Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 28 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Wednesday.
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 1995 with my verdict on each record:
The only Top 40 hit for Moist which originally charted in 1994 and fared better the second time round in 1995. It sounds like the sort of record that would be more likely to succeed in 1994 as it's heavier than your average 1995 guitar record. That's a good thing though.
Verdict - Good
The 5th Top 40 hit for the Levellers and the 3rd to make number 12. It was the lead single from their "Zeitgeist" album. When they first broke through their music sounded soft compared to other guitar bands but by this record it was sounding heavy compared to guitar bands at the time. Quite refreshing in a way.
Verdict - Good
It had been almost 2 years since we'd last seen The Shamen in the Top 40. This record came out shortly before Mr. C opened The End nightclub which was a club for underground dance music. It would seem The Shamen had more of an underground sound with this record which is a good thing.
Verdict - Good
27. Happy Clappers - Hold On (New)
Happy Clappers are of course best known for the record "I Believe". They did however have a couple of minor hits too starting with this record. It doesn't sound too different from their big hit but it's just about different enough and that 1995 sound makes me like it.
Verdict - Good
This record was famously featured on the soundtrack to "Batman Forever". It's a crap film like all the Batman films are but the music is good. I love the intro/outro riff to this.
Verdict - Good
The 2nd solo Top 40 hit for Ali Campbell. This time he's going back to what he knows best with UB40, the reggae cover. This was originally a Top 40 hit for Pioneers in 1971. It may just as well be a UB40 record, but it's what I'm hearing that counts not whose name is on the record.
Verdict - Good
This was the record that kicked of hardbag music from a chart perspective in 1992. In 1995 we were really in the peak period for hardbag so it made sense for this to be given a 1995 makeover. It was remixed by Dutch producer Patrick Prins who also had Top 40 hits under the names Ethics and Subliminal Cuts. A decent remix.
Verdict - Good
23. Bjork - Isobel (New)
I've mentioned before that Bjork was an artists who I couldn't stand at the time but some of her music has grown on me over the years. How about this one then? Well I'm not entirely sure to be honest, it could grow on me after a few listens but for now it's half marks.
Verdict - OK
The Top 40 debut for Alanis Morissette. It's a well known song but was pretty low key at the time with her album "Jagged Little Pill" getting more of the attention. What I do know is that I don't like this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
The only UK Top 40 hit for The Connells and I think one of those situations where it may be just as well they left it at that because if I was to hear anything else by them it would most likely be a big disappointment. I absolutely love this record, there's no such thing as perfection but this is pretty damn close to it. Then there's the video showing various people from the class of 74-75 then and now (well 1993 when the video was made). I'm now older than these people were back then by a few years, they would now be of retirement age.
Verdict - Good
The biggest hit for Supergrass and the one they're best known for. I was already familiar with Supergrass courtesy of their previous hits and had them down as a bit of a moody band. I was therefore surprised at how uplifting "Alright" was. They're back to their moody selves on "Time" but are sounding a bit poundland Rolling Stones for my liking.
Verdict - Good / Rubbish
When this came out in 1995 I thought they were ripping off the "Hey Now" remake of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper. It turns out that this is a cover of a record by Redbone and Cyndi Lauper sampled the Redbone record. It's a cheesy eurodance record no doubt, but somehow it seems more acceptable in 1995.
Verdict - Good
If I had to pick a record to sum up the summer of 1995 then this would probably be it. This was also my favourite of The Outhere Brothers hits.
Verdict - Good
This was the 3rd Top 40 hit for Boyzone and for a while it was the only Boyzone hit that wasn't a ballad. As a result it's quite possibly the best Boyzone single, but it's still crap though.
Verdict - Rubbish
The solo Top 40 debut for Suggs. It's a reggae style cover of the Beatles record and an original record. It's nowhere near as good as the Beatles record but is pleasant enough. Not too keen on "Off On Holiday" though.
Verdict - Good / Rubbish
I do remember this record but what I don't remember is the fact it sampled "Good Times" by Chic. It had already been proven to be a good record to sample. As a result we have another Michelle Gayle record that I actually like, which I'm surprised by.
Verdict - Good
This was originally a Top 40 hit in 1991 and follows the trend of early 90s dance records being given a 1995 makeover. This seems to have barely changed from the original though, I would honestly struggle to distinguish this with the original. Just as well I like the original then.
Verdict - Good
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Deuce and it was the final one to feature main singer Kelly O'Keefe before she left the group. Like its predecessor it's a dreadful record and no doubt inspired the music of Steps in years to come.
Verdict - Rubbish
Even though this record reached a respectable number 12 I would still consider this the wilderness years for The Charlatans. Mainly because I have no recollection of it and when they returned in 1996 I thought it was the first we'd seen of them since around 1990. It's not a very memorable record.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Diana King and the record she is best known for. It was from the soundtrack to "Bad Boys", a film that has Will Smith in it. The fact it wasn't Will Smith making the record for the film might have indicated that he'd given up on music. Maybe that's why I like this.
Verdict - Good
One thing that makes Corona different to your usual eurodance acts is that they have 3 big hits that could all claim to be their big hit. Not only that but each of those 3 are quite distinctive and not just soundalikes of what they've done before.
Verdict - Good
"Kiss From A Rose" was originally a Top 40 hit in 1994 but was given a new lease of life when it featured in the "Batman Forever" soundtrack. I'd never heard "I'm Alive" until I bought the CD single of this.
Verdict - Good / Good
8. Madonna - Human Nature (New)
The final Top 40 hit for Madonna's R&B era. This time it's Mary J Blige producer Dave Hall on songwriting/production duties. I will concede that this is the most convincing R&B record but that doesn't mean it's any good.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for JX and also the record he's most famous for. It did sound quite futuristic at the time and falls under the progressive house banner. It wasn't his highest charting hit though, that came 2 years later. One of the classics which does mean somewhat overplayed, but still decent enough.
Verdict - Good
6. Clock - Everybody (New)
A nice bit of music trivia here, what was the 3rd highest new entry on the week of the Blur vs Oasis chart battle? Nobody seems to know the answer though, nobody really paid attention to what was below the Top 2 that week. Based on this record I don't blame them.
Verdict - Rubbish
I've already mentioned a memory of listening to the Chris Evans Breakfast Show one day on Radio 1 around this time and liking everything he was playing. This was another of those records that he played. It became the biggest hit to that point for TLC.
Verdict - Good
Robbie Williams had left Take That by this point but his vocals were still present on the record. Howard Donald took lead vocals on this record which was unexpected given he was very much in the background prior to this. I hated it at the time, but now it's actually quite good.
Verdict - Good
This originally made the Top 40 at the beginning of the year but was much more successful when it re-entered the Top 40 in August. I can sort of understand why because it's a record more suited to the summer. It's great to listen to whatever the time of year though.
Verdict - Good
2. Oasis - Roll With It (New)
There are a handful of records that very famously reached number 2 in the charts and this was one of them. Famous because it lost the Blur vs Oasis chart battle. I wasn't on either side but this was the worst of the 2 records.
Verdict - Rubbish
1. Blur - Country House (New)
The winner of the Blur vs Oasis chart battle. As a raver at the time I didn't care for Blur or Oasis but if I had to pick one it would have been Blur. In fact I did like Blur during their "Parklife" album era. This record marked the start of their demise in my opinion
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%. Good score but I fear we're now past the best of 1995.
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