It's often said that we look back upon the past with rose tinted specs and conveniently forget the crap but this batch of records really makes me want to go back to 1995.
Some tough competition at the top but the winner is "I Luv U Baby" by The Original. It would fare better in the charts when rereleased in the summer and is one of those almost perfect summer anthems. The video makes me want to go to Ibiza, in 1995 though not today.
Missing out on top spot is Portishead with "Glory Box". It was their Top 40 debut and came from their "Dummy" album which is one of my all time favourites. Then comes Green Day with "Basket Case" if anything for the moment the drums kick in.
Then we have Tricky making his Top 40 debut with "Overcome". The relatively low position of his former group Massive Attack is more to do with the competition, a good record but simply put I'd rather hear Tricky's voice on a record than Tracey Thorn.
R Kelly and Jodeci wouldn't of been so high up if I was compiling this in 1995 but when I went through my R&B phase a few years later they were amongst my favourites and I had nostalgia about their 1995 material.
At a time when guitar music in general was getting softer it's good to see the Almighty and Van Halen not following that trend. The Almighty appeared on Top of the Pops for the first time with "Jonestown Mind", a fact I didn't like because they were one of the more obscure bands I was into but when someone told me it was the crappest shit they'd ever heard it reassured me they weren't going commercial.
Another Top of the Pops performance I remember was "Geordie In Wonderland" by The Wildhearts and I seemed to be alone in liking that record, in part because my fellow rock fans were now rejecting the harder stuff.
I went through a brief phase of being into cricket and can pin point that to this time due to "Saved" by Mr. Roy which was a dance version of "Soul Limbo" which is best known for being the cricket theme music.
I was also into formula one which drew my attention to "Better Days Ahead" by Tyrrel Corporation. It has nothing to do with the Tyrrell formula one team though, it's a little cheesy but an enjoyable record. Similarly I enjoyed the cheesy Eurodance of The Real McCoy with "Run Away".
Some cheesy music I didn't enjoy though was Deuce with "Call It Love". They were basically Steps but before Steps came about and are just plain irritating as as a result finish bottom.
Just above Deuce is Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter with "One Cool Remove". This one is just plain boring and too American for the UK market.
3rd from bottom is "Tell Me When" by The Human League. It bugged me at the time and I though it belonged in the 80s. I've taken more of a liking to them in more recent years but still can't take to this record.
Overall though there's more good than bad and as expected it's one of the better years.
Score: 60
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