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:
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
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
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
27. Clock - Holding On 4 U (New)
This was the 7th Top 40 hit for Clock and the 7th and final Top 40 from their debut album "It's Time". I always viewed Clock as commercial cheese but didn't realise at the time that the main man behind Clock was Stu Allan. He was a well respected DJ and this was his commercial vehicle a bit like Mike Pickering with M People. Much like M People, it's not to my taste.
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
25. MN8 - Pathway To The Moon (New)
When MN8 made their chart debut a year earlier with "I've Got A Little Something For You" it was very much of the commercial British R&B variety that's inferior to it's American counterpart, but was a lot of fun to listen to. By this record the fun had gone. It's like they'd gone from being a commercial British Jodeci to a commercial British Boyz II Men.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Alanis Morissette with all 3 being amongst her better known hits but she was still yet to break the Top 20. Maybe most of the people who would have bought those singles already owned her "Jagged Little Pill" album. I personally found Alanis Morrissette's record very hit or miss and in this case it's a miss.
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
Pete Heller and Terry Farley were big names in the dance music scene and had previously had a Top 40 hit under the name of Fire Island. This was their only Top 40 hit as Heller And Farley Project and is one of the anthems from the time. I do think it earned that status though.
Verdict - Good
21. Grace - Skin On Skin (New)
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Grace which continues the trance sound of their previous 2 hits and came at a time when there wasn't an awful lot of trance records in the Top 40. As a result there was absolutely no shame in saying you liked trance at the time because generally it was pretty good.
Verdict - Good
The 2nd of 3 Top 40 hits for Candy Girls which was also their biggest. I'd also say this is my favourite of theirs. I mentioned from reviewing another hardbag track that the genre was nearing the end and starting to sound tired. This record goes against that statement, but I'm pretty sure this had been around a while before it got released.
Verdict - Good
Sepultura were a band I listened to when I was into metal music a couple of years prior. They were heavier than a lot of other bands I listened to and had never had a Top 40 hit at that point, facts I really liked. I didn't realise until years later that the album I had a copied tape of was from 1987. Anyway they finally scored their first Top 40 hit with this. I'd long moved on by this point though, realising I just find it a racket really.
Verdict - Rubbish
In 1996 nobody admitted to liking Simply Red even though people clearly did after they'd topped the charts the previous year. I get the criticism, but I generally find their music quite decent. This ones a pretty solid effort.
Verdict - Good
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
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
Despite being a brand new record in 1996, this sounds like it could have easily come out in 1966. That's not a bad thing though. I do remember hearing this a lot at the time so I did get a bit sick of it, but still not a bad tune.
Verdict - OK
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
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
What's becoming a bit of any eye opener for me is just how many rubbish records Babyface has written. I can only assume he keeps the good ones for himself. It's a Whitney Houston ballad from a movie, I guess it worked before. It's the only Top 40 hit to date for Ce Ce Winans.
Verdict - Rubbish
This is the title track to their album which has "Set You Free" on it. Despite the massive impact "Set You Free" had on me, N-Trance did too much rubbish after for me to warrant buying the album. In include this track that doesn't sound an awful lot different to the rubbish Snap! were putting out a few years prior.
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
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
8. Bjork - Hyperballad (New)
This was the 3rd and final Top 10 hit to date for Bjork. I can only assumed this reached those heights off the back of the success of "It's Oh So Quiet". It's a complete non-entity of a record and this is why I was questioning who exactly is buying these Bjork records.
Verdict - Rubbish
7. Blur - Stereotypes (New)
When it came to the Blur vs Oasis battle the previous year, Blur picked the worst of the singles from "The Great Escape" album for that battle as I don't like "Country House" but like the other 3 singles of which this was the 2nd. It's an illustration of why I thought Blur were miles better than Oasis in their heyday.
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 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
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
3. Robert Miles - Children (New)
A record you definitely couldn't avoid hearing in 1996, but what a tune. Like many dance records at the time, this was already over a year old by the time it was released. It's one of those tunes you can sit back and relax to but also get up and dance to, and I've done both.
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 15.5/30, or 43%. Back above 50%, I predicted it will do down next week.
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