25 Years Since....April 2000

In April 2000 Sara Cox took over the Radio 1 breakfast show, one of those out with the old in with the new moments in this new century we entered. Here's the music I was enjoying:

Blink 182 - All The Small Things

I remember listening to the first Sara Cox breakfast show on radio and she played this record. Around this time I'd started listening to Green Day again and this was presented as a sort of Green Day for the 21st century. 

My only complaint was it was a bit slow, but later down the line when I dug into the Blink 182 archives I found a lot of their tunes were faster than Green Day. Although this was their breakthrough record into the mainstream UK audience they'd been going a few years and were on their 4th album off which this was taken and was released in 1999.

Dr Dre ft Snoop Dogg - Still Dre

Another record that's actually from 1999. It was lead single from Dr Dre's long awaiting "2001" album and like his debut hit "Nothing But A G Thang" it features Snoop Dogg, though his vocal contributions are quite minimal on this record.

It came to light later on that this record was ghostwritten by Jay-Z, a rapper thant I've never thought much of. Still a good record is a good record regardless of who wrote it. 

Rank 1 - Airwave

The year 2000 was the year mainstream trance music started to lose it's way, but there were still some gems coming out such as this record. It's probably helped by the fact this is a 1999 record that didn't chart until 2000.

It was the only Top 40 hit by Dutch duo Rank 1 but like several dance acts they'd return under another alias, in this case Jonah. Member Benno De Goeij would also return as Dutch Force.

Shola Ama - Imagine

Shola Ama was someone who'd had just 2 records of note in 1997 after being spotted singing on the tube. In truth she never really went away and had a few minor hits thereafter and although this was also a minor hit it was viewed as a bit of a comeback in the garage scene.

Some may liken this to people like Victoria Beckham jumping on the garage bandwagon, but the first time I heard this was on a garage tape from a rave and I had no idea what it was but I liked it. Much like the other records in this post so far, it's a 1999 tune from her 1999 album "In Return".

Hurley & Todd - Sunstorm

It's a full house of 20th century records that charted in April 2000 that I was enjoying at the time. What I like about this record is its sampling of "Song For Guy" by Elton John which the best thing Elton John has done in my opinion. 

UK Number 40s: Wombats - Backfire At The Disco (2008)

 

The number of indie records in the Top 40 peaked in 2005. Whilst the actual number of indie hits declined in the years that followed, the number of actual Top 40 hits also declined thanks in part to the change in rules that allowed downloads.

In 2008 there were less than half the number of Top 40 hits there had been in 2005 but proportionately there was slightly more indie music. The Wombats were one of the later bands to join the indie movement in the Top 40 having made their debut the previous year.

This was Top 40 hit number four for them and all 4 hits were taken from their "A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation" album. The fact people who wanted this would have probably had the album would explain it only making number 40.

When the Wombats returned to the Top 40 2 years later the charts had moved on to being full of electropop music so the Wombats reacted to that by making an electropop record. Perhaps the title of this record gave some sort of indication towards that move.

UK Number 40s: Hercules & Love Affair - Blind (2008)

 

Hercules & Love Affair may sound like it should be a collaboration between someone who goes by the name Hercules and the 60s band. It isn't though, Hercules & Love Affair is just one person who is Andy Butler.

This was his only UK Top 40 hit and it featured vocals from Anohni who had previous had a number 39 single in 2005 under the name Antony & The Johnsons.

It was an electronic record that was on DFA records which was the big label at the time for releasing electronic records that appealed to both the dance and rock crowds. 

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 17

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:

28. Ben Folds Five - Army

I love the opening line to this "Well I though about the army Dad said son you're fuckin high". I too went through a brief phase in my childhood where I wanted to join the army with my ambition either side of that being a musician. This was the final Top 40 hit to date for Ben Folds Five, I guess you could say they went out on a high.

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 14.5/30, or 48%. That ever familiar just below 50% score.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 17

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

Cheers - Alice Ik Geef Geen X Om Alice (Living Next Door To Alice)

It seemed liked everyone was jumping on the Alice bandwagon in 1995. I cannot find any information about Cheers but I gather they were Dutch and this is the only thing they seemed to do. It's exactly the same song as "Living Next Door To Alice" but with Dutch lyrics.

Captain Hollywood Project - Find Another Way

We've already learned that Germany based America Captain Hollywood was having hits in Holland after his UK Top 40 career had ended. This record is the end of his chart career in the Dutch Top 40. It's a shame really because he's doing a happy hardcore record here. Yes a cheesy sped up Eurodance type happy hardcore record, but no more cheesy than you're average Bonkers record really.

De Dijk - Heb Je Het Hart

We say hello to Dutch rock band De Dijk again having previously seen them in the 3rd week. It will be the last time we see them too with their next hit coming in 1997.

Corry Konings - Schenk Me Deze Ene Nacht

I guess all countries have their artists who have quite a prolific chart career in their homeland but are virtually unknown elsewhere. Here's an example of this, Corry Konings make her Dutch Top 40 debut in 1969 and her most recent hit came in 1999. This was her only effort of 1995. It's reminding me of the first time I saw live music at the pub. When I say live music, I mean 1 singer and a tape machine.

Koos Alberts - Amsterdamse Hitmedley

They sure like their medleys in Holland and here's another one. It was the only Dutch Top 40 hit of 1995 for Koos Alberts. He had a solitary hit in 1994 too with a medley. Go back to the 80s and he was having hits with Corry Konings above.

January Charts: 1955

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Bill Haley And His Comets - Rock Around The Clock

2. Four Aces - Mr Sandman

3. Dean Martin - The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane

4. Tennessee Ernie Ford - Give Me Your Word

5. Suzi Miller And The Johnston Brothers - Happy Days And Lonely Nights

6. Frankie Vaughan - Happy Days And Lonely Nights

7. Bing Crosby - Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep

8. Ruby Murray - Softly Softly

9. Max Bygraves - Mr Sandman

Rock n roll has arrived so it's only right that we put the rock n roll record in this batch at the top. It's the record credited with starting the whole thing, though it was the 2nd hit for Bill Haley and his Comets so it clearly didn't. 

There were 4 versions of the record "Mr Sandman" which came out around this time, 2 in December and 2 in January and none were the originals. The Four Aces cover is pleasant enough to listen to but the Max Bygraves version is terrible to the point it's the first record I've given zero points to.

Dean Martin finds himself near the top again. I'm not familiar with this particular version but do know the Ames Brothers version and it's a fun record without being anything special.

There's another first for this batch of records compared to the previous 2, female artists. Suzi Miller with the help of the Johnston Brothers do the better version of "Happy Days And Lonely Nights" with Frankie Vaughan's version just coming below. This was his 2nd hit which came a year after his first.

Ruby Murray's record is just boring to me but not quite bad enough to give a zero to. The same could be said of the Bing Crosby record.

I would say overall this batch has been the toughest listen so far and this is reflected in the score.

Score: 27

2002: The Good Old Days? - February

When we reached the first zero points chart in 2007 we were past the time I said my music taste was dance, rap and R&B. It had changed to anything that's good. As we approach the start of 2002 we are possibly getting to before the time I declared that as my music taste.

In February though all the full marks come from the dance, rap and R&B genres.

Dance wise we have "Drill" by Dirt Devils and "To Get Down (Rock Thing)" by Timo Maas getting full marks whilst "What Ya Got 4 Me" by Signum and "So Lonely" by Jakatta both get half marks. Just the one UK garage record this month which is "Bring It On To My Love" by De Nada which I don't like, mainly because I can't stand the singing on it much like their other hit.

The best record is a rap record which is "Worst Comes To Worst" by Dilated Peoples. I remember hearing it first on the Top 40 countdown and instantly fell in love with it and eventually went to see Dilated Peoples in concert.

Also from the rap world is "Always on Time" by Ja Rule & Ashanti. This lead to me buying the "Pain Is Love" album which a remember listening to quite extensively come Easter time. The final rap tune getting full marks is "Got Ur Self A" by Nas which is taken from another album that I own.

R&B wise we have a record that was ridiculed at the time and long forgotten now. That record is "Ride" by Ana Ann. She was UK based but her accent suggested she wasn't British and she came from a rich family who set up a record label to release her music. She then promptly disappeared off the face of the earth and there's very little about her on the internet. The song itself featured a male vocalist who sounded a bit like R Kelly. I have to say though, I do like the record.

One single I did buy at the time was "Moi Lolita" by French singer Alizee which was sung in French so I had no idea what it was about. It was cheesy and rubbish but I liked it. Then I had enough and eventually sold it on eBay a few years later. I'm giving it half a point for nostalgia reasons putting aside the fact she looks pretty scary these days.

Onto the worst record then which goes to Britney Spears with "Overprotected". It was on the music channels all the time and I can clearly picture the start of the video where she has her back to the camera which at the time was a sign to change the channel. 

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: 22%

Here's a look at the chart:

It's really not been a great year. A decent January will just tell me that 2001 may have been the end of the good old days.

UK Number 40s: Celine Dion - Taking Chances (2007)

 

Celine Dion is the 63rd artist to have had both a number 1 and a number 40 hit. It had been 4 years since Celine Dion had last been in the Top 40. In that time indie music had become the dominant music of the charts and it sounds like Celine Dion had been taking note with this record.

It was written by Kara DioGuardi and David A Stewart. They were originally intending to write a record for the Pussycat Dolls but this ended up being a record for their own project Platinum Weird.

However when they played it to Rene Angelil, Celine Dion's husband, he loved it and it ended up being recorded by Celine Dion. 

The fact it was a guitar based record would have probably helped it get into the Top 40 at the time, but the fact it was by Celine Dion and not a band would have probably prevented it from being more successful.

Celine Dion did have one further Top 40 hit in 2013 with "Loved Me Back To Life".

UK Number 40s: Gabriella & Troy - Gotta Go My Own Way (2007)

 

First we had Cast of High School Musical in the Top 40 with their 2nd and final hit making number 40. Then we had Cast of High School Musical 2 in the Top 40. Now we have a record from High School Musical characters Gabriella & Troy.

The characters of Gabriella & Troy were played by Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron. The latter has since had other Top 40 hits under his real name which have been associated with movies that he has been in.

In terms of High School Musical Top 40 hit though this was it, as far as I can tell.

Peace, Love & Unity

In the last couple of months I've read numerous comments about DJ Danny Rampling. He's been quite vocal about his political views for a few years now but what caused an uproar was a particular event he was booked to play at and the political figures associated with said event.

Fellow DJs Marshall Jefferson, Roy the Roach and Bushwacka have spoke out in support of Danny Rampling whilst Slipmatt has given a nod of agreement to others who have stuck up for him. Additionally Slipmatt along with Ellis Dee and Fergus amongst others have also been booked to play at events that don't sit well with some people in the dance community.

On the other hand Mr. C has spoken out against him as have several other DJs/producers plus of course the fans of dance music, some of which used to like Danny Rampling but don't anymore. One of the points being made is that you can't be part of the house music movement and also support political figures on the right.

The official story of acid house is that Danny Rampling along with fellow DJs Paul Oakenfold, Nicky Holloway and Johnnie Walker went to Ibiza, took ecstasy whilst clubbing in Amnesia and decided to bring that experience with them back to the UK.

The the 2nd summer of love happened, people from all walks of life coming together and uniting at these raves. Football hooligans went from fighting each other to hugging each other and everyone was one big happy family.

Makes a lovely story, but was that really the case. I wasn't raving in the acid house era so I can't say for sure, but I can draw on my own experiences when I did go raving at the end of the 90s.

Obviously there are elements of truth to it and there were pilled up ravers who wanted to be everyone's friend there. At the same time a rave didn't exactly feel like a safe place to be and I'm talking about legal licensed events here. One of the first raves I went to made the news after someone was attacked there with a hammer. It's quite well documented about the violence you would get at raves when jungle became a thing, though I've also heard Billy Bunter say there were still plenty of incidents before those days.

When I was too young to go raving I imagined to be all about peace, love and unity. I also had the idea that it was the music bringing people together, not the drugs . If you think about it logically though, if the drugs bring people together then you'll separate again once you're off the drugs. If it's music or something else then why do you need the drugs. It's also worth noting that whilst many were on drugs there were still plenty of people who weren't.

Going back to the acid house days the story almost contradicts itself. Danny Ramplings event back then was Shoom and it was said to be notoriously difficult to get into. So on one hand you're free to express yourself, be who you want to be and you will be accepted into this rave community. On the other hand you need to impress the door picker to actually get into the club.

Acid house may have been about smiley t-shirts but by the 90s it was smart shirts and shoes and even then you weren't guaranteed to get into a house night. When I lived in Newcastle I used to go to Promise and Shindig and whilst I never got turned away myself I often witnessed people in the queue being turned away because of what they were wearing. 

At the end of the day you can unite with others through a mutual interest in the same music but the music isn't going to change your outlook on other aspects of life. 

There was a happy hardcore message board that's now long gone that was one of the most toxic internet forums I've ever seen. It had reached a point where most users had gone off the new happy hardcore and most of the activity was in the off-topic board where people were arguing about everything else including politics. In the end there was one user who had MC'd at a number of events who was making countless posts in support of the BNP. Hardly the peace, love and unity he would have been preaching on the microphone.

This is the point, when you consider the quantity of people who have had some involvement in the dance music scene as a whole, whether it's a DJ, MC, producer, promoter or simply a raver you're not going to all have the same views on everything, political or otherwise. The peace, love & unity was at best a night at a rave, certainly not in day to day life.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 16

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:

27. Candi Staton - Love On Love

This record was originally by E-Zee Possee. Candi Staton first made her Top 40 debut back in 1976 but made a name for herself in dance music with "You Got The Love". This was her other dance record of the 90s which was her final Top 40 hit to date. A decent record.

Verdict - Good

22. Ace Of Base - Everytime It Rains

It seems quite odd seeing Ace Of Base in the Top 40 as late as 1999 but here they are. It was written by Billy Steinberg, Rick Nowels and Maria Vidal and was a record they did due to the demands of the record company. Singer Linn Berggren never wanted to do it and this was said to be a key factor in her decision to quit the music business. It is a bit crap.

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 11/30, or 37%. We slip further.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 16

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

Jeremy Jackson - You Can Run

Yes that's right, Hobie from Baywatch also made music. Apparently he was introduced to music by his on screen father David Hasslehoff which gives a bit of insight as to just how bad this is. 

Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo - The Bird

It's Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo again with their 3rd Dutch Top 40 hit of 1995. With their new found chart success they took the opportunity to showcase their earlier material to the general public with this record being made in 1993. It's of the gabber variety as opposed to the happy hardcore they became best known for. 

January Charts: 1954

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Frankie Vaughan - Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

2. Dean Martin - That's Amore

3. Eddie Fisher - Oh! My Papa

4. Obernkirchen Children's Choir - The Happy Wanderer

5. Ken Mackintosh - The Creep

6. Frankie Laine - Blowing Wild

Although we only have 6 new entries this month one thing I was pleasantly surprised by was the variety given we were still in the pre-rock n roll era.

The best record this month is the debut of the original Liverpool superstar Frankie Vaughan. It's a novelty record but an enjoyable listen particularly in in era when a lot of music was boring.

In 2nd place we have familiarity in the shape of "That's Amore" by Dean Martin which is described as being Napoletana music. Not a record I would listen to out of choice but I'd have no objections to anybody else playing it and it certainly isn't boring.

Eddie Fisher is very much a traditional pop artist and my familiarity with this record helps it into 3rd place though I don't particularly like it. Then we have a children's choir in 4th place, a more uplifting number but sounds a bit silly.

Then we have an orchestra in 5th place with a piece of music I've already forgotten how it goes. Then at the bottom is a country record that's not the worst thing that I've heard but not my thing.

Overall the variety is good but I can't really say the same for the quality of the music.

Score: 30

2002: The Good Old Days? - March

The music of this month takes me back to a time I had a housemate who was always watching TV in the living room and often flicking through the music channels. The only music channels we had were MTV Hits, The Box and VH1 Classic so given to of them were very much hits of the moment some of these records featured a lot.

The best record is "Break Ya Neck" by Busta Rhymes. When I got into rap I saw myself as team west coast and the first east coast rapper I bought an album of was Busta Rhymes. When I saw Dr Dre had produced this it made me feel more comfortable about that. Of course I now know none of that really matters, it's a great record and one that few if any would be able to rap along to.

One thing most of the rap and R&B records I like this month is that I own them on CD one way or another. I have the Busta Rhymes album, "Chocolate Factory" by R Kelly which "The Worlds Greatest" appears on the bonus disc, "Songs in A Minor" by Alicia Keys which contains "A Woman's Worth" and I bought the "Shoulda Woulda Coulda" single by Beverley Knight because I loved that tune but wasn't overly keen on her other stuff. The only exception was "Lovely" by Bubba Sparxxx.

The best of the dance records was "Close Cover" by Minimalistix which I came close to buying on vinyl at the time but decided against it because it was on Ministry of Sound records who I saw as being too commercial. Yes I really was a music snob in those days.

There were 3 garage records this month once again. It was a mixed bag, there was a decent record in "B With Me" by Mis-Teeq which was their final garage single. There was "Time After Time" by Distant Soundz which was OK but nothing special. Then we had "Oi" by Platinum 45 featuring More Fire Crew which is really an illustration of garage turning into grime. Not for me.

Although it's clearly a piss take and was very much overplayed at the time I do like "Me Julie" by Ali G and Shaggy. The fact Ali G refers to Beyonce as the lead singer of Destiny's Child rather than by her name takes me back to a better time when nobody really knew what her name was.

The Pet Shop Boys enter their guitar phase with "Home and Dry", not a popular move for some but I quite like it. I don't ever remember it on the music channels though, maybe they were considered too old by this point. One record I very much remember on the music channels was "Love Foolosophy" by Jamiroquai which is a great record.

All that's left is the worst record which is "Been There Done That" by Smoke 2 Seven. They were one of many short lived girl groups at the time and this was always appearing on the music channels. Me and my housemates didn't really see eye to eye when it came to music but we all agreed about how shit this was.

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:

We've improved but 2002 is yet to be convincing as the good old days. 2003 and 2004 are looking better at the moment.

UK Number 40s: Richard Hawley - Tonight The Streets Are Ours (2007)

 

There are a number of solo careers from members of 90s bands that you may have never thought existed. Examples from around this period include Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Jarvis Cocker of Pulp.

Another example is this man, Richard Hawley. The question you may be thinking though is what band was he a member of? The answer is Longpigs, a 90s Britpop band who had a total of 5 Top 40 hits but never got any higher than 16.

He therefore had the advantage that he'd be known by the Britpop fans who would have probably helped this single scrape into the Top 40. The disadvantage was that his former band weren't exactly one of the big ones.

It would be his only Top 40 hit, but in terms of actual releases he's been quite prolific over the years.

UK Number 40s: Funeral For A Friend - Walk Away (2007)

 

Funeral For A Friend made their Top 40 debut in 2003 and clocked up a total of 9 Top 40 hits with this being the final one of those.

With a new like Funeral For A Friend you may expect them to be a death metal band, but they're not particularly heavy. 

This single was taken from the album "Tales Don't Tell Themselves". The lead single from that album was "Into Oblivion (Reunion)" which reached number 16, just one place behind "Streetcar" which became their highest charting single a couple of years earlier.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 15

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:

23. Bus Stop - Jump

The 3rd and final Top 40 hit to date for Bus Stop. They weren't done as individuals though, Daz Sampson went on to represent the UK at Eurovision in 2006 whilst the other two would have future hits as Flip & Fill. This is a eurodance cover of the Van Halen record and it is bad.

Verdict - Rubbish

21. Bon Jovi - Real Life

Bon Jovi went on hiatus in 1996 and this wasn't really the big comeback we were expecting from them. It passed me by and I'm sure it passed others by too. They rectified that the following the year after turning to Max Martin for their big comeback record "It's My Life", almost like this record never existed. It's not very memorable.

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 12/30, or 40%. No such luck this week, we've dropped.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 15

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

Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo - Together In Wonderland

If it wasn't for Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo I probably wouldn't be doing these posts at all. Here they are with their 2nd Dutch Top 40 hit of 1995. This is one I never heard until YouTube became a thing. The vocals are based on "All Together Now" by The Farm, but as you might guess it's in wonderland rather than in no mans land.

Rowwen Heze - T Roeie Klied

Rowwen Heze are a band from America. Why are they singing in Dutch then I hear you ask. Well because "America" is the name of the village in Holland they come from. It turns out their regional accents are so strong that even many Dutch people struggle to understand what they are singing.

2002: The Good Old Days? - April

In May we'd gone back to the UK garage era which helped give it the best score in 2002 so far. I did however mention the latter stages of this era will give us records which contributed to the genres demise and this is what we see in April.

There's "Ride Wit Us" by the So Solid Crew who were seen by many as the reason for its demise. We also had "Champagne Dance" by Pay As U Go, another collective with lots of members including future grime artist Wiley. It wasn't just the crews that led to the demise, it was also everyone jumping on the bandwagon. The other garage single of the month was "I Can't Wait" by Ladies First who were basically a girl group doing garage. None of these records get any points.

The best record is a drum & bass one which is "Shake Ur Body" by Shy FX & T-Power, an example of drum & bass being musical without being too watered down. Another dance record to get full marks is "So I Begin" by Galleon though it could do without the vocals.

Maxi Jazz is involved in 2 records that get half marks. There's "One Step Too Far" by Faithless which features Dido, the sister of Rollo from Faithless. Then there's "My Culture" by 1 Giant Leap which also featured Robbie Williams. Barthezz does his similar sounding to "On The Move" follow up with "Infected" which also gets half marks.

I do however now think I spoke too soon in Mays post about being back in a more credible era for dance music. Lots of other dance records but they all get zero. One example is "Lazy" by X-Press 2 ft David Byrne, a record loved by many dance music fans but I've always hated it.

Just half a mark from the rap world which comes from Outkast & Killer Mike with "The Whole World" which isn't quite good enough to get full marks. Former drum & bass producer Adam F had gone into rap music collaborating with Lil Mo on "Where's My..." which isn't to my liking. Not so keen on "Let's Push Things Forward" by The Streets either.

The only R&B point comes from the most unlikely source, N Sync. It was their final Top 40 hit, the Neptunes produced "Girlfriend" which was basically a warm up to Justin Timberlake's solo career. The only other R&B record was "U Turn" by Usher which isn't to my liking.

No other records get full marks so that just leaves the worst record. This month it's Michelle Branch with "Everywhere". It's one of those cringeworthy records you would expect to find in a cringeworthy high school movie at the time. I'm even less tolerant of that type of music now as I was back then.

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: 12%

Here's a look at the chart:

Oh dear, what a terrible month. It wouldn't get this bad again until December 2005. It's going to take a remarkable first quarter for 2002 to be convincing as the good old days.

January Charts: 1953

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Mills Brothers - The Glow Worm

2. Tony Brent - Make It Soon

3. Nat King Cole - Faith Can Move Mountains

4. Tony Brent - Got You On My Mind

5. Eddie Fisher - Outside Of Heaven

6. Perry Como And The Ramblers - Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes

7. Al Martino - Now

8. Ted Heath And His Music - Vanessa

9. Eddie Fisher - Everything I Have Is Yours

10. Jimmy Young - Faith Can Move Mountains

1953 was the first year the charts existed in January. The first week of January 1953 was the 8th week of the charts overall. Being in the era before rock & roll I thought familiarity would win but that wasn't really the case.

Easily the best record was "The Glow Worm" by Mills Brothers. They were a barbershop quartet who formed in 1925 and this was their only hit and spent a solitary week in the charts. They were the first act to have only spent 1 week in the charts. Obscure then, but a hidden gem I've uncovered.

The 2nd place record was another I wasn't familiar with but pleasantly surprised by. Tony Brent was a British singer covering a Doris Day record which doesn't sound a good thing on paper but having also listened to the original I would say this cover is better.

The same can't be said about British singer Jimmy Young covering "Faith Can Move Mountains" which is very much the inferior British version of an American record. The Nat King Cole version is also a cover but done better.

With the exception of Tony Brent's other record in this list "Got You On My Mind" I already knew the records ranked between 3 and 6 and I think familiarity has helped their position. The records below aren't bad but I've already forgotten how they go.

I never had great expectations for this first batch of records and it's more or less how I would expect it to be overall.

Score: 36

January Charts

Over the years I've done numerous chart reviews on this blog. There's the Top 30 from each year in the 90s which is nearing it's conclusion. I'm also currently looking at how the charts declined in the 21st century by listening to and rating each record.

I've previously found that 1969 was the best year for the Top 40 by taking the Top 40 in the middle of the year and rating each record. I also used those charts to compare to the Christmas Top 40 of each year to test the theory the quality of the charts declines in the Christmas period.

All are fairly sound ways of rating the charts but every method has it's drawbacks. Taking a sample Top 40 is all well and good but a handful of bad records that hang around the charts for ages will handicap several weeks. Let's hypothetically say in a given month you have 10 terrible records that are in the Top 40 all 4 weeks and 30 great records that last a week each. Taking it week by week gives a score of 75%, taking the month as a whole gives 92%. Both are correct depending on what angle you look at it.

The main drawback to taking the middle of the year is how one might expect a year to progress. January is the quiet month, the opportunity for new music to make it's mark. There may be a newish genre that suddenly gets popular. This means by the middle of the year everyone jumps on the bandwagon and we get a load of rubbish. Victoria Beckham jumping on the garage bandwagon springs to mind.

It's got me thinking which year has the best January? the month that should in theory set the scene for what to expect across the year even if it doesn't quite pan out as expected.

To do this, and partly to exclude anything from the Christmas charts, it will be looking at the new entries. It also means for the first time I can include the 50s before it became the Top 40.

I'm also going to change the way I score for this and I'll use for the following example to illustrate why:

Let's say we have 2 batches of records to rate:

Batch 1

Pet Shop Boys - Somewhere

Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene 10

Depeche Mode - Home

DJ Quicksilver - Bellissima

Olive - You're Not Alone

Batch 2

Outkast - Roses

O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei

Kelis - Trick Me

Eamon - Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)

VS - Call U Sexy

Now I like every record in both batches, but if I was to rank all 10 records in order of preference then the first batch would be the Top 5 and 2nd batch the bottom 5. Yet both batches would get an equal score if I was to use the usual 1 for good, 0.5 for OK and 0 for rubbish. There's different levels of good and different levels of rubbish. There's plenty of records I like without being blown away be them. There's also plenty of records I don't like but would tolerate if they came on the radio.

As a result here's the new scoring system:

5 - an outstanding record, only a select few will be good enough for this score

4 - I don't just like it, I love it

3 - I like it without being blown away by it

2 - an average record

1 - not a record I like at all but not bad enough to annoy me or cause extreme boredom

0 - terrible, annoying, a truly shit record

So there you go. These posts will go out weekly on a Thursday.

UK Number 40s: Thrills - Nothing Changes Around Here (2007)

 

I have a vague memory of hearing The Thrills quite a bit when they first came about in the early 21st century. I think they would get played on a jukebox at an establishment I regularly went to by default when nobody else was selecting anything, or maybe it was a jukebox advert.

Then one of my flatmates told me about a new band called The Thrills that he liked. He played their album and some of the music started to ring bells. They never really made much impact on the charts though getting no higher than 17.

In 2007 it had been 3 years since we'd last seen them in the Top 40 and they were back with "Nothing Changes Around Here" which was their final Top 40 hit to date.

In terms of their music nothing really did change. It was taken from their album "Teenager" and after that flopped too they were dropped from their record label.

UK Number 40s: New Young Pony Club - Ice Cream (2007)

 

Around 2013/2014 time I went to see Fenech Soler at Shepherds Bush Empire. This was a group with no chart success but big enough to play a 2000 capacity venue in London. I would also speculate I may not have heard of them had I not made the effort to find them.

At the gig I bumped into someone I knew and they were there to see the support act New Young Pony Club. I had no idea who they were but I was about to find out. I didn't know anything they played until they finished off their set with this record. That was the one and only record of theirs I did know.

It raised the question why were they supporting Fenech Soler and not the other way round. It turns out that this was their only record which only made number 40 and was several years old by this point.

What I'm not sure about is whether I knew this record properly or I was only familiar with it after it appeared on an advert.

20 Years Since....Q1 2005

Here's the tunes I was enjoying 20 years ago:

Roni Size ft Beverley Knight - No More

It had been 4 years since Roni Size had been in the Top 40 and this would be his final Top 40 hit to date. It's also just about the last decent drum & bass record to make the Top 40, we'd be introduced to Pendulum later on in the year not to mention the more modern rubbish we've had in the Top 40 since.

Eminem - Like Toy Soldiers

We were just about still in a era when I took sides when rappers had beef with each other. In the Ja Rule vs 50 Cent one I was very much team Ja Rule and given this record disses Ja Rule I shouldn't have liked it.

However all that was overruled by the music itself. This is a very dark record just the way I like my rap music. 

Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz - Roll Call / What U Gonna Do

I was really into Lil Jon at the time. It was simple but effective, he wasn't really much of a rapper and the lyrics were generally a repetition of the same thing. I liked the aggressive tone though.

Trick Daddy ft Twista & Lil Jon - Lets Go

It's Lil Jon again, I told you I was really into him at the time. This one is more of a rap and rock crossover record and again I love the aggression of the record.

Snoop Dogg ft Pharrell - Lets Get Blown

This was pretty much Snoop Dogg makes an R&B record the Snoop Dogg way. It was his 3rd Top 40 hit to feature Pharrell and as you'd expect it was produced by The Neptunes. I was listening to his "R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece" album on which this appeared a lot at the time.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 14

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:

No new entries between 21-30 this week.

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 16/30, or 53%. A great 21-30 has more than doubled the 1-20 score.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 14

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

Vangelis - Conquest Of Paradise

Vangelis is a name many will be familiar with and best known in the UK at least for doing "Chariots Of Fire". That was his only UK Top 40 hit as a solo artists, though he also had hits as a member of Aphrodite's Child and Jon & Vangelis. In Holland though this was his biggest hit which topped the charts.

Cappella - Don't Be Proud

Italian Eurodance act was a name I wouldn't expect to find on this list. In the UK they had 5 Top 40 hits from their "U Got 2 Know" album but not with this particular single. However at the same time Gianfranco Bortolotti, the main man behind Cappella, had a Top 40 hit in the UK with "Express Your Freedom" as part of Anticappella.

EZK - Oh Diana

I can't find any information about this record other than the fact it exists. It was the only Dutch Top 40 hit for this act. It's a reggae record, where it's from is anyone's guess.

2 Brothers on the 4th Floor - Fly Through The Starry Night

Here we have yet another Eurodance act who never had a UK Top 40 hit. 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor were funnily enough 2 brothers, Martin and Bobby Boer and they had a male rapper and female singer fronting the act. They had a string of hits in Holland in the 90s including a chart topper in 1994. There is a UK happy hardcore take on this record simply called "Starry Night" by Hixxy.

2002: The Good Old Days? - May 2002

One thing I remember saying in the summer of 2003 was that the charts were better when we had lots of UK garage in it. Well here in May 2002 we find ourselves at the tail end of the UK garage era so was I right?

One thing to consider is the demise of garage came as a result of the MCs taking over so the latter part of the UK garage era may not be so good. However in May 2003 we had 3 UK garage records and all 3 were good. 

DJ Luck & MC Neat were there at the start of the UK garage explosion at the end of 1999 so it's fitting they have the final record of the era with "Irie". Kristine Blond had her lesser known hit with "You Make Me Go Ooh" which someone on YouTube nicely describes as a cheesy source but great work by DnD. Then there was the Heartless Crew with their self titled theme who were one of the better crews.

The best record was one of the final techno records to make the Top 40 which was "La La Land" by Green Velvet. We also had the only Top 40 hit from Tiga with "Sunglasses At Night". Both are people I've gone to see play before.

We do appear to be going back to a more credible period for dance music in general. We have some proper trance music from Push with "Tranzy State Of Mind" and Cosmic Gate with "Exploration Of Space". Then proving that not all vocal trance is bad is 4 Strings with "Take Me Away Into The Night".

Vocals do however mean that Timo Maas only gets half points for "Shifter", a great tune music wise but the vocals stop me from truly liking it. All the dance record this month which I don't like are quite vocal heavy.

Just the one rap record which is "What's Luv" by Fat Joe, a decent if overplayed record. As an R&B fan in 2002 I'm surprised to see how few of the R&B records from the year so far that I actually like. The only one this month is "Rock The Boat" by Aaliyah. Interesting how I was more into rap and R&B at the time but dance music contributes most of the points.

All that remains is the worst record. S Club 7 were music for kids and terrible in my opinion but then someone had the idea of creating the S Club Juniors, music for kids sung by kids. This month saw their debut single "One Step Close" chart. I remember Noel Gallagher giving his opinion on them and he talked about when they become adults and start working at Burger King. If only that's what happened, instead one of them presents what could be a decent music quiz badly along with her husband and makes it unwatchable.

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: 27%

Here's a look at the chart:

Well UK garage has made a difference giving us the best score of 2002 so far. We need improvement if we're to call 2002 the good old days though.

UK Number 40s: LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum (2007)

 

I was still listening to some new music around this period but I had no idea whether any of it was commercially successful or not. Most of it wasn't, but one that was perhaps more popular than I realised was LCD Soundsystem.

When they decided to call it a day in 2011 they were big enough to play their final gig at Madison Square Garden. From a Top 40 perspective though they just had a number 29 and a number 40 to their name.

Their debut was "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" which was from their self titled debut album. This one came from their second album "Sound Of Silver". The performance of this record at their farewell gig had Arcade Fire on stage doing backing vocals.

Despite this being just one of two Top 40 hits though, when I went to see them on their comeback tour they never played this. It was a shame really because it sounds much better live than the studio version.