Best Song: Baby D - Let Me Be Your Fantasy
It was around this time that I was getting into rave for the first time. This record originally was released in 1992 but never made the Top 40 until 1994 when it topped the charts. As such it was bringing back the rave spirit of 1992 and was a good gateway for people like myself to get into rave music.
Worst Song: Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You
I think this record was definitely worthy of being worst song on at least one Christmas chart, so the one when it first charted seems appropriate. It's the first record to chart in the run up to Christmas these days. The only positive about it is that it's not dreary like a lot of Mariah Carey, but at the same time it's just irritating.
Top 40 Review
1994 was a great year for underground music, but for chart music it got a surprisingly low score. On the other hand 1995 was the best year of the 90s and that was just around the corner, so how would the Christmas charts of 1994 fare?
Let's begin with the Christmas number one. It was "Stay Another Day" by East 17 which was one of just a few Christmas number ones I'm giving full marks to. It's considered by some to be a Christmas record, but it isn't.
In terms of actual Christmas records there was one more in addition to the Mariah Carey record which was "Please Come Home For Christmas". I actually bought that single on the cheap at Cash Convertors a few years later but quickly realised that I don't really like it.
Meanwhile Bon Jovi had another hit in this Top 40 with "Always" which gets full marks. That's about as rock as it gets in the Top 40, the only other guitar music came from Oasis with "Whatever" which doesn't score points.
As mentioned though I was becoming a raver and there was a jungle record in the Top 40 which was "Sweet Love" by M-Beat ft Nazlyn. Other decent dance records include the excellent "U Sure Do" by Strike and "Another Night" by (MC Sar And) The Real McCoy.
Not so good is that "Saturday Night" by Whigfield is in there along with the soundalike follow up "Another Day" plus a record that's a parody of "Saturday Night" called "Whiggle In Line" by Black Duck. Needless to say none of these get marks.
In the best year search for 1994 the number one record was "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet and that was still in the Top 40 at Christmas, it's a record I like.
What is somewhat surprising is that the 2 country hits in the Top 40 are the 2 that get half marks which are "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow and "Crocodile Shoes" by Jimmy Nail.
Also helping the score for 1994 is "We Have All The Time In The World" by Louis Armstrong, a record that's actually from 1969 which I declared the best year for chart music. It was the first time that record actually made the UK Top 40 though.
The fact I've reached the end of the post without mentioning all the record with full marks indicates we're getting a score that's in double figures.
Score: 12
Table
1994 tops the Christmas charts table and is actually a better chart than the one from the best year search:
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