Top 30 in 1991 Reviewed - Week 9

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. Morrissey - Our Frank 

It's probably fair to say that Morrissey fans are drawn in by his lyrics first and foremost. Quite appropriately I had no recollection of how this song went other than it had the lyrics "you're frankly vulgar". After listening to it just now, I'm still struggling to remember the tune.

Verdict - Rubbish

29. Railway Children - Every Beat Of The Heart

This has nothing to do with the books/films/TV series of the same name. Railway Children were an indie band who had previously been on factory records. It was their only Top 40 hit. All I can say is that I understand why they're long forgotten.

Verdict - Rubbish

28. Vanilla Ice - Play That Funky Music

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

27. 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

26. 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

25. Chris Isaak - Blue Hotel

His first hit was all about the video. This time he has a pretty ordinary video, so the attention is now on the music itself. To be fair, it's a stronger record than "Wicked Game" in my opinion, but I still don't like it.

Verdict - Rubbish

24. EMF - I Believe

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

23. Joey B Ellis And Tynetta Hare - Go For It! (Heart And Fire) (New)

This is the Rocky song nobody remembers. The previous Rocky songs were all quite catchy, but this one isn't at all. That's probably a bad thing for a movie song, but in terms of music some really good tunes take a few listens before you can get into them. Unfortunately I've not been able to get into this after 30 years, so I probably never will.

Verdict - Rubbish

22. DJ H ft Stefy - Think About... 

DJ H ft Stefy is confusingly 3 people rather than 2, Enrico Acerbi, Marco Bongiovanni and Stefania Bacchelli. Enrico Acerbi is also known as DJ Herbie which would explain the DJ H and Stefania Bacchelli is Stefy, but this was composed by Marco Bongiovanni and the vocals were Aretha Franklin samples. Great record though, got a very catchy intro.

Verdict - Good

21. Thunder - Love Walked In 

The 5th Top 40 hit for Thunder and 5th to come from their "Backstreet Symphony" album. Despite this, it was their highest charting single to date at the time. The fact it's more of a ballad probably helped, but I'd actually say this is my favourite of the 5. It's just the 2nd Thunder record I've reviewed though as the other 3 failed to make the Top 30.

Verdict - Good

20. Jimmy Barnes And INXS - Good Times

One thing that annoys me is when you hear songs falling under a particular decade, whether it's radio stations, compilations, music channels etc, that don't actually come from a decade. For example, I've heard "One Step Beyond" by Madness many times falling under the 80s banner when it's from 1979. This particular record I recall hearing numerous times on an 80s radio station, and I'd get annoyed because it was from 1991. I later discovered though that this was originally recorded in 1986. INXS were one of my favourite bands in the early 90s, but the reality is every band has at least one rubbish song and in the case of INXS, this is one of theirs.

Verdict - Rubbish

19. Living Colour - Love Rears Its Ugly Head

The debut Top 40 hit for Living Colour and the only one that will appear in these reviews as the other 2 fell short of the Top 30. It's a shame because I really like the follow up to this, "Solace Of You". But this is a decent record too, a nice blend of funk and rock.

Verdict - Good

18. Stevie B - Because I Love You (The Postman Song) (New)

Freestyle music was massive in America in the late 80s/early 90s, but barely got a look in over here. One of the key figures in the freestyle scene, Stevie B, did manage a solitary Top 40 hit over here though with a ballad that isn't really freestyle at all. This is one of those records I loved at the time and still like it today for that very reason.

Verdict - Good

17. Kim Appleby - GLAD

Mel Appleby is on the credits of this one, therefore it must have been written in the 80s and I think you can tell. Whilst "Don't Worry" was a solid solo debut for Kim Appleby, this goes back to the Stock Aitken & Waterman type crap Mel & Kim were doing. The rapping from Aswads Brinsley Forde is also dreadful.

Verdict - Rubbish

16. Chris Rea - Auberge 

I'm quite surprised that over a year had passed between "Road To Hell" and this record coming out, particularly as we were only 4 years into my living memory when it came to chart music. I did like this record at the time and having listened to it for the first time in many years I'd still say it's pretty good.

Verdict - Good

15. MC Hammer - Here Comes The Hammer 

The 4th Top 40 hit for MC Hammer and it sounds like he's running out of ideas by this point. OK it appears on the same album as the other 3, but it's almost like he knew how big he'd become and planned to have this as his 4th single to big himself up. 

Verdict - Rubbish

14. Praise - Only You

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

13. Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do

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

12. Kenny Thomas - Outstanding

The debut from Kenny Thomas, who's had more Top 40 hits than you'd think and had a chart career beyond 1991. It's a cover of the Gap Band record and sounds inferior to the original in every way, like most British covers of American Soul & Funk records. That said, I don't mind it.

Verdict - OK

11. 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

10. Xpansions - Move Your Body (Elevation) 

The short lived 1990 girl group Faith Hope & Charity is a name known to people as what TV presenter Dani Behr did before The Word. What perhaps isn't as well known was that fellow group member Sally Ann Marsh provided vocals for this record. It's one of those dance anthems I've probably heard too many times to get excited about, but it's still a decent record.

Verdict - Good

9. 808 State - In Yer Face 

Inevitably this record will be rated as good, I'm just trying to think of a complement I can pay it. All I can really say is give it a listen, it really is a great tune.

Verdict - Good

8. Free - All Right Now

For people of a certain age, this will bring back memories of the Isle of Wight festival amongst other things. For people of my age, it brings back memories of the Wrigley's advert which is why it ended up in the charts again in 1991. Prior to hearing this in full on the chart show though, I do remember watching the advert and thinking good song.

Verdict - Good

7. 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

6. Oleta Adams - Get Here

To me it's more of a pop record than anything innovative. 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

5. The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go (New)

The Clash had never had a Top 10 hit prior to this, but then thanks to the Levi's advert they managed to score a number one. It was also up against Madonna in the battle of re-released old singles which it would eventually win. It's definitely the better out of the two in my opinion.

Verdict - Good

4. The Source - You Got The Love

There's been lots of versions of this record over the years. This isn't the original, but was the first version to make the Top 40. My personal favourite is the 1997 version, but this ones good too.

Verdict - Good

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

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

2. Madonna - Crazy For You (New)

Up against The Clash in the battle of re-released in old singles which it looked like it won when it made number two, but then The Clash topped the charts. This was re-released because it didn't appear on any album, just the soundtrack to "Vision Quest", so this gave fans the opportunity to own the song without having to buy a movie soundtrack. Not my cup of tea though.

Verdict - Rubbish

1. 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

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%. Same as last week, but with just 4 new songs it was never going to be that different.