Top 30 in 1997 Reviewed: Week 20

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 1997 with my verdict on each record:

30. Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench

After just over a year away from the Top 40, the Foo Fighters were back with a second album and this was the lead single. Dave Grohl had cut his hair short and grown a beard. What I do recall about this record though was how it was much heavier than your typical music on TFI Friday when they appeared. At the same time though I found it rather irritating.

Verdict - Rubbish

29. Robbie Williams - Old Before I Die

It had been a year since Oasis were last in the charts with the chart topper "Don't Look Back In Anger" but now they were back....oh hang on this isn't Oasis, it's Robbie Williams. I do remember the first time I heard it was mid song on the radio and I genuinely thought it was an Oasis song. I guess its the most convincing Oasis impersonation then, but that's not a good thing.

Verdict - Rubbish

28. Sinead O'Connor - Gospel Oak EP (New)

The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Sinead O'Connor and final one of the 90s. The lead track from this EP is "This Is To Mother You". Whilst I don't want to go through the pain of listening to "Thank You For Hearing Me" again I swear this is just the same record with different lyrics.

Verdict - Rubbish

27. My Life Story - Strumpet (New)

You're probably thinking who the fuck are My Life Story? They're another Britpop band who had a few hits in the era and are now long forgotten. They had 6 Top 40 hits in total but this was the only one to make the Top 30. What I'm thinking is thank god I don't have to listen to the other 5.

Verdict - Rubbish

26. Suggs And Co ft The Chelsea Team - Blue Day (New)

It's that time of year again where we have a football team in the Top 40 with a song about their football team. They've got Suggs on the record, perhaps to give it a bit of credibility. Put it this way, I have a friend who is a massive Chelsea fan and he things this record is shit.

Verdict - Rubbish

25. Red 5 - I Love You... Stop!

With both Sash! and DJ Quiksilver having a big impact on the UK charts with their brand of commercial dance with their debut hits it was time for fellow German Thomas Kukula aka Red 5 to make his mark. He never quite had the same impact, but it's very commercial but very listenable dance music

Verdict - Good

24. OTT - Forever Girl (New)

The 2nd Top 40 hit for poundland Boyzone. This was an original composition which was written by the same people who wrote the UK Eurovision entry the following year. The record is just as bad as all of that sounds.

Verdict - Rubbish

23. The Space Brothers - Shine (New)

The Top 40 debut for The Space Brothers which was the most prolific alias of Rick Simmonds and Stephen Jones from a Top 40 perspective. I would call this the sort of record that give trance music a bad name. The music is too obvious and it has silly singing on it.

Verdict - Rubbish

22. Republica - Drop Dead Gorgeous

The other Top 40 hit for Republica, though they did have one further Top 40 hit after this and this was also a higher charting hit than "Ready To Go". It follows the same sort of formula as it's predecessor but by no means sounds like an exact replica, so that's a good thing.

Verdict - Good

21. Michael Jackson - Blood On The Dancefloor

This was the 7th and final number one to date for Michael Jackson. Naming all 7 of his number ones would be pretty difficult to do, whilst many would guess "Billie Jean" how many would guess "One Day In Your Life"? More to the point who would name this record? No doubt this is the most obscure number one of his but it was a time where it seemed the artist was more important than the record when it came to succeeding in the charts. He's teamed back up with Teddy Riley here, but it's a pretty poor record.

Verdict - Rubbish

20. Delirious? - Deeper (New)

The Top 40 debut for Delirious? who were a Christian rock band. Yes that's right a Christian rock band in the Top 40 and they had more than one hit. It is good to see the most unlikely genres of music to chart reaching the Top 40, but at the same time it's not my thing.

Verdict - Rubbish

19. CJ Bolland - The Prophet (New)

Most of the music from Belgium that made the UK Top 40 in the late 90s/early 00s was trance music. This was the first of those trance records from Belgium. I can't help but think there's a missing ingredient with this record, you sense a lot of potential for it to be great but never quite gets there.

Verdict - OK

18. Jamiroquai - Alright

Jamiroquai were always a band that could do no wrong. I addition to the stereotypical Jamiroquai records, they managed to pull off both a ballad and a drum & bass record. Then came this record. It's always irritated me for some reason. I acknowledge it has a funky bassline, but it's no help to the record this time.

Verdict - Rubbish

17. Blackstreet - Don't Leave Me

Blackstreet may be best known for "No Diggity" but this was their highest charting Top 40 hit. It uses the same samples as "I Ain't Mad At Cha" by 2Pac. Both records are good in their own way and I own both albums each record appears on.

Verdict - Good

16. 911 - Bodyshakin'

With East 17 now out of the picture, 911 were the biggest active UK boy band at this point. They were perhaps overshadowed by Irelands Boyzone and Americas Backstreet Boys though. The solution for taking on the latter was to basically make a Backstreet Boys record. It worked though as this is the record they're best known for. It's shit though.

Verdict - Rubbish

15. Mary J Blige - Love Is All We Need (New)

One thing I make a conscious effort to do when doing these reviews is to listen to the record and don't let the artist, songwriter or any other external factors influence my decision. This is a Mary J Blige record, so in theory I should like it. The songwriters were Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, another reason I should like it. There is also a rap by Nas on there, again sounds great on paper. The reality though is I don't like the record because musically it's not to my liking.

Verdict - Rubbish

14. George Michael - Star People '97

The 97 part of this title refers to the fact it was rerecorded for the single release having been a track on his "Older" album the previous year. This meant the die hard George Michael fans who would have already owned the album for sometime by this point would go out and buy this single to help it reach number 2. Once again it's not to my liking.

Verdict - Rubbish

13. Katrina And The Waves - Love Shine A Light (New)

I remember there big a big fuss and performance in selecting the UK Eurovision entry of 1996. In 1997 though all I remember was hearing the news that this was going to be the UK Eurovision entry of 1997. I thought it was a step backwards as Gina G the year before had a far better song than any of the other countries, but to me this record was just as shit as what the other countries came up with. It worked though because it won.

Verdict - Rubbish

12. Brownstone - 5 Miles To Empty (New)

This was the lead single from their 2nd and final album. It's that familiar story of a group not being able to follow up their first album with anything decent. It's like they've become a poundland version of their old selves. 

Verdict - Rubbish

11. The Seahorses - Love Is The Law

The Seahorses are a band who completely passed me by in 1997. It's the band that John Squire formed after the Stone Roses split up and this was their Top 40 debut. That fact alone would have generated record sales. Maybe I had heard this at the time and quickly forgot it, that's the sort of record it is. I am familiar with it retrospectively. 

Verdict - Rubbish

10. DJ Quicksilver - Bellissima

I had a friend who was also a raver who I used to think just made up things about the rave scene safe in the knowledge nobody had anyway of proving otherwise. One day he had written quite a sizeable list of DJ names, some were ones I was very familiar with and others I thought he'd just made up. One such DJ was DJ Quicksilver. I questioned whether a DJ would really name himself after a brand of clothing. Then it turned out there was such a DJ. When I first heard this record it wasn't what I was expecting. I expected something of the hardcore or drum & bass variety, but this was club music. I still liked it though.

Verdict - Good

9. Eels - Susan's House (New)

This was the 2nd and highest charting Top 40 hit for the Eels. It's quite a haunting record that documents the grim side of everyday life of a run down area where "Susan" lives. I've previously tried to think of anyone else who's like the Eels and I can't. It's pretty unique and in a good way.

Verdict - Good

8. Primal Scream - Kowalski (New)

Primal Scream were back and once again they were making music that wasn't like the music they'd made before. Mani had joined the band following the Stone Roses splitting up. I admire the way they like to change their sound, but I just can't get into this.

Verdict - Rubbish

7. North And South - I'm A Man Not A Boy (New)

North and South were a band from a children's TV show called No Sweat. This was their Top 40 debut and there's something quite amusing about a boy band singing "I'm A Man Not A Boy". It's just as shit as it sounds on paper.

Verdict - Rubbish

6. Gary Barlow - Love Won't Wait

It had been nearly a year since Gary Barlow topped the charts with his solo debut "Forever Love" and it took that long for him to release his follow up single which also topped the charts. It was originally a Madonna song that didn't make the cut for her "Bedtime Stories" album. That's how shit it is.

Verdict - Rubbish

5. R Kelly - I Believe I Can Fly

This was the main song from Space Jam and I asked the question why do they always have ballads for cartoon films. That said, I did think this ballad was much better than your average ballad so not a bad choice really. 

Verdict - Good

4. Shola Ama - You Might Need Somebody

As the story goes, Shola Ama was singing on the tube one day and was heard by someone in the business which eventually led to this her Top 40 debut. It's a cover of a Turley Richards record made famous by Randy Crawford. I do quite like this record.

Verdict - Good

3. Damage - Wonderful Tonight (New)

This was the 4th Top 40 hit for Damage and their highest charting. It's a cover of the Eric Clapton record. One of the YouTube comments sums up this record nicely which is "they seriously damaged this song". What else can I say.

Verdict - Rubbish

2. The Cardigans - Lovefool

When it came to the soundtrack for "Romeo + Juliet" this was seen as the big record from it as opposed to the much better "You and Me Song" by The Wannadies. A very poor choice of record in my opinion, there's nothing to like about this record, it's irritating.

Verdict - Rubbish

1. Olive - You're Not Alone (New)

The only member of Simply Red that most people know is Mick Hucknall. In a way that was a win win situation for former Simply Red member Tim Kellett when he formed Olive. The music is nothing like Simply Red, but people would buy it without being put off it being by a former Simply Red member because they wouldn't know. At the same time Simply Red fans may have bought it because he used to be in Simply Red. Either way this is an undeniably good record.

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 8.5/30, or 28%. The way the new entries keep coming it could be anything next week.

Underworld - Drift Series 1 (2019)

In November 2018 Underworld decided to put out a new tune every week for a year. The collection of this years worth of tunes was known as "Drift Series 1".

The album came in all sorts of shapes and sizes it's difficult to know exactly which one to listen to. What I went with was a 40 track album on their official YouTube channel. 

A 40 track album is a long album even if it's a punk album full of 2 minute tracks. Underworld tend to be at the other end of the scale though, their "Second Toughest in the Infants" album for example is over 70 minutes long but only contains 8 tracks.

You need several hours to spare to listen to this all in one sitting, something I never had. I had around 90 minutes to spare when I first started listening which took me up to track 10. On that basis I thought 3 more 90 minute sessions would cover the album, but it didn't quite work out like that. 2 of the last 3 tracks are over 30 minutes long and in the case of the final track someone points out in the comments that this track alone is longer than "With The Beatles".

Whether they really did make a new tune from scratch every week I don't know. Thinking back to my own songwriting experience I probably did write a new song every week but a lot of them would end up on the scrapheap. I get the impression that's the case for a lot of songwriters.

Yet with this album I don't recall any tune that sounds like it belongs on the scrapheap which is something I thought was inevitable. Maybe they get it right everytime, but I suspect they had something in reserve for when whatever it is they're writing that week isn't working out.

I would call the album solid. The problem is it was so long since I started listening to the album that I can't really remember how it starts.

 

2006: The End? - August

Top of the Pops was no more by 2006. However in the later years of Top of the Pops you were more likely to hear new records the BBC wanted to get into the Top 40 than what was actually in the Top 40. As a result we had 4 records that appeared on the show before it finished and all 4 were crap. These were "Dolls" by Primal Scream, "Iris" by Ronan Keating, "Lipstick" by Alesha Dixon and "Deja Vu" by Beyonce & Jay-Z.

The latter was an example of why I was questioning whether rap and R&B were really part of my music tastes anymore. Going into August only 2 records from each of the 2 genres have achieved full marks so far. Do we add to that in August?

Well no we don't. The other R&B records come from Cassie who was a sort of new Rihanna making a pop record labelled as R&B. Then there was Maria Lawson who wasn't as bad but still basically pop labelled as R&B.

Just the one rap record which came from Chamillionaire, I remember it well at the time but never thought much of it.

I do remember the music from this era of the Galaxy Chart very well. We had "Love Don't Let Me Go (Walking Away)" by David Guetta vs The Egg, a record I initially found a bit commercial but grew to like. This was before David Guetta was making the abysmal EDM records he's known for these days.

Then there was "Everytime We Touch" by Cascada which stayed number one for a while. Presenter Jo Good questioned why people were voting for it because it was such a terrible record. I'm inclined to agree, so much so that this is the worst record.

We also had "Dancing In The Dark" by Micky Modelle. It's a cheesy commercial dance record from AATW records, has a terrible singer but somehow I find myself enjoying it.

Other dance records are a bit crap, just commercial fodder from the likes of Shapeshifter, Michael Gray and Tom Novy. Then there was a mash up of "Horny" and "Bohemian Like You" called "Horny As A Dandy".

This means the best record comes from outside the dance, rap and R&B genres. It actually comes from the most unlikely genre, indie. The record is "Young Folks" by Swedish group Peter, Bjorn & John, famous for the whistle part which was used on an advert. A tune I've listened to many times over the years for my own pleasure.

The other full marks go to fellow Swedes Similou which I guess could be categorised as dance music at a push, but definitely electronic. The Pet Shop Boys were still in their worst era and as a result no point for their record.

Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):

Score: 14%

Here's a look at the chart:

We've improved with the highest score since February. Like February though it's helped by the low quantity of records and the numeric score is the same.

Top 30 in 1998 Reviewed: Week 20

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 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 1998 with my verdict on each record:

30. Uncle Sam - I Don't Ever Want To See You Again (New)

Uncle Sam was an American R&B singer who was signed to Boyz II Mens record label. A lot of the success of Boyz II Men was down to established songwriters such as Babyface writing their big hits. Uncle Sam seemed more of a project to showcase their own songwriting with this one being written by Boyz II Men member Nathan Morris. It's a sort of poundland Boyz II Men then.

Verdict - Rubbish

29. Garbage - Push It

Here was another reminded that there was good music out there which wasn't rave. It had been nearly 2 years since Garbage had last been in the Top 40 and this was the lead single from their 2nd album. I love the way the chorus comes in on this record.

Verdict - Good

28. The Jungle Brothers - Jungle Brother

The Jungle Brothers are a rap group who were around long before jungle music. It does however seem appropriate for them to have a drum & bass hit. No only because of their name, but also because they were crossing over with dance music back in the 80s.

Verdict - Good

27. Phunky Phantom - Get Up Stand Up (New)

Phunky Phantom was Laurence Nelson from Rest Assured who had a hit earlier on in the year with "Treat Infamy". The sample this time comes from the disco hit "Strut Your Funky Stuff" by Frantique. Another decent 90s makeover.

Verdict - Good

26. Queen Pen ft Eric Williams - All My Love

Queen Pen was the female rapper on "No Diggity" by Blackstreet and here she is with her highest charting single as artist which features Eric Williams from Blackstreet. I heavily samples "Never Too Much" by Luther Vandross. It's produced by Teddy Riley who was having one of his off days. Also was written by Jay-Z. I'll say no more.

Verdict - Rubbish

25. The Bluetones - If...

The wheels had fallen off the Top 40 career of The Bluetones with this failing to reach the Top 10 having achieved that with their previous 4 hits. The Top 40 hits would continue until 2003 though, but this was the last of the 90s to make the Top 30. I would say this would have worked better as a lead single than "Solomon Bites The Worm" but it's still not great.

Verdict - Rubbish

24. Massive Attack - Teardrop

I've always considered Massive Attacks best known record to be "Unfinished Sympathy". However I have a friend who once told me this record was the only Massive Attack record he knew. Further to that it's their only Top 10. It is pretty iconic I have to say.

Verdict - Good

23. Cornershop - Sleep On The Left Side (New)

The follow up to the chart topper "Brimful of Asha". What made their chart topper so good was the Norman Cook remix. The reality was the original was dull as ditchwater. Without Norman Cook on hand to transform this record too, this ones dull as well.

Verdict - Rubbish

22. K-Ci And JoJo - All My Life

The biggest hit for K-Ci and JoJo. I was still purely listening to rave at the time but did find myself drawn towards this for some reason. I did eventually get into K-Ci And JoJo via the garage scene which then lead to me buying all their albums. The "Love Always" album is one of my all time favourites.

Verdict - Good

21. 808 State - Pacific / Cubik (New)

"Pacific" was the Top 40 debut for 808 State back in 1989 and "Cubik" was a Top 40 hit for them in 1990. Both records were remixed and released as a double a-side in 1998 which was their final Top 40 hit to date. Both remixes are decent and that fact a lot of their records don't have a definitive mix as such helps.

Verdict - Good / Good

20. Busta Rhymes - Turn It Up/Fire It Up

The 7th Top 40 hit for Busta Rhymes which became his highest charting single to this point. It samples the Knight Rider theme which works really well. The verses are rapped quite calmly but then it gets more aggressive in the chorus. Absolutely love this record.

Verdict - Good

19. Hinda Hicks - You Think You Own Me (New)

The 2nd Top 40 hit for Hinda Hicks. I mentioned when reviewing he debut hit that British R&B had finally found it's feet. This time there's a bit of funk thrown in with a bit of Stevie Wonder inspiration. Unfortunately it doesn't reach the same heights, but it isn't bad.

Verdict - OK

18. Air - Kelly Watch The Stars (New)

Air made quite an impact when they made their Top 40 debut with "Sexy Boy" which you still hear a lot today. I liked that record, but for me it was all about their follow up "Kelly Watch The Stars". This was the record that made me buy the "Moon Safari" album which led me to buy other Air albums. 

Verdict - Good

17. Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On

The 2nd and final chart topper to date for Celine Dion which was take from "The Titanic" movie. I remember how big that film was so it was almost inevitable that this would get to number one. It's also a depressing film given that people die at the end so I guess it's appropriate to have a depressing song for it. Musically though its just another Celine Dion record.

Verdict - Rubbish

16. Catatonia - Road Rage

We're now reaching the time when I started opening myself up to music that wasn't rave. There was always non-rave music that I liked, but when my friend who taught me all I needed to know about rave in the beginning played this song on the jukebox in the pub it started to seem more acceptable. I also realised that I liked this record whilst listening to it in the pub.

Verdict - Good

15. Adam Garcia - Night Fever (New)

Saturday Night Fever was one of the biggest films of the 70s and in 1998 it turned into a West End musical. The star of that musical was Adam Garcia so therefore he did a cover of the Bee Gees record to promote it. Very much a karaoke version.

Verdict - Rubbish

14. Boyzone - All That I Need

The 11th Top 40 hit for Boyzone and their 3rd number one after scoring 3 number twos in a row. It was penned by the same songwriters who revived Donny Osmonds career in the 80s and who would pen the debut hit of Rihanna in years to come. I think that tells you all you need to know.

Verdict - Rubbish

13. Run DMC vs Jason Nevins - It's Like That

It had been 10 years since Run DMC had last been in the Top 40. This Jason Nevins remix of their 1983 record took them to the top of the charts and ended the Spice Girls run of number ones. It also made its way onto several dance compilations which validated me liking this record. 

Verdict - Good

12. Leann Rimes - How Do I Live

The Top 40 debut for Leann Rimes. I once took part in a quiz where a question was who charted in 1997 with "How Do I Live" to which I confidently answered Leann Rimes. The answer was Trisha Yearwood who reached number 66 with it. Leann Rimes was in 1998 and is the better known version. Although not the first person younger than me to chart, I do recall a younger Leann Rimes charting making me start to think have I missed the boat already in my music career. 

Verdict - Rubbish

11. Savage Garden - Truly Madly Deeply

At the time I remember this being this opening song of Top of the Pops for a few weeks in a row. At least that's what it felt. There also seemed to be a lot of people on the stage so I assumed they were a band with many members, but it turned out there were only 2 of them in Savage Garden. Never before have I seen a song contradict a band name so much. I do like some of their music, but not the soppy ballads.

Verdict - Rubbish

10. The Mavericks - Dance The Night Away

There was a pub near where I grew up that had live music at the weekend. When I say live music I mean a singer, ocassionally one with a guitar and a karaoke machine. They'd sing the classics, but this song immediately slotted into the sets and I recall one particular night I swear the singer did this song around 5 or 6 times. Needless to say I got sick of it very quickly.

Verdict - Rubbish

9. Steps - Last Thing On My Mind

In the early 90s Stock & Waterman tried transforming Bananarama into the new Abba with this being one of their records but it failed to reach the Top 40. Now Pete Waterman tried the same with Steps and was more successful in doing so. Each female was given a verse each whilst you wouldn't even know the males were on the record from listening to it. Unfortunately we'd get more of these over the next few years.

Verdict - Rubbish

8. Madonna - Ray Of Light

This was the 23rd Top 40 hit of the 90s which meant Madonna had more Top 40 hits in the 90s than in the 80s. Mariah Carey would be the only other act to reach 23 Top 40 hits in the 90s. The total score I've given for all of the previous 22 Madonna hits of the 90s is a big fat zero. However she finally had a decent hit with this. The credit of course has to go to William Orbit who was the main man behind this record.

Verdict - Good

7. Simply Red - Say You Love Me (New)

We're in an era of Simply Red that was quite cover heavy from a Top 40 perspective, but this was the original composition in the middle of that. They might not have ever been the coolest group to like, but more often than not the music was pretty solid.

Verdict - Good

6. The Corrs - Dreams (New)

Todd Terry may have now been finished in the Top 40 as an artist but he was still around. It was his remix of this Fleetwood Mac cover by The Corrs which gave The Corrs their Top 40 debut. At the time I recall someone asking me if I liked The Corrs, I thought about it and then said actually yes they are pretty good.

Verdict - Good

5. The Tamperer ft Maya - Feel It

When I first heard this record with it's sample of "Can You Feel It" by The Jacksons it caught my attention because I like what it is sampling. Then I listened to the record the whole way through and realised that was the only redeeming feature, the rest was cheesy nonsense.

Verdict - Rubbish

4. Cleopatra - Life Ain't Easy (New)

The 2nd Top 40 hit for Cleopatra which confirmed they were no novelty one hit wonder singing about themselves. My memory about this record was the line "don't just listen" and thinking I'd rather not even listen let alone do whatever else you want me to do.

Verdict - Rubbish

3. Wyclef Jean - Gone Till November (New)

Although this wasn't the beginning of the solo career of Wyclef Jean it's the record that kickstarted it. What a record it is and you can apply it to a lot of situations. It has all the right ingredients, it's both a record for the busker on the street and for the radio and above all it's got soul.

Verdict - Good

2. All Saints - Under The Bridge / Lady Marmalade

After being pleasantly surprised by who much I liked the first two hits for All Saints I decided to buy their album. On it was 2 covers and these were released as a double a-side for their next single. Maybe having 3 decent singles in a row was a step too far, the cover of "Under The Bridge" is particularly poor given how good the original is.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

1. Aqua - Turn Back Time (New)

What the fuck happened here? The first 2 Top 40 hits for Aqua were complete piss takes but then came this which was a proper song. I just could not get my head round the fact that Aqua could make a record like this. It take my hat off to Soren Rasted and Claus Norreen, the Aqua members in the background on stage but writers of all their hits. They clearly knew what they were doing.

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 15.5/30, or 52%. We've remained above 50%.