Remembering 1996: August

The sporting event of 1996 that always gets talked about is Euro 96 but there was another big sporting event in 1996 that played second fiddle this time around, the Olympics.

The official song for the Olympics was "Reach" by Gloria Estefan but that had already been in and out of the Top 40 by the time the Olympics began. In August she was onto her next Top 40 hit "You'll Be Mine (Party Time)".

The only record that made the Top 40 as a result of the Olympics was "Tara's Theme" by Spiro & Wix which was the music the BBC used for their coverage.

It was the month where Alisha's Attic made their Top 40 debut with "I Am I Feel". Musically it sounded quite similar to "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morissette which also charted this month but lyrically they couldn't be any more different. It was the Alisha's Attic record that grabbed my attention more though, what started as an enjoyable listen on the radio evolved into me buying almost their entire discography followed by me questioning why I did that.

E'Voke had a Top 40 hit in 1995 with "Runaway" and in Aug 96 they were back with a 2nd and final Top 40 hit with "Arms Of Loren".  I first heard it myself when they played it on The Bigger Breakfast which was an extended version of The Big Breakfast for the summer holidays.

It was the month that PJ & Duncan started using their real names Ant & Dec instead. The first single they released after this change was "Better Watch Out" and is the only single of theirs I actually like in a guilty pleasure sort of way.

I don't know when it started or ended or what it was called but in Aug 96 I discovered there was a 5 minute slot in the evening on Channel 4 where they would play a new music video and I remember "Better Watch Out" being one of those.

It was the month that gave us the comeback of New Edition with their comeback single being "Hit Me Off". Although a 5 piece in the 80s with Johnny Gill replacing Bobby Brown when he left, this time there was 6 of them with Bobby Brown and Johnny Gill both being part of the reunion. 

Speaking of 80s groups there was one final hit for OMD with "Walking On The Milky Way". By this point OMD was just Andy McCluskey who called time shortly afterwards. It's quite possibly the best OMD single.

The Pet Shop Boys also released what's possibly their best single of the 90s "Se A Vide (That's The Way Life Is)". This is a go to song for me having a nostalgic look at summers of the past.

Helter Skelter held their Energy 96 event in Aug, the first of their Energy events which wouldn't occur annually in Aug for the remainder of the 90s.