Sunday, 30 June 2024

25 Years Since....June 1999

Wow 25 years since the last year of the 20th century, these were the tunes I was enjoying then:

Powerhouse ft Duane Harden - What You Need


On Christmas Eve 1999 I was in a pub that had MTV on and they were looking back to Ibiza in the summer of that year. I remember this record in particular featuring on the show and I how I regretted not going to Ibiza that summer and hearing tunes like this being played out loud.

Sugar Ray - Every Morning

Sugar Ray had been going for quite some time by this point and I remember seeing them perform on The Girlie Show a few years prior. This however was their Top 40 debut.

This is probably the only tune they're known for in the UK with just one more minor Top 40 hit to their name. I own 2 of their albums though including the one this is on.

Jamiroquai - Canned Heat

Jay Kay was the man who had it all as far as I could tell in 1999. He really knew how to make a tune that you couldn't help but love and had a car collection most of us can only dream of.

One criticism my friend had of this tune was it went on too long and maybe it does, but then there's always the radio edit.

Chicane - Saltwater

It's amazing how many dance records from 1999 remind me of Ibiza even though as mentioned I never went to Ibiza that summer. I remember seeing on Club@Vision that Chicane were doing a live PA at Privilege in Ibiza and showed us some footage which made me want to be there. 


Red Hot Chili Peppers - Scar Tissue

When I transformed from rocker to raver in the mid-90s the Red Hot Chili Peppers were just about the last guitar band I was still listening to. After some time though I became a rave purist and more or less forgot about the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Then in 1999 I saw them appear on Top of the Pops with this comeback single. The first thing that struck me was Anthony Kiedis not having long hair anymore, but listening to this tune it just flows so well and I instantly loved it and ended up buying the "Californication" album.
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Top 30 in 1994 Reviewed: Week 27

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 30 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

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 1994 with my verdict on each record:


It's Gianfranco Bortolotti again with a hit with Anticappella at the same time as he had a hit with Cappella. Again it's a eurodance record off the production line with a female singer and male rapper which raises the question why the need for the different but similar sounding names?

Verdict - Rubbish


This was originally a Top 40 hit in 1992 which reached number 31. It was remixed in 1994 and fared better. This was presumably off the back of "Shine On" being a hit. The original of this is good, but this remix is pretty average.

Verdict - OK


Another chart topper thanks to it's inclusion on the Levi's advert. This one was specifically written for the advert though by Pete Lawlor and then Stiltskin were formed off the back of it. Inevitably comparisons were drawn between it and Nirvana, particularly as Kurt Cobain had only died quite recently. In all honesty though I think it's better than anything Nirvana ever did.

Verdict - Good


Janet Jackson managed to pull off a decent ballad with "Again" several months prior to it. No such luck with this ballad though. The reality is getting a ballad to work is pretty difficult so having 2 from the same album meant inevitably at least one of them would be crap and that's what this is.

Verdict - Rubbish


This is a cover of the Donna Summer & Barbra Streisand record that has been produced by Stock & Aitken. It sounds more like they're bringing this record into the 80s rather than the 90s. I'm not keen on the original to be honest and this cover does nothing to improve that.

Verdict - Rubbish


One think I come across in these reviews are records that initially passed me by which are in the middle of what I thought were 2 consecutive hits. This is an example which has quite an appropriate title given that. Not a very good choice for a single though, sounds like album filler material to me.

Verdict - Rubbish


90s Aerosmith divides opinion. It was their commercially most successful period but that alienated the purists or even others who said they were blatantly selling out. I think they made some good records during this era, but this isn't one of them. It's very throwaway.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the Comic Relief record done by the Pet Shop Boys under a different name. Perhaps part of the reason for not using their usual name is to distance themselves from the record. It's shit, but that was probably the point. On a side note, "Absolutely Fabulous" is a comedy I've always hated and never understood why everyone else seemed to love it.

Verdict - Rubbish


It had only been a few months since East 17 had last been in the Top 40 but here they are with the lead single from the "Steam" album. In the lyrics they sing "there's no place like home" and having seen Tony Mortimer's home on the East 17 reunion documentary I'm inclined to agree with him. As regular readers will know, I love a bit of East 17.

Verdict - Good


After having a pretty successful 1992, KWS came back in 1994 following the sort of formula that made them successful in the first place i.e. 90s dance remakes of older records. This of course was originally by Chaka Khan, but they've got Gwen Dickey of Rose Royce to provide the vocals instead. It's not great if I'm honest.

Verdict - Rubbish


Football songs are generally shit, especially ones by actual football teams. I don't think people really buy football songs for the actual music, but I'm surprised this got to number one because surely only Man Utd fans would have bought it. Maybe it shows just how many Man Utd fans there are. 

Verdict - Rubbish


The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Chaka Demus And Pliers and we're very much into the era of Chaka Demus And Pliers that few remember. All of their singles came from the same album so I'd say we're into album filler territory as this is nowhere near the standard of their first 2 hits.

Verdict - Rubbish


The Top 40 debut for Let Loose and the record they're best known for. I remember this being universally hated at the time and rightfully so because this is an absolutely dreadful record. It's annoying and cringeworthy and hopefully I'll never hear it again.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Aretha Franklin. It's written by Babyface and Daryl Simmons and you can tell. It's easy to draw comparisons between this and her earlier material which was much better. In the 90s though what do you do? you can't redo the 60s. As a result though we have a pretty average record.

Verdict - OK


The Top 40 debut for Aaliyah who took over from Abba as the first act in the British Hit Singles book. It's a nice catchy number that's easy to sing along to. I have this on a pure swing compilation and would always enjoy it when it came on. 

Verdict - Good


The other Top 40 hit for Atlantic Ocean. I absolutely loved their big hit "Waterfall" but what they've done here is followed the path of many others by creating a poundland version of your big hit for your follow up. They've added some vocals too which makes it worse.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the Top 40 debut for Juliet Roberts in 1993 which returned to the Top 40 in 1994 as a remix. Much like the original version it's a pleasant enough record that would be good to hear out and about without being anything special.

Verdict - OK


Apparently this is a gospel inspired song, but don't let that description fool you. It's yet another dreary ballad from Mariah Carey. There was also a jungle rip off of this around the same time with pitched up vocals which is quite something when it's Mariah Carey singing.

Verdict - Rubbish


The eurodance records are coming thick and fast now with this being the Top 40 debut from Germanys Maxx. It's the usual male rapping female singing combination that could really be by any eurodance act. Mass production is something that springs to mind with all these records.

Verdict - Rubbish


When Oasis made their Top 40 debut earlier on in the year with "Supersonic" they only made number 31. This was their 2nd Top 40 hit which is a blatant rip off of "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" done in the Oasis way. Never understood the appeal of Oasis myself, also thought it was a dreary noise.

Verdict - Rubbish


Speaking of Gianfranco Bortolotti, here he is again with perhaps his most famous project Cappella. We have "U" in the title once again, the generic eurodance riff with a male rapper and female singer. This is getting pretty tedious now.

Verdict - Rubbish


After Aswad topped the charts with their Top 40 debut "Don't Turn Around" their following singles did chart so well until this record over 6 years later. The fact Ace of Base had their own version of "Don't Turn Around" out around this time would have reminded people of Aswad and that may have helped this single become a success. It's written by the band itself and it's a decent record that I liked at the time even it I wouldn't admit it.

Verdict - Good


We have a record here that I would consider a life changing moment. I was a grunger and rave was the enemy. Given that rave from a Top 40 perspective was basically dead I wasn't hearing anything in the charts that would tell me otherwise about rave. Then came this record which I thought was amazing. It wouldn't be too long before I bought the "Music For The Jilted Generation" album which took me over into rave territory.

Verdict - Good


Another follow single that doesn't sound an awful lot different to work. Let's face it though, Erick Morillo made these records to sell in large quantities rather than for musical credibility. Therefore why not make a record like this, it would have been easy enough.

Verdict - Rubbish


I did like this record at the time and included it in my "25 years since...." series of posts. However there is no getting around the fact this is nowhere near as good as the Aswad version. It therefore raises the question why bother listening to it. It's not a bad record though so it gets half marks.

Verdict - OK


This was a remake of a record Dawn Penn had originally recorded back in 1967. This became her only UK Top 40 hit. It's quite an iconic record and is easy on the ears, but I'm not sure I like it enough to give it full marks.

Verdict - OK


The only Top 40 hit for Big Mountain which is a cover of the Peter Frampton record. There was no avoiding this record at the time, I remember some people loving this. I do like a bit of reggae pop myself but have never liked this one.

Verdict - Rubbish


The 3rd Top 40 hit for Grid and their highest charting hit that many people only know them for. It's a classic biggest hit is nowhere near their best music sort of situation. It has a catchy hook and isn't a bad record but it is a little irritating at the same time.

Verdict - OK


When Big Mountain hit the charts I knew this record would be just around the corner because there was also no avoiding this record at the time and it used to annoy me in equal measure. It was originally a country song by John Michael Montgomery. It wasn't the only Top 40 hit for All-4-One though, they would return with another John Michael Montgomery cover but fortunately that never made the Top 30 so I won't have to listen to it.

Verdict - Rubbish


Aside from a chart topper in 1992, the 90s hadn't been a great decade to this point for Wet Wet Wet from a Top 40 perspective with the rest of their singles of the decade so far failing to reach the Top 10. This was all about to change with this record after it spent 15 weeks at number one and could have beaten Bryan Adams record had they not pulled it from sale. Obviously this topped the charts due to it being from "Four Weddings and a Funeral" but it's also a decent song and definitely revitalised them after some pretty poor singles.

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 9/30, or 30%. Going backwards again.
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Friday, 28 June 2024

Top 30 in 1997 Reviewed: Week 26

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:


En Vogue had bucked the trend at the start of the year by being an early 90s female R&B group making better music in the late 90s rather than going shit like the others. Then the unthinkable happened, Dawn Robinson left the group. This was their first post-Dawn Robinson Top 40 hit. It was a Babyface composition and whilst it's not as good as its predecessor or their early 90s material it's still decent.

Verdict - Good


When I heard that Supergrass was going to be on the first episode of "Da Ali G Show" I found it really odd as it wasn't the sort of music you'd associate with him. On the show itself though it became clearer, he was the president of the society against indie music and it was his job to bring on indie musicians and make them less crap. On comes Gaz Coombes from Supergrass who starts playing this tune and Ali G puts drum & bass beats over the top. Even though he was a pretend piss take character, he had a good point about the crap indie music coming out around that time.

Verdict - Rubbish


You could be forgiven for thinking that ETA is one of the many aliases of Norman Cook. It does sound like it could be a Fatboy Slim record, but he had nothing to do with it. In fact whilst he was playing as Fatboy Slim by this point he was yet to breakthrough commercially. ETA were a Danish duo and this was their one and only Top 40 hit.

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


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 Foxy Brown which was her only Top 10 hit to date. Once again Jay-Z features and it actually raises the question, who is worse, Jay-Z or Foxy Brown? I can't stand either of them and I can't stand this record.

Verdict - Rubbish


It had been 7 years since The Charlatans made the Top 40 debut and this was single number 13. They would have had a big enough fanbase evidenced by the successful comeback singles earlier on in the year. Quite why they felt the need to make a record that sounds like Oasis I do not know.

Verdict - Rubbish


Martin Gore takes lead vocals on this record rather than Dave Gahan. It's a downtempo number that's produced by Bomb the Bass. It shows the breadth of music that Depeche Mode can make and do a really good job of.

Verdict - Good


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


This record has had such an impact on me that whenever I come across the word "universe" this record comes into my head. It features Siedah Garrett on vocals and she's a far better singer than N'Dea Davenport in my opinion. Like with all decent Brand New Heavies tunes though it's all about the groove.

Verdict - Good


The Top 40 debut for Finley Quaye which is basically him doing a version of "Sun Is Shining" by Bob Marley. I'd not heard said record until a couple of years later but given Bob Marley had been dead for some time it was obvious he'd come up with the lyrics first. Bob Marley aside, I've never been a fan of this record.

Verdict - Rubbish


When I first got into rave I was still listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers initially but by the time this record came out I'd definitely stopped listening to them. It's a cover of the Ohio Players song done for the Beavis & Butthead movie and became their highest charting single to that point. It was probably their worst single to that point too.

Verdict - Rubbish


The 80s had finished 7.5 years prior to this but it seems nobody told Savage Garden who were making their Top 40 debut with this. If you're unsure which record this is, it's the "Chick A Cherry Cola" one. The 80s in the 90s formula worked pretty well for them though I must admit.

Verdict - Good


In the mid-90s there was a pretty big happy hardcore record from Holland called "Hold Me Now" by The Highlander which samples "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" by Chicago. Then someone told me that some crappy boy band like OTT had done a version. Turns out it was Az Yet rather than OTT, but still the same sentiment, this is shit.

Verdict - Rubbish


Another Primal Scream record that doesn't really sound like anything they've done before. It's probably the most similar to their earlier hits though, almost like a stripped back style of it. The result is a record that isn't bad, but could be better. 

Verdict - OK


I'd almost forgotten this record existed, but it's bringing back memories of the "you go have a beer" line. It would seem I was one of many people who completely misinterpreted this song, which is a shame because what I thought was the sentiment of the song was the only thing I liked about it.

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 Fugees were no more and this was the start of Wyclef Jean's solo career. It samples "Stayin Alive" by The Bee Gees. I do like several tunes that Wyclef Jean did as a solo artists, but this is rubbish and not a patch on what the Fugees were doing.

Verdict - Rubbish


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


I guess you could called this "Think Twice" part 2 as this was penned by Andy Hill and Peter Sinfield who were the composers of her chart topping hit. She failed to top the charts this time and actually peaked outside the Top 10 for the first time since 1994. It was her 11th Top 40 hit and reach number 11. Like the other 10, it was also shit.

Verdict - Rubbish


When I was doing my search for the best year this appeared in the Top 40 I looked at in 1997 and I picked this as the worst song. It's almost like The Vengaboys before The Vengaboys and even has a name that implies the members would be male but has female members too.

Verdict - Rubbish


The Top 10 hits kept coming for Cast with this record being their 5th in a row. I've just read the critical reception of their "Mother Nature Calls" album on which this appears and it's not very favourable. They say it's dull and more of the same. I agree.

Verdict - Rubbish


Echo & The Bunnymen had several hits in the 80s but this was their first original Top 40 hit in the 90s and their first in 9 years. They fitted nicely in with what I call the TFI Friday music of this era. The one thing I didn't like about TFI Friday generally speaking was the music on it.

Verdict - Rubbish


There was absolutely no avoiding this record at the time. I remember it appearing on Club Nation and then an advert for the single appeared in the advert break. It didn't take me too long to get absolutely sick of it. Not a bad record by any means but I thought this record was just alright in the first place and that's my view of it now.

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


The 3rd Top 40 hit from their self titled album. What I've previously said was that the fun seemed to get taken out of Blurs music following the big rivalry with Oasis. This is a good example of this, just sounds like throwaway rubbish to me.

Verdict - Rubbish


The joint highest charting single for Ocean Colour Scene which was the lead single from their "Marchin' Already" album. They were a band who had more Top 10 hits than you'd think. I sense a bit of Paul Weller influence in this and I'm not a fan of Paul Weller.

Verdict - Rubbish


I believe Hanson were the first band younger than me to top the charts. The fact the lead singers voice was yet to break gave that one away. It was the only song most people remember from them, but unfortunately they did have others.

Verdict - Rubbish


The Verve had been around since 1990, released their first album in 1993 and first hit the Top 40 in 1995. This record though was the beginning of their commercial peak. It's got a famous video of Richard Ashcroft walking down the street barging into everybody. That's about as exciting as this record gets.

Verdict - Rubbish


We've had the first posthumous hit for The Notorious BIG. Now we have the tribute record by his label boss and his widow. It interpolates "Every Breath You Take" by The Police. I would say this topped the charts because of what it was rather than how it sounds, it's a pretty poor record.

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 9.5/30, or 32%. Same as last week.
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Thursday, 27 June 2024

2007: The End? - February

Much like January 2007, February was somewhat lacking in quantity of new entries with just 28 (vs 24 in January) and around a third of the new entries were from the indie genre which collectively score zero.

In a previous post I mentioned my memory of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nelly Furtado being just about the only mainstream acts producing the goods around this time. Well in February they are the only 2 who get full marks.

The best record goes to Red Hot Chili Peppers with "Desecration Smile". At the time of writing this was their last Top 40 hit to date and came from arguably their best era since the early 90s.

Nelly Furtado had her last decent Top 40 hit to date with "Say It Right", the final hit from her "Loose" album. This does mean future charts are looking less promising.

Dance music wise there is just one record which was "The Beat Is Rockin'" by Erick E. Not a bad record and gets half marks, but nothing to write home about.

Sophie Ellis Bextor takes more of a rock direction on her record "Catch You". We must remember that before anyone really knew who she was, she was singer for short lived 90s indie band Theaudience so it's not that unusual for her. That said this record is bad enough to be crowned worst record of the month.

There's 2 rap records which get half a mark each. Nas had a record called "Hip Hop Is Dead", not a bad record by any means but far from his best at the same time. Then there's yet another posthumous record from 2Pac with "Pac's Life". I agree with another review saying that the vocals from 2Pac were strong but the production was too commercial.

R&B wise aside from Nelly Furtado it's all crap. Given that the newest R&B album I own is Nelly Furtado's "Loose" album I don't hold much hope for the future of the genre in the charts.

Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):



Score: 13%

Here's a look at the chart:


Looks like January was a one off then, though February is still better than most months in 2006.

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