Here is the Top 40 Countdown
Once again Camila Cabello ft Young Thug is at number one. We have 7 eligible records this week, only one of which is a climber.
There are 4 new entries including 2 from French Montana who therefore appears twice. So many people feature on number 35 that I almost ran out of space on its line.
When I first wrote about how Top of the Pops would look these days I made my own rule that a record can be treated as a new entry if it's been out of the charts a whole 6 months, therefore Mariah Carey appears with her Christmas song.
I get the feeling the next few episodes are going to become quite predictable.
New (38) Not3s - My Lover
New (35) David Guetta ft Afrojack, Charli XCX & French Montana - Dirty Sexy Money
Re (34) Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You
New (31) Jason Derulo ft French Montana - Tip Toe
⬆ (9) Selena Gomez ft Marshmello - Wolves
New (29) Katie Melua - Fields of Gold
(1) Camila Cabello ft Young Thug - Havana
Thursday 30 November 2017
Wednesday 29 November 2017
25 Years Since....November 1992
For I change I'm doing this one day early, here's what I was enjoying in November 1992:
Undercover - Never Let Her Slip Away
Ask your average music fan if they remember Undercover, they'd probably say yes the group who did the 90s remake of "Baker Street".
As much as I liked that tune, for me it was more about this. I'd never heard the original prior to this coming out so it was an original piece of music as far as I was concerned. I realised how much I liked it when on a school trip to Granada Studios and it came on the radio on the bus. I sang along and once it finished I thought wow what a tune.
Ironically I found out later on in life that Undercover hail from Manchester.
Heaven 17 - Temptation
Some of you might be thinking this isn't from 1992, its from 1983. Indeed it did originally come out in 1983 but was remixed by Brothers in Rhythm in 1992.
This was the first tune to be played at a school disco I went to at the time, great choice in my opinion. I started singing along to in enthusiastically but couldn't hear my voice due to pretty much everyone else singing it loudly too. It was before anyone at school really became a music snob so everyone loved every tune that was played that night, kind of miss those days.
East 17 - Gold
Who would have thought that you would have two groups in the Top 40 with 17 at the end of their name. I do remember finding it quite funny at the time.
This was the second single from East 17 but only managed to reach number 28 which I'm quite surprised by given it seemed quite well known at the time.
Being the days before music snobbery existed amongst my peers I could still admit to liking East 17 at this point. In fact I do remember when saying which groups I liked I'd say I like Heaven 17, East 17 etc. It wasn't long before the rivalry with Take That happened which then meant you weren't allowed to like either group if you were a male.
Guns n Roses - Yesterdays
Now we're starting to see the origins of my own music snobbery. This was around the time Guns n Roses became my favourite band, although I hadn't gone off Queen completely yet.
This was the 6th single from the Use Your Illusion albums which I was yet to own, but had hoped to get them for Christmas. Unfortunately my parents learnt of the swearing in their music so it never happened, but I did manage to acquire a copied tape of them in the end.
Faith No More - Everything's Ruined
I first heard Faith No More when they had a hit with "Epic" in 1990. I remembered this when I saw the video for "Midlife Crisis" on Top of the Pops in 1992 and was surprised at how different they sounded, the former being quite a funky number and the latter being quite dark and aggressive.
By the time "Everything's Ruined" came out I was aware that the original singer of Faith No More was no longer in the band which to me explained their change in sound. The singer on "Epic" was a long haired dude who rapped, the new singer seemed a lot more serious with short hair, a beard, pierced eyebrow and sang in a much more aggressive tone.
Little did I realise they were both in-fact the same person, Mike Patton. The original lead singer had left the band before "Epic". A few years later Mike Patton became known as the man Posh Spice fancied. Just imagine if she got with him instead, would we be having Brand Patton in our faces all the time? I like to think not.
Undercover - Never Let Her Slip Away
As much as I liked that tune, for me it was more about this. I'd never heard the original prior to this coming out so it was an original piece of music as far as I was concerned. I realised how much I liked it when on a school trip to Granada Studios and it came on the radio on the bus. I sang along and once it finished I thought wow what a tune.
Ironically I found out later on in life that Undercover hail from Manchester.
Heaven 17 - Temptation
This was the first tune to be played at a school disco I went to at the time, great choice in my opinion. I started singing along to in enthusiastically but couldn't hear my voice due to pretty much everyone else singing it loudly too. It was before anyone at school really became a music snob so everyone loved every tune that was played that night, kind of miss those days.
East 17 - Gold
This was the second single from East 17 but only managed to reach number 28 which I'm quite surprised by given it seemed quite well known at the time.
Being the days before music snobbery existed amongst my peers I could still admit to liking East 17 at this point. In fact I do remember when saying which groups I liked I'd say I like Heaven 17, East 17 etc. It wasn't long before the rivalry with Take That happened which then meant you weren't allowed to like either group if you were a male.
Guns n Roses - Yesterdays
This was the 6th single from the Use Your Illusion albums which I was yet to own, but had hoped to get them for Christmas. Unfortunately my parents learnt of the swearing in their music so it never happened, but I did manage to acquire a copied tape of them in the end.
Faith No More - Everything's Ruined
I first heard Faith No More when they had a hit with "Epic" in 1990. I remembered this when I saw the video for "Midlife Crisis" on Top of the Pops in 1992 and was surprised at how different they sounded, the former being quite a funky number and the latter being quite dark and aggressive.
By the time "Everything's Ruined" came out I was aware that the original singer of Faith No More was no longer in the band which to me explained their change in sound. The singer on "Epic" was a long haired dude who rapped, the new singer seemed a lot more serious with short hair, a beard, pierced eyebrow and sang in a much more aggressive tone.
Little did I realise they were both in-fact the same person, Mike Patton. The original lead singer had left the band before "Epic". A few years later Mike Patton became known as the man Posh Spice fancied. Just imagine if she got with him instead, would we be having Brand Patton in our faces all the time? I like to think not.
Monday 27 November 2017
Dance Music in the UK Singles Chart
I'm now up to 1992 in my yearly look at the UK singles chart. Many genres of music have come and gone, some have had much less of a presence in the charts than one would think and some have perhaps had more. One thing that has struck my though was the sheer quantity of Dance music in the charts in the years I've looked at recently.
There's no doubt that Dance music at times has seemed the most popular genre of music, at the moment purely from a commercial perspective EDM is possibly the biggest thing out there at the moment, but in the early 90s it does seem like the singles chart would suggest that dance music was bigger than it perhaps was.
Many will say that in the early 90s the music world was divided into those who liked Dance and those who liked Rock. I wouldn't say one was bigger than the other, why would Dance music fans have that rivalry with Rock music fans if they didn't have a similar sized following.
Amongst my peers I would say Rock music had the bigger following, though that did change in the late 90s where the rivalries tended to be what type of dance music you were into.
It's probably fair to say that the singles chart was somewhat an after thought for many rock bands. AC/DC have the second biggest selling album of all time, but until there was a Facebook campaign to get them to Christmas number one a few years ago they held the record for most singles without a Top 10. Rage Against the Machine who actually did get the Christmas number one only managed number 25 with the same record originally despite the fact it was a hugely popular song at the time.
But Dance music wasn't exactly chart orientated either. One thing I loved about a lot of the Dance music I listened to was that it never go into the charts.
There is however one obvious reason why a Dance record was more likely to chart than a Rock record. Several Rock fans get themselves a Guitar and learn to play the music as well as listen to it. The equivalent in Dance music is to get some decks and therefore buy the vinyl to mix with which in turn helps to boost singles sales, learning to play a Rock song on the guitar obviously doesn't.
That's not just it though. Another clear distinction between Dance music and possibly any other genre is that Dance records aren't often about the artist who creates them, but more about a DJ who plays the records. In other genres it's all about the artist.
The only Dance act from the early 90s that the average music fan could recognise down the street or name the members of is The Prodigy. There are many dance anthems that many people know and could name the act, but how much do people generally know about Nomad, Shades of Rhythm or Oceanic?
When a Dance act is faceless like that, you don't know whether there will be an album or if you'll ever hear anything from them again, so you buy the single. With someone like AC/DC, someone who likes their single will know it will be on the next album so would probably wait for that rather than buy the single which is probably why their UK singles record isn't great.
Even if there is an album though, it can often take a long time for it to come out. Take The Prodigy for example, their first single "Charly" came out in August 1991, their first album came out in September 1992. The first single from the 2nd album "One Love" came out in October 1993, the album came out in July 1994. Then there was the number one "Firestarter" which was March 1996 but the album didn't come out until July 1997.
Take another chart topping Dance act, Baby D. The number one "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" originally came out in 1992 but didn't chart until 1994 and the album didn't come out until 1996, so it was 4 years old by the time you could own it on an album.
So that's my theory as to why there was more Dance music in the charts than you'd perhaps expect.
There's no doubt that Dance music at times has seemed the most popular genre of music, at the moment purely from a commercial perspective EDM is possibly the biggest thing out there at the moment, but in the early 90s it does seem like the singles chart would suggest that dance music was bigger than it perhaps was.
Many will say that in the early 90s the music world was divided into those who liked Dance and those who liked Rock. I wouldn't say one was bigger than the other, why would Dance music fans have that rivalry with Rock music fans if they didn't have a similar sized following.
Amongst my peers I would say Rock music had the bigger following, though that did change in the late 90s where the rivalries tended to be what type of dance music you were into.
It's probably fair to say that the singles chart was somewhat an after thought for many rock bands. AC/DC have the second biggest selling album of all time, but until there was a Facebook campaign to get them to Christmas number one a few years ago they held the record for most singles without a Top 10. Rage Against the Machine who actually did get the Christmas number one only managed number 25 with the same record originally despite the fact it was a hugely popular song at the time.
But Dance music wasn't exactly chart orientated either. One thing I loved about a lot of the Dance music I listened to was that it never go into the charts.
There is however one obvious reason why a Dance record was more likely to chart than a Rock record. Several Rock fans get themselves a Guitar and learn to play the music as well as listen to it. The equivalent in Dance music is to get some decks and therefore buy the vinyl to mix with which in turn helps to boost singles sales, learning to play a Rock song on the guitar obviously doesn't.
That's not just it though. Another clear distinction between Dance music and possibly any other genre is that Dance records aren't often about the artist who creates them, but more about a DJ who plays the records. In other genres it's all about the artist.
The only Dance act from the early 90s that the average music fan could recognise down the street or name the members of is The Prodigy. There are many dance anthems that many people know and could name the act, but how much do people generally know about Nomad, Shades of Rhythm or Oceanic?
When a Dance act is faceless like that, you don't know whether there will be an album or if you'll ever hear anything from them again, so you buy the single. With someone like AC/DC, someone who likes their single will know it will be on the next album so would probably wait for that rather than buy the single which is probably why their UK singles record isn't great.
Even if there is an album though, it can often take a long time for it to come out. Take The Prodigy for example, their first single "Charly" came out in August 1991, their first album came out in September 1992. The first single from the 2nd album "One Love" came out in October 1993, the album came out in July 1994. Then there was the number one "Firestarter" which was March 1996 but the album didn't come out until July 1997.
Take another chart topping Dance act, Baby D. The number one "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" originally came out in 1992 but didn't chart until 1994 and the album didn't come out until 1996, so it was 4 years old by the time you could own it on an album.
So that's my theory as to why there was more Dance music in the charts than you'd perhaps expect.
Thursday 23 November 2017
Top of the Pops: 23/11/2017
Here is the Top 40 Countdown
Camila Cabello ft Young Thug stays at number one and we have just 8 eligible records this week.
The remaining 7 consist of 5 climbers and 2 new entries. Both new entries come from people who were around when Top of the Pops was still going.
Incidentally one of the climbers, number 23, was the new entry I had to eliminate when there were 8 of them 3 weeks ago.
New (29) Elbow - Golden Slumbers
⬆ (23) NF - Let You Down
⬆ (20) MK - 17
⬆ (14) Clean Bandit ft Julia Michaels - I Miss You
⬆ (12) Stormzy ft Mnek - Blinded By Your Grace Pt2
⬆ (8) Big Shaq - Mans Not Hot
New (7) Eminem ft Beyoncé - Walk On Water
(1) Camila Cabello ft Young Thug - Havana
Camila Cabello ft Young Thug stays at number one and we have just 8 eligible records this week.
The remaining 7 consist of 5 climbers and 2 new entries. Both new entries come from people who were around when Top of the Pops was still going.
Incidentally one of the climbers, number 23, was the new entry I had to eliminate when there were 8 of them 3 weeks ago.
New (29) Elbow - Golden Slumbers
⬆ (23) NF - Let You Down
⬆ (20) MK - 17
⬆ (14) Clean Bandit ft Julia Michaels - I Miss You
⬆ (12) Stormzy ft Mnek - Blinded By Your Grace Pt2
⬆ (8) Big Shaq - Mans Not Hot
New (7) Eminem ft Beyoncé - Walk On Water
(1) Camila Cabello ft Young Thug - Havana
Monday 20 November 2017
Record of the Year 1992: Sonz Of A Loop Da Loop Era - Far Out
Having done my 25 years since feature in this blog it helped narrow down my choice. Given what a big influence Rave has been on my life and that 1992 was in a way the year of Rave, it only seems appropriate to pick a Rave tune.
Here's what I had to say about it in my 25 years since feature:
Got to love the scratching on this record. My young self found this record very bizarre, I was yet to know about the concept of rave music. It was something my parents thought was dreadful which was a bonus.
I would buy this on vinyl several years later. One time whilst a student, me and my housemates invited a few people back for a few drinks and I got behind the decks. When mixing this tune in I pretended it was actually me scratching the intro, whether they fell for it or not I don't know, more likely they didn't even notice.
Sunday 19 November 2017
UK Singles Chart: 1992
With two hits this year, Cliff Richard became the first outright in terms of most hits. He also kept his run of hits every year since 1979, closely followed by Shakin Stevens who had a hit every year since 1980. Elton John overtook David Bowie into third place, whilst joining the 30+ club in terms of number of hits were Michael Jackson and Roy Orbison.
No change in terms of most number ones
A glance at the number ones of the year implies the 80s might have returned. The first number one of the year came from Wet Wet Wet with "Goodnight Girl" after a string of hits that had only made the lower reaches of the Top 40. However they would not reach the Top 10 again until 1994 when they had their most famous number one "Love Is All Around".
The second number one came from Shakespears Sister with "Stay" which was there for 8 weeks. Their follow up "I Don't Care" made the Top 10, but would be their final hit to do so.
Bringing the top spot into the 90s next came Right Said Fred with "Deeply Dippy", their second hit of the year after "Don't Talk Just Kiss". They didn't fare so well with their next hit though with "Those Simple Things/Daydream" on managing number 29.
Also keeping it 90s next was KWS with "Please Don't Go/Game Boy", the former being a dance cover of the KC & the Sunshine Band record and the latter being arguably the only hardcore rave number one in chart history, though nowhere near as well known.
We then have the 80s does the 70s with Erasure scoring their only number one with the "Abba-Esque EP", an EP of Abba covers. Erasure had a solid year also scoring Top 10s with "Breath of Life" and "Who Needs Love (Like That)" which originally failed to reach the Top 40 when it was first released in 1985.
Speaking of 1985, that was the year the act who had the next number one was last in the Top 40. The person in question is Jimmy Nail with "Ain't No doubt". Bringing it back to the 90s next was Snap! with their second a final number one with "Rhythm is a Dancer".
The next number one comes from the act who were arguably the most successful chart wise of the year. This was the Shamen with "Ebeneezer Goode". The casual music listener may think that was their only record, but this year alone they also had a number four with "Boss Drum", a number five with "Phorever People" and a number six with "LSI".
We then have a trio of chart debutants score the next three number ones, Tasmin Archer with "Sleeping Satellite", Boyz II Men with "End of the Road" and Charles & Eddie with "Would I Lie to You".
The Christmas number one came from Whitney Houston with "I Will Always Love You" which remained number one well into 1993 spending 10 weeks at the top.
After a year away from the UK Top 40, Motown was back with newcomers Boyz II Men as one of their acts who followed up their number one with "Motownphilly". There was another newcomer from Motown in Shanice who had her only Top 40 hit with "I Love Your Smile". We also had the return of Lionel Richie after a 6 year absence with the hits "Do It To Me" and "My Destiny" which would be his last hits for the label. Additionally we had the final chart appearance of Motown act the Temptations with "My Girl" which failed to reach the Top 40 when it was first released. However this appeared on the soundtrack to the movie of the same name so therefore is not officially a Motown record.
Michael Jackson was dabbling with the New Jack Swing sound, thanks in part to having Teddy Riley producing on his album with records like "Remember the Time" and "Jam". It was also the year that brought us "Rump Shaker" by Wreckx-N-Effect which featured a verse from Teddy Riley which had been written by a certain Pharrell Williams. We also had the debut of TLC with the record "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg".
Generally though the R&B sound was moving away from New Jack Swing and more towards the contemporary sound of the mid 80s. The Dance/R&B crossover sound pioneered by Soul II Soul was also on its way out of the charts with just Soul II Soul themselves and Innocence keeping that sound going.
We did however start to see the acid jazz sound gain in popularity. Although Incognito and Young Disciples go the ball rolling the previous year, this year we had more Incognito with "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" and we also had the debuts of Brand New Heavies with "Dream Come True" and Stereo MCs with "Connected".
Dance music generally had a big presence in the charts with many tunes from the House, Techno and Breakbeat Hardcore genres. Aside from the number ones, big hits included "Raving I'm Raving" by "Shut Up & Dance", "On A Ragga Tip" by SL2 and "Sesame's Treet" by Smart Es.
The latter was another example of what was dubbed Toytown Techno with other examples including "A Trip To Trumpton" by Urban Hype and"The Banana Song" by GSP.
Despite the number one from Snap, there wasn't much other Euro Dance apart from 2 Unlimited. There was "Take Me Away" by Cappella, "It's My Life" by Dr Alban and "Run To You" by Rage.
There was however a form of Euro Dance which could be considered to be its equivalent of Toytown Techno, records which sampled computer games. There was "Supermarioland" by Ambassadors Of Funk featuring MC Mario, "Supersonic" by HWA featuring Sonic The Hedgehog and "Tetris" by Doctor Spin, who was in fact Andrew Lloyd Webber.
We saw the first example of Hardbag music with "Don't You Want Me" by Felix charting this year. Meanwhile, it was still just Massive Attack keeping Trip Hop music going with the Massive Attack EP.
There was notably less Rap/Hip Hop music in the charts this year. We saw the last of MC Hammer with "Don't Pass Me By". We did however have the debut from Kris Kross, who were the only act to have more than one Rap/Hip Hop hit this year. First came the well known "Jump", then came "Warm It Up" and then "It's A Shame". This would be the last we'd see of them in the UK Top 40.
There were also debuts from Naughty By Nature with "O.P.P.", Arrested Development with "People Everyday" and House Of Pain with "Jump Around". All three of the acts would return to the charts in future years.
With Nirvana bringing Grunge to the UK charts the previous year, several acts would follow this year. These included Pearl Jam with "Alive", "Even Flow" and "Jeremy", L7 with "Pretend We're Dead", "Everglade" and "Monster", Soundgarden with "Jesus Christ Pose" and Sonic Youth with "100%", whilst Nirvana themselves had hits with "Come As You Are", "Lithium" and "In Bloom".
Unlike what the history books say though, this didn't spell the end for Glam. Most notably we had Mr Big score a number two with "To Be With You", plus we had hits from Extreme, Skid Row, Motley Crue and Europe.
Having ditched the hair metal literally with a haircut, Bon Jovi returned to the charts this year with "Keep the Faith".
In the Goth scene Sisters of Mercy had their biggest hit with the number three "Temple of Love" and we also had the final new hits from the Mission with "Never Again" and "Like A Child Again" and All About Eve with "Phased EP".
Thrash was kept going by Megadeth with the hits "Symphony Of Destruction" and "Skin O' My Teeth". Now considered Heavy Metal rather than Thrash, Metallica continued to have hits with "Nothing Else Matters" and "Wherever I May Roam". There were also hits from Iron Maiden with "Be Quick Or Be Dead" and "From Here To Eternity", WASP with "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New York Morgue)" and a return to the Top 40 after a 10 year gap for Black Sabbath with their final hit "TV Crimes". There was also the debut of alternative metal band Therapy? with "Teethgrinder".
Amongst the hard rockers, there were hits this year for the likes of Guns N Roses, Def Leppard, Alice Cooper, Thunder, Little Angels and AC/DC. We also had the debut of Ugly Kid Joe with "Everything About You" followed up with "Neighbor".
The baggy sound was still going strong with Stone Roses, James, Inspiral Carpets, Primal Scream, Charlatans, EMF, Flowered Up, The Farm and Happy Mondays all having hits this year.
The direction of Indie music in general was changing though with this perhaps being the strongest year for Shoegazing. Arguably the best known Shoegazing band Ride had their only Top 10 hit this year with "Leave Them All Behind". There were also hits this year for Catherine Wheel, Curve and Lush.
We also saw the origins of what would become Brit Pop, with "Popscene" by Blur charting this year which is said to be where Brit Pop begun. There was also the debut of Suede with "Metal Mickey".
Another notable Indie group this year was the Wedding Present, who released a new single every month meaning giving them 12 Top 40 hits this year. The most successful of these was "Come Play With Me" which was the only one to reach the Top 10.
This was the year we saw the beginnings of the biggest boyband rivalry of the early 90s. Take That had already made their chart debut in November 1991 with the minor hit "Promises" making number 38. That had their first major hit this year in June with "It Only Takes A Minute" which reached number 7. Their follow up "I Found Heaven" failed to reach the Top 10, but would be their final 90s hit that didn't. They then had hits with "A Million Love Songs" and "Could It Be Magic".
East 17 debuted in August with the number 10 hit "House of Love". Their follow up "Gold" only managed to reach number 28.
With Aitken now gone, Stock & Waterman still managed five Top 40 hits this year, three of which were their final hits for Kylie Minogue with the number two "Give Me Just a Little More Time" being the most successful of these. The other two came from Bananarama with "Movin On" and WWF Superstars with "Slam Jam".
With their being over 100 more Top 40 hits in 1992 than 1991 there was enough room to accommodate both the old a new music which is what seems to have happened. Despite this though there were just 12 number ones.
A lot is said in the history books about the Rave scene peaking in 1992 with the raves themselves attracting the largest crowds. The charts does reflect this with more dance music that's ever gone before.
The question for 1993 is will there be a decline in Dance records? and will Grunge kill off glam metal in the charts once and for all? and will we get more Rap/Hip Hop in the charts?
| Artist | No of Hits | New Hits | |
| 1 | Cliff Richard | 103 | This New Year, I Still Believe In You |
| 2 | Elvis Presley | 101 | |
| 3 | Elton John | 45 | The One, Runaway Train, The Last Song |
| 4 | David Bowie | 44 | |
| 5 | Status Quo | 43 | Rock Til You Drop, Roadhouse Medley |
| 6 | Queen | 40 | |
| 7 | Paul McCartney | 39 | |
| 8 | Stevie Wonder | 37 | |
| 9 | Rod Stewart | 36 | Tom Traubert's Blues |
| 10 | Diana Ross | 34 | The Force Behind the Power, One Shining Moment, If We Hold On Together |
| = | Michael Jackson | 34 | Remember the Time/Come Together, In the Closet, Who Is It, Jam, Heal the World |
| 12 | Frank Sinatra | 32 | |
| = | Rolling Stones | 32 | |
| = | Shakin Stevens | 32 | Radio |
| 15 | Roy Orbison | 31 | I Drove All Night, Crying, Heartbreak Radio |
| 16 | Lonnie Donegan | 30 |
No change in terms of most number ones
| Artist | No of #1s | New #1s | |
| 1 | Elvis Presley | 17 | |
| = | Beatles | 17 | |
| 3 | Cliff Richard | 13 | |
| 4 | Abba | 9 | |
| 5 | Rolling Stones | 8 | |
| 6 | Madonna | 7 | |
| 7 | Slade | 6 | |
| = | Rod Stewart | 6 |
A glance at the number ones of the year implies the 80s might have returned. The first number one of the year came from Wet Wet Wet with "Goodnight Girl" after a string of hits that had only made the lower reaches of the Top 40. However they would not reach the Top 10 again until 1994 when they had their most famous number one "Love Is All Around".
The second number one came from Shakespears Sister with "Stay" which was there for 8 weeks. Their follow up "I Don't Care" made the Top 10, but would be their final hit to do so.
Bringing the top spot into the 90s next came Right Said Fred with "Deeply Dippy", their second hit of the year after "Don't Talk Just Kiss". They didn't fare so well with their next hit though with "Those Simple Things/Daydream" on managing number 29.
Also keeping it 90s next was KWS with "Please Don't Go/Game Boy", the former being a dance cover of the KC & the Sunshine Band record and the latter being arguably the only hardcore rave number one in chart history, though nowhere near as well known.
We then have the 80s does the 70s with Erasure scoring their only number one with the "Abba-Esque EP", an EP of Abba covers. Erasure had a solid year also scoring Top 10s with "Breath of Life" and "Who Needs Love (Like That)" which originally failed to reach the Top 40 when it was first released in 1985.
Speaking of 1985, that was the year the act who had the next number one was last in the Top 40. The person in question is Jimmy Nail with "Ain't No doubt". Bringing it back to the 90s next was Snap! with their second a final number one with "Rhythm is a Dancer".
The next number one comes from the act who were arguably the most successful chart wise of the year. This was the Shamen with "Ebeneezer Goode". The casual music listener may think that was their only record, but this year alone they also had a number four with "Boss Drum", a number five with "Phorever People" and a number six with "LSI".
We then have a trio of chart debutants score the next three number ones, Tasmin Archer with "Sleeping Satellite", Boyz II Men with "End of the Road" and Charles & Eddie with "Would I Lie to You".
The Christmas number one came from Whitney Houston with "I Will Always Love You" which remained number one well into 1993 spending 10 weeks at the top.
After a year away from the UK Top 40, Motown was back with newcomers Boyz II Men as one of their acts who followed up their number one with "Motownphilly". There was another newcomer from Motown in Shanice who had her only Top 40 hit with "I Love Your Smile". We also had the return of Lionel Richie after a 6 year absence with the hits "Do It To Me" and "My Destiny" which would be his last hits for the label. Additionally we had the final chart appearance of Motown act the Temptations with "My Girl" which failed to reach the Top 40 when it was first released. However this appeared on the soundtrack to the movie of the same name so therefore is not officially a Motown record.
Michael Jackson was dabbling with the New Jack Swing sound, thanks in part to having Teddy Riley producing on his album with records like "Remember the Time" and "Jam". It was also the year that brought us "Rump Shaker" by Wreckx-N-Effect which featured a verse from Teddy Riley which had been written by a certain Pharrell Williams. We also had the debut of TLC with the record "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg".
Generally though the R&B sound was moving away from New Jack Swing and more towards the contemporary sound of the mid 80s. The Dance/R&B crossover sound pioneered by Soul II Soul was also on its way out of the charts with just Soul II Soul themselves and Innocence keeping that sound going.
We did however start to see the acid jazz sound gain in popularity. Although Incognito and Young Disciples go the ball rolling the previous year, this year we had more Incognito with "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" and we also had the debuts of Brand New Heavies with "Dream Come True" and Stereo MCs with "Connected".
Dance music generally had a big presence in the charts with many tunes from the House, Techno and Breakbeat Hardcore genres. Aside from the number ones, big hits included "Raving I'm Raving" by "Shut Up & Dance", "On A Ragga Tip" by SL2 and "Sesame's Treet" by Smart Es.
The latter was another example of what was dubbed Toytown Techno with other examples including "A Trip To Trumpton" by Urban Hype and"The Banana Song" by GSP.
Despite the number one from Snap, there wasn't much other Euro Dance apart from 2 Unlimited. There was "Take Me Away" by Cappella, "It's My Life" by Dr Alban and "Run To You" by Rage.
There was however a form of Euro Dance which could be considered to be its equivalent of Toytown Techno, records which sampled computer games. There was "Supermarioland" by Ambassadors Of Funk featuring MC Mario, "Supersonic" by HWA featuring Sonic The Hedgehog and "Tetris" by Doctor Spin, who was in fact Andrew Lloyd Webber.
We saw the first example of Hardbag music with "Don't You Want Me" by Felix charting this year. Meanwhile, it was still just Massive Attack keeping Trip Hop music going with the Massive Attack EP.
There was notably less Rap/Hip Hop music in the charts this year. We saw the last of MC Hammer with "Don't Pass Me By". We did however have the debut from Kris Kross, who were the only act to have more than one Rap/Hip Hop hit this year. First came the well known "Jump", then came "Warm It Up" and then "It's A Shame". This would be the last we'd see of them in the UK Top 40.
There were also debuts from Naughty By Nature with "O.P.P.", Arrested Development with "People Everyday" and House Of Pain with "Jump Around". All three of the acts would return to the charts in future years.
With Nirvana bringing Grunge to the UK charts the previous year, several acts would follow this year. These included Pearl Jam with "Alive", "Even Flow" and "Jeremy", L7 with "Pretend We're Dead", "Everglade" and "Monster", Soundgarden with "Jesus Christ Pose" and Sonic Youth with "100%", whilst Nirvana themselves had hits with "Come As You Are", "Lithium" and "In Bloom".
Unlike what the history books say though, this didn't spell the end for Glam. Most notably we had Mr Big score a number two with "To Be With You", plus we had hits from Extreme, Skid Row, Motley Crue and Europe.
Having ditched the hair metal literally with a haircut, Bon Jovi returned to the charts this year with "Keep the Faith".
In the Goth scene Sisters of Mercy had their biggest hit with the number three "Temple of Love" and we also had the final new hits from the Mission with "Never Again" and "Like A Child Again" and All About Eve with "Phased EP".
Thrash was kept going by Megadeth with the hits "Symphony Of Destruction" and "Skin O' My Teeth". Now considered Heavy Metal rather than Thrash, Metallica continued to have hits with "Nothing Else Matters" and "Wherever I May Roam". There were also hits from Iron Maiden with "Be Quick Or Be Dead" and "From Here To Eternity", WASP with "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New York Morgue)" and a return to the Top 40 after a 10 year gap for Black Sabbath with their final hit "TV Crimes". There was also the debut of alternative metal band Therapy? with "Teethgrinder".
Amongst the hard rockers, there were hits this year for the likes of Guns N Roses, Def Leppard, Alice Cooper, Thunder, Little Angels and AC/DC. We also had the debut of Ugly Kid Joe with "Everything About You" followed up with "Neighbor".
The baggy sound was still going strong with Stone Roses, James, Inspiral Carpets, Primal Scream, Charlatans, EMF, Flowered Up, The Farm and Happy Mondays all having hits this year.
The direction of Indie music in general was changing though with this perhaps being the strongest year for Shoegazing. Arguably the best known Shoegazing band Ride had their only Top 10 hit this year with "Leave Them All Behind". There were also hits this year for Catherine Wheel, Curve and Lush.
We also saw the origins of what would become Brit Pop, with "Popscene" by Blur charting this year which is said to be where Brit Pop begun. There was also the debut of Suede with "Metal Mickey".
Another notable Indie group this year was the Wedding Present, who released a new single every month meaning giving them 12 Top 40 hits this year. The most successful of these was "Come Play With Me" which was the only one to reach the Top 10.
This was the year we saw the beginnings of the biggest boyband rivalry of the early 90s. Take That had already made their chart debut in November 1991 with the minor hit "Promises" making number 38. That had their first major hit this year in June with "It Only Takes A Minute" which reached number 7. Their follow up "I Found Heaven" failed to reach the Top 10, but would be their final 90s hit that didn't. They then had hits with "A Million Love Songs" and "Could It Be Magic".
East 17 debuted in August with the number 10 hit "House of Love". Their follow up "Gold" only managed to reach number 28.
With Aitken now gone, Stock & Waterman still managed five Top 40 hits this year, three of which were their final hits for Kylie Minogue with the number two "Give Me Just a Little More Time" being the most successful of these. The other two came from Bananarama with "Movin On" and WWF Superstars with "Slam Jam".
With their being over 100 more Top 40 hits in 1992 than 1991 there was enough room to accommodate both the old a new music which is what seems to have happened. Despite this though there were just 12 number ones.
A lot is said in the history books about the Rave scene peaking in 1992 with the raves themselves attracting the largest crowds. The charts does reflect this with more dance music that's ever gone before.
The question for 1993 is will there be a decline in Dance records? and will Grunge kill off glam metal in the charts once and for all? and will we get more Rap/Hip Hop in the charts?
Thursday 16 November 2017
Top of the Pops: 16/11/2017
Here is the Top 40 Countdown
Camila Cabello ft Young Thug stays at number one and we have 11 eligible records this week meaning 2 need to be eliminated.
The first elimination is a re entry from Sam Smith, partly because unless a re entry does particularly well it is an obvious choice for elimination, but also because a new entry from Sam Smith features.
We also have two new entries from Dave, so the highest one features and the other one doesn't. There are three further new entries including the return of NERD which I posted about recently.
New (38) Lil Pump - Gucci Gang
New (31) NERD ft Rihanna - Lemon
New (29) Taylor Swift - Call It What You Want
New (27) Sam Smith - One Last Song
⬆ (21) Liam Payne - Bedroom Floor
New (18) Dave ft Mostack - No Words
⬆ (17) Khalid - Young Dumb & Broke
⬆ (5) Rita Ora - Anywhere
⬆ (1) Camila Cabello ft Young Thug - Havana
Camila Cabello ft Young Thug stays at number one and we have 11 eligible records this week meaning 2 need to be eliminated.
The first elimination is a re entry from Sam Smith, partly because unless a re entry does particularly well it is an obvious choice for elimination, but also because a new entry from Sam Smith features.
We also have two new entries from Dave, so the highest one features and the other one doesn't. There are three further new entries including the return of NERD which I posted about recently.
New (38) Lil Pump - Gucci Gang
New (31) NERD ft Rihanna - Lemon
New (29) Taylor Swift - Call It What You Want
New (27) Sam Smith - One Last Song
⬆ (21) Liam Payne - Bedroom Floor
New (18) Dave ft Mostack - No Words
⬆ (17) Khalid - Young Dumb & Broke
⬆ (5) Rita Ora - Anywhere
⬆ (1) Camila Cabello ft Young Thug - Havana
Tuesday 14 November 2017
Eminem is back
After the return of NERD a couple of weeks ago, we now have another one who I was listening to in the early 00s return, Eminem with "Walk On Water". Another thing both comebacks have in common is featuring someone who I completely detest, in this case Beyoncé.
Whilst there is no doubt he made a big impact on the world of music with his first album "The Slim Shady LP", it was his second album "The Marshall Mathers LP" which made him pretty much the biggest act in the world at that moment in time. That's when I jumped on the bandwagon too.
The thing was though, this was no catchy pop record, it was a dark rap album. Arguably the biggest track on the album "Stan" was basically a moody tune about a man who killed himself and his pregnant girlfriend. Yet pretty much everyone around my age, myself included, owns this album.
He also made his disapproval of pop artists such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera known at the time via his lyrics. Nowadays though instead of dissing these kind of people on his records, he is actually collaborating with them.
So to the new record itself, it doesn't get off to the best start as it begins with Beyoncé singing. Then Eminem comes in with the first verse, an improvement but I'm waiting for the beat to kick in. A couple of minutes in you realise there is no beat, it is simply piano and vocals.
The rapping itself is quite good. The lyrical content is about the fact he set the bar high with his early music and it's a near impossible task to beat that. I like the way he concludes the tune with the line "bitch I wrote Stan".
But take out the rapping there's not a lot to it. There have been Eminem tunes in the past where the beat isn't the best, but the rapping makes up for it. This just seems a step too far, it's over a pretty dull piano tune and in between the rapping you have to put up with Beyoncé's whining.
Get rid of Beyoncé, put the rapping over a decent beat, or just any beat and I think you'd have a good tune, but as it is I'm afraid it's nowhere near the standard of his early 00s material.
Saturday 11 November 2017
Goldfrapp @ Brixton Academy
Only 8 months had passed since I last saw Goldfrapp, but the main difference between last nights gig at Brixton Academy and the one earlier on in the year at the Roundhouse was that the previous gig came before the new album and last nights gig came 8 months or so after the new album got released. Therefore I knew every tune they played last night rather than just the old ones.
It began with a couple of new tracks, the second being "Anymore" which I feel is becoming a future classic and won't be surprised to hear it in many Goldfrapp gigs in ten years time. With many acts I go and see these days they play an older more familiar track third and last night was no exception with them playing "Train".
We then had a mixture of tunes from the new album and from the "Supernature" album which lead onto the more familiar number in "Number 1", "Ride a White Horse" and "Ooh La La". Whilst the "Supernature" tracks inevitably got the better reactions, the tunes on the new album did blend in quite nicely. This is unlike their previous effort "Tales of Us" where you would have a gig of two halves, the new and the old.
The encore brought us "Black Cherry", new album track "Systemagic" and "Strict Machine". So despite having seven albums to pick from, only 3 albums actually featured.
There were fears this gig may not go ahead as the Birmingham gig earlier this week was cancelled for health reasons, but fortunately it did go ahead and they delivered as always. The only negative I have was the ridiculous £5.60 for a pint at Brixton Academy, nothing Goldfrapp could do about it I know, but it really annoys me that gig venues continue to rip us off like that.
It began with a couple of new tracks, the second being "Anymore" which I feel is becoming a future classic and won't be surprised to hear it in many Goldfrapp gigs in ten years time. With many acts I go and see these days they play an older more familiar track third and last night was no exception with them playing "Train".
We then had a mixture of tunes from the new album and from the "Supernature" album which lead onto the more familiar number in "Number 1", "Ride a White Horse" and "Ooh La La". Whilst the "Supernature" tracks inevitably got the better reactions, the tunes on the new album did blend in quite nicely. This is unlike their previous effort "Tales of Us" where you would have a gig of two halves, the new and the old.
The encore brought us "Black Cherry", new album track "Systemagic" and "Strict Machine". So despite having seven albums to pick from, only 3 albums actually featured.
There were fears this gig may not go ahead as the Birmingham gig earlier this week was cancelled for health reasons, but fortunately it did go ahead and they delivered as always. The only negative I have was the ridiculous £5.60 for a pint at Brixton Academy, nothing Goldfrapp could do about it I know, but it really annoys me that gig venues continue to rip us off like that.
Thursday 9 November 2017
Top of the Pops: 09/11/2017
Here is the Top 40 Countdown
After last weeks madness of 8 new entries these week, normal service is resumed this week with just 3 new entries.
We also have a new number one. After 11 weeks in the Top 40, Camila Cabello ft Young Thug finally hit the top spot with "Havana".
The 3 record which missed out last week are all eligible this week and therefore feature and there is just one further record that features, so 8 eligible records overall. This means every new entry this year aside from ones from Ed Sheeran & co have featured at some point.
New (40) Stormzy ft Mnek - Blinded By Your Grace Pt2
New (28) Clean Bandit ft Julia Michaels - I Miss You
⬆ (27) NF - Let You Down
⬆ (20) Big Shaq - Mans Not Hot
⬆ (18) Camelphat & Elderbrook - Cola
New (16) Selena Gomez ft Marshmello - Wolves
⬆ (9) Charlie Puth - How Long
⬆ (1) Camila Cabello ft Young Thug - Havana
After last weeks madness of 8 new entries these week, normal service is resumed this week with just 3 new entries.
We also have a new number one. After 11 weeks in the Top 40, Camila Cabello ft Young Thug finally hit the top spot with "Havana".
The 3 record which missed out last week are all eligible this week and therefore feature and there is just one further record that features, so 8 eligible records overall. This means every new entry this year aside from ones from Ed Sheeran & co have featured at some point.
New (40) Stormzy ft Mnek - Blinded By Your Grace Pt2
New (28) Clean Bandit ft Julia Michaels - I Miss You
⬆ (27) NF - Let You Down
⬆ (20) Big Shaq - Mans Not Hot
⬆ (18) Camelphat & Elderbrook - Cola
New (16) Selena Gomez ft Marshmello - Wolves
⬆ (9) Charlie Puth - How Long
⬆ (1) Camila Cabello ft Young Thug - Havana
Sunday 5 November 2017
NERD are back
One thing most young music fans who listen to the latest music experience is older people telling them it was much better in their day. Then they reach their mid 20s and find they are the ones telling the younger fan it was better in their day, even though it was only yesterday so to speak. Then both the music fan and the music gets older to the point where the music really is old and the youngsters have no living memory of the music.
That's the point I've got to, but when I was younger the older people would say "in my day we had the Beatles and the Rolling Stones" etc and such bands were finished, or still going but only seemingly for the older crowd. Nowadays I can say in my day we had Pharrell Williams, but he's still around now and making music for the kids alongside pop singers after my time such as Katy Perry which I find dreadful.
However, it wasn't really Pharrell Williams as such that I was listening to back in the day, it was NERD and Neptune's produced music which featured him.
I bought the first NERD album at the time and thought it was amazing. There was also something about Neptune's produced music which made me want to listen to tunes by people I wouldn't normally listen to. Take N Syncs final hit "Girlfriend" for example, I never thought there would be an N Sync song that I'd like but there was, and I put it down to the Neptune's production. Likewise I loved Justin Timberlake's early solo material which was mostly Neptune's produced.
The quality of Pharrells music in recent years though has suggested to me that perhaps Chad Hugo was the talented one. But now NERD have returned with a new tune called "Lemon" the burning question is are they still as good as they were or are they more like Pharrells modern music?
Well they haven't got off to the best start because the comeback record features Rihanna, someone who I've never been able to tolerate. Saying that, I did like the Eminem tunes she featured on so there's still a chance.
The intro is not bad, I quite like the minimalistic sound they have gone for. Around 30 seconds in we find Rihanna rapping. As predicted her rapping is pretty awful but I guess it's no worse than her singing. There comes a point where I'm wondering whether this is supposed to be a NERD tune or a Rihanna tune produced by the Neptune's. She does eventually shut up and it's back to NERD to rap the rest of the tune.
So what do I think? Well it's certainly better than modern Pharrell material. I do quite like the beats, but Rihanna's presence on it does somewhat ruin it. So I would simply say it's ok, nothing special. Would it be better without Rihanna on it? Of course, taking Rihanna off any record would improve it, but even then it's nowhere near as good as their older material.
It's early days and it may still grow on me. I've accepted that Pharrell as a solo act these days is not my cup of tea, but that's a bit like a Beatles fan not liking Wings or a Jam fan not liking the Style Council, in some ways you don't expect them to. But if the Jam were to reunite and make music that sounds like the Style Council, the Jam fans wouldn't be happy.
Maybe it's the presence of Rihanna on the track that makes me fear this is more NERD does Pharrell than NERD does NERD. Guess we'll have to see what else they give us in the foreseeable future.
Thursday 2 November 2017
Top of the Pops: 02/10/2017
Here is the Top 40 Countdown
Post Malone is number one again but the big story is that we have 8 new entries this week. This is without any single act flooding the charts with tracks from a new album.
Because of the rules that we must include the number one and the highest climber, it means one new entry has to miss out. I've chosen to eliminate the number 40 because it's the lowest placed new entry.
There are a total of 12 eligible records this week so two climbers which appeared 2 weeks ago also miss out.
New (15) Taylor Swift - Gorgeous
New (20) Rita Ora - Anywhere
New (28) Liam Payne - Bedroom Floor
New (30) Krept & Konan ft Stormzy - Ask Flipz
New (36) MK - 17
New (37) Anne Marie - Heavy
New (39) Portugal the Man - Feel It Still
⬆ (8) Mabel ft Kojo Funds - Finders Keepers
(1) Post Malone ft 21 Savage - Rockstar
Post Malone is number one again but the big story is that we have 8 new entries this week. This is without any single act flooding the charts with tracks from a new album.
Because of the rules that we must include the number one and the highest climber, it means one new entry has to miss out. I've chosen to eliminate the number 40 because it's the lowest placed new entry.
There are a total of 12 eligible records this week so two climbers which appeared 2 weeks ago also miss out.
New (15) Taylor Swift - Gorgeous
New (20) Rita Ora - Anywhere
New (28) Liam Payne - Bedroom Floor
New (30) Krept & Konan ft Stormzy - Ask Flipz
New (36) MK - 17
New (37) Anne Marie - Heavy
New (39) Portugal the Man - Feel It Still
⬆ (8) Mabel ft Kojo Funds - Finders Keepers
(1) Post Malone ft 21 Savage - Rockstar
Wednesday 1 November 2017
25 Years Since....October 1992
I was too busy celebrating Halloween last night to make this post, but here's what I was enjoying in October 1992:
Bizarre Inc - I'm Gonna Get You
Nearly a year after they charted at number 4 with "Playing With Knives", Bizarre Inc went one better and scored a number 3 with this.
This really does bring back memories as it does remind me of a time when I had only recently started a new year at school like you do in September. What I like about this tune the most is what's going on in the background towards the "you know you're gonna be mine" bit.
House of Pain - Jump Around
I'll be honest, the name House of Pain must have gone in one ear out the other at the time as around a year or so later I remembered this as being by Cypress Hill. However, that wasn't as stupid as it sounds as it was produced by DJ Muggs from Cypress Hill.
One thing I do remember at the time was when I was at scouts (don't laugh!) in the leaders car and this came on the radio. He clearly didn't like it so changed the station and at that very moment on the other station the DJ said "that was Luciano Pavarotti".
Bon Jovi - Keep the Faith
This song marked the return of Bon Jovi and Jon Bon Jovi sporting a shorter haircut.
When I was celebrating my next birthday, one of my mates gave me the "Keep the Faith" album cassette and a blank cassette. I asked him why he'd given me a blank cassette too, he said that was for me to tape the album onto and then he wanted the original back.
Bon Jovi would go on to displace INXS as my second favourite band after Guns n Roses. However, as I started listening to heavier music I started to hate Bon Jovi and even put a picture of Jon Bon Jovi on the dart board and throw darts at him.
I kind of forgot about Bon Jovi as the 90s went on, but when they made another comeback in 2000 with "It's My Life" it reminded me that they actually have several good songs.
Arrested Development - People Everyday
Think it was the intro that did it for me, the badababdabdaba hey or whatever it is they say. I quite like the female repeating random words the man says in the verse too.
At the time I still wasn't that clued up as to what music was which genre and had this down as a reggae tune. I discovered it was rap when it appeared on an advert for a rap compilation.
Charles & Eddie - Would I Lie To You
I wasn't the only one enjoying this at the time. Everybody seemed to love this record at the time, it was probably the one record everyone could agree on.
I still just about considered Queen to be my favourite band, I remember confirming this to someone at school at the time. They then said their favourite band was Charles & Eddie!
They are remembered by many as being a one hit wonder, but they weren't. They had their next single "NYC (Can You Believe This City)" in February 1993. It didn't have the same impact on me, whereas everyone else seemed to have lost interest in Charles & Eddie all together and it only reached 33. That wasn't it though, they had 2 further hits which reached 29 and 38.
Bizarre Inc - I'm Gonna Get You
This really does bring back memories as it does remind me of a time when I had only recently started a new year at school like you do in September. What I like about this tune the most is what's going on in the background towards the "you know you're gonna be mine" bit.
House of Pain - Jump Around
One thing I do remember at the time was when I was at scouts (don't laugh!) in the leaders car and this came on the radio. He clearly didn't like it so changed the station and at that very moment on the other station the DJ said "that was Luciano Pavarotti".
Bon Jovi - Keep the Faith
When I was celebrating my next birthday, one of my mates gave me the "Keep the Faith" album cassette and a blank cassette. I asked him why he'd given me a blank cassette too, he said that was for me to tape the album onto and then he wanted the original back.
Bon Jovi would go on to displace INXS as my second favourite band after Guns n Roses. However, as I started listening to heavier music I started to hate Bon Jovi and even put a picture of Jon Bon Jovi on the dart board and throw darts at him.
I kind of forgot about Bon Jovi as the 90s went on, but when they made another comeback in 2000 with "It's My Life" it reminded me that they actually have several good songs.
Arrested Development - People Everyday
At the time I still wasn't that clued up as to what music was which genre and had this down as a reggae tune. I discovered it was rap when it appeared on an advert for a rap compilation.
Charles & Eddie - Would I Lie To You
I wasn't the only one enjoying this at the time. Everybody seemed to love this record at the time, it was probably the one record everyone could agree on.
I still just about considered Queen to be my favourite band, I remember confirming this to someone at school at the time. They then said their favourite band was Charles & Eddie!
They are remembered by many as being a one hit wonder, but they weren't. They had their next single "NYC (Can You Believe This City)" in February 1993. It didn't have the same impact on me, whereas everyone else seemed to have lost interest in Charles & Eddie all together and it only reached 33. That wasn't it though, they had 2 further hits which reached 29 and 38.
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