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:
It had been a year since Wildchild had died. I was getting quite confused at the time, because I saw a picture of a female DJ called Wildchild who I'd understood to be a bloke called Roger McKenzie who had died. Turns out there was a drum & bass DJ of the same name. Anyway I would say this record is better than his big hit "Renegade Master" and was one of the best mainstream records out around this time.
Verdict - Good
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 Dodgy attempting to make their own "Ordinary World". There's at least some similarities between the 2 records whilst clearly not being the same. I've not heard this one for years so wasn't sure what I'd make of it after all this time, but I have to say I did enjoy that.
Verdict - Good
After having hits that sounded like blatant rip offs of "Careless Whisper" and "Pray" they did a cover. I guess if anything it was to avoid potential lawsuits for copyright infringement. It's the 4th and final Top 40 hit to date for long forgotten TV boy band Upside Down. I would say good riddance, but there's another long forgotten TV boy band just round the corner.
Verdict - Rubbish
26. Iggy Pop - Lust For Life (New)
This record was originally recorded in 1977 but wasn't a Top 40 hit at the time. It got renewed interest in 1996 thanks to it's inclusion on the "Trainspotting" soundtrack. It was co-written with David Bowie. It's fondly thought of by many people, but not by me. Never been able to get into it.
Verdict - Rubbish
The final Top 40 hit to date for Jimmy Nail with the only Top 40 hit from his "Crocodile Shoes II" album. I didn't mind the music he initially did for the series, but it was getting pretty tired by this point.
Verdict - Rubbish
24. John Alford - If / Keep On Running (New)
Singing actor John Alford is back again with another pair of reggae style covers, though the reggae style is getting lighter. It would be his 3rd and final Top 40 hit to date, though he did attempt one further single that was withdrawn.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
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 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
The Smashing Pumpkins tended to have songs where it's not obvious what the title is so I wasn't 100% sure which one this was. It definitely sounds like one I've heard before, but the problem I'm having is waiting for the record to start. It never does.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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
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
On some of the Now albums in the mid-90s they tended to have dance records on tape 2 side 2. Now 35 was one of these, except it ended with this record which seemed really out of place. Now I'm hearing it again after all these years and it oddly sounds even more dreary than I remember it sounding.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 3rd Top 40 hit for the Backstreet Boys which is a ballad, something that seemed almost inevitable. One of the writers of this was Eugene Wilde who had a couple of Top 40 hits in the 80s that he didn't write himself. I get the whole point of this song, but it's not something I'd want to listen to.
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
The Pet Shop Boys had just had one of their best hits ever in "Se A Vide (That's The Way Life Is)". I remember them being on TFI Friday and have a feeling they performed said record. What they definitely did perform was this, the follow up. I remember thinking this ones not so good. It has grown on me somewhat but it is one of my least favourite hits of theirs.
Verdict - OK
13. Bryan Adams - Star (New)
What stood out to me about this record was that Bryan Adams swears on it. That doesn't sound strange given even cheesy pop singers swear on their records these days, but someone like Bryan Adams swearing seemed very unusual at the time. It does sound a bit like he's trying to do "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" part 2. It's pretty dull really, the swearing is as exciting as it gets.
Verdict - Rubbish
After Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard topped the charts as songwriters for the first time with "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls, this was their next Top 40 hit. The music career of Ant & Dec aka PJ & Duncan was always intentionally a bit of a joke. Yet this sounds a more credible record than "Wannabe". Still a joke though.
Verdict - Rubbish
A year after Michael Jackson topped the charts with "Earth Song" he's attempting it again with another ballad but he falls short this time round. Like "Earth Song" he's trying to get a message across but musically it's not to my liking. I also got irritate about the way he pronounce Moscow.
Verdict - Rubbish
10. Garbage ft Tricky - Milk (New)
Garbage are one of those bands who have a few decent records and a few questionable ones. Tricky is an artist I rate but due to his experimental nature some of his music can be questionable too. This collaboration is I feel is supposed to be good, but I just don't see the appeal of.
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
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
7. Kula Shaker - Govinda (New)
One thing I remember this record being known for at the time was the incomprehensible lyrics. I do recall someone pointing out that one of their previous hits "Tattva" had incomprehensible lyrics. With this record their basically trying to be the 90s George Harrison. It's a no from me.
Verdict - Rubbish
After having 2 big hits that were both instrumentals, Robert Miles did the unthinkable and released a record with a vocalist. I remember at the time thinking what are you doing having a vocalist on your record. The vocals have always annoyed me so on that basis this gets half a mark.
Verdict - OK
The Woolpackers were 3 actors from Emmerdale who were named after the pub that features in the soap. As you can probably predict then, this is cheesy and shit. It's a line dancing record, something myself and many others used to take the piss out of.
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
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
The Warren G I was most familiar with in 1996 was the drum & bass MC who would regularly MC for DJ SS. There was of course an American rapper of the same name and this was his joint biggest hit. With the interpolation and the fact it was on a movie soundtrack means it was supposed to be commercial, but it's done really well. I can appreciate this a lot more now than I did at the time.
Verdict - Good
1. The Prodigy - Breathe (New)
When The Prodigy did "Firestarter" earlier on in the year after much excitement of a new Prodigy tune it was a big disappointment. However, despite follow up "Breathe" taking a similar direction I actually like this one and bought the single. It's the beats that really do it for me.
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 9/30, or 30%. That's one almighty fall.
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