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:
An upbeat record with a dark subject matter and some pretty angry vocals. Get this combination right and you have a great record. That's exactly what this is and definitely my favourite Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine tune.
Verdict - Good
Terrible cover of The Real Thing song, I do wonder what the point of Sonia leaving Stock Aitken & Waterman was given the music she did after may just as well have been from them.
Verdict - Rubbish
28. REM - Radio Song (New)
They only had one Top 40 hit prior to 1991, but here is REM with their 5 Top 40 hit of the year and they're not done yet. Their 6th and final Top 40 hit of the year was "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" but that only made 39 and therefore won't be featuring. This is probably the most obscure 1991 hit for them, particularly as they have a better known but non charting song called "Radio Free Europe".
Verdict - Good
27. Chris Rea - Winter Song (New)
This was the 2nd and final Top 40 hit from the "Auberge" album, the title track having charted back in February. It almost seems he purposely waited until the following winter to release it, but he had a couple of non-Top 40 hits in between and the one this followed was called "Looking For Summer". This is better than I remember, my memory of it is being slow and boring but listening to it for the first time in 30 years its actually not bad.
Verdict - OK
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Manic Street Preachers having made number 40 with their debut earlier on in the year. The band themselves have since said they don't like "Love's Sweet Exile" and I'm inclined to agree with them. "Repeat" is definitely the better of the two, but it's just alright.
Verdict - Rubbish / OK
The biggest hit to date for The Scorpions who had last been in the Top 40 in 1979 with their debut. My memories of this record at the time was that whenever it got played it never seemed to get played till the end and I was always intrigued as to how it ended.
Verdict - Good
This failed to chart when first released 12 years earlier, but thanks to Simon Mayo and his revival of old novelty records this was re-released. I did quite like it at the time admittedly, but its one of those songs that's supposed to be shit. Therefore a verdict of OK seems appropriate.
Verdict - OK
This is one of those records I'm not sure I remember being in the charts at the time but it's one I've probably known since. Enya's music was always a little too different for my liking and almost seemed like music the sort of music they'd want you to learn at school which was never good. However over the years I've got to appreciate her music a lot more and quite like this record now.
Verdict - Good
This originally came out before "Everybody's Free" but failed to reach the Top 40 earlier in the year. I think I prefer this record, it probably helps that few remember it so it hasn't been played to death.
Verdict - Good
There was a happy hardcore version of this in the mid-90s by DNA, Breeze & Munchie which I listened to quite a bit. When I heard this for the first time in years it seemed so slow given I'd got used to the happy hardcore version. That was a long time ago though, nowadays I can take the relative slowness.
Verdict - Good
After Paul Youngs awful cover of their debut hit "Don't Dream It's Over", Crowded House are back in the Top 40 for the first time in 4 years with their 2nd Top 40 hit. It's the lead single from the "Woodface" album. Crowded House are one of those groups I've got to appreciate more later on in life. Their music was different to anything else at the time and although rave music was more my thing than anything else, this is a breath of fresh air when the beats of rave music get a bit too much.
Verdict - Good
The lead single from her album of the same name, Robert Clivilles and David Cole penned this record which is surprisingly uplifting for a Mariah Carey record. That doesn't mean it's any good though. She may have a vocal range few can claim to have, but all that screeching just gets on my nerves.
Verdict - Rubbish
The debut hit for Moby. I forgot his name pretty much straight away, I remember at the time talking about a record called "Go" without knowing who it was by. A few years later I found out who it was and was also surprised to find out he was American given this fits right in with the rave music British acts were making at the time.
Verdict - Good
This was the first Top 40 hit on All Around the World records. The label has given us some of the most dreadful dance music over the years. This record does sound more commercial than a lot of other dance records at the time, but I do quite like it.
Verdict - Good
I've said numerous times that music and football don't mix, but I should really extend that to music and sport don't mix. To add to that, I don't think there is any sport I dislike more than rugby.
Verdict - Rubbish
Here we have a thrash metal band doing a ballad, something that didn't go down well with a lot of thrash metal fans. However, I'm not a thrash metal fan and happen to think this is one of the best Metallica songs.
Verdict - Good
14. Seal - Killer (EP) (New)
Around 18 months after topping the charts as uncredited vocalist on Adamski's "Killer", here is Seal back in the charts with his own version. Understandably, it doesn't sound that different to the original version.
Verdict - Good
A record I didn't realise was an old record charting for the second time at the time. It's Don McLean's best known song but not one of his two UK number ones. I tried to find out why this was given a new lease of life in 1991 but couldn't find anything. I liked this at the time and remember me and a mate singing it at school. My view hasn't really changed.
Verdict - Good
The Top 40 debut for SL2 aka Slipmatt and Lime. At a time before the rave scene split into happy hardcore and jungle, you'd think based on these tunes they would end up going down the jungle route. However, Slipmatt has often been crediting for starting happy hardcore with his SMD series. These are both great tunes and show there's more to SL2 than just "On A Ragga Tip".
Verdict - Good
One of the biggest rave tunes ever and deservedly so. Altern 8 were arguably bigger than The Prodigy at the time.
Verdict - Good
The only Top 40 hit credited to Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, but they were also having hits in 1991 as KLF. The lyrics are basically a long list of northern towns which does seem like a very KLF thing to do. Like pretty much anything by KLF it's great.
Verdict - Good
My take on Genesis at the time were they were basically Phil Collins with a band. I had no idea about their history. It does seem quite odd in a way that a band who didn't really do singles in the beginning are having Top 10 hits 20 years after their 70s heyday. I do still think their later stuff could just as easily be Phil Collins solo material though and I happen to like Phil Collins as a solo artist.
Verdict - Good
Lots of samples in this one which got them into trouble, quite common for dance records which got bigger than anticipated. One of the samples is the Pink Floyd record of the same name but the most notable is "Just Get Up and Dance" by Afrika Bambaataa.
Verdict - Good
At the time I thought how the fuck did a record like this get into the Top 40. An opera song sung by someone I'd never heard of who wasn't exactly young. Many years later I discovered it was the song for the Rugby World Cup, I never knew there was such a thing until England won it.
Verdict - Rubbish
Summer holidays are on the way, this so reminds me of the summer holidays of 1991 where it was number one the whole time and beyond. Quite remarkable for a 31 year old 80s singer who'd failed to even make the Top 40 with most of his prior singles. I got pretty sick of this at the time like most people, but I actually quite like it.
Verdict - Good
Despite the fact this topped the charts a knocked the longest running number one off the top, this may struggle to even get into the Top 10 when it comes to best known U2 songs. The fact it was a limited edition probably helped it to top the charts but also made it a blink and you miss it sort of song. The fact you don't hear it much these days though means it still sounds good.
Verdict - Good
Despite the fact that Kylie Minogue was still with Stock Aitken & Waterman (who were just Stock & Waterman by this point) it does sound different to her earlier hits. What we have instead is a song that sounds like it should be from a Disney movie
Verdict - Rubbish
The debut Top 40 hit for K-Klass. It failed to make the Top 40 when released earlier on in the year, but here it is going straight into the Top 10. It perhaps suffers from it's "anthem" status, but it's a great record that really did sound quite something in the 90s.
Verdict - Good
The Top 40 debut for 2 Unlimited, though they had a Top 40 hit the previous year as Bizz Nizz. I did like this at the time, but my memory has been somewhat tainted by the crap they released after this. I also remember hearing it a few years later for the first time in a while and it sounded much slower than I remembered.
Verdict - OK
It amazes me how many people I've met who don't remember The Wonder Stuff, particularly given they had a number one with this. They did alienate some of their fans by collaborating with Vic Reeves, but I do wonder if they'd think the same had Vic Reeves not been a famous comedian. To me there is absolutely nothing wrong with this song, I've always liked it.
Verdict - Good
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 23/30, or 77%. That's quite a score.
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