Remembering 1996: May

May is the month the FA Cup final is held in football and one of it's traditions is the 2 teams in the final having an FA Cup song. In 1996 it was between Man Utd whose song was "Move Move Move (The Red Tribe)" and Liverpool whose song was "Pass And Move (It's The Liverpool Groove)".

This meant that David Beckham had a Top 40 hit before Victoria did as the Spice Girls were yet to make their Top 40 debut. Meanwhile the Liverpool record featured a rap from John Barnes.

It wasn't just the FA Cup final songs making their way into the charts from the football world. 1300 Drums featuring The Unjustified Ancients Of M U had a hit with "Ooh! Aah! Cantona". Incidentally Eric Cantona scored the only goal of the FA Cup final.

"Feel The Sunshine" by Alex Reece had originally been released in 1995 but got a re-release in May 1996 and made the Top 40. This was arguably helped by drum & bass now having a regular show on Radio 1 with One In The Jungle.

If you were listening to One In The Jungle on a Friday night then you would be missing a music show on Channel 4 returning to TV in May for a 2nd series. The show was "Baadasss" and was presented by rapper Ice-T and Andi Oliver the mother of future "Popworld" presenter Miquita Oliver. It was described at the time as being a black version of "The Word" and would get cancelled in 1996 due to its controversial nature.

We had the Top 40 debut of Busta Rhymes with "Woo-Hah!! Got You All In Check". I remember watching it on Top of the Pops for the first time and it sounded like the sort of record I'd been waiting to hear all my life.

1996 was the last time I sat down and properly watched Eurovision. I'd never been much of a fan but in 1996 I liked the UK entry "Ooh Aah... Just A Little Bit" by Gina G. I'd also become familiar with hardcore and techno music from Germany and Holland and was optimistic those countries would have a decent song, but sadly it wasn't to be.

Speaking of music from Germany, it was the month Scooter had a Top 40 hit with their version of "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol. This would be the final Top 40 hit of the 90s that could be considered happy hardcore but Scooter would be back later in the year.

Despite not having much chart presence happy hardcore was growing in popularity. It was the month that United Dance 4 was released. It was mixed by Slipmatt and DJ Sy and it first came to my attention from a TV advert.