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:
This was the 5th Top 40 hit for The Smashing Pumpkins and their first Top 10 and biggest hit to date. I wouldn't say it's a surprise this was their biggest hit, it's probably the most radio friendly. The orchestra gives it another edge and there's a sense of relief then the chorus kicks in.
Verdict - Good
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
LL Cool J records have generally been on the more commercial side of rap. That's not always a bad thing, he's made some decent records that very much fit the commercial category. It does however mean inevitably some record will me too much in that respect and this is one of them.
Verdict - Rubbish
When it was the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 I was watching pretty much every day. I barely watched any of the following Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 to the point I don't even remember this, the official record of the Olympics. Not sure why it was released this far in advance of the Olympics though. It's predictably dull.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 2nd and final Top 40 hit to date for Rollo but he would have many more as part of Faithless. It was co-written by Sister Bliss so it's kind of a Faithless record anyway. It's a chill out record which I'm not overly convinced by, but it's not bad.
Verdict - OK
The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Carl Cox and the last time he'll feature as his final one only made number 40. A memory I have of this record was it being on the radio and a friend who was into dance music appeared to not be impressed. When the DJ said it was Carl Cox though he started to have a more favourable view such is the power of the Carl Cox name. I on the other hand always considered both to be decent records.
Verdict - Good / Good
The concept of a "Londons Burning" actor doing a cover of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" is quite amusing. He should have left it at the though. Instead he does a further 2 reggae style covers as a double a-side which gave him his biggest hit to date. He wasn't finished yet either.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
It had been 2 years since Man Utd topped the charts with "Come On You Reds" with the help of Status Quo. Now they'd gone all 2 Unlimited on this record around 3 years out of date. I guess one thing you can say is that David Beckham had some sort of music career before Posh Spice did.
Verdict - Rubbish
One day I was in an independent record shop where there was a sale on. It was 3 for 2 and I bought 3 CDs that were priced at 50p each, so it was 3 CDs for £1. One of those albums was "Miss Thang" by Monica. The only tunes I knew from the album was this one and her debut hit "Don't Take It Personal (Just One Of Dem Days)". They turned out to be the only tracks on the album I liked.
Verdict - Good
At the time I was thinking what the fuck, Jamiroquai have done a drum & bass record. Not only that but it's a decent drum & bass record instead. Then it made sense when I discovered it was a collaboration with M-Beat who brought jungle to the Top 40 in 1994. It was just the 5th drum & bass record to make the Top 40.
Verdict - Good
This Simon & Garfunkel cover was the biggest solo Top 40 hit for Suggs. It was also the biggest Top 40 hit for Louchie Lou and Michie One. To be honest I was never sure whether a record was a Suggs solo or a Madness record in the 90s, but on reflection there's a clear distinction in that Suggs solo records sound a bit of a joke.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the Top 40 debut for the Lighthouse Family in 1995 which made number 34. Following the chart success of "Lifted" this fared better when re-issued. I do like the soothing nature of the Lighthouse Family's music I have to say.
Verdict - Good
Metallica released 4 albums in the 80s and established themselves as one of the big thrash metal bands. Then in 1991 they released their self titled album that gave them mass appeal but alienated some of the original fans. It would be another 5 years until the next album came of which this was the lead single. They'd softened their sound even further and all of them now had short hair. I guess they were just moving with the times, but even as a non-metal fan I have to say this is pretty poor.
Verdict - Rubbish
Oh dear. When a contestant chooses Cliff at the Movies as their bonus on Popmaster my default answer is "Summer Holiday" because that's the only one I know. There was a stage version in the 90s which starred Darren Day and this was taken from it.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been nearly 5 years since he released his "Waking Up The Neighbours" album which contained a certain 16 week chart topper. He was seemingly ever present on the singles chart since then, but album wise it wasn't until now he was releasing this the lead single from his follow up album "18 Till I Die". It's a bit more uplifting than we'd previously been used to, but it's not great.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Space. When it comes to bands who fell under the Britpop banner I would say Space were one of the better ones. It's a bit different, the verses stand out really well and builds into a strong chorus. Great tune.
Verdict - Good
The Backstreet Boys were part of the Childliners collective who charted with "The Gift Of Christmas". The name Backstreet Boys had been banded about prior to this as I recall, but this was their Top 40 debut. It's the formula we came to know to expect from the Backstreet Boys but this wasn't written by the usual Swedish songwriting team.
Verdict - Rubbish
I do remember this record but haven't heard it for years so I wasn't sure what I'd make of it now. Not a lot is the answer. The bit where she sings the title distinguishes the song, but aside for that it's really a non-entity of a record.
Verdict - Rubbish
12. Dodgy - In A Room (New)
I remember this being big at the time until the follow up "Good Enough" overshadowed it. As a result I don't think I've heard it since 1996. It takes a while to get going but develops into a pretty decent record. I didn't think I'd be enjoying it this much after all these 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
The 7th number one for George Michael and his final one to date. What stood out to me at the time was him using the word bullshit in the lyrics. That was rare in a pop song back then. It was an improvement on the seriously dull "Jesus To A Child", but that's not saying much.
Verdict - Rubbish
I'll be the first to admit this record hasn't aged very well. At the time though it was a great record and the nostalgia element means I still like it now. For me it's all about the build up when the beat first comes in. Then there's the short breakdown later on before the tune kicks in again. It was irresistible at the time.
Verdict - Good
Celine Dion was pretty well established as a chart act by this point and was mainly known for doing ballads. It therefore seemed almost inevitable really that she'd end up with a single written by Diane Warren and here it is.
Verdict - Rubbish
7. Robert Miles - Fable (New)
The follow up to "Children" which was still in the Top 40 at the time. I remember being pretty sick of "Children" by this point as it was being played all the time. This record didn't sound all that different to "Children" so I didn't think much to it initially. I did start to like it eventually though.
Verdict - Good
This was a record I never liked at the time, partly because with a name like the Tony Rich Project I was expecting a dance record but it wasn't. Then when I was going through my R&B phase I started liking it. What do I think of it now though? Well first of all I could have sworn it was written by Babyface but it wasn't, though it did come out on his label and the songwriters have seemingly done nothing else so you never know. The fact it sounds like a record Babyface could have done himself though is a good thing.
Verdict - Good
5. Louise - Naked (New)
I would say the solo career of Louise after she left Eternal got off to a slow start, but this was the record where she turned the corner. It's probably the best remembered hit of hers, though one thing I will say is her Top 40 performance shows her music career to be bigger than I remember it being. Maybe I'd trained myself to ignore it because it's shit.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember watching "A Song for Europe" where a number of songs went to the public vote to decide which one should represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest. Of all the songs on the show, this was my favourite and the voting public agreed. Admittedly it is a bit cheesy and did get played to death at the time. As far as Eurovision songs go though, I cannot think of a single one that I think is better than this. No doubt there will be Brit Pop fans reading this thinking I've now lost what little credibility I did have. But I listen to music for enjoyment, not credibility.
Verdict - Good
The record that Peter Andre was best known for. It's a reggae style pop record that sounds a bit like its ripping off "Sweat" by Inner Circle. I remember this being in the charts when Peter Andre was presenting Top of the Pops and during the chart countdown he said it was "by Bubbler Ranx and me". It's not the worst record in the world, but I'm sick to death of it now and would happily never hear it again.
Verdict - Rubbish
As a general rule music and football do not mix. New Order however showed it is possible to make a decent football record. In theory there was no reason why the Lightning Seeds couldn't have done the same and it is liked by many, but not by me.
Verdict - Rubbish
1. Fugees - Killing Me Softly (New)
I remember this going straight into number one on the Top 40 countdown which was the first time I heard it. Initially from the intro I thought it was going to be a depressing song, but then the beats kicked in and I though hang on a minute this is actually quite good.
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 14/30, or 47%. Slight improvement over last week.
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