Sunday, 22 December 2024

Top 30 in 1994 Reviewed: Week 52

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 30 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

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 1994 with my verdict on each record:


The 2nd and final Top 40 hit to date for short lived boy band 2wo Third3 who's members included Richard Stannard, the writer of many Spice Girls hits. This is absolutely dreadful, possibly worse than at least some Spice Girls hits.

Verdict - Rubbish


After calming down and scoring their highest charting single to date, EYC went full on ballad with this follow up. This time they didn't get out of the 20s. It was their penultimate Top 40 hit to date and last to feature as their final hit never made the Top 30. Thank god for that.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the follow up to her biggest hit "Sweetness" that I'm not sure I actually remember. It's going with that pop music tradition of releasing your depressing song for Christmas. Not sure who exactly they were trying to appeal to here, but certainly not me.

Verdict - Rubbish


The 2nd Top 40 hit of the post-Stock Aitken & Waterman era for Kylie Minogue. This missed out on the Top 10 and she would have a Top 10 for the rest of the 90s. I'd say this record was better known for Kylie Minogue getting naked in the video than the song itself. It does sound more like proper music than her previous efforts, but still not to my liking.

Verdict - Rubbish


M People were back with a new album called "Bizarre Fruit" which this was the lead single from. There's nothing bizarre about this record though, just sticking to the tried and tested dance pop formula that proved to be successful for them. Not for me though.

Verdict - Rubbish


The Tidy Boys are one of the big names from the hard house scene and behind the Tidy record label. It's quite common knowledge that member Andy Pickles had previous been part of Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers which doesn't do much for their credibility. However both members had previously done this novelty record as 2 In A Tent which was made in collaboration with Stock & Aitken. Not sure which is worse.

Verdict - Rubbish


The Top 40 debut for Sheryl Crow which did have quite an impact, though some seemed to be more into Sheryl Crow herself rather than her music. When these conversations were going on I knew the song but didn't know what Sheryl Crow looked like. Not a bad record and certainly better than the shite she did in years to come.

Verdict - OK


When I was a Honeyz fan I was asked by a few people whether I liked Eternal. I know where they were coming from with that question, but the answer was no. I've always lumped them in with the naff things of the 90s such as Andi Peters. I don't think I've heard this one since the 90s, but it's more boring than I remember it being. I guess it hasn't aged well.

Verdict - Rubbish


I hated this record at the time. Bon Jovi had become the rock band for people not into rock music and releasing this ballad which became their biggest hit didn't do them any favours in that respect. A few years later though I realised that I actually like this song. I knew someone who had their greatest hits and I borrowed it just to tape this song which then got regularly played in my car. 

Verdict - Good


I first came across this record via someone singing it at school. I heard her singing the "be my baby" part initially thinking she was trying to sing "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight", but it wasn't long before I was hearing this everywhere. Once the hype had died down I remember hearing it on holiday a couple of years later for the first time in while and was thinking how badly it had aged already, it was sounding far too slow.

Verdict - Rubbish


I remember playing a name the tune game where it wasn't the original artists singing on the clips. One of the clips was "All I Have To Do Is Dream" which I identified and gave the artist as the Everly Brothers. Turns out I was wrong, the artist was Cliff Richard With Phil Everly. Quite why you were supposed to identify the cover when it's some random singing it I don't know. Anyway that's a good enough reason for me to hate this record, but I can't say I've ever liked anything I've heard by Cliff Richard.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish


The majority of eurodance music that I've heard is shit. That's not to say I'm anti-eurodance, if a eurodance record is made well then it can be a really good record. This is an example of one of those records. No idea what exactly makes this so much better than your average eurodance record. I own the album and I remember it helping me through a stressful journey down the A1 one time.

Verdict - Good


1994 goes down in dance music history as being the year of jungle. This however translated into just 3 Top 40 hits with this being the 3rd. It's clearly more of a commercial jungle record, but served as a good access point to the more underground music that I was trying to discover at the time. 

Verdict - Good


I remember at the time learning that this was a cover of a 60s number one by The Equals. When I asked my mum if the original was a reggae tune she said no, there was no such thing back then. Well actually there was. I also remember people singing the "CD collection of Bob Marley" part thinking that was just a piss take not realising that was actually part of the lyrics. I think it's also worth pointing out that this also features Ali and Robin Campbell from UB40 who I think do more singing in it that Pato Banton. Anyway its a good bit of reggae pop.

Verdict - Good


Babyface was on songwriting duties for this record and I think you can tell that Babyface has something to do with it. I like Babyface, he's a writer and producer I really rate. Part of his talent though is to write both decent records and crap records for pop singers. This one very much fits the latter category. 

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the final Eternal hit before Louise left the group. With the exception of their final hit when they were just a duo and their popularity had dwindled, this was the lowest charting Eternal single. As a trio they never failed to reach the Top 10. It's probably the most obscure Eternal record and probably the worst one too which is really saying something.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the 4th Top 40 hit for PJ & Duncan. Their music career began on Byker Grove but their debut single "Tonight I'm Free" which they did on the TV show failed to make the Top 40. Their music career soon picked up though. Around this time though PJ & Duncan had left Byker Grove and it was all about Frew and Barney DJing. Onto this record and I never liked it at the time, but listening to it again after all these years I'm realising how awful it was.

Verdict - Rubbish


When I first became a raver I had to educate myself about it. Most of that in the early days came from a friend who was into it and remember him telling me it was a proper rave tune. It originally came out in 1992 but didn't enjoy commercial success until 1994. I liked it at the time, but I truly appreciated how good it was when I heard it for the first time in a while on Dave Pearce's Dance Anthems around 98/99 time.

Verdict - Good


The follow up to "Saturday Night" which sounds just like "Saturday Night". Unsurprisingly the 2 writers of "Saturday Night", Larry Pignagnoli and Davide Riva also wrote this along with Annerley Gordon though quite what the latter added to it I don't know. Anyway I never liked "Saturday Night" so therefore I don't like this.

Verdict - Rubbish


At the time I remember thinking that whilst Mariah Carey had a surprisingly uplifting record at Christmas, Gloria Estefan was the counter to that with this record. Not sure why exactly I was making the comparison of Gloria Estefan and Mariah Carey. It is however a rarity in that it's a Gloria Estefan hit of the 90s that I actually remember, for the wrong reasons though. 

Verdict - Rubbish


This failed to reach the Top 40 when first released in 1969, but it succeeded the second time around thanks to it featuring on the Guinness advert. It gave Louis Armstrong his first Top 40 hit since 1968 and had he still been alive he would have been 93. It meant at this point in time he had the longest UK Top 40 career having first charted in its first year in 1952. It was just about the only record that regularly appeared on Radio 2 at the time that I actually liked.

Verdict - Good


I hated this song at the time but also bought the CD single. The latter came a few years later when I saw it going cheap in Cash Converters and I'd come to realise that I actually like Bon Jovi and sod the fact they're not exactly cool. I no longer own said CD single and probably just listened to it once. That tells you all you need to know. Probably more famous for having Cindy Crawford in the video than the actual song.

Verdict - Rubbish


Zig and Zag were puppets on The Big Breakfast. I remember them singing the chorus to this acapella on an episode. I never though in a million years it would get turned into an actual song. We have Simon Cowell to thank for that. I'll concede it's better than all that nonsense the X Factor winners would sing, but that's not too difficult. Produced by Erick Morillo, though he'd already been known to do cheesy music too by this point.

Verdict - Rubbish


I used to regularly go to a pub quiz where the first round was always music clips where we had to give the artist title and year. There would be a common theme between the clips and one time it was number one hits of the 90s in which this appeared. Obviously the artist and title wasn't a problem, but the year wasn't so straightforward. On one hand it entered the charts in 1994 but it topped the charts in 1995, so which year was he wanting? I can't remember which one it was now, but it was different to the one I gave. That association makes me hate the song even more than I did previously. 

Verdict - Rubbish


We were almost a decade into Jimmy Nails Top 40 career but this was just his 3rd Top 40 hit. At this point all his Top 40 hits had made the Top 5 but he hasn't made the Top 5 since. It's taken from the TV series of the same name which starred Jimmy Nail. It's a pleasant enough record without being something I'd go out of my way to listen to.

Verdict - OK


I remember going on holiday in 1995 and going to a restaurant the first night which was almost empty. As I dined it became apparent why nobody went there. The restaurant manager seemed to love this song, playing it multiple times that evening and encouraging diners to get up and dance to it with him. Needless to say I never went back. A boring depressing record.

Verdict - Rubbish


Power Rangers was a huge kids TV show at the time, but I was too old for it. This is the theme music to the TV show. Matt Aitken had come out of retirement and reunited with Mike Stock, but not Pete Waterman. From this description there can only really be one verdict for this record.

Verdict - Rubbish


The Top 40 debut for Boyzone, the Irish version of Take That. After they had a few hits it became apparent that Ronan Keating has quite a deep singing voice but he's pretty high pitched here and you can kind of sense he's struggling to sing like that. Like many Boyzone hits it's a cover that just sounds like a karaoke version of the original.

Verdict - Rubbish


Every Christmas time these days you'll find this back in the Top 40. It tends to be the first Christmas record to reappear in the charts and is often the highest charting of the Christmas records too. This is its original run in the charts where it was denied the top spot by East 17. It's a surprisingly upbeat record for Mariah Carey but that doesn't mean its any good.

Verdict - Rubbish


I once sang this at karaoke one summer and the DJ questioned why I was singing a Christmas song at that time of the year. The answer is simple, it's not a Christmas song. Yes it was Christmas number one and year the bells at the end may give a hint of Christmas, but the song was about Tony Mortimer's brother after he'd taken his own life. Anyway like with pretty much all the East 17 hits, I like it and it's one of my favourite ever Christmas number ones.

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 8/30, or 27%. 2 rubbish records in and 2 out.
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Friday, 20 December 2024

Top 30 in 1997 Reviewed: Week 51

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 1997 with my verdict on each record:


Yes that's right, Gala had another Top 40 hit. In fact she had 2 other Top 40 hits but the other one never made the Top 30. I do recall hearing the record about silver and gold, but it was a blink and you'll miss it moment unlike it's predecessor that hung around forever. 

Verdict - Rubbish


The 2nd half of 1997 was a good one for The Verve. They had 3 Top 10 hits including a number one having never been in the Top 10 before. That was pretty much it for them though, no hits in 1998 and then they split up in 1999. They did reunite and have a final comeback single in 2008 though. This ones as boring as the others.

Verdict - Rubbish


The 4th and final Top 40 hit to date for The Seahorses and just as a reminder, they were a band who completely passed me by. It came just 7 months after their debut, so a very brief Top 40 career. I do question whether I was living under a rock in late 1997 as there's so many records that passed me by, or did the sheer quantity of Top 40 hits mean some would inevitably slip through the net. 

Verdict - Rubbish


When I saw Hot Chocolate performing this on Top of the Pops in 1997 I thought there must have been renewed interest in this record due to the Clock cover. Turns out that wasn't the case. Instead it was because it was used in the film "The Full Monty". It's overplayed and a bit cheesy but I do quite like it. That's the song, never seen the film and unlikely to ever watch it.

Verdict - Good


I think this record could have only been made in 1997 to truly appeal to me. It was really the last time I was young enough to have a idealistic view of the world, reality started to hit me thick and fast after that. It's a well polished eurodance record from Germany complete with glamourous singers and dancers, an alternate reality that doesn't really exist.

Verdict - Good


This was the 3rd number 3 for the Backstreet Boys. They'd also had a number 2 prior to this and all 4 of these record were the ones that had been written by Max Martin. An early sign that by the time I'm writing this post only Paul McCartney would have more Top 40 hits to his name as songwriter.

Verdict - Rubbish


The penultimate Top 40 hit of the 90s for the Levellers and the last time they'll feature as their final Top 40 hit of the 90s which was the excellent "One Way" finally getting into the Top 40 never made the Top 30. I have no memory of this record, but it's actually not bad.

Verdict - OK


The post-Louise era of Eternal was more or less finished by this point, but the solo career of Louise carried on. It was probably helped by the fact that by this point she was the girlfriend and soon to be wife of footballer Jamie Redknapp. The is a karaoke version of the Average White Band record.

Verdict - Rubbish


Sheryl Crow makes it into double figures with this being her 10th Top 40 hit. It was the theme tune to the James Bond film of the same name and was the first since 1983 not to make the Top 10. It's generally no better or worse than those that did make the Top 10 in between.

Verdict - Rubbish


The days of Bjork making the Top 20 were now over but she still had a few Top 40 hits left in the lower reaches. Some of her music has grown on me over the years and some has remained incredibly boring. This one fits the latter category. 

Verdict - Rubbish


I remember this record being played for what I think was the first time on Children in Need. It's a novelty line dancing mixed with eurodance record. Of course this turned out to be many hits for Steps. It goes without saying this song is shit. As a side note I have no problem with the cheesy holiday rep type image they're portraying here, it serves a purpose I suppose. The issue is them now being stuck up celebrities complaining about it but are happy to still milk it with their nostalgia tours.

Verdict - Rubbish


The Propellerheads were big in 1997 and then just disappeared off the face of the earth afterwards. With it came the excellent "Decksanddrumsandrockandroll" album which I own and is one of my all time favourites. It gave Shirley Bassey her first Top 40 hit for nearly 25 years and she wasn't done yet.

Verdict - Good


Ever thought that Bryan Adams and Mel C was a bit of an odd collaboration when it happened? Well this is where it probably all began. His usual songwriting sidekick Robert John "Mutt" Lange had been replaced by Eliot Kennedy for this record, the man who composed "Say You'll Be There" by the Spice Girls. He was also co-writer on said collaboration. It's pretty dull.

Verdict - Rubbish


After Puff Daddy had sample "Every Breath You Take" for his chart topper he's back remixing this Police record and feature rapping from Pras. I'm not precious about the original version at all, but this is fuckin dreadful.

Verdict - Rubbish


Another football song for Man Utd and it wasn't even around the FA Cup final when that normally happens. Instead they release a record in the middle of a season when they weren't the champions.

Verdict - Rubbish


Watch out 911 there's a new British boy band in town and their name is also a number. This was their Top 40 debut and they had the Swedish songwriters Denniz Pop and Max Martin behind this. There was certainly a gap in the market for them, the bad boys from the south to counter the clean cut boy band from the north like East 17 were to Take That. They were no East 17 though.

Verdict - Rubbish


Lutricia McNeal is from America but she relocated to Sweden and launched her music career. Then the Swedish songwriters started taking over the pop world and this, her debut Top 40 hit became a worldwide success. It's always irritated me for some reason. 

Verdict - Rubbish


When it comes to dreary ballads, few can claim to be as prolific as Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion so it only seemed logical that they would do a collaboration. To top it off they did a song written by Walter Afanasieff, the man who wrote many of Mariah Careys records and Linda Thompson and David Foster who wrote "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston. I'm really struggling to think of anything that can sound worse.

Verdict - Rubbish


We're reaching the end of the so called dodgy era for U2 with this being the 5th and final single for 1997 and from their "Pop" album. I have better memories of this record, but listening again it's nowhere near as good as I remember so I'll give it half marks.

Verdict - OK


This record was written by Carole King and apparently she originally wrote it for Aerosmith. I could almost imagine that now I'm listening to it, Aerosmith had their fair share of ballads after all. As Celine Dion recorded it though the guitars are pretty quiet aside from the solo and it just sounds very contained. 

Verdict - Rubbish


The biggest selling single of all time thanks to it being a charity record and a tribute to Princess Diana. I can picture the video clip of loads of people piling into the record shops as soon as it opened with one woman going and picking up a massive pile of CDs to buy. This blog is all about the music though and not the sentiment and musically it's not to my liking.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish


In 1996 we saw the beginning and end of the Top 40 career of singing actor John Alford. Then at the end of 1997 we had this, the Top 40 debut for another London's Burning actor Steven Houghton. A poor cover of a poor record.

Verdict - Rubbish


I was watching Live & Kicking in 1994 and Natalie Imbruglia was a guest on the show having just left Neighbours. She was asked if she was planning to launch a music career to which she said no which shocked Andi Peters. 3 years later here she is launching a music career and I was shocked. I wasn't shocked to find it was shit though.

Verdict - Rubbish


When I went to Helter Skelter for the millennium, I was looking forward to the Vibes and Live Lee set which was the last of the night. It was a bit of an anti climax though when the first record he played was a happy hardcore version of "Baby Can I Hold You". "Shooting Star" is one I never knew until I started listening to Popmaster where they like asking questions about it.

Verdict - Rubbish


When this record came out I was shocked. It was a Janet Jackson song that I actually liked. Remember I was listening to nothing but rave at the time so I really didn't want to like this record even though it is a dance record. Then a friend of mine who was into rap and drum & bass bought this single which made me feel a bit better about liking it.

Verdict - Good


This was the turn around point of Robbie Williams solo career which went from strength to strength after this. I was dismissive of him as a solo artist least of all because I didn't like Oasis who he was trying to imitate. This record though is completely different and I had to concede it's actually quite good.

Verdict - Good


When the All Saints first came about I was amazed to find that I liked their debut Top 40 hit. I was even more amazed to find I also liked this, their follow up. It's one of those records I'd felt I'd heard before but hadn't. As a result of me liking these first 2 singles I went on to do something I'd not done in a long time, bought an album that wasn't rave which was their debut album.

Verdict - Good


I remember someone telling me there was a song about Barbie that had just come out which had some sexual references between Barbie and Ken. I thought he was taking the piss, but then I heard this. When I heard they were from Denmark, the same country as Whigfield, it made more sense. Remember the lyrics "I need you inside me tonight"?

Verdict - Rubbish


If you were watching the BBC in late 1997 then you would have heard this record many times. It seemed to be on between every TV show. It's a long list of singers who would sing a line each and I got absolutely sick of it.

Verdict - Rubbish


1997 brought us what was the latest hugely popular kids TV show, Teletubbies. I've never watched an episode myself, I was far too old for it. Obviously with Christmas just around the corner this record made a ideal Christmas present for parents to buy their young children and hence it topped the charts.

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 7/30, or 23%. Falling just short of that familiar score.
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Thursday, 19 December 2024

2003: The Good Old Days? - August

In the summer of 2003 I remember having the view that old music had a certain charm but would always be beaten by new music. I clearly don't have that view anymore, but did the charts support that viewpoint?

Let's begin with the best record which was "Barcelona" by D Kay & Epsilon & Stamina MC. I would say drum & bass was in a pretty good place at the time and was a fan of the more melodic sound that didn't really exist in its infancy. Likewise we have another melodic but different drum & bass tune in "Complete" by Jaimeson which I like.

Much of the dance music of August was decent. There was the lesser known Layo & Bushwacka record "It's Up To You" which is good. QFX were in the Top 40 for the first time with their 90s classic "Freedom". I'm also a fan of "I'm In Heaven" by Jason Nevins which samples "Human Nature" by Michael Jackson. The only dance records I didn't like were the vocal trance ones and the one where P Diddy jumped on the dance music bandwagon.

I would have described myself as more or a rap and R&B fan at the time though. Rap wise the only American record comes from Fabolous with "Can't Let You Go" which I liked enough to buy his album. From the UK we had "Fix Up Look Sharp" which wasn't so good.

Looking at the R&B records I can tell I was a fan of the genre because of records I sort of liked at the time even though they're shit. Most notably was "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh Uh Oooh)" by Lumidee which is just a few drums with crap singing over them. Likewise there was "Breathe" by Blu Cantrell, same backing track as "What's the Difference" by Dr Dre but instead of good rapping over it we have crap singing.

I do however still like "Frontin" by Pharrell and I'll never forget it being on the video jukebox in the pub at the time and seeing my mates reaction when Pharrell started singing in a squeaky voice. I also still like "In Love" by Lisa Mafia even though I feel like I shouldn't. Then there's "Snake" by R Kelly which is decent.

Pete Doherty was in the headlines a lot around this time as I recall for his off stage antics and I remember thinking I didn't know any Libertines records. However after listening to "Don't Look Back Into The Sun" just now I've concluded it's actually a decent record.

More Britpop hangover music in charts with "Never Going Nowhere" by the Bluetones which isn't a bad record.

What is a bad record is "Chooza Looza" by Maria Willson which is the worst record. She had another song I remember better called "Mr Alibi" which it turns out failed to make the Top 40. She was a sort of British Avril Lavigne and promptly disappeared afterwards.

Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):
















































Score: 23%

Here's a look at the chart:


Hardly a score to imply that the modern music of the time was the best but still better than the modern music is crap era that followed.

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Wednesday, 18 December 2024

Top 30 in 1998 Reviewed: Week 51

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 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 1998 with my verdict on each record:


The Tamperer ft Maya had scored a number one back in the summer by having the hook of an 80s song as the chorus. Follow that success they released a follow up which had the hook of an 80s song as the chorus, making number 3 this time. This wasn't as overplayed as its predecessor "Feel It" so I could tolerate it more.

Verdict - OK


This was a record that pre-dated the UK Top 40. It was first performed by Bing Crosby on Christmas Day in 1941. A version by Mantovani appeared in the first even Christmas charts in 1952 and another version by Pat Boone charted later on in the decade. The Bing Crosby version didn't chart until 1977 and then made the Top 40 again in 1998. Like with most Christmas records, I don't like it.

Verdict - Rubbish


Sash! score 4 number 2's and a number 3 with their first 5 Top 40 hits. This one, their 6th only made number 8 though. Yet it was the best one they did in my opinion. The Shannon on this record was the same Shannon of "Let the Music Play" fame. 

Verdict - Good


This is a record where it's the video that makes me nostalgic more than the music. It was recorded in Euston Station, somewhere where I've spent a lot of time over the years. In particular there was the Britania pub which is no longer there. It was somewhere where I had many beers waiting for my train and I did really like that pub. Another thing is seeing that it only cost £2.50 to get passport photos in those days unlike todays rip off prices. I do quite like the music too though.

Verdict - Good


This was the 21st Top 40 hit of the 90s for REM. Only Madonna could have claimed to have had more 90s Top 40 hits at this point. It's fair to say the ones at the start of decade are better known than the ones at the end. This ones not a bad record but hardly a classic.

Verdict - OK


Earlier on in 1998 Madonna made a comeback with the record "Frozen". "The Power Of Good-Bye" almost sounds like it was the original attempt at writing "Frozen" but they decided to keep it anyway as people would still buy any old shit by Madonna. "Little Star" also fits the any old shit category.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish


Imagine that you are a songwriter in a band with varying degrees of success over the years but still await you first US Number 1 or your first UK Top 10. Then 28 years later you finally achieve both with a song written by somebody else, not just anybody else, but Diane Warren who's written shit loads of hits for other people. That's exactly what happened to Steve Tyler. Aerosmith were described as a blues-based hard rock band when they formed in 1970 but by the 90s their style was more Rock Music for people who aren't into Rock Music. The guitars are so discrete in this song you would question whether this is even Rock Music at all even if Wikipedia describes it as being "Hard Rock". I'm not one to shy away from ballads by Rock bands but this seems a step too far. Despite this though, I can't help but like it.

Verdict - Good


This was the 5th Top 40 hit for Five. No rapping on this record, they've gone all Backstreet Boys. That can be explained by the fact this was written by Swedish songwriters Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson with the latter making his songwriting debut in the UK Top 40. At least they waited until the 5th record for the ballad, maybe that was on purpose given their name.

Verdict - Rubbish


It seems that Brandy has done the almost inevitable here and had a record penned by Diane Warren. It was from a film which makes sense, the film being "Double Platinum" where Brandy plays the daughter of the character Diana Ross plays. A boring record.

Verdict - Rubbish


After coming up with the alternative World Cup record in the summer, Fat Les were back with a Christmas record. It's long forgotten now and wasn't exactly radio friendly. The problem with these sort of records is that they're just as bad as those they're trying to sound different from.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the final Top 40 hit from the All Saints self titled debut album and would be their last Top 40 hit of the 90s. It was also the final track on that album. Again it was a track that stood out to me on the album so made sense to release it as a single.

Verdict - Good


This was the Top 40 debut for Savage Garden the previous year but it was remixed by Sash!. Just as a reminder it's the "Chick-a-Cherry-Cola" song. It actually works well as a dance record, least of all because of the fast singing in it.

Verdict - Good


I never saw this coming, a Celine Dion record that I actually like. OK that's not strictly true, I always knew this would come up at some point. It's not like Celine Dion had a complete makeover, this is a ballad still. A ballad though can be good if done well, and R Kelly was someone who could do it well.

Verdict - Good


The final Top 40 hit to date for Lutricia McNeal. It was written by the same Swedish songwriting team who wrote her only other original Top 40 hit "Stranded". With this being her only Top 40 hit not to make the Top 10 the wheels had fallen off and this is the least catchy of them all.

Verdict - Rubbish


The penultimate Top 40 hit of the 90s for The Beautiful South. After liking their previous Top 40 hit "Perfect 10" I'm struggling with this one. It's a distinctive enough record but there's not really a lot to like about it.

Verdict - Rubbish


Blackstreet probably didn't do themselves any favours by making a record for the Rugrats movie. Clearly they made this to appeal to the kids. What I will say though is that there's a remix of this on the album based on a sample of "I Want You Back" by the Jackson Five that is miles better and has nothing to do with the Rugrats. Therefore I'm giving this half marks.

Verdict - OK


Often when a big name provides backing vocals on a record I think so what and consider it nothing more than a publicity stunt. With "No Regrets" though it's the backing vocals that make the record. They are provided by Neil Tennant and Neil Hannon. "Antmusic" is a cover of the Adam & the Ants record and like the original isn't the best.

Verdict - Good / Rubbish


The Top 40 debut for the Vengaboys and little did we know what was to come from them. This is a catchy number that caught my attention initially and I didn't mind but very quickly it started to irritate me. It's cheesy, but nowhere near as bad as the crap we'd get from them in future releases.

Verdict - Rubbish


The nature of Ace Of Base's music was always making pop records based on more specialist genres, most notably reggae. With this record they've gone all Motown. As a Motown fan I find that dangerous territory to go into. It's very difficult for a more modern act to try and replicate the Motown sound and pull it off. Ace Of Base didn't manage to pull it off either.

Verdict - Rubbish


If memory serves me correctly it was around the time of this record that Will Smith appeared on a Christmas special of The Big Breakfast. It was the 5th Top 40 hit for Will Smith which heavily samples "And The Beat Goes On" by The Whispers. Very cheesy and shit.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was Top 40 hit number 13 for Boyzone, the same number Take That reached before Robbie Williams left. No sign of anyone leaving Boyzone here, but we are nearing the end of their original run. This was a cover of a country record by John Michael Montgomery and I feel it's gearing Ronan Keating up for his solo career.

Verdict - Rubbish


Another Swedish artist making their Top 40 debut, though this would be the only Top 40 hit for Emilia. I have mixed feelings on music like this these days. It's not my sort of music but it had it's place, the modern pop singers have completely missed the point and should take note. 

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the first chart topper for Steps and it's the Bee Gees cover that is arguably their best known song. "Heartbeat" was apparently sitting in the drawer for years before it was given to Steps. Both are terrible as usual.

Verdict - Rubbish


The first time I heard this record as I recall was on the Pete Tong show on Radio 1. I was thinking what the fuck is this doing on this show, it was a show I'd listen to for dance music. I was more concerned about how shit it was though, the sampling of kids from a musical makes it sound no more credible than a Will Smith record.

Verdict - Rubbish


Mel C became the 2nd Spice Girl to launch her solo career after Mel B had done the same shortly before this. If Bryan Adams had any credibility before this, it had all gone from collaborating with a Spice Girl. I remember the "Got the TV on cause the radio's playing songs that remind me of you" and thinking I've got the TV on because the radio's playing shite like this.

Verdict - Rubbish


One memory I have of this record was playing the "Wonder No 8" album in my car on which this is the final track. I was giving a couple of mates a lift home and when this track came on they both joined me in singing along. From the outside looking in that would have probably looked a bit dodgy, but the point is it's an undeniably good tune.

Verdict - Good


Babyface wrote a lot of Top 40 hits in the 90s, notably quite a number in 1997. This however was the only Top 40 hit he had as a songwriter in 1998. When you team up 2 of the most bland singers of the moment you're not going to write anything that's any good. That's what has happened here.

Verdict - Rubbish


Billie failed to top the charts with her 3rd Top 40 hit, or any other her other Top 40 hits for that matter. It was really more of the same from her except this time she's done a cover of a Dara Rolins record.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was number one for an eternity and I knew quite a few people who liked this. I however thought it was rubbish and still do. It set the scene for the music we'd come to expect from Cher for the forseeable future following the success of this.

Verdict - Rubbish


B*Witched joined Gerry & the Pacemakers, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, George Michael, Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers, Spice Girls and Aqua in topping the charts with their first 3 Top 40 hits. Noticed how the quality of each act deteriorates as time goes on.

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 9.5/30, or 32%. OK highly unlikely we'll reach 50% next week.
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