25 Years Since....May 1994

Yes I know it's 25 years and 3 days but that's near enough to look at the records I was enjoying at the time:

Stiltskin - Inside

It had been a month since the death of Kurt Cobain but Grunge was still very much alive with tunes like this. I had been following the Grunge scene as had several of my friends but until I saw this being performed on Top of the Pops I had never heard of Stiltskin, nobody had ever mentioned them before.

Personally I liked it but I was conscious that some people would say it's a poor imitation of Nirvana. The following day people were very positive about this, it was almost like Nirvana had now been put to bed as the next big Grunge band had arrived.

The reality was they weren't the next big Grunge band, far from it. This song was written specifically for the Levi's advert by Pete Lawlor who did everything but sing on it and then the band was formed but did nothing else of note.

Killing Joke - Millennium

This appeared on the same episode of Top of the Pops that Stiltskin appeared on. The name Killing Joke rang a bell but nothing else. It turned out they had been in the Top 40 once before, in 1985.

What appealed to me about this was simply the shouty nature of it, particularly in the chorus.

Whilst reaction to Stiltskin was positive the next day, I was the only one who seemed to like this.

Sonic Youth - Bull in the Heather

This was the third and final Top 40 hit for Sonic Youth and the only hit to feature Kim Gordon on vocals.

As mentioned previously, Sonic Youth were a band who arguably made a name for themselves thanks to the Grunge movement without being Grunge themselves.

This one doesn't really sound anything like Grunge, I don't really know what I'd describe it as, it's quite and odd one but I like it.


Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

I thought this was a really odd one when I first heard it. My first thought when this was introduced on Top of the Pops was that the singer looked like Neil from the Young Ones. Then he started singing in a loud deep voice, I thought what the fuck is this.

However, I started to like it after a few listens. Of course a song sung by a Neil from the Young Ones lookalike with a funny voice and a chorus that is simply "mmm" repeated several times is hard to take seriously. If you listen to the rest of the lyrics though they're actually quite meaningful.

N-Trance - Set You Free

This is where my transformation to a Raver began. Or is it?

One thing I've learned from compiling these lists is that I don't remember the chronological order of events as well as I think I did. This reached number 39 when released in May 1994 but then reached number 2 when re-released in January 1995. The former seems too early but the latter seems too late. As it only reached 39 I probably never heard this in May 1994, but it must have become popular later on in the year to warrant a re-release.

As the charts are used as a guideline it therefore seems more appropriate to include this when it charted as opposed to trying to pinpoint when I first heard it.