Right after B*Witched, the year’s second biggest teenybop act returns for another crack at the top…
Girlfriend, by Billie (her 2nd of three #1s)
1 week, from 11th – 18th October 1998
I thought ‘Rollercoaster’ was a big improvement on ‘C’est la Vie’, a record I detested. Is the same upswing evident with Miss Piper, bearing in mind that I didn’t find ‘Because We Want To’ anywhere near as bad as B*Witched’s accursed debut? Um… Not particularly. It’s more of the same, really.
It starts off fairly promisingly, though. Some excellent vintage record scratches, and some shoobydoobydoopdoops reminiscent of the classic girl groups. There’s a bit of sass in the verses, and I can certainly hear a bit of All Saints in there (as with B*Witched, Billie’s second single was clearly trying to add a little more edge). The song’s premise is that Billie has seen a boy that she likes, and she isn’t going to play it coy: Playin’ hard to get takes too long sugar, So I told my friends that I’ve found a man…
While I admire the confidence (very Girl Power), the song is let down by another chanty chorus. Do you have a girlfriend…? Can I have your number…? I don’t think it suits Billie’s voice particularly well, which adds to the grating effect. And I’m not sure this aggressive approach would have worked, romantically speaking.
I’ve lost count of how many pop songs in 1998 have had the same vaguely hip-hop backing beat and squelchy bass synths. It’s another step towards what I would call truly ‘modern’ pop music (i.e. the Max Martin sledgehammer approach). This is a bit more minimal than what’s to come, the simple beat decorated with various horn parps and string flourishes.
Billie Piper has an interesting post-pop career, but we’ll hold off on that for now. She has one final number one, with a big and beefy Y2K sound, and that will make an interesting contrast with her first two chart-toppers. It’s worth mentioning, before we go, that ‘Girlfriend’ put Billie out and clear as the youngest person to make #1 with their first two singles.
The UK Number Ones Blog 
It’s just hard to watch her in anything but Dr Who…it just doesn’t compute. Man you guys loved the teeny bopper acts at this time! The time at #1 just doesn’t stop I don’t think.
I have a theory as to why things went so teeny, bubblegum pop at this time… Some say it was marketing, or low CD prices, or the popularity of music video channels… Which all definitely contributed. But I also think part of it was the excitement, optimism and fear over Y2K that pushed music tastes towards light, escapist stuff. Everyone just wanted to party like it was 1999… Because it was!
lol…yea I could see that all maybe pushing it that way..especially the CD prices.