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:
I guess you could call Jeremy Healy the David Guetta of the 90s. He was the highest paid DJ at the time but it had nothing to do with his music abilities. Amos was his sidekick. Despite this I did quite like their first Top 40 hit together "Stamp". This one though is a bit cheesy and shit and possibly inspired David Guetta.
Verdict - Rubbish
29. Cake - I Will Survive (New)
The 2nd and final Top 40 hit for Cake which is a cover of the Gloria Gaynor record. It's done in a completely different style though. It's a guitar led record. I sort of admire how they made it their own, but it just sounds ridiculous.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been nearly a year since Gary Barlow topped the charts with his solo debut "Forever Love" and it took that long for him to release his follow up single which also topped the charts. It was originally a Madonna song that didn't make the cut for her "Bedtime Stories" album. That's how shit it is.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Seahorses are a band who completely passed me by in 1997. It's the band that John Squire formed after the Stone Roses split up and this was their Top 40 debut. That fact alone would have generated record sales. Maybe I had heard this at the time and quickly forgot it, that's the sort of record it is. I am familiar with it retrospectively.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the 2nd and highest charting Top 40 hit for the Eels. It's quite a haunting record that documents the grim side of everyday life of a run down area where "Susan" lives. I've previously tried to think of anyone else who's like the Eels and I can't. It's pretty unique and in a good way.
Verdict - Good
25. Fluke - Absurd (New)
The 5th and final Top 40 hit to date for Fluke. I'd say this one probably takes a few listens to get into but fortunately I've listened to it enough times to have got into it. It's a big beat record and has a bit of a dance/rock combination going on it it.
Verdict - Good
24. Geneva - Tranquilizer (New)
This was the 3rd a highest charting Top 40 hit for Geneva and this will be the last time they'll feature as their final Top 40 hit never made the Top 30. I wasn't sure I'd heard this before until the chorus came in. Just the usual whiny rubbish really.
Verdict - Rubbish
With East 17 now out of the picture, 911 were the biggest active UK boy band at this point. They were perhaps overshadowed by Irelands Boyzone and Americas Backstreet Boys though. The solution for taking on the latter was to basically make a Backstreet Boys record. It worked though as this is the record they're best known for. It's shit though.
Verdict - Rubbish
It's that time of year again where we have a football team in the Top 40 with a song about their football team. They've got Suggs on the record, perhaps to give it a bit of credibility. Put it this way, I have a friend who is a massive Chelsea fan and he things this record is shit.
Verdict - Rubbish
Blackstreet may be best known for "No Diggity" but this was their highest charting Top 40 hit. It uses the same samples as "I Ain't Mad At Cha" by 2Pac. Both records are good in their own way and I own both albums each record appears on.
Verdict - Good
North and South were a band from a children's TV show called No Sweat. This was their Top 40 debut and there's something quite amusing about a boy band singing "I'm A Man Not A Boy". It's just as shit as it sounds on paper.
Verdict - Rubbish
19. Basement Jaxx - Fly Life (New)
This was the Top 40 debut for Basement Jaxx. They were already well established in the underground but I don't think they really became a household name until 1999. That said this is a pretty well known tune and is one of the club classics. I think so anyway.
Verdict - Good
18. Monaco - Sweet Lips (New)
It must have been intentional for Monaco to enter the charts the same week as Geneva, funny coincidence if not. This was the 2nd and final Top 40 hit to date for Monaco who were the side project of Peter Hook from New Order. This ones very much a dance record and is much better than their bigger hit.
Verdict - Good
17. Strike - I Have Peace (New)
Yes this is the same Strike who did "U Sure Do" a couple of years earlier. It was their final hit and a change in direction compared to their previous effort. It's also really a bridge to the next phase of it's members careers with Freestylers and Plump DJs.
Verdict - Good
This was originally a Top 40 hit for Elvis Presley in 1972 but it returned to the charts in 1997 after being featured in the BT advert. I can't say I remember the advert in question, perhaps I'd learned to ignore adverts by that point. Anyway the Pet Shop Boys cover of this is so good it's difficult to listen to another version. I'll give it half marks though.
Verdict - OK
This was the penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Faith No More and the last time they'll feature as their final Top 40 hit never made the Top 30. When this record came out I remember Posh Spice saying that she fancied Mike Patton, just imagine if she'd married him rather than David Beckham. I couldn't imagine brand Patton being thrown in your face like brand Beckham. Anyway to the tune, I'd say it's up there amongst their best hits.
Verdict - Good
I don't think I've heard this since 1997 and the main reason for that aside from the fact you don't really hear it anymore is that it always irritated me at the time. Listening now it's not irritating me like it used to, but I can see why it would have irritated me so I don't think I'll be listening again.
Verdict - Rubbish
That's right, No Mercy had another hit which doesn't sound all that different to their big hit "Where Do You Go". They make it obvious that it's going to sound the same with having a similar title as well. As their big hit was shit, so it this.
Verdict - Rubbish
After scoring her joint highest charting Top 40 hit with a ballad, Toni Braxton followed up with another ballad. This time it's written by R Kelly and is much better made. It's definitely an improvement over it's predecessor, but I'm not as tolerant with ballads as I once was so this gets half a mark.
Verdict - OK
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
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
This was the 4th Top 40 hit for Damage and their highest charting. It's a cover of the Eric Clapton record. One of the YouTube comments sums up this record nicely which is "they seriously damaged this song". What else can I say.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember there big a big fuss and performance in selecting the UK Eurovision entry of 1996. In 1997 though all I remember was hearing the news that this was going to be the UK Eurovision entry of 1997. I thought it was a step backwards as Gina G the year before had a far better song than any of the other countries, but to me this record was just as shit as what the other countries came up with. It worked though because it won.
Verdict - Rubbish
As the story goes, Shola Ama was singing on the tube one day and was heard by someone in the business which eventually led to this her Top 40 debut. It's a cover of a Turley Richards record made famous by Randy Crawford. I do quite like this record.
Verdict - Good
When it came to the soundtrack for "Romeo + Juliet" this was seen as the big record from it as opposed to the much better "You and Me Song" by The Wannadies. A very poor choice of record in my opinion, there's nothing to like about this record, it's irritating.
Verdict - Rubbish
This of course was the theme song for the TV show Friends. I used to watch Friends back in the 90s and I liked it but I have to say it's not aged very well. The theme music though was always shit, but it was probably intended to be that way.
Verdict - Rubbish
When I was on Champions League Popmaster I'd say the easiest question I had was to give the surname of Rosie who had a hit in 1997 with "Closer Than Close". I remember this very well at the time and it was one of those records I was supposed to like but wasn't convinced by. It's aged really well though and has become a bit of a classic.
Verdict - Good
The only member of Simply Red that most people know is Mick Hucknall. In a way that was a win win situation for former Simply Red member Tim Kellett when he formed Olive. The music is nothing like Simply Red, but people would buy it without being put off it being by a former Simply Red member because they wouldn't know. At the same time Simply Red fans may have bought it because he used to be in Simply Red. Either way this is an undeniably good record.
Verdict - Good
This record appeared in the Top 40 I reviewed for my best year search. I found it to be better than I remember it being. At the time I wrote it off, but it's actually not bad. Not sure I like it enough to give it full marks, but it's definitely worthy of half marks.
Verdict - OK
It had been nearly 4 years since Eternal had made their Top 40 debut but it took until this, their 13th Top 40 hit to top the charts. It did sound like they'd finally cheered up in this record have had a string of rather miserable hits. All was not well behind the scenes though as this would be the penultimate Top 40 hit with Kelle Bryan in the group. Still a rubbish song though.
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 13.5/30, or 45%. Less new entries and we've improved.
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