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:
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
With this record only making number 29 it looked like Let Loose were finished barely a year after their debut. They weren't though, a couple more hits followed the next year. The intro to this insists they've gone with a harder edge to this one, but once we get past that it's just as namby pamby as their other hits.
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
1995 was the year that Louise left Eternal and this was her solo debut. Simon Climie from 80s pop duo Climie Fisher was on songwriting duties. It's a dreary ballad that I don't think I've heard since 1995 anf hopefully I'll never hear it again.
Verdict - Rubbish
This record made the Top 40 earlier on in the year under the name "Legends of the Dark Black pt2" but fared better under it's name changed to "Renegade Master". Wildchild sadly passed away a month or so after this so probably never saw the true impact of this record.
Verdict - Good
The chart position of 25 doesn't reflect how big I recall this record being at the time, but given it's not one of their records you hear about anymore it sort of makes sense. It's got a good chorus and I did secretly like this record at the time.
Verdict - Good
1995 was the only year in his career that Jimmy Nail had more than one Top 40 hit. He had 3 that year and this was the 2nd of those. The big river that he speaks of is the River Tyne and this record made more sense to me when I lived in Newcastle.
Verdict - Good
Robson & Jerome weren't the only ones from Soldier Soldier to enter the music world. This double a-side was the only Top 40 hit for Denise Welch who was on Solider Soldier at the time. So poundland Robson & Jerome then if that's even possible.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
22. MN8 - Baby It's You (New)
British R&B artists were coming up with some decent records around 1995 which was no doubt helped by have them written by American songwriters. This one was written by British songwriters including Pam Sheyne who wrote "Genie in a Bottle" for Christina Aguilera a few years later. It's not very good.
Verdict - Rubbish
"Sorted For E's and Wizz" is the better known song on this double a-side and it's a decent enough record. I would however say that "Mis-Shapes" is miles better and is the best Pulp song I've heard. I love the attitude this record has.
Verdict - Good / Good
Diana King is regarded by many as being a one hit wonder with "Shy Guy" but she had 2 other Top 40 hits starting with this. It's a cover of the Chaka Khan record which can't decide whether it wants to be a reggae cover or not. Sounds a bit of a mess as a result.
Verdict - Rubbish
This record failed to reach the Top 40 when first released in 1994 but then The Lightning Seeds had a surge in popularity in 1995 and this record fared better. It's a good uplifting number with a great singalong chorus.
Verdict - Good
18. TLC - Diggin' On You (New)
When it comes to TLC records the number one question I always have is who wrote it? Many TLC records have big name producers behind them and this one is no exception. The big name in question is Babyface and it's a solid effort as usual.
Verdict - Good
The 2nd Top 40 hit for McAlmont And Butler and it would be several years until their 3rd. It's more mellow than their debut "Yes" but follows the same sort of formula. A pretty decent formula I would say.
Verdict - Good
Listen to this tune and watch the video and this record would appear to be as British as they come. I was therefore surprised to discover a few years later that Josh Wink is American. It's a classic for sure.
Verdict - Good
15. UB40 - Until My Dying Day (New)
1995 was the year we saw Ali Campbell in the Top 40 for the first time as a solo artist. He wasn't done with his band UB40 though. It's exactly the sort of record you'd expect from UB40 and I'm a fan of that sound.
Verdict - Good
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
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
This had originally been a Top 40 hit in 1991 for Marc Cohn. This Cher cover charted higher but it's the Marc Cohn original that gets acknowledged these days. Rightfully so, this cover is poor.
Verdict - Rubbish
11. Madonna - You'll See (New)
I remember when this came out something that sprang to mind was that Madonna had previously made fun records like "Cherish" and "Dear Jessie" but was now making boring crap like this. Given she'd been around for over a decade and was a well established name, she could put any old crap out and people would buy it. This is what happened here.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
Louise had left Eternal and this was their first record without her. It was also the best record they've ever made. Admittedly the singing does grate on me a little but musically it's great. As you might imagine with it being about the power of a woman, this song was written by men.
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
This single was from their greatest hits album "Vault". A relative who clearly knew nothing about my music tastes bought me that album as a Christmas present that year. At the time I was listening to nothing but rave, even when I was into guitar music I never really thought much of Def Leppard. The fact Joe Elliott had gone for the Kurt Cobain look in the video may have been misleading in that respect. That all said, this is the best song I've ever heard from Def Leppard and I did grow to like it. To this very day though I've never listened to the "Vault" album and its never really been in my possession.
Verdict - Good
At the time I was a big fan of "Gangsta's Paradise" and was convinced it had been in the Top 40 longer than anything else once it had been there a while. Turns out this record entered the Top 40 the same week. As both records fell to the lower reaches, I bought the "Gangsta's Paradise" single to help give it at least another week in the Top 40. Unfortunately "Gangsta's Paradise" dropped out, but this stayed another week and I wasn't happy about that. It failed to reach the Top 40 when first released but a Todd Terry remix gave it a new lease of life. Never seen the appeal myself though.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been 3 years since we'd last seen Simply Red in the Top 40 and this comeback single gave them their only number one record to date. The not very musical verses followed by a really catchy chorus works really well.
Verdict - Good
4. East 17 - Thunder (New)
The lead single from "Up All Night" which was the final studio album from East 17 as we knew them. I would also say that is the East 17 album I've listened to the most. This is one of my favourite East 17 singles too. I can't pin point one thing about it, the piano intro, the chorus, the verse, everything about this song is great.
Verdict - Good
Meat Loaf had a hugely successful comeback in 1993 and here he is again in 1995 with another successful comeback. This time it's not his usual songwriter Jim Steinman writing this record, it's Diane Warren. Despite this it sounds like a typical Meat Loaf record, ridiculously long and over the top.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the only Queen Top 40 hit that was a cover. I use the term 'cover' in a pretty loose sense though, it was written by Roger Taylor and was originally done by The Cross who were another band Roger Taylor was in. The original also featured Freddie Mercury on backing vocals. a great way to do a cover I suppose.
Verdict - Good
I can't remember if it was the first time I'd heard it, but I can picture myself listening to this on the radio at the time and thinking this is the record I've been waiting to hear all my life. I could even tell you the name of the street I was going down when I was thinking that. There hadn't really been much of the dark side of rap music in the charts prior to this, but that's what I really wanted to hear. I even bought the single for this too which was the only thing I bought around this time that wasn't rave.
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 18/30, or 60%. A bigger drop this week.
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