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:
As a teenager, which I was at this time, I never saw David Bowie as a legendary musician. Instead I saw him as an old duffer trying to stay relevant to the kids and this is an example of why I thought that. Now I'm older I still don't get the hype about David Bowie, I'm struggling to think of any records of his I like. Certainly not this one.
Verdict - Rubbish
Terrorvision were a band I liked when they first came about. None of their hits even made the Top 40 until this one though and by this point I had moved on. It's also a record I got sick of listening to on Now 33 all the time. Now I've had time to reflect I have to say it isn't bad.
Verdict - OK
28. Almighty - All Sussed Out (New)
The Almighty were a band I was really into in the early 90s. By 1996 though I'd moved onto rave and was no longer interested. Therefore this, their penultimate Top 40 hit passed me by. I do however consider this, and their final Top 40 hit "Do You Understand" which didn't make the Top 30 the best records I've ever heard from them. They've take more of a punk direction here and if I'm listening to anything by the band these days it's most likely to be these 2 records.
Verdict - Good
My initial thought before listening was who the fuck are Electrafixion. As I start playing I realise that I remember it. Turns out this was basically Echo & the Bunnymen under a different name before they reformed the same year. On that basis I may have heard it on TFI Friday at the time. It's a little heavier that your average Echo & the Bunnymen record which is probably why they used a different name. It's actually quite decent too.
Verdict - Good
The only UK Top 40 hit for R&B group Immature who's lead singer was Marques Houston who was still playing Roger on Sister Sister at the time. It was also the 2nd and final UK Top 40 hit to date for Smooth. As the name may suggest, Immature were still kids at the time of the record which in theory could explain why it's not very good. The real reason is because it just sounds very throwaway and generic.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was described as the 2nd dance new entry in the Top 40 countdown that week after the Carl Cox record. Given both Carl Cox and Sasha had long been established as top DJs in the dance music scene I guess there is something about them both having new entries on the Top 40 that week. Maria is Maria Nayler and to be honest I'd rather this didn't have her vocals on it, but I'll try not to let that get in the way of my enjoyment.
Verdict - Good
The formula for this record is basically take a sample of an old disco record and repeat over and over again. Yet somehow the result is fuckin amazing. I could listen to this over and over again, I really could.
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
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
21. The Connells - 74-'75 (New)
The only UK Top 40 hit for The Connells and I think one of those situations where it may be just as well they left it at that because if I was to hear anything else by them it would most likely be a big disappointment. I absolutely love this record, there's no such thing as perfection but this is pretty damn close to it. Then there's the video showing various people from the class of 74-75 then and now (well 1993 when the video was made). I'm now older than these people were back then by a few years, they would now be of retirement age.
Verdict - Good
This was the final Top 40 hit where Eternal could enjoy pretty much having the monopoly of British girl groups. Maybe they knew this was the last time they could say they had such a good thing. I'd take this over the Spice Girls any day, but that's not saying much.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
18. Louise - In Walked Love (New)
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Louise after she left Eternal. It's a cover of a record by Expose, an American group who were big in the freestyle scene in America but have just a solitary number 75 to their name chart wise in the UK. As you would expect, this is in every way inferior to the original.
Verdict - Rubbish
This originally topped the charts in 1979 and then remixed in 1987 as the E Reg model and now we have the Premier Mix. It doesn't sound hugely different to the original version, which at least means it hasn't been ruined.
Verdict - Good
16. Peter Andre - Only One (New)
If you want a trick question in a music quiz then a good one would be what was Peter Andre's debut Top 40 hit? The obvious answer would be "Mysterious Girl", but it's actually this record. I think this record was well known enough at the time, but the name Peter Andre not so much. I can't say I was a fan of it at the time, but listening all these years later it really hasn't aged well at all.
Verdict - Rubbish
When Brian May performed this at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert and then hit the Top 40 with it, we all thought it was written as a tribute to Freddie Mercury. Then 4 years later here is Freddie Mercury actually singing it. Turns out this was recorded in 1989 and didn't make the cut for "The Miracle" album. It became the 44th Top 40 hit for Queen and first to be co-written by anyone outside of the band. As I liked the Brian May version it's difficult to not like this one.
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
A coming together of Rick Nowels who wrote most of Belinda Carlisle's hits and Billy Steinberg who'd written hit for a number of female musicians produced this which sounds like, well a Celine Dion record. She made it her own I guess, that's pretty much the only positive thing I can think of about this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
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 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
I've not heard this one in a long time and my memory of it is being a more miserable follow up to the very cheerful "Alright". Now I'm listening to it I realise that it's a pretty decent tune. I was trying to remember how the verses went but there isn't any really, in fact there's not many words to the song at all but enough to get an idea of what they're singing about.
Verdict - Good
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
This is a remix of a 1992 record with the lyrics to "Do You Want It Right Now" by Degrees of Motion. I mention Now 33 being played to death at the time and I recall this being the first track of side 2 of tape 2 which was the best part of the compilation, but that hardly ever got played.
Verdict - Good
We're still in the era of Bon Jovi that I hated at the time. I've grown to like some of the hits from this period retrospectively, but this sounds every much as bland as I remember it being. It was taken from the album of the same name.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember when this first entered the charts it was at number six for three weeks in a row. It would eventually climb to number one, the first time a record climbed to number one rather than go straight in at number one for a while. I always found Mark Morrison quite hard to take seriously with the way he sang. Still not a bad record though.
Verdict - OK
Believe it or not, this record was written by the 5 members of Boyzone and nobody else. I struggle to believe it myself, it follows that poundland 70s soul music formula that's been done several times by seasoned songwriters and producers who seem more likely to have written it. Anyway if it's true then at least some of them have talent as songwriters as it does take skill to write crap too.
Verdict - Rubbish
4. The Beatles - Real Love (New)
Like it's predecessor "Free As A Bird" this started out as a John Lennon demo with the remaining Beatles adding their parts and produced by Jeff Lynne. It's the 30th and final original Beatles Top 40 hit to date. I'd say this sounds more like The Beatles sounded in the 60s than how you'd imagine them to sound in the 90s, but that's no bad thing especially as they achieved the latter on their previous hit.
Verdict - Good
I find interviews with Noel Gallagher nowadays very entertaining and do find myself agreeing with a lot of what he says about music that I don't like. I can't say the same about his music though. I never understood why Oasis were so popular, their music was just so dull in my opinion. Not only is this tune dull though, it's rather annoying too.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
I have happy memories of this record coming out as we knew (or should I say thought) this was the end of the band. To me, doing a cover as your final song is quite a pathetic way to go out. Saying that, they could have done "Twinkle Twinkle" and it would have probably still got to number one and give them that final pay cheque they were looking for.
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 16.5/30, or 55%. The same as last week.
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