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 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
29. Finn - Suffer Never (New)
Crowded House were still going at this point but Neil Finn reunited with his brother Tim to give us an insight as to what his music would be like after Crowded House broke up. It's music that isn't very good, the sort that one just writes for themselves once they're past their commercial peak.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was a record from the acid house era which failed to make the Top 40 the first time round. It succeeded in reaching the Top 40 after being given a 1995 makeover. Once of them great feel good records which was the Top 40 debut for Todd Terry under his own name.
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
I remember when this record came out Sleeper were generally annoying me. It was possibly a combination of hearing this song all the time and the fact I didn't like any of their music. It's the ultimate illustration of guitar music getting too soft.
Verdict - Rubbish
25. Wild Colour - Dreams (New)
Wild Colour was yet another alias for Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne and this was their only Top 40 hit under that name. It's a dance cover of the Fleetwood Mac record. I recall this appearing on Now 32 and I was intrigued by it. When I finally heard it I was disappointed. Listening all these years later it still does nothing for me.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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
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 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
This was the lead single from "III: Temples of Boom", the follow up album to "Black Sunday". They never really hit the same heights of that album truth be told, but you could often rely on them to come up with a solid record.
Verdict - Good
19. The Bluetones - Bluetonic (New)
The 2nd Top 40 hit which came before their big breakthrough hit "Slight Return". I'm not sure I remember this at the time but I know it retrospectively. It may not be as catchy as the big hits but has the right formula.
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
This was the Top 40 debut for Bobby Brown in 1988 returning to the Top 40 in 1995 at a time when is Top 40 career was more or less finished in terms of original hits. I always thought Bobby Browns music was pretty cool as a child in the late 80s and I guess I've never really changed my mind in that respect.
Verdict - Good
16. Levellers - Fantasy (New)
A sizeable number of people into grunge in the early 90s also liked the Levellers. Grunge making way for Britpop seemed to have no effect on their popularity which was helped by the fact they weren't grunge. This one sounds more punk influenced and in a good way.
Verdict - Good
PJ And Duncan are definitely one of those acts who had more hits than you'd think. This was Top 40 hit number 7 and they were only just half way through their Top 40 career. The novelty of having a couple of ex Byker Grove actors in the charts had long worn thin by this point.
Verdict - Rubbish
14. Suggs - Camden Town (New)
I'm not sure I even knew there was such a place as Camden Town at the time, but now I've long since lost count of the number of times I've been to Camden. That's certainly made me understand this record more and as a result give me a more favourable opinion of 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
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
This was perhaps the biggest move away from the Stock Aitken & Waterman era for Kylie Minogue. It's an unlikely collaboration and to be fair you can't really fault Kylie Minogue's contribution to the record, just a shame the records not very good.
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
1995 was the year that Louise left Eternal and this was her solo debut. Simon Climie from 80s pop duo Climie Fisher was on songwriting duties. It's a dreary ballad that I don't think I've heard since 1995 anf hopefully I'll never hear it again.
Verdict - Rubbish
This single was from their greatest hits album "Vault". A relative who clearly knew nothing about my music tastes bought me that album as a Christmas present that year. At the time I was listening to nothing but rave, even when I was into guitar music I never really thought much of Def Leppard. The fact Joe Elliott had gone for the Kurt Cobain look in the video may have been misleading in that respect. That all said, this is the best song I've ever heard from Def Leppard and I did grow to like it. To this very day though I've never listened to the "Vault" album and its never really been in my possession.
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
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
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
"Sorted For E's and Wizz" is the better known song on this double a-side and it's a decent enough record. I would however say that "Mis-Shapes" is miles better and is the best Pulp song I've heard. I love the attitude this record has.
Verdict - Good / Good
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 18/30, or 60%. Now we're slipping.
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