And there's no turning back

Timeslip moment again...

We've been jettisoned by the Jupiter II two whole decades in the past, smack bang into the world of 1998: the year of Monica Lewinsky, Titanic sweeping the board at the Oscars, the Good Friday Agreement, Dana International, the Kosovo War, Mohamed Al Fayed, the Winter Olympics in Nagano, the "Free Deirdre Rachid" storyline in Coronation Street, civil wars in Congo and Guinea-Bissau, and the Omagh bombing; the year that popstrel Shawn Mendes, the Eurozone, Google Inc. and the two-pound coin were born; and Frank Sinatra, Tammy Wynette, Frank Muir, Shari Lewis, Linda McCartney, gay footballer Justin Fashanu (suicide), Sonny Bono, Roddy McDowall, Sir Lew Grade, Dermot Morgan (Father Ted) and Alice Faye all died.

In the news in October 1998?: the horrific homophobic murder of Matthew Shepard, the arrest of Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet in London, the second-deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record Hurricane Mitch (which killed 11,000 people in Central America), the resignation of Secretary of State for Wales Ron Davies (having been "caught out" cruising on Clapham Common, where he claimed to have been mugged), and the launch of the crime agency Europol; and we waved a sad goodbye to the archetypal TV Miss Marple Joan Hickson. In our cinemas: Saving Private Ryan; There's Something About Mary; Mulan. On telly: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Delia's How to Cook, The Royle Family and David Attenborough's Life of Birds.

And in our charts this week twenty years ago? The Top 5 was entirely made up of new entries [something that didn't happen regularly way back when charts were actually measured by sales rather than the number of plays on YouTube], including George Michael's Outside, and numbers by U2, Culture Club and Alanis Morissette. Also present and correct in the upper echelons were last week's chart-topper Stardust (Gym'n'Tonic), Aerosmith, Kele le Roc, 911, Billie Piper and Beautiful South. However, crashing straight to #1 (where she - quite rightly - stayed for eight weeks in total!) was our Patron Saint of Bob-Mackie-Fabulousness - Cher [with the song that made her a superstar all over again]!!!

Cher - Believe

No matter how hard I try
You keep pushing me aside
And I can't break through
There's no talking to you

It's so sad that you're leaving
It takes time to believe it
But after all is said and done
You're gonna be the lonely one

Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say
I really don't think you're strong enough

What am I supposed to do?
Sit around and wait for you?
Well I can't do that
And there's no turning back

I need time to move on
I need love to feel strong
Cause I've got time to think it through
And maybe I'm too good for you

Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say
I really don't think you're strong enough

Well I know that I'll get through this
'Cause I know that I am strong
I don't need you anymore
I don't need you anymore
I don't need you anymore
No I don't need you anymore

Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say
I really don't think you're strong enough

Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say
I really don't think you're strong enough