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:
With Britpop being a lot softer than the guitar music of the early 90s generally speaking and with Skunk Anansie having a harder edge to their music than Britpop my memory of Skunk Anansie is them being heavier than they really were. This was the lead single from their 2nd album "Stoosh".
Verdict - Good
Joining the Lighthouse Family on songwriting duties on this record is former Simply Red member Tim Kellett. Quite what he contributed I don't know as this very much is following the Lighthouse Family formula. It's soothing once again but the problem this time is it's not as good as its predecessors.
Verdict - OK
We're now in the wilderness years for Roxette from a UK Top 40 perspective, but Per Gessle was back in the charts as a songwriter with this record. It's the last Top 10 hit to date for Belinda Carlisle but not her last Top 40. I do like a bit of Roxette and I could see this working as a Roxette record too, but Belinda Carlisle does a decent enough job of it.
Verdict - Good
Here's yet another record that reminds me of "The Noise" with Andi Peters. That show must have had a bigger effect on me than I realised. As I recall though I believe Louise sang a line from it as part of a competition to guess what it was she was singing. This time George Michael failed to top the charts and I'd say this is actually better than his 2 chart toppers of 1996, but that's not saying much.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the big holiday song of 1996 and I can remember hearing it all the time when I went on holiday in 1996 myself. When this made the charts I wasn't expecting the 2 men who sing it to be so old, they were almost 50 by this point which actually doesn't seem that old these days. Anyway it's cheesy and terrible and everything you expect from a big holiday song.
Verdict - Rubbish
It's convenient to forget that in the good old days of the 90s we still had Daniel O'Donnell in the charts. Don't remember this one at all and I'm happy with that.
Verdict - Rubbish
The final Top 40 hit to date for Erick Morillo's commercial dance project Reel 2 Real. The formula is getting pretty tired by this point which is probably why Erick Morillo decided to pull the plug and concentrate of DJing.
Verdict - Rubbish
After Sheryl Crow had a big debut in "All I Wanna Do" her follow ups were much more minor hits until she charted with this record. To be fair her music was the sort you'd expect to do well in America but not so well in the UK. Or maybe I'm just unlikely to buy it.
Verdict - Rubbish
22. Longpigs - Lost Myself (New)
I am getting mixed up with all these long forgotten Britpop bands. This was their penultimate Top 40 hit, it would be another 3 years until they'd be back with their final one. It's a dreary and whiny noise and yet another example of throwaway rubbish that gave Britpop a bad name.
Verdict - Rubbish
Here's proof that there were charting musicians from New Zealand that had nothing to do with the Finn brothers. There had been John Rowles and Kiri Te Kanawa previously. It was the only Top 40 hit for OMC and the title more or less describes the tune. I like it though. I also know that we'll soon be getting OMD in the charts too just to confuse things.
Verdict - Good
No Todd Terry remixing this one, they've gone all trip hop instead. Makes sense given Tracey Thorn provided the vocals for "Protection" by Massive Attack a couple of years prior. The problem was the one thing I didn't like about that record was the Tracey Thorn vocals. They're more prominent in this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
To be honest I wasn't 100% sure which Ocean Colour Scene song this would be as I do struggle to match the songs with the titles aside from the really obvious ones. I was the one I was expecting and I love that intro to the point I don't care what the rest of the song sounds like.
Verdict - Good
After 18 years away from the Top 40 The Smurfs are back with this novelty take on "I Wanna Be A Hippy". It's music that's intentionally crap, I remember the adverts for the album with clips of several tracks. One more would make the Top 40.
Verdict - Rubbish
17. Sleeper - Statuesque (New)
A lot of Britpop musicians of the 90s like to distance themselves from Britpop. I can understand given it was quite a generic term. I question whether this record is Sleeper trying to make a point they're not Britpop. The video for starters is in America, but they also seem to be going a bit American on the song. A sort of poundland Blondie.
Verdict - Rubbish
I do remember this record but I don't think I've heard it since 1996. In the time that has since passed I got to know "Love Me Two Times" by The Doors and listening to this record it sounds like they're trying to remake The Doors record. As a result I just wanted this song to end and go and listen to The Doors.
Verdict - Rubbish
I did wonder whether this was a cover. It sounds like it could have been originally from the 60s, but no it was a new song. That's both a good and a bad thing. It's good because I love that 60s soul sound, but bad that it's not as good as an authentic 60s soul sound.
Verdict - OK
What a name, well the presents Maddog bit anyway. It heavily samples "Boogie Wonderland" and has a rap over the top of it, but nothing too over the top. It did like it at the time but not sure whether I'd like it if I was hearing it for the first time now. The nostalgia means I still do like it though.
Verdict - Good
This is a cover of the Four Seasons record which is a record which has always irritated me. Quite frankly I don't think any cover of this is going to change that fact. A cheesy commercial eurodance cover certainly isn't.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 9th Top 40 hit for Jamiroquai which became their highest charting to that point. I remember being quite surprised by this record because I saw Jamiroquai as being a futuristic band but here they are singing about "useless twisting our new technology". Maybe Jay Kay knew we'd have a lot more of that in the future which we do. One benefit of the modern era that didn't exist back then was the ability to go to YouTube and play music from the good old days.
Verdict - Good
The Top 40 debut for CJ Bolland and also his biggest and best known hit. The original mix is a blatant rip off of "Poison" by The Prodigy but is just about different enough. It was an Armand Van Helden remix that is perhaps the best known version though which makes it less obvious. Both are decent in their own way.
Verdict - Good
There was no escaping this song in the summer of 1996. It was the Top 40 debut for the Spice Girls and I thought it had one hit wonder written all over it at the time. Unfortunately it wasn't and there was no escaping them for the next 2.5 years which felt a lot longer.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 20th Top 40 hit for Phil Collins and his final Top 10 hit to date. It was also his first hit after he'd actually left Genesis. Yet I can't help but think this would have worked better as a Genesis record than a Phil Collins solo one. To be clear I'm referring to the later Genesis sound. I guess it just sounds uplifting for a Phil Collins solo hit. It doesn't matter who did it though, it's a question of whether I like the song and the answer is yes.
Verdict - Good
This record finally ended the Spice Girls time at the top of the charts. Peter Andre made a name for himself earlier on in the summer with "Mysterious Girl" which sounded like it was ripping off "Sweat" by Inner Circle. This time he's ripping off "Hoochie Booty" by Ultimate Kaos. The only thing I like about this record is that when you ask the question what was Peter Andre's first number one they normally get it wrong.
Verdict - Rubbish
7. LL Cool J - Loungin (New)
This was the 7th Top 40 single for LL Cool J which reached number 7 and became his highest charting hit to that point. It features uncredited vocals by Total, the R&B group I described as being poundland TLC when I reviewed their record a few weeks ago. They didn't really sound like TLC here, but just make an annoying sound that is the chorus. It's far too pop for my liking.
Verdict - Rubbish
This is basically Celine Dion does Meat Loaf. It was written by Jim Steinman who wrote the bulk of Meat Loafs hits including a Meat Loaf version of this 10 years later. Therefore it's long and over the top and not to my liking, but I will concede it's better than her usual dreary ballads. Still crap though.
Verdict - Rubbish
As someone who listened to the radio back in the 90s there were lots of records I'd hear that I didn't like. Generally I'd just put up with them, but there were some records that I hated so much I would have to turn off the radio. This was one of those records. I can also tell you that we'll be getting "Breakfast At Tiffany's" in the charts soon because that was another that made me turn off the radio at the time. Why break the habit of a lifetime, I'm stopping this before the end of the video.
Verdict - Rubbish
In 1993 there was no escaping Dina Carroll. Then she disappeared for the next 3 years until she came back with this record. She picked up where she left off with a ballad which worked well for her before and this time round she scored her joint highest charting hit. Hearing this again after all these years I'm reminded of the lyrics about a heart on the shelf which I always found amusing. I was ready to write this off as another dreary ballad but now I've changed my mind. I really enjoyed listening to that.
Verdict - Good
One thing that I get quite annoyed by is hearing that this record was the start of trance music. Trance had been around a long time before this and that includes Paul Oakenfold bringing it to the masses. It's legendary status has meant I've heard it too many times now, but it was a record I liked at the time and I still can find the enjoyment in it.
Verdict - Good
In 1996 you were more likely to find me listening to the drum & bass rip off of this rather than the Fugees record. In a way though I saw it as a good compromise between listening to this and staying true to the rave scene. It's a great record though, pretty dark but has a sung chorus to keep it radio friendly. There was no stopping the Fugees in 1996.
Verdict - Good
After reviewing "I Love You Always Forever" by Donna Lewis I knew this record was just round the corner because it was another record that I hated so much I had to turn the radio off whenever it came on. Now I'm going to end the YouTube video before it finishes.
Verdict - Rubbish
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 12/30, or 40%. Back down we go.
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