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 1992 with my verdict on each record:
This was the record that ensured Barbra Streisand had Top 40 hits in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. The thing with a Barbra Streisand record is that it could easily have come out in any of those decades. I'd say the best word to describe this record is boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
The follow up to "Where Love Lives" which had charted almost a year prior to this. It was the only Top 40 hit for Alison Limerick that she wrote herself and it was co-written by Steve Anderson from Brothers In Rhythm. I remember this being more dancey but I may have only heard a remix before. It's decent though and doesn't suffer from being overplayed.
Verdict - Good
This is one of those records I've continuously liked since I first heard it. At the time I wasn't devoted to any particular scene, then when it got re-released the Red Hot Chili Peppers were a cool band to like and the "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" album was one I carried on listening to once I got into rave initially. Then in the late 90s when the All Saints covered it both versions were played one after the other on the radio and I remember thinking this sounds so much better.
Verdict - Good
Ordinarily a British R&B group doing a pointless cover isn't a good thing. But I never knew that fact at the time, as far as I was concerned this was a Pasadenas tune and I loved it. Even when I started listening to this in the early days of YouTube I still didn't know it was a cover. A lot has to be said for hearing the cover before the original, it really does.
Verdict - Good
You wonder whether he's singing about his experience of spending 16 weeks at number one here. It was the fourth Top 40 hit from his "Waking Up the Neighbours" album and I feel we're now going into album filler territory. It just seems a very nothing song.
Verdict - Rubbish
Yes that's right, Joe Cocker was still having Top 40 hits in the 90s. In fact 5 of his 9 Top 40 hits came in the 90s. Like his previous effort "Up Where We Belong" 10 years prior, this was a song for a movie which was "The Cutting Edge". It was written by Diane Warren and Bryan Adams but I think it's fair to say this is one of the lesser known movie song compositions from both of them. It's OK but I won't be in a hurry to listen to it again, particularly as this YouTube version is such poor quality.
Verdict - OK
As a kid I remember discovering that as well as Guns n Roses there's also a band simply called Gun and they're pretty good too. What I don't remember is what song it was that I heard. This was their 3rd Top 40 hit and the previous 2 only made number 33 so it could have been any of them.
Verdict - Good
Incidentally I watched "Hexed" for the first time yesterday which is the movie this song is from. I'm trying to remember where in the movie I heard this song but I can't. Let's just say I enjoyed the movie a lot more than I enjoyed listening to this song.
Verdict - Rubbish
After topping the charts at the start of the year they barely make the Top 20 with the follow up single. However the album "High on the Happy Side" had now been released and topped the charts. This one takes a while to get going but it's pretty decent once the chorus kicks in.
Verdict - Good
I remember this song and could clearly hear it in my head before playing it. But actually hearing it for the first time in 30 years it sounds a lot better than I remember it. It really couldn't sound any more early 90s which is probably why I find myself liking it.
Verdict - Good
The first of 3 Madness songs to be re-issued in 1992. This introduced Madness to a new generation i.e. my generation. I was aware that this was an old record being re-issued at the time but I didn't let that fact put me off and I liked it. Still do.
Verdict - Good
This is the final Top 40 hit to date from Hammer/MC Hammer. It was after this when he went down the gangsta rap route but no Top 40 hits came from it. This record is a gospel rap record which on paper sounds awful but it actually isn't bad.
Verdict - OK
I remember hearing this for the first time in Our Price. Given the amount of time I used to spend in Our Price back in the 90s and the amount of music I heard, the fact this stands out shows what an impact it had on me.
Verdict - Good
I had the feeling New Atlantic were from the North West somewhere and I was right, they hail from Southport. I therefore wondered if this came out on All Around the World records. Turns out it didn't, but the version we all know is the Love Decade remix and Love Decade were on All Around the World. It's therefore a bit cheesy and commercial sounding, but I still like it.
Verdict - Good
I remember getting really annoyed that this record made number one and Mr Big hadn't. I absolutely hated this record as a result of that. However I've not really cared how the records I like do in the charts for the bulk of the last 30 years and I still think this record is crap and would have still thought that if Mr Big got to number one instead.
Verdict - Rubbish
This started life as the b-side to their other hit "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" but this proved to be the more popular track. I'm inclined to agree. I've only just discovered it's the word "pride" that's sang before "a deeper love". I've always thought it was "why" and that's what I'd sing at the time. The fact they couldn't write decent records like this makes me convinced they made their C&C Music Factory records crap on purpose.
Verdict - Good
This record is 9 minutes long but you really need to listen to it in full to really appreciate it. That's where I struggled somewhat the first few times I heard it because I'd only hear a snippet. When I did hear in it full though I thought what a tune. It did annoy me when the music channels would end the song just before the final guitar solo, that's the best bit in my opinion.
Verdict - Good
Moby wasn't the only American making rave music at the time, there was also these guys Toxic Two. It's basically the same record as "Pure Pleasure" by Digital Excitation who are Belgian. No idea which came first because they were both out around the same time. A good tune regardless.
Verdict - Good
The lasting impact this record has had on me is that when I tune my guitar I test to see if I've tuned it properly by playing the opening riff of this. Turns out that riff was taken from "Eighties" by Killing Joke. The overall tune though was nothing special.
Verdict - OK
I was trying to remember how this song went but couldn't get "Human Touch" by Rick Springfield out of my head. After giving it a listen I do remember it and given it's Bruce Springsteen I've probably heard it in the last 30 years too. It had been 4 years since Bruce Springsteen had been in the Top 40.It basically sounds like a Bruce Springsteen record and could have easily been from the 80s.
Verdict - OK
The vocalist on this record is Kirsty Hawkshaw. She stated in an interview that she left the group because she thought they were too commercial. Then she went and sang for Tiesto, go figure. Anyway this is miles better than your average Tiesto record.
Verdict - Good
When it comes to 90s U2 records this one is probably the best known. I have a music quiz question where I ask what song title is shared by U2, Metallica and Bee Gees of which the answer of course is "One". It is however also designed to throw people because Metallica and Bee Gees also have songs called "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and people have put that as the answer. Onto the song itself, I'm not a huge fan but it's alright.
Verdict - OK
This reminds me of a time when I really cared about how the records I liked were doing in the charts. I loved this record at the time and it was probably my favourite song at that point in time. After it had spent 3 weeks at number 3 and hearing that Shakespear's Sister were no longer at number one I thought surely this was the record that had replaced it. I was therefore rather annoyed that it was Right Said Fred who topped the charts instead whilst this had fallen to number 4.
Verdict - Good
Crowded House had several Top 40 hits but this was the only one to make the Top 10. It's quite a simple record, not trying to be anything out of the ordinary but catchy at the same time. It makes for a good record to have a singalong to round the camp fire to.
Verdict - Good
When Club@Vision had their Ibiza special in 1999, they played an anthem from each year from 1989 onwards. Out of all the great tunes they could have picked for 1991, they picked this. I've always found this tune annoying, it's probably the over the top vocals that does it. This was the Top 40 debut for Ce Ce Peniston and she had more hits that you'd think.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember hearing this for the first time on the Top of the Pops breakers. I wasn't impressed, it sounded a bit slow and boring. However it did grow on me as I heard it more. I remember getting told off by someone when this was on the radio and I didn't listen to a word they said because I was listening to the song.
Verdict - Good
The famous KLF Brit Awards performance had just happened where they announced their retirement from the music industry, but they had one final Top 40 hit to come which was a remix of their first. It meant that as the KLF they had 5 Top 40 hits which all made the Top 5. Only S Club 7 and Busted have had more hits and made the Top 5 every time.
Verdict - Good
When this was first released in 1965 it failed to reach the Top 40. It finally made it in 1992 thanks to its inclusion in the film of the same name. I had no idea this was an old record at the time, I just assumed it was made for the film. I love a bit of 60s soul music and this was probably the record that got my into it in the first place.
Verdict - Good
When it comes to 90s nostalgia you can't go wrong with this record. The wordless chorus gets you hooked but then you realise there's much more to it than that. Normally once I've listened to a tune I want to wait a while until I listen to it again, but with this one I'd happily give it another listen. In fact I might just do that.
Verdict - Good
When Siobhan left Bananarama and formed Shakespear's Sister they had a Top 10 hit with "You're History" in 1989. By the end of 1991 it looked like they were history have failed to reach the Top 40 with any of their other singles. Then came this, which topped the charts and stayed there for what seemed like an eternity. I do think that the contrast between the vocals of Marcella and Siobhan is a good concept, but I've never been able to bring myself to like this record.
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 21.5/30, or 73%. Slightly lower than the joint best weeks of the year.
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