Thursday 14 December 2023

Christmas Charts Rated: 1995

Top 40

Best Song: Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise

When I first heard this record I thought it was something I'd been waiting to hear all my life. I ended up buying the single during it's last week in the charts, partly because I wanted it to stay in the charts and also because I was conscious I wouldn't be hearing it on the radio much longer.

Worst Song: Everything But The Girl - Missing

This entered the Top 40 the same week as Coolio and exited a week after him. That made me hate this record, it bothered me that it outlived "Gangsta's Paradise" least of all because I thought this record was shit from the moment I heard it. 

Top 40 Review

When it came to the Christmas number one of 1995 I was rooting for the Mike Flowers Pops version of "Wonderwall". However it never quite made it, being beaten by Michael Jackson with "Earth Song".

In terms of Christmas record we have the long forgotten "The Gift Of Christmas" by The Childliners which is a guilty pleasure of mine and was one of the first thing I blogged about. There was also a Christmas song from Mr Blobby, but the novelty had worn off by 1995.

We also had novelty hits from Robson & Jerome, Michael Barrymore and Frank Bruno. With the latter though it clearly isn't Frank Bruno singing on the record.

1995 goes down in the history books as the year of Britpop so it seems appropriate that the 3 Britpop records in the Top 40 were by Blur, Oasis and Pulp. I've given the Blur and Pulp records full marks but it's a zero for Oasis.

There were 2 Queen records in the Top 40 with "Heaven For Everyone" and "A Winters Tale" which were both records with Freddie Mercury singing on them but put together after he died. Similarly we have "Free As A Bird" by The Beatles put together after the death of John Lennon.

There's also a Beatles cover in the charts with "Come Together" by Smokin' Mojo Filters. Then there's U2 and Luciano Pavarotti collaborating under the name Passengers with "Miss Sarajevo".

Most of the records in this Top 40 are either good or bad with just a couple of records getting half marks. We also have more records with full marks than zero marks, so overall you have to so this is a pretty decent chart.

Score: 23

Table

Despite the great score, 1995 was the 2nd best year so had a lot to live up to and didn't quite make it:



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