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:
30. Daft Punk - Burnin' (New)
This was the single that followed "Around the World", a record that made a huge impact. This one is perhaps less radio friendly and it's probably only the Daft Punk fans that remember it now. I am one of those Daft Punk fans though and own the "Homework" album.
Verdict - Good
When Chris De Burgh topped the charts with his debut "Lady In Red" in 1986 which came 12 years after his debut album I'm sure few would have predicted he'd still be having Top 40 hits in 1997. I will concede that Chris De Burgh is better than his big hit would suggest, but this record is pretty wooden.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been a year since Sleeper had last been in the Top 40 and we're now into the era of Sleeper few people remember. It's their penultimate Top 40 hit to date which got no higher than 28 and their final Top 40 hit only made number 39. I didn't even like the bigger hits from Sleeper.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Super Furry Animals were a funny band. It sounded like they were trying to inject some humour into their records which sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. They also tried to make some of their records more than just a guitar song which is what they've done with this. It makes it more interesting but just lacks that something to make it truly great.
Verdict - OK
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
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
The only UK Top 40 hit for Italian eurodance act House Traffic. It sounds a bit like a 1994 record being made for 1997. Then I look on Discogs to find this actually was from 1994. It's very commercial sounding but isn't bad.
Verdict - OK
23. Pixies - Debaser (New)
The Pixies had split up in 1993 and this record was originally from 1989 but was released to promote their greatest hits album. I was their 3rd and final Top 40 hit to date and their highest charting. Not really my cup of tea though.
Verdict - Rubbish
If you were to write a song that bared the slightest resemblance to a Jagger/Richards you could pretty much guarantee they'll sue you if they heard it. Yet they did exactly the same thing here to kd lang with the chorus of this sounding just like "Constant Craving". To be fair they did give her a songwriting credit once they realised, but it shows just how easy it is to unintentional write something that sounds like something else. Anyway I don't like "Constant Craving" so I don't like this.
Verdict - Rubbish
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
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
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
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 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
16. No Doubt - Spiderwebs (New)
Their first 2 Top 40 hits were very well known, but this 3rd hit I don't think is that well known although plenty of people bought the "Tragic Kingdom" album. I would say this is better than the 2 big ones, but again I don't like it that much.
Verdict - OK
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
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
13. 2 Eivissa - Oh La La La (New)
Eivissa is what Ibiza is known as to the locals, though to me it looks more like the Spanish for Elvis. 2 Eivissa are actually from Germany though and there were 3 of them. I did like this at the time, but I have to say it hasn't aged very well.
Verdict - OK
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
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
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
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
8. M People - Just For You (New)
After 2 years away from the Top 40, M People were back with the lead single from their final album to date. They've gone for the "Search For The Hero" formula one this one rather than the usual dance pop. Just as bland as well.
Verdict - Rubbish
7. U2 - Please (New)
The review of this record that's quoted on Wikipedia refers to the dance beat. My question is what dance beat? am I missing something here? It's not really the sort of record you can dance to and it's pretty boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
Janet Jackson was back with her 24th single which was the lead single of just her 4th album. It's the one that samples "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell. A lot of the rave music I was listening to at the time was based on samples of old record so given that someone asked me whether this was my sort of music because of the sampling. I said no.
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
I was once playing one of those music quizzes where you have a CD full of clips and have to name the artist and title, but it's not the original record. There was one clip I confidently said was "Runaway" by Janet Jackson, but no it was this record. I hated this record anyway but hated it even more after that.
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
2. Oasis - Stand By Me (New)
Oasis were so big in 1997 that they could release any old rubbish safe in the knowledge that plenty of people would buy it. I'm not even a fan of their earlier stuff, but to it's credit it is distinctive. Even Noel Gallagher himself has since dismissed this era of Oasis.
Verdict - Rubbish
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 7.5/30, or 25%. This could be the worst week of the 90s.
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