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:
Fugees had a pretty impressive Top 40 record. They only managed 21 with their debut "Fu-Gee-La" but then followed with 2 number ones, a number two and a number three, the latter being this record which is also their last Top 40 hit to date. This one is my personal favourite and reminds me of listening to Trevor Nelson on a Saturday afternoon. It's much darker than their other hits, but then it's the darker side of rap which attracted me to the genre in the first place.
Verdict - Good
The 2nd and final Top 40 hit to date for Puff Johnson. This ones a ballad but it's not a bad ballad. I remember Puff Johnson and Puff Daddy both being around the same sort of time and I always thought Puff Johnson was better.
Verdict - OK
Wet Wet Wet were seemingly still feeling the benefits of topping the charts with "Love Is All Around" 3 years later with this lead single from their "10" album going straight in at number 3. This was also the year they split up with band member Tommy Cunningham saying the band had run its course. I'm inclined to agree.
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
26. Hondy - Hondy (No Access) (New)
In 1996 Italian producer became massive with his breakthrough record "Children" and did pretty well with his follow ups. It was only a matter of time before more Italians would follow and here they are. I can't not think about the Honda car when hearing this record though. They didn't become the household name Robert Miles did, but still a decent record.
Verdict - Good
I feel like 1997 had a lot of rubbish coming from America in the lower reaches of the charts which should have stayed in America. This was the only Top 40 hit for Luscious Jackson who were a band not a person and is an example of this.
Verdict - Rubbish
Back in 1994 boy band All-4-One had a number 2 record with "I Swear". It was originally by John Michael Montgomery and one of the songwriters was Gary Baker. Seeing the success of one of his songs covered by a boy band must have contributed to his decision to pen this for the Backstreet Boys. It's also a dreary ballad.
Verdict - Rubbish
Once again memories of The Girlie Show are coming back. I remember it was when this record was out that Boyzone were Wankers of the Week and it was the same week The Spice Girls were guests. They also kept this record off the top spot. Both as bad as each other.
Verdict - Rubbish
A dance record from America that was the only Top 40 hit for Sara Parker. It does sound more like the sort of record that would succeed in the UK than America. Lots of mixes of this but it's the Nush mix which is the main one. Not bad but have heard better.
Verdict - OK
Gina G may be remembered as a one hit wonder, but this was her 3rd Top 10 hit. I would say it's placing in the charts though is a reflection of how popular it was though because I remember hearing it on The O-Zone once and don't recall hearing it again. It's catchy, but also a bit rubbish.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been a little over a year since 3T made their Top 40 debut and now here they are with their final Top 40 hit to date. Herbie is Herbie Crichlow, a Sweden based English songwriter. This sounds a bit like the Backstreet Boys but this makes sense as Herbie Crichlow is joined by Max Martin and Denniz Pop on songwriting duties on this one. It's also shit.
Verdict - Rubbish
Livin Joy had already had their 3 bigger hits by this point and now we're into Livin Joy territory that few people remember. The formula was getting a bit tired by this point. It was always commercial but this ones commercial without excitement which is never good.
Verdict - Rubbish
18. SWV - Can We (New)
When SWV first broke through most of their hits were written by Brian Alexander Morgan. Then they started going to the who's who of producers, in this case it's Timbaland and Missy Elliott. The problem with these different acts going for the same producers is that a lot of the music ends up sounding the same and this is what has happened here. This almost sounds like a warm up for Aaliyah doing the far better "More Than A Woman" a few years later.
Verdict - Rubbish
An eye opener here is that we were in an era where there was loads of dance music being made in the UK and being played in the clubs up and down the country, yet its the American records getting into the Top 40. I guess they were more likely to succeed here as we'd taken to dance music much more than the Americans. It's alright but nothing special.
Verdict - OK
The 6th Top 40 hit for Cast and the lead single from their 2nd album. It was also their first Top 40 hit not to have a one word title. I would say they had built a big enough of a fanbase to keep them ticking along at the top end of the charts as I don't think their chart positions reflect their popularity. Or maybe I learned to ignore them more.
Verdict - Rubbish
I've mentioned before how hearing "Set You Free" by N-Trance was a life changing experience but then N-Trance came out with a load of crap afterwards. Here's an example of some of that crap they continued to churn out which is a rip off of the Ottawan record.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Charlatans continued with their successful return to the charts scoring another Top 5 hit with this. Like with Cast though, I think they must have just had enough of a following for them to chart this high. I do remember this one more than the Cast record admittedly, but it really didn't seem that big.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was another record from the film "Space Jam" and the "Monstars' Anthem" refers to the song for the enemy team. That makes it quite difficult to take seriously as a record given it's from a cartoon, but it's not bad.
Verdict - OK
This was the last original Top 40 hit to date for The Future Sound Of London. They had left the ambient sound behind in favour of a big beat record. I guess they're doing what it says on the tin here and bringing what was the future sound of London. A decent effort.
Verdict - Good
The main singer on all of The Brand New Heavies Top 40 hits prior to this was N'Dea Davenport. This was their first Top 40 hit without her with Siedah Garrett taking vocal duties here. It gave them their biggest Top 40 hit to this point. I would say Siedah Garrett is the better singer.
Verdict - Good
Makaveli was the name 2Pac used to release his final album which came out just after he died. The first Top 10 hit for 2Pac was "California Love" and featured Dr Dre. On this, his 2nd top 10 hit he says "California Love part motherfuckin 2 without gay ass Dre". It would appear they never saw eye to eye. Anyway love this tune and love the album.
Verdict - Good
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
A year or so earlier The Chemical Brothers were an act I'd speak highly of. When they topped the charts with the aid of Noel Gallagher my underground self looked on them less favorably even though it was an undeniably good record. Then came this, another chart topper that I've never liked. My main complaint about it was it was too slow but to this very day I've just never got into it.
Verdict - Rubbish
I had a friend who was also a raver who I used to think just made up things about the rave scene safe in the knowledge nobody had anyway of proving otherwise. One day he had written quite a sizeable list of DJ names, some were ones I was very familiar with and others I thought he'd just made up. One such DJ was DJ Quicksilver. I questioned whether a DJ would really name himself after a brand of clothing. Then it turned out there was such a DJ. When I first heard this record it wasn't what I was expecting. I expected something of the hardcore or drum & bass variety, but this was club music. I still liked it though.
Verdict - Good
The 4th Top 40 hit for the Spice Girls and their 4th number one and last single from their debut album. "Mama" is marketing in a way for ones mother to approve of their child listening to the Spice Girls and "Who Do You Think You Are" was the comic relief single. It was a win win situation for them, but musically it was still shit.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
The 2nd Top 5 hit in 1997 for Depeche Mode. To put that into perspective, they'd only achieved one Top 5 hit prior to this out of a possible 28. They were a big enough name to reach the Top 5 though which seems to be happening a lot in 1997. The difference this time is it's a record I actually like.
Verdict - Good
After the previous years disappointment of hearing the full version of "Spaceman" having initially liked it from the Levi's advert I was more cautious with this years effort. Fortunately I wasn't disappointed with this one. I'm sure I'd acknowledged by this point there was room in my life for chill out music amongst the hard and fast dance music I was listening to at the time. This one definitely fitted that.
Verdict - Good
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
2. Supergrass - Richard III (New)
It had been a year since Supergrass had previously been in the Top 40. This comeback single was notably heavier than their previous efforts but I can't help but think if they intended to make a record like this they should have made it harder and faster. Not bad though.
Verdict - OK
This was the main song from Space Jam and I asked the question why do they always have ballads for cartoon films. That said, I did think this ballad was much better than your average ballad so not a bad choice really.
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 12.5/30, or 42%. That's quite an improvement over last week.
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