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The Niche Reference

A new name, inspired by all influences…

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Category: Europop

The Story of Pop: 1998 (Chapter 47)

Nov 23, 2023Mar 29, 2025 ~ Alex the Pensmith ~ Leave a comment

From small acorns grew one of Europop's mightiest exponents of the late 90s - even if their debut started from a very different place to the one they ended up ruling the charts with...

The Story of Pop: 1998 (Chapter 31)

Aug 3, 2023Mar 29, 2025 ~ Alex the Pensmith ~ Leave a comment

No other dance DJ and producer felt quite so keenly the pain of being the eternal chart best man - and never the groom - as Sash! did in the 90s...

The Story of Pop: 1998 (Chapter 5)

Feb 2, 2023Apr 27, 2024 ~ Alex the Pensmith ~ 1 Comment

From a pop band that could so very easily have been a one hit wonder, with their second single Aqua confirmed there was indeed life after "Barbie Girl"...

The Story of Pop: 1999 (Chapter 38)

Sep 19, 2019Sep 25, 2019 ~ Alex the Pensmith ~ Leave a comment

It's Thursday, it's midday, and time once again to bring you another slice of the UK charts as they looked and sounded twenty whole years ago. This is The Story of Pop: 1999. And this week, another imported dancefloor filler - this time from Italy - that was the second biggest selling single of the … Continue reading The Story of Pop: 1999 (Chapter 38)

The Story of Pop: 1999 (Chapter 30)

Jul 25, 2019Jul 25, 2019 ~ Alex the Pensmith ~ Leave a comment

It's Thursday, it's midday, and time to once again hop aboard the pop musical tardis that is The Story of Pop: 1999. This week: the summer bangers of 20 years ago continue apace with one of the biggest dance hits of the year... As 1998 had been a good year to be from Ireland, 1999 … Continue reading The Story of Pop: 1999 (Chapter 30)

#BlastfromthePast: Aqua

Nov 4, 2017Nov 4, 2017 ~ Alex the Pensmith ~ Leave a comment

Now here's a blogging DeLorean hop this weekend that will make certain readers - namely around my age - feel old. Can you believe it's 20 years to the week that a certain group of Danish Europop legends topped the charts with an ode to the world's most plastic fantastic doll? The story of Aqua … Continue reading #BlastfromthePast: Aqua

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