REMEMBER when Jesse Katsapolis (Uncle Jesse to those of us less familiar with the TV gem that was Full House) toured Japan with his band Jesse and the Rippers? You see, he had crafted a sappy, crappy love song called Forever that topped the charts in Asia.

So I was understandably a little unnerved by press material that informed me that Montreal-based pop duo Sky were huge in Thailand and had been mobbed by autograph hounds in Malaysia.

It turns out that Sky has their own sappy, crappy love song called Some Kinda Wonderful.

What, an original title was already taken? I guess so since the band also has non-cover songs called America, I Will Survive and Push.

But at least their hit single (also popular on MuchMusic) has a catchy bounce to it and decent singing on the verse.

Not that it makes up for the cheesy '80s horns and diabetic-coma inducing chorus.

As Christopher Walken warned Dennis Hopper in True Romance after punching him in the nose, "That's as good as it's gonna get and it's never gonna get that good again."

The ballads, particularly the cringe-worthy I Will Survive, also exhibit bad '80s tendencies even outsapping George Michael in his Careless Whisper days.

The faster tracks' supposedly "phat" hip-hop beats are strictly factory-pressed R&B-lite castoffs from the likes of 'N Synch and Monica.

With production from Peter Mokran (R. Kelly, Lisa Stansfield) and the Berman Brothers (Real McCoy, The Moffatts) the album comes off reeking of sleek and desperate commercialism.

Even Uncle Jesse knew that having a successful pop tune in Asia doesn't mean artistic respect over here. That's why he quit the band to write ad jingles.

1999-2001 ©