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:
Massive Attack were back with this being the lead single from their 3rd album "Mezzanine". Their debut hit "Unfinished Sympathy" was already being celebrated as a classic in 1997 which no doubt helped this to become their highest charting hit to that point. Their "Mezzanine" album though was another classic in the making.
Verdict - Good
29. Grace - Down To Earth (New)
Grace were now finished from a Top 40 perspective in terms of original hits, but still had remixes to come starting with this which originally charted a year earlier. I wouldn't say this remix does anything much to it really but crucially it doesn't ruin it and I like the original.
Verdict - Good
This record appeared in the Top 40 I reviewed for my best year search. I found it to be better than I remember it being. At the time I wrote it off, but it's actually not bad. Not sure I like it enough to give it full marks, but it's definitely worthy of half marks.
Verdict - OK
When I was on Champions League Popmaster I'd say the easiest question I had was to give the surname of Rosie who had a hit in 1997 with "Closer Than Close". I remember this very well at the time and it was one of those records I was supposed to like but wasn't convinced by. It's aged really well though and has become a bit of a classic.
Verdict - Good
I try not to use the expression ahead of it's time too much because in reality only a small number of records can be. This however was ahead of it's time because it appears on the Kiss in Ibiza 99 compilation and sounds well at home with the genuine 1999 trance records in there.
Verdict - Good
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
I remember having a pretty negative view of the Super Furry Animals in the 90s but then retrospectively discovered they were your usual boring indie band and have some interesting records. Now I'm listening to all the ones that got into the Top 30 I'm now thinking I had some justification as some of their records were boring too such as this.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the Top 40 debut for No Doubt in 1996 but only made number 38. It fared better after they'd topped the charts with "Don't Speak". It's different to "Don't Speak" and has a decent beat to it. The guitaring is pretty decent too, but not quite enough about it for me to truly like it.
Verdict - OK
After they reached number 3 with "Bodyshakin" which sounded like they were doing a Backstreet Boys record, they do the same again by doing what sounds more like a Boyzone record. Once again, this isn't a good thing.
Verdict - Rubbish
When I was doing my search for the best year this appeared in the Top 40 I looked at in 1997 and I picked this as the worst song. It's almost like The Vengaboys before The Vengaboys and even has a name that implies the members would be male but has female members too.
Verdict - Rubbish
20. Delirious? - Promise (New)
I would say it's quite an achievement for a Christian rock group like Delirious? to have a Top 40 hit, but to have several is quite spectacular. That said, if you put the Christian rock aspect to one side it doesn't really sound too different to a boring indie record.
Verdict - Rubbish
Babyface was the songwriter and producer on many big hits, but this was his only Top 10 hit as an artist. This record also gave Stevie Wonder his first Top 10 hit since 1988 and final one to date. It's a fantastic collaboration and proof that Stevie Wonder had at least one good record left in him after he did you known what.
Verdict - Good
I believe Hanson were the first band younger than me to top the charts. The fact the lead singers voice was yet to break gave that one away. It was the only song most people remember from them, but unfortunately they did have others.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been nearly 4 years since Eternal had made their Top 40 debut but it took until this, their 13th Top 40 hit to top the charts. It did sound like they'd finally cheered up in this record have had a string of rather miserable hits. All was not well behind the scenes though as this would be the penultimate Top 40 hit with Kelle Bryan in the group. Still a rubbish song though.
Verdict - Rubbish
The only Top 40 hit from their "The Art Of War" album and their final Top 40 hit of the 90s. It was yet another record from the "Batman & Robin" soundtrack. I guess the dark nature of their music suits the dark nature of the Batman movies.
Verdict - Good
This was the 3rd Top 40 hit for Todd Terry under his own name and the first one that's not a cover. It's also the highest charting Top 40 hit to date for Todd Terry. It's the same sort of soulful house music as it's predecessor but clearly a different record.
Verdict - Good
The Verve had been around since 1990, released their first album in 1993 and first hit the Top 40 in 1995. This record though was the beginning of their commercial peak. It's got a famous video of Richard Ashcroft walking down the street barging into everybody. That's about as exciting as this record gets.
Verdict - Rubbish
After scoring his first number one with a hit from a movie, R Kelly was back in the Top 10 again with a hit from another movie which this time is "Batman & Robin". That fact it's a song about a fictional city from Batman makes it a bit difficult to take seriously, but R Kelly pulls this off really well to the point you can easily forget that fact.
Verdict - Good
This was the final Top 40 hit of the 90s for Shaggy before his wilderness years which even brought about rumours he had died as I recall. It's a cover of the Erma Franklin record with Shaggy adding a few more bits to it. It bit cheesy but decent nonetheless.
Verdict - Good
I would say this is the first sign of the wheels falling off for the solo career of Gary Barlow with this record not making the Top 10. It's a cover of a country record by Joe Diffie. As he was the main songwriter in Take That it is baffling that he didn't write 2 of his first 3 solo hits. I get the feeling this was providing Ronan Keating with inspiration for his solo career.
Verdict - Rubbish
10. Changing Faces - GHETTOUT (New)
This was the first of 2 Top 40 hits for Changing Faces and the only time they'll feature as their other hit never made the Top 30. It was written and produced by R Kelly and I think you can tell. He sure knew how to write a good record.
Verdict - Good
Yet another late 90s Michael Jackson record that charted pretty high despite having little impact in the grand scheme of things. It would however be his last Top 40 hit of the 90s. He's teamed up with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the usual writers for his sister Janet on "History" and with Teddy Riley on "Ghosts". Both are instantly forgettable though.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
Despite this record making the Top 10, the wheels were also started to fall off Robbie Williams solo career at this point. It was his first of many that he wrote in collaboration with Guy Chambers. Although not as blatant as it's predecessor, it does still sound like he's trying to make an Oasis record.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 2nd Top 40 hit for a band who completely passed me by at the time. The guitar riff that takes you from the intro to the verse is actually quite good. I can't say the same for the rest of the song. It sounds like the riff is taking you into something exciting, but it isn't.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Sash! and the 2nd to make number 2. Whilst it's predecessor was in French, this one was in Spanish. I always found this one a bit annoying, the shouting of the word "Ecuador" in particular.
Verdict - Rubbish
There was absolutely no avoiding this record at the time. I remember it appearing on Club Nation and then an advert for the single appeared in the advert break. It didn't take me too long to get absolutely sick of it. Not a bad record by any means but I thought this record was just alright in the first place and that's my view of it now.
Verdict - OK
I was such a rave purist in 1997 that I specifically remember pretending to people at the time that I didn't like this record because it wasn't rave. In reality I loved this record and ended up buying the single. I just gets better as it goes on, I love the final verse to it.
Verdict - Good
My biggest memory of this record was watching a TV show that I think was called "Holidays From Hell". It documented the holiday of 2 old ladies taking a holiday to Ibiza and their hotel was right in the middle of San Antonio amongst the Club 18-30 crowd and this was being blasted out repeatedly to the point that one of them was pointing out it was that song again. To be fair as a youngster at the time I would have hated hearing this all the time as well as I've never liked it.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been over a year since Oasis had last been in the Top 40. In that time we had an Oasis tribute band plus many other acts try to make their own Oasis songs. They were so big that the record shops would open at midnight to enable people to buy this single. The actual record though is just a noise, the worst thing I'd heard Oasis do and that's really saying something.
Verdict - Rubbish
We've had the first posthumous hit for The Notorious BIG. Now we have the tribute record by his label boss and his widow. It interpolates "Every Breath You Take" by The Police. I would say this topped the charts because of what it was rather than how it sounds, it's a pretty poor record.
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%. Slight drop on last week.
