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:
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
The 40th Top 40 hit for Madonna, a milestone few acts had reached at the time. Listening to the intro I'm thinking is she trying to do "More Than Words" by Extreme. That's as exciting as it gets. It was written with her "You'll See" collaborator David Foster and both records were made for her greatest hits ballad album. Sounds dull.
Verdict - Rubbish
28. Harmonix - Landslide (New)
The internet has turned a lot of music acts from names on tapes to acts with an image and a persona. There are however still some acts from the 90s which you can find literally nothing about on the internet with Harmonix being one of them. At the same time there's nothing about this record that really makes me want to find out more. It's not a bad record at all but lacks any sort of wow factor.
Verdict - OK
The 2nd of 3 Top 40 hits to date for Up Yer Ronson ft Mary Pearce but the last time they'll feature as their final hit didn't make the Top 30. Up Yer Ronson was the name of a club night in Leeds which seemed to be popular enough for the music to transfer over into the Top 40. It's a solid record.
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
The lead song from this EP was "Kandy Pop". One of those records which was big at the time but you never hear anymore. Listening to it again though, thank god. What an annoying record.
Verdict - Rubbish
One of the songwriters on this record was Taylor Dayne alongside Arthur Baker and Fred Zarr. The latter also was one of the writers of "Where Is My Man" by Eartha Kitt and in a way this sounds like Tina Turner is trying to do something across between that and a Taylor Dayne song. As I don't like that record in question or and Taylor Dayne songs I've heard that means that this is dreadful.
Verdict - Rubbish
Prince Naseem was an undefeated boxer at the time so he must have thought he could do anything at the time. Therefore he decided to enter the world of music with this record. All I can see is it's just as well he was good at boxing really and music seemed to be something he couldn't do.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
This was the first Top 40 hit by Shaggy that I don't remember the first time around. It was the first one to chart outside the Top 20 which may explain it. I did however get to know both of these tunes when I bought his greatest hits a few years later. "Something Different" features Wayne Wonder a few years before he became a well known artist in his own right with "No Letting Go". "The Train Is Coming" is a cover of a Ken Boothe record and features Ken Boothe himself. Both decent records.
Verdict - Good / Good
The 6th Top 40 hit and only Top 10 hit to date for Shed Seven. This is the single which made them household names which was helped a lot by Chris Evans playing it on his radio show all the time. I never got the appeal personally.
Verdict - Rubbish
19. The Beloved - Satellite (New)
The final Top 40 hit to date from The Beloved. By this point they were probably best known for the "Sweet Harmony" video full of naked people. With this record they've gone and done it again, except this time the naked people are getting up and dancing. The lighting does somewhat obscure your view though. It's a dance record and probably a sign that Jon Marsh was probably more interested in being a DJ by this point.
Verdict - Good
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
17. Marion - Sleep (New)
The 3rd and final Top 40 hit for Marion which was also their biggest. The intro actually sounds slightly promising with the harmonica but then it just gets into generic noise. I guess you could say it's music to fall asleep to.
Verdict - Rubbish
16. Wet Wet Wet - Morning (New)
The 6th and final Top 40 hit from their "Picture This" album. I think we've reached album filler territory with this one. I do remember it and can distinguish it from other Wet Wet Wet records, but it still sounds very generic.
Verdict - Rubbish
15. Dubstar - Stars (New)
This was first released in 1995 but only reached number 40, but after the success of their follow up "Not So Manic Now" they re-released this. It's also the opening track to their debut album ,"Disgraceful" which I recommend you go and buy if you don't already have it. I absolutely love the intro to this and find the track very soothing.
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
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
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
This was the 9th Top 40 hit for PJ & Duncan and the last one they made under the PJ & Duncan name before going under their real names Ant & Dec. Not a bad run for a music career that started off with a song they did on Byker Grove that failed to reach the Top 40. It's also the only cover they did as PJ & Duncan. It's awful, but I guess that was always the point.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Garbage which was also their first Top 10 and their biggest hit to date. I honestly don't know what to make of it after all these years and hearing it many times. It's certainly nothing to get excited about but I don't exactly dislike it either. I guess that's what the half mark is for.
Verdict - OK
9. Cast - Walkaway (New)
This was the fourth hit single for Cast. Their first three hits were quite uplifting ones, although not really my cup of tea. Then this song came along which followed the same formula of several other dreary hits from the Brit Pop era. To be fair to them though, they did revert back to the more uplifting style for the rest of the decade.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
If you listened to the Essential Mix or Pete Tongs Essential Selection on Radio 1 in 1995 then you would have heard "Nakasaki" multiple times. For the chart release they added vocals to it, hence the "(I Need a Lover Tonight)". Often when vocals are added to a very good dance record it completely ruins it (Groovejet springs to mind). However, this is still an excellent track with the vocals and one I've listened to many times in the last 20 years.
Verdict - Good
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
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
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
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
2. Mark Snow - The X-Files (New)
Mark Snow composed the actual them music to the X Files and here it is at number two in the charts. I can't say I'm a big fan of the theme music, or the programme itself for that matter. I can't say I particularly dislike it either though.
Verdict - OK
1. The Prodigy - Firestarter (New)
This was the record which ensured the Prodigy would never have to go back to the day job. At the time I loved the Prodigy and owned the first two albums. I remember listening to the Evening Session on Radio One where they said they were going to play the new Prodigy tune for the first time and I was excited about hearing it. However, when they played it I was very disappointed. I think the main reason was because when I started listening to the Prodigy, I was moving away from rock music to listen to rave, but this tune seemed to be going back towards rock music. Since then I've grown to like the rockier tunes from the Prodigy more than I used to, but I just can't bring myself to like this tune.
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 12.5/30, or 42%. We're now sliding.
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