Monday, 30 September 2024

25 Years Since....September 1999

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

Shaft - (Mucho Mambo) Sway


This was the opening track to Kiss Ibiza 1999 reminds me of getting into my car and putting it on the stereo and set off driving. As I would typically start driving from certain places it therefore reminds me of certain streets I would drive down on my way from said place.

Moloko - Sing It Back

As someone who is no spring chicken I've been asked several times about how I feel about getting older. The way I see it is given the choice between being a student in 1999 vs a student now it's a no brainer.

When this record came out I was full of optimism, convinced the best days were ahead of me. Now I feel sorry for those not old enough to have been around for records like this the first time around.

DJ Jean - The Launch

It's a pretty basic concept really, come up with a riff, do it trance style and repeat. Except there's a few twists and turns, you know what's coming but the route there isn't so obvious on first hearing. 

Agnelli And Nelson - Everyday



When Club@Vision did their Ibiza special in 1999 they played an Ibiza anthem from each year since 1989. To this day each years tune would still be considered an anthem except from this record that represented 1999.

The moral of the story is that this was very much an Ibiza anthem in 1999 but the history books distort the story. Therefore the Ibiza anthems of the earlier years may not have been at the time as other records that were quickly forgotten.


Paul Johnson - Get Get Down

For some reason this record reminds me that Slipmatt, the godfather of hardcore was leaving hardcore behind to do house music. I don't think I've ever heard Slipmatt play this in a set, not to say that he hasn't. As a result I expected Paul Johnson to look a bit like Slipmatt, but he couldn't look any more different.
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Sunday, 29 September 2024

Top 30 in 1994 Reviewed: Week 40

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:


When a particular kind of music is popular, you get your big names that are forever remembered and those lesser known ones who are long forgotten. In this case I'm talking about female R&B groups. This particular one doesn't even have a Wikipedia page. Do I like it though? I feel like I should but I can't say I do really.

Verdict - Rubbish


This record appears on a pure swing compilation I acquired years later. The person who introduced me to said compilation told me they saw Wayne Marshall at a bar in Northampton back in the day. I assumed he was American and relatively big over there so thought that it was quite odd that he'd play at a bar in Northampton. Turns out he was the only British act on the compilation and has done nothing of note apart from this record. I've since seen him myself supporting K-Ci & JoJo at IndigO2. In more recent years he's been playing at a nightclub opening in Dunstable. You get the picture, but anyway this is a great record.

Verdict - Good


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


The Top 40 debut and biggest hit for China Black. It was one of those records that I hated at the time but have grown to like via nostalgia for the 90s. I do remember at the time hearing someone singing that and saying what the fuck are you doing? to him. It's easy on the ears I guess.

Verdict - Good


Although Roger Taylor had 5 solo Top 40 hits he only made the Top 30 with 2 of them so this is the 2nd and last time he'll feature. Lets just say I'd rather see him behind a drum kit than singing this rubbish.

Verdict - Rubbish


There's a video I've seen of someone trying to listen to modern rap music but the facial expressions implies they find it all shit. They eventually resort to this record and breath a sigh of relief. That pretty much sums up how I feel.

Verdict - Good


The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Bomb The Bass and the final time he'll feature as his last Top 40 hit never made the Top 30. There is a Kruder & Dorfmeister remix of this which is far better and that's the problem. I struggle with the original because of it, so it gets half a mark.

Verdict - OK


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


I knew this record would be appearing soon after "Yesterday When I Was Mad" by the Pet Shop Boys hit the charts. This record came on the radio all the time when it sounded like it could be the Pet Shop Boys for the first couple of seconds. I hate it as a result, but now I can listen at my leisure I'm actually quite liking this.

Verdict - Good


One memory of this song that particularly stands out for some reason is it being on the car radio when it was my friends birthday in the middle of August. What does it for me with this song is what I assume to be the steel drums. I also like the 2 different styles of Brian and Tony Gold (not their real names).

Verdict - Good


I was always a big critic of The Cranberries. To me their music was too namby pamby for the rock crowd to be listening to. Then along came this record to contradict what I was saying. I tried really hard to not like this record because it's The Cranberries but I have to admit I do like it.

Verdict - Good


This is a song that gets better with age. I do remember liking it at the time but a few years ago I heard it for the first time in years and realised just how good it was. It's 90s pop music at its finest and records like this which made the 90s great.

Verdict - Good


By this point some grungers were saying the only rave they like is The Prodigy. That was basically because of this tune which featured the guitar. I was still keeping my new found love for rave music under wraps at this point, but it came as a bit of a relief that I could openly admit to liking this tune and not be subject to criticism.

Verdict - Good


With 8 of their first 10 Top 40 hits reaching the Top 10 they never made the Top 10 again after that. This is Top 40 hit number 11 and was their lowest charting Top 40 hit to this point. Now the demise of 2 Unlimited has began they finally have a Top 40 hit that I actually like. It's different to their previous material and nowhere near as cheesy. It's proof that most music acts have one good record in them.

Verdict - Good


I remember at the time learning that this was a cover of a 60s number one by The Equals. When I asked my mum if the original was a reggae tune she said no, there was no such thing back then. Well actually there was. I also remember people singing the "CD collection of Bob Marley" part thinking that was just a piss take not realising that was actually part of the lyrics. I think it's also worth pointing out that this also features Ali and Robin Campbell from UB40 who I think do more singing in it that Pato Banton. Anyway its a good bit of reggae pop.

Verdict - Good


This was the comeback single for Kylie Minogue which was her first Top 40 after the Stock Aitken & Waterman era. Amongst the songwriters are Steve Anderson and Dave Seaman aka Brothers in Rhythm who had a lot more credibility. Despite this, I couldn't stand this record at the time and still don't think much to it now.

Verdict - Rubbish


Neneh Cherry has often been said to be edgy and cool and here she is collaborating with African singer Youssou N'Dour in an attempt to back up these credentials. To me though she's just a pop singer and the only positive thing I have to say about her is that she isn't as bad as her god awful daughter.  

Verdict - Rubbish


Another Top 40 hit from Erick Morillo's commercial dance project. You pretty much knew what you were getting by this point, though this time he added some female vocals just to make it a little bit different but not too much.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the lead single from their "Monster" album and one of their best known hits. It's quite a catchy record, it's pleasant enough and by no means a bad record and it doesn't irritate me either. At the same time though I don't like it enough to give it full marks.

Verdict - OK


I would call this a good representation of everything that was naff about the 90s. I think of it as the sort of record that Andi Peters would like. At the time I remember finding this record painfully slow and when I heard it years later I was reminded of what a poor record it was.

Verdict - Rubbish


Jungle had arrived in the Top 40. The rave music that was hitting the charts in 91/92 was reflective of the rave scene but once the rave hits dried up the music was changing in the underground branching off into jungle and happy hardcore. This evolution wasn't seen in the Top 40, just straight from the original rave sound to jungle with a gap in between. I was initially gearing towards jungle when I first got into rave.

Verdict - Good


This was really "End Of The Road" part 2. Once again it's a Babyface penned ballad and know by many as their other hit. I guess it worked wonders for them the first time round so why not do the same again. It didn't quite hit the same heights as "End Of The Road" in the UK but it topped the charts in America.

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


I've sang pretty much every East 17 hit at karaoke at some point, but this ones my favourite to sing. I'd also say this is probably my favourite East 17 hit. As I transitioned to a raver this record made me think that maybe I could now get away with admitting to liking East 17. I did hold off a few years until I did that though.

Verdict - Good


The only Top 40 hit for Lisa Loeb and also the only record of hers that I've ever heard. I don't want to ruin my perception by hearing any of her other songs. A great bit of 90s pop and they don't make them like this anymore.

Verdict - Good


In order to promote her greatest hits album, Cyndi Lauper returned with a reggae style remix of her debut hit. It samples "Come and Get Your Love" by Redbone. It sounds very cheesy, even more so than the original which is really saying something.

Verdict - Rubbish


Luther Vandross is one of the best singers of all time. At the same time though he put his voice to some pretty terrible records. To make thinks worse he duets with Mariah Carey on this Lionel Richie and Diana Ross cover. I absolutely hate this record whatever the version.

Verdict - Rubbish


I hated this record at the time. Bon Jovi had become the rock band for people not into rock music and releasing this ballad which became their biggest hit didn't do them any favours in that respect. A few years later though I realised that I actually like this song. I knew someone who had their greatest hits and I borrowed it just to tape this song which then got regularly played in my car. 

Verdict - Good


The Top 40 debut for Corona. What I remember about this record what it came about was there was lots of eurodance about and I thought oh no not another sodding eurodance record. It summed up everything I was hating in music at the time. Listening now I have to say it's not aged very well.

Verdict - Rubbish


I first came across this record via someone singing it at school. I heard her singing the "be my baby" part initially thinking she was trying to sing "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight", but it wasn't long before I was hearing this everywhere. Once the hype had died down I remember hearing it on holiday a couple of years later for the first time in while and was thinking how badly it had aged already, it was sounding far too slow.

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 16/30, or 54%. For the first time in 1994 we go above 50%.
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Friday, 27 September 2024

Top 30 in 1997 Reviewed: Week 39

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:


As the title might suggest, this was a comeback single for the Backstreet Boys even though it had been just 5 months since they'd last been in the Top 40. It was however the lead single from their 2nd album. I was written by Denniz Pop and Max Martin and the way the Backstreet Boys were marketing themselves in this record tells you what this was all about.

Verdict - Rubbish


In 1996 Phil Collins left Genesis. I'm sure many people just assumed Genesis ceased to exist after that, especially given the reunions with Phil Collins happed a decade later. In between though Phil Collins had been replaced by Ray Wilson of Stiltskin. This was their only Top 40 hit with that line up. They called it a day after their popularity had declined.

Verdict - Rubbish


TJR was an alias of Karl "Tuff Enuff" Brown and Matt "Jam" Lamont who's remix of "Never Gonna Let You Go" by Tina Moore was riding high in the charts. Although this wasn't as big, it's still one of the speed garage classics. 

Verdict - Good


This was the 2nd Top 40 hit for Finley Quaye and his highest charting to date. I would say its one of those records I can appreciate and it doesn't sound as bad as I remembered it, but it's just not to my liking. 

Verdict - Rubbish


It had been 3 years since Portishead released the legendary "Dummy" album and this was the lead single to the follow up album. It also gave them their only Top 10 single to date. They hadn't done a "Dummy" part 2 and but still kept the spirit of Portishead alive.

Verdict - Good


The Fugees were no more, but Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill were reunited on this record. It's basically Fugees plus others minus Pras. It's much better than the previous Wyclef Jean effort that sampled "Stayin Alive". The sample of the record of the same name in this works a lot better with the record overall.

Verdict - Good


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


The 2nd Top 40 hit for N-Tyce who were the first British girl group in the Top 40 to rival the Spice Girls and this was their biggest hit which is the same sort of nonsense as their debut hit. With the All Saints now a thing, the days were numbered for N-Tyce, but they would be back.

Verdict - Rubbish


The 5th Top 40 hit for Joe and his penultimate one of the 90s. When I really got into R&B Joe was amongst my favourite artists. Even the albums of his I don't own I'm very familiar with the covers because I'd keep checking they'd come down in price enough for me to buy them. We're talking about a time when CDs were around £17 as standard and I had a tiny student loan to live off.

Verdict - Good


The final Top 40 hit to date for Brownstone. They were one of those groups who started off good and ended shit. I'm not sure I'd even call this album filler material. It's like they were trying to be cool but failing abysmally. Nothing good about this record at all.

Verdict - Rubbish


This started getting played at raves around 2 years prior to this. When this became a Top 40 hit I was quick to tell everyone that I'd know this record for 2 years. At the same time I wasn't too happy about it being a Top 40 hit because I wanted all the music I liked to stay underground. 

Verdict - Good


When Mark Morrison is 3 in 10 on Popmaster the contestant usually only gets "Return of the Mack" and Ken points out he had other hits with "Mack" in the title. Here's one of them, and it strikes me he's just living off the glory of his chart topper and is squeezing out what's left of his Top 40 career.

Verdict - Rubbish


It had been 7 years since Mariah Carey made her Top 40 debut. She had built a reputation for doing dreary ballads so now it seemed was time for a transformation. With Puff Daddy, Q-Tip and Stevie J on board this was a world away from the sort of music one might expect from her. If I was forced to listen to one of Mariah Careys 18 Top 40 hits to this point then this one would probably be it. More to do with how shit her other records were though.

Verdict - Rubbish


There was never any doubt that the All Saints were a girl group when they made their Top 40 debut with this single. As a result I really didn't want to like this song. I couldn't help but like it though and eventually bought their album which was the first album I'd bought in a long time that wasn't rave.

Verdict - Good


Boyz II Men had 4 Top 10 hits in total. The other 3 were the obvious ones and this is the obscure one. Being the lead single off a new album in 1997 almost guaranteed them a Top 10 though even if most of us were fed up with their dreary nonsense. 

Verdict - Rubbish


David Bowie and Brian Eno received co-writing credits on this record as it was the same chord sequence in the David Bowie songs "Boys Keep Swinging" and "Fantastic Voyage". It therefore bears a resemblance to David Bowies music which I've never been a fan of.

Verdict - Rubbish


When it's said that the solo career of Robbie Williams was a flop in the early days before he did "Angels" I assume their referring to this particular record which was the first that failed to reach the Top 10. He would reach the Top 10 with all his singles after this until 2006. It's the last single where he's trying to be Oasis.

Verdict - Rubbish


After collaborating with The Fugees on their last single, Simply Red were collaborating with Sly & Robbie on this cover of a Gregory Isaacs song. Not sure what to make of this if I'm honest, not a bad record but does seem to lack a little something.

Verdict - OK


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


The 2nd Top 40 hit for Hanson and follow up to their big hit. I don't think this one is well remembered but my memory of it was the discovery that Hanson had a band member whose voice had broke. The contradiction between that and the squeaky voice of the lead singer made me laugh.

Verdict - Rubbish


The Top 40 debut for Ricky Martin. It strikes me as one of those records everybody dances to on their holiday in Spain in the summer and then makes it's way into the UK Top 40 in time for Autumn. Except it's only any good when you've had a few beers and are getting in the holiday spirit.

Verdict - Rubbish


This started off as and R&B record in 1995, but it was a Tuff Jam garage remix that got it into the UK Top 40. Now considered to be one of the garage classics and rightfully so. It may have inspired some other big garage remixes of R&B records.

Verdict - Good


I was surprised to read on Wikipedia that Bellini are a German girl group. Not so surprised that they're not Brazilian, I kind of assumed they weren't but definitely surprised to learn they're a girl group. A lot is said about girl groups miming to the music, but with this record there isn't even any singing to mime to. Instead they just dance to the music, though I've no idea who the actual members are from watching the video because there's loads of people dancing. I do like the record though.

Verdict - Good


I own the "Another Level" album on which this appears but have no recollection of this being a single. Amazingly it charted higher than their best known hit "No Diggity". The single version was a remix that featured Fishbone, ODB and Slash. A sort of mish mash of genres then, but it just sounds a mess really.

Verdict - Rubbish


Not only was George Michael getting older but his album was too and the singles kept coming. This was the 6th single off the album, 5 of which made the Top 2 with the other making number 3. I would have this down as one of the most obscure number 2 records of the 90s and it's strange to think this would have almost certainly topped the charts had Princess Diana not died.

Verdict - Rubbish


With Will Smith an established actor by this point and Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince now split up you would think Will Smith would have given up on the rapping. Unfortunately he was only just getting started as a solo artist with this being his Top 40 debut. 

Verdict - Rubbish


If you were to ask the question what was the only number one single for The Verve? I would guess most people would say "Bitter Sweet Symphony" but it was actually this record. There always seemed to be someone playing this at open mike night at university which is one of the reasons I wouldn't have gone to it myself if I wasn't playing songs there myself.

Verdict - Rubbish


Chumbawamba first formed back in 1982 but this was the first time they hit the Top 40. It sounds like the sort of record that would make the charts because of a major football tournament happening, but there wasn't. Maybe it was just compensating for the lack of major football tournament. 

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the Top 40 debut for Dario G. I liked this record at the time and remember enjoying it when it appeared on Top of the Pops. Then several years later this came on the music channels and it made me think what a classic it was.

Verdict - Good


The biggest selling single of all time thanks to it being a charity record and a tribute to Princess Diana. I can picture the video clip of loads of people piling into the record shops as soon as it opened with one woman going and picking up a massive pile of CDs to buy. This blog is all about the music though and not the sentiment and musically it's not to my liking.

Verdict - Rubbish / 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%. We're hovering around this mark.
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