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'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
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
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
This was the Top 40 debut from Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah which came before the Wu-Tang Clan had been in the Top 40 themselves. It's dark but quite a radio friendly record at the same time and I mean that in a complimentary way.
Verdict - Good
26. The Braxtons - Slow Flow (New)
The 3rd and final Top 40 hit to date for The Braxtons whose first 2 Top 40 hits failed to make the Top 30. Needless to say their Top 40 career never hit the same heights as their sister Toni. Yet this record actually isn't bad, the backing track is good but the singing is a bit wooden.
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
The Paul McCartney comeback in 1997 continued with this record. It's easy to write off anything he made after The Beatles and even more so when he was competing with people old enough to be his children. However this is actually a decent record that just is what it is.
Verdict - Good
Without diving into the actual meaning of the record, the title of the track is a good one especially once I hit adult life where we have to make change happen ourselves rather than have it forced on is as we go through school etc. A shame the song itself isn't really up to much.
Verdict - Rubbish
The 2nd Top 40 hit for Embrace who to me were the ultimate boring band of the late 90s. In the case of this record it's probably helped by the fact they're trying to sound like Oasis here. Once they got over that though the music got even more boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
20. Dubstar - No More Talk (New)
This was the lead single from their 2nd album. I do recall seeing the album on offer in HMV one day but decided against buying it. The reason was because I got the impression it would be nowhere near as good as their debut. This single is decent, but not as good as it's predecessors and is probably by far the best track on the album.
Verdict - Good
19. BT - Flaming June (New)
I try not to use the expression ahead of it's time too much because in reality only a small number of records can be. This however was ahead of it's time because it appears on the Kiss in Ibiza 99 compilation and sounds well at home with the genuine 1999 trance records in there.
Verdict - Good
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
After they reached number 3 with "Bodyshakin" which sounded like they were doing a Backstreet Boys record, they do the same again by doing what sounds more like a Boyzone record. Once again, this isn't a good thing.
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
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
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
This was the 3rd Top 40 hit for Todd Terry under his own name and the first one that's not a cover. It's also the highest charting Top 40 hit to date for Todd Terry. It's the same sort of soulful house music as it's predecessor but clearly a different record.
Verdict - Good
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
Massive Attack were back with this being the lead single from their 3rd album "Mezzanine". Their debut hit "Unfinished Sympathy" was already being celebrated as a classic in 1997 which no doubt helped this to become their highest charting hit to that point. Their "Mezzanine" album though was another classic in the making.
Verdict - Good
Babyface was the songwriter and producer on many big hits, but this was his only Top 10 hit as an artist. This record also gave Stevie Wonder his first Top 10 hit since 1988 and final one to date. It's a fantastic collaboration and proof that Stevie Wonder had at least one good record left in him after he did you known what.
Verdict - Good
9. R Kelly - Gotham City (New)
After scoring his first number one with a hit from a movie, R Kelly was back in the Top 10 again with a hit from another movie which this time is "Batman & Robin". That fact it's a song about a fictional city from Batman makes it a bit difficult to take seriously, but R Kelly pulls this off really well to the point you can easily forget that fact.
Verdict - Good
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
This was the final Top 40 hit of the 90s for Shaggy before his wilderness years which even brought about rumours he had died as I recall. It's a cover of the Erma Franklin record with Shaggy adding a few more bits to it. It bit cheesy but decent nonetheless.
Verdict - Good
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
5. Michael Jackson - History / Ghosts (New)
Yet another late 90s Michael Jackson record that charted pretty high despite having little impact in the grand scheme of things. It would however be his last Top 40 hit of the 90s. He's teamed up with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the usual writers for his sister Janet on "History" and with Teddy Riley on "Ghosts". Both are instantly forgettable though.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
4. Gala - Freed From Desire (New)
My biggest memory of this record was watching a TV show that I think was called "Holidays From Hell". It documented the holiday of 2 old ladies taking a holiday to Ibiza and their hotel was right in the middle of San Antonio amongst the Club 18-30 crowd and this was being blasted out repeatedly to the point that one of them was pointing out it was that song again. To be fair as a youngster at the time I would have hated hearing this all the time as well as I've never liked it.
Verdict - Rubbish
I was such a rave purist in 1997 that I specifically remember pretending to people at the time that I didn't like this record because it wasn't rave. In reality I loved this record and ended up buying the single. I just gets better as it goes on, I love the final verse to it.
Verdict - Good
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
It had been over a year since Oasis had last been in the Top 40. In that time we had an Oasis tribute band plus many other acts try to make their own Oasis songs. They were so big that the record shops would open at midnight to enable people to buy this single. The actual record though is just a noise, the worst thing I'd heard Oasis do and that's really saying something.
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 13/30, or 43%. Some decent new entries this week.
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