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 singles from Aaliyah's 2nd album to this point were either written or produced by Timbaland and Missy Elliott and in this case of "Hot Like Fire" that continues. In the case of "The One I Gave My Heart To" she's followed the general trend of going to Diane Warren. What we have is a boring ballad by Diane Warren together with a song that just sounds a mess.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
Jon Bon Jovi sang about Chelsea, then New Orleans and now he's singing about town, wherever that is. No Dave Stewart on this one though. The title is a play on "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town". I do wonder whether these Jon Bon Jovi record were made to make Bon Jovi sound heavier than they were.
Verdict - Rubbish
When it comes to remixes of dance records in the 90s they often fit one of two categories. Either it's being given a makeover to fit into the current era given how fast things were moving or it's milking it from your big record. In the case of this record, it fits the latter description.
Verdict - Rubbish
When it comes to speed garage, it doesn't get much bigger than 187 Lockdown. They scored 3 Top 40 hits and were the only act from the speed garage era to achieve that. This was the first of those. It's a classic for sure.
Verdict - Good
It was a good 1997 for Texas. After spending all the 90s in the wilderness prior to 1997 they scored 4 Top 10 hits with this being the 4th. It's a ballad and joining them on songwriting duties is Dave Stewart. It's a ballad so maybe Dave Stewart took inspiration from his time working with Jon Bon Jovi.
Verdict - Rubbish
25. Portishead - Over (New)
The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Portishead and the last time they'll feature as their last Top 40 hit never made the Top 30. Their self titled album was already out so this didn't chart as high as it's predecessor but I actually think this would have worked better as the lead single.
Verdict - Good
The YouTube video to this doesn't have many views or comments but a lot of the comments are negative. It's essentially a remake of "Nightmare" but with all the good bits taken out so I'm inclined to agree with the comments.
Verdict - Rubbish
It wasn't unusual for a British R&B act to do an inferior version of an American R&B record. This song was a chart topper in America for Monica that didn't chart here. The difference though was it was Eternal who did it first. It would be the last Eternal Top 40 with with Kelle Bryan in the group.
Verdict - Rubbish
Stu Allan's commercial dance outfit Clock were now onto their 10th Top 40 hit and lead single from their 3rd album which was released in Japan only. It's a cover of the Hot Chocolate record and what I recall is this version pretty much stopped being played overnight when the original re-entered the charts thanks to its inclusion in "The Full Monty".
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
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 last solo Top 40 hit from Gary Barlow that anyone remembers. He seemed to have the edge over Robbie Williams at this point, but then Robbie Williams did "Angels" and Gary Barlow's solo career nosedived. On reflection people were probably noticing how bad his solo records were.
Verdict - Rubbish
18. Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8 (New)
I remember this record being played for what I think was the first time on Children in Need. It's a novelty line dancing mixed with eurodance record. Of course this turned out to be many hits for Steps. It goes without saying this song is shit. As a side note I have no problem with the cheesy holiday rep type image they're portraying here, it serves a purpose I suppose. The issue is them now being stuck up celebrities complaining about it but are happy to still milk it with their nostalgia tours.
Verdict - Rubbish
Just when you thought N-Trance were back to making good music they come up with this crap. After Rod Stewart released so many singles that were covers, here's somebody else covering Rod Stewart for a change. It kept Rod Stewarts run of a Top 40 hit in every year of the 90s to this point going.
Verdict - Rubbish
Moby's career had taken a bit of a nose dive by this point. He'd released the album "Animal Rights" which was a move away from dance music and making guitar based music instead. I once assumed this to be on "Animal Rights" as it fits that story to me, but it wasn't.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember the intesting fact that "Encore Une Fois" was in French, "Ecuador" was in Spanish and "Stay" was in English but Sash! was German. Those first 2 hits were very commercial sounding and whilst I didn't mind them they weren't really my cup of tea. I'm not going to pretend this is anything other than commercial dance, but its found the formula to appeal to me.
Verdict - Good
Did you know that Conner Reeves had 5 Top 40 hits in the 90s? No me neither. This was the 2nd of those Top 40 hits. It sounds more like he released the same single in the 90s 5 times, very dull and boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
When Metallica released the "Load" album in 1996 it had been 5 years since their last album. Following this it only took a year to release their next album "Reload" of which this was the lead single. Bass player Jason Newsted was asked if he'd buy the "Reload" album and he said not if I'd heard "The Memory Remains" first. To be fair it's not a bad record but didn't give me any desire to buy the album.
Verdict - OK
This was the 3rd number 3 for the Backstreet Boys. They'd also had a number 2 prior to this and all 4 of these record were the ones that had been written by Max Martin. An early sign that by the time I'm writing this post only Paul McCartney would have more Top 40 hits to his name as songwriter.
Verdict - Rubbish
I was aware this record was from the "Trainspotting" film and that said film was out in 1996. I was therefore wondering why this wasn't released until the end of 1997. Turns out the film and soundtrack were so popular they released a second soundtrack of records that failed to make the first. I'd say there's a good reason this didn't make the first.
Verdict - Rubbish
At the time I remember somebody saying that they actually like the new Spice Girls single even though they felt they shouldn't. I told him he was on his own there. It was the lead single from their 2nd album and given the whole Spicemania nonsense going on it was always going to top the charts.
Verdict - Rubbish
The wheels had fallen of for Cast in terms of Top 10 hits, but Ocean Colour Scene were still going strong with this being their 6th Top 10 hit in a row with only their debut "The Riverboat Song" failing to reach the Top 10. The difference though is that Ocean Colour Scene had some decent hits, I like this one.
Verdict - Good
8. Pulp - Help The Aged (New)
I don't think I've heard the whole song since 1997. What I have listened to many time though is Jarvis Cockers appearance on Da Ali G Show where Ali G makes it sound less crap. Therefore I can't get the Ali G rapping "help the motherfuckin aged" out of my head when I hear it. I'm inclined to agree it makes it sound less crap.
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
When I saw Hot Chocolate performing this on Top of the Pops in 1997 I thought there must have been renewed interest in this record due to the Clock cover. Turns out that wasn't the case. Instead it was because it was used in the film "The Full Monty". It's overplayed and a bit cheesy but I do quite like it. That's the song, never seen the film and unlikely to ever watch it.
Verdict - Good
The 3rd Top 40 hit and that means almost inevitably it's a ballad. It was also the last of their big hits, though they did manage a Top 10 comeback single in 2005. I'm sure this record wouldn't have made the Top 10 had it not been 1997 though.
Verdict - Rubbish
When it comes to dreary ballads, few can claim to be as prolific as Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion so it only seemed logical that they would do a collaboration. To top it off they did a song written by Walter Afanasieff, the man who wrote many of Mariah Careys records and Linda Thompson and David Foster who wrote "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston. I'm really struggling to think of anything that can sound worse.
Verdict - Rubbish
3. All Saints - Never Ever (New)
When the All Saints first came about I was amazed to find that I liked their debut Top 40 hit. I was even more amazed to find I also liked this, their follow up. It's one of those records I'd felt I'd heard before but hadn't. As a result of me liking these first 2 singles I went on to do something I'd not done in a long time, bought an album that wasn't rave which was their debut album.
Verdict - Good
I was watching Live & Kicking in 1994 and Natalie Imbruglia was a guest on the show having just left Neighbours. She was asked if she was planning to launch a music career to which she said no which shocked Andi Peters. 3 years later here she is launching a music career and I was shocked. I wasn't shocked to find it was shit though.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember someone telling me there was a song about Barbie that had just come out which had some sexual references between Barbie and Ken. I thought he was taking the piss, but then I heard this. When I heard they were from Denmark, the same country as Whigfield, it made more sense. Remember the lyrics "I need you inside me tonight"?
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 7.5/30, or 25%. Are we going to have this score for the next few weeks?
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