In a year packed with dance hits, here’s one of the best…
It Feels So Good, by Sonique (her 1st and only #1)
3 weeks, from 28th May – 18th June 2000
The strings; the husky, ominous vocals; the garage beat. It’s of its time, but also one of those hits that transcends its moment. Maybe it’s a sign of how pop music has lost its forward movement in the early years of this century, but ‘It Feels So Good’ sounds like it could be a hit from 2025. Plus, lines like You give me such a vibe, It’s totally bona fide… feel very much like how the young folk speak these days.
In my mind, I always imagined the chorus was autotuned, especially the It’s you I’m always thinking of… line. But listening now, I don’t think it is. It’s just very distinctively sung, in a very high key, oddly far back in Sonique’s throat. Hey, every hit needs a hook, even one that makes it sound like you’ve got a bad cold.
As with many dance tracks, my attention starts to wander in the second verse, which is more of the same. But I do like the lasering synths that become more prominent as the song progresses. Having said that it sounds very much of the year 2000, it turns out that ‘It Feels So Good’ was almost two years old by the time it made #1, having reached #24 on its original release in December 1998. Interestingly, given that the US is usually quite resistant to European EDM, it was the song’s success stateside (where it eventually made #8) that prompted the re-release.
Sonia Marina Clarke, AKA Sonique, had been active in the music biz since the early eighties, when she had formed a reggae band, and had released her debut solo single in 1985. She had also worked with S’Express, though joined after ‘Theme from S’Express’ had topped the charts. She had two other Top 10s – ‘Sky’ and ‘I Put a Spell on You’ – which tread much the same territory as this single without being as good. She still records, and DJs, and played Glastonbury just last year.
‘It Feels So Good’ is also noteworthy due to being the joint longest-running number one of 2000, with a grand total of three weeks at the top. I feel I should also note how darn basic the title is. ‘It Feels So Good’ rivals ‘I Love You’ (#1 for Cliff and the Shadows in 1961, chart fans) for simplicity. Just drop the ‘It’, I think, and things become much cooler. But what do I know? It’s not as if proper sentence structure hampered this record’s success…
The UK Number Ones Blog 
Total classic and one of the records of the year for me. I was very into my clubbing phase in another year or so later, so this set me up nicely. Sonique is fabulous, and I loved Sky just as much, and one of her minor hits was almost as good as Sky. I love an exciting dance track with a great production and vocal, with proper song structure. One of my pet hates on some modern hit dance tracks is how limited they are when it comes to lyric and melody and structure. The groove seems to be all that counts, but there is a host of great dance tracks around at any time of the year that refer back to previous dance genres without getting a hit out of it sadly. That said, I’m really into a couple of Afrobeats tracks at the moment, neither of them big hits, and that’s more of a 2020’s dance beat, so go figure! (Topic & Daecolm’s Control Of Me & Jazzy/Kilimanjaro’s No Bad Vibes)
Good to confirm I have had a major impact on youth-speak, as Vibe is a 60’s kinda groovy, man, ace fab sorta youth speak that has transferred down the decades, along with cool, fab and other words I still use 🙂 I always say, if you repeat something often enough people will start saying it back to you. That’s the basis of brainwashing propaganda, oops, I’ve given it away and the politicians didn’t want anyone to find out…!
Haha! Vibe has definitely had a resurgence with the kids of today. Back in 2000, at least in my school, there was no talk of vibes… Things were just cool, or sound; or lame. That’s why this line stood out listening back to it now.
Sound make sense, pure Oasis 🙂 I opted out of youth speak in the 70’s when The Pits moved in from the States, but being in a classic song title can extend life expectancy, witness Cool, Vibe, Fabulous. Sound may yet come back, though I’m not sure James and Girls Aloud meant it in that way 🙂 I wouldnt put money on Lame though….
‘Lame’ might prove a bit problematic these days…. But we never really considered its literal meaning!
I didn’t recognise the title, but yeah, I definitely know this song. I remember hearing this during the 2000s, and I hear it out and about here in Australia even now. Really cool song. I don’t really have any critique for it other than the vocals are a bit characterless, but that’s almost every Eurodance-type song. I have a soft spot for house/trance music so this is right up my alley. Didn’t realise this song went Top 10 in the US – that’s pretty uncommon for a Eurohouse song to get into the Top 10.
You’re right, it’s not that dated. Reminds me of some of the amapiano stuff coming out of South Africa.
It does sound modern…don’t ask me if that is a good thing lol.