1999 Shanks And Bigfoot: Sweet Like Chocolate

And now another of the nineties' trademark handbrake turns from one thing into something quite different - 'Sweet Like Chocolate' is a product of the UK garage scene that managed to top not only the national, but also the dance, indie and R&B charts too. Impressive, but then it IS a tune that watches its own back - garage was an offshoot of dance that was typified by choppy house beats and kick drums, a mix that 'Sweet Like Chocolate' has in spades. But to drag what could have been a niche underground genre blinking into the sunlight, Shanks and Bigfoot (aka producers Steven Meade and Danny Langsman) sweeten (HA!) the urban pill with clear definition of purpose in their tune that the casual/initiated listener could follow no problem and a Sharon Woolf lead vocal that pastes on a welcoming pop edge. Yet in so doing (and despite its clubland kudos), 'Sweet Like Chocolate' veers perilously close to electronic bubblegum to my ears and it sits in this chart like a beached whale longing to return to its natural habitat.