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:
This record originally came out in 1991 but was remixed and made the Top 40 for the first time in 1995. I remember going to a disco at the time and the person putting it on assured me there would be plenty of rave/dance music. This was playing as I walked in and I thought it was a good start. I can't remember much else about the disco if I'm honest.
Verdict - Good
The New Power Generation were the backing band of Prince and this is the 2nd and final Top 40 hit credited to them even though Prince is featured on it. One of those records that I don't exactly dislike but is nothing to write home about.
Verdict - OK
The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for both Guru and Chaka Khan. It had been 2 years since we'd last seen Guru in the Top 30 and 5 years since we'd seen Chaka Khan. It's more a continuation of the jazz rap style we'd seen from Guru previously and it's good.
Verdict - Good
I have a memory of listening to the Chris Evans Breakfast Show one day on Radio 1 at the time and liking everything he was playing on it. I remember this record being one of those that he played. It was the Top 40 debut for Dana Dawson and was her biggest hit.
Verdict - Good
The solo Top 40 debut for Mary Kiani who had previously been this singer of The Time Frequency. It's a dance record that's very much a commercial sounding one which is kind of expected when the artist is a vocalist. I do like it though.
Verdict - Good
This was her follow up to he big hit "Chains" but she was never able to hit the same heights again. It's almost going into country music territory which is evident by the fact a country singer did a cover of it. Not my sort of thing.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Lisa Moorish which is a cover of the Wham! record. It's a bit of an odd choice for a female singer to be covering a record saying I'm your man. More to the point this cover is absolutely terrible.
Verdict - Rubbish
The solo Top 40 debut for Edwyn Collins who had previous been in the Top 40 as part of Orange Juice. This record is all about the guitar, I love the way it basically repeats the lines that he sings. The rest of the guitaring is great as well.
Verdict - Good
The Top 40 debut for Alanis Morissette. It's a well known song but was pretty low key at the time with her album "Jagged Little Pill" getting more of the attention. What I do know is that I don't like this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Ash though I recall them establishing themselves around the same time as Reef. Part of the reason for me transitioning from rock to rave was because the new bands like Ash and Reef were too soft. I've therefore never had a favourable view of this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
20. Moist - Push (New)
The only Top 40 hit for Moist which originally charted in 1994 and fared better the second time round in 1995. It sounds like the sort of record that would be more likely to succeed in 1994 as it's heavier than your average 1995 guitar record. That's a good thing though.
Verdict - Good
It had been over 2 years since Shaggy topped the charts with "Oh Carolina" but took until this record for him to score his 2nd Top 40 hit. It's based on the Mungo Jerry record of the same name and features extensive vocals from Rayvon, the first act from Barbados to have a Top 40 hit. A fun record.
Verdict - Good
18. Shiva - Freedom (New)
The 2nd and final Top 40 hit to date for Shiva. She was a house singer who had died in a car crash in June of that year. A great bit of house music and they don't make them like this anymore.
Verdict - Good
This record was famously featured on the soundtrack to "Batman Forever". It's a crap film like all the Batman films are but the music is good. I love the intro/outro riff to this.
Verdict - Good
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
It had been almost 2 years since we'd last seen The Shamen in the Top 40. This record came out shortly before Mr. C opened The End nightclub which was a club for underground dance music. It would seem The Shamen had more of an underground sound with this record which is a good thing.
Verdict - Good
The biggest hit for Supergrass and the one they're best known for. I was already familiar with Supergrass courtesy of their previous hits and had them down as a bit of a moody band. I was therefore surprised at how uplifting "Alright" was. They're back to their moody selves on "Time" but are sounding a bit poundland Rolling Stones for my liking.
Verdict - Good / Rubbish
13. Deuce - On The Bible (New)
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Deuce and it was the final one to feature main singer Kelly O'Keefe before she left the group. Like its predecessor it's a dreadful record and no doubt inspired the music of Steps in years to come.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 5th Top 40 hit for the Levellers and the 3rd to make number 12. It was the lead single from their "Zeitgeist" album. When they first broke through their music sounded soft compared to other guitar bands but by this record it was sounding heavy compared to guitar bands at the time. Quite refreshing in a way.
Verdict - Good
This was the record that kicked of hardbag music from a chart perspective in 1992. In 1995 we were really in the peak period for hardbag so it made sense for this to be given a 1995 makeover. It was remixed by Dutch producer Patrick Prins who also had Top 40 hits under the names Ethics and Subliminal Cuts. A decent remix.
Verdict - Good
If I had to pick a record to sum up the summer of 1995 then this would probably be it. This was also my favourite of The Outhere Brothers hits.
Verdict - Good
The solo Top 40 debut for Suggs. It's a reggae style cover of the Beatles record and an original record. It's nowhere near as good as the Beatles record but is pleasant enough. Not too keen on "Off On Holiday" though.
Verdict - Good / Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Diana King and the record she is best known for. It was from the soundtrack to "Bad Boys", a film that has Will Smith in it. The fact it wasn't Will Smith making the record for the film might have indicated that he'd given up on music. Maybe that's why I like this.
Verdict - Good
One thing that makes Corona different to your usual eurodance acts is that they have 3 big hits that could all claim to be their big hit. Not only that but each of those 3 are quite distinctive and not just soundalikes of what they've done before.
Verdict - Good
The Top 40 debut for JX and also the record he's most famous for. It did sound quite futuristic at the time and falls under the progressive house banner. It wasn't his highest charting hit though, that came 2 years later. One of the classics which does mean somewhat overplayed, but still decent enough.
Verdict - Good
"Kiss From A Rose" was originally a Top 40 hit in 1994 but was given a new lease of life when it featured in the "Batman Forever" soundtrack. I'd never heard "I'm Alive" until I bought the CD single of this.
Verdict - Good / Good
I've already mentioned a memory of listening to the Chris Evans Breakfast Show one day on Radio 1 around this time and liking everything he was playing. This was another of those records that he played. It became the biggest hit to that point for TLC.
Verdict - Good
This was the 3rd Top 40 hit for Boyzone and for a while it was the only Boyzone hit that wasn't a ballad. As a result it's quite possibly the best Boyzone single, but it's still crap though.
Verdict - Rubbish
This originally made the Top 40 at the beginning of the year but was much more successful when it re-entered the Top 40 in August. I can sort of understand why because it's a record more suited to the summer. It's great to listen to whatever the time of year though.
Verdict - Good
Robbie Williams had left Take That by this point but his vocals were still present on the record. Howard Donald took lead vocals on this record which was unexpected given he was very much in the background prior to this. I hated it at the time, but now it's 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 23.5/30, or 78%. Slight drop but still a high score.
No comments:
Post a Comment