The Story of Pop: 1998 (Chapter 27)

Revisiting yet more massive UK chart hits of 25 years ago, every Thursday at 9am, this is The Story of Pop: 1998. This week: a record breaking debut by a huge new British teen sensation…

• Artist: Billie
• Song: Because We Want To
• Released: 29/06/1998
• Writers / Producers: Wendy Page / Jim Marr / Dion Rambo / Jacques Richmond
• Highest UK Chart Position: #1
• Weeks on Chart: 14

One overwhelming theme we’ve seen so far on this series is how, with the Britpop bubble of the previous three years eroded away, and the massive success of the Spice Girls, pure pop with a capital P was back and high on the agenda.

Their instant and globally reaching success certainly took their label, Virgin Records, by surprise. So much so that their coffers were very swollen indeed after selling over 30m albums inside 18 months. But up until that point, they were not widely known for being a natural home for pure pop acts.

Hence in late 1997, they decided to utilise the extra cash towards a brand new, dedicated pop music sub label, called Innocent Records. They poached Hugh Goldsmith, the A&R bod from RCA Records to head up the new label – the man who’d famously turned Take That into chart topping superstars. His first objective under the new label was to find the “new, young British Madonna“.

And it was when a copy of Music Week, the industry bible landed on his desk one week that a promotional advert for Smash Hits magazine on the front caught his eye, with a larger than life personality pointing a petulant finger out with the tagline: “100% Pure Pop!” Instinctively, he wondered if this girl could be the new young British talent he was looking for.

It turns out she was, and that was Billie Piper. Hailing from Swindon, she cited Madonna as an idol, and had been taking part in local dance and drama clubs from a young age, and was now up in London, learning her craft at one of pop’s famous training grounds, Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone, which had also given the world members of the Spice Girls and All Saints, as well as Denise Van Outen and assorted cast members of EastEnders.

She signed on the dotted line with Innocent Records at Christmas 1997, just after her 15th birthday, and immediately set to work recording the songs that would go on to make up her debut album, Honey To The B, which were, in her words, teen anthems high on pop, with a slight feel of R&B and soul.

The groundwork got underway in the spring of 1998, as Billie began a tour of schools and under 18s nightclubs, all in feverish anticipation for her first ever single release in the summer. Described by NME as being “teen pop class in a bendy straw with comedy eyelashes stuck on”, “Because We Want To” was a positively rebellious, part sung, part rapped / chanted and insanely catchy number about playing songs so loud, running round in crowds, dancing all night and saying what was on your mind.

Her voice definitely had shades of early Madonna about it, which belied her relatively tender years of age, but which was offset by the tomboyish image of her in the video in a burgundy blazer, trousers and trainers whilst leading a pack of dancers and CGI figures down a rain sodden street in Greenwich that looked like it was a stand in for Coronation Street.

With over thirty TV appearances in the run up to its release on 29th June 1998, “Because We Want To” looked like it was going to be a big hit – which it was. Selling over 80,000 copies in its first week of release, it broke records as Billie became the youngest solo female artist to debut at number one with her first ever release.

Along with B*Witched, Steps and Five, she was one of the big names leading the pure pop renaissance of 1998. We will be meeting her again later on this series, but even though it is another route – acting – that she is more known for today, the sensation of Billie’s arrival in the summer of 1998 is probably why she is still fondly regarded in the public eye to this day.

Don’t forget to follow our brand new playlist on Spotify – updated weekly so you never miss a song from the story of pop in 1998. And you can leave your memories of the songs below in the comments, Tweet us or message us on Instagram, using the hashtag #StoryofPop1998.