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:
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
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
In the summer of 1996 there was no escaping "3 Lions" to the point it was easy to forget that The Lightning Seeds were a band who did other songs too. This was their following single and I remember it seeming a bit weird seeing The Lightning Seeds on their own again. I also remember thinking it's not very good and I'm still yet to be convinced by it.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
Before Tori Amos topped the charts with a dance record courtesy of an Armand Van Helden remix she charted with a dance record as featured vocalist on this BT record. It also marked a change in direction for BT who was one of the first artists to have trance records in the Top 40. He's gone in the breakbeat direction on this which is always good to hear.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the Top 40 debut for Crowded House back in 1987. Crowded House were about to play their farewell gig so the re-issue of this took us back to where it started. I thought their later material wasn't so good, so it's a good reminder they made decent music once upon a time.
Verdict - Rubbish
At the time I was given the option of going to the cinema to watch "Evita". I had nothing better to do so I thought why not. It was the biggest pile of shit I'd ever seen, it was truly painful to watch. This record was from that movie which had Madonna in it.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
Underworld had been going for almost a decade by this point, but this was their Top 40 debut. Quite surprising when you consider they had some pretty well known tunes prior to this. Underworld are one of those acts where my favourite album is their greatest hits because that's what captures the best of them and that includes this record.
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
I grew up in the sticks and I guess this was an insight into living in the city. I knew pretty much everyone down my street but when I did move to a city I knew absolutely nobody on my street and they could have been the people described in this record for all I know. I've said before that Space were definitely one of the better Britpop bands which is helped by their humour.
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
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Livin Joy and their last big one really. Their sticking to the same formula of commercial dance music. Not a bad record by any means, but with this formula it was always going to have it's limitations.
Verdict - OK
Whilst I was disappointed to discover the Spice Girls weren't going to be one hit wonders, I was glad to see Alisha's Attic were back with a 2nd Top 40 hit. I was also glad to hear it was just as good as its predecessor.
Verdict - Good
This was the Top 40 debut for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony in 1995 where it made number 32, but fared better when it was re-issued off the back of the success of "Tha Crossroads". I do remember it being out at the time, but it was one you didn't really hear anymore follow this period. When I bought their "E. 1999 Eternal" album and heard it for the first time in years I thought wow this is much better than I remembered, what a tune.
Verdict - Good
One of my early memories of this record was it being on the Chris Evans breakfast who with wedding bells over it because I recall someone in his radio show crew was about to get married. It would of course end up being famous for the reworded "Its Your Letters" on TFI Friday. It's one of those records where the lead singing being a rubbish singer makes the record sound good.
Verdict - Good
We've now reached the halfway point of Bjorks Top 40 career with this being hit number 10 out of 20. It was also the last time she reached the Top 20 which makes sense because I'd say this is the last one that isn't long forgotten. It's one I remember hating at the time and I still do.
Verdict - Rubbish
Babyface had several Top 40 hits as writer or producer already in 1996, so it only seems fitting that he has a Top 40 hit of his own....with a cover of a Shalamar song. It was his 2nd Top 40 hit as an artist with his first being "When Can I See You" which reached number 35 in 1994. To give you an idea of how prolific he was as a songwriter, he had 34 Top 40 hits as one at this point. Onto this record, I liked it enough to be a factor in my decision to buy his greatest hits album.
Verdict - Good
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
10. 911 - Don't Make Me Wait (New)
The 3rd Top 40 hit for 911 and the first to make the Top 10. For some reason I thought they hailed from Leeds at the time, possibly because the lead singer was called Lee. They actually all come from the North West but formed in London. What used to trouble me about this record at the time was I quite liked it, but now I'll happily enjoy it.
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
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
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
6. Gina G - I Belong To You (New)
Gina G was someone who I thought would be a one hit wonder and she's thought of by many as being a one hit wonder, but she wasn't. I recall hearing this on Noels House Party and thinking that it would have been better if she'd remained a one hit wonder.
Verdict - Rubbish
After having all 5 of her previous Top 40 hits written by Babyface, Toni Braxton turned to prolific songwriter Diane Warren for her 6th. It worked as this became her joint highest charting Top 40 hit, but often in order to achieve popularity you have to compromise on quality and this is what's happened here in my opinion.
Verdict - Rubbish
4. Simply Red - Angel (New)
It would have been around this time that Mick Hucknall was named Wanker of the Week on the Girlie Show. I remember thinking they must have picked him because he'd done this Aretha Franklin cover. It features the Fugees which seemed an odd collaboration. That all said, it's actually pretty decent.
Verdict - Good
This record was released to promote East 17s greatest hits album. To show they weren't planning on splitting up any time soon they put in the reference "The Journey So Far", but we all know what happened next. As with pretty much all the East 17 singles, I like it.
Verdict - Good
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
Robson & Jerome had a total of 3 Top 40 hits and they all reached number one. This was the final one of those hits. Like it's predecessors, it's a cover and it's rubbish. To be fair they knew there time was probably up after this so called it a day.
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 11.5/30, or 38%. I do wonder if we'll get back above 50% any time soon.
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