Pop Helped Me Through Puberty

A glittering stage, over-lit and garish in its over dressing. Upon it a single girl, dressed in a short gown made of hundreds of metal discs - a dress that had come close to disintegrating before she made it onto the stage, which would have left her almost naked before the audience. And then a voice rising up and up, yelling out a pop number with very little in the way of depth lyrically, but a catchy beat.

And there I am, watching from the comfort of home, cheering on that woman, hoping for the best, living the dream. This was Eurovision 1996. On the stage was Gina G, representing the UK even though she was Australian. Carrying our hopes and dreams, her pop song 'Ooh, Aah... Just a Little Bit' already a No.1 in the UK.

She came 8th in the contest, which, quite frankly, was a rather good ranking for a UK song at Eurovision. We were proud of her, trust me, being in the top ten was success!

It was pop, especially cheesy pop, that took me through the highs and terrible lows of puberty. My teen years were a fraught battle with depression, anxiety, an eating disorder and just the general trials of growing up. When it came to my music choices, I did not want songs that reflected my mood, I wanted songs the complete opposite, so obnoxiously cheerful and ridiculous it was nearly impossible to listen to them and remain depressed.

I needed escapism and 90s pop offered me that. I am little off the pop scene these days, but it seems to me that songs that are so utterly irrelevant and pointless are not being released in the same way these days. Everything has to have meaning and purpose. There was no meaning to most of the songs I was rocking to, to cheer up my mood in the 90s and that was how I liked it!

So here are my top 8 songs (including Gina G) that made my teen playlist, to celebrate that 8th place in Eurovision!

#1 Aqua - Barbie Girl

How do you make a seemingly inane pop song controversial and the centre of a potential lawsuit? Base its title upon a popular child's toy, that's how and then claim it was a coincidence.

The song was released in 1997 by Danish-Norwegian pop-dance group Aqua and was an instant hit in the UK, staying at the No.1 spot for four weeks. Its video was bright, vivid, cutesy and so clearly not based on that Mattel child's toy, ahem.

Aqua later went on to release more sultry and grown up songs, but Barbie Girl remains their best known hit in the UK.

#2 Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time

The song that introduced us to Britney Spears with her baby-faced good looks and chirpy pop songs. Who knew the controversies that would dog the poor songstress in later years, but back in 1998 we were just loving this song and the dance that went with it.

I don't know how many times I played this song, chiming along to the chorus. The video conjured up all the American teen TV shows I had been watching and gave me this glimpse into another world that was very different from the UK. Yep, I was a US fanatic in my teens and this song played to that side of me.

Plus, it was and is a cool tune.

#3 Backstreet Boys - We've Got it Goin' On

Scroll back to 1995 and I was in love with the Backstreet Boys. Their first single in the UK, We've Got it Goin' On, also happened to be the very first cassette tape I bought (I am not counting the Birdie Song in that assessment, firstly it was on a record and second, it was the Birdie Song). I was given a cassette tape case around the same time and the Backstreet Boys tape was placed inside like a precious treasure.

Ah, those were the days...

#4 Boyzone - Picture of You

So, here is my big confession - I was a massive Boyzone fan. Huge, ridiculously huge, plaster my room in posters (including the ceiling) huge, videotape all their appearances on telly, buy all their singles huge.

It was an obsession, the irony being, I wasn't actually always that keen on their music. I did like this song though and sometimes it still jumps into my head. Released in 1997 and part of the soundtrack for the movie Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie the song is all about finding the value in a person and not judging them on first appearances.

Not a bad song for today, either...

#5 Wet, Wet, Wet - Love is All Around Me

Released in 1994 as part of the movie soundtrack for Four Weddings and a Funeral (which I actually did not see until several years later) this was my introduction to Wet, Wet, Wet who had been active since 1982. This was a cover of a Troggs song and remains one of the bands best known songs.

This also happened to be one of the first songs I bought as a CD, to go into my new CD player, though I was still also buying cassettes as my Backstreet Boys tape mentioned above reveals - oh, how fast things move on!

#6 Dodgy - Good Enough

Remember mini-discs? Yeah, they were kinda pointless. But my first one was acquired in 1996 and happened to be Good Enough by Dodgy. Now, for some reason I recall this was being given away at the local supermarket. I am not sure if you had to buy something and then received the disc free or whether it was just being handed out. All I know is that mini-disc with its single song received a lot of play.

Good Enough still brings back memories of the summer of 1996, glorious sunshine (it probably wasn't, but rose-tinted...) and being in one of my better places as a teen. I also remember have a series of tie-dye t-shirts around then.

Let us never speak of this again...

#7 Chesney Hawkes - The One and Only

A hugely empowering song to blast out when you are in the middle of the teen blues. Shouting out 'I am the One and Only, nobody I would rather be' has lifted me up from the doldrums more than once.

Released in 1991 as part of the soundtrack for Buddy's Song, that also starred Chesney, this was the only hit for the singer. It was actually written by Nik Kershaw who admits when he turned to song writing for other singers, he was told to be 'less Nik Kershaw' but you can definitely still feel him behind the lyrics of this one.

There are far more songs I could have put here, but these are the ones that stick in my mind and still conjure up powerful memories of another time, another place. The world seems to have moved on hugely since those days, but I guess that is just perspective.

I hope you enjoy my quirky selection of the tunes that salvaged me from the perils of puberty, maybe some have similar memories for you?