Wednesday 25 January 2023

Top 30 in 1995 Reviewed: Week 4

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 28 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Wednesday.

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 1995 with my verdict on each record:


I remember this record very well for all the wrong reasons. After it appeared on Top of the Pops I remember people from the rock crowd talking about how great this record was. It seemed a far cry from the heavier music they were bigging up a year or so prior and I thought if this is the future of rock then I'm definitely better off transitioning to rave. It was the Top 40 debut for Sleeper.

Verdict - Rubbish


The 2nd Top 40 hit for TLC which came nearly 3 years after their first. It was the lead single from their "CrazySexyCool" album. Like their first hit, this was composed by Dallas Austin. Hearing the intro to this tells me its going to be a good tune, and the rest of the tune doesn't disappoint. 

Verdict - Good


The 5th Top 40 hit for Jimmy Somerville but just the 2nd which wasn't a cover. He wrote this along with Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe, the composers of many of the Spice Girls hits. Don't let that put you off though, it isn't that bad. Not the sort of record I'd go out of my way to listen to, but not a bad tune at the same time.

Verdict - OK


This was the start of Barry White's 90s revival. I don't ever recall hearing Barry White prior to this having not been born during his 70s heyday. I remember him announcing at the start of Top of the Pops that he was going to be singing his new song on that show and I was amazed by how a singer could have such a deep voice. I think the squeaky voiced male singers of the modern era need to take note, this sort of singing is miles better than the namby pamby singing they do.

Verdict - Good / Good


I don't remember anyone still listening to Guns N' Roses in 1995. The fact this went straight into the Top 10 though implies plenty of people still were. It was however the final Guns N' Roses hit before the wilderness years. It's a cover of the Rolling Stones record and to be honest it isn't great. You could tell that they were pretty much finished as a band by this point. 

Verdict - Rubbish


When I first heard this on Top of the Pops I wasn't sure whether I'd heard it before or not. When the first verse was being sung, in my mind I'd never heard it before. Then the chorus came in and it sounded familiar. What I don't know is if I'd genuinely heard the chorus before, or its one of those things I feel I've heard before but hadn't. The verses and chorus bear no resemblance to each other and I like that about the song. 

Verdict - Good


This was the follow up to the biggest Soundgarden hit "Black Hole Sun" and came from the same album. This record illustrates what I don't like about grunge. Yes the distorted guitars are there and yes it does sound raw to an extent, but there's no real energy to it and very little aggression too. A question I asked myself at the time was what would I rather do, go out and about dancing in random places and having fun or sulking in the corner of a darkened room? I think you know the answer. 

Verdict - Rubbish


Another Morrissey record I have no memory of and will have probably forgotten about by the time you're reading this. It honestly sounds like he's just putting out any old rubbish in the knowledge he has enough fans to buy it. A complete non-entity of a song.

Verdict - Rubbish


The Lightning Seeds made their Top 40 debut back in 1989, but this was just their 4th Top 40 hit. They would become chart regulars from this point for a period of time. It was the first single from the "Jollification" album to make the Top 40 and would be their highest charting single until "3 Lions". Not a record I've really given much thought to if I'm honest, but found myself enjoying it just now.

Verdict - Good


New Order were on hiatus at this point. This was originally the b-side to "True Faith" in 1987 but was remixed and released as a single. As a result this sounds like New Order of the 80s because it is New Order of the 80s. This is a good thing, but at the same time this doesn't really sound out of place in the 90s either.

Verdict - Good


The 2nd and final Top 40 hit from the "Diary of a Mad Band" album which I own. It's quite strange seeing that this charted in 1995 when the album came out in 1993 and their next album was just around the corner. 

Verdict - Good


Steps have often been referred to as poundland Abba for the 90s which I don't disagree with at all. I would however say a more accurate description of them would be the Deuce of the late 90s. This was the Top 40 debut for Deuce and what I remembered most about it aside from how cheesy it was is the rhyming of face and disgrace. 

Verdict - Rubbish



I once sang this at karaoke one summer and the DJ questioned why I was singing a Christmas song at that time of the year. The answer is simple, it's not a Christmas song. Yes it was Christmas number one and year the bells at the end may give a hint of Christmas, but the song was about Tony Mortimer's brother after he'd taken his own life. Anyway like with pretty much all the East 17 hits, I like it and it's one of my favourite ever Christmas number ones.

Verdict - Good


Peter Andre once said that his songwriting process begins with him waking up with a melody in his head. When he wrote "Flava" I can only assume he'd been listening to "Hoochie Booty" by Ultimate Kaos the night before. This was the 2nd Top 40 hit for Ultimate Kaos who were a Simon Cowell created boy band. It's therefore cheesy, but lacks the charm of its predecessor "Some Girls". 

Verdict - Rubbish


The title track from their 2nd album. The first Massive Attack album "Blue Lines" is one of my all time favourites so was always a lot to live up to. It features Tracey Thorn from Everything But The Girl on vocals and this is where I struggle somewhat with this record. I've always found her singing rather irritating. Fortunately her singing is low key enough to not ruin the record which is great in every other respect.

Verdict - Good


This was the final single to be released from the excellent "Dummy" album which came out in 1994, but was the first to make the Top 40. It's also the final track on the album, which is one of my favourite albums of all time. I don't know what else to say really, just give it a listen and let the music do the talking.

Verdict - Good


This was the 5th Top 40 hit for Oasis and biggest hit to date, possibly helped by the fact every man and his dog had the "Definitely Maybe" album but this never appeared on an album. Although it's clearly a different song, I can't help but think of it as a blatant rip off of "I'm Free" by the Rolling Stones and it's almost surprising Jagger and Richards didn't take legal action given it doesn't take much for them to do that. Instead it was Neil Innes who took legal action for it's resemblance to one of his songs. I never got Oasis though, doesn't appeal to me at all.

Verdict - Rubbish


Let Loose were a boy band with guitars and this was their 3rd Top 40 hit. I think I'd learned to ignore them by this point because the only bells this is ringing is it being how I remember Let Loose sounding, i.e. shit.

Verdict - Rubbish


There was a brief period of time when the Riverdance was big. Never been a fan of dancing myself so I ignored it the best I could. But given it's popularity they couldn't resist releasing a single from it. The fact it's all about watching the dancing rather than listening to the music though suggests the music isn't really up to much, which it isn't.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the 2nd UK Top 40 hit for German eurodance act (MC Sar And) The Real McCoy and the follow up to their biggest hit "Another Night". Unlike many other eurodance acts, they also were successful in America. Also unlike many other eurodance acts, I liked them enough to buy the album though admittedly this was years later and bought from poundland.

Verdict - Good


The Top 40 debut for Boyzone, the Irish version of Take That. After they had a few hits it became apparent that Ronan Keating has quite a deep singing voice but he's pretty high pitched here and you can kind of sense he's struggling to sing like that. Like many Boyzone hits it's a cover that just sounds like a karaoke version of the original.

Verdict - Rubbish


Yes that's right, Simple Minds were still having hits in 1995. I do remember this being in the charts at the time though so not that much of a surprise. It's far better than their 1991 efforts that suggested they were past their best. I'm not going to suggest this is up to the standards of "Theme For Great Cities" because it isn't, but it's still a decent effort.

Verdict - Good


There was once a pub in Newcastle called "Tut 'N' Shive" and whenever I'd walk past it I'd sing this in my head but changing the words to "I don't see nothing wrong with a little Tut 'N' Shive". Then it changed it's name to "Dog & Parrott" and "I don't see nothing wrong with a little Dog & Parrott" doesn't really work. Anyway I love this record, it's the opening track to a "Pure Swing" compilation I own and also appears on his "12 Play" album which I also own.

Verdict - Good


If grunge killed off hair metal then punk killed off grunge. Had I not got into rave then this would have probably been the direction I would have taken music wise. I sort of was gearing towards this at the time and in a roundabout way got there eventually by owning all the Green Day albums and forming a punk band years later. I love the drums in this record, something about the moment where they kick in.

Verdict - Good


We had reached the mid-point of the 90s and the 80s was very much a distant memory. Or so it seemed until The Human League made a comeback. I remember how out of place this record sounded at the time and in my mind there was no room for 80s music in the 90s. I do like 80s synth pop music these days including some Human League records, but not this one.

Verdict - Rubbish


I was getting a bit confused when listening to this just now. My memory of it is that it was a dance cover of the Bonnie Tyler record, but I start listening and finding this too is a ballad. That is until around a minute and a half in when it turns into a dance record. It's a very poor transition though and a poor record all together. It's the only time Nicki French will feature, but she did have one further Top 40 hit in 2000 with the Eurovision entry which makes sense.

Verdict - Rubbish


The only Top 40 hit for Ini Kamoze who had been around since the early 80s and was in his late 30s by this point. It has 90s nostalgia written all over it, but even in the late 90s I remember looking back on records like this and thinking they don't make them like that anymore.

Verdict - Good


This record changed my life. Prior to this I was part of the grunge crowd and rave was the enemy. I was becoming disillusioned with it all and felt I was listening to music I should be listening to rather than what I wanted to listen to. Then this came along which was precisely what I shouldn't have liked, but I thought it was pretty much the best record out at that moment. I concluded that rave was much more up my street and so my transition to a raver began. 

Verdict - Good


I remember going on holiday in 1995 and going to a restaurant the first night which was almost empty. As I dined it became apparent why nobody went there. The restaurant manager seemed to love this song, playing it multiple times that evening and encouraging diners to get up and dance to it with him. Needless to say I never went back. A boring depressing record.

Verdict - Rubbish


I used to regularly go to a pub quiz where the first round was always music clips where we had to give the artist title and year. There would be a common theme between the clips and one time it was number one hits of the 90s in which this appeared. Obviously the artist and title wasn't a problem, but the year wasn't so straightforward. On one hand it entered the charts in 1994 but it topped the charts in 1995, so which year was he wanting? I can't remember which one it was now, but it was different to the one I gave. That association makes me hate the song even more than I did previously. 

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 15.5/30, or 52%. Same as last week.
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