25 Years Since....March 1992

It's the end of the month so its time to look at a few tunes I was enjoying this time 25 years ago:

Guns N Roses - November Rain

I was somewhat baffled at the time at seeing Guns N Roses with an orchestra and Axl sitting behind a piano rather than running around the stage. Still it was Guns N Roses, the band that could do no wrong at the time as far as I was concerned.

The challenge I faced with this record was actually hearing the whole thing. At nearly 10 minutes long you'd always be getting a cut down version, some longer than others. It was always a bit of a mystery as to how it actually ended, it wasn't until I first heard the "Use Your Illusion 1" album until I heard the whole thing. Even several years later many music channels would miss out the guitar solo at the end when showing the video. The sad thing about it is that is probably the best part of the song.

KLF - America: What Time Is Love?

This was the final release from the KLF before they retired from the music industry. This was a remix of their first top 40 hit simply called "What Time Is Love?" and actually charted one place higher reaching number four.

Admittedly this is probably my least favourite of the KLFs five top 40 hits, but that is more to do with how good I think the other ones were. Such was my love for the KLF that around a decade later I was in a pub in my hometown and a bloke who was 2 or 3 years older than me who I vaguely remembered came up to me and said "You were the one who used to always sing the KLF at school weren't you?".

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge

Although this wasn't the first Red Hot Chili Peppers top 40 hit, it was the first I heard of theirs. They weren't exactly household names in this country at the time, a few months later I'd forgotten both who this was and what this song was called. I always remembered it as being the "Take me to a place I love" song.

Around a year or so later when I was part of the rock crowd, there were a number of bands we were told we should listen to and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were one of them. I took a while before I actually heard them, no internet in those days. I was aware they had a song called "Under the Bridge" though. Then one day it came up in conversation and someone started singing it, that made me realise after months of wondering what the Red Hot Chili Peppers sounded like I knew a song of theirs all along. I was somewhat surprised they were a band the rock crowd would listen to though as it isn't rock music.

It was rereleased in 1994 following the top 10 success of "Give It Away" and reached number 13 which was an improvement on the 26 it originally reached. By this point the Red Hot Chili Peppers were very much a household name in this country.


Liquid - Sweet Harmony

I was at my local Our Price when I first heard this, obviously they played music in there all the time but this one caught my attention. It must have been the piano intro and then the beat kicking in.

This would be record I would hear quite often when I became a raver and have heard it in many old skool sets. It was remixed in 1995 and reached the top 40 again. Some years later I came across the cassette single in Cash Convertors for 10p and thought why not, despite having it on many of my existing tapes.

Erasure - Breath of Life

I was always quite fond of Erasure when I was younger, they seemed to just put out good tune after good tune. One I particularly liked was "Love To Hate You" in 1991. This was followed up with "Am I Right?" at the end of 1991 and then followed by this.

It didn't disappoint and at the time I would have put Erasure as one of my favourite groups. Unfortunately what followed this was the "Abba-Esque EP" which put me right off them. It would be quite some years later until they would find their way into my music collection.

Top of the Pops: 30/03/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

So Ed Sheeran has now achieved what Slim Whitman managed to do back in 1955, spend 11 weeks at number one.

After becoming more of an Ed Sheeran show in previous weeks, he appears just the once on this. It is now turning into the Drake show as he has 12 new entries in the top 40. Like Stormzy a few weeks ago, there are several of his tunes missing due to not being on YouTube. In fact Passionfruit is the only official upload, the rest are crappy live footage uploads, you have been warned.

Elsewhere we have climbers by Martin Jenson and Anne-Marie. The only non Drake new entry in this weeks chart comes from the last act who wasn't Ed Sheeran to have a number one, Clean Bandit.


⬆ (8) Martin Jensen - Solo Dance
New (6) Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson - Symphony
⬆ (10) Anne-Marie - Ciao Adios
New (35) Drake - Skepta Interlude
New (17) Drake ft Giggs - No Long Talk
New (9) Drake ft Giggs - KMT
New (4) Drake - Passionfruit
(1) Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You

Goldfrapp @ The Roundhouse

Being on the Goldfrapp mailing list, I was given the opportunity to purchase pre sale tickets for last nights gig at the Roundhouse. When the presale tickets went on sale however, they were sold pretty much instantly so I had to go through the official sale where I managed to get tickets despite them selling out quickly too.

Whilst I always encounter ticket touts on my way to a gig venue, there seemed to be more of them than normal last time. Taking a look around the venue when Goldfrapp came on stage, whilst it wasn't exactly empty it clearly didn't look sold out, something really needs to be done about ticket touts but I'll save that rant for another time.

Goldfrapp have a new album coming out on Friday so inevitably there would be tunes I didn't know that would be played. I'll be honest, I wasn't a fan of their last album "Tales Of Us" but was such a fan of their previous five albums that I still went to see them back in 2013 when it came out.

The set began with "Utopia" followed by "Lovely Head" from their debut album "Felt Mountain". Then came the first of their new material "Anymore". Was definitely an improvement on their last offering having more of an electronic sound.

After hearing a few more old and new tracks I was quite surprised to hear them play "Dreaming" from their "Head First" album. I read somewhere that Goldfrapp themselves were not too keen on the "Head First" album so either they changed their mind or that article was a load of nonsense. Anyhow I am a fan of that album so all was good.

After a few more new tracks Alison seemed almost apologetic about playing the new material, saying she knows it can be difficult listening to something you've never heard before. There was a time when the likes of "Utopia" was new to me so definitely no bad thing there. What I can say is I think I'll enjoy the new album more than their last one and time will tell if it turns out better than the others.

Then came the anthems starting with "Number One" followed by "Ride A White Horse". At this point it wasn't even 10pm and they left the stage, but thought maybe it's an extended encore. They came back out and played "Black Cherry" then "Shiny and Warm", another track from the "Head First" album. Then came "Ooh La La" and I was thinking the only big number they were yet to do was "Strict Machine" which is what they did next and that was the end. Being a Monday though, the early finish perhaps wasn't such a bad thing.

So the new material sounds promising, the old tunes as good as ever and nothing from the "Tales of Us" album was played so the gig was as good as can be expected.

Record of the Year 1973: Linda Lewis - Rock a Doodle do

Whilst I kept changing my mind about the record of the year for 1972, to me there was just one it could be for 1973.

This was the first of four hits for Linda Lewis and this one to me is the one which brings out the best in her voice which has a five octave vocal range.

As I have said in my yearly review, 1973 was a year where the charts were dominated by glam rock and teen idols and to be honest none of that is my cup of tea. I could therefore imagine hearing a record like this at the time would be very refreshing to hear.

Linda Lewis is perhaps best know for "It's In His Kiss" which is her cover of "The Shoop Shoop Song", here only top ten single.

UK Singles Chart: 1973

Like 1972, it was all about glam rock and the teen idols again in 1973. The difference was that T Rex were no longer dominating the chart, this year was the turn of Slade.

T Rex began the year with "20th Century Boy" reaching number 3, their lowest charting single to date since shortening the name T Rex. Their next single "The Groover" went one place lower at number 4, but this would prove to be their final top 10 hit with their final single of the year "Truck On (Tyke)" reaching number 12.

Slade on the other hand would score three number ones with "Cum On Feel the Noize", "Skweeze Me Pleeze Me" and "Merry Xmas Everybody" whilst their other single "My Friend Stan" reached number two. This brought Slade's total number ones to 6 which put them fifth on the all time list behind the Rolling Stones, Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

Elvis and Cliff continued to have hits this year, both adding three to their totals bringing Elvis to 85 and Cliff to 63 hits overall. Still nobody else catching up Lonnie Donegan and Frank Sinatra in third place though.

The Hollies continued their run of hits every year since 1963 and the Rolling Stones kept up their run of every year except 1970.

There was a return to the charts for two artists who were there in its first year in 1952. After a four year absence Max Bygraves returned to the charts with "Deck Of Cards" and after an eighteen year absence Al Martino, the artist who had the first ever number one returned to the charts with "Spanish Eyes". These would be the final hits for both artists.

Neil Sedaka made his return to the charts after a 11 year absence with "That's When the Music Takes Me". There was also a return to the charts after an 8 year absence for the Drifters with "Like Sister and Brother" although they did have reissued singles back in the charts the previous year. We would see more from both acts over the next couple of years.

Although Motown was the notable music from the 60s still going strong in the charts, this was the year that showed this was coming to an end. We had the Four Tops leave Motown the previous year, and their only hit this year "Sweet Understanding Love" would be their last hit for 8 years. After having a hit every year since 1964, this would be the final year on the charts for the Supremes with "Bad Weather" being their final hit. It would also be the last year that Gladys Knight & the Pips and the Jackson 5 would have hits on Motown, whilst the Temptations would have an 11 year break from the charts after this year. We still have Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder continuing to have hits though.

Suzi Quatro made he debut this year with the number one record "Can the Can" and followed this up with "48 Crash" and then "Daytona Demon". We also had Mud make their debut with "Crazy".

The previous year had seen the Barry White produced Love Unlimited debut in the charts, this year was the turn of Barry White himself with "I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More Baby".

We had Thin Lizzy debut with "Whiskey In the Jar", but it would be another three years until they returned to the charts, a common thing that seemed to be happening in the 70s so far.

From the teen idol world David Cassidy won the battle of number ones scoring two with "The Twelfth Of Never" and "Daydreamer/The Puppy Song" whilst Donny Osmond had just the one with "Young Love". Britain had it's own teen idol come along this year though with David Essex making his debut with "Rock On".

The end of the year saw Leo Sayer make his debut with "The Show Must Go On".

Overall 1973 wasn't that different from 1972, how different will 1974 be?

Top of the Pops: 23/03/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

After last weeks full show of 9 records, we are down to 7 eligible records for this week. Once again though it is more like the Ed Sheeran show with 3 of the 7 records coming from him. We have "Shape Of You" spending its tenth week at number one. Then two of his new entries from last week which didn't appear due to there being higher new entries from him last week have climbed the charts this week.

Also climbing the charts this week is Zedd ft Alessia Cara with "Stay" which appeared two weeks ago. We have three new entries, the highest being from Bruno Mars. One of the new entries comes from the Steps who return to the charts after a 16 year absence which at 37 is currently their lowest charting single, though it may climb next week.


New (35) Bruno Mars - That's What I Like
⬆ (23) Zedd ft Alessia Cara - Stay
New (36) Julia Michaels - Issues
New (37) Steps - Scared of the Dark
⬆ (9) Ed Sheeran - Supermarket Flowers
⬆ (10) Ed Sheeran - What Do I Do Now
(1) Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You

High Contrast @ Electric

As a dance music fan who works a 9 to 5 and isn't as young as I used to be, it's somewhat an inconvenience these days that the only way I can see many dance music acts is to spend all night at a club. That's precisely what I've done when I've seen High Contrast in the past.

I was therefore pleased to hear that High Contrast was to play his first live show last night, meaning not only getting to see something a little different from the norm but also being able to see High Contrast without having to struggle through next week at work because of a sleep deficit.

He actually appeared on stage earlier than the advertised time, the first time I can ever recall that happening at a gig I've been to. He was joined on stage with a guitarist and drummer and some rotating vocalists. The first tune he played was "Racing Green" from his excellent "High Society" album, quite possibly the best drum & bass album ever released.

Several of his tunes from over the years were played but the crowd stepped up a gear when he played "The Road Goes On Forever". Although it's been five years since his last album he's continued to make new music since me and has a new album coming out soon which looks quite promising.

A little over an hour later the set was over and I quite possibly left the venue earlier than I had arrived at the venue last time I saw him play.

Overall a top night, here's hoping this is the first of many live gigs that he does.

Top of the Pops: 16/03/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

So here we have it, full show of 9 records plus 8 eligible ones which didn't make the show. The result is a show which is two thirds Ed Sheeran.

To give it the best variety I could I've gone for the three non Ed Sheeran records that are eligible which are two new entries and a climber. The rest are simply the highest charting Ed Sheeran new entries plus "Shape Of You" which spends its 9th week at number one.

New (28) Lorde - Green Light
⬆ (25) Martin Jensen - Solo Dance
New (39) Little Mix - No More Sad Songs
New (8) Ed Sheeran - Dive
New (6) Ed Sheeran - Happier
New (5) Ed Sheeran - New Man
New (4) Ed Sheeran - Perfect
New (2) Ed Sheeran - Galway Girl
(1) Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You

Record of the Year 1972: Chi-Lites - Have You Seen Her

This is the year I have changed my mind the most times about what should be my record of the year. As little as 3 days ago I still had 5 candidates, but have decided to settle on this.

Having not been born at the time this came out, the first version I heard of this was the MC Hammer cover in 1990. I can't remember the first time I heard the original, it certainly wasn't one of those moments when I would think the original is so much better as I quite liked the MC Hammer version as a kid.

I did find one day a few years ago myself having a sudden urge out of nowhere to listen to this and it been on my playlist ever since.

This was the second UK hit for the Chi-Lites, the first being "(For God's Sake) Give More Power To The People" the previous year. The followed up with the hit "Oh Girl", a tune that I first heard the Paul Young cover of which like MC Hammer was in 1990. Then next came "Homely Girl" a tune that I first heard the UB40 cover of in 1989. So basically I heard 3 Chi-Lites covers in the space of a year before I even knew the group existed.

This tune was re-released in 1975 as a double a side with "Oh Girl".

All in all the Chi-Lites had 8 top 40 hits in the UK, this being equally the most successful alongside their final hit "You Don't Have To Go" from 1976 with both hits making number 3.

The band still remain active today with Marshall Thompson being the only original member, the other three original members have since passed away.

UK Singles Chart: 1972

Now we're into the third year of the 70s, we do very much have glam rock and the teen idols leading the way, but some of the older acts show no sign of fizzling out just yet.

Elvis had another four hits, all reaching the top 10 and is now up to 82 hits. Cliff Richard adds another two hits brining his total to 60. Beyond that it's as you were with Lonnie Donegan and Frank Sinatra tied on 30.

Clocking up their 10th consecutive year of hits this year is the Hollies who had hits with "The Baby" and "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress". The only other 1963 debutant to have a hit this year was the Rolling Stones who had a hit with "Tumbling Dice" and had just gone one year without a hit since they debuted.

There were three 1957 debutants who returned to the charts this year, Jerry Lee Lewis with "Chantilly Lace", Jackie Wilson with "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" and Chuck Berry with "My Ding-A-Ling" which was a number one. Aside from reissues this would be the last we'd see og Jerry Lee Lewis and Jackie Wilson whilst Chuck Berry would have his final hit the following year.

Although they split the previous year, Simon and Garfunkel would have their final hit this year with "America". Paul Simon kicked of his solo career this year with "Mother And Child Reunion" and followed up with "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard".

Bidding farewell to the charts from Motown was Martha & The Vandellas who had their final hit with "Bless You". Making a return after a 5 year gap since their debut was Gladys Knight & The Pips with "Just Walk In My Shoes". The Four Tops were still clocking up the hits but this was the year they left Motown and had their first hit post Motown with "Keeper of the Castle". The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Junior Walker & The All-Stars, Diana Ross and the Jacksons would all continue to have hits this year.

There was a significant Motown chart debutant this year though. It was the year Michael Jackson made his solo debut "Got To Be There" and had a further three hits, all making the top 10. One of Michael Jacksons other hits was his cover of "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers who also made his chart debut this year with "Lean On Me".

We also had the solo debut of David Cassidy this year with the double a side "Could It Be Forever/Cherish" which was then followed up by his first number one "How Can I Be Sure".

It was also the year that we saw the Osmond family for the first time. First up came The Osmonds who reached number 40 with "Down By the Lazy River". Then came Donny Osmond who reached number 1 with his debut "Puppy Love". Then making Christmas number one was Little Jimmy Osmond with his debut "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool".

After a 3 year absence David Bowie would return to the chart with "Starman" which would mark the beginning of a long run of hits for the rest of the decade. The Bowie penned "All the Young Dudes" gave Mott the Hoople their chart debut this year. We also saw Roxy Music make their first appearance with "Virginia Plain".

Arguably the biggest success story of the year came from T Rex. They scored two number ones with "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru" and their other two hits reached number two. It meant that since shortening their name to T Rex their chart record stood as 8 hits, 4 number ones and 4 number twos. It put them joint sixth in terms of most number ones alongside Frankie Laine, Guy Mitchell, Everly Brothers and Frank Ifield.

 It was also a good year for Slade with two number ones with "Take Me Bak Ome" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" and they also had a number two and number four.

This was the year Sweet transformed into a glam rock band when they released "Wig-Wam Bam". Also from the glam rock world came the debut of Gary Glitter with "Rock And Roll (Parts 1 And 2)".

It wasn't all about glam rock though, from the world of shock rock came Alice Cooper who scored a number one with his debut hit "Schools Out".

There were also some notable debutants from the soul world. We had Archie Bell & the Drells debut with "Here I Go Again", O Jays debut with "Backstabbers", Stylistics with "Betcha By Golly Wow" and Love Unlimited with "Walkin in the Rain with the One I Love". The latter was written and produced by Barry White who appears as a voice on the telephone at the end.

Neil Young made his debut with "Heart of Gold". It would be another 21 years until he would have his next top 40 hit.

Dr Hook & the Medicine Show had a number two hit this year with "Sylvias Mother" which would be their only hit prior to dropping the medicine show part of their name.

We also had arguably the most controversial artist of the 70s debut in 1972, British reggae artist Judge Dread. His hits this year were "Big Six" and "Big Seven". All of his hits were banned by the BBC.

So now glam rock and teen idols are all the rage in the charts the question is how long will it last?

Top of the Pops: 09/03/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

So we finally have more than 9 records eligible for Top of the Pops this week. However, 6 of those 11 are by Stormzy courtesy of his new album being released this week.

So why do we have just 8 songs on instead of 9? Well 3 of the Stormzy records are not on YouTube so therefore I couldn't include them, but with 3 of the 8 featured songs being by Stormzy we certainly have no shortage of him on the show.

This perhaps takes the spotlight somewhat off Ed Sheeran who's is spending his 8th week at number one, but it's got to the point where it will be bigger news once he's no longer at number one.

We have two non Stormzy new entries including the highest new entry by Calvin Harris ft Frank Ocean & Migos. Slowly climbing the charts is Rag n Bone Man who appears for the third time with "Skin".


⬆ (40) Anne-Marie - Ciao Adios
New (33) Zedd ft Alessia Cara - Stay
⬆ (20) Rag n Bone Man - Skin
New (10) Calvin Harris ft Frank Ocean & Migos - Slide
New (21) Stormzy - Cold
New (25) Stormzy - First Things First
⬆ (6) Stormzy - Big For Your Boots
(1) Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You

State of the Charts 2017

You'll have probably heard this week from the mid week chart update that it is predicted 9 songs in the Top 10 on Friday will be by Ed Sheeran. Furthermore, all 16 tracks from his new album are expected to be in the Top 40.

Once again this has got people questioning whether the charts mean anything anymore. I would agree that it is ridiculous that 9 of the Top 10 are by the same artist whoever it is. It also seems ridiculous that an artist who's seemingly only been around 5 minutes can clock up 35 Top 40 hits so quickly, which he will have done if the predicted charts are correct. But is it really that ridiculous?

Throughout the entire history of the UK Charts there has been an argument that they do not truly reflect what is popular. There are several well known acts who's singles chart career has been virtually non existent.

During the late 90s/early 00s the big criticism was the lack of time any record would spend in the charts and that they would generally enter at their peak before quickly sliding out of the charts. It was also a criticism that you would often have a new number one every week. What tended to happen in those days was that singles would get so heavily promoted prior to release that they were already old hat by the time they charted.

Nowadays it seems pretty much the opposite. Records are hanging around the charts a long time, it's not unusual for a record to enter the lower reaches and climb, like a previous Ed Sheeran number one which took 19 weeks to get there. Then these expected new entries from Ed Sheeran are as new as they come from a general public perspective.

One thing I learned about the charts when I was younger was that there were 8 records which had spent 9 weeks at number one, the most recent at the time being "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood in 1984. It would take 22 years until the next 9 week chart topper which was "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley in 2006, though there were 3 number ones in between that exceeded this number of weeks. This figure reached 10 this year with "Rockabye" by Clean Bandit and is looking to reach 11 on Friday.

The point many people will make is that in years to come nobody will remember the current Ed Sheeran number one, or Clean Bandit or "One Dance" by Drake which reached 15 weeks at number one last year, in the same way they remember Bryan Adams. This may be true, but prior to Bryan Adams breaking the record in 1991, the record was held for 36 years by Slim Whitman with "Rose Marie". Many of you will be thinking what's that? prior to this it was held by David Whitfield with "Cara Mia". Again not one that a great deal of people will know.

In terms of acts clocking up a lot of hits quickly, this isn't exactly anything new either. Although he didn't quite reach 35, Lonnie Donegan's chart career lasted the same length of time as Ed Sheeran has so far and he got to 30, so not too far behind. Then there was Elvis who had 12 hits in 1957 and took one year less than Ed Sheeran to reach 35 hits.

Maybe the charts are coming full circle now. They could change the rules to make it more appealing, but is there really any point? It's obvious that the inclusion of streaming has largely contributed to the charts being what they are now, and to a lesser extent downloads. Although I don't have the facts and figures to hand, I would speculate that CD singles are such a tiny proportion of how these songs are consumed nowadays that excluding streams and downloads would achieve absolutely nothing.

Fenech Soler @ Heaven

After missing out on their comeback London gig back in October, I finally got to see Fenech Soler last night at Heaven.

The first time I saw them in concert was in 2010 around the time their first album came out, so that gig was basically them playing their album. Last time I saw them in 2013 was after their second album came out where they played every track from that album, plus a few from their first. Now they've just released their third album, the burning question was how much of their new material would be played?

It was pretty much a 50/50 split between old and new. They began with "Night Time TV" and "On Top" from the new album. Then came the ever popular "Lies" with an extended intro and got the crowd moving once the beat kicked in. This was followed by their comeback single "Kaleidoscope".

I've found their latest album to be less catchy than the first two, but have always found their music sounds better live than recorded and could definitely say by this point that their new material follows suit. Now just the Duffy brothers in the group having been a four piece, they had a couple of touring musicians on the stage with them including their cousin on the drums. As such the loss of two members hasn't changed the live concept of their performances.

When they played "Stop and Stare" and confetti came out of the ceiling, I feared that the concert was coming to a close having been going less than an hour. Fortunately this wasn't the end of the gig, but the end wasn't too far off.

When they came on for the encore, they finished the gig with "In Our Blood", a great tune to round off the night with and is probably my favourite tune from their second album.

As I didn't expect the gig to finish so soon, I stuck around at the end to finish my beer. Then Ross from the band came down from the stage to chat with the fans, I had a quick chat with him myself and told him it was good to see they didn't call it a day like I thought they may have done prior to the comeback.

Overall a top gig, I recommend you go to see them live even if you're not sure of their recorded music, trust me they sound much better live. My only complaint is that the set was a bit short, but if you've ever seen them, you'll know they work really hard on stage going from instrument to instrument so no doubt they were knackered by the end of it. Hopefully I won't have to wait another four years till I next see them.

Top of the Pops: 02/03/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

Ed Sheeran is number one for the seventh week now and he is also back at number two with a new song, therefore he appears twice tonight making the show a quarter Ed Sheeran as there are 8 songs on the show.

Just the one climber this week and six new entries. Three of these come from acts who were actually on the real Top of the Pops back in the day, Take That, Coldplay and Maroon 5. For the second week in a row we have the number 40 record on the show.

New (13) Take That - Giants
New (9) Kygo ft Selena Gomez - It Ain't Me
New (30) Chainsmokers ft Coldplay - Something Just Like This
New (32) Maroon 5 ft Future - Cold
New (40) Martin Jensen - Solo Dance
⬆ (34) James Arthur - Safe Inside
New (2) Ed Sheeran - How Would You Feel (Paean)
(1) Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You