The Story of Pop: 1998 (Chapter 39)

This is The Story of Pop: 1998, offering you up yet more huge UK chart hits from 25 years ago, and the stories of the artists behind them every Thursday at 9am. This week: buckle in as Ireland’s biggest new band of the year make it two in a row…

• Artist: B*Witched
• Song: Rollercoaster
• Released: 20/09/1998
• Writers / Producers: B*Witched / Ray “Madman” Hedges / Martin Brannigan / Tracy Ackerman / Cutfather & Joe
• Highest UK Chart Position: #1
• Weeks on Chart: 16

After selling in excess of 900,000 copies and spending over four months on the UK chart with their first number one, “C’est La Vie“, there was little disputing that, impressive a debut as it was, B*Witched had a task and a half on their hands to try and follow that up with as much impact on their second single.

Especially as the success of their forerunners such as the Spice Girls and All Saints had set a bit of an expectation on the shoulders of girl groups such as themselves – something they would ultimately find more daunting the further into their career they got. But in September 1998, they were still happily bubbling from the glow of the success of what had by all accounts been one of the biggest new pop launches of the year.

Opening the curtain on their self titled debut album was a song that, whilst not trying to emulate its predecessor (nor did it need to) was very much cut from the same cloth whilst being a natural continuation of the sound they had established. And “Rollercoaster” is one of those singles that pretty much takes its theme and runs with it from the off.

Once again opening on a spoken interlude (“Oh, I can’t believe I’m doing this”, squeals one of the girls in excitement, as the sounds of an actual rollercoaster rumble into action and they whoop in delight), it’s actually a relatively more sedate affair than “C’est La Vie” was, yet sets the scene perfectly. Some of that might possibly be to do with the additional production hand of Cutfather & Joe, who’d not long been behind the Another Level chart topper we met a few entries ago.

Their additional mixing on the track thus gave this song a slightly more cooler, tougher edge, with snatches of vinyl scratching and electronic whizzing peppering the track, with its wurlitzer organ sound very reminiscent to that which you’d hear playing at a fairground.

And of course, there is the obligatory fiddle break there to remind you of their Irish musical heritage, albeit more subtly than before. Lyrically, it’s all quite innocent fun in the verses from Edele: “Today’s the day / We’re out to play / And lost our way / It’s always the same, oh baby now / Climbed the trees, swam the seven seas / We’ve grazed our knees / And no one’s to blame but us”.

This tougher edge, and B*Witched’s apparent solidification as a tomboy band are evident in the bridge lyrics, delivered with some cheeky attitude by Sinead, Keavy and Lindsay: “Come and sit beside us, we’ll give you such a thrill / We’re not nice, we’re cool as ice, we’ll give you quite a chill”. But as the chorus hits – and my, how it hits – there’s a sense of great unity and joy about it all that makes you want to be part of their gang: “Come on, come on / Get it on, we’re riding in a rollercoaster, come on / Come on (Don’t wanna wait for you), come on (don’t wanna wait for you no more) / Get it on, we’re riding in a rollercoaster of love”.

Another eye catching video accompanied the single, with the girls taking part in flying sequences, with a new stonewashed denim wardrobe (including Edele wearing her iconic / bombastic denim stetson), a test your strength machine and a boxing match, that thus made it one of those singles where it really crystallised B*Witched and what they were all about to their audience, both in terms of sound, style and visuals.

It is perhaps, therefore, not too much of a surprise that “Rollercoaster” became their second consecutive number one single, going straight in at the top upon its release, making them the first girl group to achieve this feat with their first two releases, and only the second act after Robson and Jerome to achieve the feat. On one hand, it would be incredibly easy to dismiss it as a slipstream chart topper to follow “C’est La Vie”.

But with first week sales of 157,000 copies – 4,000 more, you will note, than their debut achieved on its first week out in May – and a two week stay at the top, as well as being the 21st biggest selling single of 1998, “Rollercoaster” was most certainly a bonafide hit all of its own, and proved that the girls were no one single wonder. Their self titled debut album then entered and peaked at #3 a few weeks later in October, eventually going onto be certified double platinum in the UK. And as eyes turned towards the end of year, and Christmas, all waited to see if they would make it three in a row with their next single – but that’s another story for later this series…

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.