Hi All,

 

Consider this as keeping my metaphorical seat warm. Following on from my review of the 1980's number two hits (which can be found here 80s Reviews ) this will be where we turn our attention to the 90s hits- they will all be here- from dance to britpop, bubblegum pop to boybands, all wrapped up in pre millennium nostalgia- buckle up the 90s have just begun, Margaret Thatcher is the Prime Minister, there was no BSKYB, and S/A/W still ruled the airwaves......within 12 months all of that was to change.

 

If you thought that not much happened in the 90s compaired to the 80s then you'd be wrong- it was every bit as exciting, hopefully this thread will prove it. I went from a spotty 13 yr old to a clubbing crazy 23 year old, did my GCSE's, A-Levels, and got my degree, finishing with a move to Brighton and a masters by the decade end- there are pop casualities lying all around by the end of the decade but hell- it's a joyous ride- hope you enjoy!............... :yahoo:

Edited January 13, 201213 yr by Gezza76

Excellent stuff. :D

 

No doubt I'll be able to post my thoughts on the tracks as we go along as I'll know every single one of these tracks (to some extent or another).

10TH FEBRUARY 1990- GET UP (BEFORE THE NIGHT IS OVER)- Technotronic Featuring Ya Kid K (2 Weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/13/Get_up_!_(before_the_night_is_over).jpg

 

1990 is, musically, a gritty year, it's quite a dark year as well, the emergence of Dance music as a major chart force had been brewing since the mid 80s and 1990 is when it made its intentions clear. It is also coincidently one of the best musically, in my opinion, the bright and breezy daytime pop that had dominated for the last 3 years took a decidedly sinister turn, or perhaps the opposition to it became more fierce, but these are general meanderings. "Get Up" is a FAR better record than the deeply annoying "Pump Up The Jam" or perhaps I mean a more traditional record. It has verses and chorus's i'm back in my comfort zone it's safe to say, and a record that I liked back when it was released, I admit the record has more than a passing resemblance to "Pump Up The Jam" but it is that records more commercial brother and indeed only stopped from topping the chart by the juggernaught that was Sinead O'Connor.

 

I didn't mind their 1990 hits to be frank, there was never going to be any kind of longevity about them, faceless dance music was blamed at the time for poor sales in the music industry, and whilst I don;t buy that 100% it was certainly a factor and Technotronic are an example of that, Ya Kid being the "face" of the group if you like. However they were deemed to be a big enough act to support Madonna that ywar as her Blond Ambbition Tour rolled into Europe but now we're getting ahead of ourselves. Not a bad start to the decade and certainly better than.......

 

Edited September 29, 201113 yr by gezza76

10TH MARCH- BRITS 1990- Various Artists (2 weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/11063.jpg

 

Really I'm surprising they didn't do this every year but back in 1990 the organisers of the BRITS thought it would be a good idea to put out this megamix presumably to a) evidence the growing influence of dance music on mainstream pop and b) to capitalise on the clear market for medley's as demonstrated by the success of Jive Bunny in 1989. Out of interest the tracks are:

 

Double Trouble & Rebel MC - Street Tuff

A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray

S'Express - Theme From S'Express

Beatmasters - Hey DJ I Can't Dance

Jeff Wayne - Eve Of The War

808 State - Pacific State

D Mob - We Call It Acieed

Cookie Crew - Got To Keep On

 

and yes some of them are 1988 hits! Anyway there isn't much to say it is what it is- not something I would choose to listen to again, but it has to be said though it was nice hearing it for the first time in years. Reminds me of school days and wearing Paisley Shirts, shell suits, hooded tops. In our school at least a kind of hippyness was in style wise- I blame Madchester personally- this time around mixed with materialism obviously, a curious mixture really but 1990 is one of those years but we'll put this one down to a late new year hangover.....

 

Edited September 6, 201113 yr by gezza76

The Techonotronic tracks have aged surprisingly well I think, I still very much enjoy both Pump Up The Jam and Get Up. Great examples of the genre at the time.

I will try and comment this time, I'm likely to know most of these better as it was the decade I was born :P

10TH FEBRUARY 1990- GET UP (BEFORE THE NIGHT IS OVER)- Technotronic Featuring Ya Kid K (2 Weeks)

 

I agree with Dandy* that the Technotronic tracks have aged well. I think the producers were way ahead of their time with those really chunky beats that kick the song along. I thought 'Get Up' was brilliant at the time but I'd say 'Pump Up The Jam' is more famous track these days.

 

10TH MARCH- BRITS 1990- Various Artists (2 weeks)

 

I couldn't remember this at all from the time and only discovered this last year ( :o ) when they did that Best UK #2s of The 90s and thus seeing in the 1990's game, I decided to listen. Well, it's good for what it is. Personally I'd rather just listen to 'Street Tuff' by Rebel MC in its entirety.

 

"(yeah! hey!) everybody shake your stuff, (yeah! hey!) the rebel's here and he's street tuff" *.*

I have always liked Technotronic tbh!

24TH MARCH- LOVE SHACK- The B-52's (3 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/Loveshack.jpg

 

Ok unpopular opinion here but I REALLY don't lilke "Love Shack" maybe for the same reasons I dislike Madness. It has a sense of false jollity, the wakyness/ crazyness that grates, like when you're at uni and one of your new friends invites a friend from home that is really "Crazy"- you rarely agree with them in a positive sense! I didn't immediately dislike this record but the hatred grew after months of being overplayed, having said all of that (and not wishing to appear like a miserable sod) I can see the attraction that it holds for some. It's a mindless "feelgood" record, and those records have their place and time, indeed the song made No 1 i the US, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand amongst others yet I suspect it just doesn't have anything beyond that emotion, thusly it's rather an empty one dimensional record to my ears.

 

There are times within the records when the vocal style and slant/ accent on certain words becomes annoying and gimmicky, certainly I felt so at the time, yet having listened to the first time in some years I have to conceed that it has stood the test of time rather well, well better than some we will meet from 1990 but it's never gonna be a record I will ever come to love.....

 

Edited September 7, 201113 yr by gezza76

21ST APRIL- BLACK VELVET- Alannah Myles (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0c/Alannah_Myles_Black_Velvet_Cover.jpg

 

How to sell sex on vinyl? well this lady could give a masterclass- coming out of Canada like a female Elvis I recall Myles looking quite exotic and vampish for 1990, that's no bad thing and "Black Velvet" was the perfect record to project this image of sex siren, it's a song about Elvis Presley actually- "Black Velvet" was apparently the tone of hair dye he used on his normally brown hair to give that black hue, and the song focuses on his effects on fans.

 

It's a song delivered with panache, flair, and conviction, it's sold on that allure of slow sensual sex (steady on) there are overtones of smoke filled jazz clubs etc, it's all a heady mix and a rare combination of when record and singer come together perfectly (there will be another instance coming up very soon of this) but I feel that this is a bit of an underrated track these days and certainly my favourite of 1990 so far.....

 

Edited September 7, 201113 yr by gezza76

5TH MAY- OPPOSITES ATTRACT- Paula Abdul Duet with the Wild Pair (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1a/Paula_abdul_opposites_attract_single.jpg

 

Somewhat incredibly this was Abdul's 4th US chart topper, thankfully we've never quite fallen for the charms of her in quite the same way and this remains her biggest hit this side of the pond. It's a duet between Abdul, Marv Gunn and Bruce DeShazer, and in an odd way sums up Paula Abdul's career rather aptly. It's superficially pleasing and eye catching, and somehow manages to come across as more than it actually is. Abdul never really struck me as a pop star, she's a dancer who decided that she could dance better than the pop stars she choreographered (if that's a word) so why shouldn't she sing too? Fair enough "Straight Up" is a decent track, but 1991's "Rush Rush" is largely laughable as Abdul tries the mini movie video and ropes in Keanu Reeves to give the pop promo some gravitas, all of which fails miserably.

 

Somewhere between these two extremes is "Opposites Attract", a song about, well opposites attracting really, and it's rather like a McDonalds meal- it fills you for the time you're watching it but immediately after consuming you feel like you got nothing from it- moreover this is also painfully 80s in production and sound- I know it's only 1990 and I can't be expecting ATB or the Vengaboys but this is like Paula never got invited to that New Year's eve bash that happened 5 months prior. Furthermore I really don't buy her as a sex symbol, and for a female solo act in a market place post Madonna this was always gonna be a drawback, even with acts who clearly could belt it out (Whitney and Mariah for instance) they were selling sex as well as their voice, there is just something too mumsy about her.

 

In conclusion not a bad song certainly but not something I'd listen to now.....

 

 

Edited September 8, 201113 yr by gezza76

12TH MAY- DIRTY CASH- The Adventures Of Stevie V (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/10958.jpg

 

Now compare this to "Opposites Attract"- see that difference? THIS is how 1990 sounded my friends. The pursuit of money isn't a new phenomenon new to the 80s or 90s but that was certainly when to openly want and desire it became socially desireable and acceptable, "Dirty Cash" can be read be read in such a sociological manner, consumerism under the spotlight- late Thatcerism's hunger laid bare for all to see its lyrics telling "I've no excuse, I just want you to use me/ Take me and abuse me/ I got no taboos, I'll make a trade with you/ Do anything you wa-ant me to" in a way it says everything about what pop had become as well. It's the downside to what Madonna had been selling in such a new controversial manner ever since that romp in Venice called "Like A Virgin", well maybe not the downslide but the same tale from a different angle.

 

"I once had pride, now that's all behind/ I want to get rich quick/I want success and all that goes with it/ And I'm gonna use my sex" was really what the pop world had become by 1990 and what it remains today, it forewarns of the "Heat" culture we have now where celebrity is all and the pursuit of fame is an end in itself- it is a linear link between the 80s and the 2010's that remains unbroken. Of course it's just a dance record yes, but it has a tale to tell, and for me, that's what makes this a superb record over and above the Snap!/ Technotronic acts that were dance 90 otherwise. That deep male voice that utters "I want your money" adds an ominious tone to the record as well, there is no doubt that it is a record that conveys the focus and determination of greed as well, in fact has so many layers that I can't really speak highly enough for the record, which makes Dizzee Rascal's "appropriation" of this song on the one hand annoying, whilst on the other entirely correct in its application to modern day culture.....

 

Edited January 17, 201213 yr by Gezza76

I'm loving this, I bought so many of these! I adored Love Shack, it is completely fake but it's wonderful for nights out - it was also the first single I ever bought for myself, I remember getting it from the local independent record shop and being attracted to it's fluorescent yellow cover, it very much appealed to the 10 year old version of me!

 

I bought that Paula Abdul song too, it was all about the cartoon cat in the video - it used to look so professional at the time, I can't believe how shoddy it actually does look though! :o

 

Dirty Cash and Black Velvet are both classics, I've always thought 1990 was quite a good year for music (the odd novelty track aside) so I'll be intrigued to see what else comes up.

24TH MARCH- LOVE SHACK- The B-52's (3 weeks)

 

I guess I'm the complete opposite to Gezza with 'Love Shack'. it's quite clearly kitsch and verging on novelty but I think it's a great track and it certainly did well to hold at #2 for three weeks. If the video comes on one of the music channels, I don't mind listening to this.

 

21ST APRIL- BLACK VELVET- Alannah Myles (2 weeks)

 

This song really does sound like the musical equvilant of sex. :lol: That midtempo chugging with a slight swing rock drum with that bassline in the intro. The added touch of some Texan style guitars twangling away. Alannah was pretty much the Shania Twain of 1990. Without checking, I'm not sure if Alannah Myles had any more hit singles. I regard her as one of those "one hit wonders" because in this case she is only famous for one monster hit - and nothing else. Liked this at the time but being 9 year old, I doubt it was ever regarded as my fave song in the charts. Pop and dance pretty much led the way for me in 1990...

 

5TH MAY- OPPOSITES ATTRACT- Paula Abdul Duet with the Wild Pair (1 week)

 

...and this is a classic example of pop that I loved at the time. :D There's an old cassette somewhere that me and my neice did on my sisters karaoke machine. This is one of the songs we did - my neice singing the Paula Abdul bits, and me attempting my best faux-American style rapping. :lol: Yes, listening to a 9 year old trying to rap like an American is quite comical. :D I also agree with Dandy* that the animation at the time seemed brilliant - I'm sure I would've seen the video on either TOTP or The Chart Show and being fascinated by it.

 

12TH MAY- DIRTY CASH- The Adventures Of Stevie V (1 week)

 

'Dirty Cash' is a song I like more now than I did at the time. It clearly wasn't a song aimed at my age group so I guess had I been 8 years older, I'd have loved this song in 1990. For me, the type of dance music I liked in 1990 came courtesy of Technotronic and Snap!

19TH MAY- BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW- Kylie Minogue (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e3/Betterthedevilyouknow.jpg

 

I read a little time ago a description of this track as "A Classic only to gay men", and I thought why is it that the gays love this song? Thematically it's nothing new in the pantheon of 80s Kylie tracks, the idea of girl sticking by a guy who's no good for her was seen in "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi", "Wouldn't Change A Thing" or "Hand On Your Heart" but what has changed are two fundamental points. Firstly this is the point at which S/A/W turn the direction of Minogue's career away from the pre teen audience and towards the dancefloor, this is important as of course it alters the demographic for the record and the ability of her "old" audience to hear the record in the environment it was designed for. Of course it still sounded good on the radio and was enriched with same pop sensibility that her other hits did, but this is the first "evolution" of Kylie if you like, this was both timely and in another way necessary. Kylie had obviously had her detractors since she released her first record in 1988, but by and large there had been wholesale support and indulgence for her star and career by the British public up until 1990, but this was the year that the voices of the detractors started to triumph over the supporters and this was the second change. It happens to all pop stars, the first couple of years you can do little wrong and then you can do nothing right (Lady Gaga fans take note) the "honeymoon" period wears off, and this is where Minogue was in 1990.

 

Her new found position as no longer flavour of month and as the underdog made her perfect fodder for the gay community, always one to clutch tragedy to their hearts, and the fall from grace gave truth to what was the initial lie of those early hits and images which S/A/W had cleverly tried to make of Minogue as wronged innocence. At this point when the mainstream audience was on the turn Minogue (at least seemed) to turn to the gay audience and to the HI-NRG disco's and say "This is for you" and it worked a dream, though Top 10 hits would follow Kylie would miss the top 5 with her next 4 singles- unthinkable previously- and actually that's a shame as those singles include the almost perfect pop nugget of "What Do I Have To Do", but Disco Kylie had arrived and she wanted credibility- the price paid was sales.

 

"Better The Devil You Know" is one of the most sophisticated and distinct things S/A/W penned, the start of the record is instantly recognisable, the lyrics more adult than had previously been thought possible from them, and more importantly it actually had SEX in it- for the first time you can believe that Minogue knows, I mean first hand, the situation she is singing about- it's almost like a revelation, and a bit of a let down- THESE are the kind of records she could have been making since 1988. This newfound grittyness also contributes to the darker tone of 1990, a year wanting change and frustrated at not getting it, but in short I think this is why it is considered as a "gay" classic- if you accept the term. It marks the moment that she first makes a record aimed at them, she embraces them, acknowledges, and says "I'm making records primarily for you- but that's our secret" and one thing gay culture loves is when it can have a secret laugh at the hetties!

 

For all of this though BTDYK is also a kind of goodbye- a goodbye to the period when gay culture ruled the pop charts and dominated mainstream culture in what I consider a delightfully subverse and sublime way- sublime because in the light of the AIDS epidemic it had to be, in this way the record emulates the bittersweet nature of what it represents, like Byron said "All farewell's should be sudden"....

 

Edited September 9, 201113 yr by gezza76

16TH JUNE- STEP BY STEP- New Kids On The Block (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/Step_by_Step_single_cover.jpg

 

Previously I had understood boybands and teen screams- I could see the appeal, stricking video's for example, or good looks, or the pushing of boundaries, Wham!, Duran Duran, A-ha!, Bros, Kylie & Jason, Adam & The Ants, I had watched them come and go. I confess the appeal of NKTOB always passed me by- but I remember the girls liking them- boy did they like them! I remember a female friend of mine coming to school one day saying she had left instructions with her mother to call and get tickets that day for them in concert which she never got and actually came into school the next day crying! :lol: I never understood why- even compared to Bros they looked pedestrian and prone to the kind of syrupy pop that Cliff would be jealous of- yet in 1990 they acquired no less than 8 top 10 hits and sold more singles than any other act, during that year I recall liking "Cover Girl" and that's about it from them. They seemed to be a pardoy of the genre almost, they had the cute one (Joey apparently) the cool sophisticated one that could actually sing (Jordan Knight) and the joker/ bad boy (Donny Wahlberg) perhaps the downfall was that previous "phenomenon" in my life had been british or at least European- this was new, a US import, the appeal may have been lost mid-atlantic.

 

"Step By Step" is on the list as it was the first single from as yet to be released second album so when it debuted at No 2 in June it was widely tipped to top the charts the following week, the only explanation I can think of as to why it didn't is that it really isn't good. The kind of daytime pop that wouldn't have looked out of place in 1987 or 1988 but it seemed VERY dated over here, even at the time. The group were conceived by Maurice Starr as a white version of New Edition (who hit No 1 in 1983 with "Candy Girl") and had formed back in 1984 emerging in the late 80s in the US before being pushed over here in 1989, depressingly generic is the way I'd sum them up and "Step By Step" represents that appropriately. Haven't heard this in years and there is a reason for that!...

 

Edited September 9, 201113 yr by gezza76

30TH JUNE- NESSUN DORMA- Luciano Pavarotti (3 weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/11291.jpg

 

Oh dear- I'm no Opera buff so I'm hardly qualified to say whether this is technically a great performance or not. "Nessun Dorma" (or "None shall sleep" in English) is an aria from Puccini's "Turandot" but its appearance on this list is thanks to that great sporting event the World Cup, which was staged that year in, surprise surprise, Italy. The sight of Gazza's tears would become one of the images of 1990 and a new found place in the heart of the nation would be demonstrated in this thread again by the end of the year, suffice it to say that Pavarotti never again made the top 3 in the UK singles chart again, but it's a snapshot of the football crazy summer of 1990.

 

There can be no doubt about the lungs on Pavarotti, don't really have a clue what he's singing about, but its use as the music used by the BBC for its Italia 90 coverage allowed the singer greater exposure beyond the classical world than he could have dreamt of......

 

Edited September 10, 201113 yr by gezza76

21ST JULY- MONA- Craig Mclachlan & Check 1-2 (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/11294.jpg

 

Covering a 1957 Bo Diddley B-Side doesn't sound like a recipe for success but back in 1990 Craig McLachlan dumped Ramsey Street and Neighbours and took to the charts with "Mona". It's a catchy little number that's hard to dislike but then it's equally hard to love. From Neighbours to popstar was by this time a cliche that seemed lost of McLachlan, the mercy is that this was his sole top 10 hit over here, it's not that "Mona" is a bad song or a bad version, just that it gives no kind of direction or clue as to what Mclachlan as popstar is all about- that's the problem. There is no stamp of personality on this, almost like this is a punt to see if he has any chance at being a star, in a way he enforces the stereotype of aussies, happy go lucky, optimistic, and affable.

 

The decision to withdraw the single whilst it was in the top 10 to promote his next hit "Amanda" must irk now as that song made No 19 whilst "Mona sank quickly 7-13-33-71 thus shortening the lifespan of what would become his biggest hit, "Mona"'s biggest crime is therefore benality, it's not a lot of record really to get your teeth into so perhaps it's asking for too much but really this is quite forgettable.....

 

Edited September 10, 201113 yr by gezza76

19TH MAY- BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW- Kylie Minogue (2 weeks)

 

For me, this is probably S/A/W's finest hour. A pop song from 1990 that, imo, has aged very well compared to a lot of the other S/A/W tracks released in 1990. Clearly the infleucnes of early dance music really set this song apart and indeed led to a more mature Kylie growing up. It was surely going to happen eventually and this song was the turning point. From 'Tears On My Pillow' to this. I do think it's a shame this this is now categorised as a "gay anthem" which whilst it clearly is, they're not the only ones who still think this is a brilliant slice of pop music. Kylie's more mature sound was perhaps to a bit TOO grown up for her loyal fans who were most likely still at school. I can see why Kylie would want credibility to sustain her career (which turned alright in the end :D ) so like Gezza says it's a shame that tracks like 'What Do I Have To Do' struggled to make the top 5. All in all, this is fine moment of pop that sounds as good today as it did in 1990.

 

16TH JUNE- STEP BY STEP- New Kids On The Block (1 week)

 

This, on the other hand, never sounded good. :lol: Like Bros, NKOTB were another of those male groups that I just didn't like as a kid. The type of act if they performed on TOTP, I would go get a drink. :D I honestly can't think of a single NKOTB song I genuinely like, or liked even. 'You Got It (The Right Stuff)' is the predictable choice but I guess this would be fave of theirs. 'Hanging Tough' was dreadful. :puke:

 

30TH JUNE- NESSUN DORMA- Luciano Pavarotti (3 weeks)

 

Play this to 9 year old me and I would yawn and say "turn it off, it's boring" showing the depth of my musical knowledge in 1990. Play this to 30 year old me and I will quite happily listen and this is one of those "goosebump" songs. Pavarotti's powerful vocals really make the song. A track that builds as it progresses ending in the massive climax when Pavarotti hits the big note and the orchestra finishes the song in fine style. I'd much rather listen to this version that the Disney-esque "nice" version Joe McElderry has recently released on his second album.

 

21ST JULY- MONA- Craig Mclachlan & Check 1-2 (1 week)

 

Blame Neighbours but I actually loved this back in 1990. :lol: :blush: Of course it's crass and utter nonsense but to a 9 year old who watched Neighbours religiously every evening, it was the perfect song from the...erm...coolest (?) lad from the Aussie soap. It's definitely not a song I'd choose to listen to these days out of choice but regardless it holds childhood memories.

I have to admit I'm no 'opera buff' either :P but I love Nessun Dorma, it's just such a powerful and breathtaking performance that I don't think anyone who's covered it has matched :wub: as you said, it was the song which really gained him the 'legend' status as it crossed over (and appealed to) a mainstream audience, as well as classical