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:
Jeremy Healy was known to be the highest paid DJ at the time and Amos was known to be Jeremy Healy's sidekick. I always found it quite baffling why one would pay Jeremy Healy more than anyone else particularly as I never thought much of the DJ sets I'd heard from him. At the same time though I always thought this tune was good and listening to it again I still do.
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
Vanessa-Mae is a violinist who hit the big time in 1995 with "Toccata And Fugue". It was different to your usual chart music and something I amongst no doubt many others thought was a one off. Turns out she had 2 more Top 40 hits with this being her final one to date. She actual sings at the start of this which I wasn't expecting. Anyway I think the world had moved on by 1996 and the novelty of a violinist in the Top 40 had worn off.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was one of the big rave anthems of the early 90s the first time round and has appeared in a countless number of old skool sets since. It's also a record I consider to be a classic. However it never made the Top 40 until this remix in 1996. This remix is absolutely terrible, they've added addition vocals to it, taken the breakbeats out and completely ruined it.
Verdict - Rubbish
Hardbag was more or less finished as a genre in the Top 40 by this point so it seems quite fitting to have a remix of the record which kicked it off in the first place. It ended up back in the Top 40 after featuring in the Tango advert that was apparently only shown 10 times, mostly during TFI Friday. It also contains samples from the advert itself.
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
My main complaint about music like this at the time was that it was too slow. I did however find myself drawn towards this record though. The backing vocals of "what's up" grabbed my attention. The word "underground" in the title also helped, after all I was a fan of underground music. It was the debut hit and biggest hit for The Sneaker Pimps.
Verdict - Good
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
I said earlier on in the year that Norman Cooks time in the Top 40 as Pizzaman had now finished. Turns out not quite as it was the Pizzaman mix of this record which was the single version. I always thought Duke was Italian for some reason but turns out he's a Geordie. Anyway good tune.
Verdict - Good
21. MN8 - Dreaming (New)
The final Top 40 hit to date for MN8. Now that Damage had come along there was no room for MN8 anymore in the British male R&B group world. They didn't really help their cause by releasing this really bland record, a far cry for "I've Got A Little Something For You"
Verdict - Rubbish
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
I do remember this record but I had no idea it made the Top 40. It's not the sort of record you'd expect to make the Top 40 but again the good thing about the charts back then was that a range of music could and would get in. At the same time though this music isn't to my liking so it's a no from me.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
The hardbag era was coming to an end by this point with this being one of the last hits from the genre. I did like hardbag music generally, but you could sense it was becoming a bit tired by this point. This record just sounds like jumping on the bandwagon and making any old crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Damage who were filling the shoes of MN8 as the main British male R&B group. They too suffered the same problem of British R&B being inferior to its American counterpart. It was one of the early Top 40 hits for Wayne Hector as a songwriter.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
Although this wasn't the highest charting single for Blackstreet, this is the record they're best known for. With Dr Dre rapping the intro one could think it was him who produced it, but then Blackstreet already had their own big name producer in Teddy Riley and of course it was him who produced it. I love the sampling in this record, that's what makes it really stand out.
Verdict - Good
They're called Future Sound Of London and the video is shot in London, but this tune reminds me of Plymouth. I know I went there in October 1996, but I'm not really sure why I have this association. It may have been going through my head whilst walking around, I may have heard in on the radio or may have been a completely different reason. Anyway I saw this as a solid comeback for Future Sound Of London, doesn't quite live up to their cracking debut be definitely better than any singles they'd released since.
Verdict - Good
The 4th Top 40 hit for Mark Morrison and he's turning down the tempo on this one. The trouble is he doesn't really have the voice for a record like this. It works alright on the more upbeat numbers but he's singing in exactly the same voice and it doesn't work.
Verdict - Rubbish
I've made no secret of the fact I never liked Oasis. Therefore I didn't really want to like this tune because of it's inclusion of Noel Gallagher. But I couldn't help but like it. The Chemical Brothers were already pretty established by this point, but this record was the one that made them a household name.
Verdict - Good
Prior to this record I thought The Beautiful South were pretty much finished. They'd failed to reach the Top 10 since they topped the charts in 1990, they'd released their greatest hits and were more likely to be heard on Radio 2 than Radio 1. Then this came out and all of a sudden they were big again. I like the sentiment of this song, I've been to numerous towns and cities over the years and thought this could be anywhere. Musically though not to my liking.
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
8. Suede - Beautiful Ones (New)
Someone once told me they consider Suede to be one of the underrated bands of the 90s. I disagree, they were seen as one of the big four Britpop bands yet when you had the Blur vs Oasis battle etc. they were nowhere to be seen. Then with Britpop more popular than ever, they were releasing any old rubbish and going straight into the Top 10 with it. This being a prime example.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
At the time I remember hearing that Babybird was a really prolific songwriter who'd written hundreds of songs. For many though, this is the only song of his they remember. It's a record I remember being out around the same time as "Breakfast At Tiffany's". It's not as crap, but is still crap.
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
4. Cast - Flying (New)
This was the 5th Top 40 hit for Cast and their 5th with a one word title which is their highest chart single to date. Hard to say which record Cast are best known for. I'd say they're better known as what The La's did next. I do remember several of their sits individually including this and remember not liking them.
Verdict - Rubbish
3. Faithless - Insomnia (New)
I've now heard this record more times in my life than I care to remember. It's one of those records that's universally loved, even by people who generally don't like dance music. I liked this so much I bought the single and I've never bought that many singles really.
Verdict - Good
It had been nearly 2 years since Boyzone made their Top 40 debut and I remember when Take That were still around some said they were losing their grip on the boy band world to Boyzone. Yet it took Boyzone until this record to score their first number one. Still, it was one hit sooner than Take That scored their first number one. A cover of the Bee Gees record which could be best described as the alternative lyrics of: shits only turds and turds are all I have to take your fart away.
Verdict - Rubbish
Once again I'm going to talk about "The Noise" with Andi Peters. This was when it became apparent that The Spice Girls weren't going to be one hit wonders. They exclusively showed the video to the new Spice Girls single. It's not as bad as their debut, that's the only positive thing I can say about it.
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 11/30, or 37%. Slipping again but not too much.
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