Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 30 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.
Here is the
Top 40 in full.
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 top 30 from this week in 1990 with my verdict on each record:
The first Bros single that didn't make the Top 10. Aside from the fact Bros were clearly going out of fashion by this point, I can understand why this didn't make the Top 10. It's not a catchy pop song like their previous hits. It's like they're trying to write their own "Bohemian Rhapsody" with the way it changes, I noticed the album version is over 7 minutes long as well. It doesn't work though.
Verdict - Rubbish
Gloria Estefan had an astonishing 19 Top 40 hits in the 90s and this was the first of them. Only Madonna, Prince, Janet Jackson, REM, Blur, Manic Street Preachers and Mariah Carey can claim to have had more. Ok that's a few, but these are all acts who are remembered for having lots of hits in the 90s whereas Gloria Estefan is probably best known for a handful of hits in the late 80s, so she's high on the list considering that. As for the song, it sounds like a typical Gloria Estefan ballad, a bit boring but not too bad.
Verdict - OK
Here's where it all began for Orbital with their debut hit. Although they had higher charting singles in later years, this has to be the one they're best known for. Great tune.
Verdict - Good
It doesn't take as long as it's predecessor "Butterfly On A Wheel" to get going, but it still takes a while. It isn't the most memorable songs, in fact it isn't even listed on
everyhit.com which is kind of an appropriate way to sum up this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
Technotronic are of course best remembered for their debut hit "Pump Up The Jam", but this follow up was just a successful in the charts. I don't know how well remembered this is, but I certainly remember it. I liked it at the time, it's not a clone of it's predecessor and it's not been played to death like it's predecessor, but I cant quite bring myself to call this record good.
Verdict - OK
2 weeks after The Stone Roses enter the charts with a song with stone in the title, they have another hit with stone in the title. This was also a re-issue after failing to make the Top 40 when first released the previous year. I mentioned in my "Elephant Stone" review about how I used to associate The Stone Roses with The Rolling Stones, one thing I forgot when writing that was how much this song sounds like "Paint I Black" by The Rolling Stones. Still I quite like "Paint It Black", and I guess it wasn't similar enough for them to get sued.
Verdict - Good
Seems like Ben Liebrand was a remixer in demand back in 1990, this being his second remix to feature after "Eve of War". It's another 70s hit he's remixed, which itself is a cover of an old work song. Despite it's 90s makeover, it's hard not to picture this being sung by a bearded long haired man from the 70s, which it is. Still that doesn't do it any harm.
Verdict - Good
Shakin Stevens in the 90s? Yes, in fact he had 5 singles in 1990 but only 2 of them made the Top 40, this being the 1st. It basically follows the same formula Shakin Stevens followed throughout the 80s, i.e. 50s style music. Given he first hit the charts in 1980, we're basically saying Shakin Stevens 50s revival lasted longer than the 50s itself.
Verdict - Rubbish
I loved "Ride on Time" as a kid, I used to sing it all the time. This was their follow up single, it didn't have the same sort of impact on me as it's predecessor but I do remember liking it. A number of years ago I bought their greatest hits, and looking at the track list brought back memories of their other singles. After a few listens though, I concluded maybe it would have been better if they only did "Ride on Time". The other singles, including this one were just starting to make me cringe, mainly to do with the vocals. So I'm just giving this one an ok.
Verdict - OK
The 3rd single for Big Fun, the Stock Aitken & Waterman boy band that nobody remembers. It wasn't their last either. Again it's just your usual Stock Aitken & Waterman drivel.
Verdict - Rubbish
Depeche Mode are a band who have always existed in my living memory, but they were a band I didn't really get as a kid. Later on in life though I started to realise just how good they are, and I think it started with this particular tune. I cannot think of a single way to make this better, it is almost perfect. The way it's a dancey record, but a dark record at the same time, the balance between the 2 is spot on.
Verdict - Good
Boy George and Jeremy Healy were both in pop groups in the 80s in Culture Club and Haysi Fantayzee respectively, and both DJs in the 90s. Boy George is better known as a pop singer and Jeremy Healy is better known as a DJ though. This was the 2 of them collaborating, presumably at the time they were making that transition, along with MC Kinky. This has often been highly praised in the dance music world, but to be honest I hate it. The main reason is the vocals, I just find it irritating. I also remember hearing MC Kinky appearing on live essential mixes in the 90s and finding her irritating.
Verdict - Rubbish
Innocence had 6 Top 40 hits overall, and I don't remember a single one of them. They weren't high charting singles, with this their first hit being the highest charting reaching 16 and being the only one to make the Top 20. I did come across them later on in life. I found their music difficult to get into to start off with, but I could sense that if I listen enough times I'll get to like it, so I did. It did the trick, I like this one.
Verdict - Good
I have memories of hearing this in the car going down some country roads in the dark, and thinking what a strange song, but I liked it. I don't think I realised how American it was at the time, I seem to recall likening it to the Madchester sound at the time for some reason. Maybe because the band had a weird name, and maybe the weird song title helped too.
Verdict - Good
The Top 40 debut from Primal Scream and first single from their 3rd album "Screamadelica" which is a remix of "I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have", a track from their self title 2nd album. The remix was done by Andrew Weatherall, a well known DJ in the dance music world. The experimental nature of Primal Scream means there music can be very hit or miss, but this one is definitely hit.
Verdict - Good
The debut Top 40 hit for Inspiral Carpets. My memories were thinking what a funny name for a band, and also remember the miserable looking singer stood there with his hands in his pockets. I was too young to really know what this song was about, either that or I just didn't pay attention to the lyrics. But lets just say the lyrical content isn't exactly jolly either. Still, it's a good song.
Verdict - Good
The 2nd hit for 49ers following "Touch Me". This one samples "Don't You Want Me" by Jody Watley. It's not a bad record, but it doesn't really do anything for me either. They had 2 further Top 40 hits which didn't make the Top 30, and I'd say the same about those as well.
Verdict - OK
It's the record Sinead O'Connor is most famous for that was famously written by Prince. I don't think I particularly liked it at the time, I recall finding it boring except for the line about eating dinner in a fancy restaurant. However I did start to like it at some point and it is a good song. Years ago I mentioned to my housemate at the time that I liked this song and he asked whether I owned any Sinead O'Connor albums to which I said know. He owned "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" which featured this song and I took a listen, I didn't like any of it apart from this song. In fact I don't like any other Sinead O'Connor songs I've ever heard, this is the only good one. But as mentioned, it was written by Prince.
Verdict - Good
Everyone was singing this at the time, well the chorus anyway. It's hard to hear this now though without picturing Phil "The Power" Taylor doing his walk on in the darts. I don't think it's aged very well at all and apart from the hook it's a bit of a nothing tune, so I'm afraid this gets the thumbs down.
Verdict - Rubbish
An Italian project that wasn't piano house. It was the only hit for JT And The Big Family, though 2 of it's members would return later on in the year as part of Don Pablos Animals and the other member would return 12 years later as part of DB Boulevard. At the start of this tune it sounds a bit like Soul ii Soul, but that's because it's one of several samples that make up this tune. It works really well.
Verdict - Good
I remember this record at the time without really knowing what it was. However I found out when an excellent remix in 1994 appeared on a techno compilation I bought. I do prefer that remix, but the original version is still an excellent tune. The less said about that awful 2008 version the better.
Verdict - Good
Long before he hit the charts in 2004 with the god awful "Weekend", Michael Gray tasted his first chart success this this, a dance medley for the Brit Awards. As mentioned previously, it's difficult to declare a medley good as it pretty much relies on all tunes in the medley being good. However, there isn't a bad tune in this one, so I guess it's good.
Verdict - Good
For me, it's impossible to hear this song without thinking about Zack and Kelly's breakup on Saved by the Bell. Except it was Jessie and Slater singing it on the show rather than Michael Bolton. It was the debut UK Top 40 hit from Michael Bolton, so would have come before people would generally by ridiculed for liking Michael Bolton. I remember thinking at the time that he must be cool because he had long hair. He would gain a bit of a reputation for doing covers, and this was also a cover, it was originally by Laura Branigan but didn't chart in the UK. The difference was that Michael Bolton actually wrote it. I've always wanted to hate this song, but I actually quite like it.
Verdict - Good
This was the record that taught me that the one in Eurythmics who doesn't sing is Dave Stewart. Seeing his collaborator Candy Dulfer with a saxophone, I though surely he's going to be the one singing on this. No such luck, it's an instrumental. It did make me wonder if I ever would see him sing though. The tune is pretty average, it's probably the last time I've been disappointed by a record not having vocals, been plenty where the opposite is true.
Verdict - OK
I remember watching this on Top of the Pops for the first time and thinking my mother seemed to know it very well for a song that's only just come out. What I didn't know at the time was it was a cover of a Beatles song. It was the only Top 40 hit for Candy Flip, and I've often listened to it since they featured in a music picture quiz I came across on the internet several years ago. Needless to say I like it.
Verdict - Good
I've not tested this theory, but it seems common for a pop group to have a ballad as their 3rd single. This was the case with New Kids On The Block. Even in their native America, this came out in 1989 before "Hangin Tough" but their first single over there was "Please Don't Go Girl" didn't chart here, and therefore made this their 3rd hit over there too. It's a bit too namby-pamby for my liking.
Verdict - Rubbish
After reaching number one with their first 3 Top 40 hits, Jive Bunny stalled at number 4 with their 4th. I do vaguely remember this existing, the title rings a bell, but obviously all Jive Bunny records follow the same sort of formula. I don't know what's more strange, the fact Jive Bunny clocked up a 3rd number one with that awful Christmas medley or that they managed to still churn out the hits in the 90s.
Verdict - Rubbish
At the time, the only Savannah I knew was the Renault 21 estate, so I thought that's what he was singing about. The fact he mentions an open highway and a hundred miles an hour in the lyrics also suggested to me that he was singing about the car. I wrote a music quiz a couple of years ago which included a picture round where the picture represents a song title. Truth be told, I only did that round so I could put a picture of a blue Renault Savanna (yes it's spelt differently) in it for this song. I absolutely love this song, it's got better with age in my opinion. One of the best Erasure songs.
Verdict - Good
I remember hearing this for the first time and thinking what an odd song. I didn't mind it though, I quite liked the way Fred Schneider was more shouting in a funny voice rather than singing it, but the females were singing more melodically. However, it's tendency to be overplayed in the pubs and clubs I went to when I was younger means I can't stand it now.
Verdict - Rubbish
When "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim made number one at the end of the 90s, it pretty much set Norman Cook up for life. However, this record, his first number one of the decade had the opposite effect. It's essentially a mash up of "Just Be Good To Me" by SOS Band and "Guns of Brixton", which he got sued for and started to lose money on every record sale and he ended up bankrupt. It's a great record, I loved it back then and still do. I also highly recommend the "Let Them Eat Bingo" album.
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 18.5/30, or 62%. A better score overall than last week, but the Top 10 wasn't as good.
