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 1992 with my verdict on each record:
I remember the chorus to this but not much else. It was the lead single off her 2nd album and her final Top 40 hit to date. As the record began my initial thought was this sounds more mature than her previous efforts, but then she starts rapping the verse which makes it sound as silly as her other records. I will however give this record half marks because I do like the backing track, it's just the vocals which lets it down.
Verdict - OK
How the mighty fall. Just 3 months prior to this Right Said Fred had been top of the charts with "Deeply Dippy" but they got no higher than 29 with this double a-side. I would say I thought it served them right for denying Mr. Big the top spot, but I have no recollection of this record existing. I can understand why it flopped though, "Those Simple Things" just sounds too serious and "Daydream" is a poor cover.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
After being the vocalist on a couple of Quartz hits the previous year this was the solo debut of Dina Carroll. It follows the same soul-dance formula of the Quartz records. If I was at a 90s night and this record came on I would no doubt enjoy it. For listening to at home though I think this will be the last time I'll be doing that.
Verdict - OK
27. Madness - My Girl (New)
This was the 3rd and final Madness re-issue to chart in 1992. It was their first Top 40 hit of the 80s the first time around. Whilst I remember the Madness revival in 1992 I don't specifically remember this getting into the Top 40, there were plenty of Madness records being played around the time.
Verdict - Good
When I was doing my best year series of posts where I listened to the Top 40 for the first week of July in each year, I picked this as the worst record from the 1992 Top 40 I listened to. I remember watching it on Top of the Pops and wanting to throw the TV out the window.
Verdict - Rubbish
This is the record Shabba Ranks is best known for. It only made number 23 the first time round but then returned to the charts in 1993 when it made number 3. During the time between this he made his infamous appearance on "The Word" which I thought killed his career but it seemed to have the opposite effect. It's good in a 90s nostalgia sort of way.
Verdict - Good
This was the 3rd Top 40 hit for The Brand New Heavies which was a cover of a Jean Carn record. I think drawing comparisons between this and the original or previous Brand New Heavies records doesn't do it many favours, but as a stand alone record its decent enough.
Verdict - Good
This was their debut Top 40 hit in 1991 which made number 34, but did better this time round making number 18. Even if it didn't re-enter the Top 40 though it would have still been their biggest hit with none of their 4 other Top 40 hits getting any higher than 36. Can't say I'm a fan of this record, I find it rather dull.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember mentioning when I first launched this blog that Nirvana were a band I listened to when I was younger because everyone else was, but was never really into their music. We weren't quite at that point yet because I remember liking this one without the influence of anybody else. I didn't see it as groundbreaking or anything else like that, just another decent rock record.
Verdict - Good
Erasure had 16 Top 40 hits to their name prior to this record. I like all 16 of those records, but then came this. It's an EP full of Abba covers with the main track being "Take A Chance On Me" that features a rap from MC Kinky. I don't like any of them.
Verdict - Rubbish
I feel like this is a record I've known all my life, but I clearly haven't because it didn't come out until 1992. I also think this could just as easily have been a Phil Collins solo record. I'm pretty clued up on what records are Genesis and which are Phil Collins now, but back then I may not have been so sure. I like the relatively quick beat and the humour of this record so it gets a thumbs up from me.
Verdict - Good
The Top 40 debut for Sophie B Hawkins. I think that all her records that I know have aged really well. I'm pretty certain I did like this at the time, but after listening to it just now I find myself wanting to listen to it again.
Verdict - Good
We've now reached the time of the Olympics in Barcelona. I'm not really an Olympics fan truth be told, even when it was in London I only watched dribs and drabs. I was into the Barcelona Olympics though, I guess being school holidays and the right time zone helped. As a result this record has a bit of sentimental value to it.
Verdict - Good
Yes that's right, Kris Kross did have another Top 40 hit. In fact they had 2 more but the other one didn't make the Top 30 so it won't be featuring in these posts. I may have said this when reviewing "Jump2 but despite the fact they were squeaky voiced kids they were really good at rapping. Like it's predecessor it's written and produced by Jermaine Dupri. Is it as good as "Jump"? I would say not quite, but it's decent.
Verdict - Good
One of the toytown techno records from this era. It didn't start out that way though. The version played at raves was called "Feel the Heat" which was a normal rave track. The trumpton sample has simply been added to it for this single version. I prefer it without the sample but I don't think it really ruins the tune.
Verdict - Good
The first of this double a-side is pretty well known but I don't remember it charting at the time. The "MF" in the title stands for motherfucker so presumably it didn't get much radio play at the time. I'm hearing "Strollin'" for the first time, it's not ringing any bells. This was part of the double a-side because it was more radio friendly, but it's not very good.
Verdict - Good / Rubbish
14. Felix - Don't You Want Me (New)
Hardbag has arrived with this being credited as the breakthrough record for that genre. Felix was the only one flying the flag for the genre commercially in the early days as it wasn't until 1994 when we started to get the flood of hardbag Top 40 hits. You could say this was ahead of its time then.
Verdict - Good
I should hate this song really after Popmaster Live when we incorrectly thought this was on their "Joyride" album as opposed to "Tourism" and therefore dropping a point. It's very difficult to age their music though, in my mind all their records came out in 1989. I can't help but like it though.
Verdict - Good
The debut for Jon Secada and the only hit of his that many people would remember. I love the contrast between the vocals and backing track in this. You hear the intro and it sounds quite happy and upbeat, then you hear the pain in his voice.
Verdict - Good
I heard this song long before it became a single and what I remember most about it is the irritated backing noises in the verses. It's a shame because it has a pretty decent chorus, but I just can't bring myself to like it because the noises annoy me so much.
Verdict - OK
This was the final Top 40 hit from her "Shepherd Moons" album and highest charting since her number one debut "Orinoco Flow". Despite it's short length it gets off to a slow start, but at some point I'm finding myself thinking this is actually quite good.
Verdict - Good
For years I thought this was a 60s record that had been re-released. Turns out this was recorded by Roy Orbison in 1987 and not released until 1992. In hindsight this would have been well ahead of it's time if it was a 60s record.
Verdict - Good
Seeing the kids singing this on Top of the Pops at the time gave me hope that I wouldn't have to wait until I was an adult to become a pop singer. Those kids weren't pop singers though, they were just there for show as the vocals were sampled from the kids TV show. One of the men behind this record is Luna C who started the legendary Kniteforce records afterwards and was one of the people making hardcore breaks in the 21st century when hardcore itself had gone a bit rubbish.
Verdict - Good
This was the single that preceded "Ebeneezer Goode" which has a title similar to LSD. Maybe this was intentional, the lyrics do sound drug related so maybe this was them testing the water before coming out with the more blatant "E's are good". I've never paid attention to the lyrics truth be told, I just like the tune.
Verdict - Good
Back in 1992 I just thought this record was a bit naff. By 1993 I thought we'd seen the last of Billy Ray Cyrus and for a while that seemed to be the case. Unfortunately we've since had to encounter a lot more from the Cyrus name than just a naff record. To be fair to Billy, it's more his daughter that irritates me than him. Still, if it wasn't for this record then nobody would have heard of his daughter which makes me hate it even more.
Verdict - Rubbish
This had previously been a Top 10 hit in 1987 but was re-released because of the Barcelona Olympics. I had the single and there was also a shorter version on there which was used for the TV coverage. As I had the single then clearly I liked it.
Verdict - Good
I remember getting somewhat confused by this record at the time. To my knowledge Was (Not Was) were a male group but here was a female I'd never seen before singing it. The female in question is Kim Basinger who simply provided vocals and wasn't a member of the group. It was originally recorded in 1983 with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals and his vocals appear on this version too. This remix was done by Steve "Silk" Hurley. It took a while for me to get into this but it grew on me eventually.
Verdict - Good
This is the beginning of the post "The Immaculate Collection" era of Madonna. This has a more mature sound than her previous efforts but that means this is basically granny music. It's from the film "A League Of Their Own" which was set in World War II so it was perhaps the intention to make a tune that sounds old fashioned. The song is rubbish though and so is the film.
Verdict - Rubbish
When an actor, or someone famous for something other than music releases a record you generally expect it to be a novelty record. Jimmy Nail is an actor but whilst this record has a bit of humour to it, I wouldn't call it a novelty record. The fact I quite like it too may have something to do with that.
Verdict - Good
In my college days I bought an old rave compilation from Cash Converters and put it on in the common room. Several people in the common room weren't into rave and weren't familiar with most of the tunes. I was there saying they were missing out, this was good stuff. Then this tune came on which everyone did know, but I had to concede that this one was shit. Think that was the only one we all agreed on.
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 72%. The decent scores keep coming.
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