Review
Telstar’s annual Best Of Dance compilation underwent a slight name change in 1999. The layout is somewhat confusing with the front cover designed like a back inlay with the tracklist and barcode sitting on the booklet. Best Dance ’99 contains “40 huge dance hits.” You’ll have already read my thoughts on many of these tunes in previous reviews.
Now That’s What I Call Music 36: Sash! – Encore Une Fois.
Now That’s What I Call Music 40: David Morales presents The Face – Needin’ U.
Now Dance ’98: Vengaboys – Up And Down.
Hits ’99: Spacedust – Gym & Tonic, Jay-Z – Hard Knock Life
The Best Of Dance ’98: Ruff Driverz presents Arrola -Dreaming.
The 1999 Brit Awards: Fatboy Slim – Praise You.
New Hits ’99: Underworld – Push Upstairs, Cevin Fisher featuring Loleatta Holloway – (You Got Me) Burning Up, Soulsearcher – Can’t Get Enough, Supercar – Tonite, Mirrorball – Given Up, Steps – Better Best Forgotten, Blockster – You Should Be, Inner City – Good Life, Garbage – When I Grow Up.
Now That’s What I Call Music 42: Armand Van Helden featuring Duane Harden – You Don’t Know Me, Sash! – Colour The World, Tina Cousins – Killin’ Time.
Smash Hits Summer ’99: Phats & Small – Turn Around, Ruff Driverz & Arrola – La Musica.
Big Hits ’99: Moloko – Sing It Back.
The E-17 resurrection continues: Betcha Can’t Wait is a more uptempo tune than the rather sedate Each Time and all the better for it. It’s followed by the dark and poisonous Give A Little Love, an epic clubbing memory courtesy of The Invisible Man or Jerry Dickens. For funky house with an uplifting edge, look no further than Capriccio’s joyous Everybody Get Up and Blackout’s euphoric melter Gotta Have Hope. 2001 samples at the ready – still the future back then. Take yourself to another universe with What U Do from Colours ably assisted by Stephen Emmanuel and Eska. Big on Kiss FM. Next: DJ Eric’s Hall & Oates-sampling We Are Love; seems to be the FunkForce Faithful Mix. Do not pass go: Bus Stop let us down on Jump. Garage days revisited: Da Click bringing their Good Rhymes to Top Of The Pops. Ruff Driverz inject James Brown’s Funk On Ah Roll with some spacey deep funk sounds.
When trance was trance: bow down to Push’s cosmic Universal Nation and the amazing melodies of Three Drives’ Greece 2000. Zoom in on Mike Koglin’s full-on emotional cover of Enjoy The Silence. One of the most intense tracks of 98/99 was Up To Tha Wildstyle with its daring rooftop video. Roll back the years as Grooverider remolds the Stone Roses’ Fools Gold into a breakbeat banger – remix and additional production for RUN courtesy of Prototype Recordings. More oldies: gotta get up for Bizarre Inc and a brand new update of the slamming Playing With Knives. And then Inner City’s Good Life. Still crazy after all these years. Listen to Twilight’s take on I Want Your Love with Roger Sanchez at the helm. And then Juliet Roberts giving Donna Summer a run for her dosh on Bad Girls. We end with Nancy’s torch song from Oliver!, As Long As He Needs Me covered by Barbara Windsor. Boy George & Kinky Roland Right Royal Radio Edit! Absolutely fabulous.
“You developed late
Weren’t the nineties great?”
Favourite tracks
Push – Universal Nation
Porn Kings vs DJ Supreme – Up To Tha Wildstyle
Blackout – Gotta Have Hope
Three Drives – Greece 2000
Mike Koglin – The Silence
Lest we forget
The Stone Roses – Fools Gold (Grooverider’s Mix – Edit)
A Pop Fan's Dream 
Again, I like this, and much prefer it to the regular Nows/Hits of that year (with the exception of Now Dance 2000). As I said before, if it wasn’t for many of the dance hits (plus some oddballs) 98 and 99 would fall far lower in my estimations music-wise.
Cevin Fisher – and Loleatta Holloway, who is ALWAYS worth a listen to.
“Vamos a jugar en el sol;
Todos los días son días de fiesta.”
One of the Ministry of Sound’s first mainstream hits. Another “back to 1979” track (although the sampled track here is actually from 1975!).
That Blockster is a tapper! Wonder why Dreaming got included a second time (was on 1998)?
Because it was still in the chart in Jan 99? (Quite lowly, though.)
I don’t think this was intended as the natural successor in the Best of Dance year series. It was released in April 1999.
Can’t remember when I bought it Andrew but didn’t realise it was that far back….interesting as whoever added it to Discogs also made same assumption as me.
It would have been an odd time to release a Best of Dance album! Dino did something similar in 1995 when they released Dance Massive 95 in spring.
Worst numbering contender has to be Dance Tip 2000, released in 1996!
I remember seeing that Dance Tip 2000 and wondering what was going on!