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:
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
The problem with 90s nostalgia is that the 21st century exists. Had I been writing this in 1996 I may have been doing a more favourable review because what was being perceived was a reality that didn't really exist. Now I'm older and wiser I find music like this unlistenable.
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
When Mike And The Mechanics first hit the Top 40 in 1986 they were perhaps regarded as being a bit old fashioned given all its members came from 70s groups. This record failed to reach the Top 40 when first released in 1986, but succeeded a decade later and I remember thinking it sounded out of place in 1996. It also suffered from being played on Now 33 too much at the time. That all said, it isn't bad.
Verdict - OK
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
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
23. Cypress Hill - Illusions (New)
This era of Cypress Hill takes me back to a time when a group of us were listening to it and someone's dad, who would have been mid-30s at the time, walked in saying what the hell is this and as a collective we were saying this is rap this is the future. In a way we were right, but now we're all older than this persons dad would have been at the time and in my case at least, not really getting the appeal of the rap music youngsters are listening to now.
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
I'd heard this record long before it hit the UK Top 40. I went from initially loving to hating it pretty quickly. Basically the only rap metal act I knew was Rage Against The Machine so when I heard this it sounded good to hearing someone else doing it. Then I started to think this was pretty poor in comparison. My view has mellowed since, but I still don't particularly like it.
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
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
18. Scooter - Back In The UK (New)
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Scooter which came a few years before they appeared to be widely known in this country. I would say singles wise at least this is my favourite Scooter record. It was from the happy hardcore era which was always going to give it the advantage over their later material.
Verdict - Good
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
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
It's impossible to listen to this record and not think about TFI Friday. Just incase you didn't know, it was the guitar intro to this that the guests on TFI Friday would walk out to. It was the first of 10 Top 40 hits in the 90s for Ocean Colour Scene. 6 of those hits made the Top 10, but this wasn't one of them. In fact it was the 2nd lowest charting. It's without doubt the best record they ever did though.
Verdict - Good
Diana Ross had a hugely successful Top 40 comeback in the early 90s, but her Top 40 career had taken a nosedive by this point. That's the only explanation I can think of to explain why she did this pointless cover. I've always hated the original of this, it's the sort of record that gave disco a bad name in my opinion. This cover does nothing to improve it.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for singing actor John Alford which is a sort of reggae style cover of the song from Roberta. He was in the TV series "London's Burning" at the time so I guess a record like this is quite appropriate for the situation. Let's face it though, it's bloody awful. If he'd left it at that it would be fine, we'd got the joke and moved on. Unfortunately he didn't though.
Verdict - Rubbish
12. Alcatraz - Giv Me Luv (New)
The only Top 40 hit for Alcatraz and the only record they made under this name. Member Victor Imbres has been quite prolific over the years though and has other Top 40 hits under different aliases to his name. A decent no nonsense house record.
Verdict - Good
When I transformed to a raver, the band from the rock world I found most difficult to let go of was the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This record made that easier for me. I didn't mind it initially, but when the kids start singing at the end it makes me cringe. Also find songs about music make me cringe too which is how this appears on the surface.
Verdict - Rubbish
In 1995 I was singing this all the time, and those not into rave had no idea what I was singing with some even thinking I was making it up. In 1996 here it was in the Top 40. Technohead were a British husband/wife duo who'd recorded under several aliases over the years. In the early 90s they relocated to Holland and topped the charts with this. By the time it charted over here though one of them had sadly passed away.
Verdict - Good
As a general rule, an East 17 song would consist of Tony rapping and Brian singing. If you had to pick who was the lead vocalist for these songs though, more often than not you'd say Brian. With this record though it's very much Tony taking centre stage and I remember at the time noting that Brian was very much a backing vocalist on it. It's an odd one, a great karaoke number that you can't really sing too badly and overall a great tune.
Verdict - Good
The Top 40 debut for Etta James with a record she'd first recorded 36 years prior in 1960. It was given a new lease of life thanks to its inclusion in the Diet Coke advert. It's quite strange listening to it the whole way through as even all these years later I'm used to it ending at the point it ended on the advert. A good tune, but the only time I've ever bought a Diet Coke is for someone else in a pub.
Verdict - Good
The Top 40 debut and biggest hit for Joan Osborne, though the only one to feature here as her follow up failed to make the Top 40. I quite like the concept of god taking a bus back to heaven and getting a phone call from the pope. The first time I realised how much I liked this song was when it came on in a pub.
Verdict - Good
The 3rd Top 40 hit for The Bluetones which was really their breakthrough single. It was also their first Top 40 hit not to have blue in the title. It's catchy and still often gets played today. I could take it or leave it at the time, but can now see the appeal whilst being pretty sick of it at the same time.
Verdict - OK
The 2nd Top 40 hit for the Lighthouse Family and the one which made them household names. They divide opinion but I find some of their music quite soothing and this is one of those. A great tune to listen to whilst driving on a country lane, not that I think I've ever done that.
Verdict - Good
4. Mariah Carey - Open Arms (New)
This was a cover of the Journey record, a band who America had kept to themselves from a Top 40 perspective by this point. If only they'd done the same with Mariah Carey and her dreary nonsense.
Verdict - Rubbish
3. Luniz - I Got 5 On It (New)
The Top 40 debut for Luniz and the only record many people know them for. It's an anthem no doubt which is possibly both a blessing and a curse for them. A blessing that they have such an iconic record but a curse that people only talk about the record and not Luniz as an act.
Verdict - Good
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
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 13/30, or 43%. We've become anything but consistent.
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