25 Years Since....March 1996

In March 1996 I was disappointed with the new Prodigy record I was looking forward to hearing. Here were the tunes that didn't disappoint:

Joan Osborne - One Of Us

This wasn't typical of the sort of music I was listening to at the time, but for some reason it appealed. I quite liked the concept of god taking a bus to heaven and getting a phone call from the pope.

The first time I realised that I liked this song was in a pub, probably the first song I can say that for.

East 17 - Do U Still?

Tony Mortimer very much takes centre stage on this record with Brian Harvey joining John and Terry on background vocal duties. If you sing this at karaoke, like I've done numerous time, you only get to sing or should I say rap the Tony Mortimer parts.

Gusto - Disco's Revenge

The formula for this record is basically take a sample of an old disco record and repeat over and over again. Yet somehow the result is fuckin amazing. I could listen to this over and over again, I really could.

Sasha And Maria - Be As One

1996 was the year of progressive house, a genre that many couldn't really define, even the person who came up with the term as I recall. A general rule though was that anything by Sasha is progressive house so on that basis this must be. 

This was the biggest hit for Sasha, he was always one of those DJs who remained credible despite being one of the biggest names in dance music.

Carl Cox - Phoebus Apollo 

Carl Cox was a big DJ in the hardcore scene in the early 90s but then he decided to turn his back on it to do house and techno. This was his first Top 40 hit since he made that move.

I remember listening to the Top 40 countdown when this was a new entry and this was the stand out record from it.