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:
Cathy Dennis has teamed up with Terry Britten and Mick Leeson to write this record. Prior to this Terry Britten had written hits for Tina Turner and BA Robertson and Mick Leeson had written hits for Sheena Easton and Mica Paris. The result of this effort is a record that sounds like a Cathy Dennis record. That's no bad thing.
Verdict - Good
This was the final Top 40 hit for Queen during Freddie Mercury's lifetime. Interestingly Leo Sayer, who's vocals have previously been mistaken for being Freddie Mercury, made his Top 40 debut with a different record called "The Show Must Go On". Furthermore the final week "The Show Must Go On" by Leo Sayer was in the charts, Queen were making their chart debut with "Seven Seas Of Rhye". Anyway what do I think of this record? I like it, one of the better Queen singles in my opinion
Verdict - Good
This is jointly the second highest charting hit for James which was the follow up to their biggest hit "Sit Down" earlier on in the year. It was the lead single from their album "Seven" which confusingly was their fourth album. It's not a bad record but lacks that something to be a good record.
Verdict - OK
1991 was a great year for rave music. It's been that great that it's taken until December until we have a rave record I don't actually like. It makes quite a promising start, those beats would have sounded quite something in 1991. But then when it breaks down into the vocals it just sounds too namby pamby for my liking and completely ruins the tune.
Verdict - Rubbish
Human Resource debuted in September with "Dominator" which made number 36. They followed up with this which is a remix of the same record. Human Resource are from Holland where rave music tends to be harder and faster and you can tell with this record bearing in mind it was 1991.
Verdict - Good
Grunge has arrived, its the debut Top 40 hit for Nirvana. On a personal level, Nirvana were really the first band I listened to because it was cool rather than because I particularly liked it. As a result I absolutely resented Nirvana once I'd moved onto other things. But I never really disliked it at the same time.
Verdict - OK
Pet Shop Boys doing house music divides opinions amongst fans. Some believe they should stick to synth pop but I believe Pet Shop Boys longevity has been in part down to the fact they didn't stay stuck in the 80s. This was their first Top 40 hit not to make the Top 20 and didn't appear on "PopArt: The Hits" so it clearly wasn't that well received but I actually like it.
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
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
In the 90s so far we've seen rock mix with dance music from the Madchester bands and rock mix with funk from bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More. This song seems to be mixing all of that together. whilst still very much sounding like a U2 record.
Verdict - Good
Jason Donavan had now left Stock Aitken & Waterman but hearing this you'd question why he bothered. It's basically a bunch of songs from the Joseph musical with a dance beat behind it that really doesn't sound out of place amongst Stock Aitken & Waterman hits.
Verdict - Rubbish
This is the final Top 40 hit to date for Martika. It was composed by Prince and you can tell. With the track title being what it is, it was obviously written for Martika but I could imagine Prince doing this record himself. I do prefer "Toy Soldiers" but this is a pretty solid finish to a Top 40 career.
Verdict - Good
Kate Bush had written all her solo Top 40 hits on her own prior to this, a cover of the Elton John record. I find the Elton John record a bit dull if I'm honest, but this cover livens it up somewhat and is done reggae style which is a bit unexpected. It's no doubt an improvement over the original but still suffers from the fact the original wasn't very good.
Verdict - OK
It seems like there's been a lot of Salt-N-Pepa hits since I started doing these posts. This is the fourth one of the 90s which isn't that many really. It's back to that original formula of covering an old record in the chorus and rapping the verses. It's just as crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
16. Hammer - Addams Groove (New)
The first hit for MC Hammer after he became simply Hammer. I liked this at the time and remember irritating the teacher by rapping it in the classroom. I don't think I've heard it since then. Hearing it now I can't say I feel the same, it is a bit rubbish.
Verdict - Rubbish
New Kids On The Block had a much more low key 1991 than they had the previous year. Having tried to shed their boy band image at the beginning of the year with "Games" this very much sounds like a boy band record. Although this wasn't their final Top 40 hit, it's the last one from their glory days. Take That had made their debut 3 weeks earlier with a minor hit which probably made New Kids On The Block surplus to requirements in this country at least.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was on the local radio station at breakfast time on what seemed a daily basis at the time. In fact it was played so much that it's now reminded me of what I used to eat for breakfast at the time. It's also just reminded me of something we did at school at the end of term before breaking up for Christmas. Maybe its symbolic that it's reminding me of pretty tedious things, it's a truly awful record.
Verdict - Rubbish
The third so called "Toytown Techno" record to make the Top 40. I'll concede the kids TV samples are a bit cringeworthy but if you take them out you've got a decent record that doesn't sound particularly cheesy. In fact the samples are only a small part of the overall tune, they just stand out when you hear them.
Verdict - Good
Billy Bunter & D-Zyne had a happy hardcore record in the 90s called "Ride Like The Wind" which was excellent in my opinion. I thought it was a rip off of this, but this is a rip off of a Christopher Cross record of the same name. It's a bit cheesy and commercial sounding but I like it.
Verdict - Good
The 2nd and highest charting single from the album of the same name. Although the number 8 position this peaked at isn't exactly setting the charts on fire, the album was the biggest selling album of both 1991 and 1992 so people were clearly buying that instead. It doesn't really fit in with other popular music at the time, but then variety is the spice of life and music like this was most welcome.
Verdict - Good
After singing on the previous 3 Christmas number ones, here's Cliff Richard with another hit in the run up to Christmas. Fortunately it didn't pose much threat to the top spot and is now long forgotten. I don't remember it myself and will have probably forgotten it by the time you read this.
Verdict - Rubbish
I don't think I've heard this one for 30 years, it's very much overshadowed by "I'm Too Sexy" and "Deeply Dippy". I was ready to dismiss this as cheesy crap but on listening to it again I've changed my mind. Don't get me wrong, it is Right Said Fred and is therefore still cheesy but it feels more of a song than their other records. The vocals of Jocelyn Brown in this probably help.
Verdict - OK
I honestly can't remember what I made of this record at the time. It was one that divided opinion but I think I was sat on the fence. Now I've had 30 years to reflect and even though this is the first time I've ever listened to it of my own accord I do quite like it.
Verdict - Good
Steve 'Silk' Hurley gave us the first house number one in 1987 and as an artist he never had another Top 40 hit. As a composer though he was back in the Top 40 in 1991 with this record. It was the debut Top 40 hit for Kym Sims and her best known. I would also say it was her best hit.
Verdict - Good
After hearing this numerous times on the Ford adverts this single release revealed to me that the man behind that music was the guitarist of Queen. This was released the day after Freddie Mercury died. Not only did I become a Queen fan following this, but I also acquired Brian May's "Back to the Light" album.
Verdict - Good
This record brings back memories of running up and down playing the air guitar in the playground at school. I wasn't alone in doing this either. I would say of all the "Use Your Illusion" singles this was probably the one that had the biggest impact on me at the time.
Verdict - Good
I'm a big fan of Motown and like many Diana Ross records both as a solo artist and with The Supremes. Unfortunately this isn't one of them. It's quite an achievement for someone who's been around since the 60s to have a number two hit in 1991 and had Freddie Mercury not died this would have likely been Christmas number one. It's just too much of a ballad for my liking.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember watching this on Top of the Pops at the time. I absolutely loved it. Little did we know at the time that this would be their final completely original Top 40 hit. I mishear lyrics all the time and was convinced I misheard the lyrics "They're justified and they're ancient and they drive an ice cream van" but I didn't.
Verdict - Good
I used to regularly go to karaoke night at a crappy town centre pub and there was an unwritten rule not to sing this song because it's one the landlord sang every week. I wasn't aware at the time that this was originally a hit for Elton John on his own in the 70s. When Elton John started singing his part on this though I thought he was much more suited to the song than George Michael. At the same time I find this cover better than the original.
Verdict - Good
Following the death of Freddie Mercury "Bohemian Rhapsody" returned to top the charts and became the first record to be Christmas number one twice. I've mentioned before on this blog that I don't consider it the masterpiece it's made out to be and I've heard it far too many times in my life, but it's not a bad record. The other side of this double a-side "These Are The Days Of Our Lives" was a new song and would have probably topped the charts without being aided by "Bohemian Rhapsody" given the circumstances. It's definitely the better of the two in my opinion.
Verdict - OK / Good
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 20/30, or 67%. Same as last week, looks like 1991 will end much more positively than 1990 did.
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