One place I would have definitely gone raving in 1995 given the opportunity would have been World Dance @ Lydd Airport. World Dance were one of the biggest promotors of the 90s and this is the venue they are best known for being held at.
Unfortunately they had stopped doing tape packs by this point so I'm not able to listen to any of the sets. I have seen the line up though.
World Dance were very much leaning more towards drum & bass evident in the compilations they put out and the fact that by the end of the 90s they had done away with happy hardcore completely.
In 1995 they still had happy hardcore at their events. In the main arena there were 10 DJs, 6 were drum & bass and 4 were happy hardcore.
Drum & bass wise there was Hype and Ellis Dee who were the DJs mixing the World Dance compilation I bought the following year. Ellis Dee's partner in crime Swanee was also on the line up. The other DJs were Grooverider, Kenny Ken and Randall.
Happy hardcore wise there was Slipmatt who may have included drum & bass in his set. There was also Vibes and Vinylgroover and I would imagine both of the would have been playing full on happy hardcore. Finally there was resident DJ Pooch.
There were a few Pooch records being played out around this time but DJ wise he seemed to rarely play anywhere but World Dance. The following year he would stop making happy hardcore and move onto speed garage.
I still think a table is a bit pointless at this stage. At the top by some distance is Central Cee who has 5 Top 40 hits to his name so far this year.
Aside from that we have 7 acts on 2 hits. There's Aitch, Arrdee and Tion Wayne who like Central Cee are relatively new rappers quickly clocking up hits. There's Ed Sheeran surprise surprise. Also no surprise is Weeknd who's clocked up 30 hits in less than a decade. There's Galantis which are both collaborations with pop singers. Finally there's Stephanie Beatriz who's some actress singing in some kids movie.
The rap count is 20 out of 50 or 40% meaning it continues to be the leading genre.
By March 1997 I had around 100 tapes and CDs to my name, mostly underground rave. There were a few chart singles I was enjoying though:
Eels - Novocaine For The Soul
When I first came across this record I thought wow Will from TFI Friday has made a record. Of course it wasn't really Will from TFI Friday, just a lookalike.
It was one of those tunes I quietly enjoyed. I don't remember anyone talking about it, or Eels at the time. When I got to university they seemed to be everyone's favourite band.
Daft Punk - Da Funk
This was the first UK Top 40 hit for Daft Punk. As they were newcomers in that respect I originally thought they were called Da Funk and the tune was called "Daft Punk" and furthermore I thought that was in reference to the man with the dogs head in the video.
It wasn't long before I realised it was the other way round and thought why would you call yourselves Daft Punk. I like the tune but I also like the video to the point I almost forget the tune is playing.
The Source - You Got The Love {1997}
There have been seemingly an endless number of versions of this record over the years, but this one is the best in my opinion. It's the beats that do it for me in this version.
A memory of this tune at the time was getting into a friend of a friends Ford Orion with all the modifications you can think of including big speakers. This tune was blasting out when I got in the car and I thought good taste. As the journey went on it became apparent he was playing Now 36.
The Divine Comedy - Everybody Knows (Except You)
I liked this tune at the time because I thought it was funny. I still find it funny but it also makes me cringe somewhat at my teenage self. The jist of the song is that he fancies a girl and has told everybody except the girl in question.
I think it's true to say many of us found ourselves in that situation as a teenager. Except in hindsight the girl in question probably did know too.
Pet Shop Boys - A Red Letter Day
25 years later I'm still waiting for that red letter day. To be honest I paid no attention to the lyrics at all at the time, I thought like with most Pet Shop Boys records it was a good tune.
Now I've paid more attention to them I find I can really relate. I think I'll leave it at that though because we'll all have our interpretation of them.
There were 6 acts in the 60s who had 4 or more number ones that decade. They were The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, The Shadows, The Rolling Stones and Frank Ifield. Ask that question at a pub quiz and I'm sure people wouldn't have too much trouble guessing the first 5, but you'd really have to know to guess Frank Ifield.
It's one of those 60s number ones where the story of this record originates. The number one in question was "Lovesick Blues" in 1962. The b-side to this record was "She Taught Me How To Yodel". This was his 3rd Top 40 hit and 2nd number one. His 4th Top 40 hit "Wayward Wind" also topped the charts.
By this point The Beatles were getting established. He managed to break the run of mersey beat number ones with "Confessin" which knocked Gerry & the Pacemakers off the top. He would only manage one more Top 10 hit though in early 1964 but managed to keep his Top 40 career going with a string of hits in the lower reaches of the Top 40 until 1966.
Then 25 years later came this, a dance remix of "She Taught Me How To Yodel". This is one of several examples of an act who's managed to lengthen their Top 40 career without really doing anything. On that basis this making number 40 would be considered a success.
That said, the song was originally recorded by Elton Britt so it's possible he never saw a penny from this record. It certainly didn't revive his career either as a look at his discography shows that his recording career was already finished by this point.
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 1992 with my verdict on each record:
Shawn Christopher was the vocalist on "French Kiss" by Lil Louis and this was her only solo Top 40 hit. When singers on dance records go solo the results have been quite mixed over the years. Fortunately this is one of those ones which turned out well.
This was her follow up to her big hit "Too Blind To See It". Like with many second hits in the 90s this sounds very similar to the first. They were also both written by Steve "Silk" Hurley. Normally the second hit sounds like an inferior version of the first, but I don't think that's the case here. I like both records and it's hard to say which one I prefer.
I first became familiar with The Lightning Seeds in the mid-90s. I then discovered on a TV show that they had a hit in 1989 with "Pure" and played a clip and it sounded familiar. What I saw in my "British Hit Singles" book some time later was that they had 2 Top 40 hits in-between 1989 and 1995. Once YouTube came around I gave them a listen and discovered that I already knew this record thanks to "Match Of The Day".
I had the feeling New Atlantic were from the North West somewhere and I was right, they hail from Southport. I therefore wondered if this came out on All Around the World records. Turns out it didn't, but the version we all know is the Love Decade remix and Love Decade were on All Around the World. It's therefore a bit cheesy and commercial sounding, but I still like it.
This was the final Top 40 hit from their "Joyride" album. Whilst it undeniably sounds like a Roxette record there's a bit of Bob Dylan influence in there too with the presence of a harmonica. I'd say it's the harmonica that gives the record character instead of sounding like just another Roxette song.
Before I looked at this particular Top 40, if you'd asked me what the Top 40 debut for Tori Amos was I would have said "Crucify". I would have been wrong as this was her Top 40 debut. I therefore have no recollection of this song whatsoever. I'm not overly impressed with it, but I can also see it as a song I could like after a few listens.
When it comes to 90s U2 records this one is probably the best known. I have a music quiz question where I ask what song title is shared by U2, Metallica and Bee Gees of which the answer of course is "One". It is however also designed to throw people because Metallica and Bee Gees also have songs called "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and people have put that as the answer. Onto the song itself, I'm not a huge fan but it's alright.
This made number 40 when it first charted in 1990 but fared better when re-released in 1992. This was their first Top 40 hit that wasn't written by other people, it was written by Cheryl James aka Salt. It's been sampled in loads of dance records and I find it irritating.
The vocalist on this record is Kirsty Hawkshaw. She stated in an interview that she left the group because she thought they were too commercial. Then she went and sang for Tiesto, go figure. Anyway this is miles better than your average Tiesto record.
This started life as the b-side to their other hit "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" but this proved to be the more popular track. I'm inclined to agree. I've only just discovered it's the word "pride" that's sang before "a deeper love". I've always thought it was "why" and that's what I'd sing at the time. The fact they couldn't write decent records like this makes me convinced they made their C&C Music Factory records crap on purpose.
The band have described this record as "the Stones playing metal". It doesn't sound anything like the Rolling Stones to me and it doesn't sound particularly metal either. It's like they're trying too hard to make it sound like metal and not really succeeding.
After topping the charts at the start of the year they barely make the Top 20 with the follow up single. However the album "High on the Happy Side" had now been released and topped the charts. This one takes a while to get going but it's pretty decent once the chorus kicks in.
Moby wasn't the only American making rave music at the time, there was also these guys Toxic Two. It's basically the same record as "Pure Pleasure" by Digital Excitation who are Belgian. No idea which came first because they were both out around the same time. A good tune regardless.
I remember this song and could clearly hear it in my head before playing it. But actually hearing it for the first time in 30 years it sounds a lot better than I remember it. It really couldn't sound any more early 90s which is probably why I find myself liking it.
This is the final Top 40 hit to date from Hammer/MC Hammer. It was after this when he went down the gangsta rap route but no Top 40 hits came from it. This record is a gospel rap record which on paper sounds awful but it actually isn't bad.
I remember hearing this for the first time in Our Price. Given the amount of time I used to spend in Our Price back in the 90s and the amount of music I heard, the fact this stands out shows what an impact it had on me.
The famous KLF Brit Awards performance had just happened where they announced their retirement from the music industry, but they had one final Top 40 hit to come which was a remix of their first. It meant that as the KLF they had 5 Top 40 hits which all made the Top 5. Only S Club 7 and Busted have had more hits and made the Top 5 every time.
When this was first released in 1965 it failed to reach the Top 40. It finally made it in 1992 thanks to its inclusion in the film of the same name. I had no idea this was an old record at the time, I just assumed it was made for the film. I love a bit of 60s soul music and this was probably the record that got my into it in the first place.
This was the final Top 40 hit from their "Chorus" album and their last before they did the Abba covers. At the time I would have probably put Erasure in my Top 5 music acts which would have been thanks in part to this record.
I was trying to remember how this song went but couldn't get "Human Touch" by Rick Springfield out of my head. After giving it a listen I do remember it and given it's Bruce Springsteen I've probably heard it in the last 30 years too. It had been 4 years since Bruce Springsteen had been in the Top 40.It basically sounds like a Bruce Springsteen record and could have easily been from the 80s.
Crowded House had several Top 40 hits but this was the only one to make the Top 10. It's quite a simple record, not trying to be anything out of the ordinary but catchy at the same time. It makes for a good record to have a singalong to round the camp fire to.
In 1992 I was liking pretty much everything that got into the charts which explains why we've had decent scores week after week. I do however remember not liking this song. 30 years later I still haven't changed my mind.
This record gets off to quite a promising start with the intro. Once you get into it though it doesn't really deliver. It's not a bad record, but it's just not as good as the intro implies it should be.
When it comes to 90s nostalgia you can't go wrong with this record. The wordless chorus gets you hooked but then you realise there's much more to it than that. Normally once I've listened to a tune I want to wait a while until I listen to it again, but with this one I'd happily give it another listen. In fact I might just do that.
I've never been much of a Def Leppard fan. Even as a rocker in the early 90s they always seemed a bit wet. I did however think this record was a bit more interesting with the verses being a bit different. In fact I do remember randomly singing the verse but never the chorus. Despite the chorus being a bit crap though, the nostalgia factor makes me still quite like it.
I remember hearing this for the first time on the Top of the Pops breakers. I wasn't impressed, it sounded a bit slow and boring. However it did grow on me as I heard it more. I remember getting told off by someone when this was on the radio and I didn't listen to a word they said because I was listening to the song.
I remember getting really annoyed that this record made number one and Mr Big hadn't. I absolutely hated this record as a result of that. However I've not really cared how the records I like do in the charts for the bulk of the last 30 years and I still think this record is crap and would have still thought that if Mr Big got to number one instead.
This reminds me of a time when I really cared about how the records I liked were doing in the charts. I loved this record at the time and it was probably my favourite song at that point in time. After it had spent 3 weeks at number 3 and hearing that Shakespear's Sister were no longer at number one I thought surely this was the record that had replaced it. I was therefore rather annoyed that it was Right Said Fred who topped the charts instead whilst this had fallen to number 4.
When Club@Vision had their Ibiza special in 1999, they played an anthem from each year from 1989 onwards. Out of all the great tunes they could have picked for 1991, they picked this. I've always found this tune annoying, it's probably the over the top vocals that does it. This was the Top 40 debut for Ce Ce Peniston and she had more hits that you'd think.
When Siobhan left Bananarama and formed Shakespear's Sister they had a Top 10 hit with "You're History" in 1989. By the end of 1991 it looked like they were history have failed to reach the Top 40 with any of their other singles. Then came this, which topped the charts and stayed there for what seemed like an eternity. I do think that the contrast between the vocals of Marcella and Siobhan is a good concept, but I've never been able to bring myself to like this record.
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 21.5/30, or 73%. Slightly lower than the joint best weeks of the year.
This week sees us going as far down the South West as we're likely to go. The venue as you may have guessed was in Cornwall and the event was Dance Planet.
Dance Planet started life in the Midlands but headed to the South West after an incident at one of their raves in the Midlands which resulted in the venues closure. Cornwall Coliseum was a venue that hosted many gigs over the years and closed in 1999, though the last Dance Planet at this venue happened later on in 1995.
At the big raves around this time, techno would often be found in the smaller rooms. At this event though it was the main arena. There wasn't a happy hardcore arena as such, though the techno arena featured Seduction which was a happy hardcore set. The 2nd room was the jungle room.
The beginning of this Scorpio and Producer tapes though will tell you that jungle was the more popular of the two because the MC says the 2nd room is full.
Furthermore I can find the tracklistings for the jungle tapes on the internet but not the techno ones. Whilst I've given all the techno tapes a listen, attempting to tracklist them all is too much and will inevitably have a bunch of unknowns.
Jungle wise these are the new for 1995 tunes which appear and there's quite a few of them:
Asend - 12 O'Clock Drop
Chris Jay - Champion Sound
DJ SS - White
Dread Bass - Moods
Shy FX - Simple 'Tings
DJ Dopeski - Dope
Asend & Ultravibe - Just A Little
Desired State - Goes Around
Missing - The Box Re-opens
P-Funk - P-Funk Era
Danny Breaks - Easy
D4 - Careless
Mental Power - Red Hot Ghetto
Adam F - Burning Deep
Goldie - Jah The Seventh Seal
Pascal - In Da Meantime
Groove Corporation & Bim Sherman - Ghetto Prayer
Ed Rush - The Force Is Electric
Asylum - Steppin' Hard
Dillinja - Ja Know Ya Big
Digital - Why
In Between The Lines - We're Rollin
Source Direct - Bliss
General Degree - Papa Lover Jungle
DJ Fokus - Trigger Happy
Interception - Forever
Bay B Kane - Attack
Jaco - All The Ladies
Melodious - Bongo
The Halfbreed - Good Old Days
Stakka & K. Tee - Bad Influence
There's a tie for the tune that gets played the most. Both "The Lighter" by Sound of the Future and "Hearing is Believing" by MA2 appear on 4 of the sets. Also worth a mention is that Apache plays "Black Side A" by DJ SS twice in his set.
One of the DJs playing a jungle set was Lomas, a DJ who I've heard play techno a few times but never jungle before. There's also a DJ called Energy but I suspect it's a different DJ to the one who would become Kevin Energy.
The journey to Dance Planet would have been a long one for those who don't live in the South West, but perhaps none as long as Joey Beltram who had flown in from America for it. That said there is no Joey Beltram tape so I don't know whether he turned up or not.
A DJ in the techno arena who definitely did turn up was Bass Generator who came from Newcastle which is almost the furthest place away from Cornwall in England.
I've seen numerous interviews with pop stars of yesteryear and many of their stories follow a similar pattern. They enjoy a few years being a big pop star having hit after hit but then their popularity starts to dwindle and the hits dry up, but that's when they really start to enjoy it because it gives them artistic freedom to make the music they want without the pressure of producing a hit.
This is the point we've reached here with Alison Moyet. She started out as singer of Yazoo in 1982, but they were finished by the end of 1983. Then came her solo career in 1984 which saw her enjoy a run of mostly Top 10 hits up to 1987.
In 1991 it had been 4 years since we'd last seen her in the Top 40 and we'd moved into a new decade in that time. Alison Moyet herself has said that by this point she was reluctant to record a radio-friendly "pop" album simply for the sake of creating chart hits.
This was the 3rd single to be released from the album, the first two never made the Top 40. In a way then she got the best of both worlds with this making number 40 i.e. writing the music she wanted to but still managing to scrape the Top 40.
Except was it? This record actually started out as the b-side to her "Love Letters" single in 1987 which would have been before she started writing the records she wanted to. That said, she seems to be fond of the record so maybe she was always giving some lenience from the labels when writing b-sides.
It was her penultimate Top 40 hit though with her final one to date coming 3 years later with "Whispering Your Name".
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 1992 with my verdict on each record:
This was the record that ensured Barbra Streisand had Top 40 hits in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. The thing with a Barbra Streisand record is that it could easily have come out in any of those decades. I'd say the best word to describe this record is boring.
The follow up to "Where Love Lives" which had charted almost a year prior to this. It was the only Top 40 hit for Alison Limerick that she wrote herself and it was co-written by Steve Anderson from Brothers In Rhythm. I remember this being more dancey but I may have only heard a remix before. It's decent though and doesn't suffer from being overplayed.
This is one of those records I've continuously liked since I first heard it. At the time I wasn't devoted to any particular scene, then when it got re-released the Red Hot Chili Peppers were a cool band to like and the "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" album was one I carried on listening to once I got into rave initially. Then in the late 90s when the All Saints covered it both versions were played one after the other on the radio and I remember thinking this sounds so much better.
Ordinarily a British R&B group doing a pointless cover isn't a good thing. But I never knew that fact at the time, as far as I was concerned this was a Pasadenas tune and I loved it. Even when I started listening to this in the early days of YouTube I still didn't know it was a cover. A lot has to be said for hearing the cover before the original, it really does.
You wonder whether he's singing about his experience of spending 16 weeks at number one here. It was the fourth Top 40 hit from his "Waking Up the Neighbours" album and I feel we're now going into album filler territory. It just seems a very nothing song.
Yes that's right, Joe Cocker was still having Top 40 hits in the 90s. In fact 5 of his 9 Top 40 hits came in the 90s. Like his previous effort "Up Where We Belong" 10 years prior, this was a song for a movie which was "The Cutting Edge". It was written by Diane Warren and Bryan Adams but I think it's fair to say this is one of the lesser known movie song compositions from both of them. It's OK but I won't be in a hurry to listen to it again, particularly as this YouTube version is such poor quality.
As a kid I remember discovering that as well as Guns n Roses there's also a band simply called Gun and they're pretty good too. What I don't remember is what song it was that I heard. This was their 3rd Top 40 hit and the previous 2 only made number 33 so it could have been any of them.
Incidentally I watched "Hexed" for the first time yesterday which is the movie this song is from. I'm trying to remember where in the movie I heard this song but I can't. Let's just say I enjoyed the movie a lot more than I enjoyed listening to this song.
After topping the charts at the start of the year they barely make the Top 20 with the follow up single. However the album "High on the Happy Side" had now been released and topped the charts. This one takes a while to get going but it's pretty decent once the chorus kicks in.
I remember this song and could clearly hear it in my head before playing it. But actually hearing it for the first time in 30 years it sounds a lot better than I remember it. It really couldn't sound any more early 90s which is probably why I find myself liking it.
The first of 3 Madness songs to be re-issued in 1992. This introduced Madness to a new generation i.e. my generation. I was aware that this was an old record being re-issued at the time but I didn't let that fact put me off and I liked it. Still do.
This is the final Top 40 hit to date from Hammer/MC Hammer. It was after this when he went down the gangsta rap route but no Top 40 hits came from it. This record is a gospel rap record which on paper sounds awful but it actually isn't bad.
I remember hearing this for the first time in Our Price. Given the amount of time I used to spend in Our Price back in the 90s and the amount of music I heard, the fact this stands out shows what an impact it had on me.
I had the feeling New Atlantic were from the North West somewhere and I was right, they hail from Southport. I therefore wondered if this came out on All Around the World records. Turns out it didn't, but the version we all know is the Love Decade remix and Love Decade were on All Around the World. It's therefore a bit cheesy and commercial sounding, but I still like it.
I remember getting really annoyed that this record made number one and Mr Big hadn't. I absolutely hated this record as a result of that. However I've not really cared how the records I like do in the charts for the bulk of the last 30 years and I still think this record is crap and would have still thought that if Mr Big got to number one instead.
This started life as the b-side to their other hit "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" but this proved to be the more popular track. I'm inclined to agree. I've only just discovered it's the word "pride" that's sang before "a deeper love". I've always thought it was "why" and that's what I'd sing at the time. The fact they couldn't write decent records like this makes me convinced they made their C&C Music Factory records crap on purpose.
This record is 9 minutes long but you really need to listen to it in full to really appreciate it. That's where I struggled somewhat the first few times I heard it because I'd only hear a snippet. When I did hear in it full though I thought what a tune. It did annoy me when the music channels would end the song just before the final guitar solo, that's the best bit in my opinion.
Moby wasn't the only American making rave music at the time, there was also these guys Toxic Two. It's basically the same record as "Pure Pleasure" by Digital Excitation who are Belgian. No idea which came first because they were both out around the same time. A good tune regardless.
The lasting impact this record has had on me is that when I tune my guitar I test to see if I've tuned it properly by playing the opening riff of this. Turns out that riff was taken from "Eighties" by Killing Joke. The overall tune though was nothing special.
I was trying to remember how this song went but couldn't get "Human Touch" by Rick Springfield out of my head. After giving it a listen I do remember it and given it's Bruce Springsteen I've probably heard it in the last 30 years too. It had been 4 years since Bruce Springsteen had been in the Top 40.It basically sounds like a Bruce Springsteen record and could have easily been from the 80s.
The vocalist on this record is Kirsty Hawkshaw. She stated in an interview that she left the group because she thought they were too commercial. Then she went and sang for Tiesto, go figure. Anyway this is miles better than your average Tiesto record.
When it comes to 90s U2 records this one is probably the best known. I have a music quiz question where I ask what song title is shared by U2, Metallica and Bee Gees of which the answer of course is "One". It is however also designed to throw people because Metallica and Bee Gees also have songs called "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and people have put that as the answer. Onto the song itself, I'm not a huge fan but it's alright.
This reminds me of a time when I really cared about how the records I liked were doing in the charts. I loved this record at the time and it was probably my favourite song at that point in time. After it had spent 3 weeks at number 3 and hearing that Shakespear's Sister were no longer at number one I thought surely this was the record that had replaced it. I was therefore rather annoyed that it was Right Said Fred who topped the charts instead whilst this had fallen to number 4.
Crowded House had several Top 40 hits but this was the only one to make the Top 10. It's quite a simple record, not trying to be anything out of the ordinary but catchy at the same time. It makes for a good record to have a singalong to round the camp fire to.
When Club@Vision had their Ibiza special in 1999, they played an anthem from each year from 1989 onwards. Out of all the great tunes they could have picked for 1991, they picked this. I've always found this tune annoying, it's probably the over the top vocals that does it. This was the Top 40 debut for Ce Ce Peniston and she had more hits that you'd think.
I remember hearing this for the first time on the Top of the Pops breakers. I wasn't impressed, it sounded a bit slow and boring. However it did grow on me as I heard it more. I remember getting told off by someone when this was on the radio and I didn't listen to a word they said because I was listening to the song.
The famous KLF Brit Awards performance had just happened where they announced their retirement from the music industry, but they had one final Top 40 hit to come which was a remix of their first. It meant that as the KLF they had 5 Top 40 hits which all made the Top 5. Only S Club 7 and Busted have had more hits and made the Top 5 every time.
When this was first released in 1965 it failed to reach the Top 40. It finally made it in 1992 thanks to its inclusion in the film of the same name. I had no idea this was an old record at the time, I just assumed it was made for the film. I love a bit of 60s soul music and this was probably the record that got my into it in the first place.
When it comes to 90s nostalgia you can't go wrong with this record. The wordless chorus gets you hooked but then you realise there's much more to it than that. Normally once I've listened to a tune I want to wait a while until I listen to it again, but with this one I'd happily give it another listen. In fact I might just do that.
When Siobhan left Bananarama and formed Shakespear's Sister they had a Top 10 hit with "You're History" in 1989. By the end of 1991 it looked like they were history have failed to reach the Top 40 with any of their other singles. Then came this, which topped the charts and stayed there for what seemed like an eternity. I do think that the contrast between the vocals of Marcella and Siobhan is a good concept, but I've never been able to bring myself to like this record.
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 21.5/30, or 73%. Slightly lower than the joint best weeks of the year.
This week takes us to the first ever Pleasuredome at Fantasy Island. Pleasuredome started off at Festival Pavilion in Skegness in 1992 and would remain there until the end of 1993 bar a couple of events at Venue 44 in Mansfield. Then in 1994 they moved to Eastgate Leisure Centre in Ingoldmells which is a small town just north of Skegness up until a couple of weeks before this event.
This is arguably the venue the Pleasuredome is best remember for being at and they would remain there until mid-97. Unfortunately this event has no tapes so I won't be able to comments on the tunes which were played.
There were 3 rooms at this event, the main room which had a mixture of genres, the second room was house and the third room was drum & bass.
In the main room were resident DJs Fergus and Rush who were also residents at Vibealite plus Brisk, Ratty and Easygroove.
It's a pretty safe bet that Brisk was playing happy hardcore, but what the other DJs were playing was anyone's guess. An interview with Gary from Vibealite stated that Fergus and Rush would adapt their sets to suit the night as resident DJs, presumably the same would apply to Pleasuredome. Easygroove isn't one you can slot into a particular genre and although Ratty was better known for doing drum & bass, he didn't play it all the time.
My guess is that it would have been more happy hardcore given that drum & bass was already catered for in the 3rd room.
That's pretty much all I've got to say. I'm sure Pleasuredome will feature again but hopefully there will be tapes to listen to from the next one.
This is a guilty pleasure really. I remember hearing this for the first time and thinking what the fuck is this, but found myself being drawn in at the same time. I guess that's the point in mainstream music really, it's crap but somehow appeals to the masses.
There have been many naff male/female duets over the years. That concept hit a new low when Peter Andre collaborated with Katie Price on "A Whole New World", but I think that's now been beaten. This has to be one of the blandest records ever written, it's just dreadful.
Top 40 Review
When I first started this series of posts, this Top 40 was yet to exist. My original inspiration was to test whether the charts had improved in recent times and whether the historic charts were as good as remembered.
I'd been keeping track of how many rap records had been in the Top 40 and by this point it was still the leading genre by some distance albeit not to the extent of 2020. However, its the EDM that's sticking around and is the leading genre in this Top 40.
David Guetta is back with 3 records and Calvin Harris is back with 1. If you'd have told me those records were made in 2009 I'd believe you. It's the same generic EDM crap they'd been pumping out for that long.
Elsewhere in the EDM world it gets worse if anything. We have an EDM version of "Rasputin" by Majestic & Boney M and an EDM version of "Push The Feeling On" called "Friday" by Riton ft Nightcrawlers & Mufasa, both of which are unbelievably bad.
Elsewhere guitars are coming back, but the music is to rock what EDM is to dance. Eurovision winners Maneskin have 2 records in there. Will Smiths daughter Willow has teamed up with Travis from Blink 182 with an Avril Lavigne sounding record. The number one is from Olivia Rodrigo which is also similar and she has 2 other records that are more female Ed Sheeran like. A big fat zero for all of those.
There are 7 rap records in there and some get half marks but most get zero. A surprising half mark outside of rap goes to The Weeknd with "Save Your Tears".
When I first came up with the idea of these posts, the reason for the charts improvement were the demise of EDM and the rise of rap. Since then EDM has grown again and as a result we're back to terrible scores.
Score: 2.5
Table
Here's the final table then. It was almost a given that whatever year was top going into the 21st century was going to be top of the final table:
In the early 00s Alison Goldfrapp became a name known to many as singer of Goldfrapp. She was no newbie to the music scene though having provided vocals for Orbital back in 1994. It turns out though that her presence in the music scene goes back even further. She was friends with Beverley Craven and was the subject of this song.
The song was recorded in 1989 and released as a single in 1990 but failed to chart. It was one of four singles from her debut album which failed to chart. However a re-release of "Promise Me" in 1991 finally gave her a Top 40 hit and made number 3.
Following this another one of the non-charting singles "Holding On" was re-released which made number 32. Then this one got re-released and made number 40. A further 2 singles were then released from the album but neither made the Top 40. On that basis this getting to number 40 would probably be considered a success.
It wouldn't be her last Top 40 hit though, she had one more minor hit with "Love Scenes" in 1993.
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 1992 with my verdict on each record:
What I remember about this song was the guitar intro grabbing my attention but then the disappointment of it not being much of a guitar song. It's catchy and not a bad tune but I've heard much better too.
My dance music knowledge was virtually non-existent at the time. I do remember this being out around the same time as "Everybody In The Place" by The Prodigy and thinking of this record as being a poor mans Prodigy.
Some will say Michael Jackson was a genius because of the way he could seamlessly transition from the rock sound of "Black Or White" to the new jack swing sound of this record. I would say the fact he had Mr New Jack Swing himself Teddy Riley co-write and produce this track had something to do with it. Maybe that was his genius, that he knew how to pick the right people.
I get the feeling I've now said this about a few acts, but I'll say this about The Charlatans. They are probably the act who have had the most 90s hits I don't remember. They had 16 Top 40 hits in the 90s and I can only sing 4 of them in my head and this isn't one of them. That said I could see this one growing on me if I can be bothered to listen to it again.
This is one of those records I've continuously liked since I first heard it. At the time I wasn't devoted to any particular scene, then when it got re-released the Red Hot Chili Peppers were a cool band to like and the "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" album was one I carried on listening to once I got into rave initially. Then in the late 90s when the All Saints covered it both versions were played one after the other on the radio and I remember thinking this sounds so much better.
As a kid I remember discovering that as well as Guns n Roses there's also a band simply called Gun and they're pretty good too. What I don't remember is what song it was that I heard. This was their 3rd Top 40 hit and the previous 2 only made number 33 so it could have been any of them.
Another Top 40 hit from Rozalla and she wasn't finished yet. In a funny way this sounds both more pop and more rave than it's predecessors. As a result I prefer this record to it's predecessors.
When Simply Red returned with the "Stars" album, Mick Hucknall's hair had got noticeably longer. It was around the time of this record that I found out Mick Hucknall's dad was a hairdresser. To the song, and it's not to the same level as "Something Got Me Started" or "Stars" but still pretty decent.
The follow up to "Where Love Lives" which had charted almost a year prior to this. It was the only Top 40 hit for Alison Limerick that she wrote herself and it was co-written by Steve Anderson from Brothers In Rhythm. I remember this being more dancey but I may have only heard a remix before. It's decent though and doesn't suffer from being overplayed.
This reminds me of a time when I really cared about how the records I liked were doing in the charts. I loved this record at the time and it was probably my favourite song at that point in time. After it had spent 3 weeks at number 3 and hearing that Shakespear's Sister were no longer at number one I thought surely this was the record that had replaced it. I was therefore rather annoyed that it was Right Said Fred who topped the charts instead whilst this had fallen to number 4.
Everything But The Girl have had a strange Top 40 career. They came about in 1984 as part of the Sophisti-Pop movement and then did very little until they established themselves as part of the dance music scene in the mid to late 90s before abruptly disappearing. One thing they did do in between was this EP of covers with the lead track being "Love Is Strange". Just a pointless cover if you ask me.
This started life as the b-side to their other hit "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" but this proved to be the more popular track. I'm inclined to agree. I've only just discovered it's the word "pride" that's sang before "a deeper love". I've always thought it was "why" and that's what I'd sing at the time. The fact they couldn't write decent records like this makes me convinced they made their C&C Music Factory records crap on purpose.
Moby wasn't the only American making rave music at the time, there was also these guys Toxic Two. It's basically the same record as "Pure Pleasure" by Digital Excitation who are Belgian. No idea which came first because they were both out around the same time. A good tune regardless.
This was the record that ensured Barbra Streisand had Top 40 hits in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. The thing with a Barbra Streisand record is that it could easily have come out in any of those decades. I'd say the best word to describe this record is boring.
You wonder whether he's singing about his experience of spending 16 weeks at number one here. It was the fourth Top 40 hit from his "Waking Up the Neighbours" album and I feel we're now going into album filler territory. It just seems a very nothing song.
When it comes to Madchester, Inspiral Carpets have tended to play second fiddle to Happy Mondays and Stone Roses. Whilst in 1992 Happy Mondays were bankrupting their record label and Stone Roses were fighting against theirs, Inspiral Carpets pressed on and released this which is their highest charting hit to date. It's also probably my favourite hit of theirs.
The 3rd Top 40 hit in 1992 for The Wedding Present which is appropriately titled "Three". Releasing 12 singles in a year will inevitably mean some singles will be album fillers and this is one of those.
I remember hearing this for the first time on the Top of the Pops breakers. I wasn't impressed, it sounded a bit slow and boring. However it did grow on me as I heard it more. I remember getting told off by someone when this was on the radio and I didn't listen to a word they said because I was listening to the song.
I had the feeling New Atlantic were from the North West somewhere and I was right, they hail from Southport. I therefore wondered if this came out on All Around the World records. Turns out it didn't, but the version we all know is the Love Decade remix and Love Decade were on All Around the World. It's therefore a bit cheesy and commercial sounding, but I still like it.
Ordinarily a British R&B group doing a pointless cover isn't a good thing. But I never knew that fact at the time, as far as I was concerned this was a Pasadenas tune and I loved it. Even when I started listening to this in the early days of YouTube I still didn't know it was a cover. A lot has to be said for hearing the cover before the original, it really does.
The first of 3 Madness songs to be re-issued in 1992. This introduced Madness to a new generation i.e. my generation. I was aware that this was an old record being re-issued at the time but I didn't let that fact put me off and I liked it. Still do.
The lasting impact this record has had on me is that when I tune my guitar I test to see if I've tuned it properly by playing the opening riff of this. Turns out that riff was taken from "Eighties" by Killing Joke. The overall tune though was nothing special.
Crowded House had several Top 40 hits but this was the only one to make the Top 10. It's quite a simple record, not trying to be anything out of the ordinary but catchy at the same time. It makes for a good record to have a singalong to round the camp fire to.
When it comes to 90s U2 records this one is probably the best known. I have a music quiz question where I ask what song title is shared by U2, Metallica and Bee Gees of which the answer of course is "One". It is however also designed to throw people because Metallica and Bee Gees also have songs called "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and people have put that as the answer. Onto the song itself, I'm not a huge fan but it's alright.
The vocalist on this record is Kirsty Hawkshaw. She stated in an interview that she left the group because she thought they were too commercial. Then she went and sang for Tiesto, go figure. Anyway this is miles better than your average Tiesto record.
This record is 9 minutes long but you really need to listen to it in full to really appreciate it. That's where I struggled somewhat the first few times I heard it because I'd only hear a snippet. When I did hear in it full though I thought what a tune. It did annoy me when the music channels would end the song just before the final guitar solo, that's the best bit in my opinion.
The famous KLF Brit Awards performance had just happened where they announced their retirement from the music industry, but they had one final Top 40 hit to come which was a remix of their first. It meant that as the KLF they had 5 Top 40 hits which all made the Top 5. Only S Club 7 and Busted have had more hits and made the Top 5 every time.
When this was first released in 1965 it failed to reach the Top 40. It finally made it in 1992 thanks to its inclusion in the film of the same name. I had no idea this was an old record at the time, I just assumed it was made for the film. I love a bit of 60s soul music and this was probably the record that got my into it in the first place.
When it comes to 90s nostalgia you can't go wrong with this record. The wordless chorus gets you hooked but then you realise there's much more to it than that. Normally once I've listened to a tune I want to wait a while until I listen to it again, but with this one I'd happily give it another listen. In fact I might just do that.
When Siobhan left Bananarama and formed Shakespear's Sister they had a Top 10 hit with "You're History" in 1989. By the end of 1991 it looked like they were history have failed to reach the Top 40 with any of their other singles. Then came this, which topped the charts and stayed there for what seemed like an eternity. I do think that the contrast between the vocals of Marcella and Siobhan is a good concept, but I've never been able to bring myself to like this record.
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 22/30, or 73%. Joint best week of the year.
After kicking off 1995 at Dreamscape 15 vs 16 here we are at the next Dreamscape event. This was the first Dreamscape tape pack I owned. Once I acquired the Dreamscape 15 vs 16 tape pack at a later date I noticed that things had changed a lot in the space of a little over 2 months.
There were obviously tunes that appeared at both events and with the benefit of internet track lists I have the numbers. We have 20 happy hardcore tunes and 19 drum & bass tunes. There were also 6 happy hardcore tunes which were remixes of tunes that appeared at the previous event and 4 drum & bass tunes.
That does sound a lot, but when you consider we have 12 hours worth of tunes on the tapes it's not that much really. When looking at individual DJ's who played at both events, Swane had the most tunes he played at both events with 4. Some DJs don't have any.
Quite surprisingly this is the first rave featured this year to have Hixxy playing at therefore I've chosen his set to post. He's one of the biggest names of the modern era, but this was a pre-Toytown Hixxy. The MC on the set is Sharkey and during the set he introduces what was the new record label from Hixxy and Dougal called Essential Platinum.
The tape pack was aimed at those who liked both happy hardcore and drum & bass as each tape has a happy hardcore DJ one side and a drum & bass DJ the other side.
Even though I would become more of a happy hardcore fan in the end it was the drum & bass sets that I was listening to more at the time. One tune that sticks out to me from this pack was "The Lighter" by Sounds of the Future. This samples the theme from "Love Story" and was around the same time we had the "Tums" advert where they were singing "tum tum tum tum tum" to the "Love Story" theme. This is the most played drum & bass tune appearing in 5 of the 8 sets.
These were the new for 1995 drum & bass tunes that appeared:
Notorious - Feel Love
Mental Power - Deep Soul
Sounds Of Life - Hidden Rooms
DJ Hype - Freestyles Of Bass
DJ Rap & Voyager - Burning Love
DJ Harmony - So Real
Scratch C & Shaka - Dread Ah Star
Cloud 9 - Snow
Happy hardcore wise, quite appropriately given the title the tune which appeared the most was "95 Style" by Happy Rollers which appeared in 4 of the sets.
There were the new for 1995 happy hardcore tunes which appeared:
Billy Bunter - New Sensation
Force & The Evolution - Show Me Heaven
DJ Brisk - Airhead
Dougal & Mickey Skeedale - Emerald
A Sense Of Summer - Around The World
Psy-Quest - I Believe
Bass X - Morphine
Scott Brown - Do What Ya Like!
Lord Of Hardcore - Work That Sucka
Happy Tunes & Hixxy - Set Me Free
Brisk vs Rebel Alliance - Adrenaline Flowing
Midas - Meltdown
DJ Pooch - Take Control
Ravers Choice - Givin' It All I Got
The happy hardcore sets were generally leaning towards the English tunes as opposed to the Scottish and Dutch ones. The exception to this is the Brisk set where the first 8 tunes are all Scottish or Dutch including the opening track "XTC Love" Bertocucci Feranzano who is Dutch, though back then I thought he was Italian.
The Slipmatt set goes Scottish and Dutch towards the end, maybe it continued in that way once the tapes stopped recording. The Ramos and DJ SY/Seduction tapes don't have any Dutch or Scottish tunes on at all.
There is also a techno 2 pack from the night which was supposed to come with the 8 pack but it never came with mine.
The Daz Saund set is a very international one with tunes from 7 different countries, most notably Germany and Belgium. Colin Dale was roughly half English half international. The Loftgroover and Clarkee sets were leaning more towards Scotland and Holland though the first 4 tunes on the Clarkee set were by Elation who are English and come from the same EP.
Dreamscape were pretty much the biggest rave of the moment. This is evident from the tapes and line up. It was just as much a happy hardcore rave as it was drum & bass and when I learned that tape packs were a thing the first one to spring to mind was Dreamscape.
It's therefore inevitable that Dreamscape 19 will feature once the time comes.
