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:
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
The Go-Go's were one of the biggest all female groups of the 80s but never had any UK Top 40 hits that decade. They split up, did other things and then reunited which brought this, their only UK Top 40 hit to date. It fits in pretty well with the pop punk music that was big at the time and I have to say I do like this record.
Verdict - Good
A cover of The Stylistics record that was made more famous as a duet by Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross. It's worth remembering the latter was a cover and also excellent, so I don't want to dismiss this as being an inferior cover of a classic. This version actually isn't bad, but I do still think that lack of Marvin Gaye coming in makes it lose it's magic somewhat.
Verdict - OK
The Top 40 debut for Jon Of The Pleased Wimmin who was already well known of the DJ circuit. In fact I did have a tape of his from 1995 that I always thought was decent. This record was very much of it's time and we were in a golden age for dance music.
Verdict - Good
This was the final Top 40 hit for C&C Music factory which came shortly after the death of member David Cole. Their earlier material was very much the commercial side of dance music, but with this double a-side they have gone R&B. I have to say it suits them a lot more. It's a shame it took until this point for them to make a record I like.
Verdict - Good / Good
25. Del Amitri - Here And Now (New)
It had been a couple of years since Del Amitri had been in the Top 40. Before playing it I had no idea how this record would go. It rings a vague bell but I have to say I'm liking this record. The intro sounds a cross between "More Than Words" and "The Joker" but then as we get into it I start thinking this would make good music for the snooker.
Verdict - Good
1995 was considered the peak year for Britpop and Suede were considered one of the big four of Britpop. This minor hit though was their only Top 40 hit of 1995. It's a pretty boring record and I've never got the appeal of Suede generally speaking.
Verdict - Rubbish
23. BMU - U Will Know (New)
BMU stood for Black Men United and was a one off collaboration of a large number of R&B singers who were big at the time. It was made for the film "Jason's Lyric". As far as records featuring every man and his dog go, this is pretty much as good as it gets.
Verdict - Good
This was the final Top 40 hit to date for Jade. Whilst I very much associate this record with 1995, it does sound like it could have easily come out in 1993 and as a result I remember Jade more fondly than other early 90s R&B groups who outstayed their welcome.
Verdict - Good
21. Shampoo - Delicious (New)
Shampoo are only remembered by many people for doing "Trouble" but they actually had 4 Top 40 hits. This was the 3rd and the 2nd highest charting. To be fair it's not as bad as I remember it sounding, more a sign of what shit we've had in the charts since really. It is still bad though.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Supergrass who to me were portraying themselves as the Rolling Stones of the 90s. The fact the Rolling Stones had a hit called "Little Red Rooster" may have had something to do with it. As this was quickly overshadowed by their big hit "Alright" I've not heard this much since 1995. It does seem to lack a little something, but it isn't bad.
Verdict - OK
The record "Everlasting Love" has been covered so many times I do wonder why one may thing doing yet another cover is a good idea. Maybe it's knowing that the familiarity would help sell records. Nothing to like about this cover at all really.
Verdict - Rubbish
My memory of this record is that Vanessa-Mae just seemed to come out of nowhere and we suddnely had this superstar violin player. She'd actually been around a few years but was now making a 'pop' album to appeal to a wider audience. This was her big hit and I actually quite like it.
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
M People never seemed to be out of the Top 40 around the mid-90s, the hits just kept coming. They mostly followed the same sort of formula i.e. very commercial sounding vocal house tunes. I guess they had their place in the music world, just not the sort of music I would want to listen to though.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember this record featuring Pato Banton and was waiting for him to appear but then it never happened. It turns out it was a remix that featured Pato Banton which is miles better and as I remember that was the version we always heard it's the one I'm including.
Verdict - Good
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 4th Top 40 hit for Jimmy Nail and his first not to make the Top 5. It was taken from the TV series "Crocodile Shoes" which Jimmy Nail was starring in at the time. I find this one pretty boring to be honest.
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
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
This was the big hit for Alex Party. It makes me think of the Smash Hits Poll Winners party but I can't find any evidence of this ever being on it. What it also reminds me of is that a few months prior I couldn't stand this sort of music but I was liking it by this point.
Verdict - Good
After deciding I wanted to go down the rave route, a question I asked myself was which records count as rave music. This was one that I did question and the answer is no not really. It was probably more to do with the fact I liked what I was hearing so if it did somehow qualify as rave then I'd be completely justified in liking it.
Verdict - Good
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
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 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 was the Top 40 debut and biggest hit for MN8. I've often said that British R&B in the 90s often sounded like a cheap imitation of its American counterpart. This is no exception, but at the same time what a tune.
Verdict - Good
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
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
This was a record I remember a lot of people taking the piss out of at the time, myself included. We just all thought it sounded ridiculous. It's pretty dull and boring at the same time which just makes it worse.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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%. We're consistent again.
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