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:
30. INXS - Taste It (New)
My memory of what happened when is a bit hazy but I know INXS were my 2nd favourite band by 1993. No doubt this record contributed to that though I do prefer "Baby Don't Cry" which came before and "Beautiful Girl" which came after.
Verdict - Good
This was the 2nd Top 40 hit for both artists and perhaps an unlikely Top 40 hit too. I can only imagine this was riding on the success of the opera influenced Olympic records which had recently charted. Not the sort of thing I would normally listen to, but I quite like it.
Verdict - Good
28. Roxette - Queen Of Rain (New)
Before I played this I tried to think of how it went, but I couldn't. I do like a bit of Roxette and would have likely listened to this at some point. On listening to it though it does ring a bell, but is a bit boring. Definately the poorest Roxette single I've heard so far.
Verdict - Rubbish
Whenever I mention gabber music to people they usually respond with what's that? Well here we have the one and only gabber record to make the UK Top 40. As the name suggests they are Dutch which is where a lot of gabber comes from.
Verdict - Good
The era of toytown techno in the Top 40 was now over and rave was giving way to eurodance. The theme for the novelty side of eurodance was versions of computer game music with this being the first. Quite surprisingly the man behind this record was Andrew Lloyd Webber. I prefer this to pretty much everything else he's done but that's because I really don't like his music.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the 7th Top 40 hits for Little Angels who hadn't been higher than number 21 prior to this. It was the lead single from their yet to be released chart topping "Jam" album. They also had Bryan Adams doing backing vocals. On paper you'd think this would give them a bigger hit, but it got no higher than 22. The better records are often found in the lower reaches of the Top 40 though.
Verdict - Good
This is a song my memory places in 1993 for some reason. Quite strange seeing how this is an 80s band doing a song that sounds like it belongs in the 80s. Go West are one of those bands who have always irritated me and this record is no exception.
Verdict - Rubbish
This months effort from The Wedding Present sounds like pretty much all the other months effort. I like the YouTube regarding their monthly hits "The whole thing exposed how worthless the singles chart had become as a measure of real popularity. Do you think the band had a single new fan at the end of the year ?". Less than 9k YouTube views in almost 13 years suggests probably not.
Verdict - Rubbish
22. Extreme - Stop The World (New)
This is the penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Extreme and one of their best in my opinion. It's one of those records you need to listen to all the way through to really appreciate and it builds up to be quite something at the end.
Verdict - Good
When Elton John rereleased "Sacrifice" and "Healing Hands" as a double a-side charity record he scored his first solo number one. He was unable to repeat that success with this record though which was for his AIDS foundation. It was a Freddie Mercury tribute song so it's quite surprising it wasn't more successful. It does take a few listens to get into though. I thought it was pretty non descript when I first heard it but now I've heard it a few times it's not bad.
Verdict - OK
I'm surprised this record only got to number 16. It's hard to pin point one record as being the one En Vogue are best know for but "Free Your Mind" is definitely a candidate. Both tunes are from the "Funky Divas" album and influenced my decision to buy that album.
Verdict - Good / Good
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Felix which isn't as well remembered as his first. It has more of a eurodance feel to it than its predecessor which may explain why it enjoyed more success on the continent. Fortunately it doesn't cross the line into annoying cheesy territory that many eurodance records do.
Verdict - Good
This was the comeback single for Bon Jovi after 3 years away from the Top 40. The big news surrounded this at the time though was that Jon Bon Jovi had a haircut. Music wise I loved this record at the time and there came a point when Bon Jovi were my 2nd favourite band.
Verdict - Good
This was single number 28 for Madonna which was the lead single off what was only her 5th album. It somehow manages to be both irritating and boring. It was controversial at the time and the video was banned on MTV, but it's really a nothing song.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the 3rd version of this record to reach the Top 40. The original by the Bee Gees wasn't one of them though. It came 2 years after Jimmy Somerville's cover. It's done in a typical Michael Bolton ballad type way therefore it's shit.
Verdict - Rubbish
I think we're reaching the point here where the rules were getting established in that if you were female you liked Take That and if you were male you didn't. I should point out I no longer subscribe to that way of thinking, I like what I like. What I will say about this song is that it showcases Gary Barlow's credentials as a songwriter. It's a proper song, nothing particularly cheesy about it unlike their previous efforts. That doesn't mean I like it though.
Verdict - Rubbish
This is the last Top 40 hit to date for Shakespear's Sister as a duo, with Marcella Detroit leaving the following year. She sings so little in this record though that it may as well have been Siobhan Fahey on her own. The thing is though, Marcella Detroit can sing and Siobhan Fahey can't.
Verdict - Rubbish
I recall a few years ago watching a "Forgotten Gems of the 90s" show on one of the music channels. It was a welcome change to the usual anthem bashing you get on retro channels. If memory serves me correctly this was number one. My initial thought was is this really forgotten, but then I guess I've not heard it much since the 90s. That may be a reason why I still like it.
Verdict - Good
You couldn't escape this record at the time, it was everywhere. I recall "The Bodyguard" film which this was taken from being massive as well. Let's just say the film was much better than the song.
Verdict - Rubbish
A record from 1967 which was given a new lease of life in 1992 when it featured on the Levi's advert. Erma Franklin was the sister of Aretha and had more or less retired from the music business long before this. It's the only record of hers I've ever heard so my impression of her as a singer is a positive one.
Verdict - Good
After doing their Abba covers, here is Erasure going back to their roots literally. This failed to make the Top 40 when first released in 1985 but succeeded when released in 1992. I remember hearing it at the time and thinking that's more like it.
Verdict - Good
This is a tune which reminds me of the beginning of a school year. I loved this tune at the time and still do. It was the 3rd Top 40 hit for Bizarre Inc but it was a change in direction compared to it's predecessors. The story is that the record label wanted them to make more of a pop record and this was the result.
Verdict - Good
Simon Harris was one of the first DJs to bring Hip House to the charts in the late 80s. It was more or less dead as a genre in the charts by 1992 and instead Simon Harris was doing this. Why you would turns computer game music into an actual tune I don't know, in the days when I played computer games I'd often turn the sound off because the music irritated me so much.
Verdict - Rubbish
When this came out I was yet to hear the original so this was the first version I heard. I loved this record at the time and I was was very pro modern music I probably would have still loved it had I heard the original. Because of these fond memories I still like it today.
Verdict - Good
I'd pretty much forgot about this record until I watched a Classic Chart Show episode which this appeared on. I don't know if I ever know who did it at the time, but when I saw it was Vanessa Paradis I was quite surprised. I was also surprised to learn this was written by Lenny Kravitz. It certain has that 90s nostalgia to it.
Verdict - Good
When I first heard people talking about Rage Against the Machine in 1993 I thought surely they can't be talking about the group who had a hit with "Run to You" not so long ago. They weren't as this group were simply called Rage. It's a eurodance cover of the Bryan Adams record which on paper should be dreadful. It's actually not bad though.
Verdict - OK
I mentioned in the "Ebeneezer Goode" review the the person who gave me a lift to school would always turn off the radio when that tune came on. When this one appeared on the radio that person said they actually liked this record. So did I.
Verdict - Good
In 1992 there were just 2 rap records which made the Top 10, "Jump" by Kris Kross and this record. It was the Top 40 debut for Arrested Development. It was the weird noises that I always liked about this record at the time.
Verdict - Good
Literally everyone I knew at the time loved this record. Some even went as far as saying Charles & Eddie were their favourite band based on this record alone. I was no exception, I loved this record too.
Verdict - Good
When it comes to Boyz II Men I can't look past the comparison that's often made between them and Jodeci which is basically Jodeci were the bad boys of R&B whereas Boyz II Men were the clean cut group. Behind the scenes though Babyface was one of the writers and he has also written for K-Ci & Jojo of Jodeci. That doesn't mean this song is good 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 18/30, or 60%. Same as last week.
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