Friday 20 October 2023

Top 30 in 1996 Reviewed: Week 42

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 27 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Friday.

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 1996 with my verdict on each record:


The 9th Top 40 hit for Jamiroquai which became their highest charting to that point. I remember being quite surprised by this record because I saw Jamiroquai as being a futuristic band but here they are singing about "useless twisting our new technology". Maybe Jay Kay knew we'd have a lot more of that in the future which we do. One benefit of the modern era that didn't exist back then was the ability to go to YouTube and play music from the good old days.

Verdict - Good


What a name, well the presents Maddog bit anyway. It heavily samples "Boogie Wonderland" and has a rap over the top of it, but nothing too over the top. It did like it at the time but not sure whether I'd like it if I was hearing it for the first time now. The nostalgia means I still do like it though.

Verdict - Good


Alex Party reached their commercial peak in 1995 but by 1996 it seems a bit odd seeing them in the Top 40. That's how quickly music was moving back then. This record which was their final Top 40 hit to date is a vocal version of their Top 40 debut "Saturday Night Party". It managed one place higher, but to me it's one of many examples of how to ruin a decent dance record by putting vocals over the top of it.

Verdict - Rubbish


After a few hits that were either covers or written by a variety of different songwriters, Tina Turner returns to her more regular songwriters on this record in Terry Britten and Graham Lyle. When she sings the title of the song I can picture the fast forward on The Chart Show, not entirely sure whether that actually happened or not on the show itself. There's glimpses in this record of it going somewhere, but ultimately it never does.

Verdict - Rubbish


Nu Metal has officially arrived with this being the Top 40 debut for Korn. I can't say I was a huge fan of the genre but it wasn't all bad. This record is bad though. I feel the objective of this record was to be as unmusical as possible.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the final Top 40 hit of the 90s for Luther Vandross and his penultimate Top 40 hit to date. I do like the way he stuck to his guns and continued to do the sort of music he does best. Completely out of place in 1996, but it's Luther Vandross so who cares. 

Verdict - Good


Slick Rick is one of the big names in rap music, but in terms of UK Top 40 hits this was it for him. The debut and biggest hit for Montell Jordan "This Is How We Do It" samples a Slick Rick record, now here they are collaborating. Montell Jordan was sticking to that tried and tested formula, but its a good formula. 

Verdict - Good


This was the 3rd post-Richey Edwards Top 40 hit for the Manic Street Preachers though this time it was a record with lyrics written by Richey Edwards. Still a no from me, I see this as an opportunity for them to make a record with some oomph in it but instead come up with something pretty dull.

Verdict - Rubbish


This record finally ended the Spice Girls time at the top of the charts. Peter Andre made a name for himself earlier on in the summer with "Mysterious Girl" which sounded like it was ripping off "Sweat" by Inner Circle. This time he's ripping off "Hoochie Booty" by Ultimate Kaos. The only thing I like about this record is that when you ask the question what was Peter Andre's first number one they normally get it wrong. 

Verdict - Rubbish


There was no escaping this song in the summer of 1996. It was the Top 40 debut for the Spice Girls and I thought it had one hit wonder written all over it at the time. Unfortunately it wasn't and there was no escaping them for the next 2.5 years which felt a lot longer. 

Verdict - Rubbish


This is a cover of the Four Seasons record which is a record which has always irritated me. Quite frankly I don't think any cover of this is going to change that fact. A cheesy commercial eurodance cover certainly isn't.

Verdict - Rubbish


Jeremy Healy was known to be the highest paid DJ at the time and Amos was known to be Jeremy Healy's sidekick. I always found it quite baffling why one would pay Jeremy Healy more than anyone else particularly as I never thought much of the DJ sets I'd heard from him. At the same time though I always thought this tune was good and listening to it again I still do.

Verdict - Good


This was the 2nd biggest Top 40 hit for The Boo Radleys after "Wake Up Boo". They were trying to make music that sounded completely different to their big hit by this point and were succeeding. I do remember them having other records which sounded nothing like it. I don't mind this record though.

Verdict - OK


Hardbag was more or less finished as a genre in the Top 40 by this point so it seems quite fitting to have a remix of the record which kicked it off in the first place. It ended up back in the Top 40 after featuring in the Tango advert that was apparently only shown 10 times, mostly during TFI Friday. It also contains samples from the advert itself.

Verdict - Good


In 1993 there was no escaping Dina Carroll. Then she disappeared for the next 3 years until she came back with this record. She picked up where she left off with a ballad which worked well for her before and this time round she scored her joint highest charting hit. Hearing this again after all these years I'm reminded of the lyrics about a heart on the shelf which I always found amusing. I was ready to write this off as another dreary ballad but now I've changed my mind. I really enjoyed listening to that.

Verdict - Good


My main complaint about music like this at the time was that it was too slow. I did however find myself drawn towards this record though. The backing vocals of "what's up" grabbed my attention. The word "underground" in the title also helped, after all I was a fan of underground music. It was the debut hit and biggest hit for The Sneaker Pimps.

Verdict - Good


The Top 40 debut for Damage who were filling the shoes of MN8 as the main British male R&B group. They too suffered the same problem of British R&B being inferior to its American counterpart. It was one of the early Top 40 hits for Wayne Hector as a songwriter.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the 7th Top 40 single for LL Cool J which reached number 7 and became his highest charting hit to that point. It features uncredited vocals by Total, the R&B group I described as being poundland TLC when I reviewed their record a few weeks ago. They didn't really sound like TLC here, but just make an annoying sound that is the chorus. It's far too pop for my liking.

Verdict - Rubbish


I do remember this record but I had no idea it made the Top 40. It's not the sort of record you'd expect to make the Top 40 but again the good thing about the charts back then was that a range of music could and would get in. At the same time though this music isn't to my liking so it's a no from me.

Verdict - Rubbish


In 1996 you were more likely to find me listening to the drum & bass rip off of this rather than the Fugees record. In a way though I saw it as a good compromise between listening to this and staying true to the rave scene. It's a great record though, pretty dark but has a sung chorus to keep it radio friendly. There was no stopping the Fugees in 1996.

Verdict - Good


One thing that I get quite annoyed by is hearing that this record was the start of trance music. Trance had been around a long time before this and that includes Paul Oakenfold bringing it to the masses. It's legendary status has meant I've heard it too many times now, but it was a record I liked at the time and I still can find the enjoyment in it.

Verdict - Good


Although this wasn't the highest charting single for Blackstreet, this is the record they're best known for. With Dr Dre rapping the intro one could think it was him who produced it, but then Blackstreet already had their own big name producer in Teddy Riley and of course it was him who produced it. I love the sampling in this record, that's what makes it really stand out. 

Verdict - Good


The 4th Top 40 hit for Mark Morrison and he's turning down the tempo on this one. The trouble is he doesn't really have the voice for a record like this. It works alright on the more upbeat numbers but he's singing in exactly the same voice and it doesn't work.

Verdict - Rubbish


As someone who listened to the radio back in the 90s there were lots of records I'd hear that I didn't like. Generally I'd just put up with them, but there were some records that I hated so much I would have to turn off the radio. This was one of those records. I can also tell you that we'll be getting "Breakfast At Tiffany's" in the charts soon because that was another that made me turn off the radio at the time. Why break the habit of a lifetime, I'm stopping this before the end of the video.

Verdict - Rubbish


At the time I remember hearing that Babybird was a really prolific songwriter who'd written hundreds of songs. For many though, this is the only song of his they remember. It's a record I remember being out around the same time as "Breakfast At Tiffany's". It's not as crap, but is still crap.

Verdict - Rubbish


Prior to this record I thought The Beautiful South were pretty much finished. They'd failed to reach the Top 10 since they topped the charts in 1990, they'd released their greatest hits and were more likely to be heard on Radio 2 than Radio 1. Then this came out and all of a sudden they were big again. I like the sentiment of this song, I've been to numerous towns and cities over the years and thought this could be anywhere. Musically though not to my liking.

Verdict - Rubbish


I've made no secret of the fact I never liked Oasis. Therefore I didn't really want to like this tune because of it's inclusion of Noel Gallagher. But I couldn't help but like it. The Chemical Brothers were already pretty established by this point, but this record was the one that made them a household name. 

Verdict - Good


This is basically Celine Dion does Meat Loaf. It was written by Jim Steinman who wrote the bulk of Meat Loafs hits including a Meat Loaf version of this 10 years later. Therefore it's long and over the top and not to my liking, but I will concede it's better than her usual dreary ballads. Still crap though.

Verdict - Rubbish


After reviewing "I Love You Always Forever" by Donna Lewis I knew this record was just round the corner because it was another record that I hated so much I had to turn the radio off whenever it came on. Now I'm going to end the YouTube video before it finishes.

Verdict - Rubbish


It had been nearly 2 years since Boyzone made their Top 40 debut and I remember when Take That were still around some said they were losing their grip on the boy band world to Boyzone. Yet it took Boyzone until this record to score their first number one. Still, it was one hit sooner than Take That scored their first number one. A cover of the Bee Gees record which could be best described as the alternative lyrics of: shits only turds and turds are all I have to take your fart away.

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 12.5/30, or 42%. Same as last week.
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