Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 28 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Wednesday.
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 1995 with my verdict on each record:
One of the criticisms you hear of the rock bands pre-Nirvana was the fact they all did ballads. This is then followed by the story of Nirvana breaking through and killing the careers of these old rock bands. Yet here we are a year after Kurt Cobain's death and we have an old rock band in the charts with a ballad. I personally don't have an issue with the ballads, I quite like a few of them.
Verdict - Good
The video for this record will show you that it was featured in the film "Dumb and Dumber". However I more associate it with being the theme tune to the TV show "Game On" which was around the same time. I liked that show and it's most likely that association that makes me like this record.
Verdict - Good
In 1995 if I was asked to name the worst band in the world at the moment then Let Loose would have certainly been a strong candidate. It was a combination of being a boy band with guitars and the resulting music sounding so lame. This was their 4th Top 40 hit and we've also reached album filler territory with this one.
Verdict - Rubbish
With Sting clocking up mostly crap Top 40 hits as a solo artist, here's a reminder that it wasn't always like that. This was a live version of the 2nd Top 40 hit for The Police which originally charted in 1979. It was released in order to promote a live album.
Verdict - Good
It feels like we've gone back to 1993 with this record, and era where we had a lot of reggae pop in the charts. Chaka Demus & Pliers were now finished with their Top 40 career and this seems to be filling the gap they left behind. I do quite like this sort of music.
Verdict - Good
It had been 3 years since we'd last seen Marc Almond in the Top 40 and this was his final solo Top 40 hit to date. He's gone in a eurodance direction on this record which makes sense given how big it was at the time. However what I've learned about the solo hits of Marc Almond is that they only really succeed if they are covers. This wasn't a cover, but I do quite like it.
Verdict - Good
There's a certain irony to this record which was the 8th solo Top 40 hit for Paul Weller. In the record he is saying that he is "The Changingman" but in reality he hasn't changed at all, he's just doing his record again.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 4th Top 40 hit for Shed Seven who were yet to really be a household name at this point. It was the lead single from their "A Maximum High" which was the album that had their biggest hit "Going For Gold" on it. Too boring for my liking.
Verdict - Rubbish
When I started going out in my college days there were basically 3 choices of venues to go after 11pm. A snooker club that was reasonably priced, free to enter, had a good bar area and generally pleasant to visit and was in the town centre near the pubs that had just closed. Then there was a small town centre nightclub that was £2 to enter but nobody really went there. Finally there was a really shitty nightclub in the outskirts of the town, £5 to enter, terrible music, lots of fights and puke everywhere. Where did we go? to the latter of course because that's where everyone else went. That's the sort of thing I think of when I hear this song, but more in a sense of being able to relate to wanting to go where the people go.
Verdict - Good
The 6th solo Top 40 hit for Bjork which saw her make the Top 10 for the first time. This time turned to Graham Massey from 808 State though it doesn't sound lake an 808 State record by any means. I found this record pretty odd at the time and it's one of those I've started to appreciate more as the years have passed.
Verdict - Good
It's rumoured that this record was written about Sarah Jessica Parker who Joshua Kadison was said to be dating at the time. It's not unusual for a musician to be dating a film actress, but doing so before the musicians had his first hit seems pretty unusual. Anyway this was played at lot at the time and I quite liked it, still do.
Verdict - Good
German eurodance act The Real McCoy were successful in both the UK and America with their first 2 Top 40 hits. This was their 3rd Top 40 hit which failed to reach the Top 10 in the UK and didn't chart in America. I do prefer the first two, but this one is still decent enough.
Verdict - Good
Not only was this record "The Highest Apple", it was also the highest charting hit of the 90s for Runrig. Generally speaking they didn't make the sort of music you'd expect to make the Top 40. It's even more remarkable that this made the Top 40 because I just find it boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Brownstone and the record they are best known for. It reached number 8 in both the UK and America. I would also say this is their best Top 40 hit and was very much of it's time, that's a better time.
Verdict - Good
The issue I used to have with the Eurovision Song Contest when I was younger was that it sounded like most of the music was stuck in the dark ages. Then in 1995 this record was selected to represent the UK and I thought wow a song that actually sounds modern at Eurovision. I also watched the Eurovision Song Contest that year and it really should have won as it was the best record by far.
Verdict - Good
Man Utd managed to top the charts the previous year, but no such luck this time around. This time the Man Utd players don't really make much contribution to the record, it's predominantly rapping from Stryker who is apparently an Arsenal supporter. It's predictably crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Weezer which is also their best known hit, thanks in part to it's "Happy Days" themed video. On a more personal level this came not long after I quit a band. I'd initially been singer and occasional guitarist but wanted to play guitar more. My band mate said OK he'll be lead guitarist and singer and I'll be rhythm guitarist. I said if I'm not singing then I want to be lead guitarist which led to me quitting. Just seconds into this record you can see the lead singer is also the lead guitarist and I felt the rhythm guitarists pain when I saw that. Didn't stop me liking it though.
Verdict - Good
One of the reasons I have 1995 down as being a good year for music is because I'd videotaped the Christmas edition of Top of the Pops and found myself liking many of the records they used to round up the year. There were however exceptions to that and this record stands out as one of those that wasn't so good.
Verdict - Rubbish
The follow up to their Top 40 debut "I've Got A Little Something For You". Amongst the songwriters on this record is Conner Reeves who was yet to start his Top 40 career. Incidentally he never wrote any of his own Top 40 hits. It's a poor follow up record that's long forgotten now,
Verdict - Rubbish
When this record first came out I thought that Montell Jordan may have been a basketball player who made a record. The fact he was so tall and had the surname Jordan would have been logical reasons why. That said, the fact is too good to be by a sportsman really.
Verdict - Good
10. Supergrass - Lenny (New)
This was the predecessor to their big hit "Alright". What I took from this record at the time was that they seemed quite a miserable band which made it seem quite strange how much they'd cheered up on their following record. It's got enough of a beat to it though to be good.
Verdict - Good
1995 was the year of The Outhere Brothers and this is where it all began. They were massive in 1995 and then afterwards they were nowhere to be seen really. I was a fan of their music, it was great fun to listen to.
Verdict - Good
This originally made number 38 in 1994 but did better when it returned to the charts in 1995 and gave Bobby Brown his highest charting Top 40 hit to date. It was also the last of his big hits. The single version was a K-Klass remix and is a dance record. A great uplifting record.
Verdict - Good
Here's a turn up for the books, an Australian pop singer who wasn't on an Aussie soap. This was the Top 40 debut for Tina Arena and the record she's best known for. This is how you make a pop ballad, once it gets going it's quite something.
Verdict - Good
I don't think anyone saw this one coming. A eurodance record that's rapped by a 53 year old bloke with a stutter. This record is about as 1995 as they come even though it was originally recorded in 1994. What a tune though.
Verdict - Good
This record confirmed that Boyzone weren't going to be one hit wonders. It was the first Top 40 hit to be written by Ray Hedges who penned several of their hits. It gave us a good idea about what to expect from Boyzone for the rest of the decade i.e. a dreary ballad.
Verdict - Rubbish
At the time me and a couple of others were given lunchtime detention at school for a few days by the science teacher in the science lab. He would listen to his tape which began with this song. We would therefore laugh at this possibly 50 something bloke listening to Take That. I always hated Take That and still think most of their music is crap, but I have to concede that this one is actually quite good.
Verdict - Good
A record from 1958 that finally entered the charts after appearing on the Guinness advert. Perez 'Prez' Prado sadly didn't live to see this records success as he died in 1989. I'm not sure I was aware of just how old this record was at the time and when I hear it I very much think 1995.
Verdict - Good
This was the 6th Top 40 hit for Oasis and it gave them their first number one. I recall on The O-Zone after this topped the charts Liam Gallagher said he wasn't surprised this got to number one because it's a good record. I too wasn't surprised given how big Oasis were becoming, but I can't say I agree about the good record bit.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut and only chart topper for Livin Joy which is also the hit they're most famous for. It's a commercial dance record no doubt and I've perhaps heard this too many times in my life by now. It does however push the right buttons to make it great fun to listen to.
Verdict - Good
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 21/30, or 70%. Another slight drop but a great score.
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