2000: The Good Old Days? - May

In May 2000 guitars were out and turntables were in. Over half of the new entries this month could be considered dance music including the novelty effort from Kevin & Perry from their "Kevin & Perry Go Large" film which was more evidence this was the era of dance music.

It's therefore appropriate that a dance record is the best record this month. It goes to MJ Cole with "Crazy Love", one of the biggest UK garage records from one of the biggest names from the genre.

The other 2 garage records this month also came from big names who are both DJ/MC duos but one is considerably better than the other. DJ Luck & MC Neat had their 2nd Top 40 hit with "Masterblaster 2000" which is decent. Oxide & Neutrino on the other hand brought the start of garage heading in the wrong direction with "Bound 4 Da Reload (Casualty)".

Although 2000 was the year of garage we had more records this month from the big dance genre of 1999, trance. There wasn't a bad trance record this month, most getting full marks and a couple getting half. This includes St Etienne teaming up with Paul Van Dyk and scoring their only Top 10 hit with "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)". It came not long after I'd bought their "Too Young To Die" album which was their singles from 1990-95 and I assumed at the time they'd called it a day in 1995.

The dominance of dance music left little room for rap and R&B. There was just one record of each, the rap one being "Vibrant Thing" by Q-Tip which is OK and "Shorty (Got Her Eyes On Me)" by Donnell Jones which is good.

Bucking the trend of guitars being out was Iron Maiden who had a new entry with "Wicker Man". It sounds like it could have just as easily been made in 1983 and the drumming is fast enough for it to get full marks.

Onto the worst record which goes to Britney Spears with "Oops I Did It Again". I remember hearing it for the first time on the Chris Moyles show on Radio 1 and he pointed out how similar it was to "Baby One More Time" to the point he started singing it over the top to illustrate. Both were composed by Max Martin who acknowledged how well it went the first time so figured there was no point in changing the formula and it worked.

Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):

Score: 34%

Here's a look at the chart:

The same score as December 1999, but we're still yet to know what happened in between.

January Charts: 1976

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Electric Light Orchestra - Evil Woman

2. War - Low Rider

3. R And J Stone - We Do lt

4. The Sweet - Lies In Your Eyes

5. Donna Summer - Love To Love You Baby

6. Evelyn Thomas - Weak Spot

7. Smokie - Something's Been Making Me Blue

8. Osibisa - Sunshine Day

9. David Ruffin - Walk Away From Love

10. The Miracles - Love Machine

11. The Who - Squeeze Box

12. Manuel And The Music Of The Mountains - Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto De Aranjuez

13. Glenn Miller - Moonlight Serenade/Little Brown Jug/In The Mood

14. The O'Jays - I Love Music

15. Yvonne Fair - It Should Have Been Me

16. George McCrae - Honey I

17. Gloria Gaynor - How High The Moon

18. Faith, Hope And Charity - Just One Look

19. Walker Brothers - No Regrets

20. Slik - Forever And Ever

21. Wing And A Prayer Fife And Drum Corps - Baby Face

22. Tony Christie - Drive Safely Darlin'

23. The Captain And Tennille - The Way I Want To Touch You

24. Donny & Marie Osmond - Deep Purple

25. Paul Simon - 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

26. Claude Francois - Tears On The Telephone

27. Barbara Dickson - Answer Me

28. The Four Seasons - December '63

1976 is considered by many to be the worst year for the charts, well in the 20th century at least. There were no new entries in the first week, when going through the 5 new entries in the 2nd week the word that sprang to mind was silly.

The only one of these I didn't consider silly was "Evil Woman" by ELO. One thing I remember from the early days of the Top of the Pops reruns is ELO having by far the best record on the episode and this is true of this batch of records.

We have "We Do It", the only hit for UK/US husband/wife duo R&J Stone known for it's subject matter. I do quite like the record though. Then there's The Miracles who by now were without Smokey Robinson with "Love Machine" which is essentially about a sex robot. Not a bad record but they've done better.

Then there's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon, the "hop on the bus Gus" record which is definitely silly. The subject matter of "Tears On The Telephone" by Claude Francois is actually quite serious but the song itself just sounds like a nursery rhyme.

It became more of a tough listen after that and I had to do it in installments as I was losing the will to live. One record I refused to listen to was "December 63" by The Four Seasons so on that basis it finishes bottom. I've always found it really irritating.

One of the surprise records was "Lies In Your Eyes" by The Sweet. I generally find their brand of glam rock a bit naff but this is a hard rock record.

I would say there are 3 main reasons why 1976 is poor based on this batch. First are the 60s acts past their prime, I've already mentioned The Four Seasons and The Miracles but we also have The Who and The Walker Brothers who have both gone down the country route.

The 2nd reason is the naff covers of older hits, for example "Answer Me" by Barbara Dickson, "Deep Purple" by Dony & Marie Osmond, "Baby Face" by Wing And A Prayer Fife And Drum Corps and "Just One Look" by Faith Hope & Charity.

The final reason is too much disco music. I'm not anti-disco and there are some great disco records out there. However when not done well it can be quite abysmal and this is a consequence of everyone jumping on the disco bandwagon.

Even the ever reliable Motown can't produce the goods this time. We have the only solo record from former Temptations member David Ruffin with "Walk Away From Love" which is alright but didn't have much impact on me. Then there's the only hit for Yvonne Fair with "It Should Have Been Me" which I find a bit boring.

Not a great year then but is it the worst so far? Yes, along with 1955.

Score: 27

Beyonce - Daddy Lessons (2016)

 

We've had examples of artists replacing themselves at number one in the charts, but here we have an unusual example of an artist replacing themselves at number 40.

Like the record it replaced at number 40 it was kept that low in the charts by other Beyonce records in higher positions in the charts the same week.

Last year there was a lot of hype about Beyonce changing music direction to country music. This record however shows it's all been done before, just nobody noticed

UK Number 40s: Beyonce ft Kendrick Lamar - Freedom (2016)

The inclusion of streaming in the charts meant that in theory every track on a new album could make the Top 40 singles chart and that quite famously happened to Ed Sheeran in 2017 which prompted a change to the chart rules.

Beyonce released her "Lemonade" album in 2016 which there was a lot of hype about at the time. This track appeared on that album and it's placing at number 40 could be considered a success for the simple fact 5 other tracks from that album were in higher positions in the Top 40 the same week.

Despite all the hype around the album, the highest charting single from it only made 11. This was in part due to the fact it was exclusively released on the streaming platform Tidal which unlike rivals such as Spotify doesn't have a free subscription option. 

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 37

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.

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 records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

30. Sheryl Crow - Sweet Child O' Mine

As you may have guessed, this is a cover of the Guns N Roses record. It's a lot more mellow and sounds like the sort of thing you'd expect to hear on a John Lewis advert. A terrible cover and Rolling Stone readers named it the 4th worst cover of all time.

Verdict - Rubbish

26. Tin Tin Out ft Wendy Page - Eleven To Fly

The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Tin Tin Out which came before their collaboration with Emma Bunton. Wendy Page may not be a household name but at this point she'd recently wrote the number one record "Because We Want To" by Billie and "Perfect Moment" by Martine McCutcheon. Doesn't sound too promising then, but this ones not bad.

Verdict - OK

24. Lost Tribe - Gamemaster

Matt Darey was one of the big names in trance around this time and this was his first time in the Top 40 under the name Lost Tribe alongside Red Jerry. I remember this being a pretty big record at the time and was one of the reasons I thought commercial dance music had improved massively in 1999.

Verdict - Good

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 12/30, or 40%. We stay the same.

80s in the 90s: 1985

Continuing the look at whether 80s acts succeeded in the 90s here's a look at the 1984 debutants:

Marc Almond: He scored his only number one in 1989 collaborating with Gene Pitney on "Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart". He also was featured artist on "I Feel Love (medley)" by Bronski Beat which made number 3 in 1985. Aside from that he failed to make the Top 20 with any of his actual solo releases in the 80s. In the 90s he managed to make the Top 20 twice with "Jacky" and "The Days Of Pearly Spencer". I'd say that's enough.

Verdict: Hit

Go West: The only 80s year they had Top 40 hits was 1985 when they had 4 with the biggest being "We Close Our Eyes". In the 90s they also had 4 Top 40 hits and all made the Top 20 whereas 3 of their 80s hits did. However there's no getting around the fact they were widely regarded as a naff 80s band in the 90s and I'd say this overrides the stats.

Verdict: Miss

New Model Army: They had 4 Top 40 hits in the 80s and 3 in the 90s. Just one in each decade made the Top 30 though with their biggest hit coming in 1993 with "Here Comes The War" making number 25. This helped them onto peoples Top 10 bands lists at school. Then they fell off peoples lists because they were too 80s.

Verdict: Miss

A-Ha: They made the Top 10 with 8 of their first 9 Top 40 hits with the last of these coming in 1988. The next and final time we'd see them in the Top 10 would be in 2006. We're talking about the 90s though when they had 3 Top 40 hits and you can see from chart positions that the decline began towards the end of the 80s.

Verdict: Miss

Whitney Houston: Not many people can claim to have a Top 40 hit every year in the 90s but Whitney Houston can. She also had a Christmas number one that stayed at the top of the charts for weeks on end. There are other reasons one would say Whitney Houston was also a 90s chart act but we'll leave it at that.

Verdict: Hit

Pet Shop Boys: All their number ones came in the 80s and you would certainly describe them as more of an 80s act than a 90s one. However with 19 Top 40 hits in the 90s which includes "Go West" they certainly have a case for being a 90s chart act too.

Alexander O'Neal: He had 2 Top 10 hits in the 80s, "Saturday Love" and "Criticize". The others didn't have a huge impact on the charts but he clocked up 10 Top 40 hits that decade. Then in the 90s he had a further 4 Top 40 hits but again none really had much impact on the charts.

Verdict: Miss

Bryan Adams: In 1985 Bryan Adams made his Top 40 debut with "Run To You" which made number 11. A further 3 minor Top 40 hits followed that same year. He then failed to make the Top 40 with any of his singles for the rest of the decade. Then in 1991 he was back and topped the charts for 16 weeks with "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You". That alone is enough to be considered a 90s chart act without mentioning the many other Top 40 hits he had that decade.

Verdict: Hit

The Cult: They never had a Top 10 hit but clocked up 9 Top 40 hits in the 80s with the biggest of these being "Lil' Devil". Then in 1991 they had their solitary Top 40 hit that decade with "Wild Hearted Son" that made number 40. Pretty easy to give my verdict on this one.

Verdict: Miss

Simply Red: They had the biggest selling album in 1991 and 1992 with "Stars". However we're looking at the singles chart and perhaps the most significant thing from that perspective is that they had their only number one in 1995 with "Fairground". They also had more Top 40s and more Top 10s in the 90s than they did in the 80s.

Verdict: Hit

Fine Young Cannibals: Their chart peak came in 1989 with their biggest hits being "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing". However they didn't appear in the Top 40 in the 90s until 1996 when they reached number 17 with "The Flame". At the time of release singer Roland Gift had left the group and that was that.

Verdict: Miss 

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 37

These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:

Hollenboer - Het Busje Komt Zo

This Dutch duo were a genuine one hit wonder in Holland. This was their only hit and it was a chart topper. It's a novelty record and although I don't understand the lyrics you can tell from the video and sort of tell from the video that it's a record about a bus. 

2 Brothers on the 4th Floor - Come Take My Hand

The 2nd and final time we'll see 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor in the Dutch Top 40 this year. At the beginning of the video they get of the bus, but fortunately it isn't a record about a bus. It's a happy hardcore record, very much of the commercial variety. I do quite like it but can't help but think it was an influence on the crappy vocally happy hardcore that would come in the UK a few years later.

Dune - Are You Ready To Fly

More happy hardcore but this time it comes from Germany. It's the 2nd time we've seen them this year, the 1st being "Hardcore Vibes". Whilst "Hardcore Vibes" was played at the UK raves at the time I can't recall ever hearing this one on a rave tape. A shame really because I like it. We will be seeing Dune again later on in the year.

January Charts: 1975

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Sweet Sensation - Purely By Coincidence

2. Sparks - Something For The Girl With Everything

3. The Stylistics - Star On A TV Show

4. Mac And Katie Kissoon - Sugar Candy Kisses

5. Love Unlimited - It May Be Winter Outside (But In My Heart It's Spring)

6. Stevie Wonder - Boogie On Reggae Woman

7. Betty Wright - Shoorah! Shoorah!

8. Queen - Now I'm Here

9. Kevin Johnson - Rock And Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)

10. Elvis Presley - Promised Land

11. Pilot - January

12. Glitter Band - Goodbye My Love

13. Helen Reddy - Angie Baby

14. Johnny Mathis - I'm Stone In Love With You

15. The Carpenters - Please Mr Postman

16. Wigan's Chosen Few - Footsee

17. Johnny Wakelin And The Kinshasa Band - Black Superman (Muhammad Ali)

18. Dana - Please Tell Him That I Said Hello

In 1974 we had an early example of a disco record in the charts and it's pretty well known that by the late 70s many soul artists from years gone by were putting out disco records instead.

There's no disco records this time, but many of the soul records appear to be at least disco inspired. The top record is an example of this, though Sweet Sensation would have no more Top 40 hits after 2nd hit "Purely By Coincidence". Yes it is essentially "Sad Sweet Dreamer" part 2 but I do still like it.

The Stylistics era of Bell/Creed being songwriters was no over and they were now into the Hugo & Luigi era. Some say this was the end for them, but I think they were still making decent records such as "Star On A TV Show".

Mac & Katie Kissoon were very much the pop side of soul music and they were making their debut with "Sugar Candy Kisses" which is pleasant enough. Same goes for the final Love Unlimited hit "It May Be Winter Outside (But In My Heart It's Spring)".

Stevie Wonder had a solid record in "Boogie On Reggae Woman" which despite the title is a funk record rather than reggae. Below is a record from the Northern soul scene "Shoorah! Shoorah!" which was average at best.

An example of Northern soul starting to lose it's way though was "Footsee" by Wigan's Chosen Few which is as bad as it's made out to be. It's not as bad as novelty record record "Black Superman (Muhammed Ali)" by Johnny Wakelin which in turn isn't as bad as former Eurovision winner Dana making a comeback with the abysmal "Please Tell Him That I Said Hello".

In the 80s Australia famously gave us Kylie and Jason in the music charts. In 1975 they gave us Helen and Kevin, though I'm not aware of collaborations between them. Helen Reddy had her only hit with "Angie Baby" which I find rather dull. Kevin Johnson had his only hit with "Rock 'N Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)" which is slightly better but still a bit dull.

I've been waiting for the 70s slump and it looks like it's finally happened. 

Score: 31

2000: The Good Old Days? - June

In my post for November I mention the breakstep sub genre of UK garage and how "138 Trek" by DJ Zinc was the only example I could thing of. This month I see I forgot "I Don't Smoke" by DJ Dee Kline which charted first. Maybe the name breakstep came about between the two records.

The other UK garage record this month is "Girls Like Us" by B15 Project featuring Chrissy D & Lady G and as a result it's full marks to the garage genre. The record "What's Your Name" by Angel Lee had a well know garage mix by MJ Cole but for the purpose of this exercise we need to go with the original R&B version which gets no marks.

In fact none of the R&B record this month get any points and all are of the pop variety. It includes the Pink debut single "There You Go" which does have a decent garage mix but again we have to go with the crap original. 

The nearest we do get to an R&B point is "Shackles (Praise You)" by Mary Mary. It's a gospel record but does make its way onto R&B compilations. I ended up buying the album but this was the only decent track on it.

Rap wise we have Richard Blackwood making his Top 40 debut with "Mama - Who Da Man?" and comes across as the British Will Smith which is never good. Jay-Z had "Big Pimpin" which is also crap. We did however have "Forgot About Dre" by Dr Dre & Eminem which is another record to have a decent garage mix but this time the original is just as good and almost good enough to be the best record.

Beating it to best record is Moby with "Porcelain". I had contemplated buying his "Play" album based on previous singles, but this one was so good it prompted me to buy the album. One of the all time chill out greats.

This month feels a bit of a turning point for trance music in the charts. We have some decent ones such as "A9" by Ariel and "Embrace" by Agnelli & Nelson. Then there's "It's My Turn" by Angelic, a Judge Jules project featuring his wife on vocals which is a bit cheesy and commercial but I like it. Then we have vocal rubbish from BT & Kirsty Hawkshaw with "Dreaming" and possibly the worst instrumental trance record of all time "Sandstorm" by Darude which just sounds plain lazy. These latter two are examples of commercial trance losing it's way for their respective reasons.

We also have one of the worst house records to make the charts, "You See The Trouble With Me" by Black Legend which just made me think dance music was getting far too commercial that we're getting nonsense like this.

The worst record though reminds me of perhaps the worst nightclub I've ever been too. It's "Reach" by S Club 7 that was played every time I went there. These were the days when pubs shut at 11pm and the only place to get a drink after was the nightclub. This was the main nightclub in a small town that everyone went to after the pub and I can still picture all those drunken people putting their hands in the air to reach for the stars.

Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):

Score: 26%

Here's a look at the chart:

The worst month of 2000 so far. We also had a slump in June 2001, maybe there's something in that.

UK Number 40s: Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams (2015)

 

It could be argued that I shouldn't be including this record in here. Whilst this made number 40 when it was released in 2015, a re-recorded version made number 25 in 2021. However I like to go by the British Hit Singles book definitions which say if the artist has gone into the studio to re-record it then it counts as a separate single.

Taylor Swift is one of the biggest names in the modern era and there was clearly no decline in popularity going on here. However, her popularity hasn't always translated into chart success. At this point the majority of her Top 40 hits had failed to make the Top 10 and she was yet to have a number one. It fared better in America where it made number 5.

Max Martin and Karl Schuster are the songwriters so sounds like it should be successful on paper. Then again the previous Top 40 hit for Karl Schuster as songwriter was "This Summer" by Maroon 5 which was another record that made number 40.

UK Number 40s: Maroon 5 - This Summer (2015)

 

Whilst Maroon 5's first record to only make number 40 could be regarded as a success due to only being a promo single, the same couldn't really be said of this record.

Their album "V" had been out for a year and a duluxe version of their album was released which included this track on it for the first time. It only made number 23 in their native America too, other singles of theirs from around this time were charting much higher.

The full title of this record is "This Summers Gonna Hurt Like a Motherfucker" which obviously doesn't lend itself well to radio play. It was the last single from their "V" album but their Top 40 career was far from over.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 36

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.

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 records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

24. Caprice - Oh Yeah

Caprice is a model who decided to branch out into music and ended up having 2 Top 40 hits which both made number 24. This was the first of those. When a non-musician decides to release a record you generally expect it to be crap. More often than not it is and this is no exception.

Verdict - Rubbish

23. Mark Morrison And Connor Reeves - Best Friend

You probably didn't think that Mark Morrison was still having hits in 1999. This was his last original Top 40 hit to date. It was also the final Top 40 hit to date for Conner Reeves. I would say that Mark Morrison has done better and Connor Reeves has never made a good record as far as I'm aware.

Verdict - Rubbish

22. Ayla - Ayla

Yet another German trance record in the Top 40 in 1999. This record was originally from 1995 and would end up featuring in the film "Kevin & Perry Go Large", a film that sounds right up my street but I've never watched for some reason.

Verdict - Good

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 12/30, or 40%. Now we're slipping. 

80s in the 90s: 1984

Continuing the look at whether 80s acts succeeded in the 90s here's a look at the 1984 debutants:

Madonna: This is possibly the easiest verdict I have to give. Madonna kicked of the 90s with a number 1, followed by 2 number 2s followed by 3 number 3s. That alone would make for a successful 90s in the charts. She went onto have 27 Top 40 hits that decade, more Top 40 hits than anyone else in the 90s and more Top 40 hits than she had in the 80s.

Verdict: Hit

Billy Idol: A name you would associate with the 80s as a solo artist. His biggest hits came in 1985 with "White Wedding" and "Rebel Yell" both reaching number 6. He clocked up 8 Top 40 hits in the 80s and then had a further 2 in the 90s, "Cradle Of Love" which made 34 in 1990 and "Shock To The System" which made number 30 in 1993. Not really enough to be considered a 90s act too.

Verdict: Miss

ZZ Top: The 90s Top 40 chart record of ZZ Top is almost identical in the 90s to the 80s. Both decades gave them 5 Top 40 hits of which 2 made the Top 20 and 1 made the Top 10. Their Top 10 hits both made number 10, "Gimme All Your Lovin" in the 80s and "Viva Las Vegas" in the 90s. On that basis I'd say they're just as much a 90s band as an 80s one.

Verdict: Hit

George Michael: It could be argued that out of all the people who have left a band and gone solo George Michael has had the most successful solo career from a UK chart perspective. He topped the charts with his first 3 singles and then in the 90s he managed 3 number ones in a row again and had a total of 4 that decade. He had a total of 16 Top 40 hits in the 90s and 11 of them made the Top 5.

Verdict: Hit

Feargal Sharkey: He only just makes the minimum criteria for this list, 4 Top 40 hits in the 80s and a solitary Top 40 hit in the 90s. His 90s Top 40 hit was "I've Got News For You" which made number 12 which was higher than 2 of his 80s hits. However the other 2 80s hits include the chart topper "A Good Heart". He also called it a day as a singer in 1991.

Verdict: Miss

Scritti Politti: Another act who only just makes the minimum criteria for this list. The sole Scritti Politti Top 40 hit in the 90s was "She's A Woman" and was the lowest charting one. It was a collaboration with Shabba Ranks and afterwards came a lengthy hiatus from frontman Green Gartside which last almost the rest of the decade.

Verdict: Miss

Alison Moyet: She only failed to make the Top 10 once from her 7 Top 40 hits of the 80s. In the 90s she failed to reach the Top 10 with either of her hits, "This House" made number 40 and "Whispering Your Name" made number 18.

Verdict: Miss

Cyndi Lauper: It may come as a surprise to hear Cyndi Lauper had more Top 40 hits in the 90s than the 80s. She only had 4 in the 80s, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", "Time After Time", "True Colors" and "I Drove All Night" which are all pretty well known. The same can't be said for her 7 90s hits with the biggest of these being "Hey Now (Girls Just Want To Have Fun)" which was a remake of her 80s hit and reached number 4. 4 of them charted outside the Top 30 whilst the other 2 failed to reach the Top 10. This is a difficult one but I'd say she just about gets a pass.

Verdict: Hit

Sade: The biggest Sade hit was her debut "Your Love Is King" which made number 6 and was her only Top 10. Her 2nd biggest hit was her only 90s Top 40 hit "No Ordinary Love" which made number 14. I'd say the lower charting 80s ones are better known and I wouldn't say this is enough to be considered a 90s chart act.

Verdict: Miss

Freddie Mercury: As a solo artist Freddie Mercury had 5 Top 40 hits in the 80s and 2 in the 90s. Both of his 90s ones came after he died, "In My Defence" was originally recorded in 1985 and "Living On My Own" was originally released as a single in 1985 but failed to make the Top 40. The latter gave Freddie Mercury his only solo number one. In theory a 90s number one should make you a 90s chart act. but given they were 80s records charting after his death in this case I don't think it does.

Verdict: Miss

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 36

These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:

Rene Froger & Friends - You've Got A Friend

Rene Froger's friends here are Marco Borsatto, Ruth Jacott and the Frogettes. I get the impression that Rene Froger and Marco Borsatto were just about the biggest names in Holland at the time and this collaboration would have number 1 written all over it but it only managed number 3. Maybe because they're singing in English. As you might have guessed it's a cover of the Carole King record.

Paul Elstak - Rainbow In the Sky

Some more happy hardcore from Paul Elstak. This was played a lot at the raves at the time, one set in particular that I remember was DJ Vibes at Helter Skelter NYE 96 where he opened with this and as a result I think of what Live Lee was saying over it when I'm listening.

Henny Huisman - Snuit Je

Here we have one of many examples of a non-musician getting into the Dutch Top 40. Henny Huisman is a TV presenter most notably for Soundmixshow which is a Dutch version of Stars in their Eyes. He also presented Surpriseshow which is the Dutch version of Surprise Surprise. I gather this is supposed to be a novelty record about a horse.

2000: The Good Old Days? - July

This month saw Artful Dodger and Craig David reunite on what was both artists 3rd Top 40 hit with "Woman Trouble". Truth be told Craig David doesn't sing much on this record with the bulk of the vocals coming from Robbie Craig. It's a great record and good enough to be the best record this month.

Ever since the acid house days of the late 80s the holiday destination that went hand in hand with dance music was Ibiza. The rapid rise of UK garage in the year 2000 meant Ayia Napa was now being talked about just as much. One garage record that you can't help but think of Ayia Napa when hearing is "Summer of Love" by Lonyo. Another decent garage record this month was "Neighbourhood" by Zed Bias. As with any genre that's hugely popular there's some cheesy rubbish too. This month is comes from Shanks & Bigfoot who followed up their previous years chart topper with "Sing A Long" which sounds just as silly.

There wasn't a bad trance record this month and this includes vocal tracks from Matt Darey with "Beautiful" and Alice Deejay with "Will I Ever". Chicane had the double a-side "No Ordinary Morning / Halcyon" and Mauro Picotto had "Iguana" which are the best trance records this month.

Not a bad rap record this month either, in fact they all get full marks. There's "The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem which was the lead single from his "The Marshall Mathers LP" album. De La Soul returned teaming up with Redman on "Oooh". Ol Dirty Bastard charted with "Got Your Money".

R&B was looking pretty good too. We had the final Top 40 hit for En Vogue with "The Riddle". There was the Top 40 debut for Lucy Pearl whose members included former En Vogue member Dawn Robinson. Aaliyah charted with "Try Again" which was decent and even British group Damage had an alright single with "Ghetto Romance". The only record letting the genre down was "Jumpin Jumpin" by Destiny's Child which is predictably crap.

Speaking of crap it's time to name the worst record for this month. It comes from Girl Thing who were being heavily promoted as the next Spice Girls at the time even though I'm the only one who seems to remember them. Their debut single "Last One Standing" flopped (i.e. didn't top the charts) and this pretty much spelt the end for them.

Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):

Score: 38%

Here's a look at the chart:

This isn't the best July of the 21st century because July 2001 was better, just.

January Charts: 1974

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Stevie Wonder - Living For The City

2. Clifford T Ward - Scullery

3. The Isley Brothers - Highway Of My Life

4. Harold Melvin And The Bluenotes - The Love I Lost

5. Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance - How Come

6. Alice Cooper - Teenage Lament '74

7. Diana Ross - All Of My Life

8. Billy Paul - Thanks For Saving My Life

9. Barry White - Never Never Gonna Give Ya Up

10. Stealers Wheel - Star

11. The Stylistics - Rockin' Roll Baby

12. Prelude - After The Gold Rush

13. Wombles - Wombling Song

14. The Sweet - Teenage Rampage

15. Mud - Tiger Feet

16. Lulu - The Man Who Sold The World

17. Bubble Rock - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

When I reached the end of the 2nd week I thought we could be on for the best year so far. After the following 2 weeks though I had my doubts.

There is a clear winner in this batch which comes from Stevie Wonder with "Living For The City". In the interests of time I listen to the radio edit of each record, but for this one after listening to the radio edit I went on to listen to the full 7 minute version. The best thing he's ever done and hard to believe it's the same person who did "I Just Called To Say I Love You".

A surprise record occupies 2nd place. It was the 2nd and final and lesser known hit for Clifford T Ward. I was vaguely aware of this record but this was the first time I had a proper listen and found it a real joy to listen to.

In 3rd place are The Isley Brothers with "Highway Of My Life". They had left Motown by this point but were still producing the goods.

Then we have an early example of disco in the Top 40 with "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes. This was a time before the popularity of disco exploded and everyone jumped on the bandwagon and as a result it's a decent record.

Folk isn't a genre I think of when it comes to 70s music but we have a few in this batch. In addition to Clifford T Ward we have former Small Faces and Faces member Ronnie Lane with "How Come" which is up in 5th place. We also have "Star" by Stealers Wheel which is also alright and "After The Goldrush" by Prelude which is also alright but suffers somewhat from being acapella.

Alice Cooper is a name I think of when it comes to the harder side of rock in the 70s. His record "Teenage Lament 74" still fits that description but is a bit different to his typical sound and I like it.

Some soul records follow, I find "Rockin Roll Baby" by Stylistics pretty average and they've done better but the records from Diana Ross, Billy Paul and Barry White are all decent.

Down the bottom we have Jonathan King doing a novelty cover of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" under the name Bubblerock and is awful. Lulu made one of many comebacks with a cover of "The Man Who Sold The World" by David Bowie but it doesn't work for me. Despite Lulu being a 60s singer coming back in the 70s and David Bowie very much being of the 70s Lulu is the younger of the 2. In fact Lulu is one of the youngest of all these artists.

Glam Rock isn't really my thing and I've never liked "Tiger Feet" by Mud. Above that is "Teenage Rampage" by The Sweet which was the reason I got 36 instead of 39 on Popmaster because I couldn't identify some lyrics from the first verse. Even now the lyrics still don't stand out.

We've now reached the mid-point of the 70s and we've not seen the nosedive in quality I was expecting.

Score: 47

UK Number 40s: Luke Friend - Hole in my Heart (2015)

 

There were just two Top 40 hits to come out of the 2013 series of The X Factor. Winner Sam Bailey reached number one with her only Top 40 hit "Skyscraper" and then 3rd placed Luke Friend reached number 40 with this, his only Top 40 hit.

Although most X Factor contestants have no longevity in their chart career they do often get off to a solid start before fading away. This wasn't to be the case with Luke Friend. The fact the 2014 series had also been and gone by the time this was released may have also been a factor.

One of the songwriters on this record is Roy Stride from Scouting For Girls. Their Top 40 career was finished by the point, but Roy Stride would be back with further Top 40 hits as a songwriter.

UK Number 40s: Maroon 5 - It Was Always You (2014)

 

The first question I ask when I look at each of these number 40s is can the number 40 position be considered a success or failure? There are a number of reasons why it could be considered a success but this is the first time I've come across it being considered a success for this reason: it was a promotional single.

First of all I should explain what a promotional single is. It's where a single is given to radio stations, magazines etc. to promote a single prior to it's release. Historically this wouldn't have counted towards the charts because nobody actually bought it. However in 2014 streams started to count towards the chart so the times this would have been streamed helped get it into the Top 40. There was no actual single of this to be released afterwards and their next actual single "Maps" made number 2.

25 Years Since....August 2000

So much was going on in August 2000 it's a wonder I had any time to listen to music, but I did:

Craig David - 7 Days

Craig David moved away from garage and made an R&B record with this. There was a garage version as well though. Music aside, you have the story and the Groundhog Day style video to go with the story. At this point in time he showed he could make a decent R&B record, though he did make some terrible ones in later years.

Wookie ft Lain - Battle

Wookie worked with Soul II Soul prior to UK garage being a thing. This was his big hit and it was on pretty much every garage set I was hearing around this time. You can almost imagine Soul II Soul sounding like this had they started out around this time.

Richie Dan - Call It Fate

Yes it's another garage record but this just shows how addicted I was to garage at the time. The fact of the matter was that a lot of the tunes getting into the Top 40 were tunes you'd hear on the garage tapes from the raves. I found it sad in the way that there appeared to be no underground garage anymore, but the music was great.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication

There was a pub in town that I started going to a lot more around this time for the simple fact it acquired a late license. There was a video jukebox in the pub which was a relatively new concept at the time and I remember this tune coming on a lot. What I'm not sure about was whether I'd bought the "Californication" album by this point.

JJ72 - Oxygen

When I watch music videos from yesteryear it's quite common for me to look at the band/artist and think wow I don't remember them looking that young. In the case of JJ72 though I do remember them looking young at the time, but then they're similar in age to me and I was a young student at the time. I do feel part of the problem with indie music is that it's the dross that truly makes it big and there's plenty of good bands that get nowhere. JJ72 managed to scrape the Top 40 but didn't really get any further than that.

80s in the 90s: 1983

Continuing the look at whether 80s acts succeeded in the 90s here's a look at the 1983 debutants:

Eurythmics: Between their Top 40 debut "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" in 1983 and "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves" in 1985, Eurythmics only failed to reach the Top 10 once. After this they only reached the Top 10 once again which was with "Thorn In My Side" in 1986. They managed at least 1 Top 40 hit in the remaining years of the 80s but most didn't even make the Top 20. In 1990 they had 2 minor hits in 1990 with "The King And Queen Of America" and "Angel" before they split up. Then they came back in 1999 with "I Saved The World Today" which made number 11.

Verdict: Miss

Tina Turner: Her 80s solo career was a sort of comeback having previously been part of Ike & Tina Turner in the 60s. She had more Top 40 hits in the 90s than 80s though less Top 10s. As an 80s chart act by this definition is one that had at least 4 Top 40 hits that decade, having 4 Top 10s in the 90s which is what Tina Turner had would surely qualify you as a 90s chart act too.

Verdict: Hit

Marillion: In the 90s Marillion managed 3 Top 40 hits that peaked at number 34. Some may be surprised to learn they even had 3 Top 40 hits that decade but they actually had 7. Just "Sympathy" was a Top 20 and none were Top 10. It's however worth noting that 8 of their 12 Top 40 hits in the 80s also failed to reach the Top 20. However they did have 3 Top 10s which are the ones people remember, their 90s hits not so much.

Verdict: Miss

Paul Young: His biggest 90s hit was "Senza Una Donna (Without A Woman)" but that was as a featured singer on a Zucchero record so doesn't really count. Taking that record out of the equation all his Top 40 hits up to "Every Time You Go Away" in 1985 made the Top 10 and every Top 40 hit after didn't. He did manage 6 Top 40 hits in the 90s on his own but all of them were minor.

Verdict: Miss

Prince: He was still releasing new music and had a huge following right up to his death in 2016. From a UK charts perspective though his last original Top 40 hit came in 1997 with "The Holy River". He did however manage at least one Top 40 hit between 1983 and 1997. The 90s was when we got the New Power Generation backing him and he changed his name to a symbol. It was also the decade where he scored his only number one plus several other big hits. There's no doubt he was just as much a 90s chart act as he was an 80s one.

Verdict: Hit

Aztec Camera: Best known for the 1988 hit "Somewhere In My Heart" I would say their solitary 90s Top 40 hit "Good Morning Britain" is their 2nd best known. The question is should a number 19 in 1990 that featured another artist, in this case Mick Jones, qualify you as a 90s chart act? Doesn't really seem enough.

Verdict: Miss

Big Country: When you hear the name Big Country the 80s springs to mind to the point you wouldn't expect them to have any Top 40 hits in the 90s. They managed 3 though but the highest they managed out of those was 24. 

Verdict: Miss

Nick Heyward: He started out as singer with Haircut 100 who managed 4 Top 40 hits. He 1 better as a solo artist in the 80s with 5 Top 40 hits to his name spread across 1983 and 1984. Then he had one more Top 40 hit in 1996 with the number 37 "Rollerblade" which was his attempt at jumping on the Britpop bandwagon.

Verdict: Miss

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 35

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.

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 records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

26. Mercury Rev - Goddess On A Hiway

Mercury Rev were a band I remember a lot of people at university were into but I'd never heard of them myself. Now that I am familiar with their music I really don't get what the fuss was all about. I guess we all have our individual tastes.

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 14.5/30, or 47%. We get this score a lot.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 35

These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:

Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo - Stars

If it wasn't for Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo I probably wouldn't be doing these posts. This was a record I first heard when a mate did a happy hardcore mix. It was also a record that DJ Vibes would play out regularly at the time. When YouTube became a thing I started discovering videos I never knew existed and I have to say I found this particular video quite disturbing.

Gordon - Omdat Ik Zo Van Je Hou

We've seen Dutch singer Gordon twice already this year and both times he was doing songs in English. This time he's singing in Dutch and it sort of makes sense why. It's a cover of "Tu M'Aimes Encore" by Celine Dion which is in French so I guess there's no point in doing it in English if it was never in English in the first place.

Gerard Joling - Zing Met Me Mee

On the basis of this video it would appear that Gerard Joling had a huge following in Holland give the number of people there and the fact they're all singing along. His Dutch Top 40 career began in 1985 and he had hits as recently as 2013. This was his final Top 40 hit of the 90s. He's also a TV presenter in Holland.

Andre Hazes - Leven Op T Plein

We last saw Andre Hazes in the first Top 40 of the year. He's a Dutch singer with 36 albums and 55 singles to his name and was almost 2 decades into his Dutch Top 40 career at this point. 

January Charts: 1973

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Focus - Sylvia

2. Thin Lizzy - Whisky In The Jar

3. Junior Walker And The All Stars - Take Me Girl I'm Ready

4. Archie Bell And The Drells - There's Gonna Be A Showdown

5. Electric Light Orchestra - Roll Over Beethoven

6. Harold Melvin And The Bluenotes - If You Don't Know Me By Now

7. Dandy Livingstone - Big City/Think About That

8. Focus - Hocus Pocus

9. Dave Edmunds - Baby I Love You

10. Free - Wishing Well

11. The Who - Relay

12. The Temptations - Papa Was A Rollin' Stone

13. Billy Paul - Me And Mrs Jones

14. The Sweet - Blockbuster

15. Strawbs - Part Of The Union

16. Elton John - Daniel

17. Status Quo - Paper Plane

18. Gary Glitter - Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)

19. Olivia Newton-John - Take Me Home Country Roads

Even with and expanded scoring system it's tough giving each record a score. You may be familiar with the term "a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work". This is the approach I'm trying to go for with my scoring logic.

The Temptations are one of my favourite music acts from this era but my least favourite of their big hits by far is "Papa Was a Rollin Stone". Many of us have stand out records we don't like by our favourite musicians and for me and The Temptations this is the one.

In theory I should give this record zero, but when you take an average record by an artist you can take or leave such as "Daniel" by Elton John and ask would I really prefer to listen to this record than The Temptations one, the answer would be no.

On the other hand you have a band like Focus. All I know about them is they're a Dutch progressive rock band and have never heard any other their records outside the 2 that feature in this batch which were their only 2 Top 40 hits. "Sylvia" is just brilliant, rather short for a progressive rock tune but I feel I could easily listen to a 20 minute version. "Hocus Pocus" is just bonkers and a good record in it's own right but suffers from the fact it's not "Sylvia".

In 2nd place we have the Top 40 debut of Thin Lizzy with "Whisky In The Jar". It would take another 3 years until we'd see them in the Top 40 again.

Then we have some Motown in 3rd place with "Take Me Girl I'm Ready" by Junior Walker & the All Stars, a more obscure one but great partly for that reason. Some northern soul in 4th place with "There's Gonna Be A Showdown" by Archie Bell & the Drells.

Next up we have "Roll Over Beethoven" by ELO which would rank near the bottom in my ratings of their hits but that's a sign of how good they were, this is a great record.

None of the records are bad enough to score zero but the worst record is "Take Me Home Country Roads". It's an inferior cover of a song that I don't particularly like.

In some ways 1973 is unchartered territory for me. In my numerous attempts at exploring the 70s charts I begin with 1970 but don't make it this far. At the same time it pre-dates the Top of the Pops reruns. However I'm quite encouraged by this batch of records generally speaking.

Score: 55

2000: The Good Old Days? - August

August 2000 was the last time we had a big battle for number one that was widely talked about. This was between Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Victoria Beckham despite neither being the lead artist on their respective records.

The winner of the battle was Sophie Ellis-Bextor who provided vocals for "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" by Spiller. It started life as a pretty good instrumental record but the addition of the vocals completely ruins it and therefore it gets no points.

Victoria Beckham became the final Spice Girl to have a hit outside of the Spice Girls by providing vocals alongside Dane Bowers on "Out Of Your Mind" by True Steppers. UK garage had got so big so quickly and now the pop singers were jumping on the bandwagon and it was predictably rubbish.

The rest of the UK garage records this month get full marks. This includes the best record this month which is "Battle" by Wookie featuing Lain. Another one of the decent garage record this month is "Call It Fate" by Richie Dan.

I mentioned in September the origins of me getting into R&B via garage. Maybe that was a bit premature because we have another example this month. "7 Days" by Craig David was his first non-garage record. However the first version of this I heard was a garage version on the tapes, but when I heard this R&B version I thought it was decent too.

Another decent R&B record this month was the only Top 40 hit for Ruff Endz with "No More". There weren't any rap new entries this month.

Some decent trance record this month including the excellent "Time To Burn" by Storm, an alias of Jam & Spoon who were early pioneers of trance in the early 90s. 

Red Hot Chili Peppers had a decent record in "Californication" and I think I owned the album of the same name by this point. We also had the Top 40 debut from indie band JJ72 with "Oxygen" which is a decent effort.

Onto the worst record and this month it comes from Mandy Moore with "I Wanna Be With You". A very cringeworthy record. 

Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):

Score: 40%

Here's a look at the chart:

We have the best August of the 21st century.

UK Number 40s: Sanna Nielsen - Undo (2014)

 

The vast majority of Eurovision songs don't make it into the UK Top 40. The ones that do tend to either be the winning songs or the UK entries. However this Eurovision entry was neither, it was from Sweden and finished 3rd. 

The winner that year was "Rise Like A Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst and the UK entry was "Children of the Universe" by Molly and both made the Top 40, as didn't 2nd placed "Calm After The Storm" by Common Linnets. This meant that 4 Eurovision entries made the Top 40 that year, the only time that had happened previously was in 1974.

Although this was the only UK Top 40 hit for Sanna Nielsen, she'd already got quite a lengthy discography by this point. She was about to release her 8th album which is her final album to date. It was also the 7th time she'd attempted to represent Sweden at Eurovision.

UK Number 40s: Kooks - Down (2014)

 

The Kooks were one of many bands who were part of the mid-00s indie explosion. By 2008 it appeared that their Top 40 career was over but then 6 years later they were back with this record.

The popularity of indie music had rapidly declined by this point but this is said to be more of an R&B record than an indie one. Sounds logical, but then a lot of R&B artists were making electropop records by this point so it's perhaps a strange choice of genre for them.

This wasn't the end for them though. They were back to making indie music with their next released "Around Town" which reached 35 and was their final Top 40 hit to date. As a result they were one of the last mid-00s bands standing from a chart perspective.

80s in the 90s: 1982

Continuing the look at whether 80s acts succeeded in the 90s here's a look at the 1982 debutants:

Adam Ant: Adams & the Ants were huge in 1981 but they abruptly came to an end in 1982. As a result Adam Ant topped the charts with his debut solo single "Goody Two Shoes" that same year. By 1984 his solo career seemed to fizzle out but then in 1990 he returned to the Top 40 with "Room At The Top" which made number 13. Then 5 years later came his final Top 40 hit to date "Wonderful" which made 32. Not really much of a 90s chart career then.

Verdict: Miss

Tears For Fears: In 1989 Tears For Fears topped the albums chart with their "Seeds Of Love" album. The final Top 40 hit from that album "Advice For The Young At Heart" came out in early 1990 and only made number 36. Then in 1991 Curt Smith left and it effectively became a Roland Orzabal solo project under the Tears For Fears Name. 3 further Top 40 hits came in the 90s and the highest charting of these "Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)" reached number 17.

Verdict: Miss

Bananarama: They made the Top 10 with their first 6 Top 40 hits. Then came a blip but then they were given a new lease of life by hooking up with Stock, Aitken & Waterman. Siobhan Fahey left and Jacquie O'Sullivan but that appeared to do no harm as they had their joint highest charting single in 1989 with "Help". Their first single of the 90s "Only Your Love" only made 27, follow up "Preacher Man" made 20 and was their highest charting single of the decade and then "Long Train Running" made 30. Then Jacquie O'Sullivan left and they became a duo and they released the singles "Movin' On" and "More More More" which both made number 24. The latter came in 1993 and that's the last we'd see of them in the Top 40 until 2005.

Verdict: Miss

Yazoo: This is a good example of why chart longevity isn't as simple as time between first and last hits or even setting a certain criteria. Yazoo have done the bare minimum required to make this list, 4 Top 40 hits in the 80s and a solitary Top 40 hit in the 90s. That solitary Top 40 hit "Situation" was the b-side of debut single "Only You" so was 8 years old by the time it charted. The fact is Yazoo only existed for 18 months and they never even attempted to be a successful 90s chart act.

Verdict: Miss

Simple Minds: No doubt there are people who only know Simple Minds for "Don't You (Forget About Me)". Many people would know them for several records though. Their only number one "Belfast Child" probably isn't one of them. On the other hand "New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84)" and "Theme for Great Cities" are pretty well known but neither were hits. The point is they're a band whose popularity you can't really measure by chart positions. They had 8 Top 40 hits in the 90s, 4 of which came in 1991 and despite the high chart placing of the first of these "Let There Be Love" I don't think it's that well known. One I'd say is was 1995 single "She's A River". All things considered I'd say they were successful in the 90s charts.

Verdict: Hit

Midge Ure: He's had chart success with multiple groups most notably Ultravox. All bar one of his solo Top 40 hits came before the final original Ultravox Top 40 hit with the biggest being chart topper "If I Was". That one solo Top 40 hit was his final one in 1991 with "Cold Cold Heart" which made number 17. Only 2 of his 80s Top 40 hits charted higher but that really means despite the string of hits his solo career was really about 1 song.

Verdict: Miss

Culture Club: They were one of the biggest pop acts of the early 80s and then in 1987 came Boy George's briefly successful solo career. By the 90s though he was better known for being a DJ than a singer. Then in 1998 Culture Club reunited and reached number 4 with "I Just Wanna Be Loved". This wasn't an 80s group still being relevant in the 90s though, it was nostalgia for an 80s group. The album that followed flopped and their final Top 40 hit "Your Kisses Are Charity" only made 24.

Verdict: Miss

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 34

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.

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 records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

26. Mary J Blige - All That I Can Say

This was Top 40 hit number 17 for Mary J Blige and it was written by Lauryn Hill. It does sound like the sort of record I could imagine Lauryn Hill doing. A decent record to round off the decade with.

Verdict - Good

25. Super Furry Animals - Fire In My Heart

The final Top 40 hit of the 90s for Super Furry Animals. This record has been described by lead singer Gruff Rhys as being a country and western song. I wouldn't say it really sounds like one myself which is no bad thing. However there's not much to like about it either.

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 14/30, or 47%. Back below 50%.

Why Alisha's Attic?

When I got into rave in the mid-90s I stopped having favourite bands because that's not what rave is about. Then one day in 1999 after a year or so of opening myself up to music that wasn't rave I declared my favourite band was Alisha's Attic.

At that point in time my collection simply consisted of their 2 albums to that point. First I bought their 2nd album "Illumina". It had an excellent lead single "The Incidentals", a far inferior 2nd single "Wish I Were You" but it was easily the 2nd best track on the album and the final single from the album was "Barbarella" which I've never really been able to decide I like it or not. The rest of the album is very much album filler.

Then I acquired their much better debut album "Alisha Rules The World". The title track plus their debut single "I Am I Feel" are excellent. 3rd single "Indestructible" is pretty average and 4th single "Air We Breathe" had little impact though the album version is better than all their singles.

The album had 6 more tracks that were actual songs. "Intense" was one I never liked, "White Room" is pretty average if I'm honest, "Stone In My Shoe" is one I have to be in the right mood for and "I Won't Miss You" has some very welcome breakbeats in parts but overall is nothing special.

However it's the final 3 tracks that really make the album. "Just The Way You Like It" was my initial favourite, then we have the already mentioned album version of "Air We Breathe" and we finish with "Adore U" which became my favourite and indeed it was whilst listening to that track that I declared them my favourite band. 

In the 18 months or so that followed I really did go over the top. I bought all their singles, promo singles and any other rarities I could find in their discography. I joined the fan club and made a website called "Adore Alisha's Attic" named after my favourite song of theirs.

Back to that point in time, we're talking about a band with just 6 songs where I could say I really like this. Taking my favourite "Adore U" as an example, could I really say that's better than my favourite rave records? I would say no. In-fact even at the time I could name non-rave records that I preferred.

So back to the original question, why Alisha's Attic?

Well one thing I've never given any thought to before but something I've realised recently is that they were the first all female music act I bought anything by. I might of had the odd DJ Rap tape in a rave tapepack but the fact I can't even remember if I did have a DJ Rap tape tells you I never bought a tapepack because of DJ Rap.

Basically they were the first music act where I could say I both like their music and find them attractive. The latter placed less importance on the music in a way. I never liked their final single "Pretender Got My Heart" but I went out and bought it anyway. 

Once their 3rd album flopped and they got dropped from their label and called it a day I was seeing the error of my way, sort of. I say sort of because Alisha's Attic stopped being my favourite band but taking their place was the Honeyz, the 2nd all female music act I bought music by.

Much like Alisha's Attic, the Honeyz glory days were already behind them when I properly got into them. Unlike Alisha's Attic though, their 2nd album is pretty good.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 34

These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:

La Bouche - Fallin In Love

With Eurodance being as big as it was in the 90s it made perfect sense for German music mogul Frank Farian to jump on the bandwagon. The result was this Germany based American duo who managed to even crack America itself with their big hit "Be My Lover". This was the follow up single that's actually quite different. It's a cover of the Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds record that was nowhere near as successful as its predecessor anywhere.

Frans Bauer - N Dag Uit Duizend Dromen

It's Dutch singer Frans Bauer again for the 3rd time this year. It's exactly what you expect it to be, a gentle song with a karaoke sounding backing track and sung in Dutch. We will be seeing him once more this year with something I expect to be similar.

740 Boyz - Shimmy Shake

In 1995 there was nobody bigger in the UK charts than the Outhere Brothers but there wasn't really anyone else making similar music. In Holland though we had this record which is similar. We did however have Porn Kings vs Flip & Fill do a version that hit the UK Top 40 in 2003.

Critical Mass - Dancing Together

Here's some happy hardcore. Critical Mass is a name I'm familiar with via "Burning Love" which hit the Dutch Top 40 in 1996 and was played at UK raves. I don't ever recall hearing this particular record though. It's not as good as "Burning Love" but it pleasant enough.

2000: The Good Old Days? - September

In September I would have described my main music taste as being dance music but here we see the origins of me getting into R&B. I was really into garage at this point in time and one of my favourites from my garage tapes was "Tell Me It's Real" by K-Ci & Jojo which this the best record this month. I would later find out this started life as an R&B record and was by the same people who did "All My Life" a couple of years earlier. If I had to pick a favourite R&B act then they would probably be it.

All the UK garage this month was good. Happy hardcore DJ's Sy & Unknown started doing garage under the name Trick or Treat and did a garage remix of "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" by Baby D. There was also the best version of "Freak Like Me" which came from Tru Faith & Dub Conspiracy.

House music was pretty good this month too. We had the excellent "Scorchio" by Sasha and Darren Emerson. The latter was a member of Underworld when they did "Cowgirl" which was originally made in 1994 but wasn't a Top 40 hit until this month. The only house record I don't like this month is "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" by Modjo.

There were 2 techno new entries this month, "Kernkraft 400" by Zombie Nation and "Ubik" by Timo Maas & Martin Bettinghaus and again both are decent records.

It's the trance music that's letting down the dance genre this month generally speaking. The decent ones are "Hudson Street" by Agnelli & Nelson and "Bullet In The Gun 2000" by Planet Perfecto whilst "On The Level" by Yomanda is OK. The rest are either vocal rubbish e.g. "Ordinary World" by Aurora & Naimee Coleman or lazy e.g. "Big Brother UK TV Theme" by Element Four.

The R&B tunes were generally solid this month. We had "Wifey" by Next and "Unleash the Dragon" by Sisqo which are both good and "Whatever" by Ideal US & Lil Mo which is OK. The only one letting the genre down is "Most Girls" by Pink.

Rap wise it's those mixing with rock music that are good. They are the double a-side "Can't Get The Best Of Me / Highlife" by Cypress Hill and the excellent "American Bad Ass" by Kid Rock. I have the feeling I owned "The Marshall Mathers LP" album by Eminem because I remember seeing Richard Blackwood on Top of the Pops and identifying it as the sort of rap music that I don't like.

I was really into Green Day at the time who had seemed to disappear some point in the 90s but this month they were back with the single "Minority". I like it but found the album to be very disappointing. 

I also hadn't heard anything from the Foo Fighters since the 90s but they were back with "Breakout" this month which is possibly the best thing they've ever done.

Onto the worst record then which comes from Vanessa Amorosi. Who's that? I hear you say. She's one of those short lived pop acts from around this time where I seem to be the only one to remember them. Her one and only Top 40 hit was "Absolutely Everybody" and I'm jealous of all those people who have forgot it.

Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):

Score: 44%

Here's a look at the chart:

The best month so far and it certainly is feeling more like the good old days.