25 Years Since....February 1994

As the final day of the month is a Top of the Pops day I thought I'd bring my 25 years since feature 1 day early:

Ace of Base - The Sign

Only the second month of 1994 and what I'm learning already is that my memory of 1994 and what actually happened are 2 completely different things. When I started this series of posts and was looking back at the start of 1992, I knew for a fact the records featured were from the start of 1992, they blended in with what else was happening in my life at the time. One explanation could be that given my music memories start at some point in 1987, the time period of my music memory was now almost 50% longer than it had been at the start of 1992 which make pinpointing the time a record came out 50% more tricky

Which brings me onto this first record in this feature, "The Sign" by Ace of Base. I remember when "All That She Wants" came out and always remember this as coming out shortly afterwards but it turns out there was a 9 month gap between both records.

I remember hearing this and being able to tell it was the same group and thinking it was good that it followed the same formula but having it's own identity at the same time. The odd thing is that in February 1994 I was definitely in my Rock/Metal phase and hated everything else. That said I remember Ace of Base following this up with "Don't Turn Around" at the same time Aswad released "Shine" which I definitely remember as being the summer of 1994. The memory is a funny thing.

Atlantic Ocean - Waterfall

Once again my memory is playing tricks on me. It made no sense whatsoever for me to be enjoying a Dance record in February 1994 given Dance Music was the enemy at the time. But I do remember liking this tune when it came out and sounds like it should have been played at a school disco in 1993.

However it turns out that whilst this didn't chart until 1994 it was originally released in 1993 so maybe it did get played at a 1993 school disco.

Atlantic Ocean would have one further hit with "Body In Motion" which sounded just like this but not as good.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away

This was the first top ten hit for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and was taken from the "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" album which came out in 1991.

Seems a bit odd that they would release a single that was already 3 years old and given me and many others already owned the album you wouldn't think there would be that much demand for it.


Crowded House - Locked Out

Believe it or not this was the second highest charting Crowded House hit after "Weather With You" reaching number 12. Not sure how well remembered it is.

I could take or leave Crowded House, their music was pleasant enough without being anything special. This tune though seemed a bit more exciting.

Deep Forest - Sweet Lullaby

"Deep Forest, who's that?" is what pretty much everybody says to me when I mention them. Back in 1994 I'd have said the same thing. This was one of those tunes that I just knew existed but had no idea it was in the charts, it just didn't sound like the sort of record you'd expect to be in the charts.

It wasn't until 2000 when I finally found it what this tune was courtesy of Mauro Picotto sampling it on "Komodo" which I bought on vinyl.

I would go on to buy the self titled Deep Forest album which features this tune, it's a great album and would recommend to anyone who likes experimental music.