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:
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
23. James - Waltzing Along (New)
The 1997 comeback of James hadn't been going well music wise in my opinion. They turned a corner with this record though which was a lot more catchy and enjoyable. At the time time though it didn't quite have enough about it for me to truly like it.
Verdict - OK
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
You wait 20 years for a Jean Michel Jarre follow up Top 40 hit and then 2 come along at once. All 3 of his Top 40 hits to this point had "Oxygene" in the title followed by a number. Like it's predecessor it fits in quite nicely with the trance music happening at the time.
Verdict - Good
With The Spice Girls being hugely successful this was the inevitable happening, another crappy British girl group making their Top 40 debut. They're long forgotten now and were never really that big at the time, rightfully so with rubbish like this.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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
The original "The Age Of Love" was from 1990, but these remixes are the first time it reached the UK Top 40. Unfortunately these remixes ruin the record if anything, so many peoples first introduction to this record doesn't do it any justice.
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
The New Power Generation were the backing band of Prince and this is the 2nd and final Top 40 hit credited to them even though Prince is featured on it. One of those records that I don't exactly dislike but is nothing to write home about.
Verdict - OK
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
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
"Scooby Snacks" was the Top 40 debut for Fun Lovin Criminals the previous year and I said I liked it in my review. "I'm Not In Love" is a cover of the 10cc record and is bloody awful. Completely ruined a classic.
Verdict - Rubbish / Good
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
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
9. Pet Shop Boys - Somewhere (New)
When it comes to cover versions I don't think anyone does it better than the Pet Shop Boys. This is one of my favourite Pet Shop Boys tunes and I didn't even realise it was a cover until years later. Ironically I have a memory of see a preview of a musical that was happening locally at the time and they sang this tune. I just assumed they were doing a musical type version of a Pet Shop Boys record even if I did think it was a strange this to do.
Verdict - Good
8. The Course - Ain't Nobody (New)
The Course made their Top 40 debut earlier on in the year with a dance cover of "Ready Or Not". They followed it up with this Chaka Khan cover which also made the Top 10. They wouldn't chart again, so 2 out of 2 Top 40 hits made the Top 10. Not bad for someone hardly anyone remembers. I'd rather I didn't remember them.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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
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
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
3. No Doubt - Just A Girl (New)
This was the Top 40 debut for No Doubt in 1996 but only made number 38. It fared better after they'd topped the charts with "Don't Speak". It's different to "Don't Speak" and has a decent beat to it. The guitaring is pretty decent too, but not quite enough about it for me to truly like it.
Verdict - OK
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Sash! and the 2nd to make number 2. Whilst it's predecessor was in French, this one was in Spanish. I always found this one a bit annoying, the shouting of the word "Ecuador" in particular.
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 8.5/30, or 28%. Now we're slipping.
No comments:
Post a Comment