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:
It had been 3 years since James had last been in the Top 40. At the time I remember thinking that James were a band that could capitalise on the popularity of Britpop so made sense for them to come back. I also thought they sounded like they were turning into Suede on this record, which isn't a good thing.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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
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
The 4th Top 40 hit for 911 and their first Top 5. Only 2 of their remaining 10 Top 40 hits would peak outside of the Top 5. I did say their previous hit was a guilty pleasure of mine, but this one isn't. It's the usual boy band fodder, the formula needed to succeed that compromises on quality of music.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the first UK Top 40 hit for Daft Punk. As they were newcomers in that respect I originally thought they were called Da Funk and the tune was called "Daft Punk" and furthermore I thought that was in reference to the man with the dogs head in the video. It wasn't long before I realised it was the other way round and thought why would you call yourselves Daft Punk. I like the tune but I also like the video to the point I almost forget the tune is playing.
Verdict - Good / Good
24. Ultimate Kaos - Casanova (New)
This was the final Top 40 hit to date for Ultimate Kaos. It's a cover of the Levert record. From what I remember around this time, Ultimate Kaos appeared on The O-Zone where Haydon Eshun revealed his voice was breaking which meant singing the songs was now difficult. I have to say this is a guilty pleasure of mine. In the early days of YouTube the only video of this song was a homemade one of 2 girls singing and dancing to it which I found hilarious.
Verdict - Good
The 25th Top 40 hit for Erasure and their last one of the 90s. I've mentioned before that we're into the era of Erasure that few people remember and like it's predecessor this record isn't exactly classic Erasure but it isn't bad.
Verdict - OK
Aerosmith were at their commercial peak in the 90s which in turn drew them a lot of criticism. One thing that's pointed out is the ballads they did, but generally speaking I quite like the ballads they did. What I don't like though is the throwaway rubbish they did like this.
Verdict - Rubbish
Cathy Dennis was a pop singer who wrote her own music and then went onto writing songs for other pop singers. Her final Top 40 hit though was a cover of a Kinks record. It's very different to the early record she was putting out and nowhere near as good.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember this record at the time. It seemed big enough, but not as big as it's predecessor "What's Love Got To Do With It". I was therefore surprised this go as high as number 2 matching it's predecessor. Another solid effort from Warren G.
Verdict - Good
19. Prince - The Holy River (New)
Prince continued to release lots of music right up to his death in 2016. From a UK Top 40 perspective though this was his last original hit. If I'm honest I could name a single Prince tune after this record, but I thought he'd at least have had a few more hits that nobody remembers. This is pleasant enough, but not exactly a classic.
Verdict - OK
18. JX - Close To Your Heart (New)
The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for JX and his last one from the 90s. What I am discovering about JX all these years later is that his music hasn't aged well. I include this record in that, the good bits don't sound as good as I remember. I'll give it half a mark though.
Verdict - OK
There appears to be a lot of dating shows on the TV these days and I have no interest whatsoever in watching any of them. This record though reminds me there was a dodgy dating show I used to watch in the 90s called "Streetmate" with Davina McCall and this was the theme music. I do remember this record initially grabbing my attention because it was by a DJ, but was disappointed when I actually heard it.
Verdict - Rubbish
3 years after Nirvana disbanded following the death of Kurt Cobain, they were back in the Top 40....oh hang on this isn't Nirvana. It's the Top 40 debut from Bush, a British band who had already established themselves in America. They were just a clone of Nirvana really.
Verdict - Rubbish
Republica formed in 1994 and the music careers of most of its members go back even further. They were established enough to play at the Tribal Gathering in 1995. It was however this record in 1997 that gave them their Top 40 debut. It's the record they're best known for, but it wasn't their highest charting hit. It's a good blend of dance and rock music that's perhaps a little overplayed, but decent nontheless.
Verdict - Good
14. Beck - The New Pollution (New)
The 4th Top 40 hit for Beck and his highest charting hit to date. When I heard the intro to this just now I thought this sounds better than I remember it. Following this though it's exactly how I remembered it and that's not very good.
Verdict - Rubbish
Babyface had loads of hits as a songwriter, but this was just his 3rd Top 40 hit as an artist. His greatest his album has a full albums worth of tracks, but it was the actual hits that I initially knew and contributed to my decision to buy the album which I did.
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
There's something wrong about Blackstreet being a featured artist on a Foxy Brown record and doing no more than that. Teddy Riley of Blackstreet is a prolific songwriter/producer but he didn't contribute to the writing of this record. The person who did write it was Jay-Z who wrote pretty much every Foxy Brown record in the 90s. As a result it's shit.
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
9. Robin S - Show Me Love (New)
One of a countless number of remixes of this record. It's such an overplayed record and I'm sick to the back teeth of it. This remix adds nothing to it really, even though I can't recall ever hearing this particular version it still sounds familiar.
Verdict - Rubbish
There have been seemingly an endless number of versions of this record over the years, but this one is the best in my opinion. It's the beats that do it for me in this version. A memory of this tune at the time was getting into a friend of a friends Ford Orion with all the modifications you can think of including big speakers. This tune was blasting out when I got in the car and I thought good taste. As the journey went on it became apparent he was playing Now 36.
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
6. Peter Andre - Natural (New)
This was the final single to be released from his album of the same name. I remember being aware that was what his album was called because he looked anything but natural. I also recall it being around this time that he was Wanker of the Week on The Girlie Show. I had nothing personal against him, but I did against his music.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the 27th Top 40 hit for The Bee Gees and took their Top 40 career to 30 years long. This record came out around the same time as the infamous Clive Anderson interview where they walked off the show. Can't say I think much of this which may upset Barry Gibb in the unlikely event of him reading this.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Sash! and the record he's best known for. I have mixed feelings about this record. At first I wrote it off as being cheesy commercial crap, but it did start to grow on me after a while. When you consider some of the dreadful music this no doubt inspired though it's hard to truly like it.
Verdict - OK
Eternal were proving once again that they didn't need Louise in the band in order to be successful with this record being their highest charting to this point so therefore charting higher than any Eternal record with Louise on it, or any Louise solo record to that point for that matter. It's such a miserable record though.
Verdict - Rubbish
2. Kula Shaker - Hush (New)
I initially thought this was Kula Shaker doing a cover of a Deep Purple record. It turns out that the Deep Purple record was also a cover with the original being by Billy Joe Royal. It's not bad, but I much prefer the Deep Purple version and I've never heard the original.
Verdict - OK
No Doubt seemed to just come out of nowhere with this record. I remember thinking who the fuck are No Doubt and suddenly they were number one. Turns out they'd had a number 38 prior to this. I think they did their best stuff later on in their career, but this ones not bad.
Verdict - OK
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 12/30, or 40%. We're staying in the same ballpark.
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