Top 30 in 1991 Reviewed - Week 5

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.

Obviously some of the records will be the same as last week so therefore the review will be the same for these. I've indicated which ones are new so you can skip the others if you read last weeks post.

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 1991 with my verdict on each record:

30. Gloria Estefan - Coming Out Of The Dark

Gloria Estefan probably has the most 90s hits that I don't remember and this was the first of them. It was written following her tour bus crash the previous year and was co-written by a then unknown Jon Secada. Aside from it's low charting position, I'd say I don't remember this because it's not very memorable.

Verdict - Rubbish

29. Tongue 'N' Cheek - Forget Me Nots

The 3rd and final Top 40 hit for Tongue 'N' Cheek which was a cover of the Patrice Rushen song. I was too young to go clubbing in 1991, and given this isn't one of your classic anthems, in all probability I've never heard this in a club. If I was to hear this in a club though, it would be a welcome break from the usual anthem bashing. Not quite good enough to make a point of listening to at home though.

Verdict - OK

28. Patsy Cline - Crazy

I didn't realise this was an old song at the time but I did think it was sung by an old lady. It was actually 29 years old and was by someone who was 29 at the time and died when she was 30. I guess the reason I thought it was sung by an old lady was that I considered it to be old ladies sort of music and not my sort.

Verdict - Rubbish

27. Bananarama - Preacher Man

That's right, Bananarama were still having hits in 1991. Once again they team up with Youth with a record that mirrors the dance music sound of the time, but is still clearly a Bananarama song. It's the latter that makes the song a bit crap, dance music was always about the music itself, not the singing. The vocals would only ruin a record and this is one of those.

Verdict - Rubbish

26. Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

I liked this one at the time, but then the following year I became a Queen fan and this famously sampled "Under Pressure". After hearing Brian May say it was crap, I decided it was crap too. I was easily influenced back then. Amongst rap music fans, of which I was one a number of years later, this never had much credibility. Now I'm older and have my own opinions what do I think? Well it is a bit crap to be fair

Verdict - Rubbish

25. Jesus Jones - International Bright Young Thing

This was the highest charting hit for Jesus Jones. This came on the back of an American number 2, "Right Here Right Now", which never featured in this series because it only made 31 over here. This record on the other hand failed to reach the Billboard 100, as did any future Jesus Jones releases. They were missing out, this is a good record.

Verdict - Good

24. Belinda Carlisle - Summer Rain

The 5th and final Top 40 hit from her "Runaway Horses" and the only one of the 5 not written by Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley, instead it was written by Robbie Seidman and Maria Vidal. Whilst it's clearly a Belinda Carlisle song, I think you can tell the songwriters are different. It's not bad.

Verdict - OK

23. John Travolta And Olivia Newton-John - The Grease Megamix

This megamix was released after the film was released on video. Whilst the film has "Summer Nights" at the beginning and "You're the One That I Want" at the end, this is the opposite. I was yet to see the film, but at the time I liked "Summer Nights" but wasn't too fussed about "You're the One That I Want" and "Greased Lightnin". It's all shit really though, the only song from the film that I vaguely like is the title track.

Verdict - Rubbish

22. Whitney Houston - All The Man That I Need

This was the new jack swing era for Whitney Houston, but she still did pop songs as well such as this, which was originally by Linda Clifford. It's a very dreary and instantly forgettable song.

Verdict - Rubbish

21. The Farm - All Together Now

One could argue this is a Christmas song. It was to do with the Christmas truce during the First World War. This is one of those tunes that I like which also has a happy hardcore version that I like, "Together In Wonderland" by Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo, and I like playing them back to back.

Verdict - Good

20. Oleta Adams - Get Here

After featuring on "Woman In Chains" by Tears for Fears, this was the first solo Top 40 hit for Oleta Adams, a cover of a Brenda Russell song. It's surprisingly catchy for a slow number, but it's lacking in that something that's needed for it to be a good song.

Verdict - OK

19. Praise - Only You (New)

Sometimes when I think of a particular record, another one comes to mind immediately, normally it's 2 records that were out at the same time. In this case, the other record I associate this with is "Hippy Chick" by Soho. More often than not if I like one record, I like the other one too. In this case I do.

Verdict - Good

18. Ralph Tresvant - Sensitivity

The only solo Top 40 hit for New Edition singer Ralph Tresvant which was written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. This reminds my of an early 90s pure swing album I have which it's on (swing meaning new jack swing). I went through a period of listening to it in my car a lot. As you've probably guessed then, I like this tune.

Verdict - Good

17. Vanilla Ice - Play That Funky Music (New)

Proof that Vanilla Ice wasn't a one hit wonder. In fact "Ice Ice Baby" was originally the b-side to this single when first released and this was a re-issue following the success of "Ice Ice Baby". I can understand why "Ice Ice Baby" was more successful, and I don't like it.

Verdict - Rubbish

16. Bill Medley And Jennifer Warnes - (I've Had) The Time Of My Life

The Righteous Brothers revival continues, sort of. This song re-entered the charts after "Dirty Dancing", this film in which this appears, was shown on British TV for the first time. Whilst I like the Righteous Brothers song, this non-Righteous Brothers effort from Bill Medley is shit. The fact it's played in every cheesy bar/club probably doesn't help, but after several beers it still sounds shit.

Verdict - Rubbish

15. A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It?

I like A Trible Called Quest. They were more influential to the rap scene than they're really given credit for. That's perhaps to do with the fact that to most people, this was the only record they did. It's not a bad record, but it doesn't really showcase the influence they had. To me it's more of a pop record than anything innovative.

Verdict - OK

14. Nomad ft MC Mikee Freedom - (I Wanna Give You) Devotion (New)

Here we have the first Top 40 composition for arguably the most successful British songwriter of the modern era, Steve Mac. These days he's co-writer on Ed Sheeran records amongst others. I don't blame him, he's presumably made a lot more money writing rubbish than he would have done making decent music like this. Ironically, this record reached it's peak the day Ed Sheeran was born.

Verdict - Good

13. Robert Palmer - Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You

A medley of 2 Marvin Gaye songs, neither of which were Top 40 hits for Marvin Gaye himself. Having not been born when the originals were out, this was the first version I heard. On that basis I tend to think of this as being a Robert Palmer song even though I do know the Marvin Gaye versions. I guess also because Robert Palmer made it his own rather than sounding like a karaoke singer.

Verdict - Good

12. Off-Shore - I Can't Take The Power

When I first got into rave in the mid-90s, one of the big anthems was "SMD 3" by SMD aka Slipmatt. The was based on a sample of the piano riff of this tune. It's a good riff and both tunes are good.

Verdict - Good

11. Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do (New)

We are nearing the end of the Stock Aitken & Waterman era, but we're not quite done yet. Most Stock Aitken & Waterman compositions get rated as rubbish by me, and rightfully so. This one isn't bad though.

Verdict - OK

10. C&C Music Factory ft Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat

When it comes to dance anthems you have those which are genuine classics and those which were just cheesy commercial crap. I place this one in the latter category, I've never been a fan of C&C Music Factory. This is probably their best tune and I don't like it.

Verdict - Rubbish

9. EMF - I Believe (New)

When I got my first British Hit Singles book, one thing I discovered was that the record which spent the most weeks at number one was "I Believe" by Frankie Laine in 1953. I wondered if it was the same song as this, unaware of just how different music was in the 50s. It was the 2nd Top 40 hit for EMF, I think it's better than their first hit "Unbelievable". Has more of a bounce to it.

Verdict - Good

8. Soho - Hippy Chick

I'd heard of the band Soho before I'd heard of the area of London with the same name. My memory of hearing this song for the first time is them performing it on Motormouth, though when searching for said performance I find nothing to suggest such a performance existed so might be wrong, but I do remember thinking good tune. A few years ago I bought their album when HMV in Oxford St was having it's closing down sale. For those who don't know London, the shop in question was just across the road from Soho.

Verdict - Good

7. Rick Astley - Cry For Help

The Top 40 career of Rick Astley during the Stock Aitken and Waterman era lasted just 18 months, from August 1987 - February 1989. Therefore the 90s began with everyone wondering what happened to Rick Astley? Then at the start of 1991 we found out, he'd been busy growing his hair. His long hair made such an impression on me that the next time I went to the hairdressers I asked for a Rick Astley haircut. To the song then, it was by Rick Astley himself along with another musician who seemed to have disappeared with the 80s, Rob Fisher of Climie Fisher fame. The voice is the same, but musically it's a world away from the Stock Aitken and Waterman material and I quite like it. His final Top 40 hit, "Hopelessly", was the best one he did but sadly it won't feature in this series as it only made 33.

Verdict - Good

6. Enigma - Sadeness Part 1

When it comes to 90s number ones I can tell you something that was going on in my life at the time for the vast majority of them. This one though completely passed my by and I've only recently figured out why. I spend pretty much the whole of January 1991 ill in bed so therefore wasn't able to follow what was going on in the charts. As for the tune, not really the sort of record you'd expect to get to number one, or even in the charts for that matter which is a compliment.

Verdict - Good

5. Seal - Crazy

This is the song that taught many people that Seal isn't Adamski. It was the official beginning of Seals Top 40 career, whereas Adamski's had already ended. I have Seals self titled debut album on which this appears, it's a good album.

Verdict - Good

4. 2 In A Room - Wiggle It

This was my favourite song for about a week, quite possibly the week you're reading about now. 2 in a Room were on of the acts to play at the first ever Helter Skelter rave in 1989, with their big underground record at the time being "Somebody In the House Say Yeah!".

Verdict - Good

3. Simpsons - Do The Bartman

This was my first introduction to The Simpsons, but I had no idea what it was all about. In those day's you could only get The Simpsons on Sky One, and I never had Sky at the time, neither did a lot of people. It wasn't until I went on holiday later on that year where Sky One was the only English channel in the hotel room, that I discovered The Simpsons was a TV show. It's a novelty song, which basically means crap, but intended to be crap. Its still crap though.

Verdict - Rubbish

2. Queen - Innuendo

A number of years ago I was hosting a music quiz. One of the rounds was 90s number ones which featured this record. Following the quiz, one of the participants said it was hard and gave including an obscure Queen song as an example of it being hard. This was one of just three Queen number ones during Freddie Mercury's lifetime, so shouldn't be that obscure. Maybe it's obscurity is a good thing though. It has the same idea as "Bohemian Rhapsody", but is miles better in my opinion. That could be in part to do with the fact it hasn't been played to death since.

Verdict - Good

1. KLF ft The Children Of The Revolution - 3AM Eternal

In 2003 I was in a pub on a visit to my home town and a bloke came up to me and said "you're the one who used to sing KLF and Queen at school aren't you?. Indeed I was, and this would have been the time I'd be singing it, some 12 years prior to that visit to the pub, it obviously had a lasting effect on some people. I think you know what my verdict on this tune will be.

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 17.5/30, or 58%. A slight improvement on last week.

25 Years Since....January 1996

I've decided there were enough good tunes to keep this going in 1996, here's what I was enjoying in January:

Dubstar - Not So Manic Now

 

Although "Not So Manic Now" is the most logical title for this tune, I'm more inclined to call it "I was making myself the usual cup of tea". I remember someone describing this record as strange at the time, I don't see it myself but then maybe that's why I like it.

Dreadzone - Little Britain

This was the only Top 40 hit for one of my favourite music acts of all time. This is where it all began for me, though they were on their 2nd album by this point. They're still going strong 25 years later with plenty of top tunes to their name.

Baby D - So Pure

Baby D are of course best remembered for chart topper "Let Me Be Your Fantasy". A great record, but as far as singles go at least, this ones my favourite. The fact I only hear it when I play it of my own accord probably helps, but even at the time I remember preferring this one.

Goldbug - Whole Lotta Love

This was a cover of the Led Zeppelin tune. Its an example of a cover being a million times better than the original. I'm not a fan of the original, but sometimes turning something into a dance record makes all the difference.

It was the only Top 40 hit for Goldbug. Singer Sandra McKenzie has seemingly fallen on hard times since, but the articles I've read do contradict each other. A 2008 article states that she thought she'd finally made it when this record charted but she didn't receive a penny for it. A 2018 article says that she had made millions and had properties around the world but has now lost it all. 

Goldbug did have a follow up single with a different singer that I remember being performed on The Girlie Show but it never made any impact and that was that.

The Chemical Brothers - Loops Of Fury

I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with The Chemical Brothers in the 90s. I was very much into them at this point, but once they started having number ones I started hating them for being too commercial. This record made number 13 and fell out the charts the following week.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: January 2021

What's this all about?

One month into the new year and we have two acts with two Top 40 hits so far this year. At the beginning of the year if you'd told me that Olivia Rodrigo would be an early leader of the leaderboard I'd have said who's Olivia Rodrigo? No Top 40 hits prior to this year, but she's been at number one for 3 weeks with "Drivers License" and had another hit with "All I Want".

Also with two Top 40 hits is Doja Cat. Her first was "Best Friend" in collaboration with Saweetie and then "Streets" on her own.

Rap music was dominating the Top 40 last year accounting for over half the Top 40 hits for most of the year but slowed down towards the end of the year. This year it has some catching up to do, just 7 of the 26 Top 40 hits so far this year are rap. It's still the leading genre though.

UK Charts Best Year Search: 1962

What's this all about?

Top 40

Best Song: B Bumble And The Stingers - Nut Rocker

Not only is this the best record in this Top 40, it's the only record I've given a rating of 1 to. When there was a ridiculous ITV show a few years ago when the nation picked their favourite number one but could only pick from a set list chosen by 'experts', I attempted to compile my own Top 60 and this was in it.

Worst Song: Mike Sarne With Wendy Richard - Come Outside

Years before the likes of Nick Berry and Anita Dobson were having hit, there was another Eastender who had a number one. OK it was long before the show existed, but maybe the songwriters looked to this record to establish that a soap actors record must be a novelty one. This one is truly irritating.

Top 40 Review

We're now a little over 3 months away from the Beatles making their debut. Judging by this Top 40 that really needed to happen.

One record that was almost inevitably going to appear at some point was "Stranger on the Shore". It spent 55 consecutive weeks in the Top 50 and only 3 of them were outside of the Top 40. This was the week it did appear having first charted towards the end of 1961 and was one of the records I thought was OK.

We also had a version by Andy Williams hit its peak of number 30 in this weeks chart. I would say this is the 60s equivalent of putting vocals on an instrumental dance record that I find really irritating. To be fair Andy Williams can sing, but this should just be left without vocals in my opinion.

A record I was expecting to give a 1 to was "Soldier Boy" by the Shirelles, but on listening to it I found it not to be as good as I remember it being so gave it half marks instead.

There was "Our Favourite Melodies" by Craig Douglas, a record I'd previously heard and found ridiculous. However despite this I didn't mind it when I listened so gave this one half marks.

There's little more I can really say, a lot of the music was just a non-entity to me. I listen to each Top 40 in its entirety so even the songs I'm 99% certain I don't like get a chance to convince me otherwise, but it was a rather painful experience listening to this one generally speaking.

As you'd expect, the score isn't great.

Score: 5

Table

1960 remains on top and unsurprisingly 1962 is bottom. I expect 1960 to be knocked off the top soon, but 1962 could stay bottom for a while:

UK Number 40s: 999 - Homicide (1978)

Here we have the first punk record to peak at 40. There were lots of punk bands having hits in 1978, some well known and some only really known to fans of punk or people who know their music. 999 were a band that would have been the latter.

Although this would be their only Top 40 single, they were by no means a short lived band. They have 14 singles and 12 albums to their name and are still active today with their latest album coming out in 2020.

This was single number 7 from album number 2. With a song titled "Homicide" from a band named 999 within what was a pretty controversial genre at the time in punk, it's probably safe to assume this didn't get much radio play.

Top 30 in 1991 Reviewed - Week 4

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.

Obviously some of the records will be the same as last week so therefore the review will be the same for these. I've indicated which ones are new so you can skip the others if you read last weeks post.

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 1991 with my verdict on each record:

30. Snap! - Mary Had A Little Boy

Was this the beginning of Toytown Techno? Maybe not, whilst it's based on a nursery rhyme it's perhaps not as blatant as actual Toytown Techno records, though it could have inspired it. Very cheesy though and the rapping is dreadful.

Verdict - Rubbish

29. Will To Power - I'm Not In Love (New)

Two years after they debuted with the "Baby I Love Your Way - Freebird" medley, Will To Power followed up with this, their 2nd and final Top 40 hit with another cover, this time of "I'm Not In Love" by 10CC. I actually first heard the 10CC version around the same sort of time, I can't remember which one I heard first. The 10CC version is better, but this is a pretty good cover.

Verdict - Good

28. Gloria Estefan - Coming Out Of The Dark (New)

Gloria Estefan probably has the most 90s hits that I don't remember and this was the first of them. It was written following her tour bus crash the previous year and was co-written by a then unknown Jon Secada. Aside from it's low charting position, I'd say I don't remember this because it's not very memorable.

Verdict - Rubbish

27. Oleta Adams - Get Here (New)

After featuring on "Woman In Chains" by Tears for Fears, this was the first solo Top 40 hit for Oleta Adams, a cover of a Brenda Russell song. It's surprisingly catchy for a slow number, but it's lacking in that something that's needed for it to be a good song.

Verdict - OK

26. Tongue 'N' Cheek - Forget Me Nots (New)

The 3rd and final Top 40 hit for Tongue 'N' Cheek which was a cover of the Patrice Rushen song. I was too young to go clubbing in 1991, and given this isn't one of your classic anthems, in all probability I've never heard this in a club. If I was to hear this in a club though, it would be a welcome break from the usual anthem bashing. Not quite good enough to make a point of listening to at home though.

Verdict - OK

25. Alexander O'Neal - All True Man

Alexander O'Neal is best known as an 80s singer, but here he is in 1991 doing new jack swing, like pretty much every other soul singer was doing at the time. Whilst it wasn't his last Top 40 hit, it was his last one to be written by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. It's probably his best one too.

Verdict - Good

24. Pop Will Eat Itself - X, Y And Zee

The brummie rapping makes this hard to take seriously, but then again I'm not sure you're supposed to take the music of Pop Will Eat Itself that seriously anyway. I would say this is a dance/rock crossover record but it sounds like they've thrown a few more genres into the mix as well, and it works.

Verdict - Good

23. Belinda Carlisle - Summer Rain

The 5th and final Top 40 hit from her "Runaway Horses" and the only one of the 5 not written by Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley, instead it was written by Robbie Seidman and Maria Vidal. Whilst it's clearly a Belinda Carlisle song, I think you can tell the songwriters are different. It's not bad.

Verdict - OK

22. MC Hammer - Pray

Mix together Prince and Faith No More, add some gospel rapping over the top and you get this. I'd rather just listen to the Prince or Faith No More songs on their own though.

Verdict - Rubbish

21. Bananarama - Preacher Man

That's right, Bananarama were still having hits in 1991. Once again they team up with Youth with a record that mirrors the dance music sound of the time, but is still clearly a Bananarama song. It's the latter that makes the song a bit crap, dance music was always about the music itself, not the singing. The vocals would only ruin a record and this is one of those.

Verdict - Rubbish

20. Patsy Cline - Crazy

I didn't realise this was an old song at the time but I did think it was sung by an old lady. It was actually 29 years old and was by someone who was 29 at the time and died when she was 30. I guess the reason I thought it was sung by an old lady was that I considered it to be old ladies sort of music and not my sort.

Verdict - Rubbish

19. Ralph Tresvant - Sensitivity

The only solo Top 40 hit for New Edition singer Ralph Tresvant which was written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. This reminds my of an early 90s pure swing album I have which it's on (swing meaning new jack swing). I went through a period of listening to it in my car a lot. As you've probably guessed then, I like this tune.

Verdict - Good

18. A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It?

I like A Trible Called Quest. They were more influential to the rap scene than they're really given credit for. That's perhaps to do with the fact that to most people, this was the only record they did. It's not a bad record, but it doesn't really showcase the influence they had. To me it's more of a pop record than anything innovative.

Verdict - OK

17. Whitney Houston - All The Man That I Need

This was the new jack swing era for Whitney Houston, but she still did pop songs as well such as this, which was originally by Linda Clifford. It's a very dreary and instantly forgettable song.

Verdict - Rubbish

16. Soho - Hippy Chick

I'd heard of the band Soho before I'd heard of the area of London with the same name. My memory of hearing this song for the first time is them performing it on Motormouth, though when searching for said performance I find nothing to suggest such a performance existed so might be wrong, but I do remember thinking good tune. A few years ago I bought their album when HMV in Oxford St was having it's closing down sale. For those who don't know London, the shop in question was just across the road from Soho.

Verdict - Good

15. Jesus Jones - International Bright Young Thing

This was the highest charting hit for Jesus Jones. This came on the back of an American number 2, "Right Here Right Now", which never featured in this series because it only made 31 over here. This record on the other hand failed to reach the Billboard 100, as did any future Jesus Jones releases. They were missing out, this is a good record.

Verdict - Good

14. Rick Astley - Cry For Help (New)

The Top 40 career of Rick Astley during the Stock Aitken and Waterman era lasted just 18 months, from August 1987 - February 1989. Therefore the 90s began with everyone wondering what happened to Rick Astley? Then at the start of 1991 we found out, he'd been busy growing his hair. His long hair made such an impression on me that the next time I went to the hairdressers I asked for a Rick Astley haircut. To the song then, it was by Rick Astley himself along with another musician who seemed to have disappeared with the 80s, Rob Fisher of Climie Fisher fame. The voice is the same, but musically it's a world away from the Stock Aitken and Waterman material and I quite like it. His final Top 40 hit, "Hopelessly", was the best one he did but sadly it won't feature in this series as it only made 33.

Verdict - Good

13. Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

I liked this one at the time, but then the following year I became a Queen fan and this famously sampled "Under Pressure". After hearing Brian May say it was crap, I decided it was crap too. I was easily influenced back then. Amongst rap music fans, of which I was one a number of years later, this never had much credibility. Now I'm older and have my own opinions what do I think? Well it is a bit crap to be fair

Verdict - Rubbish

12. The Farm - All Together Now

One could argue this is a Christmas song. It was to do with the Christmas truce during the First World War. This is one of those tunes that I like which also has a happy hardcore version that I like, "Together In Wonderland" by Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo, and I like playing them back to back.

Verdict - Good

11. Simpsons - Do The Bartman (New)

This was my first introduction to The Simpsons, but I had no idea what it was all about. In those day's you could only get The Simpsons on Sky One, and I never had Sky at the time, neither did a lot of people. It wasn't until I went on holiday later on that year where Sky One was the only English channel in the hotel room, that I discovered The Simpsons was a TV show. It's a novelty song, which basically means crap, but intended to be crap. Its still crap though.

Verdict - Rubbish

10. John Travolta And Olivia Newton-John - The Grease Megamix

This megamix was released after the film was released on video. Whilst the film has "Summer Nights" at the beginning and "You're the One That I Want" at the end, this is the opposite. I was yet to see the film, but at the time I liked "Summer Nights" but wasn't too fussed about "You're the One That I Want" and "Greased Lightnin". It's all shit really though, the only song from the film that I vaguely like is the title track.

Verdict - Rubbish

9. Robert Palmer - Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You

A medley of 2 Marvin Gaye songs, neither of which were Top 40 hits for Marvin Gaye himself. Having not been born when the originals were out, this was the first version I heard. On that basis I tend to think of this as being a Robert Palmer song even though I do know the Marvin Gaye versions. I guess also because Robert Palmer made it his own rather than sounding like a karaoke singer.

Verdict - Good

8. Bill Medley And Jennifer Warnes - (I've Had) The Time Of My Life

The Righteous Brothers revival continues, sort of. This song re-entered the charts after "Dirty Dancing", this film in which this appears, was shown on British TV for the first time. Whilst I like the Righteous Brothers song, this non-Righteous Brothers effort from Bill Medley is shit. The fact it's played in every cheesy bar/club probably doesn't help, but after several beers it still sounds shit.

Verdict - Rubbish

7. Off-Shore - I Can't Take The Power

When I first got into rave in the mid-90s, one of the big anthems was "SMD 3" by SMD aka Slipmatt. The was based on a sample of the piano riff of this tune. It's a good riff and both tunes are good.

Verdict - Good

6. 2 In A Room - Wiggle It (New)

This was my favourite song for about a week, quite possibly the week you're reading about now. 2 in a Room were on of the acts to play at the first ever Helter Skelter rave in 1989, with their big underground record at the time being "Somebody In the House Say Yeah!".

Verdict - Good

5. C&C Music Factory ft Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat

When it comes to dance anthems you have those which are genuine classics and those which were just cheesy commercial crap. I place this one in the latter category, I've never been a fan of C&C Music Factory. This is probably their best tune and I don't like it.

Verdict - Rubbish

4. Seal - Crazy

This is the song that taught many people that Seal isn't Adamski. It was the official beginning of Seals Top 40 career, whereas Adamski's had already ended. I have Seals self titled debut album on which this appears, it's a good album.

Verdict - Good

3. Enigma - Sadeness Part 1

When it comes to 90s number ones I can tell you something that was going on in my life at the time for the vast majority of them. This one though completely passed my by and I've only recently figured out why. I spend pretty much the whole of January 1991 ill in bed so therefore wasn't able to follow what was going on in the charts. As for the tune, not really the sort of record you'd expect to get to number one, or even in the charts for that matter which is a compliment.

Verdict - Good

2. KLF ft The Children Of The Revolution - 3AM Eternal

In 2003 I was in a pub on a visit to my home town and a bloke came up to me and said "you're the one who used to sing KLF and Queen at school aren't you?. Indeed I was, and this would have been the time I'd be singing it, some 12 years prior to that visit to the pub, it obviously had a lasting effect on some people. I think you know what my verdict on this tune will be.

Verdict - Good

1. Queen - Innuendo (New)

A number of years ago I was hosting a music quiz. One of the rounds was 90s number ones which featured this record. Following the quiz, one of the participants said it was hard and gave including an obscure Queen song as an example of it being hard. This was one of just three Queen number ones during Freddie Mercury's lifetime, so shouldn't be that obscure. Maybe it's obscurity is a good thing though. It has the same idea as "Bohemian Rhapsody", but is miles better in my opinion. That could be in part to do with the fact it hasn't been played to death since.

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 17/30, or 57%. We're back above 50%, will this be maintained until the crap comes out at Christmas?

UK Charts Best Year Search: 1961

What's this all about?

Top 40

Best Song: Del Shannon - Runaway

The record that was at number one this particular week was the best Top 40 hit that week in my opinion. It was the debut hit for Del Shannon and is one that I've known for as long as I can remember. It's the "wa wa wa wa wonder" bit the does it for me, I suspect I'm not alone in that.

Worst Song: Ken Dodd - Once In Every Lifetime

Ken Dodd was best known for being a comedian, but he also had a Top 40 career that gave him 18 hits between 1960 and 1975. This was the second of those. Unlike pretty much every other comedian to have a hit, his songs weren't novelty records. They were more along the lines of easy listening and country, resulting in some pretty dull records from a non-musician.

Top 40 Review

I remember having to pick a record of the year for 1961 when I was doing my yearly chart reviews and finding it quite a difficult task. I wouldn't go as far to say I didn't like any Top 40 hit of 1961, but there weren't any records that made me think wow what a tune.

Four acts had 2 Top 40 hits at the same time for this particular week, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Andy Stewart and Temperance Seven. The only record in this chart from that quartet which I like is "Wooden Heart" by Elvis Presley which is probably my favourite record of his.

It does very much seem like the 50s are fizzling out but the 60s are yet to begin. The more traditional pop sounds from the early 50s have all but gone but the late 50s are still there with the likes of Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran and Jerry Lee Lewis having hits.

One of the hidden gems in there is "I've Told Every Little Star" by Linda Scott. Not a name you've perhaps heard of, I hadn't either. It was her only hit which was a cover from a musical song from the 1930s. Don't let that put you off though, its a good piece of pop music.

Much like 1960 last week, I was actually surprised at how high 1961 has scored given all I knew about the year beforehand. I do still think the 60s were crying out for the Beatles by this point and it isn't what you would call a high score.

Has it beaten 1960?

Not quite, it was close but 1961 has ended up with 1 point less.

Score: 8.5

Table

1960 remains on top but there's a long way to go.

UK Number 40s: Rainbow - L.A. Connection (1978)

What we have here is a well known band who you wouldn't call a singles band, though they would have 3 big hits around the turn of the decade.

Rainbow are basically what Ritchie Blackmore did after Deep Purple. In their original run, they had 18 different members in just 9 years with Ritchie Blackmore being the only constant member.

They formed in 1975 and when they first charted in 1978 with "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" they were on their 3rd album. This was the follow up single to that. Other members of the band at this point included Ronnie James Dio and Cozy Powell. With the members mentioned being in their 30s by this point, it perhaps wasn't typical of the type of music the youngsters were listening to at the time.

However, the following year with Ronnie James Dio replaced by Graham Bonnet and former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover joining the group they had perhaps their best known hit with "Since You've Been Gone" which made number 6. A couple of Top 5 hits would follow, then a couple of minor hits would mark the end of their singles chart career.

The band are currently on their second reunion, though none of the current band apart from Ritchie Blackmore were in any previous line ups of the band.

Top 30 in 1991 Reviewed - Week 3

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.

Obviously some of the records will be the same as last week so therefore the review will be the same for these. I've indicated which ones are new so you can skip the others if you read last weeks post.

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 1991 with my verdict on each record:

30. Twenty4Seven ft Captain Hollywood - Are You Dreaming?

This was the second and final collaboration between Twenty4Seven and Captain Hollywood to make the UK Top 40. Like with the first hit, not as cheesy as your average Eurodance record but still pretty average at the same time.

Verdict - OK

29. The Stranglers - Always The Sun (New)

Hugh Cornwell had left the band the previous August and this record was then remixed and re-released to promote their greatest hits album. It previously reached number 30 in 1986, this time it did one place better at 29. The definitely isn't 28 songs in the charts from this week that are better than it though.

Verdict - Good

28. High - Box Set Go (New)

The High are not one of the better known Madchester bands, but they did have a former Stone Roses member and a former Inspiral Carpets member in the band. I'm can't say I'm a fan of this record though, there doesn't really seem to be anything to it.

Verdict - Rubbish

27. A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It? (New)

I like A Trible Called Quest. They were more influential to the rap scene than they're really given credit for. That's perhaps to do with the fact that to most people, this was the only record they did. It's not a bad record, but it doesn't really showcase the influence they had. To me it's more of a pop record than anything innovative.

Verdict - OK

26. Soho - Hippy Chick (New)

I'd heard of the band Soho before I'd heard of the area of London with the same name. My memory of hearing this song for the first time is them performing it on Motormouth, though when searching for said performance I find nothing to suggest such a performance existed so might be wrong, but I do remember thinking good tune. A few years ago I bought their album when HMV in Oxford St was having it's closing down sale. For those who don't know London, the shop in question was just across the road from Soho.

Verdict - Good

25. Belinda Carlisle - Summer Rain (New)

The 5th and final Top 40 hit from her "Runaway Horses" and the only one of the 5 not written by Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley, instead it was written by Robbie Seidman and Maria Vidal. Whilst it's clearly a Belinda Carlisle song, I think you can tell the songwriters are different. It's not bad.

Verdict - OK

24. Madonna - Justify My Love

Many people had never heard of Lenny Kravitz until he did "It Ain't Over Til It's Over", but they would likely have heard one of his compositions in this song. I wonder how many Lenny Kravitz fans actually like this song though.

Verdict - Rubbish

23. Black Box - Total Mix

I don't think the actual "Total Mix" is on YouTube but have put a Black Box megamix from 1990 which is pretty much the same thing i.e. their hits to date mixed together, some I like and some I don't.

Verdict - OK

22. Sting - All This Time

I have no recollection of this song, the fact it only got to number 22 may be a factor or it could be to do with the fact Stings solo records aren't very distinctive. Ok maybe he has a couple of records that stand out, but this isn't one of them, it sounds like just another Sting record.

Verdict - Rubbish

21. Ralph Tresvant - Sensitivity (New)

The only solo Top 40 hit for New Edition singer Ralph Tresvant which was written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. This reminds my of an early 90s pure swing album I have which it's on (swing meaning new jack swing). I went through a period of listening to it in my car a lot. As you've probably guessed then, I like this tune.

Verdict - Good

20. Bananarama - Preacher Man

That's right, Bananarama were still having hits in 1991. Once again they team up with Youth with a record that mirrors the dance music sound of the time, but is still clearly a Bananarama song. It's the latter that makes the song a bit crap, dance music was always about the music itself, not the singing. The vocals would only ruin a record and this is one of those.

Verdict - Rubbish

19. The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

After the successful re-issue of "Unchained Melody" the Righteous Brothers re-issued this record, if anything to show the kids hearing them for the first time (i.e. me) that there are 2 of them. I think I preferred this one to "Unchained Melody" at the time, but it's hard to pick between the 2, they're both good.

Verdict - Good

18. Alexander O'Neal - All True Man

Alexander O'Neal is best known as an 80s singer, but here he is in 1991 doing new jack swing, like pretty much every other soul singer was doing at the time. Whilst it wasn't his last Top 40 hit, it was his last one to be written by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. It's probably his best one too.

Verdict - Good

17. Snap! - Mary Had A Little Boy

Was this the beginning of Toytown Techno? Maybe not, whilst it's based on a nursery rhyme it's perhaps not as blatant as actual Toytown Techno records, though it could have inspired it. Very cheesy though and the rapping is dreadful.

Verdict - Rubbish

16. MC Hammer - Pray

Mix together Prince and Faith No More, add some gospel rapping over the top and you get this. I'd rather just listen to the Prince or Faith No More songs on their own though.

Verdict - Rubbish

15. Pop Will Eat Itself - X, Y And Zee

The brummie rapping makes this hard to take seriously, but then again I'm not sure you're supposed to take the music of Pop Will Eat Itself that seriously anyway. I would say this is a dance/rock crossover record but it sounds like they've thrown a few more genres into the mix as well, and it works.

Verdict - Good

14. Patsy Cline - Crazy

I didn't realise this was an old song at the time but I did think it was sung by an old lady. It was actually 29 years old and was by someone who was 29 at the time and died when she was 30. I guess the reason I thought it was sung by an old lady was that I considered it to be old ladies sort of music and not my sort.

Verdict - Rubbish

13. Whitney Houston - All The Man That I Need

This was the new jack swing era for Whitney Houston, but she still did pop songs as well such as this, which was originally by Linda Clifford. It's a very dreary and instantly forgettable song.

Verdict - Rubbish

12. Robert Palmer - Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You

A medley of 2 Marvin Gaye songs, neither of which were Top 40 hits for Marvin Gaye himself. Having not been born when the originals were out, this was the first version I heard. On that basis I tend to think of this as being a Robert Palmer song even though I do know the Marvin Gaye versions. I guess also because Robert Palmer made it his own rather than sounding like a karaoke singer.

Verdict - Good

11. Off-Shore - I Can't Take The Power

When I first got into rave in the mid-90s, one of the big anthems was "SMD 3" by SMD aka Slipmatt. The was based on a sample of the piano riff of this tune. It's a good riff and both tunes are good.

Verdict - Good

10. Bill Medley And Jennifer Warnes - (I've Had) The Time Of My Life

The Righteous Brothers revival continues, sort of. This song re-entered the charts after "Dirty Dancing", this film in which this appears, was shown on British TV for the first time. Whilst I like the Righteous Brothers song, this non-Righteous Brothers effort from Bill Medley is shit. The fact it's played in every cheesy bar/club probably doesn't help, but after several beers it still sounds shit.

Verdict - Rubbish

9. Iron Maiden - Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter

The only number one for Iron Maiden and a song I've known for years, but as mentioned in my Enigma review I was ill for most of January 1991 so don't remember this being number one at the time. The problem is the best thing about Iron Maiden is the speed of the drumming and this is far too slow for an Iron Maiden song so doesn't get the thumbs up from me.

Verdict - Rubbish

8. The Farm - All Together Now

One could argue this is a Christmas song. It was to do with the Christmas truce during the First World War. This is one of those tunes that I like which also has a happy hardcore version that I like, "Together In Wonderland" by Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo, and I like playing them back to back.

Verdict - Good

7. Jesus Jones - International Bright Young Thing

This was the highest charting hit for Jesus Jones. This came on the back of an American number 2, "Right Here Right Now", which never featured in this series because it only made 31 over here. This record on the other hand failed to reach the Billboard 100, as did any future Jesus Jones releases. They were missing out, this is a good record.

Verdict - Good

6. Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

I liked this one at the time, but then the following year I became a Queen fan and this famously sampled "Under Pressure". After hearing Brian May say it was crap, I decided it was crap too. I was easily influenced back then. Amongst rap music fans, of which I was one a number of years later, this never had much credibility. Now I'm older and have my own opinions what do I think? Well it is a bit crap to be fair

Verdict - Rubbish

5. KLF ft The Children Of The Revolution - 3AM Eternal (New)

In 2003 I was in a pub on a visit to my home town and a bloke came up to me and said "you're the one who used to sing KLF and Queen at school aren't you?. Indeed I was, and this would have been the time I'd be singing it, some 12 years prior to that visit to the pub, it obviously had a lasting effect on some people. I think you know what my verdict on this tune will be.

Verdict - Good

4. John Travolta And Olivia Newton-John - The Grease Megamix

This megamix was released after the film was released on video. Whilst the film has "Summer Nights" at the beginning and "You're the One That I Want" at the end, this is the opposite. I was yet to see the film, but at the time I liked "Summer Nights" but wasn't too fussed about "You're the One That I Want" and "Greased Lightnin". It's all shit really though, the only song from the film that I vaguely like is the title track.

Verdict - Rubbish

3. C&C Music Factory ft Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat

When it comes to dance anthems you have those which are genuine classics and those which were just cheesy commercial crap. I place this one in the latter category, I've never been a fan of C&C Music Factory. This is probably their best tune and I don't like it.

Verdict - Rubbish

2. Seal - Crazy

This is the song that taught many people that Seal isn't Adamski. It was the official beginning of Seals Top 40 career, whereas Adamski's had already ended. I have Seals self titled debut album on which this appears, it's a good album.

Verdict - Good

1. Enigma - Sadeness Part 1

When it comes to 90s number ones I can tell you something that was going on in my life at the time for the vast majority of them. This one though completely passed my by and I've only recently figured out why. I spend pretty much the whole of January 1991 ill in bed so therefore wasn't able to follow what was going on in the charts. As for the tune, not really the sort of record you'd expect to get to number one, or even in the charts for that matter which is a compliment.

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 15/30, or 50%. Will we actually get above 50% next week?

UK Charts Best Year Search: 1960

What's this all about?

Top 40

Best Song: Jimmy Jones - Good Timin'

This was at number 2 and would top the charts the following week where it would stay for 3 weeks. I remember listening my way through the number ones of the 60s in the early days of YouTube and this was the first one that made me think good song.

Worst Song: Tommy Steele - What A Mouth

Tommy Steele was approaching the end of his Top 40 career by this point. Dubbed the British Elvis in the 50s, by the 60s he'd resorted to novelty records. This is a cover of a cockney song by The Two Bills from Bermondsey and it's as terrible as that sounds.

Top 40 Review

The 50s don't appear to have really ended going off this Top 40. The number one record is a posthumous one from Eddie Cochran and we also have a posthumous record from Buddy Holly. Yet these 2 records sound more modern than many of the others.

A lot of the charts is along the lines of rock & roll, rockabilly and instrumental rock though the latter is perhaps more associated with the turn of the decade than the 50s themselves and we're just before the debut of The Shadows minus Cliff Richard.

Then we have Nat 'King' Cole and Frank Sinatra who were charting before rock & roll came about. 

I was well aware that this pre-Beatles and all that's celebrated of the 60s and fully expected to come up with a score close to zero. I thought it was a possibility that I wouldn't find a single record I would like in this Top 40.

But the Jimmy Jones number wasn't the only record I liked. He had another record in the Top 40 at the same time with "Handy Man" that I also liked. There was "Shakin All Over" by Johnny Kidd And The Pirates which I seriously considered picking as my favourite.

There was even a Lonnie Donegan record I was expecting to declare rubbish as whilst I appreciate skiffle music it really doesn't sound very good in my opinion. However his record "I Wanna Go Home" wasn't a skiffle record and it was OK.

Although this year has next to no chance of finishing top, I've given it a pretty respectable score.

Score: 9.5

Table

Well 1960 tops the table so far because it's the only year I've looked at:

UK Number 40s: Manhattan Transfer - Where Did Our Love Go / Je Voulais Te Dire (1978)

Where Did Our Love Go

 

Je Voulais Te Dire

  

We had our first double a-side that peaked at 40 in 1960, the first year that position existed in the charts. It's taken another 18 years to get to our second.

Manhattan Transfer are yet another act to have both a number 1 and a number 40 to their name. Their number 1 came the previous year with "Chanson D'Amour". That would be their only hit to make the Top 10.

This was hit number 6 for them. All their hits to this point had been covers and this was no exception. We had "Where Did Our Love Go" which was a cover of the Supremes and "Je Voulais Te Dire" which was a cover of "Michel Jonasz".

Being composers of "Where Did Our Love Go", it meant Holland-Dozier-Holland became the second songwriting team to score 2 number 40s after Burt Bacharach/Hal David.

The vocalist on "Je Voulais Te Dire", Laurel Masse, would leave the group the following year. It wasn't the last we'd see of them in the charts though, they had further hits with "Twilight Zone" in 1980 and "Spice Of Life" in 1984, which unlike their predecessors were original compositions.

Top 30 in 1991 Reviewed - Week 2

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.

Obviously some of the records will be the same as last week so therefore the review will be the same for these. I've indicated which ones are new so you can skip the others if you read last weeks post.

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 1991 with my verdict on each record:

30. Robert Palmer - Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You (New)

A medley of 2 Marvin Gaye songs, neither of which were Top 40 hits for Marvin Gaye himself. Having not been born when the originals were out, this was the first version I heard. On that basis I tend to think of this as being a Robert Palmer song even though I do know the Marvin Gaye versions. I guess also because Robert Palmer made it his own rather than sounding like a karaoke singer.

Verdict - Good

29. Bananarama - Preacher Man (New)

That's right, Bananarama were still having hits in 1991. Once again they team up with Youth with a record that mirrors the dance music sound of the time, but is still clearly a Bananarama song. It's the latter that makes the song a bit crap, dance music was always about the music itself, not the singing. The vocals would only ruin a record and this is one of those.

Verdict - Rubbish

28. INXS - Disappear

One of the better INXS hits in my opinion. I remember walking through the school corridor singing this at the time, particularly the "do do do do" bit.

Verdict - Good

27. Off-Shore - I Can't Take The Power (New)

When I first got into rave in the mid-90s, one of the big anthems was "SMD 3" by SMD aka Slipmatt. The was based on a sample of the piano riff of this tune. It's a good riff and both tunes are good.

Verdict - Good

26. Sting - All This Time (New)

I have no recollection of this song, the fact it only got to number 22 may be a factor or it could be to do with the fact Stings solo records aren't very distinctive. Ok maybe he has a couple of records that stand out, but this isn't one of them, it sounds like just another Sting record.

Verdict - Rubbish

25. Yazoo - Situation

What's this? Yazoo in 1990? Yes, although Yazoo had long split up, this record got the remix treatment and charted in 1990. It was originally the b-side to "Only You". I'd say this is an example of the b-side being better than the a-side, and I like "Only You".

Verdict - Good

24. Alexander O'Neal - All True Man (New)

Alexander O'Neal is best known as an 80s singer, but here he is in 1991 doing new jack swing, like pretty much every other soul singer was doing at the time. Whilst it wasn't his last Top 40 hit, it was his last one to be written by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. It's probably his best one too.

Verdict - Good

23. EMF - Unbelievable

The normal way to wear a cap was with long bit to the front, but it was cool to wear a cap backwards. EMF singer James Atkin on the other hand wore his cap to the side. Everyone was singing this at the time, but I don't recall the cap wearing style catching on. I was one of those singing it, good record.

Verdict - Good

22. Chris Isaak - Wicked Game

This has one of the most famous music videos of all time, the one with Helena Christensen in it with him. Maybe it's just as well for Chris Isaak that this video has made such an impact because it diverts the attention away from the fact it's a very dull song.

Verdict - Rubbish

21. Twenty4Seven ft Captain Hollywood - Are You Dreaming?

This was the second and final collaboration between Twenty4Seven and Captain Hollywood to make the UK Top 40. Like with the first hit, not as cheesy as your average Eurodance record but still pretty average at the same time.

Verdict - OK

20. Cliff Richard - Saviour's Day

I prefer this to "Mistletoe & Wine", probably because you don't hear it as much at Christmas. That's the only positive thing I can say about it though.

Verdict - Rubbish

19. Status Quo - The Anniversary Waltz - Part Two

The 40th Top 40 hit Status Quo and follow up to part one of The Anniversary Waltz. It wasn't as successful though, only reaching number 16. They've had a further 17 Top 40 hits since and none of them have made the Top 10. Like with the first part, it's ok.

Verdict - OK

18. Pop Will Eat Itself - X, Y And Zee (New)

The brummie rapping makes this hard to take seriously, but then again I'm not sure you're supposed to take the music of Pop Will Eat Itself that seriously anyway. I would say this is a dance/rock crossover record but it sounds like they've thrown a few more genres into the mix as well, and it works.

Verdict - Good

17. Whitney Houston - All The Man That I Need

This was the new jack swing era for Whitney Houston, but she still did pop songs as well such as this, which was originally by Linda Clifford. It's a very dreary and instantly forgettable song.

Verdict - Rubbish

16. Anthrax - Got The Time

When I first heard this record my first thoughts were that it's fast and that's what I like about it. Then I discovered it was a cover of a Joe Jackson song and that Joe Jackson didn't like this cover because it was too slow. After hearing that I had to listen to the original version, but I don't find it any faster.

Verdict - Good

15. Jesus Jones - International Bright Young Thing (New)

This was the highest charting hit for Jesus Jones. This came on the back of an American number 2, "Right Here Right Now", which never featured in this series because it only made 31 over here. This record on the other hand failed to reach the Billboard 100, as did any future Jesus Jones releases. They were missing out, this is a good record.

Verdict - Good

14. Patsy Cline - Crazy

I didn't realise this was an old song at the time but I did think it was sung by an old lady. It was actually 29 years old and was by someone who was 29 at the time and died when she was 30. I guess the reason I thought it was sung by an old lady was that I considered it to be old ladies sort of music and not my sort.

Verdict - Rubbish

13. Bill Medley And Jennifer Warnes - (I've Had) The Time Of My Life (New)

The Righteous Brothers revival continues, sort of. This song re-entered the charts after "Dirty Dancing", this film in which this appears, was shown on British TV for the first time. Whilst I like the Righteous Brothers song, this non-Righteous Brothers effort from Bill Medley is shit. The fact it's played in every cheesy bar/club probably doesn't help, but after several beers it still sounds shit.

Verdict - Rubbish

12. Black Box - Total Mix

I don't think the actual "Total Mix" is on YouTube but have put a Black Box megamix from 1990 which is pretty much the same thing i.e. their hits to date mixed together, some I like and some I don't.

Verdict - OK

11. Madonna - Justify My Love

Many people had never heard of Lenny Kravitz until he did "It Ain't Over Til It's Over", but they would likely have heard one of his compositions in this song. I wonder how many Lenny Kravitz fans actually like this song though.

Verdict - Rubbish

10. C&C Music Factory ft Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat

When it comes to dance anthems you have those which are genuine classics and those which were just cheesy commercial crap. I place this one in the latter category, I've never been a fan of C&C Music Factory. This is probably their best tune and I don't like it.

Verdict - Rubbish

9. Snap! - Mary Had A Little Boy

Was this the beginning of Toytown Techno? Maybe not, whilst it's based on a nursery rhyme it's perhaps not as blatant as actual Toytown Techno records, though it could have inspired it. Very cheesy though and the rapping is dreadful.

Verdict - Rubbish

8. MC Hammer - Pray

Mix together Prince and Faith No More, add some gospel rapping over the top and you get this. I'd rather just listen to the Prince or Faith No More songs on their own though.

Verdict - Rubbish

7. The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

After the successful re-issue of "Unchained Melody" the Righteous Brothers re-issued this record, if anything to show the kids hearing them for the first time (i.e. me) that there are 2 of them. I think I preferred this one to "Unchained Melody" at the time, but it's hard to pick between the 2, they're both good.

Verdict - Good

6. The Farm - All Together Now

One could argue this is a Christmas song. It was to do with the Christmas truce during the First World War. This is one of those tunes that I like which also has a happy hardcore version that I like, "Together In Wonderland" by Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo, and I like playing them back to back.

Verdict - Good

5. Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

I liked this one at the time, but then the following year I became a Queen fan and this famously sampled "Under Pressure". After hearing Brian May say it was crap, I decided it was crap too. I was easily influenced back then. Amongst rap music fans, of which I was one a number of years later, this never had much credibility. Now I'm older and have my own opinions what do I think? Well it is a bit crap to be fair

Verdict - Rubbish

4. Seal - Crazy

This is the song that taught many people that Seal isn't Adamski. It was the official beginning of Seals Top 40 career, whereas Adamski's had already ended. I have Seals self titled debut album on which this appears, it's a good album.

Verdict - Good

3. John Travolta And Olivia Newton-John - The Grease Megamix

This megamix was released after the film was released on video. Whilst the film has "Summer Nights" at the beginning and "You're the One That I Want" at the end, this is the opposite. I was yet to see the film, but at the time I liked "Summer Nights" but wasn't too fussed about "You're the One That I Want" and "Greased Lightnin". It's all shit really though, the only song from the film that I vaguely like is the title track.

Verdict - Rubbish

2. Enigma - Sadeness Part 1

When it comes to 90s number ones I can tell you something that was going on in my life at the time for the vast majority of them. This one though completely passed my by and I've only recently figured out why. I spend pretty much the whole of January 1991 ill in bed so therefore wasn't able to follow what was going on in the charts. As for the tune, not really the sort of record you'd expect to get to number one, or even in the charts for that matter which is a compliment.

Verdict - Good

1. Iron Maiden - Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter

The only number one for Iron Maiden and a song I've known for years, but as mentioned in my Enigma review I was ill for most of January 1991 so don't remember this being number one at the time. The problem is the best thing about Iron Maiden is the speed of the drumming and this is far too slow for an Iron Maiden song so doesn't get the thumbs up from me.

Verdict - Rubbish

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 14.5/30, or 48%. We're in the ascendancy again, maybe once the crap left over from 1990 is gone we'll go back above 50%.

What was the best year for the UK charts?

One of the surprising things chart wise in 2020 was the number of Top 40 hits I actually liked. Since starting this blog around 5 years ago I've kept an ear on the Top 40 out of duty more than anything else. Back then it was pretty terrible but 2020 appears a big improvement on recent years. 

How far back do you need to go to find a better chart though? 10 years ago every other record seemed to be some dance-rap nonsense with Pitbull or Flo Rida on it or some god awful EDM record. 15 years ago it was full of dull guitar bands like Snow Patrol or Kaiser Chiefs. Maybe 20 years ago?

One thing I was sure of was that the 2020 charts are nowhere near as good as the 90s charts, or 80s charts, maybe even 70s or 60s charts too. But then even 90s charts as we see every Sunday still have lots of crap in them.

It got me thinking, what was the best year for the charts? and whilst we're at it, what was the worst? My youth was in the 90s so logically it would be one of those years. Then again I listened to a lot of non-chart music at the time so possibly not. As a young child in the 80s I was less picky about the music I liked so it could be one of those years. Music from the 60s and 70s has a certain charm to it, but can it really live up to the music of my youth?

I therefore came up with a plan to find out. At the time of writing there have been over 22,000 Top 40 hits in total so clearly it's not practical to listen to all of them. Furthermore at one extreme you have over 700 hits from 1997 and at the other you have just 27 in 1952.

To make things fair what I decided to do was to take a sample Top 40 from each year and compare. I thought an appropriate week would be the first week in July i.e. in the middle of the year. This means we have a true representation of the year in question without having the leftovers of the previous year or a preview of what's to come the following year.

This does mean we can only include charts where there actually was a Top 40, which is 1960 onwards. However, I'm happy to leave out the 50s because the best year for the charts is definitely not in the 50s. You also often had multiple versions of the same song in a smaller chart so it would probably be biased towards certain songs too.

Every Thursday for the next 62 weeks, starting next week with 1960 I will give my verdict on the Top 40 in the first week of July with an overall score where each record gets 1 for good, 0.5 for OK and 0 for rubbish. It won't be like my Top 30 reviews where I review each song individually, it will be an overall review and I'll pick out the best and worst records that week. At the end of the 62 weeks I can determine once and for all what the best year for the charts was.