My Random Music Blog

By January 1996 I was a rave purist so it's only right we should have a rave record at the top. Of all the Baby D singles I would say "So Pure" is my favourite and was at the time. It didn't appear on any of the rave tapes I had though, the scene had split into happy hardcore and drum & bass and this didn't fit either, more a pre-split sort of sound.

In 2nd we have "Little Britain" by Dreadzone, their only Top 40 hit and one of a select few dub records to make the Top 40. Another of these was "Release The Pressure" by Leftfield in 7th place.

In 3rd place we have The Chemical Brothers with "Loops Of Fury" who hadn't put a foot wrong singles wise up to that point. Then it's Dubstar with "Not So Manic Now" or the cup of tea song as I like to call it. Then we have Goldbug with a dance cover of "Whole Lotta Love" which I very much liked at the time.

Although my tastes had moved away from guitar music I did like The Presidents Of The USA and their quirky sort of sound. Sticking with the guitars I have no recollection of "Stuck With Me" by Green Day at the time but became very familiar with it a few years later and it's a solid fast number. I don't think "Lightning Crashes" by Live came on my radar until I had music channels a few years later and like the record.

The last non-rave record I'd bought to this point was the "Gangstas Paradise" single by Coolio. His follow up "Too Hot" wasn't as good but a decent record nonetheless. There's a posthumous record for rapper Eazy-E with his only Top 40 hit "Just Ta Let You Know". LL Cool J always seemed a bit pop for my liking but some of his records have grown on my retrospectively and "Hey Lover" is one of those.

Skunk Anansie were one of the better guitar bands of this era for the simple fact they'd not gone soft like many of the others. Ace of Base had moved away from their reggae pop sound with more of a dance sound with the cheesy but enjoyable "Beautiful Life".

At the time my main criticism of house music was that it was too slow. The records "Hide-A-Way" by Nu Soul and "Feel Like Singing" by Tak Tix are both solid records without being anything groundbreaking.

I can't say the same for "Imitation Of Life" by Billie Ray Martin which finds itself down the bottom. First of all I find her voice irritating but also I've already forgotten how the tune goes and I know this isn't the first time I've heard it.

Just above we have "Oh Father" by Madonna which was her joint lowest charting Top 40 hit to that point. Just above that is Cher with "One By One" which one in a long line of covers she had Top 40 hits with at the time.

Also down there we have Lush which is just feminist claptrap, Q-Club doing a cover of "Tell It To My Heart" which I don't think can ever be made to sound good, Xscape with something very generic, boy band Upside Down with a blatant rip off of "Careless Whisper" by George Michael who had a very boring number 1 with "Jesus To A Child".

I must also give a mention to "Spaceman" by Babylon Zoo which sounded great on the Levi's advert but the rest of the song was terrible.

1995 may have only just ended at this point but we're already seeing a decline in quality.

Score: 40

Wednesday, 4 February 2026

Record of the Year Revisited: 1969

Original Record of the Year: Gene Pitney - Maria Elena

One thing I've discovered in the last 10 years is that 1969 is the best year for Top 40 hits. This makes my original choice for the record of the year a little baffling. Don't get me wrong it's a great record but I wouldn't even put it in my Top 5 Gene Pitney songs.

The fact that 1969 was such a good year for music puts a bit more pressure on how good the record of the year should be. There's plenty of great records but I don't think there's one that stands head and shoulders above the rest.

New Record of the Year: Love Affair - Bringing On Back The Good Times

I'll probably choose a different record every day but for now I've gone with "Bringing On Back The Good Times" by Love Affair.

This was the final Top 40 hit for them. They're best known for chart topper "Everlasting Love" but in my opinion their other singles are better and this is the best of the lot.

The tour of London in the video makes me want to get in a time machine and go back there.

Monday, 2 February 2026

Record of the Year Revisited: 1968

Original Record of the Year: Honeybus - I Can't Let Maggie Go

I picked a record I would hear every shift when working in a supermarket as a youngster but somehow never got sick of.

When I look at the list of Top 40 hits in 1968 I see plenty of decent records. Yet very few are what I would describe as outstanding. Then when it comes to songs I particularly like I ask the question of whether it's good enough to be record of the year.

The only one where the answer is yes it the record I picked in the first place. It's a song I continue to listen to regularly and makes me nostalgic about a time I never lived through. It also makes me a bit nostalgic about the time I used to hear it at work. Not the job itself, but the time in the late 90s when I was optimistic about the future.

Saturday, 31 January 2026

Record of the Year Revisited: 1967

Original Record of the Year: Keith West - Excerpt From A Teenage Opera

I said at the time that for 1967 there was only ever going to be one winner for the record of the year. A bold statement to make but then I do love this record. It makes me somewhat nostalgic about an era I wasn't even around to witness.

Thinking about my own childhood though we used to have our milk delivered by a milkman and newspaper delivered by the paper boy. That world doesn't really exist anymore, I can't remember the last time I saw a milk float or someone delivering newspapers.

The village I grew up in had a butchers, a post office, a florists, a freezer shop and a newsagents. All that remains now is a co-op. That's progress for you. Even in London 10 years ago I may have just about still been getting my meat from my local butchers before it closed down and turned into an estate agents.

Anyway aside from reminiscing on how the world used to be a much better place, have I found a better song?

New Record of the Year: Small Faces - Tin Soldier

Yes I have. I don't know when I first heard this or when I really got into it, but what a tune. By 1967 standards this is a pretty heavy record. The history books tell me that the Small Faces were one of the poppier acts of the 60s and for one or two of their records I can see why.

A lot of their records though seem to have a harder edge to them than the other music of the time. I listen to this record a lot and is one of my go to records for 60s nostalgia.

Friday, 30 January 2026

Music Bias

There's the saying a bad days fishing beats a good day at the office. The point is fishing is something one generally enjoys and being in the office is something one generally doesn't.

Applying that logic to music you could say a bad record by an artist you like beats a good record by an artist you don't like. Or does it?

I'm a huge advocate for letting the music do the talking but no matter how much I try to adopt this philosophy I feel there's always going to be a degree of bias.

Take for example "Firestarter" by The Prodigy. Prior to this the "Music For The Jilted Generation" album changed my life and the "Experience" album doesn't have a bad track on it. Still to this very day though I've not been able to take to "Firestarter" and I'll never forget the disappointment when I heard it the first time.

Had The Prodigy not released any music prior to "Firestarter" would I be thinking the same thing or would I like it? I'll never know, all I know is that when I hear it I don't enjoy it.

"Firestarter" knocked what was supposed to be the final Take That hit off number one. I couldn't stand Take That at the time and to this very day I find most of their music irritating. However when they made their comeback in 2006 with "Patience" I thought it was easily the best thing they've ever done.

The same month "Patience" came out Jamiroquai released "Runaway". Jamiroquai are a band I've always rated but I've seen I previously rated this song as OK but thought they were past their best by this point. I've just had to play the song to remind myself how it goes and my thoughts are still the same.

More importantly though given the choice of listening to "Runaway", a not so good song by a band I like or "Patience" a great song by a band I don't like, which would I choose? I would say "Patience".

Another question is had Jamiroquai not released better music in the 90s would I even give this song half marks? Or would I give it full marks for being better than most of the rubbish coming out at that time? I suspect more likely the former given I had to remind myself how it went, but it's not bad.

Sometimes something sounds much better on paper than it does in reality. Staying in 2006 there was a collaboration between Pharrell and Kanye West. Both were producers I rated highly a couple of years prior and it seemed like a dream collaboration. The record itself though was a huge disappointment and if I'm honest I was rating both artists because of music they'd made in the past rather than music they were making at that point in time.

It would be another 4 years until Pharrell would return to the charts and it would be in quite a different capacity.

During those 4 years I'd properly got back into dance music. One of my favourite dance records to chart in this period was "I Found U" by Axwell. I also discovered Sebastian Ingrosso as a DJ and had one of his mix CDs. Together with Steve Angello they formed the Swedish House Mafia.

It was in collaboration with the Swedish House Mafia that Pharrell returned to the charts with "One (Your Name)". This was not only a collaboration between DJs I liked, but also a producer in the rap and R&B world who I was a fan of a few years prior. I really wanted to like this tune until I finally conceded it was crap.

Fast forward another 3 years until we saw Pharrell in the charts again. This time he was collaborating with Daft Punk and Nile Rodgers on "Get Lucky". This time though it's a record I still like, but is it because I'm biased?

There's a real difference between my perceptions of Swedish House Mafia and Daft Punk. I may have liked Sebastian Ingrosso the DJ before he went commercial, but Swedish House Mafia as a collective were commercial rubbish. Daft Punk on the other hand were already commercial and credible when I first heard them.

At the end of 2013 was when Pharrell had his biggest success of all, "Happy". Again I paid attention because it was Pharrell but what a terrible song.

To give a bit more background, Pharrell was part of NERD and I love their "In Search Of" album. One particular track I like is "Bobby James", a dark record that really hits you. Whilst you can tell "Happy" is sung by the same person, musically it couldn't be any more different.

As for Daft Punk, whilst some say they sold out with the "Random Access Memories" album I do like it and it certainly stands out as better than all the EDM nonsense coming out at the time.

Their last venture into the charts came via a couple of collaborations with The Weeknd. One of these was in the Christmas charts in 2016 and I rated it as OK. Who am I trying to kid though, it's rubbish and I've always thought that if I'm honest with myself. I was just biased because it was Daft Punk.

Thursday, 29 January 2026

January Charts: 1995

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. The Original - I Luv U Baby

2. Portishead - Glory Box

3. Green Day - Basket Case

4. Tricky - Overcome

5. R Kelly - Bump 'N' Grind

6. Jodeci - Cry For You

7. Elevatorman - Funk And Drive

8. Almighty - Jonestown Mind

9. Van Halen - Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)

10. New Order - Nineteen63

11. Paris - Guerrilla Funk

12. Whitehead Brothers - Your Love Is A 187

13. The Wildhearts - If Life Is Like A Love Bank I Want An Overdraft / Geordie In Wonderland

14. Mr Roy - Saved

15. Tyrrel Corporation - Better Days Ahead

16. (MC Sar And) The Real McCoy - Run Away

17. Barry White - Practice What You Preach / Love Is The Icon

18. Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band - We've Got Tonight

19. Carleen Anderson - Let It Last

20. Ini Kamoze - Here Comes The Hotstepper

21. Siouxsie And The Banshees - O Baby

22. TLC - Creep

23. Scarlet - Independent Love Song

24. Donna Allen - Real

25. Simple Minds - She's A River

26. DJ Scott - Do You Wanna Party ft Lorna B

27. Loveland - I Need Somebody ft Rachel McFarlane

28. The Lightning Seeds - Change

29. Ace Of Base - Living In Danger

30. Massive Attack - Protection

31. Queensryche - I Am I

32. Thunder - Stand Up

33. The Charlatans - Crashin' In

34. Dodgy - So Let Me Go Far

35. Megadeth - Train Of Consequences

36. Vanessa-Mae - Toccata And Fugue

37. Jimmy Somerville - Heartbeat

38. Runrig - This Time Of Year

39. Soundgarden - Fell On Black Days

40. Ebony Vibe Everlasting - Good Life

41. Guns N' Roses - Sympathy For The Devil

42. Ultimate Kaos - Hoochie Booty

43. Morrissey - Boxers

44. Sleeper - Inbetweener

45. Jim Carrey - Cuban Pete

46. Nicki French - Total Eclipse Of The Heart

47. Let Loose - One Night Stand

48. The Human League - Tell Me When

49. Shawn Colvin With Mary Chapin Carpenter - One Cool Remove

50. Deuce - Call It Love

It's often said that we look back upon the past with rose tinted specs and conveniently forget the crap but this batch of records really makes me want to go back to 1995.

Some tough competition at the top but the winner is "I Luv U Baby" by The Original. It would fare better in the charts when rereleased in the summer and is one of those almost perfect summer anthems. The video makes me want to go to Ibiza, in 1995 though not today.

Missing out on top spot is Portishead with "Glory Box". It was their Top 40 debut and came from their "Dummy" album which is one of my all time favourites. Then comes Green Day with "Basket Case" if anything for the moment the drums kick in.

Then we have Tricky making his Top 40 debut with "Overcome". The relatively low position of his former group Massive Attack is more to do with the competition, a good record but simply put I'd rather hear Tricky's voice on a record than Tracey Thorn.

R Kelly and Jodeci wouldn't of been so high up if I was compiling this in 1995 but when I went through my R&B phase a few years later they were amongst my favourites and I had nostalgia about their 1995 material.

At a time when guitar music in general was getting softer it's good to see the Almighty and Van Halen not following that trend. The Almighty appeared on Top of the Pops for the first time with "Jonestown Mind", a fact I didn't like because they were one of the more obscure bands I was into but when someone told me it was the crappest shit they'd ever heard it reassured me they weren't going commercial.

Another Top of the Pops performance I remember was "Geordie In Wonderland" by The Wildhearts and I seemed to be alone in liking that record, in part because my fellow rock fans were now rejecting the harder stuff.

I went through a brief phase of being into cricket and can pin point that to this time due to "Saved" by Mr. Roy which was a dance version of "Soul Limbo" which is best known for being the cricket theme music.

I was also into formula one which drew my attention to "Better Days Ahead" by Tyrrel Corporation. It has nothing to do with the Tyrrell formula one team though, it's a little cheesy but an enjoyable record. Similarly I enjoyed the cheesy Eurodance of The Real McCoy with "Run Away".

Some cheesy music I didn't enjoy though was Deuce with "Call It Love". They were basically Steps but before Steps came about and are just plain irritating as as a result finish bottom.

Just above Deuce is Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter with "One Cool Remove". This one is just plain boring and too American for the UK market.

3rd from bottom is "Tell Me When" by The Human League. It bugged me at the time and I though it belonged in the 80s. I've taken more of a liking to them in more recent years but still can't take to this record.

Overall though there's more good than bad and as expected it's one of the better years.

Score: 60

Record of the Year Revisited: 1966

Original Record of the Year: Lou Christie - Lightnin Strikes

I was quite reluctant to pick "Lightnin Strikes" by Lou Christie as my record of the year because as much as I like it I think "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" from 1969 is much better but competition is much more fierce that year.

I also mentioned that Lou Christie was still making music but he isn't now because he sadly passed away last year. Have I now found a better record from 1966?

New Record of the Year: Billy Stewart - Summertime

I don't think I knew this record 10 years ago, at least not this version. It's a jazz standard from the 1930s and Fun Boy Three did a version in the 80s but I would of never guessed it was the same song. This version is just crazy. It's 5 minutes long and it ends with you wanting more, a sure sign of a good song.

It was the only UK Top 40 hit for Billy Stewart.