UK Number 40s: Miley Cyrus - Slide Away (2019)

 

When Billy Ray Cyrus did the unlikely thing of being an American country singer to have a big hit in the UK with "Achy Breaky Heart", little did we know his yet to be born daughter would have a much more prolific chart career than he did. OK he only had one more minor hit that nobody remembers which set her a pretty low target.

This was her 16th Top 40 hit and she'd managed a couple of number ones along the way. The first thing I questioned was whether it was a cover of the Oasis song. It isn't, but incidentally the main man behind this record is Andrew Wyatt who has written for Liam Gallagher as a solo artist.

Her Top 40 debut "See You Again" from 2008 is now older than "Achy Breaky Heart" was when she was making her debut.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 43

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:

25. Liquid Child - Diving Faces

Another week another German trance record in the Top 40. This was the only Top 40 hit for Liquid Child who were Tobias Menguser and Jurgen Herbath. This was one of the trance records that I particularly liked at the time.

Verdict - Good

23. Wyclef Jean ft Bono - New Day

This seemed a bit of an odd collaboration. It was the 2nd time Bono appeared in the Top 40 without U2 having previously collaborated with Clannad in the 80s. It's not a bad record but it's nothing special.

Verdict - OK

22. Big Time Charlie - On The Run

This record uses the same sample as "Son of a Gun" by JX. Dance music was moving so quickly in the 90s though it made sense to have a 99 style record using that sample given how big the JX record was at the time. It was the first of 2 Top 40 hits for Big Time Charlie.

Verdict - Good

21. The Chemical Brothers - Out Of Control

This record features vocals by Bernard Sumner. It's one of those records you need to listen to the whole way through to really appreciate, there's a lot going on in it and takes a complete change in direction at one point. A solid effort.

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 11/30, or 37%. Heading in the right direction.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 43

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

Tokyo Ghetto Pussy - I Kiss Your Lips

Tokyo Ghetto Pussy had just the one Top 40 hit in both the UK and Holland. In the UK we'd got "Everybody (On The Floor)" in September but this failed to reach the Top 40 when released in early 1996 with it's appearance on TOTP2 seemingly not helping with the sales. It's a happy hardcore record which you may think comes from Japan based on who it's by, but it's actually German. It's an alias of Jam & Spoon.

Roxette - You Don't Understand Me

I've always thought of Roxette as being an 80s act but in the UK they only had 1 Top 40 hit in the 80s with the bulk coming in the early 90s. Prior to their last original Top 40 hit with "Wish I Could Fly" in 1999 their final UK Top 40 hit came at the end of 1994. In Holland they managed one more Top 40 hit before going the same way. 

January Charts: 1981

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Ultravox - Vienna

2. Dire Straits - Romeo And Juliet

3. Blondie - Rapture

4. The Teardrop Explodes - Reward

5. Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight

6. Slade - We'll Bring The House Down

7. Susan Fassbender - Twilight Café

8. Madness - The Return Of The Los Palmas Seven

9. John Lennon - Woman

10. Spandau Ballet - The Freeze

11. James Brown - Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses?)

12. Heatwave - Gangsters Of The Groove

13. Diana Ross - It's My Turn

14. Rainbow - I Surrender

15. XTC - Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me)

16. Light Of The World - I Shot The Sheriff

17. Passions - I'm In Love With A German Film Star

18. The Boomtown Rats - The Elephant's Graveyard (Guilty)

19. Odyssey - Hang Together

20. Coast To Coast - (Do) The Hucklebuck

21. Adam & The Ants - Cartrouble

22. Barbara Jones - Just When I Needed You Most

23. Sheila Hylton - The Bed's Too Big Without You

24. David Bowie - Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)

25. Cliff Richard - A Little In Love

26. Fred Wedlock - The Oldest Swinger In Town

27. Honey Bane - Turn Me On, Turn Me Off

There's the theory that once a decade ends there's a clear-out of the big name popular musicians to make way for a new breed. This batch of records suggests otherwise. Whilst it's barely over a year into the new decade the majority of artists had some sort of chart presence in the 70s and many of those who didn't were one hit wonders.

Take the number one record for example. "Vienna" is most famous for not being a number one and is an excellent record. Ultravox may not have had a Top 40 hit until 1980 but singer Midge Ure first hit the Top 40 as part of Slik in 1976.

In 2nd place we have Dire Straits who first hit the Top 40 in 1978 as did Blondie in 3rd place. Crucially though all 3 of these records were driving music forward and didn't sound like they came out of the 70s.

We do have an authentic 80s band in 4th place with Teardrop Explodes debuting with their biggest hit "Reward". Phil Collins may have been the Genesis drummer and subsequently singer in the 70s but his solo debut "In The Air Tonight" was as 80s as they come.

Even Slade were a pleasant surprise. They had extensive success in the 70s before fading into obscurity in the latter part of the decade but their comeback record "We'll Bring The House Down" was very much adapting to the hard rock sound of the moment.

Next up we have one hit wonder Susan Fassbender with "Twilight Cafe". It's one of those records which has an identity of it's own and now frozen in time to be fondly remembered.

Not all one hit wonders this month were good. Down the bottom we have "Turn Me On, Turn Me Off" which you can tell will be irritating from it's title alone and that's exactly what it is. Likewise "The Oldest Swinger In Town" by Fred Wedlock is as silly as it sounds.

Obviously Cliff Richard isn't a one hit wonder and his effort here went in one ear out the other. I've already said I'm not a fan of David Bowie and "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" does little to convince me otherwise.

More one hit wonders above with Sheila Hylton and Barbara Jones both doing covers of 70s hits reggae style which again doesn't cover 1981 one hit wonders in glory. Just above that we have an authentic 80s act Top 40 wise with Adam & the Ants but the record comes from their 1979 album. 

After a strong 1980 it seemed almost inevitable that 1981 wouldn't be as good, but still a decent enough score.

Score: 43

UK Number 40s: Megan Thee Stallion & Nicki Minaj - Hot Girl Summer (2019)

 

Here we have 2 artists that I've both heard of and a record I was at least aware existed before getting to it on the list, yet it only made number 40. I had to double check that it did really only made number 40 to be sure.

This was the Top 40 debut for rapper Megan Thee Stallion. As you may expect, she did go on to have greater chart success. Her follow up "Savage" made number 3 and her third single "WAP" topped the charts. It was back to the lower reaches after that, like with all these modern artists there's the possibility of greater chart success to come but at the time of writing she's averaged around 1 Top 40 hit a year since this debut.

Nicki Minaj on the other hand is an artists who has had more Top 40 hits than many people would think. This was hit number 36 and at the time of writing she's had at least one Top 40 hit every year since she made her debut in 2010. Only Calvin Harris and Drake have managed the same streak.

UK Number 40s: Dave - Black (2019)

 

When I first came up with the idea to make this series of posts, this record was the latest one to peak at number 40 and it's got no further since. 6 years later we've inevitably had more records peaking at 40.

In the beginning I could talk about the beginning, middle and end of ones Top 40 career and in some cases the beginning, middle and end was the same thing. As we've got more current we're seeing artists who could still have a long Top 40 career ahead of them.

In the case of this artist, I would guess he still has more Top 40 hits to come. This record came barely a year after he made his Top 40 debut but this was already hit number 7 for him. He'd already had a number one and has topped the charts since. In 2019 alone he clocked up 11 Top 40 hits and has continued to clock up hits since. With that sort of quantity some will get to the lower reaches and this was one of those.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 42

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. Martay ft ZZ Top - Gimme All Your Lovin' 2000

The year 2000 wasn't here yet, but there was a lot of hype about it arriving with the 2000 on the end of this record being an example. It was a dance record with a female rapper on the verses and ZZ Top doing the chorus. It's as bad as it sounds.

Verdict - Rubbish

25. Lucid - Stay With Me Till Dawn

I was a big fan of the Lucid debut "I Can't Help Myself" and quite liked their follow up "Crazy" too. For their 3rd and final Top 40 hit to date they turned down the tempo and covered "Stay With Me Till Dawn" by Judie Tzuke. I love the original of this but this cover doesn't really do it any justice.

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 10/30, or 33%. We stay the same.