Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 27 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Friday.
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 1997 with my verdict on each record:
Keith Sweat is another example of a big name who hasn't really had much of a UK Top 40 career. This was his 4th and final Top 40 hit to date and his 2nd highest charting at number 30. This ones a bit slow for my liking, but it isn't bad.
Verdict - OK
When I reviewed "Tricky Kid" I mentioned it being from a difficult second album that was always going to struggle to live up to his debut. This record however is Tricky back to his best in my opinion. It wouldn't sound out of place on his debut album.
Verdict - Good
The final Top 40 hit to date for Michelle Gayle and this record meant her pop career went on for longer than fellow Eastender Sean Maguire, just. At least she wasn't trying to make an Oasis record like Sean Maguire or many others for that matter. Still don't like the tune though.
Verdict - Rubbish
27. Kenickie - Nightlife (New)
The band that Lauren Laverne was in before anyone had heard of her were no one hit wonders. Here's their 2nd Top 40 hit which is just as bad as their first, but just not as remembered. Fortunately their remaining hits never made the Top 30 so this is the last time they'll feature.
Verdict - Rubbish
I remember Faithless in their own words said they were an experimental group. The first records I heard of theirs, "Insomnia" and "Salva Mea" were pretty similar to each other but different to anything else. This record though was a complete change in comparison and do recall being somewhat disappointed when I first heard it. It's not a bad record, but the problem with being experimental is that you can't get it right all the time.
Verdict - OK
The 4th Top 40 hit for the Spice Girls and their 4th number one and last single from their debut album. "Mama" is marketing in a way for ones mother to approve of their child listening to the Spice Girls and "Who Do You Think You Are" was the comic relief single. It was a win win situation for them, but musically it was still shit.
Verdict - Rubbish / Rubbish
This record caught my attention at the time because their was a happy hardcore DJ at the time called Supreme so I wondered if it was his record in the Top 40. Then I heard it and thought what the fuck is this. I then found out it was a different DJ Supreme.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the 2nd single to be take from their self titled album which was 2 minutes long and reached number 2 in the charts. It would have no doubt topped the charts if it was the first single to be released from the album as Blur achieved that anyway with a record that's not as well remembered. Like Supergrass were doing, they are going for a harder sound here but like Supergrass it really isn't hard enough to be effective in my opinion.
Verdict - Rubbish
After hitting the Top 10 for the first time earlier on in the year with a live version of "Satan" making number 3, Orbital followed up with another number 3 record called "The Saint". It was taken from the film of the same name which would have helped. However Orbital were possibly the best at making big beat versions of older tunes.
Verdict - Good
When this follow up to "Say What You Want" hit the Top 10 it was a sign the comeback for Texas wasn't a one off and they were here to stay. In fact they'd only fail to reach the Top 10 once for the remainder of the decade. It's an improvement over it's predecessor, but still not to my liking.
Verdict - Rubbish
The Top 40 debut for Sash! and the record he's best known for. I have mixed feelings about this record. At first I wrote it off as being cheesy commercial crap, but it did start to grow on me after a while. When you consider some of the dreadful music this no doubt inspired though it's hard to truly like it.
Verdict - OK
If I was to pick the most bland and generic dance record of the 90s then this would be a strong candidate. It was the Top 40 debut for D:Ream and their biggest hit and possibly the only hit many people remembered. They had a few more equally bland hits though.
Verdict - Rubbish
18. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Vapors (New)
One thing that's actually quite unusual from the world of rap is a cover, but this is one of them. It was originally by Biz Markie, though there are some tweaks to the lyrics in there. I own all of Snoop Dogg's earlier albums and like most of what I've heard of his, but I find this one pretty average if I'm honest.
Verdict - OK
U2 topped the charts earlier on in the year with "Discotheque" and then their "Pop" album came out. Many consider this the dodgy period for U2, but this never stopped people buying their records with this making number 3 despite the album already being out. This record does sound a bit more like U2 of old though so maybe those who bought it were those who wanted that and not their new experimental album. Still not to my liking though.
Verdict - Rubbish
No Doubt seemed to just come out of nowhere with this record. I remember thinking who the fuck are No Doubt and suddenly they were number one. Turns out they'd had a number 38 prior to this. I think they did their best stuff later on in their career, but this ones not bad.
Verdict - OK
It hadn't even been a year since the Fugees took this record to the top of the charts but here we are with a dance cover in the charts. To be fair there were already hardcore and drum & bass versions being played at raves before this. Which leads to the problem, this one isn't as good. Plus what was the point in getting someone else to sing it.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was always the big Daft Punk record before they did "One More Time" which left this in the shadows. As a result though at hasn't suffered from being overplayed as much. It's such a simple tune but very effective.
Verdict - Good
The Lightning Seeds have a bit of a strange Top 40 record. They have a few well known hits but their only Top 10 hit that wasn't "3 Lions" was this which I would call one of their best known ones. It's also their only Top 40 that was a cover, originally being by The Byrds. It's not great if I'm honest.
Verdict - Rubbish
12. James - Tomorrow (New)
This record was written by the band together with Brian Eno. On that basis I feel like there should be another dimension added to this record, but I'm struggling to find it. To me it just sounds a generic James song with nothing really standing out in it.
Verdict - Rubbish
11. Brainbug - Nightmare (New)
I first heard this record on the radio on one of the daytime shows and to be honest I was quite surprised to be hearing it. It really wasn't the sort of record I'd expect to be charting, it just sounded so different to anything else I'd heard before. It then started getting a bit overplayed but listening now it sounds as good as it did back then.
Verdict - Good
It had been a couple of months since The Notorious BIG had been shot dead and this was his first posthumous release. Prior to this he'd had just a solitary number 34 to his name from a Top 40 perspective, but this was no reflection on how popular he was. Personally I can't say I'm a fan of this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
Blackstreet may be best known for "No Diggity" but this was their highest charting Top 40 hit. It uses the same samples as "I Ain't Mad At Cha" by 2Pac. Both records are good in their own way and I own both albums each record appears on.
Verdict - Good
It had been a year since Oasis were last in the charts with the chart topper "Don't Look Back In Anger" but now they were back....oh hang on this isn't Oasis, it's Robbie Williams. I do remember the first time I heard it was mid song on the radio and I genuinely thought it was an Oasis song. I guess its the most convincing Oasis impersonation then, but that's not a good thing.
Verdict - Rubbish
The other Top 40 hit for Republica, though they did have one further Top 40 hit after this and this was also a higher charting hit than "Ready To Go". It follows the same sort of formula as it's predecessor but by no means sounds like an exact replica, so that's a good thing.
Verdict - Good
As the story goes, Shola Ama was singing on the tube one day and was heard by someone in the business which eventually led to this her Top 40 debut. It's a cover of a Turley Richards record made famous by Randy Crawford. I do quite like this record.
Verdict - Good
I had a friend who was also a raver who I used to think just made up things about the rave scene safe in the knowledge nobody had anyway of proving otherwise. One day he had written quite a sizeable list of DJ names, some were ones I was very familiar with and others I thought he'd just made up. One such DJ was DJ Quicksilver. I questioned whether a DJ would really name himself after a brand of clothing. Then it turned out there was such a DJ. When I first heard this record it wasn't what I was expecting. I expected something of the hardcore or drum & bass variety, but this was club music. I still liked it though.
Verdict - Good
4. The Cardigans - Lovefool (New)
When it came to the soundtrack for "Romeo + Juliet" this was seen as the big record from it as opposed to the much better "You and Me Song" by The Wannadies. A very poor choice of record in my opinion, there's nothing to like about this record, it's irritating.
Verdict - Rubbish
3. 911 - Bodyshakin' (New)
With East 17 now out of the picture, 911 were the biggest active UK boy band at this point. They were perhaps overshadowed by Irelands Boyzone and Americas Backstreet Boys though. The solution for taking on the latter was to basically make a Backstreet Boys record. It worked though as this is the record they're best known for. It's shit though.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the main song from Space Jam and I asked the question why do they always have ballads for cartoon films. That said, I did think this ballad was much better than your average ballad so not a bad choice really.
Verdict - Good
This was the 7th and final number one to date for Michael Jackson. Naming all 7 of his number ones would be pretty difficult to do, whilst many would guess "Billie Jean" how many would guess "One Day In Your Life"? More to the point who would name this record? No doubt this is the most obscure number one of his but it was a time where it seemed the artist was more important than the record when it came to succeeding in the charts. He's teamed back up with Teddy Riley here, but it's a pretty poor record.
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 11.5/30, or 38%. The inevitable drop after going above 50% last week.
