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:
30. Grace - I Want To Live (New)
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Grace which was a cover of a record by Gavin Friday. Generally people only remember the big Grace hit "It's Not Over Yet" which is a shame really because their other hits were pretty good too.
Verdict - Good
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 chart topper in 1977 and was remixed and returned to the charts in 1995. It was remixed by Rollo & Sister Bliss of Faithless but this was a time before Faithless were that well known. A decent 90s makeover though it doesn't sound too much different from the original.
Verdict - Good
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Brownstone which was a cover of a record by The Eagles. It was the final Top 40 hit from their "From the Bottom Up" album and it's the last of their decent singles.
Verdict - Good
This was a cover of a record by Python Lee Jackson that made number 3 in 1972. I would say this is an improvement over the original version due to the lack of Rod Stewart singing on this version. It's a decent record overall.
Verdict - Good
The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for D:Ream and the last time they will feature as their final Top 40 hit never made the Top 30. I can't say I'm going to miss their brand of what I would call dance music for estate agents. A sort of dance version of Kenny Thomas.
Verdict - Rubbish
This originally made the Top 40 at the beginning of the year but was much more successful when it re-entered the Top 40 in August.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
Back in 1991 one of the rave Top 40 hits was "40 Miles" by Congress. In 1995 they were back in the Top 40 under the name Nush and were part of the hardbag scene. This is quite possibly the best hardbag record in my opinion. Member Danny Harrison would return to the Top 40 as part of the garage scene with 187 Lockdown.
Verdict - Good
Cappella first came about in the acid house days but then became best known for their incredibly cheesy eurodance records in 1993/94. I feel we're out the other side of that period with this record which was their final Top 40 hit to date. Don't get me wrong, it's still eurodance and it's still cheesy but it's one of the best eurodance records ever made.
Verdict - Good
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
20. Prince - Eye Hate U (New)
We're into the latter stages of the UK Top 40 career of Prince and this was his last original record to make the Top 40 in America. He was still a symbol at this point and the song title actually had a picture of an eye in it rather than the word. I like it.
Verdict - Good
19. Umboza - Cry India (New)
The Top 40 debut for Umboza which is a house record that samples "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie. Admittedly it does sound a bit like the sort of record you'd hear on holiday in the summer and it charts at the end of the summer. I quite like it despite that fact.
Verdict - Good
First we had the overplayed and very cheesy "Saturday Night". Then it was the almost identical "Another Day". Then we had the excellent if a bit cheesy "Think Of You". Now we have the ballad. I guess it was always coming, the only surprise really is that it was her 4th hit that was a ballad and not the 3rd.
Verdict - Rubbish
Gompie were a Dutch group who covered the Smokie record "Living Next Door To Alice" with the audience adding "Alice, who the fuck is Alice" into it. This was big on the continent but was overshadowed by Smokie's rerelease with Roy 'Chubby' Brown which was a reaction to the success of this. Both records are good fun though.
Verdict - Good
The other Scatman Top 40 hit. It sounds like there's a more serious message in this one but you can't really take this record seriously. The eurodance sound, the funny noises he makes and the fact it's referring to his own fantasy world see to that. A great record though.
Verdict - Good
15. Erasure - Stay With Me (New)
This record is a ballad, not something you'd usually expect from Erasure. A ballad has the potential to be a masterpiece when done well and this is what has happened here. Erasure were really past their commercial peak at this point, but this is one of my favourite Erasure records.
Verdict - Good
What I was learning from being a raver in 1995 was that you generally weren't supposed to like house music because it's too slow. There were of course exceptions to the rule and this was one of them. The person who told me of that rule liked this record himself.
Verdict - Good
After being top of the charts for an eternity with the dreary ballad "Think Twice" it would seem that Celine Dion could release any old rubbish and people would buy it. That seemed to be the case with this French language record.
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
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
There's almost a bit of a reggae vibe to this record which isn't how I remember this record if I'm honest. I don't think I've heard it since 1995 and my memory of this record is it being a typical depressing Michael Bolton ballad. To be fair it's not a million miles away from that.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was originally a Top 40 hit in 1994 but fared better on it's return to the Top 40 in 1995. Around the same time there was a happy hardcore record called "Rainbow in the Sky" by Paul Elstak that was based on the same tune but with different lyrics.
Verdict - Good
This was originally a Top 40 hit for Smokie back in 1976. Then there was a cover by Gompie that was big in Europe where the audience would reply "Alice, who the fuck is Alice". Smokie therefore decided to revive this song and get comedian Roy 'Chubby' Brown to add the "Alice, who the fuck is Alice" bit. I think it's great.
Verdict - Good
The Outhere Brothers has what was arguably the biggest anthem of the summer of 1995 with "Boom Boom Boom". It was always going to be difficult to follow that up and have the same impact. This was much more low key that it's predecessors, but still a decent enough record.
Verdict - Good
6. Janet Jackson - Runaway (New)
Janet Jackson had finished with releasing just about every song on her self titled album as a single. Now it was time for a greatest hits album which this record was written for. Not my cup of tea.
Verdict - Rubbish
This of course was the theme song for the TV show Friends. I used to watch Friends back in the 90s and I liked it but I have to say it's not aged very well. The theme music though was always shit, but it was probably intended to be that way.
Verdict - Rubbish
4. Mariah Carey - Fantasy (New)
When this record came out I remember being shocked at Mariah Carey making a record that was so upbeat. It's based around a sample of "Genius Of Love" by Tom Tom Club which is a great record. However the last thing it needs is Mariah Carey's whiny voice over the top of it.
Verdict - Rubbish
After the impact that "Set You Free" had on me I was excited to hear a follow up record which was this. This quickly turned to disappointment, this wasn't rave at all, it was a cheesy remake of the Bee Gees record.
Verdict - Rubbish
This record was written by R Kelly. It's a ballad and R Kelly was one of those people who knew how to write a ballad well.
Verdict - Good
1. Shaggy - Boombastic (New)
After this record appeared on the Levi's advert it became Shaggy's second number one out of his first three Top 40 hits. It's a silly record really but great fun to listen to.
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 20/30, or 67%. Getting a bit of consistency now.
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