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:
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
Rumor has it that this record was ghost written by Nas. It's something he denies and I can understand why. At the same time though I don't blame him for writing it at all. If I was asked to write a crappy record for Will Smith in the knowledge I could make a shit load of money from it then I would.
Verdict - Rubbish
We've had pretty much every other soap have cast members in the Top 40 so this was the time for Casualty. I don't think I've ever sat down to watch an episode of Casualty before so I have no idea who the cast are. When I was younger I refused to watch it on the basis it was for people too sad to go out on a Saturday night. Now I'm happy to stay in on a Saturday night but can find much better things to do than watch Casualty. Anyway, this was the 6th different version of "Everlasting Love" to make the Top 40 and is predictably crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 2nd solo Top 40 hit for Bernard Butler which is a more familiar one. It's helped by the violins which gives the record more substance. It's almost like it's predecessor was a warm up to this which isn't bad.
Verdict - OK
This was the Top 40 debut for Shania Twain which she wrote with her than husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the man who cowrote a number of Bryan Adams records. I hated this at the time, too much of a soppy ballad for my liking. However it appears on a compilation album I bought a couple of years later and I grew to like it.
Verdict - Good
Aqua topped the charts with their debut hit "Barbie Girl" and did the same again with this follow up record. Once again it's a novelty record and I'm pretty sure everyone with the surname Jones who held a PhD got some stick for this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 3rd Top 40 hit for Aaron Carter and like many 3rd hits it's a ballad. It seems a bit of an odd song for a 9 year old to be singing. Don't get me wrong, it's still very much aimed at the kids market. The lyrical content though is about a break up and how you're going to miss the girl. When I was 9 a break up consisted of you're dumped and you'd see them at school the next day anyway.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
One of the great things about Space was the humour in their records. All their hits to prior to this had their funny moments but this one is absolutely hilarious. In the song, Tommy Scott from Space and Cerys Matthews are a couple who want to kill each other, but then they hear Tom Jones sing and all is good. Fantastic tune.
Verdict - Good
She's singing "Do you remember me" in the chorus. I'm sure most people do, but whether they remember this song or not I'm not so sure. It was her final Top 40 hit of the 90s. The wheels had fallen off since her successful comeback the previous year and once again her Top 40 career looked dead and buried. Once again though she would have a successful comeback in the 21sr century.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Natalie Imbruglia and her 2nd number two. I get the impression she was trying to be portrayed as a more serious musician than the other soap singers. The reality was this was the same direction Kylie Minogue was taking at the time, the difference was Natalie Imbruglia had no back catalogue to get in the way like Kylie Minogue had. It also sounds a bit poundland Alanis Morrissette.
Verdict - Rubbish
19. Hanson - Weird (New)
The wheels were starting to fall off Hanson's Top 40 career with this being their first single not to make the Top 10. The fact they were still having Top 40 hits when some would have thought they'd be working in Burger King by then is quite an achievement I guess.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was originally a Top 40 hit for the Wombles back in 1974. It was rereleased to promote their greatest hits album. No idea why people would have wanted to start listening to the Wombles again all of a sudden.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Leann Rimes. I once took part in a quiz where a question was who charted in 1997 with "How Do I Live" to which I confidently answered Leann Rimes. The answer was Trisha Yearwood who reached number 66 with it. Leann Rimes was in 1998 and is the better known version. Although not the first person younger than me to chart, I do recall a younger Leann Rimes charting making me start to think have I missed the boat already in my music career.
Verdict - Rubbish
I was a bit confused when I started playing this record. I remember this being a cheesy dance record but that wasn't what I was hearing. Turns out I needed the Almighty Single Edit. That meant double the torture for me, it's like Italy's answer to Aqua.
Verdict - Rubbish
When I first heard this I was amazed that a rock band could make such a record. Then I recall them playing the original version of TFI Friday which was miserable. It then became clear when I discovered than the version we all know and love was the Norman Cook remix.
Verdict - Good
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Five and they reached the Top 5 for the first time. No Swedish songwriters this time, instead it's Eliot Kennedy along with Tim Lever and Mike Percy from Dead or Alive. I recall this being heavily promoted on The Big Breakfast at the time with the band appearing all week.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Wu Tang Clan were already well established and well respected in the rap world. It's therefore a bit of a shame that when they finally did make their UK Top 40 debut it was with this nonsense. I do remember thinking what the fuck at the time. I guess this was needed from Texas in order to carry the incredibly dull "Insane".
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
12. Pulp - This Is Hardcore (New)
When Jarvis Coker went on Da Ali Show he was told by Ali G that his album ain't hardcore. Obviously Ali G wasn't talking about the music variety of hardcore, but in a music respect it's anything but hardcore. Nothing good about this record at all.
Verdict - Rubbish
This is the record All Seeing I were best known for but it wasn't their highest charting. It's a cover of the Sonny & Cher record done big beat style. Very catchy and a record that I always liked at the time.
Verdict - Good
10. LL Cool J - Father (New)
LL Cool J was still behind Salt-N-Pepa in terms of rap acts with most Top 40 hits. This was number 11 vs the 13 by Salt-N-Pepa. This record took LL Cool J above Salt-N-Pepa for Top 10 hits though with this being his 6th. It's better than any Salt-N-Pepa record I've heard but still not my cup of tea.
Verdict - Rubbish
At the time I remember this being this opening song of Top of the Pops for a few weeks in a row. At least that's what it felt. There also seemed to be a lot of people on the stage so I assumed they were a band with many members, but it turned out there were only 2 of them in Savage Garden. Never before have I seen a song contradict a band name so much. I do like some of their music, but not the soppy ballads.
Verdict - Rubbish
8. M People - Angel Street (New)
There was a period of time when I'd regularly get the bus to Chenies Street in London. When you'd hear the bus stop announced this song would often come into my head as replacing Angel Street with Chenies Street would work just as well. It was the final Top 10 hit for M People, I'm surprised it took the record buying public so long to get sick of M People.
Verdict - Rubbish
"Here's Where The Story Ends" is perhaps the best known record by The Sundays, but this cover by Tin Tin Out was the only version which made the Top 40. It was the 6th Top 40 hit for Tin Tin Out but just the 2nd to make the Top 30 and their first Top 10. They were making dance music prior to this, but this is a change in direction and the reason why I'd start getting Tin Tin Out and Sixpence None The Richer mixed up.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been a year since Madonna had been in the Top 40. The last time she'd been in the Top 40 was with those god awful Evita songs. In a way this record was quite refreshing in comparison. She was being more experimental again, but I have to say this records not for me.
Verdict - Rubbish
5. Destiny's Child - No No No (New)
The Top 40 debut for Destiny's Child which was an early sign of what crap was around the corner in the 21st century. To be fair to Destiny's Child they were only 16 at the time so can be excused. It doesn't excuse the shite Beyonce continues to release into her 40s.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the first Spice Girls hit not to top the charts. Geri Halliwell was so pissed off she decided to leave the group. OK not strictly true, but this was the last Spice Girls hit before she did leave. It's their attempt at making a Motown record, something Emma Bunton also did badly in her solo career.
Verdict - Rubbish
Robbie Williams solo career had been given a boost following the release of "Angels" and this was the follow up single. One thing I never really appreciated until I saw a live band play this record was just how good the bass line is to this. He was now finding his own identity as a pop singer.
Verdict - Good
The 2nd and final chart topper to date for Celine Dion which was take from "The Titanic" movie. I remember how big that film was so it was almost inevitable that this would get to number one. It's also a depressing film given that people die at the end so I guess it's appropriate to have a depressing song for it. Musically though its just another Celine Dion record.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been 10 years since Run DMC had last been in the Top 40. This Jason Nevins remix of their 1983 record took them to the top of the charts and ended the Spice Girls run of number ones. It also made its way onto several dance compilations which validated me liking this record.
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 8.5/30, or 28%. We're slipping again.
No comments:
Post a Comment