Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 10

These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:

Sugar Lee Hooper - De Wandelclub

As I don't speak Dutch it's hard for me to tell if this song is supposed to be a novelty hit or not. As I was intrigued I translated the lyrics and they're certainly odd. Sugar Lee Hooper was a singer who was in her late 40s at the time and she was bald and wearing some bizarre clothing. She passed away in 2010 so never got to witness the weird looking singers of the modern era.

Herbie - Right Type Of Mood

Herbie is a British artist whose only UK Top 40 hit as an artist was featuring on "Gotta Be You" by 3T. He has however had plenty of success as a songwriter writing hits for 5ive and Backstreet Boys amongst others. He was one of the Cherion Studios songwriters in Sweden that was started by Denniz Pop and continued by Max Martin and basically took over the songwriting side of modern pop music. This is a Eurodance record with Herbie rapping on it.

Irene Moors & De Smurfen - Waarom Doe Jij Nooit Gewoon - Hela Hola

The Smurfs are back with Irene Moors, but this didn't match the success of their "No Limit" cover. They're singing and rapping in Dutch, but it almost sounds like they're trying to do "No Limit" again. It may be a cover of a Dutch record I don't know, can't find anything else with the same title though.

2002: The Good Old Days? - September

We're in the era when I would describe my music taste as dance, rap and R&B. One genre I should of perhaps included in there was dancehall because I was listening to that too.

There were 2 dancehall new entries in September 2002 and both were good. We had "Feel It Boy" by Beenie Man & Janet Jackson which I loved at the time. Then we had the debut Top 40 single for Sean Paul with "Gimme The Light" which found greater success when it re-entered the Top 40 a few months later.

Aside from these 2 dancehall records the rest of the points all come from the dance, rap and R&B genres.

The best of these was "Two Months Off" by Underworld. Whilst "Born Slippy" is by far the best known Underworld record I'd say "Two Months Off" is a fans favourite.

This month I've given full marks to a vocal trance record. N-Trance team back up with Kelly Llorenna to do "Forever" which was billed as a sort of "Set You Free" reunion even though she'd sang for them since. It was also before Kelly Llorenna did "Heart Of Gold" etc so I guess I was feeling nostalgic at the time hence I liked it. There's more of a proper trance record in "Can U Dig It" by JamX & Deleon and we also have "Nessaja" by Scooter which is possibly their best record of the 21st century.

Rap wise we have "Cleanin Out My Closet" by Eminem and "Nothin" by Nore both getting full marks. There were also 2 non-So Solid Crew efforts from So Solid Crew members with mixed results. Oxide & Neutrino were partly responsible for the demise of UK Garage but they were much better at doing rap and "Dem Girlz (I Don't Know Why)" is decent. Harvey on the other hand had a terrible record with "Get Up And Move" and after this he seemingly left his music career and gangsta roots behind to become a T4 presenter.

R&B wise there were just 2 records and both were crap. There was "Dy-Na-Mi-Tee" by Ms Dynamite who's only ever made one good record and "Call Me" by Tweet who I don't think has ever made a decent record.

Time for the worst record then which goes to Pink with "Just Like A Pill". She broke through a couple of years earlier as an R&B singer but now she was a rock singer. In reality she was a watered down version of both and there was nothing genius about her reinventing herself as a rock singer. She just got Dallas Austin to write her a record instead of Babyface.

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: 22%

Here's a look at the chart:

2002 hasn't been convincing so far. Maybe the first half of the year will get stronger like 2003.

UK Number 40s: Primal Scream - Dolls (2006)

 

With this record Primal Scream became the 3rd act to score 2 number 40 hits. They had previous reached number 40 with "Higher Than The Sun" back in 1991. They followed in the footsteps of Queenryche and Saint Etienne.

They had been around since the 80s and made a point of changing their sound with each album. A consequence of this meant there was the danger of running out of sounds to change to. This is what the critics said had happened with their album "Riot City Blues" on which this appears.

Yet the lead single from the album "Country Girl" had reached number 5 earlier on in the year and became their highest charting single to date. This would be their final Top 40 hit but they would carry on making music for years to come.

UK Number 40s: Frank - I'm Not Shy (2006)

 

We'd already seen a number of successful music acts called Frank such as Frank Sinatra, so it would have been a brave move simply calling yourself Frank. Except this wasn't a person called Frank just using their first name, this was a girl group.

They were part of a TV show called "Totally Frank", a Channel 4 TV series that follows a band called Frank who were struggling to make it in the music business. It lasted for 2 series with each series containing 13 episodes.

These struggles were the reality for Frank themselves though. This was their only Top 40 hit and they were dropped from their record label shortly afterward.

The song was originally recorded by Nylon who were yet another long forgotten girl group from this era.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 9

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 Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.

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 records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

29. Metallica - Whiskey In The Jar

Although Metallica are American, I've always though that James Hetfield sounds Irish when he sings. I therefore found it quite amusing when Metallica did a version of a traditional Irish song. The nature of the video meant it was often on the music channels late at night. I would say this was a return to form for them.

Verdict - Good

28. Michelle Collins - Sunburn

After Michelle Collins left Eastenders she went on to star in the TV series "Sunburn", a fictional show about holidays reps which was a bit crap as I recall. This was the theme music to the TV show. The only positive thing I can say is that it's not as bad as the crap fellow Eastender Martin McCutcheon did that year.

Verdict - Rubbish

23. Gene - As Good As It Gets

The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Gene and the last time they'll feature as their final Top 40 hit never made the Top 30. They debuted in 1994 so had a pretty good innings. This record is quite possibly as good as it gets for Genes music, but that doesn't mean it's any good.

Verdict - Rubbish

22. Babybird - Back Together

The 7th Top 40 hit for Babybird and he wasn't finished yet. Not bad for someone who's only really remembered for just one song. One of the reasons he's only remembered for one song has to be due to the fact his other songs aren't that memorable.

Verdict - Rubbish

18. Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild

It had been 30 years since this originally was in the Top 40 and it looks like it was rereleased to promote a greatest hits album even though this was their only hit. It's one of those classics that many of us like, including me.

Verdict - Good

14. Lucid - Crazy

This was the follow up to their chart debut "I Can't Help Myself", a record I absolutely loved at the time. It was therefore always going to be difficult to follow up with a record that's as good. This record isn't as good, but I do recall thinking this was pretty crazy when I saw it on Top of the Pops, and in a good way.

Verdict - Good

5. 'N Sync - I Want You Back

At the time I remember somebody pointing out this record sounds just like the Backstreet Boys when it came on the radio. I thought it actually was the Backstreet Boys, but it was actually the breakthrough hit in the UK for N Sync. It was written by Denniz Pop and Max Martin so could have just as easily ended up being a Backstreet Boys record.

Verdict - Rubbish

4. Lauryn Hill - Ex-Factor

The solo career of Lauryn Hill is best known by 2 songs with this one being the 2nd. There's something quite unique about having a highly regard career as both a solo artist and as part of a group with both being so brief. Quality of quantity I guess.

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%. The 3rd week in a row we've had this score.

25 Years Since....February 2000

We found that most of the records I was enjoying in January 2000 were ones I was more enjoying in 1999. How about February then?

Byron Stingily - That's The Way Love Is

We begin with a record that first charted in 1989. The artist was Ten City whose singer was Byron Stingily and here he is as a solo artist covering his own record. It's not as pointless as it sounds on paper though. Dance music had evolved so much over the years, the idea of the original record did blend in with the music being made in the year 2000 but needed modern production standards for it to blend in with an upfront set.

CRW - I Feel Love

Now we have a tune from 1998 that didn't hit the Top 40 until the year 2000. It was from the "Kevin and Perry Go Large" film. I must confess I never watched the film, I'm not much of a film person. I did however love those sketches on the "Harry Enfield and Chums" show particularly being a teenager myself at the time.

Baby Bumps - I Got This Feeling

Dance music was so big around this time that we had the inevitable cheese that goes with any music genre enjoying a surge in popularity. Sometimes the cheese that comes with it is actually quite good and this is an example of this.

Scanty Sandwich - Because Of You

Another of those records which tells me that the 21st century has arrived, but from the perspective of looking forward to what the 21st century has to offer. This was on Southern Fried records, Fatboy Slims record label and sounds like it could just as easily be a Fatboy Slim record.

Air - Playground Love

One of my favourite albums of all time is "Moon Safari" by Air. The only way I think the album could have been better is by having "Playground Love" on it. Instead it's on the soundtrack to "The Virgin Suicides" which is basically an Air album in itself which I own. I like the music so much that I decided to watch the film. This is one of the best chill out records ever.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 9

All the new entries this week made the UK Top 40. However, it was the week that Gompie entered the charts with "Alice, who the X is Alice" which was a UK number 17 which in turn led to Smokie reviving the song with Roy "Chubby" Brown. Gompie were Dutch and they would perform this cover with the crowd chanting back "Alice, who the fuck is Alice". This would go on to be a Dutch number one.