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:
I remember watching this video. You had lots of strange looking people enter the photo booth, but then the last one to walk in was an ordinary looking bloke with long hair. Not only did I think the bloke with long hair was a bit out of place for looking normal, but I also thought long hair equaled rock music, and this was a dance record. I was therefore amazed to see the bloke with long hair was the bloke singing it, though in hindsight it makes a lot of sense. A bit overplayed now, but I still like it.
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 was the 14th Top 40 hit for the Manic Street Preachers and the last before the disappearance of Richey Edwards. Some have the opinion that they went too soft in the post-Richey Edwards era but records like this imply they were already going soft beforehand.
Verdict - Rubbish
I mentioned when I was reviewing "Trouble" that I was surprised it didn't chart any higher given how big it seemed at the time. I'm now surprised this follow up charted as high as this as I don't remember it. The same formula as their big hit and just as shit.
Verdict - Rubbish
26. Pantera - Planet Caravan (New)
I had the "Far Beyond Driven" album on which this appeared and remember being amazed at hearing Pantera do a record so soft. I became even more surprised later on in life when I discovered it was a Black Sabbath cover especially when I remember someone saying Black Sabbath were a proper band because they'd never done a soft record. It's not the best if I'm honest.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
When Bad Boys Inc. had their final Top 40 hit to date I said that next up was Upside Down in the 3rd rate boy band world. I'd forgotten about the very brief chart career of 2wo Third3. It was just the beginning of a very successful music career for songwriting band member Richard Stannard who went onto write many of The Spice Girls hits. This record is just as bad.
Verdict - Rubbish
My memory of N-Trance was that they did "Set You Free" which changed my life and then followed up with a bunch of crap. I'm not sure whether I first heard it when first released in 1994 or the re-issue at the start of 1995, but what I do know is this record never featured in all that. Had I heard this first I may have not been so entertaining to "Set You Free" because it's another male rapping female singing eurodance record off the production line.
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
The 11th Top 40 hit of the 90s for Gloria Estefan and we're not even halfway through the decade. We're into the era of her doing covers with this being a cover of a disco record by Vicki Sue Robinson and is done disco style. I've not heard the original but I'd speculate Gloria Estefan didn't do much to make it her own.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for the Simon Cowell created boy band Ultimate Kaos who really were still boys when this came out. On paper this should be a really shit record and I'm not going to pretend for a minute that it has an ounce of credibility. At the same time though it's a guilty pleasure of mine.
Verdict - Good
I found myself liking a lot of the reggae pop music that came out in 1993, but the ragga pop that was coming out in 1994 got tedious pretty quickly. This was the 3rd Top 40 hit for CJ Lewis which again was giving an old song a ragga pop makeover. It was the last of this formula he had a Top 40 hit with, he did a couple of original compositions afterwards but they failed to reach the Top 30.
Verdict - Rubbish
PJ & Duncan had now left Byker Grove and had made their name as pop stars following the success of "Let's Get Ready To Rhumble". I remember this being played a lot by the same people who'd been listening to "Baby I Love Your Way" and "I Swear". That tells you about who this was aimed at, not me.
Verdict - Rubbish
17. Elastica - Connection (New)
The 2nd of 3 Top 40 hits to date for Elastica. I know this best these days for being the warm up music to Race for Life as they've played that every time I've gone to show me support along with some god awful rubbish from Rihanna. It's like an evolved version of their debut hit but still crap.
Verdict - Rubbish
The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Cappella who use the word "Move" once again on one side and use a genre name that was just emerging for the other side. Nothing big beat about either of these tunes, it's the usual eurodance rubbish as their previous few hits.
Verdict - Rubbish
15. Let Loose - Seventeen (New)
After being in the Top 40 for what seemed like an eternity with their Top 40 debut "Crazy For You", Let Loose follow up with this record which follows a similar formula. Fortunately this didn't hang around for nearly as long.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
This was Elton John's other song from the "Lion King". It really just sounds like an inferior version of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight". As "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" only just scraped a half mark this record isn't going to get any.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the lead single from the "Bedtime Stories" album where Madonna was jumping on the R&B bandwagon. The man behind this record was Dallas Austin. He's a credible producer but he's wrote a lot of crap too and this is an example of the crap he's written.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
The 3rd Top 40 hit for R Kelly which was really his breakthrough record in the UK giving him his first Top 10. It was taken from his first album "Born into the 90s" which he did with Public Announcement which came out in 1991. A great record which was the only track I knew on said album prior to buying it.
Verdict - Good
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
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
The guitar riff to this comes straight from "Get it On" by T Rex. I thought it sounded familiar when I first heard it. This became the biggest hit to this point for Oasis who were very much household names by this point. Again I don't get the fuss.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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
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
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
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
The comeback single for Take That which was the lead single from what proved to be their final album before splitting. They came back with a new look to mark the new era, Robbie had shaved his head, Marks hair was considerably shorter, Jason's hair was considerably longer, Howard had dreads and Gary looked exactly the same. Brothers in Rhythm were the producers on this record but don't let that fool you into thinking it's any good because it isn't.
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 9/30, or 30%. To think we were over 50% just 3 weeks ago.
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