Nostalgia Sunday: Music

Music is very much a part of all of our lives in one way or another. From blasting it out while driving, to having some calm and relaxing music while reading, music is always there. For me, the best music is from the late nineties/early noughties, which coincidently is the music I grew up with. I have so many playlists made up of this music on my Spotify it is unreal. So whether you want to relive a bit of your childhood, or just want to see what I was listening to during my childhood, you have come to the right place... Britney Spears

From 'hit me baby one more time' to 'toxic', Britney Spears was one of many artists that was constantly in the charts during the noughties and was very much a part of my childhood. Not sure if many of you owned Dance Party (a DVD of music videos and dance tutorials that I spent all my spare time watching), but the song hit me baby one more time was on this and I would constantly have it on and would imitate the dance moves in the video. These two songs pretty much defined my childhood and Britney Spears is an iconic noughties singer. Beyonce

I'm ashamed to say it, but I didn't realise how big a deal Beyonce is until I was about twelve. I can remember watching her perform with Alexandra Burke on 'The X Factor' and everyone was making such a big deal about it and I never really understood why (but now, thankfully, I do). I think the main song of Beyonce's that really defined the noughties for me was 'Crazy in Love' and I loved trying (and failing) to copy the dance to it. I can't remember whether this was on Dance Party, but it was definitely on the Pop Party CD (remember them?) that I owned, and incidentally was also the first CD I ever owned. McFly

Ah McFly. My first loves. Did anyone else have that McDonald's toy that was like a radio and had McFly's song 'five colours in her hair' on it constantly on repeat? I genuinely think this was the first thing I ever listened to (that I can remember). There were so many great McFly songs throughout the noughties, such as 'all about you', 'love is easy', and 'obviously', as well as many, many more. I guess you could say they were the One Direction of the noughties and are one of very few artists/bands where I can actually listen to all of their songs constantly, on repeat, without feeling the need to listen to something else.

Busted

If you don't think that 'Year 3000' was the most iconic song of the noughties (and yes, Busted sang it first, for everyone that believes that it was actually the Jonas Brothers) then you're quite clearly lying. I was only five when Busted broke up, but from what I have seen/heard, I guess it was the same feeling as when Zayn left One Direction. It's very difficult for me to list their most iconic songs without listing the entirety of their songs, however some of my favourites were 'Air Hostess', 'Crashed the Wedding', and 'What I go to School for'. I was so gassed when McFly and Busted came together to form McBusted and was even more gassed when Busted reunited (can anyone else believe this was back in 2016 because I thought it was only a couple of years ago but apparently not). But it's pretty safe to say they were my entire childhood. S Club 7

There really ain't no party like an S Club party. S Club was guaranteed to be playing at every single party I ever went to as a child. I think two of the main songs that would always be played were 'Don't Stop Movin' and 'Reach'. If you are a noughties child and have either never heard of S Club 7 or never went to a party where their songs were playing, what were you doing with your childhood?

Steps

Did anyone else constantly get Steps and S Club 7's songs mixed up or was that just me? I think all us noughties kids can agree that the two main Steps hits of the noughties were '5, 6, 7, 8' and 'tragedy'. I remember my Dance Party DVD had the 5, 6, 7, 8 music video on it, as well as the dance tutorial, and for some completely bizarre reason I thought the music video was the dance tutorial and would pretend to ride around my living room on a motorbike (that's what they do in the music video) and I'm really ashamed to say it but it took me a lot longer than I care to admit to realise that I'd got the two confused.

Las Ketchup - The Ketchup Song (Aserje)

This was one of those iconic songs that everyone would immediately know the dance routine to (well, the chorus, who actually knew what to do during the rest of the song?). Can still do the routine off-by-heart now and would genuinely do it if I was walking down the street and heard the song.

Fast Food Rockers - Fast Food Song

"A Pizza Hut a Pizza Hut Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut McDonalds McDonalds Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut". If you read those lyrics and don't have a clue what I'm on about/didn't do the dance moves then we can't be friends.

DJ Casper - Cha-Cha Slide

"This is something new, the Casper Slide part two, featuring the Platinum Band, and this time we're going to get funky". With this song you can't even forget the dance moves or pretend you don't know them because they're literally all the song is about. This song was always 100% guaranteed to be on at every party/school disco and was the one song you could 100% guarantee EVERYONE would be up dancing to.

Baha Men - Who Let the Dog's Out

This was another iconic noughties tune. Although, I have since learned that the 'dogs' aren't actual dogs, it's actually about ugly women (which obviously there aren't any) and to be honest I find that disgusting. But it was still an iconic song nonetheless so I felt like I had to include it.

Aqua - Barbie Girl

This was another song that was absolutely guaranteed to be on at every child's party throughout the noughties. It was absolutely weird - but that's why we loved it.

Axel F - Crazy Frog

I don't remember this song ever being played at a party, however I can remember first seeing the video for it on the TV and I genuinely thought it was an advert. I'm still completely confused by this song and feel it was the early 2000s version of the late 2000s 'duck song'. I mean, does anyone know what either of these songs really were?

The Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)

I guess from this list you could (and definitely will) say that songs in the noughties were very weird, and that's because they are. At parties did anyone else, when this song came on, have girls on one side of the room and boys on the other and would kind of act out to the song? Like when it says "we are the cheeky girls" the girls would sing along to it, and when it said "you are the cheeky boys" the boys would sing along to it? Or were we just weird?

Avril Lavigne

One artist whose songs weren't weird in the slightest was/is Avril Lavigne. From absolute bangers such as 'complicated' and 'sk8er boi', Avril Lavigne was the noughties Queen. From rocking out to her songs in your room, to dancing around to them at a party, or listening to them on the radio in the car, Avril Lavigne was one of those artists whose songs were constantly playing throughout the noughties. Does anyone believe the conspiracy surrounding her death and that she's actually a lookalike? Because I'm not sure that I do. But either way, she is still an absolute Queen.

Girls Aloud

Post-Spice Girls and pre-Little Mix, there was Girls Aloud. They were THE girl band and I would constantly have their songs on repeat. From 'Sound of the Underground' to 'Love Machine' to 'The Promise', they were the ultimate noughties girl band. I was absolutely devastated when they broke up, then happy again when they did their reunion tour (I didn't go, but it was still the excitement surrounding it that made me happy), and then sad again when they split up again. Here's to hoping they do a reunion for their twenty years anniversary (I still won't go - claustrophobia and a fear of crowds prevents me from going to concerts - but I like to live vicariously through others and love the excitement of it).

Rednex - Cotton Eye Joe

This song was from the nineties, however it was very much still relevant in the noughties so I'm including it in this. My childhood was crushed when I found out this song was actually about an STD so if you didn't already know that then I'm sorry for ruining your childhood.

Los Del Rio - Macarena

Again, this is another song from the nineties but it was still very much relevant in the noughties so I'm stealing it. Was it really a noughties children's party if they didn't have the macarena on the playlist?

S Club Juniors

Also known as S Club 8, S Club Juniors were the younger generation of S Club 7. When I was younger I genuinely thought that they were the children of the members of S Club 7 (have no idea what I was thinking). From songs such as 'Automatic High', 'One Step Closer' and 'Sundown', they are probably one of the most underrated groups of the noughties and are not one that many people seem to remember. But they had some iconic songs and I would always be dancing along to them; whether at a party or in my living room. Two members of The Saturdays were in this group - five points if you can tell me which two (without using Google).

There are definitely more I've missed but I just feel these were the most iconic songs/artists of the noughties. But if you think there are any other iconic noughties songs/artists then please let me know in the comments below; as well as what your thoughts/feelings are of the songs/artists I have already mentioned.

As always, if there are any topics you would like me to cover about the noughties in this Nostalgia Sunday series, please let me know.

Remember: don't stop movin to that funky beat.

Love Beth xx