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.
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