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:
The other Scatman Top 40 hit. It sounds like there's a more serious message in this one but you can't really take this record seriously. The eurodance sound, the funny noises he makes and the fact it's referring to his own fantasy world see to that. A great record though.
Verdict - Good
The Top 40 debut for Garbage. I'm surprised this record only got to number 29, it seemed a lot bigger than that at the time. I was also surprised when I was the only one on my team at a music quiz a few years ago who knew this record. I told them they'd been missing out.
Verdict - Good
The Top 40 debut for Umboza which is a house record that samples "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie. Admittedly it does sound a bit like the sort of record you'd hear on holiday in the summer and it charts at the end of the summer. I quite like it despite that fact.
Verdict - Good
Gompie were a Dutch group who covered the Smokie record "Living Next Door To Alice" with the audience adding "Alice, who the fuck is Alice" into it. This was big on the continent but was overshadowed by Smokie's rerelease with Roy 'Chubby' Brown which was a reaction to the success of this. Both records are good fun though.
Verdict - Good
This was the only Top 40 hit for OT Quarter who's members were Rollo from Faithless and Rob Dougan who have both enjoyed Top 40 success in other acts. It was the first time both had been in the Top 40 in any act. It was also the first hardbag record in the Top 40 that wasn't by Felix. I do like a lot of hardbag music including this.
Verdict - Good
What I was learning from being a raver in 1995 was that you generally weren't supposed to like house music because it's too slow. There were of course exceptions to the rule and this was one of them. The person who told me of that rule liked this record himself.
Verdict - Good
24. The Verve - History (New)
I think I know why the 1995 Verve singles didn't do anywhere near as well as their 1997 singles. Whilst their 1997 singles aren't my cup of tea, I can at least distinguish between them and tell you how they go. I can't say the same for their 1995 hits.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Candy Girls who was an alias of Paul Masterson. They were one of the hardbag acts who managed multiple Top 40 hits. The only negative thing I have to say about this record is that follow up "Wham Bam" was better.
Verdict - Good
After being top of the charts for an eternity with the dreary ballad "Think Twice" it would seem that Celine Dion could release any old rubbish and people would buy it. That seemed to be the case with this French language record.
Verdict - Rubbish
This record is a ballad, not something you'd usually expect from Erasure. A ballad has the potential to be a masterpiece when done well and this is what has happened here. Erasure were really past their commercial peak at this point, but this is one of my favourite Erasure records.
Verdict - Good
This was the follow up to "You Do Something To Me" which is perhaps the best solo record Paul Weller has ever done. With this one though it's back to Paul Weller doing his song again.
Verdict - Rubbish
The winner of the Blur vs Oasis chart battle. As a raver at the time I didn't care for Blur or Oasis but if I had to pick one it would have been Blur. In fact I did like Blur during their "Parklife" album era. This record marked the start of their demise in my opinion
Verdict - Rubbish
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 record is based around a sampled of "All Night Long" by the Mary Jane Girls. I guess it makes sense given the similarities of their names. I heard this before I heard the Mary Jane Girls record which may be a factor in me liking it, but I do prefer the Mary Jane Girls record.
Verdict - Good
16. Menswear - Stardust (New)
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Menswear and it already appears like their popularity was fading, least of all because I don't actually remember this record. It's not a very memorable record though.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was originally a Top 40 hit in 1994 but fared better on it's return to the Top 40 in 1995. Around the same time there was a happy hardcore record called "Rainbow in the Sky" by Paul Elstak that was based on the same tune but with different lyrics.
Verdict - Good
There's almost a bit of a reggae vibe to this record which isn't how I remember this record if I'm honest. I don't think I've heard it since 1995 and my memory of this record is it being a typical depressing Michael Bolton ballad. To be fair it's not a million miles away from that.
Verdict - Rubbish
13. Cast - Alright (New)
Which Britpop band had a hit in 1995 called "Alright"? The answer to that question could be Cast or Supergrass though they're different records. This is also quite an uplifting number and I quite like it.
Verdict - Good
A criticism I had of Bon Jovi during this era at the time was that their songs were either ballads or acoustic numbers. Then came this record which is neither. In fact I found it hard to pick a fault with this record.
Verdict - Good
With a title like this it presumably didn't get much radio play. I have to say I do find the lyrics to this one quite funny. It's and American dance record which fitted in well with the hardbag scene, though not sure it was technically part of it. I like it whatever it is.
Verdict - Good
The run of Top 10 hits continued for Wet Wet Wet with this record. Marti Pellow's ponytail had gone but it would seem he lost none of his power. Once again I feel like I shouldn't like this record but I do.
Verdict - Good
The Outhere Brothers has what was arguably the biggest anthem of the summer of 1995 with "Boom Boom Boom". It was always going to be difficult to follow that up and have the same impact. This was much more low key that it's predecessors, but still a decent enough record.
Verdict - Good
Janet Jackson had finished with releasing just about every song on her self titled album as a single. Now it was time for a greatest hits album which this record was written for. Not my cup of tea.
Verdict - Rubbish
This of course was the theme song for the TV show Friends. I used to watch Friends back in the 90s and I liked it but I have to say it's not aged very well. The theme music though was always shit, but it was probably intended to be that way.
Verdict - Rubbish
After the impact that "Set You Free" had on me I was excited to hear a follow up record which was this. This quickly turned to disappointment, this wasn't rave at all, it was a cheesy remake of the Bee Gees record.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was originally a Top 40 hit for Smokie back in 1976. Then there was a cover by Gompie that was big in Europe where the audience would reply "Alice, who the fuck is Alice". Smokie therefore decided to revive this song and get comedian Roy 'Chubby' Brown to add the "Alice, who the fuck is Alice" bit. I think it's great.
Verdict - Good
When this record came out I remember being shocked at Mariah Carey making a record that was so upbeat. It's based around a sample of "Genius Of Love" by Tom Tom Club which is a great record. However the last thing it needs is Mariah Carey's whiny voice over the top of it.
Verdict - Rubbish
This record was written by R Kelly. It's a ballad and R Kelly was one of those people who knew how to write a ballad well.
Verdict - Good
After this record appeared on the Levi's advert it became Shaggy's second number one out of his first three Top 40 hits. It's a silly record really but great fun to listen to.
Verdict - Good
1. Simply Red - Fairground (New)
It had been 3 years since we'd last seen Simply Red in the Top 40 and this comeback single gave them their only number one record to date. The not very musical verses followed by a really catchy chorus works really well.
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 20/30, or 67%. The score remains the same.
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