Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 30 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.
Here is the Top 40 in full.
Obviously some of the records will be the same as last week so therefore the review will be the same for these. I've indicated which ones are new so you can skip the others if you read last weeks post.
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 30 from this week in 1991 with my verdict on each record:
30. Living Colour - Love Rears Its Ugly Head (New)
The debut Top 40 hit for Living Colour and the only one that will appear in these reviews as the other 2 fell short of the Top 30. It's a shame because I really like the follow up to this, "Solace Of You". But this is a decent record too, a nice blend of funk and rock.
Verdict - Good
29. C&C Music Factory ft Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat
When it comes to dance anthems you have those which are genuine classics and those which were just cheesy commercial crap. I place this one in the latter category, I've never been a fan of C&C Music Factory. This is probably their best tune and I don't like it.
Verdict - Rubbish
28. Xpansions - Move Your Body (Elevation) (New)
The short lived 1990 girl group Faith Hope & Charity is a name known to people as what TV presenter Dani Behr did before The Word. What perhaps isn't as well known was that fellow group member Sally Ann Marsh provided vocals for this record. It's one of those dance anthems I've probably heard too many times to get excited about, but it's still a decent record.
Verdict - Good
27. Enigma - Sadeness Part 1
When it comes to 90s number ones I can tell you something that was going on in my life at the time for the vast majority of them. This one though completely passed my by and I've only recently figured out why. I spend pretty much the whole of January 1991 ill in bed so therefore wasn't able to follow what was going on in the charts. As for the tune, not really the sort of record you'd expect to get to number one, or even in the charts for that matter which is a compliment.
Verdict - Good
26. Morrissey - Our Frank (New)
It's probably fair to say that Morrissey fans are drawn in by his lyrics first and foremost. Quite appropriately I had no recollection of how this song went other than it had the lyrics "you're frankly vulgar". After listening to it just now, I'm still struggling to remember the tune.
Verdict - Rubbish
25. DJ H ft Stefy - Think About... (New)
DJ H ft Stefy is confusingly 3 people rather than 2, Enrico Acerbi, Marco Bongiovanni and Stefania Bacchelli. Enrico Acerbi is also known as DJ Herbie which would explain the DJ H and Stefania Bacchelli is Stefy, but this was composed by Marco Bongiovanni and the vocals were Aretha Franklin samples. Great record though, got a very catchy intro.
Verdict - Good
24. Railway Children - Every Beat Of The Heart
This has nothing to do with the books/films/TV series of the same name. Railway Children were an indie band who had previously been on factory records. It was their only Top 40 hit. All I can say is that I understand why they're long forgotten.
Verdict - Rubbish
23. Chris Rea - Auberge (New)
I'm quite surprised that over a year had passed between "Road To Hell" and this record coming out, particularly as we were only 4 years into my living memory when it came to chart music. I did like this record at the time and having listened to it for the first time in many years I'd still say it's pretty good.
Verdict - Good
22. Thunder - Love Walked In (New)
The 5th Top 40 hit for Thunder and 5th to come from their "Backstreet Symphony" album. Despite this, it was their highest charting single to date at the time. The fact it's more of a ballad probably helped, but I'd actually say this is my favourite of the 5. It's just the 2nd Thunder record I've reviewed though as the other 3 failed to make the Top 30.
Verdict - Good
21. MC Hammer - Here Comes The Hammer (New)
The 4th Top 40 hit for MC Hammer and it sounds like he's running out of ideas by this point. OK it appears on the same album as the other 3, but it's almost like he knew how big he'd become and planned to have this as his 4th single to big himself up.
Verdict - Rubbish
20. New Kids On The Block - Games
I had been barely over a year since the UK were introduced to American boy band New Kids On The Block. In this song though they seem to think they're gangsta rappers. It's the inevitable moment where the boy band wants to shed it's boy band image. It didn't really work though, this was their first hit not to make the Top 10. Although they had one more Top 10 hit left, they never really recovered from a chart perspective.
Verdict - Rubbish
19. Rick Astley - Cry For Help
The Top 40 career of Rick Astley during the Stock Aitken and Waterman era lasted just 18 months, from August 1987 - February 1989. Therefore the 90s began with everyone wondering what happened to Rick Astley? Then at the start of 1991 we found out, he'd been busy growing his hair. His long hair made such an impression on me that the next time I went to the hairdressers I asked for a Rick Astley haircut. To the song then, it was by Rick Astley himself along with another musician who seemed to have disappeared with the 80s, Rob Fisher of Climie Fisher fame. The voice is the same, but musically it's a world away from the Stock Aitken and Waterman material and I quite like it. His final Top 40 hit, "Hopelessly", was the best one he did but sadly it won't feature in this series as it only made 33.
Verdict - Good
18. Jimmy Barnes And INXS - Good Times
One thing that annoys me is when you hear songs falling under a particular decade, whether it's radio stations, compilations, music channels etc, that don't actually come from a decade. For example, I've heard "One Step Beyond" by Madness many times falling under the 80s banner when it's from 1979. This particular record I recall hearing numerous times on an 80s radio station, and I'd get annoyed because it was from 1991. I later discovered though that this was originally recorded in 1986. INXS were one of my favourite bands in the early 90s, but the reality is every band has at least one rubbish song and in the case of INXS, this is one of theirs.
Verdict - Rubbish
17. Chris Isaak - Blue Hotel
His first hit was all about the video. This time he has a pretty ordinary video, so the attention is now on the music itself. To be fair, it's a stronger record than "Wicked Game" in my opinion, but I still don't like it.
Verdict - Rubbish
16. Seal - Crazy
This is the song that taught many people that Seal isn't Adamski. It was the official beginning of Seals Top 40 career, whereas Adamski's had already ended. I have Seals self titled debut album on which this appears, it's a good album.
Verdict - Good
15. Soho - Hippy Chick
I'd heard of the band Soho before I'd heard of the area of London with the same name. My memory of hearing this song for the first time is them performing it on Motormouth, though when searching for said performance I find nothing to suggest such a performance existed so might be wrong, but I do remember thinking good tune. A few years ago I bought their album when HMV in Oxford St was having it's closing down sale. For those who don't know London, the shop in question was just across the road from Soho.
Verdict - Good
14. Vanilla Ice - Play That Funky Music
Proof that Vanilla Ice wasn't a one hit wonder. In fact "Ice Ice Baby" was originally the b-side to this single when first released and this was a re-issue following the success of "Ice Ice Baby". I can understand why "Ice Ice Baby" was more successful, and I don't like it.
Verdict - Rubbish
13. Kenny Thomas - Outstanding
The debut from Kenny Thomas, who's had more Top 40 hits than you'd think and had a chart career beyond 1991. It's a cover of the Gap Band record and sounds inferior to the original in every way, like most British covers of American Soul & Funk records. That said, I don't mind it.
Verdict - OK
12. EMF - I Believe
When I got my first British Hit Singles book, one thing I discovered was that the record which spent the most weeks at number one was "I Believe" by Frankie Laine in 1953. I wondered if it was the same song as this, unaware of just how different music was in the 50s. It was the 2nd Top 40 hit for EMF, I think it's better than their first hit "Unbelievable". Has more of a bounce to it.
Verdict - Good
11. Free - All Right Now
For people of a certain age, this will bring back memories of the Isle of Wight festival amongst other things. For people of my age, it brings back memories of the Wrigley's advert which is why it ended up in the charts again in 1991. Prior to hearing this in full on the chart show though, I do remember watching the advert and thinking good song.
Verdict - Good
10. Kim Appleby - GLAD
Mel Appleby is on the credits of this one, therefore it must have been written in the 80s and I think you can tell. Whilst "Don't Worry" was a solid solo debut for Kim Appleby, this goes back to the Stock Aitken & Waterman type crap Mel & Kim were doing. The rapping from Aswads Brinsley Forde is also dreadful.
Verdict - Rubbish
9. 808 State - In Yer Face
Inevitably this record will be rated as good, I'm just trying to think of a complement I can pay it. All I can really say is give it a listen, it really is a great tune.
Verdict - Good
8. The Source - You Got The Love
There's been lots of versions of this record over the years. This isn't the original, but was the first version to make the Top 40. My personal favourite is the 1997 version, but this ones good too.
Verdict - Good
7. Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do
We are nearing the end of the Stock Aitken & Waterman era, but we're not quite done yet. Most Stock Aitken & Waterman compositions get rated as rubbish by me, and rightfully so. This one isn't bad though.
Verdict - OK
6. 2 In A Room - Wiggle It
This was my favourite song for about a week, quite possibly the week you're reading about now. 2 in a Room were on of the acts to play at the first ever Helter Skelter rave in 1989, with their big underground record at the time being "Somebody In the House Say Yeah!".
Verdict - Good
5. Praise - Only You
Sometimes when I think of a particular record, another one comes to mind immediately, normally it's 2 records that were out at the same time. In this case, the other record I associate this with is "Hippy Chick" by Soho. More often than not if I like one record, I like the other one too. In this case I do.
Verdict - Good
4. Oleta Adams - Get Here
To me it's more of a pop record than anything innovative. After featuring on "Woman In Chains" by Tears for Fears, this was the first solo Top 40 hit for Oleta Adams, a cover of a Brenda Russell song. It's surprisingly catchy for a slow number, but it's lacking in that something that's needed for it to be a good song.
Verdict - OK
3. KLF ft The Children Of The Revolution - 3AM Eternal
In 2003 I was in a pub on a visit to my home town and a bloke came up to me and said "you're the one who used to sing KLF and Queen at school aren't you?. Indeed I was, and this would have been the time I'd be singing it, some 12 years prior to that visit to the pub, it obviously had a lasting effect on some people. I think you know what my verdict on this tune will be.
Verdict - Good
2. Nomad ft MC Mikee Freedom - (I Wanna Give You) Devotion
Here we have the first Top 40 composition for arguably the most successful British songwriter of the modern era, Steve Mac. These days he's co-writer on Ed Sheeran records amongst others. I don't blame him, he's presumably made a lot more money writing rubbish than he would have done making decent music like this. Ironically, this record reached it's peak the day Ed Sheeran was born
Verdict - Good
1. Simpsons - Do The Bartman
This was my first introduction to The Simpsons, but I had no idea what it was all about. In those day's you could only get The Simpsons on Sky One, and I never had Sky at the time, neither did a lot of people. It wasn't until I went on holiday later on that year where Sky One was the only English channel in the hotel room, that I discovered The Simpsons was a TV show. It's a novelty song, which basically means crap, but intended to be crap. Its still crap though.
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 18.5/30, or 62%. We're improving again.
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