat / Tragedy
(Single CD)
1998
1. Heartbeat
2. Tragedy
3. Heartbeat — Instrumental
This is a double A side offering from Steps, which is pretty much true, since CDs tend to only have 1 playable side anyway. Tragedy of course, wasn’t on Step One — it’s a redo of the Bee Gees’ song. In the MV, H & Lee went around to Faye, Claire & Lisa’s weddings, nicking off with them, and tying up their potential hubbies. Their real families also appeared. This one seemed to be shown more on Rage, but I think Video Hits showed Heartbeat @ one stage. This was a snowy one with a bit of a Christmas feeling at the end. Lisa reckoned she looked like Emma Peel. The vibrant red CD comes in a slim case with the moves for Tragedy inside the front cover. It also metions Steps’ official video, which at the time hadn’t come out.
Steps
Steps: The Video
(PAL VHS Video Cassette)
1998
1. Last Thing On My Mind
2. 5, 6, 7, 8
3. One For Sorrow
4. Love U More
5. Too Weak To Resist
6. Tragedy
7. Heartbeat
Obviously I have the Steps video! Although I put it on a DVD at the end of 2012, so it didn’t wear out. As well as all of the group’s MVs up until that point, you also get 2 songs performed just for the video; those being Love U More & Too Weak To Resist. Claire looks like she’s struggling to hold back the giggles at H in this one, which isn’t all that hard to imagine. As well as that, you get to hear Steps talk about other stuff from their couch. H performs at the circus, Lisa does a dance lesson with some kids, Claire shows you how to make her pasta dish, Lee goes to the gym, then plays around with some professional soccer chap, (— no, not in THAT manner —) and Faye shows you how she does her face make-up and a glitter tattoo. Plus there’s behind the scenes stuff for Tragedy and Heartbeat also.
 
Steps
Better Best Forgotten
(Single CDs)
1999
CD 1:
1. Better Best Forgotten — Radio Edit
2. Why?
3. Better Best Forgotten — W.I.P. ’99 Cream Of Manchester Mix
CD 2:
1. Better Best Forgotten — Radio Edit
2. Better Best Forgotten — Nip On The Dance Floor W.I.P. Mix
3. Better Best Forgotten — Instrumental
This time you got 2 CDs to choose from for the one song! Of course I chose them both! My folks actually sent them to me from England while they were over there. In the video, H & Lee try to organise and do the MV for the girls. While this was being done, Faye really got shards of glass in her bum, and a paramedic had to pick them all out. Ouch! The yellow background with their blue costumes on the covers goes really well together if you ask me. I’m not sure if the CDs were numbered as I have them, but # 2 as I have it, is also an enhanced CD, with the MV on it in some crusty frame rate and terrible compression. The inside of the cover has Steps facts, like their birthdays and stuff. The other CD has the dance moves instead.
This was the last song from Step One to come out as a single edition. There is a slight difference, with an extra “Better Best Forgotten” line in there, I think, compared with the album one.
The cases are the usual kind of standard single slim style.
Steps
Love’s Got A Hold On My Heart
(Single CDs)
1999
CD 1:
1. Love’s Got A Hold On My Heart
2. Love’s Got A Hold On My Heart — W.I.P. Off The Wall Mix
3. To Be Your Hero
CD 2:
1. Love’s Got A Hold On My Heart
2. Love’s Got A Hold On My Heart — Instrumental
3. Last Thing On My Mind — Wip’t Up In The Disco Mix (Instrumental)
Once again you got a choice of 2 CDs for the one song, and being the 1st one off the upcoming (at the time) Steptacular album, they probably sold quite a few copies of each version. This came out at around the end of my parents’ trip to America, Britain & Europe, so they brought them back with them. I probably had them some time in advance of other people in Australia though.
The MV had Steps trying to recover a movie from some shady dude.
CD 1, as I have it, is in a regular slim plastic case, and the 2nd one is in a cardboard cover, with a glued in plastic CD holder. The 2nd CD also has the video, but it’s only a portion of it, rather than the whole thing. They had plenty of room though. It’s a pity some of these videos couldn’t have been done as a Video CD or a Super Video CD, but then at that stage most of us were probably using VCRs and somewhat sluggish computers.
Steps
Steptacular
(Album CD)
1999
1. After The Love Has Gone
2. Say You’ll Be Mine
3. Tragedy
4. Love’s Got A Hold On My Heart
5. I Think It’s Love
6. Make It Easy On Me
7. Deeper Shade Of Blue
8. Movin’ On
9. Never Say Never Again
10. When I Said Goodbye
11. I Surrender
12. Since You Took Your Love Away
13. My Best Friend’s Girl
14. You’re Everything That Matters To Me
15. Just Like The First Time *
16. One For Sorrow — Tony Moran Remix. *

* Bonus tracks.
Perhaps calling it Step 2 would have been a bit too predictable and boring, so Steps went for a different title for their 2nd album. There are loads of great songs once again, and the only one that irks me is Say You’ll Be Mine, because of the squeaky guitar playing. But if it wasn’t for that, it’d be just as fabbo. You could also win a trip to London as Jive’s International Ambassador.
The CD comes in a regular “jewel” case with a transparent disc holder, and it was $24.95 from HMV.
The booklet dealie is a fold out sheet with the lyrics and thanks messages from Steps.
 
Steps
After The Love Has Gone
(Single CD)
1999
1. After The Love Has Gone
2. After The Love Has Gone — W.I.P. Mix
3. My Best Friend’s Girl
4. One For Sorrow — Tony Moran “7” Remix
This is actually a “double A side” single dealie, with the Tony Moran Remix of One For Sorrow. Steps have gone for an Asian vibe, featuring some martial arts, with even Lee throwing in a bit of a fancy kick in the MV. They all look great in their green-ish outfits, and the moves are pretty impressive also. It wasn’t until I got my Steps: The Ultimate Collection CD & DVD that I could finally watch all the MV, since I never had much luck recording all of it from the TV back in the day.
As for the remix of One For Sorrow, this is completely different visually from the original, and probably more perky sounding too. From what I recall, I think Britney Spears’ clout got this added to You Drive Me Crazy, since she’d made friends with Steps when they met, or something.
Steps
Say You’ll Be Mine / Better The Devil You Know
(Single CD)
1999
1. Say You’ll Be Mine
2. Better The Devil You Know
3. Better The Devil You Know — 2T’s 2 Go Mix
I got this in January 2000, but the dates on the CD say 1999.
Back when I got this, I guess the squeaky guitar fret business (in Say You’ll Be Mine) didn’t bother me, but now, it’s like people running their nails down a blackboard or rubbing wet rubber gloves together. It makes my skin crawl. Sorry, Steps, but my brain just can’t handle that sound.
As for B.T.D.Y.K., this was also done by Kylie Minogue, and the video is from one of Steps’ concerts. I think it’s the same one on their 2nd video cassette, if I recall.
The CD has a hybrid “data track” as well for your PC / Mac, although it’s mostly filled up with more junk than content by the look of it. The Say You’ll Be Mine video is a MPEG 1 video at 25 f.p.s., but you only get a brief sample of it. (And none of B.T.D.Y.K.) Then there’s the audio tracks again as WAV files, because you can play them from the program on the disc. I tried it on my Power Mac G5, and it runs okay in Classic. You need System 7.5 minimum, or Windows ’95 for a PC. But you could play the MPG file in whatever if you wanted. I reckon you should’ve got the whole of both MVs, since you paid for the CD and all.
This one cost me $4.95 from HMV on the 20th of January.
Steps
The Next Step Live
(PAL VHS Video Cassette)
1999
1. Love’s Got A Hold On My Heart
2. Last Thing On My Mind
3. When I Said Goodbye
4. After The Love Has Gone
5. Deeper Shade Of Blue
6. We’re Gonna Have A Party
7. Since You Took Your Love Away
8. Heartbeat
9. One For Sorrow
10. Careless Whisper
11. I Think It’s Love
12. Ghostbusters
13. Better Best Forgotten
14. 5, 6, 7, 8
15. Just Like The First Time
16. Say You’ll Be Mine
17. Better The Devil You Know
18. Tragedy
It’s Halloween in Manchester and you’re invited to take a front row seat for a Steptacular entertainment experience!
Yes! Get the views of a packed out Steps concert & hear that crowd go wild!
The entire show goes for about 1 hour 43 minutes & 30 seconds, so cancel that dodgy date, and pull up a couch in your lounge room!
This is also the show that the MV for Better The Devil You Know was from. I never really had any crushes on the Steps ladies, but Lisa looks really great at this performance. It kind of felt like Steps at their prime for me, watching this. Steptacular had also gone to #1 in Britain on that night too apparently.
Get ready for lots of that woo-woo! business, and also check out a song Lee did on his own, which was refreshing. I don’t think we ever heard enough of his singing within the group.
At 1 hour & 31 minutes, you get to go behind the scenes for what’s involved in the live shows, including meeting the dancers, looking at clothes with Claire, & how Lee gets prepared. H goes around talking to people, with plenty of funny comments from him and various support staff.
I whacked this one on a DVD too, in case my video wore out. Plus it’s more convenient as well.
In terms of the video quality, most of the show appears to only be of half the usual PAL resolution, vertically, like it was de-interlaced by discarding one field. I dunno if there’s an official DVD version, which is better, or not.
 
Steps
Deeper Shade Of Blue
(Single CD)
2000
1. Radio Edit
2. W.I.P. Mix
3. Sleaze Sisters Anthem Mix
I got this one imported from HMV @ the Mid City Centre in Sydney. (Don’t bother looking for that now.) They already had it in stock, but it obviously wasn’t an Aussie release. It cost me $15.95!
Luckily, you get the WHOLE music video this time; not just a portion of it. Huzzah! Plus, it’s a 352 × 288 pixel resolution jobbie @ 25 f.p.s., so better than the likes of Better Best Forgotten from the previous year. (This is probably PAL Video CD quality.)
Steps look all blue of course, and they dress up in some pretty whacky outfits, maybe to convey the emotions of the song a bit better.
Steps
Stomp
(Single CD)
2000
1. Stomp
2. Stomp — W.I.P. Mix
3. Stomp — Stomp’n Remix
4. Tragedy — W.I.P. Reception Mix
I think this is the 1st single from Buzz. This is one of my Mum’s that’s currently under my care.
 
Steps
Buzz
(Album CD)
2000
1. Stomp
2. It’s The Way You Make You Feel
3. Buzzz
4. Here And Now
5. Happy Go Lucky
6. Summer Of Love
7. Better The Devil You Know
8. You’ll Be Sorry
9. Learn To Love Again
10. Never Get Over You
11. Hand On Your Heart
12. Paradise Lost
13. Turn Around
14. If You Believe
15. Wouldn’t Hurt So Bad (Bonus)
16. Human Touch (Bonus)
My Mum wasn’t waiting ’round for me to buy another Steps album, so she got this for herself. Like the 1st 2 albums, this one is another winner. The cover on the Aussie version is different from the British release. This one being more black & red and serious, compared with the alternate rendition.
 
Steps
It’s The Way You Make Me Feel
(Single CD)
2000
1. It’s The Way You Make Me Feel
2. Too Busy Thinking About My Baby
3. In It For Love
This is a real classy looking one, and I hadn’t seen the MV until I got my Ultimate Collection DVD in 2013-ish. In fact I didn’t get this single until then either. I bought it together with 5, 6, 7, 8, from Vinyl Tap’s online store. Faye looks really good with her hair like that, H has gone… I dunno… softly spiky, and Lisa had braces on her teeth. She must’ve figured they needed straightening up a bit. Anyway, the music video feels like something out of a Jane Austen movie in terms of style.
That blonde sheila sure looked like she’d have liked to have gone back to Lee’s room with his key.
This song comes from Steps’ 3rd album, Buzz, which my Mum beat me to buying, ’cos uh… I’d lost a bit of my interest in Steps at that stage. Sorry, Steps! I love you again now. Hee hee. Anyway, the CD is gold looking, and has gone a bit “aged” in places. It was 2nd hand after all. Anyway, I backed it up to FLAC files for preservation purposes.
The cover has the lyrics inside for the main song, and also Too Busy Thinking About My Baby. A good one for when the ladies got pregnant no doubt. It also mentions another video (cassette) from Steps, when they were live at Wembley, which I don’t have.
Steps
Here And Now / You’ll Be Sorry
(Single CD)
2001
1. Here And Now — SoundTrade Mix
2. Here And Now — Sleaze Sisters Anthem Mix
3. Here And Now — Almighty Mix
4. You’ll Be Sorry — The Pardon Mix
5. You’ll Be Sorry — W.I.P. Bach To Classics Mix
6. Just Like The First Time
Another one of Mumsy’s in my care, as it were. Just Like The First Time was also on Steptacular, but it may have been an Australian exclusive track.
 
Steps
Chain Reaction
(Single CD)
2001
1. Chain Reaction
2. One For Sorrow (Tony Moran again!)
3. Stop Me From Loving You
One of the Mumster’s again. You get the dance moves inside & the lyrics at the bottom. I think this was one of the 1st CDs to have the Steps logo like what it is now.
This song was written by the Bee Gees, and I think Diana Ross sang it.
Steps
Gold: Greatest Hits
(Album CD)
2001
1. Tragedy
2. One For Sorrow
3. Stomp
4. Deeper Shade Of Blue
5. Love’s Got A Hold On My Heart
6. Last Thing On My Mind
7. Summer Of Love
8. 5, 6, 7, 8
9. Chain Reaction
10. Baby Don’t Dance
11. It’s The Way You Make Me Feel
12. After The Love Has Gone
13. Say You’ll Be Mine
14. Only In My Dreams
15. Words Are Not Enough
16. 5, 6, 7, 8 — Extended Mix (Bonus)
17. Tragedy — W.I.P. Remix (Bonus)
One of Mumso’s ones again. Apart from the writing around the centre of the CD, the rest is plain gold, and it gathers finger prints like crazy. As does the back cover of the booklet. I probably wouldn’t’ve bought it myself, since I had most of the songs on here anyhow.
(This one was $28.95 from HMV, and the CD comes in a regular case with a transparent CD holder.)
 
Steps
Light Up The World
(Album CD)
2012
1. History Is Made At Night
2. Overjoyed
3. It May Be Winter Outside
4. One Less Bell To Answer
5. A House Is Not A Home
6. Light Up The World
7. When She Loved Me
8. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
9. Please Come Home For Christmas
10. Have Yourself A Merry Christmas
After H & Claire decided they were going to quit from Steps in 2001, it looked like it was sadly all over for the group. Faye had to hold back her tears for the concert that night and there were some bitter feelings as well. Luckily, they got it together (like a decade later) and rejoined. Claire’d struggled with her weight in the previous years, but managed to get herself fit again. A Christmas CD from Steps is something I always wanted, and at last we had one! Not only that, but it’s got Randy Newman’s When She Loved Me from Toy Story 2. Wow! This just gets better! I really like that song. Having Steps sing it makes any Christmas just so much more magical.
Light Up The World & possibly some of the other tracks seem a bit over amplified, like a lot of music companies tend to sadly do to their music these days. The wave form looks like it was sliced off with a hedge trimmer, with the peaks all being clipped.
The CD is in a regular jewel case with a transparent disc holder. The cover is only 2 sheets of paper, with thank you messages and pictures of Steps. There was also information on how to personalise your album too.
 
       
The B★Witched Section:
 
BWitched
C’est La Vie
(Single CD)
1998
1. C’est La Vie
2. K-Klass Epic Klub Remix
3. Skynet Glass Palace Vocal Mix
4. Dog In The River Mix
BWitched’s 1st single was a big success in Australia, and it’s no surprise, with its perky, cheery sound and vibrant music video. You have to love the Irish elements in there & the group’s magical… uh… things. Lindsay wiggling her nose, and twinkly bits.
I got semi-diddled out of meeting / seeing BWitched on the 31st of October, 1998. I went to the re-opening of a restaurant (— or change of ownership, really —) in Penrith, only to find out later that they’d been performing at Westfield, Hurstville on the same day! (Then in 2002, Westlife were performing in a joint next door to the hotel I was at in Britain somewhere.)
BWitched
Rollercoaster
(Single CD)
1998
1. Rollercoaster
2. Get Happy
3. BWitched Go To The Moon
BWitched’s 2nd single is another winner, and those double stick ice blocks look delicious! The CD also has the MV, but only at 15 f.p.s., a message from the group, some photos, one of which somehow has an asterisk in the file name, and you can even run a program for Windows 3. (You can use a program like ISO Buster to extract the weirdly named image and rename it.)
Like the 1st single from the group, this one has a regular slim plastic box.
BWitched
To You I Belong
(Single CD)
1998
1. To You I Belong
2. To You I Belong — Amen UK 12 Inch Mix
3. To You I Belong — The Wide Slam Mix
4. Fly Away
5. Rollercoaster (Amen Mix)
To You I Belong moves away from the 1st 2 perky, happy tunes BWitched did, and goes onto a beautiful ballad. This one really brings back great memories of that time for me when I heard it originally. It didn’t do so well on the charts in Australia, unfortunately, compared with the 1st 2 singles. (This one comes in a full size jewel case with a black holder piece.) There’s no bonus MV on here this time ’round, but you do get bonus stickers inside. I didn’t use mine, so they’re still in there.
BWitched
BWitched
(Album CD)
1998
1. Let’s Go (The BWitched Jig)
2. C’est La Vie
3. Rev It Up
4. To You I Belong
5. Rollercoaster
6. Blame It On The Weatherman
7. We Four Girls
8. Castles In The Air
9. Freak Out
10. Like The Rose
11. Never Giving Up
12. Oh Mr Postman
BWitched’s 1st album is great, and the vibrant orange cover is just as perky. You also get the music videos for C’est La Vie & Rollercoaster in MPEG 1 format at 25 f.p.s. @ a resolution of 352 × 272 pixels. So, not too bad really for back then, when it came to bonus content of this nature. There’s also a 1240 × 1754 pixel BMP “poster” file. It’s probably more suited to an A4 size piece of paper than a huge poster though.
Let’s Go is just a short introduction of 1 minute & 24 seconds.
 
BWitched
Blame It On The Weatherman
(Single CD)
1999
1. Blame On The Weatherman
2. Together We’ll Be Fine
3. Blame It On The Weatherman — Orchestral Version
4. Blame It On The Weatherman — Amen Club Mix
5. Blame It On The Weatherman — Chicane Vocal Edit
This is a great title. Those freakin’ weather people never get it right, so yep! Blame it all on them. I think I only saw the MV for this about once on Rage. Unfortunately, I don’t think it got too high in the charts, despite all the other cr@p that did. The CD comes with 5 bonus tattoos. (The CD case is a regular slim style.) This was the last single (as far as I know) from BWitched’s 1st album.
BWitched
Jesse Hold On
(Single CD)
1999
1. Jesse Hold On
2. Coming Around Again
3. Jesse Hold On — Karaoke Version
4. Jesse Hold On — The Bold & The Beautiful Glamourmix
5. Jesse Hold On — The HB Source Upfront Mix
BWitched do some dancing around the railway tracks in America this time in the MV. This one’s from their 2nd album, Awake & Breathe. It feels maybe a touch more mild than their first singles, of C'est La Vie & Rollercoaster. Although, I think it was this one (Or was it Jump Down?) that I added to my song line up in Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, which had other ones from the group.
BWitched
Awake & Breathe
(Album CD)
1999
1. If It Don’t Fit
2. Jesse Hold On
3. I Shall Be There
4. Jump Down
5. Someday
6. Leaves
7. The Shy One
8. Red Indian Girl
9. It Was Our Day
10. My Superman
11. Are You A Ghost?
12. In Fields Where We Lay
BWitched’s 2nd album has a magical, planty kind of cover. There’s a good mix of upbeat tunes and ballads. The CD comes in a regular jewel case, and you can find all the lyrics in the pamphlet / cover wotsit. I’ve still got my receipt, it seems, and this one cost me $24.95 from Grace Bros, on the 24th of November, 1999.
 
BWitched
Jump Down
(Single CD)
2000
1. Jump Down
2. Jump Down — The Bold & The Beautiful In Memphis Mix
3. Jump Down — Almighty Definitive Mix
This is a great, cheery song, and the ladies dance it out in some kind of tunnel that seems to be partially computer generated, or something. You get the MV on the CD as well, and surprise surprise, it’s of a fairly decent quality too! Not the full resolution you’d get if you saw it on TV, but it’s 25 f.p.s. and in MPEG 1 compression. In fact, they put it on there twice. Plus there’s also a live video of Leaves. Ooh, and bonus stickers again as well.
(This is a regular slim CD case presentation.)
 
       
The Mandy Moore Section:
 
Mandy Moore
Candy
(Single CD)
1999
1. Candy
2. Candy — George Calle Radio Remix
3. Candy — Hex Hector Radio Mix
4. Candy — Santana Radio
5. Album Snippets
Mandy Moore’s very 1st single, back when she was probably too young to perv at. It’s a good, cheery choon, and the video’s got one of those new Volkswagen Beetle cars, which were all the rage then.
You get bonus stickers with the CD, but only 1 of Mandy. The others are of Jessica Simpson, Will Smith, Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin, Destiny’s Child, Macy Gray, Coco Lee & Jennifer Lopez.
 
Mandy Moore
I Wanna Be With You
(Single CD)
2000
1. I Wanna Be With You
2. Let Me Be The One
3. Candy — Rhythm Masters Club Mix
4. I Wanna Be With You — Soul Solution Remix — Extended
Mandy got this one into the movie, Centre Stage, which I think I may’ve seen a bit of on the TV yonks ago. This one has a bit of a dreamy contemplating feeling, like Crush. So it’s appropriate to the emotions of wanting somebody. And if you had a crush on Mandy, well you’d probably be really swooning.
(Slim single case. $4.05 from Big W when I got it.)
 
Mandy Moore
In My Pocket
(Single CD)
2001
1. In My Pocket — Album Version
2. I Wanna Be With You
3. In My Pocket — Hex Hector Main “7” Mix
4. In My Pocket — Thunderpuss Club Mix
This starts off with a sound that reminds me of the music from Shenmue 2. The music video has that Asian theme as well, to go with the sound of the song. I remember that people used to think Mandy was singing “nothing but panties in my pocket,” but it’s “pennies.” You get the lyrics on the back of the cover sheet / inlay thingo too.
The disc is kind of metallic — one of those ones that shows up everywhere you got your fingers on it.
(This CD was $4.95 from HMV, and it’s a pretty regular slim CD case.)
Mandy Moore
Crush
(Single CD)
2001
1. Crush — Remix
2. Crush — Album Version
3. In My Pocket — Brandnew Remix
4. Album Mix “Tape”
This is a pleasant song. It has a bit of a longing feeling about it, I reckon, rather than something super perky. Perhaps that helps describe the emotions of the lyrics a bit as well. There’s a nice bit around 2 minutes also.
(This CD comes in a standard slim case.)
 
       
The Five Section:
 
Five
Five
(Album CD)
1998
1. Slam Dunk Da Funk
2. When The Lights Go Out
3. Everybody Get Up
4. Got The Feelin’
5. It’s The Things You Do
6. Human (The Five Remix)
7. Until The Time Is Through
8. Satisfied
9. Partyline 555-On-Line
10. That’s What You Told Me
11. It’s All Over
12. Don’t You Want It
13. Shake
14. Cold Sweat
15. Straight Up Funk
16. My Song
17. You And I (Bonus)
18. Can You Jam (Bonus)
Since it’s Five, the CD actually has 55 tracks on it, and track 55 is an actual song that’s unlisted on the box. It’s called Switch.
I’ve got some good memories of Five, but I’m in 2 minds if I’d still go for their style of music now in 2021.
There’s a line in When The Lights Go Out where they sing: “… is just kickin’ it with you, girl.” But to me it sounds more like the skeggy neggy chooga. & I always crack a smile when I hear that. Everybody Get Up had some oomph to it, and the MV with all the school people having some fun with Five seemed like a better idea than their exams. I reckon the old supervisor geezer should have had a bigger shock though, considering what they did to the hall.
Got The Feelin’s a really good one. It’s got a good vibe about it.
I’m not too keen on Human, but I love good old Until The Time Is Through. The MV for this one was great as well. Maybe Rich should’ve played this when his relationship with Billie Piper ended. I think there are some minor differences between this and the single version of the song also.
Track 9’s a pretty good tune, 17’s a bit of a ballad jobbie, and I’m not sure if I could be bothered commenting on the rest of them. I reckon the 1st half of the CD is stronger than the 2nd.
(I got this one on the 18th of November, 1999 for $19.95 at HMV.)
 
Five
Until The Time Is Through
(Single CD)
1999
1. Until The Time Is Through — Radio Edit
2. Stop Pushing Me
3. Five Megamix
4. Exclusive Interview
When I looked at the case for this recently, I noticed it was written by Max Martin, so I thought: “Ah. This is why it was so good!” The single CD version of this song is a redone dealie by Scott & Rich, so it sounds slightly different compared with the album rendition.
Abs looks like the king of the castle on the front cover, with his red shirt and posh chair. Was J really comfortable with that huge snake in the MV?
(It’s regular shregular slim CD case dealie here. I got this on the 27th of April 1999 from Grace Bros.)
       
The S Club 7 Section:
 
S Club 7
Bring It All Back
(Single CD)
1999
1. Bring It All Back
2. So Right
3. Bring It All Back — K-Klass Club Mix
S Club 7 were considered a huge group with their 4 girls and 3 boys. People should think again with some of these new Korean groups that have about twice that.
Their first single is super cheery, and has them right on the beach. The group acually had a TV show that they did in America, but I think I only ever saw 1 episode of it.
I kind of thought Hannah Spearritt was really cute in this one, and she looked amazing in Two In A Million as well. I’ve gone off her though now. Sorry, Hannah. I later saw her in Marple: At Bertram’s Hotel. Anyway, Tina was probably the other looker of the group, although Rachel Stevens was apparently quite popular too.
I was given a bunch of photocopied stuff and another 2 page biography from Grace Bros at Penrith in the group’s early days, which I still have. I think it was so the staff could talk about the group.
Unlike S Club 7’s later singles, which pretty much always came in a cardboard sleeve, this one comes in a plastic single case.
You get the MV on the CD, but it’s only 12 f.p.s. at 320 × 240 pixels, so nothing too amazing.
(This cost me $4.95 from Grace Bros on the 16th of September, 1999.)
S Club 7
S Club Party
(Single CD)
1999
1. S Club Party
2. Viva La Fiesta
3. Our Time Has Come
4. Bring It All Back
There ain’t no party like a S Club party! And the group went back 40 years in time and drove about in some retro cars. This one has a lot of that woo-woo! business that was a bit too popular at the time. If you didn’t know everybody’s names, the MV also tells you. You get to see it on the CD, but it’s only at 12 f.p.s., so get ready for jerk-o-vision. It also says: “PC only” on the back of the cardboard sleeve dealie. Well, I went ahead & tried it on my Mac anyway! For starters, QuickTime can’t play the video, as it doesn’t have the Indeo codec installed by default. Not even in Mac OS X Leopard. But it will play in VLC of course. There is a trick to get the biographies and lyrics stuff happening though! Copy all the contents to your hard drive, and then copy over the Mac program from Reach. (If you have it.) When you run the Reach program, the stuff for S Club Party will load up instead! But yeah, the video won’t play.
You can get support for it in QuickTime (outside of the program from the CD), if you download these extensions (— the Indeo ones in particular). (This all requires support for Classic / Mac OS ~8 on a PowerPC CPU.)
 
S Club 7
Two In A Million
(Single CD)
2000
1. Two In A Million — Boyfriends & Birthdays Version
2. Two In A Million
3. S Club Party — Jason Nevins’ Club Mix
I said Hannah Spearritt looked good in this one, so let’s have a piccie from the MV of her with Tina Barrett! This is another great single of course, and the whole group get really swanky at the end of the music video too. You also get this on the CD, but it’s like crust-ola 12 f.p.s. again.
This song’s a bit more mellow perhaps, compared to some of the group’s other tunes, but there’s still some powerful singing from Jo in there.
(This one had the usual cardboard sleeve, like most of S Club 7’s other single CDs, and it cost me $4.95.)
S Club 7
Reach
(Single CD)
2000
1. Reach
2. Reach — Eiffel 65 Edit
3. I’ll Be There
If this one doesn’t put a smile on your face, you’re a miserable, old, tasteless git! S Club 7 rock up in town and brighten up everyone’s depression in the MV, and you should feel better even if you’re already perky!
The CD has the video as a bonus, but it’s a puny thing at 320 × 143 pixels, and only at 15 f.p.s. too. It was lucky I got all of it on Rage then.
The cover also has a sticker saying this is the 1st hit to be taken from the new album “7”, which was to come out on the 28th of August. (Hey, that’s today! Uh, but like 21 years later.)
S Club 7
Don’t Stop Movin’
(Single CD)
2001
1. Don’t Stop Movin’
2. Don’t Stop Movin’ — Pants ’N’ Corset Club (Remix?)
3. Don’t Stop Movin’ — Trisco Remix
I forgot I had this CD. Maybe because I kept looking for those regular S Club 7 cardboard covers. This one comes in a regular slim, plastic CD case again. A bit more expensive too, at $6.55 from Big W.
This song really gets stuck in your head, and I reckon it has a bit of a retro feel about it also. Which probably means it’s even more retro, 20 years on. Bradley gets more of a prominent performance in this one, but of course Jo’s powerful voice is still there in the forefront.
You also get the video twice on the CD. As a 400 × 300 pixel Cinepak compressed jobbie at only 15 f.p.s. in a MOV container (with mono audio), and a 352 × 288 pixel MPG 1 video at 25 f.p.s. So take your pick. I definitely think the MPEG one is better quality really.
There’s also a bonus 800 × 600 pixel wallpaper image, but it’s only in 8 bit colour, unfortunately. There’s a little program for Windows, which probably sets it directly to your wallpaper image, but you can extract it instead, with WinZip, WinRAR or 7-Zip.
Mac users however, will get the image as a 24 bit colour JPEG image! (I guess it pays to have both Mac & Windows operating systems.)
Also, the Read Me file instructs you to put the CD into your drive. LOL! How else are you reading it then?!
       
The Dream Section:
 
Dream
He Loves U Not
(Single CD)
2001
1. He Loves U Not — Radio Mix
2. He Loves U Not — Remix (Featuring G.Dep)
3. He Loves U Not — Ingroove Club Mix
4. He Loves U Not — HQ˛ Club Mix
5. He Loves U Not — Meeker & MC Supplier 2 Step Garage Mix
The Dream girlies sure were eye catching. Especially Melissa Schuman. This was the group’s 1st single CD, which appeared on their album, It Was All A Dream. I also really liked their 2nd single, This Is Me, but I ended up buying their album rather than the single by that stage.
 
Dream
It Was All A Dream
(Album CD)
2001
1. It Was All A Dream (Intro)
2. He Loves You Not
3. In My Dreams
4. This Is Me
5. I Don’t Like Anyone
6. Reality (Interlude)
7. Pain
8. When I Get There
9. What We Gonna Do About Us
10. Jordan (Interlude)
11. Mr. Telephone Man
12. Angel Inside
13. Do You Wanna Dance
14. Miss You
15. Our Prayer (Interlude)
16. How Long
17. He Loves You Not (Remix)
This album’s a bit of a mixed bag, especially now in 2021 when my tastes have changed somewhat. I probably like about ˝ of it.
The CD comes in a usual “jewel” style case with a transparent holder, and the booklet has a metallic kind of surface on the back, which tarnishes badly with finger prints. There’s some nice pictures of the girlies, but no lyrics. The songs in green are the ones I probably don’t like as much, and some of these are just short interlude ones.
 
       
The A1 Section:
 
A1
Take On Me
(Single CD)
2000
1. Take On Me
2. Take On Me — Metro Extended Club Mix
3. Take On Me — D-Bop — Saturday Night Mix
4. I Got Sunshine
This is a cover of A-Ha’s song. The music video’s a bit daft, if you ask me, but the song’s good. That high note is quite tricky to hit if you try it. Well, it is for me.
The CD has the MV included, and it’s thankfully a 25 f.p.s. MPEG 1 jobbie.
($4.75 from HMV, and the regular kind of slim plastic CD case.)
 
A1
Same Old Brand New You
(Single CD)
2000
1. Same Old Brand New You
2. One In Love
3. Funkin’ Up (Extended Mix)
4. Same Old Brand New You — Almighty 12 Definitive Mux
This is quite a catchy song. Ben, Mark, Paul & Christian look quite hands-on at a service station, while this smug woman who’s probably screwed them over in the story of the song, sits around looking cheeky and flirting with some other guy. Maybe she’s looking different, but deep down, she’s the same old person.
This is the usual slim-line CD case with the lyrics in the front sleeve dealie. This one cost me $4.05 from Big W back in the day.
       
The Billie Section:
 
Billie (Piper)
Honey To The Bee
(Single CD)
1999
1. Radio Edit
2. Acoustic Version
3. Delakota Mix
I was never really gaga about Billie, but this one was a pretty good song, and the MV was rather intriguing with lots of shiny, computer animated stuff.
The CD has the MV at a decent resolution, but only at 15 f.p.s. You also get an exclusive poster folded up inside, and that’s where mine still is as well. Hey, I’ve run out of room for any more posters.
($4.95 from HMV. Usual slim transparent plastic CD case.)
Billie Piper
Day & Night
(Single CD)
2000
1. Stargate Mix
2. Almighty Club Mix
3. Robbie Rivera’s Bombastic Vocal Mix
This was one of Billie’s better songs, I reckon. It was partially written by her & a bunch of other people. The bonus video was actually of a decent resolution too, but the frame rate was only like 15 f.p.s. I got this one for $4.95 from HMV on the 5th of June, 2000.

(I don’t think this link’s all that official.)
       
The Britney Spears Section:
 
Britney Spears
…Baby One More Time
(Album CD)
1999
1. …Baby One More Time
2. (You Drive Me) Crazy
3. Sometimes
4. Soda Pop
5. Born To Make You Happy
6. From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart
7. I Will Be There
8. I Will Still Love You (Duet With Don Philip)
9. Deep In My Heart
10. Thinkin’ About You
11. E-Mail My Heart
12. The Beat Goes On
13. I’ll Never Stop Loving You
14. Autumn Goodbye
15. …Baby One More Time — David Ospina Radio Mix
16. …Baby One More Time — Boy Wunder Radio Mix
This was of course, Britney Spears’ 1st album. I remember going to Penrith to get it, not long after Sometimes had come out. Tracks 13 to 16 are bonus ones, which according to the sticker, are exclusive to the Australian version.
The front cover actually folds right out, and on the back, it mentions QuickTime and stuff to do with Macromedia, even though there’s no bonus computer viewable stuff on there. So maybe that was on the American version?
The single CDs almost came out in order from the album too. Track 1, 3, 2, 5 and then 6. Although the single version of (You Drive Me) Crazy, was the Stop Remix, so it sounds different from the original.
(This one cost $23.50, and it comes in a transparent jewel case, including the disc holding part.)
 
Britney Spears
Sometimes
(Single CD)
1999
1. Sometimes — Radio Edit
2. Sometimes — Soul Solution (Mid Tempo Mix)
3. I’m So Curious
My folks got this for me while they were overseas that year. This one has a yellow cover and CD as opposed to the white version that was released in Australia.
Anyway, I LOVED this song at the time. Oh, it was so good! I’ve probably played it to death though, so it’s been a while since I had it on.
It’s a regular slim single CD case presentation, with the lyrics inside the cover sheet dealie. Britney looks cute on the front, and I wanna give her a hug.
(This one was Ł3.99 from Our Price in England somewhere.)
 
Britney Spears
(You Drive Me) Crazy — The Stop Remix!
1999
1. (You Drive Me) Crazy — The Stop Remix!
2. (You Drive Me) Crazy — The Stop Remix! (Instrumental)
3. I’ll Never Stop Loving You
Obviously as this is The Stop Remix!, it’s slightly different from the album version of this song. This was in the movie, Drive Me Crazy, which I never saw. This is why Melissa Joan Hart’s in the MV.
(Usual single CD case. Orange CD. About $7.45 from Big W, I think. The receipt is so faded after 22 years, I can barely read it.)
 
Britney Spears
Born To Make You Happy
(Single CD)
1999
1. Born To Make You Happy — Radio Edit
2. Born To Make You Happy — Bonus Remix
3. (You Drive Me) Crazy — Jazzy Jim’s Hip-Hop Mix
I got this as an imported CD, since it wasn’t released for Australia. I think it was only supposed to be for Europe. So it was years later before I saw the MV for it. (This one cost me $20, and I probably got it from Red Eye Records in Sydney. The receipt doesn’t say. It’s in a regular slim CD case, and the disc has a mottled aqua appearance, which is most likely a reflection of Britney’s metallic outfit on the cover.)
Britney Spears
From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart
(Single CD)
2000
1. From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart
2. (You Drive Me) Crazy — Jazzy Jim’s Hip-Hop Mix
3. Thinkin’ About You
4. Sometimes Answering Machine Message
I think this was the last single from Britney’s 1st album.
(I got this on the 31st of January, 2000, for $9.95 @ HMV. It’s the usual shmusual slim plastic case.)
Britney Spears
Oops!… I Did It Again
(Single CD)
2000
1. Oops!… I Did It Again — Album Version
2. Oops!… I Did It Again — Instrumental
3. From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart — Ospina’s Millenium Funk Mix
4. Deep In My Heart
Britney’s 1st single from her 2nd album was a winner, especially with Max Martin as one of the main composers. I remember her saying how that red outfit in the MV made her sweat in places she didn’t think it was possible. (This cost me $9.95 from HMV on the 7th of May, 2000. The CD comes in a standard slim, transparent plastic case.)
 
Britney Spears
Oops!… I Did It Again — Special Edition
(Album CDs)
2001
CD 1:
1. Oops!… I Did It Again
2. Stronger
3. Don’t Go Knockin’ On My Door
4. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
5. Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know
6. What U See Is What U Get
7. Lucky
8. One Kiss From You
9. Where Are You Now
10. Can’t Make You Love Me
11. When Your Eyes Say It
12. Girl In The Mirror
13. You Got It All
14. Heart
15. Dear Diary
CD 2:
1. Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know
2. Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know — Hex Hector Radio Mix
3. Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know — Hex Hector Club Mix
4. Stronger — MacQuayle Mix Show Edit
5. Stronger — Pablo La Rosa’s Tranceformation
This special edition of Britney’s 2nd album has a bonus CD of remixes, as you can see to the left, plus the music videos for Oops!… I Did It Again, Lucky, Stronger & Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know. All the videos are of MPEG 1 type at 25 f.p.s. in a resolution of 320 × 240 pixels.
All the songs are great, especially What U See Is What U Get, Stronger, Lucky, and Where Are You Now. Of course Oops!… I Did It Again is great as well.
(This one was $28.95 from HMV, and it comes in a regular album size CD case, with one of those awful flipping CD holders that will eventually snap off, due to the thing just using a thin join of plastic to make it bend. There’s also an outer cardboard cover to distinguish it between the S.E. and the regular album.)
 
Britney Spears
I’m A Slave 4 U
(Single CD)
2001
1. I’m A Slave 4 U — Main Version
2. I’m A Slave 4 U — Instrumental
3. Intimidated
This one of the most bloody awful songs I have in my collection, and I think I only got this CD ’cos I liked Britney’s previous stuff. This marked the ending point for my interest in Britney, and I never got her 3rd album. The main song is just really flat, boring and uninspired. A real let down from the earlier stuff Britney was singing, because it feels like she just went down hill at this point.
As for Intimidated, it’s the better song on here, but there are a few aspects of it that aren’t the best either.
($4.95 from HMV.)
 
Britney Spears
Overprotected
(Single CD)
2001
1. Overprotected — Album Version
2. Overprotected — JS16 Remix
3. I’m A Slave 4 U — Thunderpuss MixShow Edit (The Remix)
I’m not sure if this one was after I’m A Slave 4 U, or what. Anyway, it’s much better. Oh, written by Max Martin. That would explain it. Maybe it’s not quite his best song, but you can definitely hear his style in there.
(Ł4.99 from HMV in Britain. Huh?! Did I get this in 2002 when I was overseas?)
 
       
The Christina Aguilera Section:
 
Christina Aguilera
Genie In A Bottle
(Single CD)
1999
1. Genie In A Bottle
2. We’re A Miracle
3. Don’t Make Me Love You
Ah yes, Christina Aguilera’s 1st single. I remember the music video of this. She was pretty good looking too, and I love chicks with blonde hair. (She’s only about 2 months and 3 days younger than me.)
The song’s good, and memorable, but I wouldn’t say it’s overly cheery.
Track 2’s a strong kind of ballad kind of song, and it’s a good show off for Christina’s powerful voice. It’s been quite a while since I played this one. As for track 3, this is another good perky kind of song. It could stand fairly well on its own.
(I got this from K-Mart in Lismore [in Australia of course — not the one in Ireland], in early October, 1999. It was $7.95. So, a bit expensive for just 3 tracks.)
Christina Aguilera
I Turn To You
(Single CD)
2000
1. I Turn To You — Radio Edit
2. I Turn To You — Radio Edit with longer intro’.
3. What A Girl Wants — Fiesta Edit
4. What A Girl Wants — Thunderpuss Dirty Radio Mix
Christina really shows off her vocal talents in this one. Going by the high speed traffic down below the building, I figure they must’ve added that in separately.
(Usual slim CD case. $5.75 from HMV on the 4th of September, 2000.)
       
The Jessica Simpson Section:
 
Jessica Simpson
I Wanna Love You Forever
(Single CD)
1999
1. I Wanna Love You Forever
2. I Wanna Love You Forever — Soul Solution Remix
3. I Can, I Will
I think this was Jessica’s 1st single dealie, if I recall correctly. The song shows off her voice well. It’s a bit of an emotional kind of song; I guess like a powerful kind of ballad. You won’t really be bopping around with a big grin with this one. It might be all right for snogging your lover perhaps.
Unfortunately the song didn’t work out for Jessica and Nick Lachey from 98°. That was supposed to be 98°F by the way; not the angle of his willy.
There’s a link to a bonus screen saver you could download, on the CD, and that’s about it! A whole heap of support files and malarkey it didn’t really need either. Why not just put the program on the disc? And the MV while they were at it. That was a bit of a joke for this one. You did get some bonus stickers though, but only 1 of them was of Jessica.
(This was a Hitz CD for $4.95.)
Jessica Simpson
Irresistible
(Single CD)
2001
1. Irresistible
2. Irresistible — So So Def Remix Featuring Lil Bow Wow
3. Irresistible — Riprock ’n’ Alex G. Remix Deluxe
4. Irresistible — Hex Hector Club Mix.
This one’s a bit more perky than I Wanna Love You Forever, I’d say. So, a bit more to my tastes, I suppose. Although the other one was good as well.
Who the fudge is “Lil Bow Wow” on the remixes?! It sounds like a doggy. This one sounds like cr@p anyway. Track 3’s not a great deal different from the original. As for track 4, it almost goes for 9 minutes! It’s a typical kind of techno sounding thing, which only has a mild resemblence to the regular version. Eh. They shouldn’t have bothered with the extra tracks, if you ask me.
(This one was $4.95 from HMV on the 1st of July, 2001.)
       
The ★NSYNC Section:
 
NSYNC
Bye Bye Bye
(Single CD)
2000
1. Bye Bye Bye
2. Bye Bye Bye — Instrumental
3. Could It Be You?
Some of NSYNC’s stuff was good, and this was one of those songs. The CD comes with 9 bonus stickers. 5 of the chaps individually, 1 of them as a group, 2 with the group name and a Jive sticker in the middle. In fact, the entire cover appears to be like a sticker.
(This one was $4.95 from HMV on the 18th of March, 2000.)
 
NSYNC
POP
(Single CD)
2001
1. Pop — Album Version
2. Pop — Radio Version
3. Pop — Deep Dish Cha-Ching Remix (Radio Edit)
4. Pop — Terminal Head Vocal Remix
I seem to remember this song being a bit better than it is. I probably wouldn’t buy it again these days.
(The usual slim, fully transparent plastic CD case dealie. This was $4.95 from somewhere. You also got a bit of paper saying about
NSYNC’s Celebrity album.)
 
       
Other CDs & Records:
 
Faith (Hill)
This Kiss
(Single CD)
1998
1. This Kiss (Radio Version)
2. Somebody Stand By Me
3. This Kiss (Mr. Mig Mix)
This has got a bit of a “country & western” tinge to it. It’s better than I remembered it, and it doesn’t seem like it was this long ago it came out. I seem to have lost the receipt, so I dunno where I got it, but there is a sticker on the back saying $8.95, so that seems a bit more than usual for a single CD.
Sixpence None The Richer
Kiss Me
(Single CD)
1998-ish
1. Kiss Me
2. Love
I didn’t buy this because of Dawson’s Creek, even though I watched that in its last years anyhow.
It’s a great song and pleasant to listen to. Much better than the 2nd track on here.
The usual shmusual slim CD case here. This one was $4.75 from Dick Smith back in August, 1999.
Steps, Tina Cousins, Cleopatra,
BWitched & Billie
Thank ABBA For The Music
(Single CD)
1999
1. Radio Edit
2. TTW 12 Remix
3. Karaoke version
This is a special collaborative effort from all the mentioned performers, where 50p (— about 95˘ in Aussie dosh —) of the sales went to the Brit Trust for music education. It was also to do with the Mamma Mia! musical @ the Prince Edward Theatre in London. Everyone was dressed up kinda retro looking, and the names and title took up a huge amount of space on the screen when it came on on Rage. The song was divided into Take A Chance On Me, Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia & Thank You For The Music.
 
Shanks & Bigfoot
Sweet Like Chocolate
(Single CD)
1999
1. Metro “7” Remix
2. Shanks & Bigfoot Radio Edit
3. Shanks & Bigfoot Original Mix
4. Ruff Driverz Vocal (version)
My Mum mentioned this one to me, I think, when my folks were over in Britain. Especially about the cute-ish looking, computer animated MV. That part of it was good, but I’d never buy this again for the song. It’s not really to my tastes. It’s more like that awful, bitter, 70% cocoa type chocolate.
(I dunno how much this was, as the receipt is missing, but it does mention Australia, so I must’ve got it here.)
 
Various
Top Of The Pops Magazine — Hot Stuff!
1999
1. Boyzone — Megamix (Love To Infinity)
2. Kele Le Roc — My Love (Ignorants Mix)
3. A1 — Miracle
4. Mero — It Must Be Love (Paul Masterson’s Club Mix)
5. Tina Cousins — Pray
6. The Tamperer Featuring Maya — If You Buy This Record (Your Life Will Be Better)
7. Billy Crawford — Supernatural
8. Deetah — El Paraiso Rico
9. Another Level — Be Alone No More (C & J Radio Edit)
10. Hepburn — Cold World
11. E-17 — Betcha Can’t Wait (Radio Edit)
12. NSYNC — I Want You Back (Riprock & Alex G’s Smooth Vibe Mix)
13. Westlife — Swear It Again (Rokstone Mix)
I obviously got this with a TOTP magazine, 25 years ago. (It’s the 17th of July, 2024, as I’m writing this bit.) Yep — some good tunes on here. They’re probably not ALL to my tastes. The 1st track’s okay. I don’t go in for remixes much though these days, which this sort of sounds like. Tracks 3, 5 12 & 13 are good ones too. Although I wouldn’t really be in a rush so much now to play Tina Cousins’ style of music that she used to do.
This CD got damaged somehow as well, so I backed up my favourite tracks while it’s still partially readable. There’s like a weird crack that came out from the centre, like a plant root in shape, in the top foil layer. The actual label though is still intact, and there are no cracks in the plastic. So I don’t know how that occurred. It probably happened within the last 15 years or so.
 
Sega / Richard Jacques + Dee Dee Brave
Work It Out
(Full size 33 1/3 R.P.M. record)
1999
Side A:
1. Eric Kupper Classic Mix
2. Eric Kupper Dub Mix
Side B:
1. Hex Hector Dub Mix
2. Ground Control Dub Mix
Ooh baby! My Sonic R (vinyl) record of Work It Out. I probably almost peed my pants when I saw this at HMV in Sydney. This cost me $18.95, but for something that seemed collectable, it was certainly worth it. I haven’t played it much, so it’s in pretty good condition, and I did FLAC files of my 2 favourite tracks in 2012. (The 1st 2 tracks.)
I only have 3 record players, and 2 of them are in the garage, unlike my 15+ CD playing gizmos around the house.
I used to think some records sounded a bit tinny in the past, but the bass on this is pretty strong. Yep, and this is definitely one of my more prized Sega related items.
(The record is the standard black colour, in a white paper sleeve, inside the main one.)
 
DeepObsession
One&Only
(Single CD)
2000
1. One&Only — Radio Mix
2. One&Only — Brian Rawling Radio Mix
3. One&Only — Brian Rawling Extended Mix
4. One&Only — Club Edit
5. One&Only — Extended Club Mix
6. E-Motion
This duo was from New Zealand apparently. I liked the song back in the day, but it’s rather repetitive with the lyrics. The CD comes with the MV on it, but it’s only at 12 f.p.s., which is pretty horrible. (This one was $7.45 from Big W, and it came in a cardboard cover.)
Samantha Mumba
Gotta Tell You
(Single CD)
2000
1. Gotta Tell You
2. Can It Be Love?
3. Where Does It End Now?
This song’s pretty good & there’s a good bridge kind of bit towards the end. This is the only thing I ever got from Samantha Mumba.
You get the MV at 15 f.p.s. on the CD too, and it has a little program for Windows / Macs (with a PowerPC CPU). The disc comes in a cardboard sleeve dealie, and you can sign up for Planet Pop on the bonus piece of paper inside. This one was $4.75 from HMV, back in the day.
 
Westlife
My Love
(Single CD)
2000
1. My Love — Radio Edit
2. If I Let You Go — USA Mix
3. My Love — Instrumental
It’s hard to go wrong with Westlife, and this is a real cracker! It even tells you what bonus content you get on the CD for your computer. You do get the MV, but it’s only 11.97 f.p.s.! Yuck! Check out the link to right instead for a MUCH better version. I remember seeing this on the TV back in the day, and thinking: Wow!
Yep, this is what “boy band” music should sound like; not some of the utter $#!+€ I’ve heard in recent years. As for track 2, it has some different instruments for parts of it from the original, but it’s still pretty similar. Yeah, and this is a great song as well.
($5.75 from HMV at the Mid City Centre in Sydney on the 21st of November, 2000. The usual slim case presentation here like most single CDs.)
CoCo Lee
Wherever You Go
(Single CD)
2000
1. Wherever You Go — Radio Edit
2. Wherever You Go — Soda Club Mix
3. Wherever You Go — Soda Club Master Mix
4. Wherever You Go — Jonathan Peters Radio Mix
5. Wherever You Go — Jonathan Peters Extended Radio Mix
6. Do You Want My Love? — Soda Club Master Mix
This is a really nice song, and CoCo Lee being a bit of a looker in it doesn’t hurt matters either.
(A regular slim, fully transparent, colourless plastic case presentation. The CD has a big C on it and a little L in the gap for CoCo Lee. This one was $4.75 from HMV on the 29th of July, 2000. It looks like I might have got a 20˘ discount too from a price match or something.)

R.I.P., Coco. *Kisses*
       
The Newer Music Section:
 
Alan Menken & Glenn Slater
Tangled
(sound track)
2010
1. When Will My Life Begin?
2. When Will My Life Begin? — Reprise 1
3. Mother Knows Best
4. When Will My Life Begin? — Reprise 2
5. I’ve Got A Dream
6. Mother Knows Best — Reprise
7. I See The Light
8. Healing Incantation
9. Flynn Wanted
10. Prologue
11. Horse With No Rider
12. Escape Route
13. Campfire
14. Kingdom Dance
15. Waiting For The Lights
16. Return To Mother
17. Realisation & Escape
18. The Tear Heals
19. Kingdom Celebration
20. Something That I Want
Tangled’s one of my favourite Disney movies, and I love that magical bit in the boat with the lanterns over the water. Very romantic. Plus Mandy Moore as Rapunzel is perfect as well. If I was in a boat with her, that’d be an ideal evening for me.
The best tunes, in my opinion, are track 1, track 3, track 5, track 7 of course — it’s the best, track 8, track 14, 19 and 20.
One song that’s missing though, is Shannon Saunders’ rendition of I See The Light. I’m not sure if this was track 21 on foreign releases of the CD, but it’s not on the Aussie one. This CD was actually made here in Australia too, which is a change.
There’s one small bit in I See The Light, which reminds me of another bit from A Whole New World from Aladdin, but while Alan Menken did the composing for both shows, it was Tim Rice who did the lyrics for that, and Glenn Slater for Tangled.
The inlay has some great pictures from the movie, plus the lyrics, and a bonus ad on a piece of paper saying: Music fit for a princess, with some other Disney CDs you can get.
(I got this in 2014 for $27 from Sanity. It has a totally colourless, clear, plastic case)
 
Katy Perry
Prism
(Album CD)
2013
1. Roar
2. Legendary Lovers
3. Birthday
4. Walking On Air
5. Unconditionally
6. Dark Horse
7. This Is How We Do
8. International Smile
9. Ghost
10. Love Me
11. This Moment
12. Double Rainbow
13. By The Grace Of God
One day I felt like looking up what stuff was in the top 50 selling CDs in Australia, and Roar was on the list. I liked that one, and then ended up buying Katy’s whole album after listening to some previews of the other tracks. I like half of them, I would say, but I haven’t listened to this in quite a while. Track 2 is so-so. Track 3 is really great, and there’s some fun, suggestive stuff in there. Let’s hope Orlando Bloom got in his birthday suit and got to see those big, big, big, big, big, big, balloons! Walking On Air’s not as good as I first remember it, Unconditionally is pretty nice, and I saw the MV for this as well. Dark Horse sucks, as does This Is How We Do, International Smile is a winner, Ghost is a bit average, Love Me is all right, as is This Moment, Double Rainbow is a nice one, and so is By The Grace Of God. Looking back now, I’m not sure if I’d buy this again, if I didn’t have it, or had to replace it.
 
Lovelyz
R U Ready? — 2nd Album Repackage
(Album CD)
2017
1. R U Ready?
2. WoW!
3. Now, We
4. Aya
5. Cameo
6. Emotion
7. Morning Star
8. First Snow
9. Knock Knock
10. The
11. Night & Day
12. Hide & Seek
13. My Lover
My 1st Korean CD! You also get an amazing book of photos of the girlies too, plus a poster! This is a redo of R U Ready? with extra tracks, which makes it a better buy if you didn’t leap in for the 1st version. Track 1 is just a short introduction that leads into WoW! Track 3 is a newie for this repackage version, and there’s a MV for it as well, which is well worth a squizz. Most of the songs are good, but there are a couple I don’t overly fancy. The is a particularly good track. This is by Mijoo, Sujeong & Yein specifically, apparently.
The CD is in the book, but I put mine into a separate slim CD case, so I didn’t over-stress it.
 
Twice
TWICEcoaster: Lane 2
(Album CD)
2017
1. Knock Knock
2. Ice Cream
3. TT
4. 1 To 10
5. Ponytail
6. Jelly Jelly
7. Pit-A-Pat
8. Next Page
9. One In A Million
10. TT — TAK Remix
11. OOH-AHH — Instrumental
12. Cheer Up — Instrumental
13. TT — Instrumental
Like Lovelyz’s album, the presentation of this is really amazing. You get a superb book of pictures, a lyrics book, a bonus piccie, (mine being of Chaeyoung,) a set of 9 stickers, and a Knock Knock cut out card with Sana on it. You could also get a poster, but I didn’t want it this time ’round, ’cos I have no more room for more posters.
I actually bought this CD after Yes Or Yes.
I don’t fancy Ice Cream all that much, but Jelly Jelly is really great, and so is One In A Million, but it’s a bit over amplified, which spoils it slightly. I also like Ponytail, and the TAK Remix of TT isn’t too bad.
 
Twice
Yes Or Yes
(Album CD)
2018
1. Yes Or Yes
2. Say You Love Me
3. Lalala
4. Young & Wild
5. Sunset
6. After Moon
7. BDZ — Korean Version
This is actually sold as being a mini album, which is true, since it only has 7 tracks.
Sunset is a really great song, and it is good to play it around that time of day too. You also get a poster, and I had mine laminated. It’s hanging up on the wall behind me.
 
Oresama
Hi-Fi POPS
(Album CD)
2018
1. Hi-Fi Train
2. Ryuusei Dance Furoa (Meteor Dance Floor)
3. Cute Cute
4. Kirei Na Mono Bakari
5. Dare Mo Ga Dareka Wo
6. Mimi Moto De Tsukamae Te
7. Ne, Kamisama?
8. Trip Trip Trip
9. Hello Eve
10. Sweet Room
11. Wandadoraibu (Wonder Drive)
12. Ginga (Galaxy) (Album Mix)
I only found out about Oresama this year (2021), from their song, Gimmme!, back in April. (Which is from 2020, I think.) So I didn’t know about this album until I looked up more of their MVs. I really took to Ginga, and thought, if I get an Oresama CD, I want the one with that on it! Finding the album was a bit tricky, since it’s Japanese, and pretty much only Japanese stores sell it. I tried on eBay too, but found sod all. I found the best deal at CD Japan, who were really generous with bonus discounts, and good service. I think it was there that I heard the previews of each track as well. The cost of postage was pretty crippling though, but at least it arrived on my birthday.
The CD comes in a regular jewel case with a booklet containing the song lyrics and some really nice Oresama related art. You also get the typical Japanese edge card thing too, like you even see on video games from there.
The quality of the tracks is mostly good, with no extreme clipping that I could see.
Cute Cute is really great, and it has a fade out finish, which is a bit different from the more abrupt endings of the other songs. Sweet Room is probably the least perky track on there, and more of a ballad.
I reckon a lot of the songs would be good in some kind of video game.
Make sure you check out the Dress Up Cover #1 remix dealie of Ginga as well. It’s really good.
If you have a BD drive / player, you can also get the CD with a bonus BD of the music videos.
(The total cost was about $80 with the postage fee, and a discount included. The CD is worth about $27 if you live in Japan.)
 
QU4RTZ
Enjoy It!
(Single CD)
May
2022
1. Enjoy It!
2. 4 Seasons
3. Enjoy It! — Off Vocal / Instrumental
4. 4 Seasons — Off Vocal / Instrumental
QU4RTZ is a “unit” under the Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, which is part of Love Live! The characters are Kasumi Nakasu who’s done by Mayu Sagara, Kanata Konoe by Akari Kitō, Emma Verde by Maria Sashide, and Rina Tennoji by Chiemi Tanaka.
Enjoy It! was the 1st song I heard about, and it was so cheery and positive sounding, I wanted to see what else there was. What a good idea that was! Loads of these songs related to the Love Live! series are just really great sounding. 4 Seasons is also an excellent song. There are instrumental / off vocal tracks of each as well. The whole CD goes for 16 minutes, pretty much to the second.
The wave form of the audio is pretty good, and doesn’t seem to have any clipping on any of the songs.
My CD also came with a bonus Rina Tennoji card.

Short version (of Enjoy It!)
QU4RTZ
Pastel
(Single CD)
November
2022
1. Pastel
2. Michi No Saki
3. Pastel — Instrumental
4. Michi No Saki — Instrumental
5. Feeling The Sky
With Pastel, you also get the bonus spoken 5th track, which goes for about 9 minutes & 58 seconds. Unless you can understand Japanese, you won’t understand much. I heard them saying their names in there a bit, but that was about all I could tell. The inlay doodad has a special plastic coating with “holographic” hearts, which you can see in the bigger image. They tend to grow and shrink as you move your vision around.
Audio wise, Pastel is a bit closer to looking clipped on the wave form peaks, but it’s probably just maximised to the extreme. Closer inspection didn’t seem to reveal much in the way of flat tops to the wave. Michi No Saki is a little better looking.
You get a bonus sticker with this CD as well, which is a smaller rendition of the front cover. Both this and Enjoy It! came with a bit of paper for something you could do on some web site, and there was a code to enter somewhere, but on checking out the site, I didn’t see where you entered it, and I couldn’t read what it said anyhow. I think it might only be valid in Japan.
Like with my Oresama CD, I got these QU4RTZ ones through CD Japan. It took about 14 days from when I placed the order for these to arrive. (I ordered them on the 15th of March, 2023.) The total cost with the postage fee was about $48.20, with points that I redeemed. I would recommend this shop, and they packed them sufficiently too.
(At the time of writing, which is now the 29th of March, they only have 12 Pastel CDs left. I think this is a 1st press edition too.)
Ooh yeah, and no asking me for FLAC versions of the songs neither! I don’t provide any unauthorised copied music files.

Official preview of tracks 1 & 2.

Music Videos:
I’m going to make these separate pages now for each year. These may still be updated at any time. You can go to each year’s choices from the links below:

 
I’m not sure what year this is from originally. I think it might be 2011. The video upload date says 2022, but it’s been mentioned elsewhere as far back as 2011. If you know, tell me, and I’ll move it to the appropriate page.
       

Other Musical Related Stuff:

The guy playing it has a green shirt on too.
This is just nuts! It also sounds really good. You’ll be going: Holey beep! He must be having simultaneous electro-shock treatment.
See that guy go!
   

Familiar Places Used In Music Videos:
If you’re looking for K-Pop & J-Pop music video locations, here are a few familiar ones that I’ve tracked down.

Location:
Country:
Used In What Videos:
Wedding Fantasia
This place is like a themed shopping area with a fountain, which is obviously intended for weddings. It has a few different interior rooms as well. One of the locations that stands out is a builing which says something like: “American Gluting Bar: Eudaemonism.” Whatever that means.
Japan
Heart Beat Kyūjōshō by iRis
Smash Drop by Momo Asakura
Summer Getchu by The Super Fruit
Chou Very Good! by Congrazie!
Seishun Igunoransu by Say-La
Heart Diamond by SuperGirls
Kawaii Tte Iwa Retai by Takane No Nadeshiko
Boyfriend by ASMI
Daikeien
(大慶園)

This is like an amusement centre with an interior go-kart track.
Japan
Miryoku To Wa? by Girlfriend
• It looked like a bit in Birdman by Sekai No Owari too.
• Strobe Fantasy by May’n
Aviral Resort Studio (Chiba Prefecture)
This place is like a large house with an outdoor pool and the odd palm tree.
Japan
Chō Medetai Songu ~ Konnani Shiawase De Ii No Ka Na? by Fruits Zipper
Spring Loveri by ≠Me. The song was okay. The video looked like cr@p with the amateur bits though.
Shakunetsu (Burning / Hot) Glitter by Peel The Apple
Hātogoto Fu Ni Kechau Samā! by Metarium
Human Nature World by Festive
Plaza Of Kanagawa Institute Of Technology
This spot has a covered outdoor area for relaxation, with square holes in the ceiling to let light in.
Japan
Soaring Heart by Liyuu (I never watched this though.)
This has been in quite a few MVs that I never fancied.
Shibuya Crossing (Tokyo)
Japan
Hi-Fi Train by Oresama
• About 1000 other music videos too.
Ito Marine Town
Japan
Jasmine by Sumika (Seeing as they told you in the credits)
Think Space / The Space
(Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo)
A rooftop setting with views of the city.
Japan
By My Side by B.O.L.T.
Japan
• Be With You by Buzzer01& (I didn’t like this song. I just recognised the studio.)
Japan
Anniversary by Keppra / Kepura
• It appears to be here in Sensation by Novelbright too.
Chula Vista Motel
This is in Fussa City, or something like that, near Tokyo. It’s supposed to ba an American styled place, which I agree with.
Japan
• I’ve seen this twice now in Japanese MVs. It was in Aimaina Beach by Raisan, which I didn’t really like, & some other newer video from August 2024 with some big fat guy.
Gimcheon Abandoned School
This is a circular structure of a school that was never completed. It was since used in a few MVs.
South Korea
Zero by Minseo
South Korea
Namsan Art Wedding Hall
South Korea
Lalala and Dream On by Busters
Fresh Adventure by Laboum
Solkan Bridge
(Right next to the Italian border.)
Slovenia
Jutri Bom K Tebi Odšel by Dejan Vunjak
Some joint I haven’t found yet. It might be Pension Zwicker, but I’m not sure. Both of these MVs used this place, but not necessarily in the location I’m thinking of.
Slovakia
Zbohom by Kandráčovci
Ľúb Že, Dievča by Kollárovci
Slovakia
Zbohom by Kandráčovci
Plus some other thing I’ve forgotten.

Music Without Much Video Action:

Oresama — Chewy Candy
(26 October, 2021)
Oresama — Baby Baby Blue
(26 October, 2021)
This reminds me of the style of Biscuit Funk, a bit, but I like Cherry better.
Mississipi Rag (from Decca)
This is a little bit heavy on the foot sounds on the piano pedals if you ask me, but it’s pretty good otherwise.
Fly Paper Rag
(Played by Adam Swanson)
A real good one to check out!
Keith Nichols — Blackjack Rag
(This was in Shanghai Noon.)
     
John Barry — The Whyte House
(1971)
Music from James Bond: Diamonds Are Forever. (This is unofficial.)
There is a MV for this, but the full version hasn’t been officially released. Only a short teaser. You’re expected to buy the DVD.
• There is a more decent video for this now, which you can check out here. But the audio is distorted. Although if you get off your backside, you can create a new movie file from the above audio and the video of this. But you will need to align it. You can achieve this though with FFMPEG and an audio editor program.
There’s a MV for this too, but it looked like an ad for bl**dy mobile ’phones! The song’s pretty good though.
This is pretty nice. It’s not too intense either.

Heesey — Paint It Red
(3 October, 2023)
Heesey — HomeTown
(3 October, 2023)
GReeeeN — Hirari
(31 October, 2023)
This is pretty decent sounding. There is a MV for this, but it’s just lyrics.

Puffy — SweetSweet
(21 November, 2023)
This is really good. It feels like something from the 1970s almost. The hedgehog girlies from the cover look cute as well. I almost didn’t look @ it.
Red Velvet — Oh Boy
(10 November, 2016)
I wish this one had a music video, because it’s one of my fave Red Velvet songs — more than some of the other MVs they did.
Shuka Saitō — Shabon
(10 November, 2020)
I’m pretty certain this is unofficial. Although I didn’t look at it, I know the song, because I have the game. This is stage 3.
Don’t ask me what “etranger” is supposed to mean. It looks like stranger, but someone hit the wrong key. I think this is from some show.
Asterline — Time Machine
(13 February, 2023)
This one’s okay. Check it out & make up your own mind.
I saw this in a video, so it was an absolute pain in the bum to find. I can’t read those kanji symbols, and searching for Rythem just got a lot of irrelevant results. In the end, I spotted one of the characters on a song by the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra and pieced it together from that. (Anyway, the 1st character is hoshi & the 2nd one is kaze.) The translation seems to mean Star Wind.
What a great finish this one has! I like a big ending, and this one delivers.
If you like that old school kind of sound, this one is ideal.
There’s a MV for this now too, but honestly, I wouldn’t go too far out of your way to bother with it.
I liked this one pretty much immediately.
This is one of their best songs, but there’s no MV unfortunately.
Matsushita Nao — Yozora No Hana
(Track 3 from souNds!)
(7 May 2024)
If you’re looking for some well played instrumental tunes, this is a great one to have a listen to, as are quite a few others from this album.
Kiseki means miracle, so I think the 1st bit of the song name is the same as the last bit in French. Another beauty from this album.
Morisaki Win — U
(28 May 2024)
This one is definitely worth a listen to. The composition feels a bit like something I’ve heard before, which makes me wonder who wrote it. If I find out, I will mention that here.
This is related to some show I’ve never heard of, as usual. There’s a MV for this now too!
Miho Okasaki — Petals
(2 November, 2021)
There’s a MV for this, but the official one on YouTube is just a teaser in the truest sense. It really leads you on, but you get cut off at the end. I think you’re supposed to buy it. Those puppets are so cute though! Anyway, the top link here is the whole song (without the video).
The composer was Yuki Honda. It almost reminds me of something from iRis, but there’s nothing listed to suggest that this chap wrote music for them.
This is another song from some bizarre Japanese show I haven’t got a clue about. Anyway, I only care about the song, and it’s pretty good, as is the great finish to it as well.
• There’s a MV for this now too!
Wow! This is great! A really nice song from Rythem’s new album, Utatabi. (ウタタビ)
This was in Project Gotham Racing 2. The game was from about 2003, so this song’s either that old, or older.
The song name means something like: I Count On You, in English.
This was at the end of Brewster’s Millions, and written by Huey Lewis.
Ah, it’s a pity this has no video. This is a good one.
There is a video for this, but I hated too much about it to mention. Anyway, the song on its own is fairly good.
     
Claude Papesch — You Are The Sunshine Of My Life
Oh! This was the album my Dad had! I remember he had 7 of the tunes on an old AIWA demo cassette, but in mono. I’m going to personally get all wistful, because this takes me back to when I was a little kid. Like my pre-teen years. I only heard tracks 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 & 12. The album was called Hammond Electrique, done obviously with some kind of Hammond organ (& a Moog synthesiser & other instruments). It sounds really synthesised. It could be like something off a Mega Drive game, but in a bit better quality. This was from 1974 in Australia. Oo~ooh! It sounds so good to hear these in stereo at last, and the whole album!
A great rendition of Elton John’s song. This one I hadn’t heard before. (All these songs in the table here, are in the album order.)
This is one that Claude wrote himself.
     

QU4RTZ Songs:


This song is as cute & cheery as a teddy bear! It was only because of somebody’s fan made video that was listed in some new Japanese tunes that I found out about the Love Live! songs.
A small part of this reminds me of a tune from one of the Sonic The Hedgehog games, at around 2:15. Probably Sky Chase Zone from Sonic 2. Just some of the notes; not the whole thing.
Twinkle Town (Official)
Pastel
The ending on this one’s a bit abrupt, but I still like it.
(Official)
Make-Up Session ABC (Unofficial)
At 60 f.p.s. too! Not that much animation happens.

Twinkle Town

A good Christmas type tune. (Unofficial lyrics dealie.)
Lots of cute “dooby doo” & “sha la la” bits as usual too.

Fuwa Fuwa Hour (Fluffy Hour)
Not Sad
(Official)
   

Other Nijigasaki High School Idol Club & Other Love Live! Related Songs:

Nijigasaki HSIC — Sweet Eyes
This is one featuring QU4RTZ members
(Official)
A•ZU•NA — Kakushiaji!
(Secret Ingredient!)
(Official)
This one is wonderful!
(Emma Verde is the character. Maria Sashide is the real person.)
Nijigasaki HSIC — Märchen Star
(I think this is official.)
This one felt really nice and relaxing to me.
Märchen is German for Fairy Tale.

Neo Sky, Neo Map!
(Official I think.)
This one is REALLY good with a superb ending too.
Rina Tennoji — Dokipipo Emotion
(Official, I think)

A fan made video by Penguin. Be sure to get the 60 Hz version too!
Hurray Hurray
(Official)
The ending was just satisfactory, but it could’ve been better.
Eien No Isshun
(Eternal Moment)
(Official)
This one’s a beauty! A great ending too.
This one was much better than I imagined.
A•ZU•NA — Happy Nyan! Days
(Official)
“Nyan” translates to “meow.”
Yume Ga Koko Kara Hajimaru Yo (Our Dreams Begin Here)
(Official)

Love U My Friends:
Original
12 Member Version
12 Member Version - Off Vocal / Instrumental
(These are all official.)
This one’s not too bad, but probably not my 1st choice.
Emma Verde — Koe Tsunagou Yo
(Let’s Connect Our Voices)
(Official)
Uehara Ayumu - Yume E No Ippo
(One Step Towards My Dream)
(Official)
Konoe Kanata — Nemureru Mori Ni Ikitai Na (I Want To Go To A Forest Where I Can Sleep)
(Official)
This is a cute sounding one. The music box at the start makes it sound like it’s going to be a lullaby. But at least this isn’t one of those songs that makes you want to go for a snooze.
Osaka Shizuku — Anata No Risou No Heroine
(Your Ideal Heroine)
(Official)
This one’s quite long, but very good!
Emma Verde — Aion No Uta
(Sorrowful Poem)
(Official)
Wow! This one is great! It sounds quite “electronic” all in all, with some really sweet effects.
Emma Verde — Itsu Datte For You!
(Always For You!)
(Official)
This one’s got a good “sha la la la” bit at the end too.
I thought I heard some minor squeaky bits at the start of this one, but it’s not too bad.
Rina Tennoji — Tsunagaru Connect
(Connect Connect)
(Official)
Zensoku Dreamer
(Full Speed Dreamer)
(Official, I hope)
Nijiiro Passions!
(Rainbow-Coloured Passions!)
(Official)
This is probably one of my less favourite ones, but it’s pretty good.
If you ask me, I don’t think the 12 members one sounds a great deal different from the original.
This one came out yesterday, (29 March, 2023) and I knew it was coming anyway. This is from the Dream Believers CD. I don’t know if I felt completely euphoric, but a pretty good one to add to my list, I think.
This is a great one, but holey moley! It sounds just like something from Mrs. Green Apple! Their song called StaRt specifically. Compare them, & I think you’ll agree.
This is a good one too, with a good finish to it as well.
This has that typical intense Japanese electric guitar sound, mixed with more traditional instruments, giving it a modern kind of oriental sound.

Aqours — Kiseki Hikaru
(キセキヒカル)
(Shining Miracle)
I thought this was good when I 1st saw it, but I’ve grown even more fond of it since. It’s a really wonderful sounding song.
(Official)

Official live performance video from 2018.
It definitely feels like a dancing kind of song, with a bit of an old school touch.

Please send in any major corrections related to the Love Live! songs, as I’m not all that up to speed in this regard. Or if I have unofficial and official links mixed up. Or if I missed an official link that does exist.