6TH NOVEMBER- PLEASE FORGIVE ME- Bryan Adams (3 weeks)

 

At this point in 1993 I only cared for one song. That song was sitting pretty at #1 in the form of Meat Loaf. :lol: Yes, I actually really liked 'I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)' so much that when I got my first cd player for my 13th birthday (at this point was still 2 months away) that was the first cd single I bought. :D As for 'Please Forgive Me', the only thing that made the video interesting was the dog. Without the dog wandering around, this would've been one seriously dull song. The song itself is ok in a "background music" kinda way. Not exactly aimed at the 12 year olds of the time.

 

27TH NOVEMBER- TRUE LOVE- Elton John & Kiki Dee (2 weeks)

 

Another song that wasn't aimed at my age group was 'True Love' although there are elements to this song I quite like. It does sound very Christmasy (is that a word?) especially the opening verse. Makes you wonder how well this would've done had it been released a couple of weeks later. I much prefer 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' if we're going to compare Elton & Kiki collaborations.

 

29TH JANUARY 1994- ALL FOR LOVE- Bryan Adams/ Sting/ Rod Stewart (1 week)

 

So by this week of 1994 I had turned 13 years old. My cd player was officially the best thing I had at the time. :wub: Meat Loaf's 4 month old single had just gained another sale thanks to me. :P However, this wasn't even coming close to me buying it. Like 'Please Forgive Me', it's the type of song I would've happily listened to during the top 40 countdown on Sundays but not a song I'd listen out of choice. Then again, I remember early 1994 being a draught for great new music. In fact, I'd say my fave track from this period was 'The Sign' by Ace Of Base as it was already charting in Europe so the video got played a lot on MTV Europe. It wasn't given a UK releaed for another few weeks iirc.

 

5TH FEBRUARY- BREATHE AGAIN- Toni Braxton (2 weeks)

 

Pleasant enough but even back in 1994 it sort of baffled me as to why this song was so successful. I like Toni Braxton and whilst I'm sure others will probably disagree, her finest moment came in late 1996 (I shall come back to this later on in this thread :D ) but 'Breathe Again' was just one of those songs that were there and didn't really do anything for me. I'd describe the song as inoffensive(ly MOR). :D

But Hits- have you sorted out your drinking problem now we're in 1994? :D :o

But Hits- have you sorted out your drinking problem now we're in 1994? :D :o

 

What are you suggesting Mr Gezza? :D

 

I'll have you know in 1994 I was drinking that fine drink they call...Tango. :lol:

 

Thinking about it, I guess I was either 12 or 13 when I had my first pint.

What are you suggesting Mr Gezza? :D

 

I'll have you know in 1994 I was drinking that fine drink they call...Tango. :lol:

 

Thinking about it, I guess I was either 12 or 13 when I had my first pint.

Haha- well I know you "went and got a drink" often in the 80s and early 90s- was just wondering if you'd calmed down at the ripe age of 13? :D

 

Think I was on Baileys by 94, the two dogs and hooch was still to come in 95/96! :o

Haha- well I know you "went and got a drink" often in the 80s and early 90s- was just wondering if you'd calmed down at the ripe age of 13? :D

 

Think I was on Baileys by 94, the two dogs and hooch was still to come in 95/96! :o

 

:lol: In the "good ol' days" on the late 80s, when I "got a drink" I was of course referring to Nesquik milkshake - it was all the rage then, and still is with kids today.

 

Hmm, by the time I was 18 I was a John Smiths Smooth drinker with the occasional Cheeky Vimto for good measure. :lol:

5TH MARCH- THE SIGN- Ace Of Base (3 weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/13717.jpg

 

Ah Ace of Base, lovely Ace Of Base, I loved them back in 1993/94, so much so that I even bought the album on the strength of the first 2 singles "All That She Wants" and "Wheel Of Fortune", but by the end of 93 the album and the band looked destined for the dumper when third single failed to make top 40. It was America that saved them, where this track went to No 1 and made the UK take another look. Indeed it can be argued that whilst the album bombed here (7 weeks in the charts and peaking at No 21), it prevented mass exposure to "The Sign" so that when the record label deleted the album it made the single appear to all intents and purposes as a "new" single.

 

We like our scandanavian groups to have two girls (one blonde, one brunette) and two boys, it seems to work for us, and so the endless ABBA comparisons were always rife with this bunch, but AOB were a different proposition, fusing together 1993's great loves, reggae and dance, with pop, it was all great Europop fun really.

 

Wikipedia says this song is about the religious calling that the female protagonist experiences- not sure I concur with that, but "The Sign" is pleasing enough, for me though the highlight of their discography will always be the near pop perfection of 1998's "Always Have, Always Will"...

 

Edited October 20, 201113 yr by gezza76

2ND APRIL- STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA- Bruce Springsteen (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c2/Streets_of_Philadelphia.jpg

 

Proving that when done right, social commentary and pop music can be pulled off with hard hitting accuracy. This was the theme to the film "Philadelphia" a story of the AIDS epidemic in the US starring Tom Hanks as a gay lawyer who sued his employers for wrongful dismissal on the grounds he had the disease back in the 80s, and was the first mainstream Hollywood film to address the issue. Everything about this song is utterly amazing (a phrase I've never used on here before I assure you) the arrangement of the track is as sparse as the theme, a synthesiser line, a drum beat, and his vocals, yet all together it's a haunting piece that he should be proud to be in his repertoire.

 

The Video is similarly perfect and fitting, the urban environment juxtaposed with children playing and innocence, and Springsteen as the (presumably) AIDS suffering lead role, wondering through this landscape as the cool observer of a society that wishes to bury the issue. It is a song that grabs you from the off, an ominious riff (that the Pet shop boys would be proud off) and the drum beat like a heartbeat rippling through the narrative, and some of that narrative is heart breaking "I walked the avenue till my legs felt like stone/ I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone/ At night I could hear the blood in my veins/ Black and whispering as the rain" is as good a piece of poetry as you'll find in modern pop. Yet for all that it never oversteps the mark, never pulls too hard on the heartstrings, and really the power of the song comes not from what is sung but what is unsung.

 

You can sense you're just getting the tip of the iceberg here from Springsteen, this is an insight, a snapshot, but if you don;t live the life then you'll never really know, and the power of the suggestion, or of what he isn't singing about (the depth or scale of the problem, or the attitude of society) seems all too much to burden the audience with. Leaving to the consumer (so to speak)imagining is far better, it could never be adequately done by Springsteen anyway, and certainly not in a 4 minute pop song, and the fact that he understands all of this, and sets this up as food for thought, rather than a straight story is where he's got this song absolutely right.

 

Springsteen is also the perfect artist to deliver this, manly, gritty, and of course by the mid 80s the all-american man, "Born In The USA" was almost used in President Reagan's election campaign, a republican president, until Springsteen expressed a contrary preference, but he had by that stage become very synonomous with middle America, if not its politics. To use him to sing a song which was supposedly about a "gay" plague (as it was termed initially) was just inspired and added gravitas to an already serious message.

 

Fantastic, and for my money, one of the best no 2 hits of the decade!

 

Edited October 20, 201113 yr by gezza76

5TH MARCH- THE SIGN- Ace Of Base (3 weeks)

 

Loved this!!! :wub: Still do in fact. :D This was what me and my mates were listening in early 1994. Just good old fashioned Europop fun, nothing to be taken seriously and a really catchy chorus. One thing I'll always remember is me and some of my mates mimicking the third verse and trying to sing her the blonde one with the "i saw the sign and it opened up my mind and now i'm happy i'm living without you, i left you, oh ohh ohh" and putting on these terribly high pitched voices. Good times!!! :lol:

 

2ND APRIL- STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA- Bruce Springsteen (1 week)

 

If there's one thing I remember about this song it's the intro. It seemed to go on forever (the drum beats that is) before the synths came in. I wasn't really a fan of this song but I guess this was catered to those who saw the film Philledelphia and so I guess without seeing the film, this song wouldn't have had the same type of meaning. It's a song I like more now than I did in 1994 - but I still don't think it's brilliant.

30TH APRIL- MMMM MMMM MMMM- Crash Test Dummies (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/Mmm_mmm_singlecover.jpg

 

The theme of the outsider has always been a fertile one in pop, certain acts have based their whole back catalogue on this notion, Morrissey for instance, whilst it may be fertile creatively it doesn't always result in good sales, it's nice to see that trend bucked with this track.

 

With a start which is not unlike a nursery rhyme, appropriately, before launching into 4 tales of various societal "outsiders", it's a charming little record in actual fact, rather understated, it ain't gonna change the world and after Springteen it seems like a small little tale, but important nonetheless and considerably better than the next record. The vocal is odd, almost baritone in places, lead singer Roberts sings in a tone which isn't exactly varied, and whilst it adds gravity to the message, it doesn't really make it a "feel good" one.

 

Edited October 21, 201113 yr by gezza76

I have to say I've never seen the film Philadelphia so just reading Gezza's commentary has made be realise just how much depth there is to Bruce Sprinsteen's single. I guess being an immature 13 year old, I was never going to understand the song and perhaps because of that, it's a song I've never bothered with since.

 

Maybe if I do see the film, it will make so much more sense (as is what I'd assumed from my initial write up - that being how I remembered the song in 1994). I'm gonna have another listen now with a more opened mind.

11TH JUNE- BABY I LOVE YOUR WAY- Big Mountain (3 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/ca/Big_Mountain_BIYW.jpg

 

 

You know by now this kinda thing isn't my thing so it's not gonna get a fantastic write up. Originally a Peter Frampton 1975 track, this is given a cod reggae makover in a 1994 stylee, I mean it's upbeat enough, cheery in a summer way, but it just leaves me cold, it is however very representative of that summer, a time of Aswad, Ace of Base covering Aswad, Dawn Penn & Red Dragon. In fact it looked like it was gonna be another summer of reggae until Blur and Oasis started to steal the show, but Big Mountain, like the next four tracks in this thread, ran into Wet Wet Wet juggernaught, and now are just another one hit wonder act from the 90s.

 

On the plus side they didn't out stay their welcome, and despite me being thoroughly cheesed off with this song by the end of summer of 94 I don't hate this song now, just don't ask me to listen to it again soon! :D

 

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 201113 yr by gezza76

I have to say I've never seen the film Philadelphia so just reading Gezza's commentary has made be realise just how much depth there is to Bruce Sprinsteen's single. I guess being an immature 13 year old, I was never going to understand the song and perhaps because of that, it's a song I've never bothered with since.

 

Maybe if I do see the film, it will make so much more sense (as is what I'd assumed from my initial write up - that being how I remembered the song in 1994). I'm gonna have another listen now with a more opened mind.

:D It's not a fantastic film, in a way it's a "first stab" so it wasn't really gonna be, but the song makes more sense. :D

2ND JULY- I SWEAR- All-4-One (7 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/All4one-iswear.jpg

 

Until this week this was the song that spent the longest time at No 2 without going higher since the 1960's, it's a dubious claim to fame to be honest, what I fail to understand is how it actually managed it. It's a fairly bog standard ballad by a male harmony vocal group (as Boyz II Men would call the genre) and with the likes of China Black, Warren G & even the mighty Take That about at the same time, it's hard to fathom exactly how this managed to outsell them all. Perhaps there's an element of residual sales from Wet Wet Wet here, people were just more in tune with ballads at this time, and week after week this wa the main opposition to "love Is All Around" so maybe people thought this was their chance to unseat it.

 

"I swear" was actually a country hit first for John Michael Montgomery in early 94 before making the transition to pop and becoming the bands only top 30 UK hit, the question remains when the likes of Take That, East 17, and Bad Boys Inc were hitting the top 10 with the release of almost every hit why did we need this lot? The answer of course lies in credibility- "Cool Britannia" hadn't quite taken of yet, when the UK was confident enough in it's own abilities to be certain to be able to pull everything off, it would be a very different proposition a few years later when the likes of N*Sync, and even the massive Backstreet Boys, would struggle to establish themselves, in short America still equalled cool.

 

20TH AUGUST- CRAZY FOR YOU- Let Loose (2 weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/13955.jpg

 

I'm filing this one under "Guilty pleasure". Yes from when I first heard this song I really liked it, there's something quite 80s about it, I'm unsure if that keyboard riff in the chorus, or the vocal style but i'm taken back to 1985 for some reason. First and foremost it's a cracking tune, toe tappingly great and addictive, with an infectiousness that you may need tablets for, a great summer song and indeed I'm taking right back there. For my sins I was a silver service waiter that year in my first job to drum up spending money for Uni, but not just any old waiter, my mates and I were agency workers going from event to event round the country, Birmingham NEC, Blenheim Palace, Reading ( :lol: ) yes it was a great summer nicking bottles of booze for the drive back home sometimes very early in the morning when the sun was rising- it was a blast. I even served the greats of comedy- Ronnie Corbitt, Rory Bremner, and Tom O'Connor :lol: :D

 

The memories of that time may therefore clud my thoughts on this record but listening to it now I still think it's a top tune worthy of its place on this thread. The greatness they had to begin with didn't extend to everything they touched, only "One Night Stand" and "Best In Me" are really much cop outside of this but "Crazy For You" always reminds me of a great summer when you're young- we all got those songs right?

 

Edited October 22, 201113 yr by gezza76

You know, I quite like the Big Mountain track. It's strangely endearing, the vocals are warm, and rhythmically it's nowhere near as annoying as other tracks of that type. For me, though, the best song of the mid-1990s reggae boom was China Black's Searching - could have easily passed for a good soul hit, that one! (and I didn't even notice you just mentioned it in your All-4-One commentary, ha! :D)

 

Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm is such a terrible song. You were far too kind to it in your review! Worst chorus ever made (I'm sure I read before that the reason the chorus is only humming is because they couldn't think of any lyrics for it :manson: I guess the record label used it as a marketing gimmick) and a terrible throaty voice. Yuck!!! Hate it. In fact, I'm tempted to say it's the worst song to darken this thread as at least some of the other bad ones didn't take themselves so seriously.

 

I like the main melody of I Swear a lot. It's much stronger than most of the songs you mentioned in that respect so I guess that's why it managed to do so well. Plus looking on Chartstats, the top of the chart looks awful at this point bar China Black, Warren G and Shampoo... and a few upcoming hits like Youssu N'Dour/Neneh Cherry lower down. When (Meet) The Flintstones is your biggest competiton for #2 something is definitely wrong :drama: But I still think the answer lies in that melody - especially in the chorus. There's something quite lovely about it which I can't put my finger on at the moment that lifts it above the, as you said, syrupy production and schmaltz.

Edited October 21, 201113 yr by superbossanova

3RD SEPTEMBER- COMPLIMENTS ON YOUR KISS- Red Dragon Featuring Tony & Brian Gold (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/14015.jpg

 

Right, are you sitting down? Here's the surprise- it's a reggae song I actually like! Probably as it includes just enough pop to break through my filter but this is actually a very endearing record, a mixture of innocence, cockiness, and charm make it a cheeky little number that it seems cruel to hate. I think it's that little steel drum section in the background that makes this track just pure fun to listen to it, and I KNOW this isn't a million miles away from Chaka Demus & Pliers (who I hate with a passion) but where as that seems firmly entrenched in the dancehall culture that I know little about, this seems like a much more commericialised production and that probably explains it.

 

The vocals are equally playful "I wish that you could be my girl/ I Wanna take you round the world/ Everytime I think of you I wish"- it's just good clean fun (OK i'm starting to sound like my mother now) but the point is when this kind of thing isn't steeped in machismo it can be quite poppy and inoffensive, this one just stays on the side of good.

 

Edited October 23, 201113 yr by gezza76

10TH SEPTEMBER- CONFIDE IN ME- Kylie Minogue (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/57/5086b_Kylie-Minogue-Confide-In-Me1.jpg

 

Everything about this song screams freedom. Look at that record cover- not a hint of what the song is called just a close up of her face and the words "Kylie Minogue"- almost as if that name should be enough to sell this record alone, as it was back in 88-90, it's a confidence that never oversteps into arrogance. She was free of that contract with S/A/W and branching out into the music she wanted to do, indeed "Confide In Me" has more than a hint of Indie music to it, buried beneath that middle eastern sound which permeates throughout, and after she signed with deconstruction records (famous for its dance musci output) I recall how surprised I was by this. In a good way I mean.

 

I heard this on her "Showgirl" tour in 2005 and recall how it was the only song that seemed to fill the whole auditorium, the strings in the chorus rousing and euphoric, a tour de force of a popstar operating at the height of her ability. It's a song she could never have made with S/A/W, it's too quirky, too fragmented, too unconforming, to fit their formula, but by god it's a great song, a kind of "Justify My Love" in terms of her career, of course it's Kylie so it would never have such a video to accompany it as Madonna had dreamt up, the image change couldn't have been THAT dramatic without alienating the existing audience for Kylie. The violin adds a melancholy tone to the track which seems ever evolving within its four minutes, and Kylie's voice appears stronger and better than on any of her previous hits or certainly less manufactured, and even air of malignance in the air "Confide In Me" she sings but you aren't sure that any secret you tell is going to be kept, there is in short a lot going on here.

 

But it all comes together into something of a classic, it's almost like seeing a star reborn with palpable relief, this WAS a risk, even if now it seems like it was always going to be a smash. Concise, moody, and emotional, Kylie was back with a bang.

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 201113 yr by gezza76

30TH APRIL- MMMM MMMM MMMM- Crash Test Dummies (1 week)

 

This really was quite a quirky track at the time. There certainly didn't seem to be anything like this in the charts so it must've stuck out like a sore thumb hence possibly explaining why it ended up hitting such dizzying heights. A track I liked in a "haven't got a clue what's going on here" kinda way. We know the track tells three stories in 4 minutes with all three main characters coming together at the end of the video. Kinda like a conclusive way of saying "aww, it was all good in the end" as the curtain falls and the music and video fade to black.

 

11TH JUNE- BABY I LOVE YOUR WAY- Big Mountain (3 weeks)

 

It seems June 1994 was a bi month for movies and their accompanying soundtracks. Wet Wet Wet only beginning their long reign at the top with this stuck behind for 3 weeks. It's a happy enough reggae-lite pop song and sticks very closely to the popular sound of 1993 - so one could argue this was a year too late? Nonetheless a decent cover of the track Will To Power took to the UK top 10 in early 1989.

 

2ND JULY- I SWEAR- All-4-One (7 weeks)

 

It may have stalled at #2 for seven weeks but this really was one of those defining hits of the summer. One of those tracks everyone I knew liked to some extent. My memory of this song follows on from 'The Sign' - remember mimicking the singer in the first verse and trying to recreate that "voice not quite broken yet" sound. :D

 

20TH AUGUST- CRAZY FOR YOU- Let Loose (2 weeks)

 

Iirc, this was a re-release? I'm sure it was released maybe in early 1994 but it bombed then it was re-released in the summer which is when it became such a massive hit. I know my mats older sister thought Let Loose were the best pop act in the charts as she bought this song on cassette single. It is a fairly decent track but it doesn't come close to being my fave #2 single of 1994.

 

3RD SEPTEMBER- COMPLIMENTS ON YOUR KISS- Red Dragon Featuring Tony & Brian Gold (1 week)

 

I agree with everything Gezza wrote about this song. It really is a fun song, maybe slightly edging towards being a novelty song but all the better for it. My sister bought this on cd single at the time and whilst it has become a forgotton hit of the 90s (before this post, I can't remember when I last heard it) it's still a track I have fond memories of.

 

10TH SEPTEMBER- CONFIDE IN ME- Kylie Minogue (1 week)

 

The major turning point in Kylie's career. Well, the first of two actually. The second came with the release of 'Spinning Around' in 2000. Back to 1994 and I bought this on CD single at the time. Of course I had been a fan of Kylie since 1988 all thanks to a combination of Neighbours and the early S/A/W material. However, as mentioned with 'Give Me Just A Little More Time' it was clear that S/A/W had ran out of ideas. 'What Kind Of Fool' and 'Celebration' were poor singles and a bad way to end Kylie's contract. Maybe a case of, we'll just fob her off any old nonsense. From this point, Kylie went on to release two brilliant tracks imo that failed to make the UK top 10; 'Put Yourself In My Place' and 'Where The Wild Roses Grow'. You can tell from those two tracks just how much Kylie was maturing as an artist and her was for now a promising turning point. It just went all pear shaped in 1997.

Since the last time I checked this thread there hasn't been too many decent tracks unfortunately!

 

I did enjoy Crazy For You at the time and still think it's a pretty decent pop track now, a guilty pleasure kinda track as Gezza says. Crash Test Dummies were ok and definitely stood out at the time, I remember being so obsessed with Always by Erasure at that period though that I hated everything that was above it in the charts! :D

 

Best track of the bunch by a mile though is Confide In Me, probably my favourite ever Kylie track and would have made a great #1 record methinks.

Since the last time I checked this thread there hasn't been too many decent tracks unfortunately!

 

I did enjoy Crazy For You at the time and still think it's a pretty decent pop track now, a guilty pleasure kinda track as Gezza says. Crash Test Dummies were ok and definitely stood out at the time, I remember being so obsessed with Always by Erasure at that period though that I hated everything that was above it in the charts! :D

 

Best track of the bunch by a mile though is Confide In Me, probably my favourite ever Kylie track and would have made a great #1 record methinks.

94 Is a curious year I think in hindsight. Much like 93 it's year in search of a direction- even 95 feels like a much more focused year looking at the No 2 hits but 94 is a hodge podge of one hit wonders, forgotten tracks and kinda all over the place, of the first half of the decade 1990 is probably my favourite musically then it becomes quite fragmented before coming together again in 95- if any of that makes sense?! :D