Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 27 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Friday.
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 1996 with my verdict on each record:
LL Cool J had been around for over a decade by this point, but this was just his 5th Top 40 hit and only the 2nd to make the Top 20. This was on a compilation I owned and remember finding this quite soothing. Another thing that stood out to me was the line about waiting at the bus stop, no idea why.
Verdict - Good
I don't think this was ever considered a true contender for Christmas number one but I guess it shouldn't have ever been ruled out considering how high it did chart. Bjork presented the Christmas Top of the Pops that year which obviously was recorded in advance of Christmas day when they wouldn't have known what was number one. Bjork announced Michael Jackson was Christmas number one, so presumably they recorded all possibilities of who could be Christmas number one and I do wonder whether they recorded Bjork saying she was Christmas number one herself. Anyway I didn't really like it at the time, but it's grown on me over the years.
Verdict - Good
Dreadzone have been around for years and are still going strong today, but this was their only Top 40 hit. This is their best known record and I recall it being different to anything else I'd heard before at the time. I liked it enough to buy the album and indeed other Dreadzone albums as well as going to see them in concert.
Verdict - Good
The lesser known follow up record to "The Bomb" which became the 2nd and final Top 40 hit to date by Kenny 'Dope' Presents The Bucketheads. It follows a similar formula to its predecessor, disco house with 70s disco samples and they have the same character in the video. It's what you'd expect though given that Kenny Dope uses different names for different projects.
Verdict - Good
This was pretty much the end of the road for The Outhere Brothers after being pretty much the biggest chart act of 1995. I would call this the forgotten gem of their admittedly small back catalogue. They did have one more Top 40 hit, but they're very much a 1995 act and should remain that way.
Verdict - Good
The 4th top 40 hit for Shaggy and the first not to reach the Top 10. It's proof that he did have hits in between "Boombastic" and "It Wasn't Me" which is what people were saying he didn't have when the latter was released. I like pretty much all of the Shaggy hits of the 90s.
Verdict - Good
The only Nightcrawlers album is called "Let's Push It" which you may think is a reference to lead single "Push the Feeling On" but it's actually the name of one of the tracks. It wouldn't be the last time The Nightcrawlers had push in a song title either. It sounds different to their previous 3 hits which followed a similar formula, presumably because this was the first single not to have any involvement from MK. It's a bit cheesy, but not too bad.
Verdict - OK
The 90s comeback of Meat Loaf continued with this being his 5th top 40 hit of the 90s ensuring he had more Top 40 hits in the 90s than any other decade. I think the title sounds better if said in a Scottish accent. That's about as exciting as this record gets. It's not as over the top as some of his other records but that just makes it a bit bland.
Verdict - Rubbish
In the post Louise era of Eternal they came back with perhaps the most uplifting record they'd released to date in "Power of a Woman". They followed it up with this, which is perhaps their most dreary. It was composed by the writer of "Nothin At All" by Heart and the write of "In the Ones You Love" by Diana Ross.
Verdict - Rubbish
There was a time when you knew what you were getting with an Ace of Base record i.e. a nice bit of reggae pop. Then came this, a dance record. It's the same idea though, written for the pop charts and a joy to listen to.
Verdict - Good
20. Skunk Anansie - Weak (New)
This was the 2nd Top 40 hit for Skunk Anansie and probably their best known. At a time when mainstream guitar music was getting softer it's good to hear something with a harder edge like this. I was too much into rave at the time to truly appreciate it, but looking back this is actually a decent tune.
Verdict - Good
The follow up to "Gangstas Paradise" which fell out of the Top 40 before its predecessor did. It samples the Kool & the Gang record of the same name. In January though it was anything but too hot. It's a solid follow up record.
Verdict - Good
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 Top 40 debut for The Presidents Of The United States Of America. Looking back I can see this may have inspired 21st century bands like The Strokes and The Hives, but don't let that put you off. I'm talking the punk influenced sound performed by men in suits. Always found this a good one to bop along to and nice and snappy too.
Verdict - Good
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Cast and first to make the Top 10. I don't think I've heard this since the 90s and I have to say it hasn't aged very well. I never liked it at the time if I'm honest, always thought the lyrics were silly but I thought it was quite distinctive at least. Sounds very generic now though.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 2nd of 4 Top 40 hits to date for The Saw Doctors which were spread across 8 years. In some ways it sounds a bit out of place in the Top 40 but at the same time it's not a million miles away from Britpop in general and may have even been described as Britpop if they weren't Irish. It's not my cup of tea though.
Verdict - Rubbish
I could have sworn that "Going For Gold" came out before this, but it didn't. Perhaps the popularity of "Going For Gold" led to this record getting more airplay. Shed Seven made their Top 40 debut in 1994, but it was 1996 when they really became household names. I was never keen on them myself though.
Verdict - Rubbish
This record was in the charts for just 1 week. It was the 3rd Top 40 hit for The Chemical Brothers and their highest charting to this point. It came at a time when I could still say The Chemical Brothers was my sort of music without considering them to be too commercial when they topped the charts later on in the year.
Verdict - Good
Upside Down were a boy band formed by Ian Levine and put together on the TV. This was their Top 40 debut which was originally intended for Bad Boys Inc, a previous Ian Levine boy band who had now split up. It's a blatant rip off of "Careless Whisper".
Verdict - Rubbish
I can't remember if it was the first time I'd heard it, but I can picture myself listening to this on the radio at the time and thinking this is the record I've been waiting to hear all my life. I could even tell you the name of the street I was going down when I was thinking that. There hadn't really been much of the dark side of rap music in the charts prior to this, but that's what I really wanted to hear. I even bought the single for this too which was the only thing I bought around this time that wasn't rave.
Verdict - Good
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Baby D and the best one in my opinion. It came at a time when in the rave scene happy hardcore and drum & bass had become separated, but this record is more reflective of the time before the scene split.
Verdict - Good
There's a lot to say about this record, but what springs to mind personally was seeing people who once listened to rave now listening to Oasis. It was reflected on the TV on Byker Grove too. The music aspect had gone from Frew and Barney DJing to characters who's names I don't remember singing "Wonderwall". I was firmly in the rave camp by this point though and couldn't comprehend why people would listen to Oasis instead.
Verdict - Rubbish
At the time I was a big fan of "Gangsta's Paradise" and was convinced it had been in the Top 40 longer than anything else once it had been there a while. Turns out this record entered the Top 40 the same week. As both records fell to the lower reaches, I bought the "Gangsta's Paradise" single to help give it at least another week in the Top 40. Unfortunately "Gangsta's Paradise" dropped out, but this stayed another week and I wasn't happy about that. It failed to reach the Top 40 when first released but a Todd Terry remix gave it a new lease of life. Never seen the appeal myself though.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the 7th Top 40 hit in a row by Cher that was a cover and this wouldn't be the end of the streak either. It was originally by The Real People. It's a song I remember getting annoyed at hearing all the time on Now 33. I've not heard it since and hopefully won't hear it again.
Verdict - Rubbish
To me this record illustrates all that was wrong with Boyzone's formula of doing lots of covers. The song is supposed to be a father singing to his son, but Ronan Keating was only 18 here and therefore more likely to be the age of the son being sang to. OK it's composer Cat Stevens was only a few years older when he wrote it, but I remember seeing Ronan Keating sing "look at me I am old" and thinking no you're not.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember the race for Christmas number one and not liking the fact this record won the race instead of Mike Flowers Pops. It seems to me that the only reason this topped the charts was because it was Michael Jackson. It's hard to take the lyrical content seriously when it's being sung by a man who had a funfair in his own back garden.
Verdict - Rubbish
4. 3T - Anything (New)
You have to feel sorry for Tito Jackson really, a musician in his own right yet 3T were best known as Michael Jacksons nephews as opposed to Tito Jacksons sons. What I remember about this at the time was one of them having a backpack on that he'd throw to the ground part way through the song. No idea why he did that, maybe a distraction from the fact it's not a very good song.
Verdict - Rubbish
3. Goldbug - Whole Lotta Love (New)
A big beat cover of the Led Zeppelin song. I've never been that keen on the Led Zeppelin original but love this cover. Nothing unusual there really, there are several dance records that I like but don't like the original.
Verdict - Good
This was the first Top 40 for George Michael since he topped the charts with the "Five Live EP" nearly 3 years prior. He managed to top the charts again with this. I remember the Top of the Pops exclusive of this record and thinking how boring. I still do think it's boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
1. Babylon Zoo - Spaceman (New)
One of the biggest disappointments of the 90s was hearing "Spaceman" in its entirety. When it appeared on the Levi's advert it sounded great. Then it appeared on Top of the Pops and I was looking forward to it. Once the intro, which appeared on the advert, was over it slowed down into a rather dreary song.
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%. We've slipped, but remain above 50%.
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