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:
30. Dru Hill - Tell Me (New)
In 1997 I was so into underground rave music that there was some pretty big chart music that passed me by. One example was Dru Hill who made their debut with this at the start of 1997, but I didn't notice them until around 1999.
Verdict - Good
Blur had 2 number ones. I think most people will know that "Country House" was one of them but I'm not sure too many people would guess "Beetlebum" being the other. It had the advantage of being the lead single from the album at a time when Blur were still at their commercial peak. To me this is an example of the fun being take out of Blurs music.
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
The 20th Top 40 hit for George Michael which was also the title of the album this was taken from. I certainly considered George Michael to be old at the time, but he was only 33. Most people old enough to remember this would be over 33 now. Anyway like "Jesus To a Child" a year prior to this, it's slow and boring.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
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
Even Skunk Anansie were going soft in 1997. This was probably the softest hit they'd had but at the same time appropriate for the dark theme of the record. Not a bad record but does lack a little something to make me truly like it.
Verdict - OK
24. Souvlaki - Inferno (New)
Back in 1991 Mark Summers had a Top 40 hit with "Summers Magic" which was really the beginning of "Toytown Techno" in the Top 40. 6 years later he's back in the Top 40 under the name of Souvlaki and this was his only Top 40 hit under that name. Fits right in with 1997 too, I quite like it.
Verdict - Good
Gabrielle had written all of her Top 40 hits prior to her collaboration with East 17 when she did a cover. She then followed of with another cover with this being a cover of the Dionne Warwick song. It goes without saying that it's not as good as the original, but it's actually a decent cover and probably the best hit Gabrielle has ever had.
Verdict - Good
22. Korn - ADIDAS (New)
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Korn and they aren't singing about the brand of sportswear. If you listen to the record it will be obvious what they are actually singing about. Again it just sounds a noise to me really, nothing that I like about it.
Verdict - Rubbish
Amen! UK was one of many aliases of Paul Masterson who had previously charted as Candy Girls and Dorothy. I loved the main riff to this, it made up for the fact it wasn't as fast as a typical tune I would listen to at the time.
Verdict - Good
The Orb were one of the pioneers of ambient house which as the name suggests is generally slow. They turned up the tempo on this record though. Although nowhere near as quick as the rave music I was listening to at the time it was quick for an Orb record. I also own the "Orblivion" album on which this appears.
Verdict - Good
19. Audioweb - Bankrobber (New)
The Top 40 debut for Audioweb which is a cover of the record by The Clash. I do like the original of this, but what about this cover? Not a lot really, it just seems a bit pointless and in every way inferior to the original.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Placebo and the first on that anyone noticed. It would have been hard not to notice really, a song called "Nancy Boy" sung by a bloke trying to look like a woman. It's probably their catchiest record too, but that doesn't mean it's any good.
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
This seems quite an odd collaboration in a way, but then when you consider that both Bryan Adams and Barbra Streisand seemed to make songs for films a lot it almost made sense for them to collaborate. As you might expect, its from a film which was "The Mirror Has Two Faces". Also as you might expect, it's shit.
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
Just when you thought Michelle Gayle's pop career was over, here she is back in the Top 10 with the lead single from her 2nd album. A big talking point about this record at the time was Michelle Gayle appearing topless (but covered) in the video. That possibly helped boost sales, I can't imagine the music itself did.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
12. OTT - Let Me In (New)
Boyzone had pretty much established themselves as the leading boy band by this point, with Take That split up and East 17 in turmoil. Their formula consisted mostly of doing shit covers. Now we have some poundland Boyzone in the shape off OTT. This was the Top 40 debut for Irish boy band OTT which like Boyzone begin their Top 40 career with a shitty Osmonds cover.
Verdict - Rubbish
Although there are many resources on the internet these days about White Town, at the time it was a bit of a mystery who White Town actually was. It was also an unlikely number one. It's an experimental tune made by someone who was anonymous but at the same time it was a tune that could be liked by fans of various genres.
Verdict - Good
When I first came across this record I thought wow Will from TFI Friday has made a record. Of course it wasn't really Will from TFI Friday, just a lookalike. It was one of those tunes I quietly enjoyed. I don't remember anyone talking about it, or Eels at the time. When I got to university they seemed to be everyone's favourite band.
Verdict - Good
I mentioned on their previous Top 40 hit "Wide Open Space" that it was the only Top 40 hit of theirs I remember. Despite this one getting to the Top 10 it completely passed me by, but given how much I hated "Wide Open Space" I probably trained myself to avoid them. Doesn't sound like I've missed out on much.
Verdict - Rubbish
My one reservation about this record was it being too slow. It wouldn't have really worked as a fast tune though. I remember this and "Your Woman" by White Town being out around the same sort of time. I guess there are similarities between the two.
Verdict - Good
One reservation I had about this record at the time was seeing them on Top of the Pops with a drum kit. I was basically anti-instruments at the time and thought all good music should have programmed drums which were impossible to play on an actual drum kit. It wasn't enough to stop me from liking the tune though, was definitely one of the best commercial records of its time.
Verdict - Good
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
For the first decade or so of LL Cool J's career his Top 40 record was a solitary Top 10 hit and 3 hits that made the 30s. Then he had 3 Top 20 hits in 1996 alone and then he topped the charts at the start of 1997 with this. It was from the Beavis & Butthead soundtrack which would have helped. Does seem odd for a record like this to be on a soundtrack for 2 characters who are into metal though. Can't say I'm a fan of this myself.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember this comeback of Depeche Mode. It had been 3 years since they had last been in the Top 40 and came after a time when Dave Gahan was having drug problems which resulted in him briefly dying which I remember him talking about on the "The O-Zone". As you could imagine then, this is a pretty dark record but if anyone knows how to make a dark record it's Depeche Mode.
Verdict - Good
3. Mark Owen - Clementine (New)
After starting his solo career with one of the most namby pamby songs I've ever heard with "Child", he followed up with this Britpop record. Still not convincing though, Britpop didn't exactly mean credible and it sounds more like a record for a Take That fan than a Britpop one.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
1. U2 - Discotheque (New)
When this record came out I realised just how big U2 were at the time. There was so much hype about this comeback single and it seemed inevitable it would get to number one. At the same time, those who I know who are U2 fans consider this to be their dodgy period. I'm inclined to agree based on this record, it's a dance record but not really one for dance music fans like myself.
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 12.5/30, or 42%. We're now improving.
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