2001: The Good Old Days? - February

It was February 2001 when Ash came back with "Shining Light" and predicted that 2001 would be the year of rock music. Taking that statement to mean guitar music it certainly didn't become the prominent genre like it would in the mid-00s but then we're yet to see how it compares to what came immediately before.

There was however a song from U2 which I considered to be good enough to buy the single which was "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of". It was one that just flowed. At the time much was made about U2 being old, more complimentary about how a band so old could still be relevant. Now I'm older than any of the U2 members were at the time.

Sticking with the guitar music and bands from Ireland we have "Snow" by JJ72, not a household name and this was their highest charting single that made number 21 but they were pretty good.

I predicted it would be the year of hard house, but this was the last month we had more that one hard house new entry in a given month. There were 2, "Blood Is Pumpin'" by Voodoo & Serano which gets full marks and "We Will Survive" by Warp Brothers which gets half.

There were also 2 UK garage records this month, "Boom Selection" by Genius Cru which I like despite it being MC driven. It's on a Timmy Magic tape I used to listen to a lot at the end of side 1. At the end of side 2 on that tape is "My Desire" by Amira which is the other UK garage new entry this month and I like this one too.

Trance music wise we have "Played A Live (The Bongo Song)" by Safri Duo which is a good instrumental number. There's "Chasing the Sun" by Planet Funk which is better known for it's association with darts these days that has some vocals but not enough to ruin it. The remaining trance records are ruined by vocals including "Synaesthesia (Fly Away)" by Thrillseekers featuring Heather Deane which started life a a decent instrumental.

The best record though is "The Next Episode" by Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg. It's been played to death now but I remember how much I liked this record at the time. Nate Dogg is an uncredited vocalist on that record but he is credited on another record this month which is "Oh No" alongside Mos Def and Pharoahe Monch which I also like.

R&B singer Joe had perhaps his best known record of the 21st century "Stutter" and I own the album on which it appears. Mya had her first solo record "Case of the Ex" which has a great backing track. Not seen keen on efforts by Usher and Debelah Morgan which sound more pop.

Onto the worst record and that goes to Atomic Kitten. This was their last chance saloon, had this flopped they would have been finished and even though Kerry Katona left the group at the time of this single she may have not had the opportunity to become famous for the sake of being famous. Unfortunately it topped the charts.

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: 41%

Here's a look at the chart:

This means at least half the months of 2001 score over 30%, only one month after Jan 2002 manages this. It's looking like we've found the good old days.

UK Number 40s: Timbaland ft Pitbull - Pass At Me (2011)

 

In the 90s Timbaland was seen by many as one of the best rap and R&B producers. At the same time some critics would say that's exactly what Timbaland would be sticking to instead of rapping on records as well.

Despite this he managed to carve out a pretty successful career as an artist in the 21st century, though he would always have other artists feature and never had a Top 40 hit by himself. That career as an artist ended from a Top 40 perspective with this record.

In the modern era collaborations have become the norm for popular music and in 2011 it was even more of a trend than it is now. Pitbull was seemingly the go to man to collaborate with. He'd clocked up 12 Top 40 hits in a little over 2 years at this point. This record was his 2nd number 40 and he'd also got 2 number ones to his name at the time.

The record was notable for it's production from David Guetta but despite this and the fact he appears in the video he is not credited as an artist.

UK Number 40s: Nicola Roberts - Lucky Day (2011)

 

The question many of you will be asking on reading this post is: Nicola Roberts had a solo career?

When Girls Aloud went on hiatus it was well documented that Cheryl had a solo career but you'd hear nothing about the other members in that respect. In fact all Girls Aloud members except Sarah had Top 40 hits under their own name outside of Girls Aloud.

Nicola Roberts had the second most prolific of all the members with 2 Top 40 hits to her name. Her solo debut "Beat of My Drum" made number 27 in the summer of 2011 and then came this her 2nd and final Top 40 hit to date.

The record was written by Dragonette who'd hit the charts earlier on in 2011 with "Hello" alongside Martin Solveig. On hearing the record you can sort of tell, from the intro anyway. This was pretty much it for her solo career, but the Girls Aloud reunions keeps her active in the music scene.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 28

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:

29. Celine Dion - Treat Her Like A Lady

What the fuck has happened here? I wasn't expecting a Celine Dion record to sound like this, a reggae style record. It was originally by Diana King and features Diana King herself. She's obviously trying to give herself a bit of credibility here, but it just sounds ridiculous.

Verdict - Rubbish

22. Sporty Thievz - No Pigeons

This was a parody of "No Scrubs" by TLC which was a big hit from around this time. I vaguely remember it at the time and was ready to write it of as comedy nonsense. Now I'm listening to it I'm thinking great response record.

Verdict - Good

21. Gomez - Bring It On

I remember seeing posters for Gomez when I was at university without knowing who they were. When I did finally hear them I realised that I had heard their music before. It never really had much impact on me though and still doesn't/

Verdict - Rubbish

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 11/30, or 37%. That's quite a drop.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 28

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

Palemiger Spatzen - Harmonika Power

We're over half way through the year and there's been a countless number of cheesy records featured so far. I had the feeling this would be a cheesy one and I was right. However I wasn't prepared for a record quite like this. It's a largely instrumental polka record played by men with dodgy haircuts. I'm lost for words.

Mango Kings - Under Di Mangotree

Another record you know is going to be cheesy before you hear it. This time it's by a Swedish act and this was their only Dutch Top 40 hit. It's a reggae pop record and arguably the cheesiest reggae pop record to ever exist which is saying something.

January Charts: 1966

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Chris Farlowe - Think

2. Len Barry - Like A Baby

3. Toys - Attack

4. Fontella Bass - Recovery

5. Mindbenders - Groovy Kind Of Love

6. Bob Dylan - Can You Please Crawl Out Of Your Window

7. Roy Orbison - Breakin' Up Is Breakin' My Heart

8. Crispian St Peters - You Were On My Mind

9. Pinkerton's Assorted Colours - Mirror Mirror

10. Swinging Blue Jeans - Don't Make Me Over

11. Merseybeats - I Stand Accused

12. Dusty Springfield - Little By Little

13. David And Jonathan - Michelle

14. Overlanders - Michelle

15. St Louis Union - Girl

16. Second City Sound - Tchaikovsky One

17. Tom Jones - Thunderball

18. Vince Hill - Take Me To Your Heart Again

19. Sandie Shaw - Tomorrow

20. Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

21. Cilla Black - Love's Just A Broken Heart

22. Barbra Streisand - Second Hand Rose

23. The Bachelors - Hello, Dolly!

One of the problems with the charts from around this time was that we'd get covers of Beatles records as opposed to the actual Beatles record. In this batch we have 2 acts covering "Michelle" and another covering "Girl". None of them are bad covers but at the same time they're not as good as the originals.

Mersey beat bands the Merseybeats and the Swinging Blue Jeans are just about hanging in there with their respective final hits. Both have left their mersey beat routes behind to make blue-eyed soul records which appears to be the popular sound from around this time.

The Beatles had released "Rubber Soul" at the end of 1965 which whilst not strictly a blue-eyed soul record itself, it drew inspiration from soul artists which in turn inspired this blue-eyed soul trend.

The best record in this batch is a blue-eyed soul record with Chris Farlow making his chart debut with the Jagger/Richards composed "Think". My number 2 record is also a blue-eyed soul and was the 2nd and final Top 40 hit for Len Barry.

We have some authentic soul in 3rd and 4th place with Fontella Bass and The Toys having their respective 2nd and final hits. Then it's back to blue-eyed soul in 5th place with the Mindbenders making their Top 40 debut without Wayne Fontana.

Down the bottom we have The Bachelors with the worst record I've heard of theirs. Not only were they old fashioned for the time but they're doing a song from a musical. Speaking of musicals we have Barbra Streisand making her debut and is the 2nd worst record.

Another notable name making their chart debut was Nancy Sinatra with "These Boots Are Made For Walkin" which is a record I've always found irritating. There's also the debut of Vince Hill with "Take Me To Your Heart Again" which would have fitted in better with the charts 10 years prior. Not irritating, just boring.

Overall I do like the bulk of the records but the problem is none of them are outstanding. None score more than 3 but we do have zeros at the bottom.

Score: 43

2001: The Good Old Days? - March

Going through this latest batch of records does make it feel like we've gone back to the good old days. I've never been much of a buyer of singles but I count 7 records this month that I did buy the single for. Then there's those I have the album on which they appear and further ones that appear on mixtapes and compilations I own.

Picking the best record was a tough choice but I've gone with Artful Dodger with "Think About Me". I already owned their "It's All About the Stragglers" album by this point. This was the opening track and stood out to me as being particularly good.

In fact every garage record this month gets full marks and theirs a few of them. Fellow garage heavyweights DJ Luck & MC Neat had "Piano Loco", BM Dubs present Mr Rumble had "Whoomp There It Is" which I had on a few tapes by this point, Blackout had "Mr DJ" and Mark Ryder had "Joy".

"Set You Free" singer Kelly Llorenna was back from the wilderness by singing on "True Love Never Dies" by Flip & Fill, a record I liked enough to buy on vinyl and came before both artists started making some of the shittest dance music ever made.

I predicted in early 2001 that this would be the year UK garage would give way to hard house as the big dance genre of the moment. In reality hard house never had a big impact on the charts and this was really the latter stages of that era. This month we had "Wack Ass MF" by Rhythmkillaz, not the last hard house record to make the Top 40 but was the last particularly good one.

At the same time I was getting more and more intro rap music which is evident by all the rap records this month getting full marks and me owning on CD one way or another. There was the D12 debut "Shit On You" which I always intended to buy the album of once release. There was "X" by Xzibit where the opening line "The first day of the rest of my life" takes me back to a time when I thought I was going to rule the world. I bought the "Ms Jackson" single by Outkast when visiting Stirling. Finally we have "Danger (Been So Long)" by Mystikal and "Between Me & You" , both records by gravelly voiced rappers featuring female singers who would have solo careers of their own and be a bit rubbish.

R&B wasn't really part of my music taste at the time but we have some decent records in "The Storm Is Over Now" by R Kelly, "Could It Be" by Jahiem and "I'm Like A Bird" by Nelly Furtado. All feature on albums that I own.

However the worst record is an R&B one that I own on and R&B compilation. It's "He Loves U Not" by Dream which is basically a pop record disguised as R&B and has no place on the compilation really. Needless to say I always skipped this track whilst listening.

A mention has to go to "Push It All Aside" which was the final Top 40 hit from Alisha's Attic. This was the latter stage of me being a big fan but I was a bit underwhelmed by this comeback single. It is however the best track on their final album by some distance. The nostalgia gives it half marks though.

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: 42%

Here's a look at the chart:

Just before I added up the score I thought this was a certainty to be the best month so far but it just falls short of May. There were however more new entries overall this month so it does beat it in terms of actual numbers.

UK Number 40s: Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse - Body and Soul

 

One thing that I've learned over the last few years is that you never truly know when someone's Top 40 career is over. Many chart acts reach a point where they continue to make music for many years after they were last in the Top 40, but the occasional one finds themselves back in the Top 40 for some reason or another.

Tony Bennett was releasing music before the UK singles chart started in 1952. He made his chart debut in 1955 with the chart topping "Stranger in Paradise". His music would have been considered old hat by the time rock n roll came about in the late 50s and even more so when the Beatles broke through, but he still managed have a few hits in the lower reaches of the Top 40 up until 1965. By the end of the 60s one would have thought we'd never see Tony Bennett in the Top 40 again.

However in 2011 he was back in the Top 40 for the first time in 46 years. He had continued to release numerous albums in in the 21st century he started making collaborative albums. The one he released in 2011 was "Duets II" which contained this track with Amy Winehouse. It was the last recording Amy Winehouse made prior to her death in the summer of 2011 and was released as a single on what would have been her 28th birthday.

Amy Winehouse had a surprisingly brief Top 40 career in her lifetime. None of the singles from her debut album in 2003 made the Top 40 and she didn't make her Top 40 debut until 2006 with "Rehab". A year later she had her final Top 40 hit in her lifetime with "Valerie". These were the only 2 Top 10 singles she had.

UK Number 40s: Jedward - Lipstick

 

I've never watched an episode of The X Factor but to my knowledge it follows a simple format. First a contestant will sing to the judges who then decide if their singing is good enough to go through to the next round. After a handful of contestants make it through it's then up to the public to vote for their favourites.

One would think you would need to be a good singer to succeed, but Jedward proved that was not the case. They are amongst the best known X Factor contestants because they were supposedly a bit rubbish. They were on the 2009 series, though they didn't win it.

At the start of 2010 they hooked up with Vanilla Ice to do a cover of "Ice Ice Baby" which got to number two in the charts. Then in 2011 came this, their only other Top 40 hit.

In the 90s when Ireland were winning Eurovision regularly, the comedy show Father Ted did an episode where Ireland picked the worst song to represent them at the Eurovision Song Contest so ensure they wouldn't win and therefore wouldn't need to spend the money on hosting it.

This is presumably the mentality Ireland had in 2011 because they picked it to represent them that year. It didn't win, but finished 8th which isn't a bad result really. They were also picked for the 2012 entry with "Waterline" by that never made the UK Top 40.

The number 40 placing of this record means it's the only Ireland Eurovision entry to make the UK Top 40 in the 21st century so far.

20 Years Since....Q2 2005

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

Nelly ft Tim Mcgraw - Over and Over

Tim Mcgraw was just about the biggest country singer in America around this time but was relatively unknown in the UK until this collaboration with Nelly. 

This came from Nelly's "Suit" album so was more of an R&B/country crossover rather than rap/country crossover. I recall after the success of this record Tim Mcgraw tried to crack the UK market with a song about sky diving and rocky mountain climbing but it never really worked.

Twista - Hope

I owned the Twista album by the time this came out as a single. I know this because the single version had Faith Evans on it but the album version doesn't. I prefer the album version, it's one of the highlights of the album really.

Snoop Dogg ft Charlie Wilson & Justin Timberlake - Signs

One of my interests outside music is tennis and after driving to Wimbledon listening to Snoop Dogg's "Tha Last Meal" in 2001 I made it a bit of a tradition to listen to that album when driving to Wimbledon.

I therefore found it amusing that 4 years later Snoop Dogg comes out with a record that mentions Venus and Serena at the Wimbledon arena.

Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz - Get Low / Lovers & Friends

"Get Low" was pretty much the best known Lil Jon record that was a couple of years old by this point. "Lovers & Friends" sees Lil Jon reunite with Usher and Ludacris following the success of "Yeah". As mentioned previously I was a big fan of Lil Jon around this time.

Nelly - N Dey Say

It had all been done before, PM Dawn had their biggest hit with a "True" by Spandau Ballet sampled record. It worked really well though so there's no reason why Nelly having a crack at it wouldn't work either.

It did work, though more of an R&B record really and was taken from his "Suit" album.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 27

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. 2Pac - Dear Mama

This was Top 40 hit number 12 for 2Pac and his 10th posthumous Top 40 hit. It was originally on his 1995 album "Me Against The World" so had been well known for some time by the time it reached the Top 40. Like many 2Pac record, I like it. 

Verdict - Good

26. Dixie Chicks - There's Your Trouble

The Dixie Chicks are one of those American country groups I'm aware of without knowing any of their music. I assumed they had no UK Top 40 hits, but they managed one. It's just as crap as I expected it to be

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 16/30, or 53%. We stay above 50%.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 27

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

Skibby ft King Lover - Feel My Riddim

This was the only Dutch Top 40 hit for Skibby as an artist. The 2 people behind Skibby though were 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor and this was a side project. It's a ragga influenced Eurodance record that's made to the tune of "I Will Follow Him". Vocalist King Lover would return to the Dutch Top 40 in 1997 providing vocals for a T-Spoon record.

Adiemus - Adiemus

Here we have a British record that made the Dutch Top 40 but failed to make the UK Top 40. It may however still ring a bell due to its use on an advert. It's what's known as worldbeat music which did have a degree of popularity in the UK around the mid-90s but this somehow failed to make the cut.

Bert Heerlink - Julie July

This record may also ring a bell if you're from the UK. It's essentially a cover of "Brother Louie" by Hot Chocolate but sung in Dutch. Bert Heerlink is a Dutch actor and this was his only Dutch Top 40 hit. He was however a part of Dutch rock band Vandenberg at one point.

2001: The Good Old Days? - April

It was April 2001 when MTV Dance was first launched so clearly dance music was considered to be big enough to have it's own channel. There were also more dance new entries in April than any other genre.

It's a dance record that is the best record this month which is "Happiness" by Sound De-Zign. It samples "Let the Beat Hit Em" by Shena which itself is a particularly good record.

There were 2 UK Garage new entries this month and both were lesser known follow ups to big hits. They were "Garage Girls" by Lonyo and "Show Me the Money" by Architechs. Both are decent records.

We have "Gonna Work It Out" by Hi-Gate which I associate with the launch of MTV Dance in a positive way. Orbital showed they hadn't lost their way in the 21st century with "Funny Break (One Is Enough)" which was a solid record.

From the world of rap and R&B it's not looking so good. The only record to get any points is "Snoop Dogg" by Snoop Dogg and even that is one of my least favourite tracks from his excellent "Tha Last Meal" album.

Rap gives us the worst record which is "Get UR Freak On" by Missy Elliott which I find a really irritating record. One thing I remember at the time was Trevor Nelson praising her talent of being able to both sing and rap well but I personally don't think she's any good at either.

There is however a rock record with rapping on it that I like which is "Butterfly" by Crazy Town.

The Bee Gees had their final Top 40 hit with "This Is Where I Came In". Normally a band who has been around for that long will be long past their best by this stage but I would say this record is amongst their best and a great one to round off their Top 40 career with.

Ocean Colour Scene were past their 90s heyday by this point but continued to have hits well into the 21st century. Their record this month was "Up On The Down" side which is a decent effort.

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:

Again we are seeing that 2001 is looking better than the years that followed but not enough high scores to consider it to be the good old days. If the remaining 3 months have 40%+ scores it would be a different story.

January Charts: 1965

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Manfred Mann - Come Tomorrow

2. The Kinks - Tired Of Waiting For You

3. Them - Baby Please Don't Go

4. The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

5. Del Shannon - Keep Searchin'

6. Rockin' Berries - What In The World's Come Over You

7. The Supremes - Come See About Me

8. Betty Everett - Getting Mighty Crowded

9. Val Doonican - The Special Years

10. The Hollies - Yes I Will

11. Chuck Berry - Promised Land

12. Francoise Hardy - Et Meme

13. Dodie West - Goin' Out Of My Head

14. The Beach Boys - Dance Dance Dance

15. Billy Fury - I'm Lost Without You

16. Seekers - I'll Never Find Another You

17. Shangri-Las - Leader Of The Pack

18. Brian Poole And The Tremeloes - Three Bells

19. The Dave Clark Five - Everybody Knows

20. Sue Thompson - Paper Tiger

21. Cheetahs - Soldier Boy

22. Cilla Black - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

If January 1964 was the month we could see how popular mersey beat was, January 1965 is the month we can see it going out of fashion. The Beatles had released the "Beatles For Sale" album at the end of 1964 which was a move away from that sound towards something Bod Dylan influenced.

Although they famously covered Bob Dylan records, my number one record "Come Tomorrow" by Manfred Mann isn't Bob Dylan influenced but does follow the trend of music getting mellow.

The same could be said of my number 2 record "Tired Of Waiting For You" by The Kinks which was a move away from the garage rock sound they broke through with the previous year.

Them on the other hand bucked that trend and gave us a blues rock record "Baby Please Don't Go" which had a harder edge to it than the British rhythm and blues sound that had been popular previously.

We're back to having different versions of the same song. This time it's "You've Lost That Lovin Feelin". The Righteous Brothers version is one I've loved since the 1990 rerelease. The Cilla Black version on the other hand is terrible and finds itself bottom of the table.

Liverpool singer Billy Fury has moved away from the mersey beat sound and onto a ballad. Again though it's relatively low placing is more a sign of the competition as I actually quite like it.

In terms of Bob Dylan influence we have Chuck Berry having his final Top 40 hit of the 60s which whilst being typical Chuck Berry style it's based on a folk record. We also have the more pop folk sound of The Seekers making their debut with "I'll Never Find Another You". Brian Poole and the Tremeloes went down the same route as The Beatles with the folk style "Three Bells" but this doesn't quite deliver. It is however slightly better than "Everybody Knows" by The Dave Clark Five who are yet to move with the times.

We're also seeing the emergence of soul music with The Supremes scoring their 3rd Top 40 hit with "Come See About Me" which is the best of that bunch, followed by "Getting Mighty Crowded" by Betty Everett. 

No The Bachelors this month but there is another easy listening Irish act in this batch, Val Doonican. Here he is showing that old fashioned for the time doesn't always mean bad as I quite like "The Special Years".

Overall I do like the majority of the records in this batch and as a result we have a new highest score so far.

Score: 55

UK Number 40s: T-Pain ft Chris Brown - Best Love Song (2011)

 

Both Chris Brown and T-Pain made their Top 40 debuts in 2006. This was Top 40 hit number 8 for T-Pain and number 14 for Chris Brown. For the first time in doing these posts though I don't really want to mention how many Top 40 hits either act has had as they've probably had more by the time you read this.

T-Pain has been a lot more low key since this collaboration, but Chris Brown has been quite prolific. He had at least one Top 40 hit every year between 2006 and 2020, nobody else could claim the same thing. Included in that was a couple of chart toppers.

What I will say is Chris Brown has probably had more Top 40 hits than you think so inevitably some of them will end up in the lower reaches.

UK Number 40s: Tinie Tempah ft Labrinth - We Bring the stars Out (2011)

 

One of the big success stories of 2010 from a chart perspective was Tinie Tempah. He topped the charts with his Top 40 debut "Passout" and also scored a number one with his 3rd Top 40 hit "Written In the Stars".

At the Brit Awards in 2011 he performed both chart toppers together and this became known as "We Bring The Stars Out". Something quite ironic about combining two charter toppers together and getting a number 40 out of it.

The fact something like this could make the Top 40 said a lot about his popularity at the time. He would go on to have greater charts success clocking up a total of 7 number one hits.

25 Years Since....June 2000

In June 2000 it was announced that TFI Friday was being axed. As a fan of the show I thought it was a good decision at the time because it was a 90s show and time for something new. Nothing new of note really happened though, anyway to the music:

DJ Dee Kline - I Don't Smoke

We start with a common theme amongst these tunes that charted in 2000, a tune that's from 1999. It's a garage record but from the sub genre of garage known as breakstep. I guess this was a way of making garage appeal to those who were into breakbeat. 

Trevor & Simon - Hands Up

Some people probably bought this record thinking it would be by the comedy duo who used to appear on Going Live. It wasn't though, it was a DJ duo whose names are Trevor and Simon and this was their only Top 40 hit. Again it's a 1999 record that didn't chart until 2000.

B-15 Project ft Chrissy D - Girls Like Us

UK garage was very much seen as a London thing but not all the records were coming out of London. This is one of those examples which comes from Birmingham with B15 being the postcode they hail from. Appeared on quite a few garage tapes.

Ariel - A9

Ariel is an Argentinian DJ who at the time was based in Ibiza and was a well known name on the DJ circuit. This was his only Top 40 hit which is a simple no nonsense trance record with no vocals.

Moby - Porcelain

It had been nearly 2 years since Moby released "Honey" which was the lead single from his "Play" album. This was the final single from it and he really has saved the best for last here. It was also his highest charting single despite many people including myself owning the album which had topped the albums chart earlier on in the year.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 26

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. Blank And Jones - Cream

Yet another German trance record in the Top 40. One may think that Jones is said persons surname and Blank is just a nickname, but it's the opposite. Blank and Jones were Jan Blank & Rene Runge. I have to say though I do like the 1999 trance sound.

Verdict - Good

23. Marilyn Manson - Rock Is Dead

You can't really argue with Marilyn Manson here, rock really was pretty much dead around this time. It was an era one was more likely to buy turntables than a guitar. It didn't stop Marilyn Manson from having hits with what seemed like the same record every time.

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 16/30, or 53%. We're back above 50%.

From Rocker to Raver

When I was at school in 1994 you were either a grunger or a raver. It was strictly forbidden to like both. At the beginning of the year I was very much in the grunge camp but by the end of the year I made the controversial move to the rave camp. Sounds silly now but at the time it was serious and I did lose friends as a result.

In the late 80s when I was first into music I just liked music in general. Genres didn't really exist to me, it was all just pop music. I would however state a preference for what I'd call "shouting songs" that would typically be sung by men with long hair.

The early signs suggested I'd grow up moshing to guitars but instead I ended up dancing to beats. Except as much as I liked the guitar it wasn't the main attraction of the music. What appealed to me more was the hard edge and aggression of the music. 

By the time many of the other kids at school had properly got into music I was a Guns N Roses fan. Although not a grunge band, the fact they were a rock band put me into the grunge camp. Being a grunger meant it was compulsory to listen to Nirvana. They weren't bad but I certainly pretended to be into them more than I was.

It was also cool to like heavier bands such as Metallica and Megadeth though both had somewhat softened up come the early 90s. Then even heavier bands like Pantera and Sepultura came into the mix. Then suddenly none of that was cool anymore. It had to be grunge or alternative rock (though I don't ever remember hearing the term "alternative" at the time.

By 1994 there were 2 trains of thought. Firstly the ever changing rules made it quite difficult to keep up with what was or wasn't acceptable. I took some flack for still listening to Metallica when I wasn't supposed to for example. Secondly the main criticism of Metallica was that they were too old, but all this music was essentially an evolution of even older bands from the 60s and 70s such as Led Zeppelin. 

Rave on the other hand felt new and exciting but also had that hard edge to it that's always appealed to me in music.

At the time it did feel like I was going from one extreme to another. Now I look back though it wasn't until the whole grunger/raver thing came in that rave music didn't figure at all in my music tastes. The difference was that rave had evolved into something that didn't really exist in years gone by.

If we go back to the start of 1988 when I got my first Now album, "Now 11" I loved "That Jack That House Built" by Jack N Chill, on "Now 12" there was "Theme From S'Express" by S'Express and on "Now 13" there was "Big Fun" by Inner City.

In 1989 I used to sing "Ride On Time" by Black Box in the school playground all the time, a fact some other kids never let me forget years later. I can remember being blown away by "Voodoo Ray" by A Guy Called Gerald.

Then in 1990 I have clear memories of Guru Josh appearing on Top of the Pops with "Infinity" that spoke words to me even though it was an instrumental. I can remember the confusion of an act called The Adventures Of Stevie V appearing but it was a woman singing, or finding out that bloke I thought was Adamski was actually Seal, but was loving the music.

In 1991 I was really into KLF to the point that 12 years later a bloke came up to me in the pub and told me he remembered me as that kid who used to sing KLF and Queen all the time.

Then in 1992 I remember hearing The Prodigy's "Experience" album for the first time without knowing that's what I was listening to and I remember thinking this is the future. My favourite tune of the moment was "Fire" by The Prodigy.

It was only 1993 when you were either a grunger or raver that rave never really came on my radar. On that basis it wasn't the extreme move that it seemed.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 26

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

De Sjonnies - Dans Je De Hele Nacht Met Mij

Discogs describes De Sjonnies as a Dutch party ensemble. The band themselves were a fictional Dutch family. This was their Dutch Top 40 debut and biggest hit with a not so successful follow up record the following year. Very much sounds like a novelty record.

Wolter Kroes - Laat Me Los

I just knew this was going to be a ballad before I played it. It was the Dutch Top 40 debut for Dutch singer Wolter Kroes. It was also the only Dutch Top 40 hit he had in the 90s but he was back in the 21st century and topped the charts in 2008.

2001: The Good Old Days? - May

One thing I'm able to pin point when looking at the list of new entries in May 2001 is the last time I bought tapes. It was the hard house and trance tape pack from Slammin Vinyl in February 2001.  I would have obviously been after the rave had happened but it was before May.

The reason I know this is related to the best record this month which is "Strange World" by Push. It was the opening track to the Mark EG set and I was already the owner of this tape by the time this record made the charts.

That Slammin Vinyl event was the last time they had a UK garage arena. We had 4 garage new entries this month. There were 2 which get full marks which are "Coming Home" by K Warren ft Lee O and "Back Up (To Me)" by Wookie ft Lain. I don't mind "Shine On" by Scott & Leon but can't help but compare to the much better original. Finally we have "Up Middle Finger" by Oxide & Neutrino, a record that contributed to the demise of garage.

The majority of dance records this month were decent, another example of these being "Star 69" by Fatboy Slim. However the worst record this month is a dance record which is "Say It" by Maria Rubia. She had previously provided vocals for Fragma but this was a solo effort that was really cheesy and crap.

Rap wise we have the Black Eyed Peas when they were good, Spooks with their lesser know record "Karma Hotel", MOP with "Cold As Ice" and Jason Downs featuring Milk with "White Boy With A Feather" which all get full marks. 

R&B wise one of my all time favourite acts K-Ci & JoJo had their final Top 40 hit to date with "Crazy". We also have a decent effort from Joe with "I Wanna Know". Not so keen on "Don't Talk" by Jon B.

Shed Seven had what was possible the best record they've ever made with "Cry For Help". We were in the brief period where the Divine Comedy went for more of an indie image with "Bad Ambassador" which is actually pretty good.

Overall this has felt like the best batch of records I've listened to since I started the original 2005 series. All will be revealed soon in the score.

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: 43%

Here's a look at the chart:

This sort of score would imply 2001 were the good old days. We'll need to see how the remaining 4 months go to be sure.

January Charts: 1964

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Ronettes - Baby I Love You

2. Manfred Mann - 5-4-3-2-1

3. Merseybeats - I Think Of You

4. Paramounts - Poison Ivy

5. The Searchers - Needles And Pins

6. Gerry And The Pacemakers - I'm The One

7. Dave Berry - My Baby Left Me

8. Dowlands - All My Loving

9. Billy Fury - Do You Really Love Me Too?

10. Tony Meehan - Song Of Mexico

11. Nino Tempo And April Stevens - Whispering

12. Frank Ifield - Don't Blame Me

13. The Bachelors - Diane

14. Brenda Lee - As Usual

15. Helen Shapiro - Fever

16. Shirley Bassey - My Special Dream

No Beatles in this batch but their presence can be felt. We have fellow Liverpudlian bands The Searchers and Gerry & the Pacemakers with chart topping hits "Needles And Pins" and "I'm The One" respectively. There's also the biggest hit for the Merseybeats which I think is the best of the 3 records mainly for the guitar riff.

Liverpudlian singer Billy Fury also has a record that clearly sounds like it was inspired by The Beatles. He had the best record in the 1961 batch but this bottom half finish is more of an indication of how much better the competition was.

Outside of Liverpool we have the chart debut of Manfred Mann with "5-4-3-2-1" which was the theme tune to the TV show Ready Steady Go and also sounds inspired by the mersey beat sound. Another record clearly inspired by the sound was the Beatles cover "All My Loving" by Dowlands which was produced by Joe Meek.

Another band whose presence could be felt was The Rolling Stones. They had their first 2 hits in 1963 which included a Beatles cover and their sound at the time was known as British Rhythm And Blues. Adopting this sound in this batch are Dave Berry with "My Baby Left Me" and The Paramounts with "Poison Ivy".

I've now covered 8 of the 9 best records except the best one which is "Baby I Love You" by The Ronettes. I heard the excellent Ramones cover of this first which perhaps helped me to like the original when I heard it.

At the other end we have Shirley Bassey with "M Special Dream" which I find boring. Just above we have the final hit for Helen Shapiro with "Fever" which came when she was just 17. The Brenda Lee record "As Usual" was also boring/old fashioned, but she did jump on the Beatles bandwagon later on in the year.

The Bachelors and Frank Ifield continue to sound outdated in this era. Nino Tempo & April Stevens did a better version of "Whispering" than The Bachelors who did a version the previous year. Finally there's Tony Meehan with "Song Of Mexico" which was his only solo hit without Jet Harris and is better than I expected it to be.

The fact every record has had a mention shows the small quantity of records this time which hadn't been seen since the charts were a Top 30. Overall I've found this batch to be the most listenable by far and this is reflected in the score.

Score: 50

UK Number 40s: Neon Trees - Animal (2011)

 

By 2011 the popularity of indie music from a chart perspective had declined considerably compared to a few years earlier. The number of indie Top 40 hits for the year was now barely getting into double figures.

Perhaps not the best time to be making your Top 40 debut if you're an indie band then like Neon Trees. At the same time though "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers has an almost permanent residency in the UK charts and this band do sound a lot like The Killers.

This would be their only Top 40 hit though so maybe by this point the only indie record people wanted to still see in the charts was "Mr. Brightside".

UK Number 40s: Glee Cast - Toxic (2011)

 

If I was to ask which music act has taken the shortest amount of time to clock up their first Top 20 hits an obvious answer would be Elvis Presley or Cliff Richard or one of the modern rappers who releases a new tune every week. The answer though as you might have guess is Glee Cast.

This was Top 40 hit number 20 for them and it came just a year after their Top 40 debut. Furthermore it came 7 months after their 19th Top 40 hit, such was the rate they were releasing new singles in the early days.

They weren't done by this record though, a further 10 Top 40 hits would follow with the final one coming in November 2011. All would chart in the lower reaches of the Top 40.

This was a cover of the Britney Spears record.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 25

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. Bjork - All Is Full Of Love

This was Top 40 hit number 14 for Bjork and her final Top 40 hit of the 90s. We've definitely reached the era of Bjork that few people remember. You pretty much know what to except, a record that's haunting, not very catchy but more crucially not very good.

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 13.5/30, or 45%. Bjork preventing us from maintaining last weeks score.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 25

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

DJ BoBo - There Is A Party

We say hello again to DJ BoBo who had a hit in February with "Love Is All Around". This time he's gone for more of a reggae sound instead of Eurodance. Maybe taking notes from 2 Unlimited making a ballad. He'll be back one more time this year.

Clouseau - Passie

Another act we'd previously seen in February. To recap Clouseau were a band from the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. This record topped the Dutch Top 40 and was therefore their biggest hit in Holland. 

Sons Of Ilsa - Pulsingers Nacht

The name may not ring any bells to some people who were listening to rave in 1995. However if I was to say this is the "I'm a raver baby" tune then it likely will ring a bell. It's a gabber record that has vocals to the tune of "Loser" by Beck but with the word "Loser" changed to "Raver". 

TOF - Feel This Groove

The 2nd and final Dutch Top 40 hit for Dutch Eurodance act TOF which stands for The Original Flyguy. This only got to number 34 so is very much the not so successful follow up record which is probably long forgotten now.

January Charts: 1963

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Orlons - Don't Hang Up

2. Del Shannon - Little Town Flirt

3. The Beatles - Please Please Me

4. The Four Seasons - Big Girls Don't Cry

5. Little Eva - Keep Your Hands Off My Baby

6. Mel Torme - Coming Home Baby

7. Tornados - Globetrotter

8. Mike Berry And The Outlaws - Don't You Think It's Time

9. Chris Montez - Some Kinda Fun

10. Tijuana Brass - The Lonely Bull (El Solo Torro)

11. Rick Nelson - It's Up To You

12. Crickets - My Little Girl

13. Jet Harris And Tony Meehan - Diamonds

14. Julie Grant - Up On The Roof

15. Marty Robbins - Ruby Ann

16. Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen - Sukiyaki

17. Brenda Lee - All Alone Am I

18. Mr Acker Bilk - A Taste Of Honey

19. Frank Ifield - Wayward Wind

20. The Bachelors - Charmaine

21. David Thorne - The Alley Cat Song

22. Chucks - Loo-Be-Loo

23. Frankie Vaughan - Loop-De-Loop

24. Mike Sarne - Just For Kicks

25. Vernons Girls - Funny All Over

The Beatles have arrived with their 2nd hit coming out this month. It is however fair to say their chart impact was yet to be felt, their debut "Love Me Do" had been in the charts since October but got no higher than 17 whilst "Please Please Me" had reached a peak of 33 at the end of January but would eventually climb to 2.

There was also no other records in this batch that I would class as being mersey beat. Despite this, The Beatles only manage 3rd in my rankings. For a start I think their sound got better once they'd progressed from the mersey beat sound, but more importantly there are 2 records in this batch that I prefer.

There's the excellent "Don't Hang Up" by the Orlons, a nice uplifting number which is easily the best record I've featured so far though it's not quite good enough to score 5.

Then we have "Little Town Flirt" by Del Shannon, a man who help The Beatles crack America who was mid-way through his UK chart career at this point. 

Like The Beatles, The Four Seasons were onto hit number 2 in this batch with "Big Girls Don't Cry". Both bands were the only 1962 debutants to clock up more than 6 Top 40 hits. This does sound a more forward thinking records and ranks 1 place below The Beatles.

The handful of records that follow are mostly decent records but clearly from a pre-Beatles era. This includes 2 Joe Meek produced records "Globetrotter" by Tornados and "Don't You Think It's Time" by Mike Berry.

Whilst The Beatles were pushing things forwards, fellow newcomers The Bachelors were taking things in the opposite direction. They managed to keep their Top 40 career going until mid-1967 but their records wouldn't of sounded out of place in the 50s.

Below The Bachelors record we have a bunch of novelty records which is what was letting this batch of records down in my opinion. Again I make the point that The Beatles impact was yet to be properly felt and whilst some other acts were taking things in the right direction, others weren't.

The worst of these novelty records was "Funny All Over" by Vernons Girls. It's one of the most irritating records I've ever heard.

We do still get the predicted highest score so far though.

Score: 40

2001: The Good Old Days? - June

In June 2001 I would have more likely described my music taste as dance and rap as opposed to dance, rap and R&B because I had few if any R&B albums in my collection at the time.

The only R&B new entry I like from this month is "Fiesta" by R Kelly which may explain why his "TP-2.com" album was one of the first R&B albums I bought. What I do remember though is making the effort to like artists such as India Arie who made her Top 40 debut this month, but I eventually conceded it was crap.

Rap on the other hand is a different story with all the rap records this month getting full marks. These were "Until the End of Time" by 2Pac, "Lapdance" by Nerd, "So Fresh So Clean" by Outkast and "What's Your Fantasy" by Ludacris. I ended up buying albums by all these artists.

UK garage wise we have the excellent "Do You Really Like It?" by Pied Piper which had been doing the clubs for quite some time by this point. We also had "All I Want" by Mis-Teeq which made me concede I quite like their music. Not so keen on "Ring Ring Ring" by Aaron Soul which sounded a bit like a poor mans Craig David. Then there was "Booo"by Stick & Ms Dynamite which I find irritating.

The best record this month comes from Daft Punk. When it comes to their "Discovery" era people talk about "One More Time" and to an extent "Harder Better Faster Stronger". For me though the best single was the other one "Digital Love" which you never hear played now but that means it's still a pleasure to listen to.

There were several other decent dance records this month, one that deserves a mention is "Muzak" by Trisco which is unlucky not to get best record. Another worth a mention is "10 in 01" by Members of Mayday.

Onto the worst record and that goes to Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil Kim and Mya with "Lady Marmalade". This was played all the time and I got sick of it very quickly, not to mention the fact it's a poor cover.

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: 28%

Here's a look at the chart:

Could have been better but it's still looking like 2001 is better than any year that came after it.

UK Number 40s: Ironik featuring Jessica Lowndes - Falling In Love (2010)

 

Ironik first made a name for himself as DJ Ironik and was one of the British rappers to feature on Channel U with "Stay With Me" which made it's way into the Top 40.

2 years later he was collaborating with a film actress on this record. It would be the only Top 40 hit for Jessica Lowndes and the final Top 40 hit to date for Ironik.

Whilst this was charting Ironik was the victim of a stabbing attack in London. He survived the attack, but his music career appears to have pretty much finished.

UK Number 40s: Iyaz - So Big (2010)

 

At the start of 2010 Iyaz came from nowhere to top the charts with his Top 40 debut "Replay". He then made number 3 with follow up single "Solo". One might have said he was so big at the time, but when he released the record "So Big" it only made number 40.

His sound was described as "Reggae Fusion" which is basically pop music with a reggae sound to it. With this record though it was more electropop with a reggae sound to it. This was the trend at the time and everyone seemed to be making electropop records of some description.

This was more or less it for his Top 40 career. His only other Top 40 hit came the following year as featured artist on "The Mack" with Mann and Snoop Dogg.

Slammin Vinyl - the end?

It was recently announced that after 20 years the Westfest event later on this year will be the last. For the past few years it's been one of just two events Slammin Vinyl puts on with the other being Tranzmission. With no Tranzmission event being announced this year it raises the question: is this the end of Slammin Vinyl?

If so then it really is the end of an era. Even 20 years ago Slammin Vinyl and the events they took over were pretty much the only big raves from the 90s still standing. It's amazing that Westfest alone has lasted so long let alone Slammin Vinyl themselves who started putting events on in 1994. 

No reason has been stated as to why they are stopping. A lot of comments I've read suggest they shot themselves in the foot by making it too focused on drum & bass. I would argue that is likely the main reason they lasted so long. We've seen many genres come and go over the years but drum & bass has just gone from strength to strength in terms of popularity.

In the early 00s Slammin Vinyl would put on most of their events at The Sanctuary in Milton Keynes. I was at some of those events myself. Then in 2004 The Sanctuary closed and Slammin Vinyl put on the last ever event there. I was tempted to go myself but I was no longer into the new music so decided against it.

Later on in 2004 they started putting on events in Shepton Mallet and a year later adopted the name Westfest. I never went to one because it was after my time and as the years went by the number of people I'd never heard of on the flyers would increase.

We're talking about 20 years of rave history here but the question is will there be nostalgia for those 20 years in the same way we have nostalgia for 90s rave nowadays?

If you look at music in general you'll have an artist who is big for a few years, then their popularity declines and they find themselves in the wilderness for a few years until the nostalgia kicks in and they find themselves back in demand.

Then you have bands like the Rolling Stones who have continued to be popular since their 60s heyday. But how many people go to a Rolling Stones concert to hear anything they've made in the last 40 years? Not many I would say, but that accounts for the majority of their existence.

Time will tell if we ever have Westfest type reunions in years to come. 

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 24

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. No Doubt - New

In between their 1997 Top 40 success and their 2002 comeback came a couple of minor hits and this was one of those. Not a bad record, quite upbeat and I can bop along to it but doesn't quite have enough about it to make it a truly great record.

Verdict - OK

27. Mauro Picotto - Lizard (Gonna Get You)

Mauro Picotto was one of those Italian producers who had songwriting credits along with several other Italian producers on a few Top 40 hits. This was his first Top 40 hit as artist and included on the songwriting credits was Gianfranco Bortolotti, a man behind pretty much every Italian dance record of the 90s. It's one of the big trance classics and I like it.

Verdict - Good

26. Blondie - Nothing Is Real But The Girl

This was the follow up to the chart topping Blondie comeback single "Maria". Once again it was Jimmy Destri on songwriting duties. This doesn't hit the same heights as its predecessor, not as catchy I suppose. Not a bad record at the same time though.

Verdict - OK

22. Feeder - Insomnia

This was the 4th Top 40 hit for Feeder and their highest charting to this point. The early days for Feeder were pretty low key from a Top 40 perspective at least. I've always said that Feeder had one good record in "Just A Day" and the rest are dreary. However this one is more similar to "Just A Day" rather than their other hits and as a result it's not bad.

Verdict - OK

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.