Last night we turned the clocks forward, but today lets turn the clocks backwards to 25 years ago to see what music I was enjoying:
Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm
We begin with a song I already had only a copied tape of the "Siamese Dream" album by the Smashing Pumpkins. They were one of those bands popular amongst Grungers without actually being Grunge themselves.
One thing I do recall happening at the time was that the heavier bands were now starting to fall out of favour amongst the Grunge crowd and more alternative music like this was starting to take it's place.
Personally I was still into the heavy stuff but I was liking music like this too.
Therapy? - Trigger Inside
Therapy? were a band who were popular amongst a handful of people I knew prior to 1994, but when this tune came out a lot more people were into them.
What may have helped was their "Troublegum" album had finally been released and was doing the rounds on people Walkman's at school.
I didn't own the album right away, but a few months later I was round a friends house and we were talking about music and Therapy? came into conversation. He told me he had the album but didn't like it so he gave me it for free. A few years later I lent the tape to somebody who I lost contact with shortly after, so never got it back.
Blur - Girls And Boys
Next up is a song that made me realise that the band who did "Sunday Sunday" were called Blur not Blair.
This was the song that increased the popularity of Blur no end and was perhaps the beginning of several peoples transition from Grunge to Brit Pop.
Regular readers of this blog will know that Oasis will never appear in this series of posts given how much I hate their music, but for the record their chart debut came a month later and so the rivalry begins.
Bon Jovi - Dry County
I'm getting a bit confused with the timings of everything now. I thought I hated Bon Jovi by 1994 but I remember this appearing on The Chart Show and me cheering, so the time hadn't come yet.
This was their last single from the "Keep the Faith" album and I know that by the time they released "Always" later on in the year I date hate them even though that particular song is probably my favourite Bon Jovi song now.
Soul Asylum - Somebody To Shove
Another Soul Asylum song I didn't realise was Soul Asylum at the time.
Now I've decided to review the Top 20 from 20 years ago in 1999 but I'm not going bother with the current Top 20 as it was so bad last time I resorted to saying the song "Polaroid" was OK on the basis it wasn't as bad as others, but it is rubbish.
Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.
So this is the top 20 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:
20. Spacedust - Let's Get Down
We begin with a Spacedust tune that isn't "Gym & Tonic". This was their second and final Top 40 hit which entered at number 20 and fell out the Top 40 the following week. This sampled "I Want Your Love" by Chic and entered the charts a month or so after Roger Sanchez had a hit with the same sample. I prefer the Roger Sanchez tune, but I do like this one though.
Verdict - Good
19. Roxette - Wish I Could Fly
What's this, Roxette in 1999? I don't remember this charting at the time but have heard it since. I've always thought of Roxette as being an 80s group but the only Top 40 hit they had in the 80s was "The Look", the rest all came in the 90s. This was their final hit and their first since 1994. They are one of these groups that I didn't really think much of at the time but have gone on to like later on in life and this is one of their tunes I do like.
Verdict - Good
18. 2Pac - Changes
Nearly 3 years after his death, the hits still kept coming for 2Pac and this became his biggest hit to date reaching number 3. The first 2Pac album I bought was his greatest hits which was largely due to this tune being on it, and when I first listened to it I went straight to this tune. Needless to see I like it.
Verdict - Good
17. The Corrs - Runaway
In 1997 I bought a Happy Hardcore compilation which included the tune "Cor Blimey" by DJ Magical. Then in 1999 I'm hearing this tune on the radio which has the same vocals. My thoughts were surely The Corrs haven't taken vocals from a Happy Hardcore tune so maybe it was a cover of an older tune. Turns out it wasn't a cover, it was originally recorded in 1994 and failed to chart when released in the UK the first time in 1996. Also the title of the Happy Hardcore version makes more sense now. Perhaps because I liked the Happy Hardcore version I've always quite liked the original too.
Verdict - Good
16. Delirious? - See the Star
We were doing so well with the tunes so far, then along comes this. I remember the band, a Christian Rock group who sounded like a dreary Indie band. I don't remember this song though, but then I'd struggle to name a Delirious? song but remember they all sounded a bit like this, so maybe I do remember it.
Verdict - Rubbish
15. Tina Cousins - Killin' Time
Perhaps better known for being a vocalist for Sash! this was the second and final solo effort of Tina Cousins. In reality though it's a Mark Topham and Karl Twigg tune that Tina Cousins does the vocals for but is credited as being the artist. One would expect it to be cheesy given it's by a Dance vocalist and Pete Waterman was involved in her album but it's actually not bad, maybe a little bit cheesy but it's no DJ Sammy.
Verdict - OK
14. Manic Street Preachers - You Stole The Sun From My Heart
Manic Street Preachers are one of those bands who have released a lot of rubbish over the years, but at the same time they have some really good songs in their singles discography. This is one of their good ones and actually the last single of theirs I really like. I like the light verse followed by heavy chorus which then goes up a gear.
Verdict - Good
13. George Michael & Mary J Blige - As
It's inevitable that there are Stevie Wonder fans out there who absolute hate this because they think George Michael and Mary J Blige have butchered his song. For me though I never knew this was a Stevie Wonder cover at the time so I had no original to compare this to and I liked it. I have since heard the Stevie Wonder original and I'm afraid to say I prefer this cover because I think it works really well as a male/female duet. It's not the only Stevie Wonder song where I prefer the cover, there's also "Lately" by Jodeci and "Don't You Worry About A Thing" by Incognito, both of which I heard the covers first.
Verdict - Good
12. Underworld - Push Upstairs
Underworld became household names in 1996 with "Born Slippy". They also had a hit that year with "Pearls Girl" but then it wasn't until 1999 until they had their next hit with this, "Push Upstairs". All I have to say about this really is great tune.
Verdict - Good
11. Cher - Strong Enough
This was the follow up to "Believe" and was once again of the Dance Music variety, but not one that would appeal to Dance Music fans like myself.
Verdict - Rubbish
10. Blur - Tender
Back in 1995 when were had Blur vs Oasis I wasn't on either side because it wasn't Rave. In hindsight though at the time Blur's music was quite fun and Oasis were very dull. Blur won the battle but Oasis became the bigger band in the long run. It seems like Blur's reaction to this was to make their music dull as well which is perfectly illustrated by this song.
Verdict - Rubbish
9. Andy Williams - Music To Watch Girls By
Andy Williams in 1999? Yes this was originally a minor hit for Andy Williams in 1967 but was re-issued in 1999 after it was used on a Fiat advert. I remember this being on Top of the Pops at the time and I'd just reached the point of my life where I realised that just because a song is old doesn't mean it's rubbish, so I liked it.
Verdict - Good
8. Kele Le Roc - My Love
In 2001 I bought a compilation album which had this tune on it. When I was looking at the liner notes it stated this tune was from 1992 which I thought seemed a bit early. Turns out I was right, it was only 2 years old at the time and an internet search shows no evidence of any version of this song being from 1992 but I did discover one of the writers was Robbie Nevil. It was from listening to the compilation that I realised I really like this tune.
Verdict - Good
7. Whitney Houston - It's Not Right But It's Okay
I think the song title sums this one up quite well. Generally speaking Whitney Houston's music to me was either cheesy pop or dreary ballads, but then in the late 90s it was more R&B which I guess doesn't seem right but it's ok.
Verdict - OK
6. Steps - Better Best Forgotten
This song title certainly sums up this song, that it's better best forgotten. I had to stop the music after writing that sentence it's that bad. Steps know they're music is shit, but they make a lot of money out of it so keep on doing it and the public keep on paying their hard earned money to subject themselves to this torture.
Verdict - Rubbish
5. Vengaboys - We Like To Party! (The Vengabus)
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, well actually I'm not sure whether this is worse than Steps but it's pretty close. The Vengaboys had previously charted with "Up & Down" which I thought was ok, though I did get pretty sick of it given how overplayed it was. Then came this, which is essentially "Up & Down" with ridiculous vocals over the top of it provided by 2 females and 2 males that you don't actually hear. The Vengaboys it seems had become the Dutch Steps (yes I know there were 3 females in Steps but there could just as easily be 2).
Verdict - Rubbish
4. Robbie Williams - Strong
I was one of those people who suspected Robbie Williams, Mr Take That, would be rubbish as a solo artist given he was in a boy band. After beginning with a poor George Michael cover followed by an Oasis sound-alike song it seemed I was right, but by 1999 I thought actually he's not bad.
Verdict - OK
3. Britney Spears - Baby One More Time
When I first heard this I thought it was alright. Then I heard it so many times that made me hate it. 20 years later I see it as one of these songs that's a bit too American High School for my liking, even though it was written by a Swedish bloke.
Verdict - Rubbish
2. Boyzone - When The Going Gets Tough
I like the original by Billy Ocean, but this is just dreadful. It just sounds like a karaoke song where the singer seems a bit bored.
Verdict - Rubbish
1. B*Witched - Blame It On The Weatherman
The fourth hit and fourth number one from B*Witched. The only logical reason I can think of for so many people buying it is that they desperately wanted to knock Boyzone off number one.
Verdict - Rubbish If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 10.5/20, or 52.5%, an improvement on the 1996 and 1998 ones I looked at.
It started so well in the lower part of the charts but generally speaking the higher in the charts, the worse it got. I thought maybe I should have started at number 40, but looking at numbers 36 to 40 we have the Spice Girls, a Daniel O'Donnell song I've never heard and another song I've never heard which is nearly 10 minutes long, so maybe not.
The next album in this series, "Dummy" by Portishead, was released in 1994. I would like to say that's where my story begins, but I'm afraid it doesn't, it starts much later than that.
1994 was the year I started as a Grunger and ended as a Raver. As we got into the late 90s I remember Portishead being popular amongst my peers, particularly those who liked Dance Music. However at the time I liked my music hard and fast, which Portishead clearly weren't.
Fast forward to 2008 (yes my story really does begin much later) and Portishead were back in the headlines with a new album. This brought back memories of Portishead tunes I knew, "Numb", "Sour Times", "Wandering Star" and "Glory Box" and I thought to myself that those tunes were pretty good. In the record shop I discovered they were all on the same album. With 10 tracks on the album, knowing that I liked at least 40% of the album coupled with the fact it was on offer, it was a no brainer to buy it.
The album begins with "Mysterons" which is basically a sign of what's to come. If I had to pick one Portishead tune that perfectly sums up their sound then this would be it. Next up was the more familiar "Sour Times", a great tune. The next couple of tracks on the album are even better.
Up next is the more familiar "Wandering Star" followed by "Numb". Then the tempo goes down a notch, which shouldn't be possible but it does. These next 3 tracks in my mind are building up to the big ending of "Glory Box".
Much like the first 2 albums of this series I've been posting about, what makes this album great is more to do with the album as a whole as opposed to the individual tracks. The positioning of the more familiar tracks at the beginning (well track 2), middle and end helps.
Portishead have a very distinctive sound, its downtempo and quite haunting but at the same time it's quite experimental, almost like they're brainstorming ideas for the tune but it is the actual tune.
Despite this, their debut album, coming out 25 years ago they only have 3 albums to their name. The self titled follow up came out 3 years later in 1997 and then their was an 11 year gap till their 3rd album, called "Third" and it's been 11 years since that came out.
They're not exactly prolific at touring either. The first gig they did in London after I purchased this album was in 2011 at the logistical nightmare that is Alexandra Palace which had a 1am finish so I decided to give it a miss. They haven't played a gig in London since so therefore I've never seen them live.
With Drum & Bass being big in the charts in 2012 and being a Drum & Bass fan myself, it would have made sense for me to pick a Drum & Bass record for my record of the year. However whilst some of those records are alright, I asked the question are any of them better than "Hard Than You Think" by Public Enemy? to which I answered no.
The record itself is actually from 2007 but didn't chart until 2012 when it was used for the coverage of the Paralympics. It was the first Top 10 for Public Enemy and was their first UK Top 40 hit in 15 years.
In an era where many rappers had gone Electropop it was good to hear that proper Hip Hop was still being made by the likes of Public Enemy. That's what makes them so great, they haven't changed their sound to appeal to the masses unlike many other musicians across the spectrum do once they become successful.
The fact it gave them a Top 10 hit perhaps showed that there was still a lot of demand for proper Hip Hop for the masses and that you don't have to go down the Pitbull or Flo Rida route to sell lots of records.
Nobody scoring their 30th Top 40 hit in 2012 and we had the final Top 40 hit for George Michael. The ones highlighted are those who still have hits to come:
Artist
No of Hits
New Hits
1
Elvis Presley
124
=
Cliff Richard
124
3
Elton John
69
4
Madonna
67
Give
Me All Your Luvin
5
David Bowie
57
=
Status Quo
57
7
Queen
53
8
Michael Jackson
50
9
Kylie Minogue
48
Timebomb
10
Paul McCartney
47
11
Rod Stewart
45
12
Pet Shop Boys
44
13
Diana Ross
43
=
Rolling Stones
43
=
Depeche Mode
43
16
Stevie Wonder
41
=
U2
41
18
UB40
40
19
Prince
38
=
Mariah Carey
38
21
Janet Jackson
37
=
Jay-Z
37
Niggas In Paris, No
Church inthe Wild, Clique
23
Tom Jones
36
=
Bon Jovi
36
=
George Michael
36
White Light
=
Rihanna
36
Where
Have You Been, Diamonds, Right Now, Stay
27
R Kelly
35
28
Erasure
34
=
Manic Street
Preachers
34
30
Frank Sinatra
33
=
Shakin Stevens
33
=
Morrissey
33
33
Iron Maiden
32
=
Simply Red
32
=
Whitney Houston
32
=
Robbie Williams
32
Candy
37
Roy Orbison
31
=
Bee Gees
31
=
REM
31
40
Lonnie Donegan
30
=
Beatles
30
=
Tina Turner
30
=
Duran Duran
30
=
Paul Weller
30
=
Mary J Blige
30
=
Glee Cast
30
Both Rihanna and Robbie Williams had one number one in 2012 bringing their total to 7:
Artist
No of #1s
New #1s
1
Elvis Presley
21
2
Beatles
17
3
Cliff Richard
14
=
Westlife
14
5
Madonna
13
6
Take That
11
7
Abba
9
=
Spice Girls
9
9
Rolling Stones
8
=
Oasis
8
11
George Michael
7
=
Michael Jackson
7
=
Kylie Minogue
7
=
U2
7
=
Elton John
7
=
Eminem
7
=
McFly
7
=
Robbie Williams
7
Candy
=
Rihanna
7
Diamonds
20
Slade
6
=
Rod Stewart
6
=
Boyzone
6
=
Blondie
6
=
Queen
6
=
Sugababes
6
Kanye West now had the most consecutive years of Top 40 hits and previous X Factor winner Leona Lewis becomes joint third in most consecutive years of hits:
Artist
Hits Every Year
Since
1
Kanye West
2004
2
Rihanna
2005
3
Chris Brown
2006
=
Leona Lewis
2006
=
Ne-Yo
2006
=
Taio Cruz
2006
We had a new talent show in 2012 on the BBC to rival the X Factor called The Voice. However the winners single failed to make the Top 40. We did however have one contestant who did make the Top 40. Tyler James who had previously been in the charts in 2004 and 2005 just about reached the Top 40 with his cover of "Higher Love" making number 39. His next hit "Single Tear" did better reaching 28, but neither of these charted as high as his previous hits.
The true winners of The Voice were the judges. Will.I.Am had a number one with "This Is Love" featuring Eva Simons and "Hall Of Fame" in collaboration with The Script, the group of fellow judge Danny O'Donoghue. Jessie J also had a number one with "Domino".
Like the previous year, the X Factor winners single, which was "Impossible" by James Arthur, was released the week before Christmas and made number one before being knocked off Christmas week by the charity single "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" by the Justice Collective.
James Arthur wasn't the only contestant from this series of X Factor to have a hit this year. Lucy Spraggan had a hit with "Last Night" before being removed from iTunes by request of the X Factor producers.
The previous years winners Little Mix had their second number one with "Wings" and also had a number three with "DNA". There were three more contestants from the previous year to have hits in 2012, Marcus Collins with "Seven Nation Army", Amelia Lily with "You Bring Me Joy" and Misha B with "Home Run" and "Do You Think Of Me".
There was also the only hit from 2010 contestant Aiden Grimshaw with "Is This Love". Cher Lloyd had her final hit with "Want U Back" and Rebecca Ferguson had her second hit with "Backtrack". Proving to be the success story of that series though were One Direction who had their second number one with "Little Things" and had a further three Top 10 hits.
The last contestant standing contestant from the 2009 series was Olly Murs who had a number one with "Troublemaker" featuring Flo Rida and had another hit with "Oh My Goodness".
The 2008 winner Alexandra Burke had her final hit this year with "Let It Go" meaning the last ones standing from that series were JLS who had three hits in 2012.
X Factor judge Tulisa began her solo career in 2012 with "Young" which made number one. Her next singles "Live It Up" and "Sight of You" failed to reach the top ten and she hasn't appeared in the Top 40 since. Fellow judge Gary Barlow had his first solo number one in 15 years with "Sing".
There were no new boybands in the Top 40 in 2012, the other boybands alongside One Direction and JLS to have hits were The Wanted and McFly.
There were a new girl group in the charts though. They were called Stooshe and debuted with a number five hit "Love Me". They managed number three with their second hit "Black Heart" but only made 21 with their third hit "Waterfalls".
Girls Aloud were back in the charts one last time with "Something New" which made number two. Girls Aloud member Cheryl scored her third solo number one with "Call My Name". The Saturdays had just one hit this year with "30 Days".
The most successful act of the year from a chart perspective was from chart debutant Rita Ora. She debuted at number one as the vocalist on "Hot Right Now" by DJ Fresh. She followed up with another two number ones, "How We Do (Party)" and "RIP" and had a top ten with "Shine Ya Light".
It was the most successful year to date from a chart perspective for Drum & Bass music. After there were no Drum & Bass hits in 2011 there were 9 in 2012, a number that had only been seen in 1997 previously. Further to that, "Hot Right Now" by DJ Fresh became the first ever Drum & Bass number one, but it was the second for DJ Fresh who had the first Dubstep number one in 2011. We then had the second Drum & Bass number one from debutants Rudimental featuring John Newman with "Feel the Love".
It was a much quieter year for Dubstep but EDM was still as strong as ever. However the year did see the break up of Swedish House Mafia, who scored their first number one with their final hit "Don't You Worry Child". Swedish House Mafia member Sebastian Ingrosso made his solo debut with "Calling (Lose My Mind)" in collaboration with fellow Swedish debutant Alesso.
David Guetta and Calvin Harris had one number one each in 2012, David Guetta with "Titanium" featuring Sia and Calvin Harris with "Sweet Nothing" featuring Florence Welch. Both DJs also collaborated with Ne-Yo in 2012, David Guetta with "Play Hard" and Calvin Harris with "Let's Go".
Ne-Yo also had a number one with "Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)" which was one of many examples of R&B singers still doing Electropop. There was however one actual R&B number one in 2012 which came from Labrinth ft Emeli Sande with "Beneath Your Beautiful".
Following the death of Etta James, her song "At Last" made the Top 40 having never previous been a hit. There was very little R&B in the charts overall though in 2012 mainly due to Electropop.
Rap music was also suffering with several rappers such as Flo Rida and Pitbull continuing to make Electropop with Flo Rida making number one with "Good Feeling".
One Rap act making their first Top 40 appearance in 14 years was Public Enemy with "Harder Than You Think". This tune was 5 years old at the time but charted thanks to being the theme music to Channel 4's coverage of the Paralympics and gave them their first Top 10 hit.
Following Ed Sheeran's debut the previous year, Folk Pop increased in popularity with other with acts such as James Vincent McMorrow, Ben Howard, Frank Turner, Ryan O'Shaughnessy and Jake Bugg having hits as well as Ed Sheeran himself.
The decline of Indie Music was still evident but we did have a return to the charts after 9 years for Blur with "Under the Westway". There were also debuts for Everything Everything with "Cough Cough" and Bastille with "Flaws".
We had a couple of unlikely collaborations between older and newer artists. Brian May collaborated with Dappy on "Rockstar" and Mick Jagger collaborated with Will.I.Am and Jennifer Lopez on "T.H.E (The Hardest Ever)".
Aside from the Electropop dominating the charts there were two notable number ones that were completely different. The biggest number one of the year was "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye ft Kimbra and we also had some K-Pop in the charts for the first time with Psy making number one with "Gangnam Style".
To sum up 2012 would be lots of Electropop and EDM, the rise of Drum & Bass and Folk Pop and the fall of Dubstep and a minimal amount of other genres. Indie dominated the charts for 5 years from 2004-2008, Electropop has dominated since 2009, will it continue to dominate for a 5th year and if so will it be the last?
