Top 30 in 1990 Reviewed - Week 33

Here's my first weekly look at the Top 30 from 30 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

Obviously some of the records will be the same as last week so therefore the review will be the same for these. I've indicated which ones are new so you can skip the others if you read last weeks post.

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 top 30 from this week in 1990 with my verdict on each record:

30. Wet Wet Wet - Stay With Me Heartache / I Feel Fine (New)

Wet Wet Wet got to number one in 1988 with a Beatles cover that was part of a double a-side. They tried this again in 1990 with a cover of "I Feel Fine" being part of the double a-side, but this time only managed to reach 30. The Beatles cover does sound quite different to the original, but it isn't to my liking. The other side "Stay With My Heartache" isn't great either.

Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish

29. Lindy Layton ft Janet Kay - Silly Games (New)

Lindy Layton had been the singer on the Beats International singles, and here she is venturing out on her own, kind of. This features the original artist of the song, Janet Kay, on backing vocals. The thing is, you don't need any sort of vocal talent to sing on dance records, but a song like this you do. Unfortunately the one with the vocal talent is the one on the backing vocals.

Verdict - Rubbish

28. Roxette - It Must Have Been Love

The 2nd Top 40 hit for Roxette, which came over a year after their first, though they tried and failed to reach the Top 40 with a couple of single in between. Their first hit "The Look" was mainly sang by Per Gessle, but in this one Marie Fredriksson takes the lead with just the occasional backing vocals from Per. This was another song I used to hear on a daily basis thanks to the person giving me a lift to school playing Now 18 every day. I like a bit of Roxette though.

Verdict - Good

27. Mariah Carey - Vision Of Love (New)

I've mentioned previously how dreadful I found the female solo pop singers from America during this era, but fortunately the likes of Tiffany, Debbie Gibson and Taylor Dayne were more or less yesterdays news by this point. Unfortunately America gave us another dreadful artist in Mariah Carey. Ok I'm not going to knock her singing ability, but her music is just abysmal.

Verdict - Rubbish

26. Primal Scream - Come Together (New)

Unlike the Wet Wet Wet song, this isn't a Beatles cover. It's the 2nd Top 40 hit for Primal Scream and this time it has singing on it and it was produced by Terry Farley. Again we have that nice blend of dance and rock music crossover.

Verdict - Good

25. KLF ft The Children Of The Revolution - What Time Is Love? (New)

The first Top 40 hit for The KLF on paper, though they previously had a number one with "Doctorin the Tardis" as The Timelords. I absolutely loved The KLF at the time, still do. In fact when I first came across the fact music video's were uploaded to YouTube, The KLF were one of the first that I looked up.

Verdict - Good

24. Go West - King Of Wishful Thinking (New)

80s group Go West amazingly had 50% of their Top 40 hits in the 90s. This was the first of the 90s ones. It was also their biggest hit in America. When it comes to cheesy music, which this is, there's a thin line between it being fun and irritating. This falls into the irritating category.

Verdict - Rubbish

23. The Hothouse Flowers - I Can See Clearly Now

A cover of the Johnny Nash song. Interesting fact, this is one of 2 covers of this song to make the UK Top 40 and both made number 23. Furthermore, Deborah Harry recorded a different song called "I Can See Clearly Now" and that also made 23. This cover is actually pretty good, they've really made it their own.

Verdict - Good

22. Dream Warriors - Wash Your Face In My Sink

What a name for a record. A title like that would perhaps imply this is a novelty record, but it isn't at all. It's the Top 40 debut for Dream Warriors who made jazz influenced rap music. Quite a strange combination admittedly, but the resulting tune is actually quite good.

Verdict - Good

21. Bell Biv Devoe - Poison

The only Top 40 hit for Bell Biv Devoe. It's members are Ricky Bell, Mike Bivins and Ronnie Devoe who had all been in the charts previously as part of New Edition. Arguably Ralph Tresvant and Bobby Brown were the 2 best known members of New Edition, so what we have is basically the 3 guys in the background. Doesn't sound good on paper, but that's why you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. This tune is probably my favourite of everything I've heard post-New Edition from all it's members. In fact it's better than anything I've heard from New Edition as well.

Verdict - Good

20. River City People - Carry The Blame / California Dreamin'

A double a-side where I'd say "California Dreamin'" is the best known. That's probably in part to do with the lyrical content of "Carry the Blame" which is to do with abortions. This version of "California Dreamin'" was the first version I'd heard. I thought it was ok, but when I heard the original version I thought this cover sounded pretty crap in comparison. "Carry the Blame" is alright, but nothing special.

Verdict - OK / OK

19. Craig McLachlan And Check 1-2 - Amanda

"Mona" still hadn't dropped out the Top 40, but here's Craig McLachlan with his 2nd Top 40 hit. This time it's written by Craig McLachlan himself. Not only were we seeing him on Neighbours and Home & Away as well as hearing his music, but I also remember this song coming on in the diner a lot on Home & Away as well. Lets just say when he left Neighbours and had to leave his guitar behind for exceeding luggage allowance at the airport, it brought a smile to my face.

Verdict - Rubbish

18. Sting - Englishman In New York

Sting is one of those people who you'd say has managed to have a successful solo career following the break up of his band. However, if you look at his record in the singles chart it's not great, particularly in the early days. Up to this point he'd had 9 solo singles, but only 3 of them made the Top 40 and none of them made the Top 40. This single was one of those that failed to make the Top 40 when first released, but it finally charted thanks to this remix from Ben Liebrand. This was the first Sting song I remember hearing and remember thinking it was a bit crap. I still haven't changed my mind.

Verdict - Rubbish

17. Betty Boo - Where Are You Baby? (New)

Not only did Betty Boo manage a 2nd solo single, but the 2nd single also did better than the 1st. I'm not sure how well remembered this is, but I certainly remember it. I also remember it being bloody awful, and my opinion hasn't changed.

Verdict - Rubbish

16. LFO - LFO

This is one of those records I'd initially heard without knowing what it actually was. I did find out in the early days of me using the internet when I came across a rave website that had a bunch of must hear tunes in the history of the rave scene to listen to on the site and this was one of them. That was very exciting in a pre-YouTube era. I liked this tune so much I ended up buying the "Frequencies" album on which this appears.

Verdict - Good

15. Technotronic ft Ya Kid K - Rockin' Over The Beat

As it happens the rest of the music isn't up to much either. It's Technotronic again, with their 4th Top 40 hit. I doubt many people realised they had many, but this wasn't exactly an obscure one that scraped into the Top 40, it made the Top 10. The fact this record is long forgotten makes it alright, if I heard it too often I may think otherwise.

Verdict - OK

14. Tricky Disco - Tricky Disco

I don't remember this record at the time, but it was on a techno compilation I bought a few years later. Liking my music underground as I did, I was disappointed to see in my British Hit Singles book that this had been a hit. It was the only Top 40 hit for Tricky Disco, but not the only one for it's members. They would return to the charts in 1996 as Technohead with "I Want To Be A Hippy".

Verdict - Good

13. Jon Bon Jovi - Blaze Of Glory

The debut solo hit for Jon Bon Jovi. Having your surname (well surname of your stage name) as your band name is going to make it difficult to differentiate between your band and your solo career. Having a solo song that sounds like it could be your band is going to make it even more difficult. Still, nothing wrong with sounding like Bon Jovi, they have some good songs and I like this song too.

Verdict - Good

12. Together - Hardcore Uproar

I remember when this came out, I thought it was the theme music to "The Clothes Show" made into a single. It does have it's similarities, but that's no bad thing as the theme tune was pretty much the only thing I liked about "The Clothes Show". This is a better tune though, it's one which came out of the Hacienda. Sadly one of the members of Together, Jon Donaghy, died in a road accident when they were out in Ibiza promoting this.

Verdict - Good

11. Elton John - Sacrifice / Healing Hands

I once went to a quiz on holiday where we were asked what Elton Johns first number one was. I knew this was his first solo number one, but said "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" because he never said solo, but the official answer was "Sacrifice", whether he'd have taken "Healing Hands" as an answer, who knows. Anyway enough of crap quizmasters, what about the songs? Both were released as separate singles in 1989 and both failed to reach the Top 40, but the double a-side made number one. This was actually the record that taught me what a double a-side was. The most played of the two was "Sacrifice" and I always quite liked that record. I got a bit confused when one week on Top of the Pops when they played "Healing Hands" instead, but that's how I learned about double a-sides. Not too keen on "Healing Hands" though to be honest.

Verdict - Good / Rubbish

10. Prince - Thieves In The Temple

Prince was an artist I got to like though listening to the Top 40 countdown. The previous year, the first song I taped off the Top 40 without any assistance from my parents was "Batdance". My favourite of his song's from the Batman film was "Arms Of Orion", which was his most recent single at the time. The standard had been set, but unfortunately this didn't meet it so I was quite disappointed. However I did start to like it eventually.

Verdict - Good

9. Roxette - Listen To Your Heart / Dangerous

In 1995 there was a Happy Hardcore tune called "Smile, Fuck Up" by DJ Psycangle which sampled the first verse of this. A year or so later I heard "Listen To Your Heart" for probably the first time since 1990 and that's when I realised it was the song "Smile, Fuck Up" sampled. Of course, this song has it's similarities to "Alone" by Heart, and the title suggests that's where they may have got their inspiration from. It doesn't matter though, both are good songs. The other side, "Dangerous" is one I never remember hearing at the time. It's not as good, but I still like it.

Verdict - Good / Good

8. Madonna - Hanky Panky

I don't think I've heard this record since 1990, I guess the sheer quantity of Madonna hits means there's bound to be a number that you don't hear anymore. I'd happily wait another 30 years until I hear it again, I thought it was crap at the time and my opinion hasn't changed.

Verdict - Rubbish

7. Soup Dragons ft Junior Reid - I'm Free

This song taught me the drawbacks of buying a single. I didn't buy it myself, but I knew somebody who did. We were going somewhere in his mums car and he played this single both there and back. The problem was there was just this song and the b-side on the tape so it only lasted about 7 minutes and the car journey was a lot longer than that. Needless to say I was completely sick of the song by the end of it. Fortunately 30 years have passed since then so it's given me enough time to appreciate it for what it is. It's a cover of the Rolling Stones song done in a 90s Madchester style, except Soup Dragons aren't from Manchester, they're from Scotland.

Verdict - Good

6. New Kids On The Block - Tonight

I thought I was mishearing the lyrics at the time. I was hearing "Hangin Tough" and "The Right Stuff" but I've never been good at making out lyrics so thought I was only hearing those words because of their other hits. Turns out I wasn't mishearing, they are quoting the titles of their other songs. It's the sort of thing you might expect when a group has been around a long time, but it had only been 9 months since they first hit the Top 40. In reality though they formed in 1984 and were now on their 4th album. I don't actually mind this record though.

Verdict - OK

5. MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This

Love it or hate it, you can't deny the impact this record has had on the world. Whenever someone shouts "stop", many people no doubt at least think "hammer time". I did like this at the time, but since then it's been played to death, plus I've gone through a period of being really into rap music of a more controversial nature and resenting more party rap music like this. On that basis it gets an ok.

Verdict - OK

4. Blue Pearl - Naked In The Rain

Here we have the bass player from an 80s band making a name for himself in the dance music world. It isn't Norman Cook though, it's Youth, formerly of Killing Joke. This reminds me of a school trip I went on to the Science Museum around this time. Not sure why, maybe it came on the radio on the bus. Anyway, good tune.

Verdict - Good

3. Bombalurina - Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

The summer holidays had arrived, and that meant Wacaday would be on. This summer though we had a double dose of Timmy Mallett courtesy of this song. Bizarrely I always thought he seemed more serious in this song than he did on Wacaday. Anyway, as much as I liked Wacaday and Timmy Mallett, there's no denying this song is bloody awful.

Verdict - Rubbish

2. DNA ft Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner

I remember misreading the title of this record at the time as Tom's Dinner and thought fancy naming a record after somebodies dinner. The original title of this was "Oh Suzanne" as it's a remix by DNA of a Suzanne Vega record. I never knew any of this at the time, but I always thought it was a great record and I've since heard the original, and think this is better.

Verdict - Good

1. Partners In Kryme - Turtle Power

Given the amount of rap music you get in the charts these days, it's hard to think that it actually got off to quite a slow start commercially in the UK. It had been 11 years since the Sugarhill Gang gave us the first rap Top 40 hit, but finally we get the first rap number one. Few would have predicted the first rap number one would be about a kids TV show. Like pretty much every boy of my age, I loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I liked this record for that very reason. Do I still like it though? Well it is pretty awful, but there is that novelty factor so it gets the ok.

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 18.5/30, or 62%. Quite surprising this beats last week given some of the bad new entries, but it does.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: Week 32

What's this all about?

Joining the leaderboard this week is Billie Eilish with her 2nd Top 40 hit of the year.

None of the new entries this week are rap bringing the total for the year to 81/149, or 54%.

Artist	No. of Hits
Drake	7
Juice Wrld	5
KSI	5
J Hus	4
Justin Bieber	4
Lady Gaga	4
Aitch	4
Pop Smoke	4
D-Block Europe	4
Eminem	3
Skepta	3
Roddy Ricch	3
Tion Wayne	3
M Huncho	3
AJ Tracey	3
Halsey	3
Taylor Swift	3
Lil Uzi Vert	2
Doja Cat	2
Weeknd	2
Dua Lipa	2
Chip	2
Young Adz	2
Sam Smith	2
Demi Lovato	2
Dababy	2
1975	2
Raye	2
Ariana Grande	2
Stormzy	2
Chris Brown	2
6ix9ine	2
Dutchavelli	2
Blackpink	2
Becky Hill	2
Mabel	2
Joel Corry	2
Deno	2
Marshmello	2
DJ Khaled	2
Little Mix	2
Nathan Dawe	2
Billie Elish	2

UK Number 40s: Lynsey De Paul - My Man And Me (1975)

This was the 6th out of 7 Top 40 hits for Lynsey De Paul. She made her debut in 1972 with her biggest hit "Sugar Me" which got to number 5. As a songwriter though she made her chart debut earlier on in 1972 with "Storm In A Teacup" by the Fortunes.

Her biggest hit as songwriter came in 1973 as co-writer of "(Dancing) On A Saturday Night" by Barry Blue, alongside Barry Blue himself. She would co-write the next 3 Barry Blue Top 40 hits as well as "Central Park Arrest" by Thunderthighs in 1974.

The singles chart may imply her popularity had faded by 1975, but there is another explanation as to why this record only reached number 40. It was the only one of her singles that also featured on an album at the time of it's release, therefore those who had the album didn't need to buy the single.

Her final chart appearance came in 1977 when she represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest with "Rock Bottom" alongside Mike Moran. She would also have her final Top 40 hit as songwriter that year with "Let Your Body Go Downtown" by Martyn Ford.

It was by no means the end of her career though. She remained active in the music industry as well as being an actress and TV presenter right up to her death in 2014.

Top 30 in 1990 Reviewed - Week 32

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 30 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

Obviously some of the records will be the same as last week so therefore the review will be the same for these. I've indicated which ones are new so you can skip the others if you read last weeks post.

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 top 30 from this week in 1990 with my verdict on each record:

30. Phil Collins - That's Just The Way It Is

I find it somewhat ironic that Phil Collins is a drummer and here is him with a single that doesn't have any drums on it. Still, I can see why he chose not to put drums on it. I guess it takes a bit of time to get into, but it's been 30 years now so that's plenty, and what we have is a pretty decent ballad.

Verdict - Good

29. The Hothouse Flowers - I Can See Clearly Now (New)

A cover of the Johnny Nash song. Interesting fact, this is one of 2 covers of this song to make the UK Top 40 and both made number 23. Furthermore, Deborah Harry recorded a different song called "I Can See Clearly Now" and that also made 23. This cover is actually pretty good, they've really made it their own.

Verdict - Good

28. Little Angels - She's A Little Angel

A band called the Little Angels singing about someone else being a little angel. They were one of those bands who were always around in the early 90s but nobody really spoke about, well amongst people I knew anyway. They were a band I liked, but I don't think this song has aged very well. It just doesn't have enough about it to make it good.

Verdict - OK

27. Glenn Medeiros ft Bobby Brown - She Ain't Worth It

You see it time and time again with teenage pop singers, they start off with a clean cut image and then they go bad. That's what happened with Glenn Medeiros, except his clean cut image lasted just one song. Then 2 years later he went bad with this record, hooking up with fellow teen singer turned bad boy Bobby Brown. What we end up with is, well quite frankly crap. This would be his final Top 40 hit, his following single was slated on Juke Box Jury later on in the year and predicted to be a miss, which it was.

Verdict - Rubbish

26. Sting - Englishman In New York (New)

Sting is one of those people who you'd say has managed to have a successful solo career following the break up of his band. However, if you look at his record in the singles chart it's not great, particularly in the early days. Up to this point he'd had 9 solo singles, but only 3 of them made the Top 40 and none of them made the Top 40. This single was one of those that failed to make the Top 40 when first released, but it finally charted thanks to this remix from Ben Liebrand. This was the first Sting song I remember hearing and remember thinking it was a bit crap. I still haven't changed my mind.

Verdict - Rubbish

25. FAB ft MC Parker - Thunderbirds Are Go

Before "Toytown Techno" became a thing, we had this in the charts which is the same idea. There is nothing good about this record at all, it's so poor that it doesn't even sound as cheesy as its supposed to.

Verdict - Rubbish

24. Jon Bon Jovi - Blaze Of Glory (New)

The debut solo hit for Jon Bon Jovi. Having your surname (well surname of your stage name) as your band name is going to make it difficult to differentiate between your band and your solo career. Having a solo song that sounds like it could be your band is going to make it even more difficult. Still, nothing wrong with sounding like Bon Jovi, they have some good songs and I like this song too.

Verdict - Good

23. Craig McLachlan And Check 1-2 - Amanda (New)

"Mona" still hadn't dropped out the Top 40, but here's Craig McLachlan with his 2nd Top 40 hit. This time it's written by Craig McLachlan himself. Not only were we seeing him on Neighbours and Home & Away as well as hearing his music, but I also remember this song coming on in the diner a lot on Home & Away as well. Lets just say when he left Neighbours and had to leave his guitar behind for exceeding luggage allowance at the airport, it brought a smile to my face.

Verdict - Rubbish

22. Snap! - Oops Up

After Snap! had a number one with "The Power" they didn't disappear until "Rhythm Is A Dancer" in 1992, they had hits in-between. I remember this coming out at the time, but for some reason I don't remember the sound of a squeaky child's toy appearing throughout the tune. I can't help but notice it's presence now and it's bloody irritating which means no matter how good the rest of the music might be, it's unlistenable.

Verdict - Rubbish

21. Roxette - Listen To Your Heart / Dangerous (New)

In 1995 there was a Happy Hardcore tune called "Smile, Fuck Up" by DJ Psycangle which sampled the first verse of this. A year or so later I heard "Listen To Your Heart" for probably the first time since 1990 and that's when I realised it was the song "Smile, Fuck Up" sampled. Of course, this song has it's similarities to "Alone" by Heart, and the title suggests that's where they may have got their inspiration from. It doesn't matter though, both are good songs. The other side, "Dangerous" is one I never remember hearing at the time. It's not as good, but I still like it.

Verdict - Good / Good

20. Duran Duran - Violence Of Summer (Love's Taking Over)

Duran Duran's popularity had been in decline for years by the time this record came out. I can't say I've ever been a fan of Duran Duran. Some of their songs are catchy, which explains why they were popular, but they were also a bit crap. In fact there is only 1 Duran Duran song I actually like, which came out in the 90s. It isn't this one though.

Verdict - Rubbish

19. Bell Biv Devoe - Poison

The only Top 40 hit for Bell Biv Devoe. It's members are Ricky Bell, Mike Bivins and Ronnie Devoe who had all been in the charts previously as part of New Edition. Arguably Ralph Tresvant and Bobby Brown were the 2 best known members of New Edition, so what we have is basically the 3 guys in the background. Doesn't sound good on paper, but that's why you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. This tune is probably my favourite of everything I've heard post-New Edition from all it's members. In fact it's better than anything I've heard from New Edition as well.

Verdict - Good

18. Roxette - It Must Have Been Love

The 2nd Top 40 hit for Roxette, which came over a year after their first, though they tried and failed to reach the Top 40 with a couple of single in between. Their first hit "The Look" was mainly sang by Per Gessle, but in this one Marie Fredriksson takes the lead with just the occasional backing vocals from Per. This was another song I used to hear on a daily basis thanks to the person giving me a lift to school playing Now 18 every day. I like a bit of Roxette though.

Verdict - Good

17. Together - Hardcore Uproar

I remember when this came out, I thought it was the theme music to "The Clothes Show" made into a single. It does have it's similarities, but that's no bad thing as the theme tune was pretty much the only thing I liked about "The Clothes Show". This is a better tune though, it's one which came out of the Hacienda. Sadly one of the members of Together, Jon Donaghy, died in a road accident when they were out in Ibiza promoting this.

Verdict - Good

16. Dream Warriors - Wash Your Face In My Sink

What a name for a record. A title like that would perhaps imply this is a novelty record, but it isn't at all. It's the Top 40 debut for Dream Warriors who made jazz influenced rap music. Quite a strange combination admittedly, but the resulting tune is actually quite good.

Verdict - Good

15. Tricky Disco - Tricky Disco

I don't remember this record at the time, but it was on a techno compilation I bought a few years later. Liking my music underground as I did, I was disappointed to see in my British Hit Singles book that this had been a hit. It was the only Top 40 hit for Tricky Disco, but not the only one for it's members. They would return to the charts in 1996 as Technohead with "I Want To Be A Hippy".

Verdict - Good

14. River City People - Carry The Blame / California Dreamin'

A double a-side where I'd say "California Dreamin'" is the best known. That's probably in part to do with the lyrical content of "Carry the Blame" which is to do with abortions. This version of "California Dreamin'" was the first version I'd heard. I thought it was ok, but when I heard the original version I thought this cover sounded pretty crap in comparison. "Carry the Blame" is alright, but nothing special.

Verdict - OK / OK

13. Craig McLachlan And Check 1-2 - Mona

There was no escaping Craig McLachlan in 1990, first you'd see him in Neighbours, then you'd see him in Home and Away, then he'd be on Top of the Pops singing this. I always thought singing about building a house next door was ridiculous, unless Mona lived out in the middle of nowhere it's most likely there would already be a house next door to her. What I didn't realise at the time was that it's a cover. It's originally by Bo Diddley and it's a song covered by the Rolling Stones on their first album. Still, it's a pretty dreadful song

Verdict - Rubbish

12. LFO - LFO

This is one of those records I'd initially heard without knowing what it actually was. I did find out in the early days of me using the internet when I came across a rave website that had a bunch of must hear tunes in the history of the rave scene to listen to on the site and this was one of them. That was very exciting in a pre-YouTube era. I liked this tune so much I ended up buying the "Frequencies" album on which this appears.

Verdict - Good

11. Bombalurina - Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

The summer holidays had arrived, and that meant Wacaday would be on. This summer though we had a double dose of Timmy Mallett courtesy of this song. Bizarrely I always thought he seemed more serious in this song than he did on Wacaday. Anyway, as much as I liked Wacaday and Timmy Mallett, there's no denying this song is bloody awful.

Verdict - Rubbish

10. Technotronic ft Ya Kid K - Rockin' Over The Beat

As it happens the rest of the music isn't up to much either. It's Technotronic again, with their 4th Top 40 hit. I doubt many people realised they had many, but this wasn't exactly an obscure one that scraped into the Top 40, it made the Top 10. The fact this record is long forgotten makes it alright, if I heard it too often I may think otherwise.

Verdict - OK

9. Elton John - Sacrifice / Healing Hands

I once went to a quiz on holiday where we were asked what Elton Johns first number one was. I knew this was his first solo number one, but said "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" because he never said solo, but the official answer was "Sacrifice", whether he'd have taken "Healing Hands" as an answer, who knows. Anyway enough of crap quizmasters, what about the songs? Both were released as separate singles in 1989 and both failed to reach the Top 40, but the double a-side made number one. This was actually the record that taught me what a double a-side was. The most played of the two was "Sacrifice" and I always quite liked that record. I got a bit confused when one week on Top of the Pops when they played "Healing Hands" instead, but that's how I learned about double a-sides. Not too keen on "Healing Hands" though to be honest.

Verdict - Good / Rubbish

8. New Kids On The Block - Tonight

I thought I was mishearing the lyrics at the time. I was hearing "Hangin Tough" and "The Right Stuff" but I've never been good at making out lyrics so thought I was only hearing those words because of their other hits. Turns out I wasn't mishearing, they are quoting the titles of their other songs. It's the sort of thing you might expect when a group has been around a long time, but it had only been 9 months since they first hit the Top 40. In reality though they formed in 1984 and were now on their 4th album. I don't actually mind this record though.

Verdict - OK

7. Prince - Thieves In The Temple

Prince was an artist I got to like though listening to the Top 40 countdown. The previous year, the first song I taped off the Top 40 without any assistance from my parents was "Batdance". My favourite of his song's from the Batman film was "Arms Of Orion", which was his most recent single at the time. The standard had been set, but unfortunately this didn't meet it so I was quite disappointed. However I did start to like it eventually.

Verdict - Good

6. Madonna - Hanky Panky

I don't think I've heard this record since 1990, I guess the sheer quantity of Madonna hits means there's bound to be a number that you don't hear anymore. I'd happily wait another 30 years until I hear it again, I thought it was crap at the time and my opinion hasn't changed.

Verdict - Rubbish

5. Soup Dragons ft Junior Reid - I'm Free

This song taught me the drawbacks of buying a single. I didn't buy it myself, but I knew somebody who did. We were going somewhere in his mums car and he played this single both there and back. The problem was there was just this song and the b-side on the tape so it only lasted about 7 minutes and the car journey was a lot longer than that. Needless to say I was completely sick of the song by the end of it. Fortunately 30 years have passed since then so it's given me enough time to appreciate it for what it is. It's a cover of the Rolling Stones song done in a 90s Madchester style, except Soup Dragons aren't from Manchester, they're from Scotland.

Verdict - Good

4. Blue Pearl - Naked In The Rain

Here we have the bass player from an 80s band making a name for himself in the dance music world. It isn't Norman Cook though, it's Youth, formerly of Killing Joke. This reminds me of a school trip I went on to the Science Museum around this time. Not sure why, maybe it came on the radio on the bus. Anyway, good tune.

Verdict - Good

3. MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This

Love it or hate it, you can't deny the impact this record has had on the world. Whenever someone shouts "stop", many people no doubt at least think "hammer time". I did like this at the time, but since then it's been played to death, plus I've gone through a period of being really into rap music of a more controversial nature and resenting more party rap music like this. On that basis it gets an ok.

Verdict - OK

2. DNA ft Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner

I remember misreading the title of this record at the time as Tom's Dinner and thought fancy naming a record after somebodies dinner. The original title of this was "Oh Suzanne" as it's a remix by DNA of a Suzanne Vega record. I never knew any of this at the time, but I always thought it was a great record and I've since heard the original, and think this is better.

Verdict - Good

1. Partners In Kryme - Turtle Power

Given the amount of rap music you get in the charts these days, it's hard to think that it actually got off to quite a slow start commercially in the UK. It had been 11 years since the Sugarhill Gang gave us the first rap Top 40 hit, but finally we get the first rap number one. Few would have predicted the first rap number one would be about a kids TV show. Like pretty much every boy of my age, I loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I liked this record for that very reason. Do I still like it though? Well it is pretty awful, but there is that novelty factor so it gets the ok.

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 18/30, or 62%. Same as last week so the scores in 1990 are still pretty consistent.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: Week 31

What's this all about?

Taylor Swift joins the leaderboard this week with 3 new entries. Also joining the leaderboard with their 2nd Top 40 hits of the year are Little Mix and Nathan Dawe. The collaborator with the latter, KSI goes into joint 2nd.

Although KSI is a rapper, the record is EDM meaning none of the new entries this week are rap bringing the total for the year to 81/147, or 55%.

Artist	No. of Hits
Drake	7
Juice Wrld	5
KSI	5
J Hus	4
Justin Bieber	4
Lady Gaga	4
Aitch	4
Pop Smoke	4
D-Block Europe	4
Eminem	3
Skepta	3
Roddy Ricch	3
Tion Wayne	3
M Huncho	3
AJ Tracey	3
Halsey	3
Taylor Swift	3
Lil Uzi Vert	2
Doja Cat	2
Weeknd	2
Dua Lipa	2
Chip	2
Young Adz	2
Sam Smith	2
Demi Lovato	2
Dababy	2
1975	2
Raye	2
Ariana Grande	2
Stormzy	2
Chris Brown	2
6ix9ine	2
Dutchavelli	2
Blackpink	2
Becky Hill	2
Mabel	2
Joel Corry	2
Deno	2
Marshmello	2
DJ Khaled	2
Little Mix	2
Nathan Dawe	2

UK Number 40s: Trammps - Sixty Minute Man (1975)

The Trammps are best remembered for "Disco Inferno" and to a lesser extent, "Hold Back The Night". Before either of those records charted though, we had this record, "Sixty Minute Man".

This was the 2nd Top 40 hit for the Trammps, their debut being "Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart" in 1974, a soul cover of a 1930s song. Both these records were released in America in 1972.

"Sixty Minute Man" was also a cover. It was originally by Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1951 and is credited as being one of the early R&B records to cross over to the mainstream. It never charted in the UK though, partly because there was no singles chart in 1951.

This record came out in the UK around the same time as their debut album, "The Legendary Zing Album". The album however did not chart in the UK, nor did any of their albums. The final single to be released from the album was "Hold Back The Night" later on in 1975 which was their biggest hit from a chart perspective making number 5.

These first 3 hits were all soul records, but the following year they went disco with "That's Where The Happy People Go". Then in 1977 came "Disco Inferno" which was their final original Top 40 hit, but they had their final taste of the Top 40 with a KWS remake of "Hold Back The Night" in 1992.

The Trammps have had many members of the years and there are currently 2 versions of the group doing the rounds.

Top 30 in 1990 Reviewed - Week 31

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 30 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

Obviously some of the records will be the same as last week so therefore the review will be the same for these. I've indicated which ones are new so you can skip the others if you read last weeks post.

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 top 30 from this week in 1990 with my verdict on each record:

30. Luciano Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma

A record that charted 18 years after it was recorded thanks to it being used for the BBCs coverage of the World Cup. At the time I didn't know what an opera was, I just saw it as the genre of music where they sing it funny. I can't say I'm a fan of opera, but I guess thanks in part to my childhood memories of this song and watching the World Cup I thought this is a song I quite like. Listening to it now though, I'm not actually sure if I've listened to it from beginning to end before. Basically if you want to hear the good bit then just listen to the last 30 seconds. The good bit is enough to make this song good though, in the same way I like "Layla" but always stop listening when the outro comes in.

Verdict - Good

29. ZZ Top - Doubleback (New)

I have no memory of this record at the time, the first time I came across ZZ Top was seeing them last in the alphabet in the British Hit Singles book. I even thought about forming a band when I was older called ZZZ Zoo just so we could take their place. I have heard this record several times over the years though and find it quite surprising that it's from the 90s as opposed to the 70s. But then it is ZZ Top who were around in the 70s. Not a bad record though.

Verdict - OK

28. Englandneworder - World In Motion

The official song for the England football team at the 1990 World Cup. It is of course New Order with their name temporarily changed for the occasion and would be their only number one record. It's best known though for the John Barnes rap, which is quite frankly terrible, but then what do you expect from a footballer. Despite that though, its a great record. Best football song ever written in my opinion, but then that's not saying much.

Verdict - Good

27. Bananarama - Only Your Love (New)

Bananarama in the 90s? Yes, and not for the last time either. They ended the 80s with Stock Aitken & Waterman, but started the 90s with Youth as their producer. It actually sounds like they've moved into the 90s too. The problem is that when you hear the singing you know it's Bananarama, and hearing Bananarama sing over anything that isn't a cheesy 80s backing track just seems wrong. At the same time though, given the choice I'd rather listen to this.

Verdict - OK

26. Phil Collins - That's Just The Way It Is (New)

I find it somewhat ironic that Phil Collins is a drummer and here is him with a single that doesn't have any drums on it. Still, I can see why he chose not to put drums on it. I guess it takes a bit of time to get into, but it's been 30 years now so that's plenty, and what we have is a pretty decent ballad.

Verdict - Good

25. Bombalurina - Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (New)

The summer holidays had arrived, and that meant Wacaday would be on. This summer though we had a double dose of Timmy Mallett courtesy of this song. Bizarrely I always thought he seemed more serious in this song than he did on Wacaday. Anyway, as much as I liked Wacaday and Timmy Mallett, there's no denying this song is bloody awful.

Verdict - Rubbish

24. Together - Hardcore Uproar (New)

I remember when this came out, I thought it was the theme music to "The Clothes Show" made into a single. It does have it's similarities, but that's no bad thing as the theme tune was pretty much the only thing I liked about "The Clothes Show". This is a better tune though, it's one which came out of the Hacienda. Sadly one of the members of Together, Jon Donaghy, died in a road accident when they were out in Ibiza promoting this.

Verdict - Good

23. Duran Duran - Violence Of Summer (Love's Taking Over) (New)

Duran Duran's popularity had been in decline for years by the time this record came out. I can't say I've ever been a fan of Duran Duran. Some of their songs are catchy, which explains why they were popular, but they were also a bit crap. In fact there is only 1 Duran Duran song I actually like, which came out in the 90s. It isn't this one though.

Verdict - Rubbish

22. Tricky Disco - Tricky Disco (New)

I don't remember this record at the time, but it was on a techno compilation I bought a few years later. Liking my music underground as I did, I was disappointed to see in my British Hit Singles book that this had been a hit. It was the only Top 40 hit for Tricky Disco, but not the only one for it's members. They would return to the charts in 1996 as Technohead with "I Want To Be A Hippy".

Verdict - Good

21. Little Angels - She's A Little Angel (New)

A band called the Little Angels singing about someone else being a little angel. They were one of those bands who were always around in the early 90s but nobody really spoke about, well amongst people I knew anyway. They were a band I liked, but I don't think this song has aged very well. It just doesn't have enough about it to make it good.

Verdict - OK

20. Bell Biv Devoe - Poison

The only Top 40 hit for Bell Biv Devoe. It's members are Ricky Bell, Mike Bivins and Ronnie Devoe who had all been in the charts previously as part of New Edition. Arguably Ralph Tresvant and Bobby Brown were the 2 best known members of New Edition, so what we have is basically the 3 guys in the background. Doesn't sound good on paper, but that's why you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. This tune is probably my favourite of everything I've heard post-New Edition from all it's members. In fact it's better than anything I've heard from New Edition as well.

Verdict - Good

19. The Stone Roses - One Love

I always thought The Stone Roses were overhyped, yet we've had 2 Top 40 hits of theirs feature in 1990 so far and I've liked both of them. This record though is an illustration of why I think they're overhyped. It's just a nothing song. They'd recently played their Spike Island gig so clearly had a large following by this point and it's like they're now popular enough to make any old rubbish and people will like it because it's The Stone Roses.

Verdict - Rubbish

18. Glenn Medeiros ft Bobby Brown - She Ain't Worth It

You see it time and time again with teenage pop singers, they start off with a clean cut image and then they go bad. That's what happened with Glenn Medeiros, except his clean cut image lasted just one song. Then 2 years later he went bad with this record, hooking up with fellow teen singer turned bad boy Bobby Brown. What we end up with is, well quite frankly crap. This would be his final Top 40 hit, his following single was slated on Juke Box Jury later on in the year and predicted to be a miss, which it was.

Verdict - Rubbish

17. New Kids On The Block - Tonight (New)

I thought I was mishearing the lyrics at the time. I was hearing "Hangin Tough" and "The Right Stuff" but I've never been good at making out lyrics so thought I was only hearing those words because of their other hits. Turns out I wasn't mishearing, they are quoting the titles of their other songs. It's the sort of thing you might expect when a group has been around a long time, but it had only been 9 months since they first hit the Top 40. In reality though they formed in 1984 and were now on their 4th album. I don't actually mind this record though.

Verdict - OK

16. Dream Warriors - Wash Your Face In My Sink

What a name for a record. A title like that would perhaps imply this is a novelty record, but it isn't at all. It's the Top 40 debut for Dream Warriors who made jazz influenced rap music. Quite a strange combination admittedly, but the resulting tune is actually quite good.

Verdict - Good

15. Snap! - Oops Up

After Snap! had a number one with "The Power" they didn't disappear until "Rhythm Is A Dancer" in 1992, they had hits in-between. I remember this coming out at the time, but for some reason I don't remember the sound of a squeaky child's toy appearing throughout the tune. I can't help but notice it's presence now and it's bloody irritating which means no matter how good the rest of the music might be, it's unlistenable.

Verdict - Rubbish

14. LFO - LFO

This is one of those records I'd initially heard without knowing what it actually was. I did find out in the early days of me using the internet when I came across a rave website that had a bunch of must hear tunes in the history of the rave scene to listen to on the site and this was one of them. That was very exciting in a pre-YouTube era. I liked this tune so much I ended up buying the "Frequencies" album on which this appears.

Verdict - Good

13. River City People - Carry The Blame / California Dreamin'

A double a-side where I'd say "California Dreamin'" is the best known. That's probably in part to do with the lyrical content of "Carry the Blame" which is to do with abortions. This version of "California Dreamin'" was the first version I'd heard. I thought it was ok, but when I heard the original version I thought this cover sounded pretty crap in comparison. "Carry the Blame" is alright, but nothing special.

Verdict - OK / OK

12. FAB ft MC Parker - Thunderbirds Are Go

Before "Toytown Techno" became a thing, we had this in the charts which is the same idea. There is nothing good about this record at all, it's so poor that it doesn't even sound as cheesy as its supposed to.

Verdict - Rubbish

11. Prince - Thieves In The Temple (New)

Prince was an artist I got to like though listening to the Top 40 countdown. The previous year, the first song I taped off the Top 40 without any assistance from my parents was "Batdance". My favourite of his song's from the Batman film was "Arms Of Orion", which was his most recent single at the time. The standard had been set, but unfortunately this didn't meet it so I was quite disappointed. However I did start to like it eventually.

Verdict - Good

10. Roxette - It Must Have Been Love

The 2nd Top 40 hit for Roxette, which came over a year after their first, though they tried and failed to reach the Top 40 with a couple of single in between. Their first hit "The Look" was mainly sang by Per Gessle, but in this one Marie Fredriksson takes the lead with just the occasional backing vocals from Per. This was another song I used to hear on a daily basis thanks to the person giving me a lift to school playing Now 18 every day. I like a bit of Roxette though.

Verdict - Good

9. Technotronic ft Ya Kid K - Rockin' Over The Beat

As it happens the rest of the music isn't up to much either.It's Technotronic again, with their 4th Top 40 hit. I doubt many people realised they had many, but this wasn't exactly an obscure one that scraped into the Top 40, it made the Top 10. The fact this record is long forgotten makes it alright, if I heard it too often I may think otherwise.

Verdict - OK

8. Soup Dragons ft Junior Reid - I'm Free

This song taught me the drawbacks of buying a single. I didn't buy it myself, but I knew somebody who did. We were going somewhere in his mums car and he played this single both there and back. The problem was there was just this song and the b-side on the tape so it only lasted about 7 minutes and the car journey was a lot longer than that. Needless to say I was completely sick of the song by the end of it. Fortunately 30 years have passed since then so it's given me enough time to appreciate it for what it is. It's a cover of the Rolling Stones song done in a 90s Madchester style, except Soup Dragons aren't from Manchester, they're from Scotland.

Verdict - Good

7. Craig McLachlan And Check 1-2 - Mona

There was no escaping Craig McLachlan in 1990, first you'd see him in Neighbours, then you'd see him in Home and Away, then he'd be on Top of the Pops singing this. I always thought singing about building a house next door was ridiculous, unless Mona lived out in the middle of nowhere it's most likely there would already be a house next door to her. What I didn't realise at the time was that it's a cover. It's originally by Bo Diddley and it's a song covered by the Rolling Stones on their first album. Still, it's a pretty dreadful song.

Verdict - Rubbish

6. Blue Pearl - Naked In The Rain

Here we have the bass player from an 80s band making a name for himself in the dance music world. It isn't Norman Cook though, it's Youth, formerly of Killing Joke. This reminds me of a school trip I went on to the Science Museum around this time. Not sure why, maybe it came on the radio on the bus. Anyway, good tune.

Verdict - Good

5. MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This

Love it or hate it, you can't deny the impact this record has had on the world. Whenever someone shouts "stop", many people no doubt at least think "hammer time". I did like this at the time, but since then it's been played to death, plus I've gone through a period of being really into rap music of a more controversial nature and resenting more party rap music like this. On that basis it gets an ok.

Verdict - OK

4. Elton John - Sacrifice / Healing Hands

I once went to a quiz on holiday where we were asked what Elton Johns first number one was. I knew this was his first solo number one, but said "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" because he never said solo, but the official answer was "Sacrifice", whether he'd have taken "Healing Hands" as an answer, who knows. Anyway enough of crap quizmasters, what about the songs? Both were released as separate singles in 1989 and both failed to reach the Top 40, but the double a-side made number one. This was actually the record that taught me what a double a-side was. The most played of the two was "Sacrifice" and I always quite liked that record. I got a bit confused when one week on Top of the Pops when they played "Healing Hands" instead, but that's how I learned about double a-sides. Not too keen on "Healing Hands" though to be honest.

Verdict - Good / Rubbish

3. DNA ft Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner

I remember misreading the title of this record at the time as Tom's Dinner and thought fancy naming a record after somebodies dinner. The original title of this was "Oh Suzanne" as it's a remix by DNA of a Suzanne Vega record. I never knew any of this at the time, but I always thought it was a great record and I've since heard the original, and think this is better.

Verdict - Good

2. Madonna - Hanky Panky

I don't think I've heard this record since 1990, I guess the sheer quantity of Madonna hits means there's bound to be a number that you don't hear anymore. I'd happily wait another 30 years until I hear it again, I thought it was crap at the time and my opinion hasn't changed.

Verdict - Rubbish

1. Partners In Kryme - Turtle Power

Given the amount of rap music you get in the charts these days, it's hard to think that it actually got off to quite a slow start commercially in the UK. It had been 11 years since the Sugarhill Gang gave us the first rap Top 40 hit, but finally we get the first rap number one. Few would have predicted the first rap number one would be about a kids TV show. Like pretty much every boy of my age, I loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I liked this record for that very reason. Do I still like it though? Well it is pretty awful, but there is that novelty factor so it gets the ok.

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 18/30, or 62%. I'd still say the scores in 1990 are pretty consistent.