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:
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
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
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
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
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
25. La Bouche - Be My Lover (New)
There were many more eurodance records that charted much higher than this record that you never hear any more, but this has proved to have much more longevity. This is perhaps helped by the fact it was successful in America. There's nothing stand out about it really, but that makes it more tolerable.
Verdict - OK
This record came at a time when Status Quo were banned from Radio 1 for being too old. At the time this was an indication of music I shouldn't be listening to but these days it's an indication of music I should be listening to. It gave them their 48th Top 40 hit and will be the final time they feature here as they had no further Top 30 hits in the 90s. It never charted before for The Beach Boys and gave them their 27th and final Top 40 hit to date. I would say this record is fun fun fun.
Verdict - Good
The first of a number of collaborations between R Kelly and Ronald Isley where Ronald Isley goes under the moniker of Mr Biggs. I loved the conflict going on in the songs and this record in particular is a masterpiece. It has an iconic video which I've watched many times, but I'd say I've listed to it more on R Kelly's self titled album.
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 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
20. Echobelly - Dark Therapy (New)
This was the 4th of 4 Top 40 hits for Echobelly and the last time they'll feature here as their final hit never made the Top 30. I was a fan of "King of the Kerb", the predecessor to this record. Can't say the same for this though, too slow and boring for my liking.
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
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
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
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
This was the 16th Top 40 hit for Sting which meant he'd now equaled the number of Top 40 hits he had with The Police. I'm sure most people would be able to name more The Police records though. If anyone was after some lift music I would point them in the direction of 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
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
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
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
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
9. Gusto - Disco's Revenge (New)
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 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
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
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
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
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 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 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 we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 14/30, or 47%. Back below 50% as predicted, will it go back up next week?
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