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:
Lauren Laverne is a famous TV presenter/Radio DJ these days, but this is what she was doing before that. Being a British band with guitars they came under the Britpop banner. I'm not sure your average Britpop fan would have like this though, it's cheesy crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
At the time this sounded so futuristic when he sang the opening line about a Saturday in 1999. Obviously that's well in the past now, but if someone sang about a Saturday in 2026 now I'd almost question whether I blinked and we were in 2026 already. If only music remaining as good as this into the future.
Verdict - Good
Boyzone waited for nearly 2 years to get their first number one, then two come along at once. They've gone for an African style pop song this time and it's every bit as awful as that sounds. It's up there amongst the obscure number ones of the 90s.
Verdict - Rubbish
I've previously mentioned that I initially thought that Terrorvision were American because their sound was to hard for me to think they were a British band. I don't think I'd have that same thought if I'd heard this record first, they're following the trend by getting softer. This in turn makes this record boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the 2nd Top 40 hit for Damage who opted not to wait for their 3rd hit to release a ballad. More significantly though this was the first Top 40 hit penned by the partnership of Steve Mac and Wayne Hector, the songwriting duo behind many of Westlife's hits. It sounds like it could have been a Westlife hit as well.
Verdict - Rubbish
Swearing in music was nothing unusual in the 90s but this record became most famous for its swearing. I guess it's because it wasn't the style of music you'd expect swearing in. The whole appeal of The Beautiful South is the lyrics but the lyrics were generally easy to ignore so they probably put the swearing in to grab peoples attention. It probably worked, but I can't say I think much to this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
24. Chakra - I Am (New)
This was the only Top 40 hit for Chakra. It's a trance record and like with several other dance acts this was just one of a number of aliases for them. The 2 people behind Chakra were Rick Simmonds and Stephen Jones who had hits under other names, most notable the Space Brothers. It's not a bad record but not overly keen on it either.
Verdict - OK
23. Mary Kiani - 100% (New)
This was the final Top 40 hit to date for former TTF singer Mary Kiani. The songwriters of this record included Tim Lever and Mike Percy from Dead Or Alive. They also wrote for the likes of S Club 7, S Club Juniors, Billie and Girl Thing. I thing that gives a good indication of what sort of music this is i.e. cheesy crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the Top 40 debut for 3 Colours Red who were one of the post-Britpop indie bands. My view on Britpop is that it was such a generic term there was some great stuff and lots of crap too. The indie music that followed though was generally awful and some of the most boring music I've ever heard. This particular record isn't that bad, but it's not exactly good either.
Verdict - Rubbish
21. QFX - Freedom 2 (New)
The 3rd of 5 Top 40 hits to date for QFX and the last time they'll feature as their last 2 hits failed to make the Top 30. This is a remix of "Freedom" which is the record they're probably best known for. I do like a bit of QFX.
Verdict - Good
The Top 40 debut for Puff Johnson and the record she is best known for. Amongst the songwriters on this is Narada Michael Walden who had been writing for Michelle Gayle prior to this which wasn't great. This is an improvement though, but still pretty average.
Verdict - OK
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
Here's Whitney Houston with yet another song taken from a movie. This time it's "The Preachers Wife" which Whitney Houston was also in herself. It's a cover of an Annie Lennox record. There was also a happy hardcore version of this which I thought was dreadful, much like what I think of this.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was one of those records that I didn't really want to like but I couldn't help but like it. Mark Morrison may only be remembered for one song now, but this was pretty big at the time. Another thing I remember around this time was Mark Morrison being the Wanker of the Week on The Girlie Show, the only feature worth watching on that show truth be told.
Verdict - Good
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
I was listening to pretty much nothing but rave at the time and remember someone asking me whether I liked MC Lyte. My response was you mean that female rapper with that Diana Ross "Upside Down" sampled tune in the charts at the moment, it's shit. Not really changed my mind.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Kavana and the first one that anyone really noticed. It's a cover of the Shalamar record which is his joint highest charting single and the one he's most famous for. He probably didn't like that fact given he writes songs as well. I always thought this was a bit naff and haven't changed my mind.
Verdict - Rubbish
13. Erasure - In My Arms (New)
It would be another 10 years until Erasure had their final Top 40 hit to date. However it's fair to say we're now into the era of Erasure that few people remember. This record was also their final one to get into the Billboard 100. Not a bad record, but not exactly classic Erasure.
Verdict - OK
At the time I recall Ian Broudie being asked what sugar coated iceberg actually means and his response was whatever you wanted it to be. I would say this record was The Lightning Seeds getting back to their best after the not so good "3 Lions" and "What If...". Never really thought about what it means though.
Verdict - Good
This was first released in 1991 and made number 31. This live version was then released and gave Orbital their biggest hit to that point and joint highest charting record to date. I've seen Orbital live and would definitely recommend it.
Verdict - Good
I seem to recall the blurb about this record on The Chart Show saying that No Mercy were waiters at a Gloria Estefan owned restaurant prior to becoming singers. Can't find any mention of that on the internet so The Chart Show were probably just taking the piss. It does make a convincing story though.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been 3 years since En Vogue had last been in the Top 40 and they came back here with what I consider to be their best record. It was also the beginning of the end for En Vogue as we knew them with lead singer Dawn Robinson leaving the group shortly after. They still carry on today but nothing they've done since has been as good as this.
Verdict - Good
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
7. Texas - Say What You Want (New)
This was the big comeback single for Texas after being in the wilderness since 1989. They had a few hits in-between, but none that anyone remembers. Chris Evans was a big fan of this as I recall and helped put Texas back in the limelight. Judging by a lot of the music that appeared on TFI Friday though taught me that Chris Evans didn't have the best taste in music.
Verdict - Rubbish
What had become apparent by this point was that not only were the Spice Girls here to stay, but they were almost inevitably going to top the charts with everything they release. I knew someone who bought this single because you could see Geri's legs on the cover, that's how effective their marketing seemed to be. It even made its was onto the Christmas episode of "Only Fools And Horses". Musically though it's really poor.
Verdict - Rubbish
Another hit from the musical film "Evita" which is the most painfully boring film I've ever seen. Part of the painfully boring watching of the film was sitting through this painfully boring song.
Verdict - Rubbish
"People Hold On" was the Top 40 debut for Lisa Stansfield back in 1989 and this remix took Lisa Stansfield back into the Top 40 for the first time in 3 years. The remix is done in the same style as the "Professional Widow" remix that was topping the charts. I have to say I consider this to be an improvement on the original.
Verdict - Good
3. East 17 - Hey Child (New)
It was shortly after East 17 performed this on Top of the Pops that the Brian Harvey interview with his ecstasy comments and that was the end of East 17 as we knew them. This record however gave an insight as to what East 17 without Brian Harvey could be like as Tony Mortimer takes the lead and he's singing rather than rapping. If this was the future sound of East 17 though maybe it's just as well they finished as this is pretty poor if I'm honest.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 4th Top 40 hit for the Backstreet Boys and 2nd penned by Max Martin and Herbie Crichlow, but no Denniz Pop with them this time. It became their highest charting hit to that point, a sign that American pop singers backed by Swedish songwriters were here to stay. Unfortunately it's mostly crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
My initial thought when first hearing this was wow Tori Amos has made a pretty decent record. In reality the original of this was abysmal and Armand Van Helden has done a remix which is basically a completely new record that samples vocals from the Tori Amos record. It gave Tori Amos her only number one and would be her penultimate Top 40 record to date.
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 11/30, or 37%. We're slipping again.
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