By March 1997 I had around 100 tapes and CDs to my name, mostly underground rave. There were a few chart singles I was enjoying though:
Fugees - Rumble In The Jungle
Fugees had a pretty impressive Top 40 record. They only managed 21 with their debut "Fu-Gee-La" but then followed with 2 number ones, a number two and a number three, the latter being this record which is also their last Top 40 hit to date.
This one is my personal favourite and reminds me of listening to Trevor Nelson on a Saturday afternoon. It's much darker than their other hits, but then it's the darker side of rap which attracted me to the genre in the first place.
Alisha's Attic - Indestructible
Despite the fact I was once a huge Alisha's Attic fan who owned pretty much everything they ever released, I think this is the first time I've ever watched this video from beginning to end.
I do remember seeing a short clip of it on "The O-Zone" but the rest of the time I ever simply listened or saw it being performed. I still think this record is decent enough, but the other 3 singles from the "Alisha Rules the World" album are much better.
BBE - Flash
BBE are of course best remembered for "7 Days and One Week" which has been anthem bashed ever since. This follow up is largely forgotten. I think this record is better than its predecessor, I always have done.
It made number 5 in the charts though so it's by no means an obscure record. This was 1997 though when you could blink and miss a record completely.
DJ Quicksilver - Bellissima
I had a friend who was also a raver who I used to think just made up things about the rave scene safe in the knowledge nobody had anyway of proving otherwise. One day he had written quite a sizeable list of DJ names, some were ones I was very familiar with and others I thought he'd just made up.
One such DJ was DJ Quicksilver. I questioned whether a DJ would really name himself after a brand of clothing. Then it turned out there was such a DJ.
When I first heard this record it wasn't what I was expecting. I expected something of the hardcore or drum & bass variety, but this was club music. I still liked it though.
Robert Owens - I'll Be Your Friend
This tune was already 6 years old by the time it charted. It was because of a Paul Oakenfold remix that this happened.
Robert Owens is a singer and the main man behind this track is David Morales.
We're now 4 months into the year. In that time we've featured raves in towns your average tourist will have never heard of or in the case of Willenhall a town I've never heard of. This week we're finally going to a rave in London.
Fusion were a rave usually associated with the south coast, but they put on lots of events in lots of different places. This particular event was their 3rd birthday.
Being in London you might expect this event to lean more towards drum & bass, but it's actually leaning more towards happy hardcore with just 3 of the 11 DJs being drum & bass. That said, Hectic Records were behind Fusion and they were a happy hardcore label.
There were also live PAs from Ramos, Supreme & Sunset Regime and Dougal & Vibes.
Individual tapes were released from this event rather than a tape pack. There's a question mark over whether a Dougal tape actually exists and I've seen the tracklisting for the Hype/Supreme tape but not been able to find the tape to listen to.
After last weeks feast of new for 1995 tunes at Dance Paradise I wasn't expecting too many this week. There is still a decent amount, some of which appear to have only been played and recorded at this particular event.
These are the hardcore ones:
Psycho Kinetic - Whoooo
DJ Edge - Db7
Cyclopede - Hyper (Bull Shit)
Warlock - Delirious
Obliterator - Ruff To The Max
Technosis Featuring The Maniac - State Of Flux
Druid & Rebel Alliance - Gonna Be Alright
Stu J & DJ U.F.O. - We Are The Bass
Ikon - Give Yourself To Me
Vibes & Wishdokta - Passion
Rise and Shine - The Wild One
JDS & Billy Bunter - Come Alive
Midas - Break On Thru
Vinylgroover - Hardcore N' Jungl It
Vinylgroover - Bond Connection
Question Mark - ????? (Volume 5)
The most significant one from that lot is "Come Alive" which I remember appearing in loads of sets in 1995. Like Dance Paradise the previous week, the tune played the most at this night was "Happy Vibes" by The Scotchman which appeared in 5 of the recorded sets.
There are only 2 drum & bass sets recorded and as mentioned earlier I've not been able to find the Hype one. We understandably had less new for 1995 drum & bass tunes which were:
88.3 feat Lisa May - Wishing On A Star
DJ Rap - Universal Mind
MTS - Baad Boy Sound
Easymen - Easymen
For some reason I thought "Wishing On A Star" was a Top 40 hit, but it wasn't. It did make the lower reaches of the charts though at number 61.
There were plenty more Fusion events in 1995 and I will probably feature another at some point. To me Fusion was one of your best of the rest raves. It wasn't quite as big as the likes of Dreamscape, Helter Skelter, Slammin Vinyl etc. but was big enough.
One of the many genres of dance music to emerge in the 90s was progressive house. It's easier to give examples of progressive house tunes than to describe what exactly it is. This is one of those examples.
Bump were Marc Auerbach and Steve Travell. The tune was based around 2 samples. One was from the italo house record "Open Your Mind" by Last Rhythm and the vocal sample was from "Special" by Sir James which has been sampled on several other dance records.
It was released on Good Boy records which was owned by Steve Travell. They had other releases as Bump and other aliases and also had a one off collaboration with Brandon Block as The Housebaliffs.
One of the definitions of progressive house is that it's whatever Sasha and John Digweed play. The discogs page for this record has someone mention they first heard this on a Sasha tape. Good Boy records also has a Sasha and John Digweed mix in it's discography so this is no doubt a part of progressive house history.
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 first version of "Please Don't Go" that I heard. The original is by KC & the Sunshine Band, but it's basically a clone of a cover done the same year by Italian act Double You. I do like it, but the other tune "Game Boy" is better. Whilst "Please Don't Go" is a commercial dance record, "Game Boy" is very much a rave record.
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.
This was a comic relief single that was around the time of the 1992 election. It's basically Bruce Dickinson doing a cover of "Elected" by Alice Cooper with Mr Bean doing a bit of comedy over the top of it. A dreadful record, but then that's the point.
It's Swing Out Sister in the 90s. That's basically what I thought when this record came out, Swing Out Sister to me were 80s through and through and there seemed something quite odd about them having a hit in the 90s. Instead of moving with the times though, it was more back to the 60s with this being a cover of a 60s record by Barbara Acklin. That said I do quite like it. They would have one more Top 40 hit in 1994 with another 60s cover, "La La (Means I Love You)" but only made 37 so won't be featuring in these posts.
I've never been much of a Def Leppard fan. Even as a rocker in the early 90s they always seemed a bit wet. I did however think this record was a bit more interesting with the verses being a bit different. In fact I do remember randomly singing the verse but never the chorus. Despite the chorus being a bit crap though, the nostalgia factor makes me still quite like it.
This was her follow up to her big hit "Too Blind To See It". Like with many second hits in the 90s this sounds very similar to the first. They were also both written by Steve "Silk" Hurley. Normally the second hit sounds like an inferior version of the first, but I don't think that's the case here. I like both records and it's hard to say which one I prefer.
After 3 years away from the Top 40, Curiosity Killed the Cat were back with a shortened name and their final Top 40 hit to date. It seems a few 80s acts were having low charting and long forgotten 90s hits around this time, but this one made number 3. It's not for me though.
The Top 40 debut for Praga Khan and his best known hit. It's certainly one of the anthems but it's not quite been played to death like other tunes so it's still good to listen to now. Like with a lot of the Belgian rave tunes that hit the Top 40 it has a harder edge to it than your average rave hit.
This was the follow up to "Rhythm Is A Mystery". Although I do detect hints of it's predecessor in there, this certainly isn't a clone. In some ways it's better because it's long forgotten and therefore hasn't suffered from anthem bashing.
Although L7 don't come from Seattle, I would definitely consider this to be a grunge record. It was the Top 40 debut for L7 and record they're most famous for. In the UK though they are best known for their infamous appearance on The Word as opposed to any music. The fact the music is a bit rubbish may have something to do with it.
This was the UKs Eurovision entry that year. The only previous Top 40 effort for Michael Ball had been "Love Changes Everything". What struck me about Eurovision when I first encountered it was how old fashioned the music all seemed. Picking someone known for musicals to represent the UK just strengthened that perception. The song itself sounds like something I could imagine Gary Barlow singing, which isn't a good thing.
The lead track from this EP is "Never Stop". Like with their debut Top 40 hit, this was an older record and had been remixed by David Morales for the EP. You may expect it to be a house version, but it's still an acid jazz record that doesn't sound too different from the original. It's not as good as their debut, but that's because of how good their debut was.
In 1992 I was liking pretty much everything that got into the charts which explains why we've had decent scores week after week. I do however remember not liking this song. 30 years later I still haven't changed my mind.
This record was written by Robert Clivilles and David Cole and therefore is more upbeat than the usual dreary ballads that Mariah Carey does. That doesn't mean it's a good record though, in-fact it's a very dull record for something that's quite upbeat.
When Phil Collins started his solo career it was quite easy to distinguish between what was a Genesis record and what was a Phil Collins record. By the 90s though it was a lot more difficult to tell with this record being a prime example. It could have just as easily been a Phil Collins solo record. But I do generally like Phil Collins solo material.
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.
Although we were still in the Stock, Aitken & Waterman era of Kylie Minogue minus Aitken, this was a preview of what was to come in the future for Kylie Minogue with Brothers In Rhythm on remix duties. This one isn't even catchy though.
Although they still had several more Top 40 hits, this is the last Top 10 hit to date for Soul ii Soul. When they'd last been in the Top 40 in 1990 there seemed to be a lot of acts who adopted their sound. Things had since moved on and so had Soul ii Soul with this comeback record, though at the same time it still sounds like a Soul ii Soul record.
I remember this video appearing on Top of the Pops and I was excited to hear a song from the band who appear last in the British Hit Singles book. The song sounded familiar though so I must have heard the Elvis version before this.
The penultimate Top 40 hit to date from Altern 8 who were probably the biggest rave act around at this point in time. Still sounds a tune made for the dance floor rather than the charts which is a good thing.
I'm a big fan of Dutch music of the 90s in general. The trouble I have with this record though is that it doesn't sound very Dutch or very 90s for that matter. By my reckoning this is the only Top 40 hit of the 90s by a Dutch act that is neither dance music or a novelty record. That doesn't make it a bad record though
This is the final Top 10 hit to date for Marc Almond. Like with all his other Top 10 hits, this is a cover with the original being by David McWilliams. As Marc Almond is a songwriter, this fact is probably quite annoying for him. I would say though that generally speaking I prefer his covers to his original compositions.
This is the only Top 10 hit to date for Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine. I wouldn't say it's their best known record though, it's likely because they were now established and this was the lead single from what was their yet to be released new album. It's a decent tune too.
For some reason I associate Curtis Stigers with late 1992 instead of early 1992 which he had his two big hits, this being the second. It's not that it took me a while to discover him as I remember him appearing on Top of the Pops. The nostalgia factor means that I do quite like this record.
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.
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.
I always imagined this record to be sung by someone who was old, but it was recorded in 1990 when Vanessa Williams would have been 26 or 27. Maybe I just thought it was music for old people, and it's inclusion on the Bisto adverts more or less confirmed that for me.
I loved this record at the time and still do now. The odd thing is that this was before the scene split into happy hardcore and jungle and this sounds like it's gearing towards what would become jungle yet Slipmatt of SL2 would become one of the pioneers of happy hardcore. The only downside is that after "On A Ragga Tip 97" came out which was faster, it makes this record sound a bit slow.
One thing I've often said is that for an Iron Maiden song to be any good, it needs to be quick. Fortunately this record does live up to it's title and is a quick one. I wouldn't say this is one of the better known Iron Maiden singles, but it's their 2nd highest charting one.
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
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 19/30, or 63%. All either good or rubbish this week.
This week sees us go to the East Coast with Dance Paradise in Great Yarmouth. They started off at a place just south of Great Yarmouth called Gorleston On Sea in 1990. They another event in Gorleston On Sea in 1991 but wouldn't have another event until 1993 which was at Tiffanys in Great Yarmouth.
Throughout their existence the bulk of their events were held in Great Yarmouth with the remaining ones held in nearby Lowestoft. In 1993 and 1994 they held events regularly, every week at times. By 1995 they became much more occasional.
This was the 2nd of 4 events in 1995. They had a further event in 1996 before stopping for over 18 months. When they returned in 1997 they became a house music promotor with a dress code but finally called it a day in 1998.
An 8 pack was released from this event which included both happy hardcore and drum & bass and also included 2 sets from Clarkee, one in the main arena and one in the techno room.
Also included in the tape pack is a HMS tape which was before he started doing more extreme gabber music and still had it's overlaps with happy hardcore.
What does set the Clarkee and HMS sets apart though is their leaning towards Dutch and Scottish music. Both are mainly Dutch which I guess is appropriate given we're at one of the closest points of England to Holland. The HMS set contains no English records at all.
Elsewhere the Brisk set has more of an even split with the first half being Scottish and Dutch and the second half being English and this is why I've decided to post his set.
The rest of the happy hardcore set's are mostly English with the Seduction and Billy Bunter sets being 100% English.
After last weeks Helter Skelter only brought us 4 new for 1995 records, this event brought us a whopping 27:
E-Rick & Tactic - Move Dammit
Search & Destroy - Work It
Stingray & Sonicdriver – As Cold As Ice
El Bruto – Hypnotizing
Too Fast For Mellow - M.F. Bass In Your Face
Bertocucci Feranzano - Ravers Movement
Bass D & King Matthew ft. DJ XD - Hard As Hell
Stunned Guys - Fuck All
Stunned Guys - Country Crash
Psy-Quest - Sky High
Ultra-Sonic - 1,2,3,4
DJ Demand - Jump' In Pump' In
Sub Source - Cyber Source
DJ E-Rick & Tactic - It's Showtime
Dysector - Tempo Head
Marc Smith & Dave Murray - Over Me
Stingray & Sonicdriver - Power Of Darkness
Stingray & Sonicdriver - In The Name Of God
Smile - A Good Time
Simon C - Fuck You
Omar Santana - Phat Beats
Mass Hypnosis - Mind Controlling
Overlord vs Prince Of Darkness - Acid Thunder
DJ Edge - Bb6
Mercurial - I Get Lifted
Menace II Society - Get Down
DJ Pooch - Generator
The happy hardcore tune which got the most plays this night was "Happy Vibes" by The Scotchman which was played in 4 of the sets. This was one of the early new for 1995 tunes which made its debut at Tazzmania back in January.
With the drum & bass sets we go 1 better with 28 new for 1995 records:
Fallen Angels - Frequency
The Committee - Final Conflict
DJ Krust - Represent
Mask - Reese
DJ Krust - Poison
Stakka & K-Tee - After Hours
Source Direct - Fabric Of Space
Source Direct - Approach & Identify
JMJ & Richie - Universal Horn
Photek - The Seven Samurai
X-Files - Intensity
Ils & Solo - In The Area
Oblivion - Night Windows
PFM - One & Only
The Sentinel - Awakening
Lion Man - Wheel Up
DJ Shock C & DJ Ellis The Menace - On The Level
Rude & Deadly - Mash Dem Down
B-Jam - Gunshot Me Head
Redrose - Hotter Junglematical Style
Dr S Gachet & Audio Maze - The Dreamer
3 Thieves & A Liar - Feel So Good
B-Jam - Rukus
Easy Life - Untitled
Big Bud - Faceless
DJ Phantasy - Knowledge & Wisdom
R.N.M. - Jazzy Groove
Outcast - Protocol Roll
The most played record though is "Hearing Is Believing" by MA2 which appears in 3 sets. That's not the first time that's happened.
Despite there being so much new drum & bass at the time being played, the impression I get is this event leans a bit more towards happy hardcore given the line up.
For a start we have Phantasy and Swane on the tapes but not the flyer. They presumably replaced Randall and DJ Rap who were on the flyers but not the tapes. Whilst the remaining drum & bass DJs Ratty, Mastervibe, LTJ Bukem, Dr S Gatchet and GE Real were all pretty big, I feel it does lack a Hype or Grooverider to bring your drum & bass fan all the way to Great Yarmouth.
Funnily enough they did include drum & bass in the line up at their final event in 1998, but not happy hardcore.
I would say this event alone demonstrates just how quickly dance music was moving in the 90s. Even with the benefit of 27 years passing and the possibility of listening to sets from almost every week on the internet I'm finding just the new tunes from this event a lot to take in.
I'm sure that many of us who know a thing or 2 about music could correctly name several acts who have had Top 40 hits in 3 different decades. I don't think to many people would name Gary Moore though, but he has.
This is his final original Top 40 hit to date which came 13 years after he debuted with "Parisienne Walkways" in 1979 which made the Top 10. His follow up "Out In the Fields" came 6 years later and also made the Top 10. Since then the highest he's got is 20 with "Over The Hills And Far Away" in 1986.
You can split the decades of his Top 40 career by the style of music he plays. His debut "Parisienne Walkways" was a blues record. Then in the 80s his hits were hard rock records. In the 90s he returned to making blues records, starting with "Still Got The Blues (For You)" followed by "Cold Day In Hell" and then finally this record.
His switch to the blues in the 90s was a positive move from an American charts perspective as it landed him his only Billboard 100 hit to date with "Still Got The Blues (For You)".
This was the 2nd single to be released from his "After Hours" album with the remaining singles failing to make the Top 40. The album made number 4 making it his highest charting album to date.
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:
Chris De Burgh is of course famous for his chart topper "The Lady In Red" which is hated by many. As a result many people won't give any of his other records a chance. I must admit I was one of those people, but in recent years I have heard Chris De Burgh records and thought they were alright. This wasn't one of them though.
Inner City first hit the Top 40 in 1988 and when it came to rave music in the charts few if any were as big as Inner City at the time. The rave scene changed so fast though that by 1992 the music was completely different. Fortunately Inner City moved with the times and have a record that very much sounds like a 90s record rather than an 80s one. The downside to this tune is that it's not as good as the excellent "Pennies From Heaven" which will be appearing in the not too distant future.
I loved "I'm Doing Fine Now" when it came out, but have no recollection of The Pasadenas having any other hits after that. This was the next one which is a cover of the Bread song. It's definitely not as good as it's predecessor but I did quite enjoy listening to it just now.
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Pearl Jam who become the 2nd grunge band to have 2 Top 40 hits after Nirvana. Despite it not getting higher than 27 it's one of their better known records, probably because it was from the actual grunge era. It's one of those records that I like the familiarity of but doesn't quite have enough about it to truly like it.
Although L7 don't come from Seattle, I would definitely consider this to be a grunge record. It was the Top 40 debut for L7 and record they're most famous for. In the UK though they are best known for their infamous appearance on The Word as opposed to any music. The fact the music is a bit rubbish may have something to do with it.
With the Seattle grunge scene now making it's mark in the UK we have the inevitable British band adopting that style with this record probably being the first example of this. That's not a criticism, in-fact I would say this is actually better than the American grunge records that had charted to this point.
When Phil Collins started his solo career it was quite easy to distinguish between what was a Genesis record and what was a Phil Collins record. By the 90s though it was a lot more difficult to tell with this record being a prime example. It could have just as easily been a Phil Collins solo record. But I do generally like Phil Collins solo material.
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.
The lead track from this EP is "Never Stop". Like with their debut Top 40 hit, this was an older record and had been remixed by David Morales for the EP. You may expect it to be a house version, but it's still an acid jazz record that doesn't sound too different from the original. It's not as good as their debut, but that's because of how good their debut was.
It's Swing Out Sister in the 90s. That's basically what I thought when this record came out, Swing Out Sister to me were 80s through and through and there seemed something quite odd about them having a hit in the 90s. Instead of moving with the times though, it was more back to the 60s with this being a cover of a 60s record by Barbara Acklin. That said I do quite like it. They would have one more Top 40 hit in 1994 with another 60s cover, "La La (Means I Love You)" but only made 37 so won't be featuring in these posts.
This record was written by Robert Clivilles and David Cole and therefore is more upbeat than the usual dreary ballads that Mariah Carey does. That doesn't mean it's a good record though, in-fact it's a very dull record for something that's quite upbeat.
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.
This was the final Top 40 hit from their "Chorus" album and their last before they did the Abba covers. At the time I would have probably put Erasure in my Top 5 music acts which would have been thanks in part to this record.
The Top 40 debut for Praga Khan and his best known hit. It's certainly one of the anthems but it's not quite been played to death like other tunes so it's still good to listen to now. Like with a lot of the Belgian rave tunes that hit the Top 40 it has a harder edge to it than your average rave hit.
This was a comic relief single that was around the time of the 1992 election. It's basically Bruce Dickinson doing a cover of "Elected" by Alice Cooper with Mr Bean doing a bit of comedy over the top of it. A dreadful record, but then that's the point.
I've never been much of a Def Leppard fan. Even as a rocker in the early 90s they always seemed a bit wet. I did however think this record was a bit more interesting with the verses being a bit different. In fact I do remember randomly singing the verse but never the chorus. Despite the chorus being a bit crap though, the nostalgia factor makes me still quite like it.
The fourth Top 40 hit in as many months for The Wedding Present. This one sounds like it has potential, the problem is it sounds like they played it once and thought that will do. Instrumentally I do quite like it, but I find the high pitched sarcastic sounding singing in the verses difficult to listen to.
This was her follow up to her big hit "Too Blind To See It". Like with many second hits in the 90s this sounds very similar to the first. They were also both written by Steve "Silk" Hurley. Normally the second hit sounds like an inferior version of the first, but I don't think that's the case here. I like both records and it's hard to say which one I prefer.
I'm a big fan of Dutch music of the 90s in general. The trouble I have with this record though is that it doesn't sound very Dutch or very 90s for that matter. By my reckoning this is the only Top 40 hit of the 90s by a Dutch act that is neither dance music or a novelty record. That doesn't make it a bad record though
In 1992 I was liking pretty much everything that got into the charts which explains why we've had decent scores week after week. I do however remember not liking this song. 30 years later I still haven't changed my mind.
I remember this video appearing on Top of the Pops and I was excited to hear a song from the band who appear last in the British Hit Singles book. The song sounded familiar though so I must have heard the Elvis version before this.
For some reason I associate Curtis Stigers with late 1992 instead of early 1992 which he had his two big hits, this being the second. It's not that it took me a while to discover him as I remember him appearing on Top of the Pops. The nostalgia factor means that I do quite like this record.
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.
I loved this record at the time and still do now. The odd thing is that this was before the scene split into happy hardcore and jungle and this sounds like it's gearing towards what would become jungle yet Slipmatt of SL2 would become one of the pioneers of happy hardcore. The only downside is that after "On A Ragga Tip 97" came out which was faster, it makes this record sound a bit slow.
The penultimate Top 40 hit to date from Altern 8 who were probably the biggest rave act around at this point in time. Still sounds a tune made for the dance floor rather than the charts which is a good thing.
Although they still had several more Top 40 hits, this is the last Top 10 hit to date for Soul ii Soul. When they'd last been in the Top 40 in 1990 there seemed to be a lot of acts who adopted their sound. Things had since moved on and so had Soul ii Soul with this comeback record, though at the same time it still sounds like a Soul ii Soul record.
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.
I always imagined this record to be sung by someone who was old, but it was recorded in 1990 when Vanessa Williams would have been 26 or 27. Maybe I just thought it was music for old people, and it's inclusion on the Bisto adverts more or less confirmed that for me.
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.
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
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 19.5/30, or 65%. Not as good as last week but still decent.
For the last 5 years I've been celebrating the music I had been enjoying 25 years prior each month. A question I've always had in the back of my head is how long will this last for i.e. when will we reach the point there simply isn't enough Top 40 music to include anymore.
In my search for the best year for the charts I found that 2002 was a pretty shit year for music, as were most of the years that followed. I've since looked in more depth and found there to be less than 60 records I was enjoying for the entire year meaning I won't be able to post the usual 5 records a month.
However, there was still some decent music that should be celebrated. Therefore I've decided to start a quarterly 20 years since series of posts. Eventually this will probably feature no more than 5 records, but we have a few more to start off with:
Aaliyah - More Than A Woman
Back in the summer of 2001 Aaliyah's self titled 3rd album was released. Trevor Nelson was full of praise for it when he reviewed it on "The Lick" on MTV Base. At the time she had the single "We Need A Resolution" out which was decent without being spectacular.
We all know what happened soon after that, but then towards the end of 2001 this tune started doing the rounds on the music channels. It was the best thing I'd heard Aaliyah ever do.
It topped the charts at the beginning of 2002 but I never bought the single, I bought the album. Again I thought it was a decent album without being spectacular with this being the best tune on it.
Dr Dre ft Knoc Turnal - Bad Intentions
It's amazing how a short period of time feels like a lifetime when you're younger. In early 2001 Dr Dre released "The Next Episode" which was played everywhere into the summer. Dr Dre was also featured heavily on the music channels that summer too.
Then for a few months Dr Dre seemed to disappear until this record came out. The featured rapper Knoc-Turnal could easily be mistaken for Snoop Dogg.
It was from the soundtrack to the film "The Wash" which has Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg in it. I've never seen the film, but I bought the soundtrack.
Nelly Furtado - Shit On The Radio
By 2002 it had become apparent the Honeyz were finished so I was seeking someone else to follow. I did like the previous Nelly Furtado singles, but this was another level so I decided she would be the one I would follow.
I bought her "Whoa Nelly" album the same day I bought the Aaliyah album, but found myself listening to it a lot more. When I saw her in concert later on that year I liked the additional track "I Feel You" from her repackaged album so much that I bought that too.
Then she seemed to disappear for a while, when she came back it was with music that wasn't to my liking so my time as a Nelly Furtado fan was quite brief.
Ja Rule ft Ashanti - Always On Time
When it was the MTV awards in later 2001 Ja Rule appeared with Jennifer Lopez and one of my housemates started shouting expletives at the TV to him. Fast forward to this record coming out and that same housemate said it was nice to hear a rap record that was a genuine love song and not derogatory towards women.
I can only assume he was either being sarcastic or didn't listen to the lyrics properly. The fact he raps about keeping his ho's drugged up on that ecstasy implies this isn't a genuine love song.
It was this record which prompted me to buy his "Pain Is Love" album plus his older albums.
Dilated Peoples - Worst Comes To Worst
The last time I remember listening to the Top 40 countdown on Radio 1 this record was in it. Dilated Peoples are what you would call more of an underground rap act so it was quite surprising to hear this in the Top 40.
As I was listening to rappers like Eminem who were hugely popular I could hardly begrudge Dilated Peoples for having a number 29.
R Kelly - The Worlds Greatest
I had a housemate at the time (different to the one mentioned in the Ja Rule post) who was a big indie fan who hated rap and R&B. We argued about music all the time and I made the point that in order to be a good tune it needs to have a good beat.
Then this tune came out which I liked, but I would be lying if I was to say it had a good beat. It does however show the music genius of R Kelly in that he can make a good tune without a good beat.
Mis Teeq - B With Me
When UK garage went commercial I got pissed off. The underground music I had listened to was now getting into the Top 40. Then everybody jumped on the bandwagon. Mis-Teeq were essentially an R&B group doing UK garage because that's what was in.
At the same time though, I couldn't help but like Mis-Teeq. I conceded by the end of 2001 and bought their "Lickin On Both Sides" album.
This would be the last UK garage single they did and to be honest the R&B numbers they did later on weren't as good.
Beverley Knight - Shoulda Woulda Coulda
My policy of buying a CD single back in the day is if I don't consider said artist good enough for me to buy the album but I love the single in question. I bought this CD single.
To me Beverley Knight was a prime example of why British R&B doesn't enjoy the same success as America. It wasn't bad, but just a bit generic.
Then she released this which is so good it could almost be American.
Busta Rhymes - Break Ya Neck
When I got into rap music I was quite particular in what I listened to. I was aware of the east coast-west coast rivalry and I was very much west coast in that respect.
I couldn't help but like Busta Rhymes though, who's an east coast rapper. Then he released this record which was produced by Dr Dre. I breathed a sigh of relief that we finally had a west coast connection.
I have tried rapping along to this but it's impossible.
Minimalistix - Close Cover
This was one of those records I heard and thought this is something I've been waiting to hear all my life. I remember talking to one of my housemates about how this almost spans different genres which was met with the response "I don't give a shit".
I almost bought it on vinyl until I saw it was on Ministry of Sound. This was a brand I despised at the time so I decided against it.
Ali G ft Shaggy - Me Julie
Obviously this record was a piss take, but it wasn't too different to your typical Shaggy record and I like Shaggy.
I did watch the Ali G movie this came from though and it was without a doubt the worst thing I've seen from Ali G. That's often the way when a TV show is turned into a film.
Jennifer Lopez - Ain't It Funny
I thought the original of "Ain't It Funny" was shit, but this remix sounds nothing like the original. It did get overplayed I'll admit and I did get sick of it, but I was loving it before it got to that point.
I've also seen that Easter that year was in March which makes sense because this record does remind me of eating lots of Cadburys Creme Eggs.
Shy FX ft T Power & Di - Shake UR Body
At the turn of the century I had a bit of a grudge against drum & bass because it had got so big whilst happy hardcore was basically dead.
By this point though I stopped caring about happy hardcore and this record showed me that there were still decent drum & bass records coming out.
Last night saw the end of what I believe to be the longest period of my adult life without seeing any live music. Originally scheduled for the end of the first week of lockdown 2020, the gig celebrating the 20th (now 22nd) anniversary of Goldfrapp's debut album "Felt Mountain" finally happened.
I've seen Goldfrapp enough times now that I can no longer remember how many times I've seen them. One thing I do remember the first time I saw them was drinking expensive beer that tasted of socks. A combination of being older and the fact "Felt Mountain" was a downtempo album meant I decided against drinking beer, so no rant about the rip off beer prices.
As this is the longest I've ever waited for a gig it's probably the one I've given the most thought to prior to it happening. I had this vision of Alison Goldfrapp walking onto the stage with "Lovely Head" the opening track to "Felt Mountain" playing.
That never happened though, the tunes played were not in the order of the album and "Lovely Head" was in fact the last tune they did prior to the encore.
I own every Goldfrapp album and have listened to them all enough times to know them pretty well. What became apparent last night though is that whilst I recognised the tunes, I'd forgotten what many of them were called.
Alison was probably the most talkative I've ever seen her on stage. She normally has very little to say between the songs, but last night she was engaging with the audience asking how far people had travelled to go to the gig. When someone shouted out "Peckham" she asked what bus did they get, which was quite amusing.
In the encore they did a trio of some of the bigger tunes in "Ride A White Horse", "Strict Machine" and "Train". OK I haven't completely forgotten the names. Being more uplifting numbers, we all got off our seats for the first time. A shame it ended after that, but hopefully the latter two were a warm up to a 20th anniversary gig of "Black Cherry" next year.
It was inevitable that Helter Skelter would feature at some point and here it is, the first one of the year. By the end of the decade Helter Skelter was pretty much the biggest rave out there, but at this point in time it played 2nd fiddle to Dreamscape and it could be argued there were other raves which were bigger.
1995 was what you could call my learning year about all things rave. Once I got past The Prodigy and co I learned about Dreamscape and it's tape packs. You couldn't buy them in Our Price or HMV though which were the only record shops in my local town. I did however learn there was a clothes shop you could buy them from.
One day I went into said clothes shop and asked if they had any Dreamscape tapes. They hadn't, but they did have Helter Skelter tapes. As I was still learning and knew next to nothing about the rave scene I had no idea who Helter Skelter were so I was vary about whether it was the right thing to buy or not so I declined.
The tape pack in question was highly likely this event. Fortunately I did end up on the Helter Skelter mailing list and bought this tape pack at a later date. In fact this was the earliest possible tape pack of theirs I could buy by that point.
Helter Skelter did gain a reputation for booking the same DJs every time, but in the main arena at this event it features 2 DJs who are yet to feature in the raves we've looked at so far, Mixmatt and DJ Dance. The latter was a Helter Skelter resident DJ until 1997 and I don't ever recall seeing him on a flyer at any other event. I always thought his tune selection was good but his mixing was a bit dodgy.
Mixmatt was making his Helter Skelter debut and would only appear once more. His set is a mixture of happy hardcore and drum & bass so that's why I've featured it.
We also have DJ Destruction and Phantasy who have not featured since Dreamscape on new years eve.
It is more or less the usual suspects beyond that, with Ramos, Dougal, Slipmatt and Seduction doing happy hardcore and Hype, Randall, Grooverider and DJ Rap doing drum & bass.
What is perhaps a bit of a surprise is there doesn't seem to be so many new for 1995 tunes played at this night. These are the happy hardcore ones:
DJ Destruction - Digital Storm
Cut & Run - Building Shaker
Sunset Regime - The Fire This Time
Motiv 8 - Break The Chain
and the drum & bass ones:
Lemon D - This Is L.A.
Hot Steppers - Volume 1
Andy C - Roll On
DJ Rap - Roughest
DJ Monk - Dance Hall Style
DJ Phantasy - Ruff & Ready
Melodious - Bongo
Sub Sequence - Everyday
Da Intalex - I Like It
Mack Brown Featuring R. Craig - Slow Down
That all said, maybe the DJs were playing tunes for the first time at the smaller events and picked the ones which worked best to play at Helter Skelter. DJ Hype said on a Helter Skelter video that it sticks to the tried and tested formula and meant that as a compilment.
No tune was played in more than 3 sets and there are quite a few tunes which featured in 3 sets but it's not worth naming them all.
There is also a technodrome tape pack. I've not seen a tracklisting for these, but one tune of note that appears in a Scorpio set which certainly hasn't featured in any of the tapes I've listened to so far in 1995 is "I Want To Be A Hippy" by Technohead which became a Top 40 hit the following year.
Once I became educated on all things rave my opinion was that Helter Skelter would take priority over any other rave, so it will definitely feature again.
This was the 28th single for The Fall but just the 3rd one to make the Top 40. It's also their final Top 40 hit to date. It's hard to say whether it's a surprise this made the Top 40 or not. On one hand most people who know a thing or two about music have heard of The Fall. On the other hand they're exactly the sort of band who's success has nothing to do with the pop charts.
Their previous 2 Top 40 efforts had both been covers, "There's A Ghost In My House" and "Victoria". This is therefore their only original composition to make the Top 40.
One would therefore assume this making number 40 would be considered a success. But later on that year following the release of their next single "Ed's Babe" which didn't chart, they got dropped by their record label.
That didn't stop the band though and they carried on making new records and would continue changing labels right up until the death of only constant member Mark E.Smith in 2018.
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:
We've had the Top 40 debuts of Nirvana, now here's the debut of Soundgarden. I don't remember it at the time, but have heard it many times thanks mostly to music channels. They wouldn't return to the Top 40 until 1994 which may explain why for a while Soundgarden were very much a big name in the grunge scene that I was aware of but hadn't heard the music of. I can't say I think much to this record though.
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.
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.
I remember WASP in the late 80s but don't remember them having any hits in the 90s. I can't say I'm a big fan, they always struck me as a band who are more about their "shock rock" image than the music. I'm also not liking the fact this record is nearly 8 minutes long. It has it's moments, basically when the drums speed up but the length of the tune and most of it just sounds like noise I don't think I'll be listening to it again.
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.
I've not heard this one for a long time, possibly not since 1992. My memory of this record was that it was alright but it never had a huge impact on me. However listening to it now I'm thinking what a tune. A very smooth record that flows nicely.
This made number 40 when it first charted in 1990 but fared better when re-released in 1992. This was their first Top 40 hit that wasn't written by other people, it was written by Cheryl James aka Salt. It's been sampled in loads of dance records and I find it irritating.
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.
Inner City first hit the Top 40 in 1988 and when it came to rave music in the charts few if any were as big as Inner City at the time. The rave scene changed so fast though that by 1992 the music was completely different. Fortunately Inner City moved with the times and have a record that very much sounds like a 90s record rather than an 80s one. The downside to this tune is that it's not as good as the excellent "Pennies From Heaven" which will be appearing in the not too distant future.
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.
I loved "I'm Doing Fine Now" when it came out, but have no recollection of The Pasadenas having any other hits after that. This was the next one which is a cover of the Bread song. It's definitely not as good as it's predecessor but I did quite enjoy listening to it just now.
With the Seattle grunge scene now making it's mark in the UK we have the inevitable British band adopting that style with this record probably being the first example of this. That's not a criticism, in-fact I would say this is actually better than the American grunge records that had charted to this point.
I'm a big fan of Dutch music of the 90s in general. The trouble I have with this record though is that it doesn't sound very Dutch or very 90s for that matter. By my reckoning this is the only Top 40 hit of the 90s by a Dutch act that is neither dance music or a novelty record. That doesn't make it a bad record though
I remember this video appearing on Top of the Pops and I was excited to hear a song from the band who appear last in the British Hit Singles book. The song sounded familiar though so I must have heard the Elvis version before this.
The Top 40 debut for Praga Khan and his best known hit. It's certainly one of the anthems but it's not quite been played to death like other tunes so it's still good to listen to now. Like with a lot of the Belgian rave tunes that hit the Top 40 it has a harder edge to it than your average rave hit.
For some reason I associate Curtis Stigers with late 1992 instead of early 1992 which he had his two big hits, this being the second. It's not that it took me a while to discover him as I remember him appearing on Top of the Pops. The nostalgia factor means that I do quite like this record.
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.
This was her follow up to her big hit "Too Blind To See It". Like with many second hits in the 90s this sounds very similar to the first. They were also both written by Steve "Silk" Hurley. Normally the second hit sounds like an inferior version of the first, but I don't think that's the case here. I like both records and it's hard to say which one I prefer.
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.
This was the final Top 40 hit from their "Chorus" album and their last before they did the Abba covers. At the time I would have probably put Erasure in my Top 5 music acts which would have been thanks in part to this record.
The penultimate Top 40 hit to date from Altern 8 who were probably the biggest rave act around at this point in time. Still sounds a tune made for the dance floor rather than the charts which is a good thing.
This was a comic relief single that was around the time of the 1992 election. It's basically Bruce Dickinson doing a cover of "Elected" by Alice Cooper with Mr Bean doing a bit of comedy over the top of it. A dreadful record, but then that's the point.
I always imagined this record to be sung by someone who was old, but it was recorded in 1990 when Vanessa Williams would have been 26 or 27. Maybe I just thought it was music for old people, and it's inclusion on the Bisto adverts more or less confirmed that for me.
I've never been much of a Def Leppard fan. Even as a rocker in the early 90s they always seemed a bit wet. I did however think this record was a bit more interesting with the verses being a bit different. In fact I do remember randomly singing the verse but never the chorus. Despite the chorus being a bit crap though, the nostalgia factor makes me still quite like it.
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.
In 1992 I was liking pretty much everything that got into the charts which explains why we've had decent scores week after week. I do however remember not liking this song. 30 years later I still haven't changed my mind.
Although they still had several more Top 40 hits, this is the last Top 10 hit to date for Soul ii Soul. When they'd last been in the Top 40 in 1990 there seemed to be a lot of acts who adopted their sound. Things had since moved on and so had Soul ii Soul with this comeback record, though at the same time it still sounds like a Soul ii Soul record.
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.
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.
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 20.5/30, or 68%. Not many new entries but an improvement on last week.
