15TH JUNE- BABY BABY- Amy Grant (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/Baby_Baby_single.jpg

 

WHolesome pop circe 1991, I confess I loved "Baby Baby" at the time. It was wholesome for a reason- Grant had been releasing Christian music since the 70s and had made herself the "Queen of Christian Music" by the mid 80s when she decided to go more mainstream resulting in a US no 1 in 1986 with Peter Cetera which flopped over here. Some 5 years later this was the song to provide her with a break in the UK, thankfully without Grant's original concept for the video to be surrounded by babies and dressed as a mermaid.

 

This is bouncy daytime pop that is foot tappingly engrossing- yes it's twee in places, but it has an innocence of it's own, and a sincerity that it's hard to hate with any passion. OK it's hardly cutting edge and probably not out of place in say 1988 or 89, but its sheer optimism and self confidence is just too good to deny.....a guilty pleasure and a joy to hear again.....

 

Edited September 18, 201113 yr by gezza76

27TH JULY- NOW THAT WE'VE FOUND LOVE- Heavy D & The Boyz (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/11989.jpg

 

Jamaican Born Dwight Myers became Heavy D (& the boyz) who had been rap stars since the late 80s in the USA where the majority of their fame came from, indeed it was he who performed the rap on Michael Jackson's "Jam" single in 92, yet this was the group's sole UK top 20 single. A cover of a 70s O'Jays record "Now That We Found Love" is uninspiring, I suppose you could read it as a prime example of early 90s US commercial rap fused with Pop and therefore a stepping stone to the current line up stars who pretty ply a similar trade in the charts now.

 

A record I don't despise but equally I haven't listened to in some years, the beat and the production have aged badly, and it was kept from the the UK No 1 spot by the record that also kept the next 6 records from No 1 and which I shan't name (the record equivalent of Voldermort) but for this particular week I have to say that was probably the right outcome.

 

Traditionally the big hitters- star wise- tended to avoid releasing in the summer (when sales were low, though you could argue one factor led to the other) and that always creates a vacuum in the charts which is by necessity filled with records like this, instantly filling but with little sticking power, we'll see more examples of that before the summer is out.....

 

Edited September 19, 201113 yr by gezza76

3RD AUGUST- MORE THAN WORDS- Extreme (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/25/More_than_words.jpg

 

Believe it or not I was about to write a scathing review of this, then I decided to watch the video before I wrote it, and surprisingly I think I changed my mind. Get rid of the boyband covers that have been done over the years (BBMack, Westlife etc) and listen to the original and it's actually quite an effecting record. There is a symbolic beginning to the video when Bettencourt and Geary diconnect the electric guitar and put the drum sticks (the stock in trade of their more punkier records prior to this) to illustrate this is a band stripping away the pomp and hyperbole of the "rock band" down to the basics. Acoustic records trade on the theory that there is a "realism" and "authenticity" to the sound which is lost when using more produced means of music, of course that's rubbish, ballad's- even acoustic ones, are "produced" like any other track, but in a way this mirrors the record.

 

It's a song about stripping away the words used in relationships to cover a multitude of sins, such as the believe that "I Love You" is a pardon for all manner of cruelties, it's actually rather ingenious to match the medium with the message and I'd never gave them credit for that until now. It launched Bettencourt (the guitarist) as a minor heartthrob for the girls at school, though would last for 6 months top and it's been one of the few records I've changed my mind about the review just before I wrote it, it proves moreover that sometimes supposed familiarity with songs is an illusion.....

 

Edited September 19, 201113 yr by gezza76

17TH AUGUST- I'M TOO SEXY- Right Said Fred (6 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a5/ImTooSexy.jpg

 

Look away from that tinny sounding beat and low production values clearly identifying this song for what it is (made on a shoestring budget) and this is a rather gentle critique of the fashion industry. Allegedly lying to their bank manager to obtain the funds to make the song the Fairbrass brothers, and the other one, more than earnt enough to pay him back and were, for 12 months anyway, one of the best selling acts in the country earning 4 top 10 hits and even a US No 1 with this song.

 

I recall this being at No 2 for those six weeks waiting patiently to see if anything would dislodge the record that we dare not say, if I'd have known the sales (and that it was never within 30k of Adams in any week when they were top 2) then I wouldn't have got my hopes up. It was certainly one of the records of that summer, seldom off independent radio, though if I recall correctly Radio One got quite snobby about it after the initial fun had subsided. No matter it was still the fourth biggest hit of the year selling a fraction over 500k.

 

I confess I bought this on 12" so I must have quite liked it and to be fair I think it will always have a place in my heart, the band themselves were quite endearing, always seeming appreciative of what success they got, presumably they knew that they weren't "pop stars" per se, and that neither singing nor dancing were going to keep them going. A string of appearances of TOTP in increasingly revealing outfits, coupled with camp pop tunes kept them in the public eye for 2 years before the UK moved on, and it was fun while it lasted- let's not be too harsh now....

 

Edited September 26, 201113 yr by gezza76

28TH SEPTEMBER- LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX- Salt N Pepa Featuring Psychotropic (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/Let's_talk_about_sex!.jpg

 

There isn't much subtlety about this song, but then that's the point. A safe sex message put to music, it's not a song that I have ever loved but it's not unbearable either, it is however very symbolic of it's time. These days I can't recall the last hit single that was about safe sex or the perils of the casual encounter, indeed in the late 80s sex was all but absent from the top 40 as a string of asexual stars were hitting it big, it may therefore have helped that Salt N Pepa were American rap stars ( a genre known for it's provokativeness).

 

For all that though it is executed in quite a charming way, never really smashing home the message with a sledgehammer, it's playful but firm and would certainly have been a very unusual chart topper had it got there, it was a joy to listen to again after all these years but I doubt i'll listen to it again for another 5 years.....

 

Edited September 26, 201113 yr by gezza76

12TH OCTOBER- WIND OF CHANGE- The Scorpions (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7f/Wind_of_change2.jpg

 

A song about the end of the cold war sung by a german rock band hardly sounds like a winner but the Scorpions proved us all wrong back in 1991. In the Wake of THAT record which was at No 1 that week I suspect the UK was now lapping up AOR like there was no tomorrow, but the Scorpions were odds on favourite to topple the everlasting Adams but it was never to be. "Wind Of Change" is an OK record if you just listen to it without the awful video which is full of the usual "rock" palava interspursed with images of moments of European history, it's weighty in theme alright but it doesn't quite carry it off sadly, I suppose how do you condense all of that into 4 minutes of pop? or in this case Rock.

 

Yet it's also a song that it's hard to spout vitriol about, and in all honesty it hasn't aged that badly in all fairness which surprises me, I didn't mind it at the time but then I think there was so much goodwill given to it in hope it might dislodge THAT record....

 

Edited September 27, 201113 yr by gezza76

26TH OCTOBER- GET READY FOR THIS- 2 Unlimited (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5b/Get_Ready_For_This.jpg

 

Oh dear. I NEVER liked 2 Unlimited- Music directed at the lowest possible demoninator in my opinion. Dutch duo Ray Slijngaard and Anita Doth were one of the bigger acts during the 1992-1994 period, I have to give them that, but there aren't any of their hits I would ever voluntarily listen to again. When they were released on the continent they contained Slijngaard's raps which were "erased" by Pete Waterman (who was in charge of the UK Label that released them) as he considered them to be too awful- I can only imagine. "Get Ready For This" is typical of what 2 Unlimited were about, mindless dance music directed at the masses and involving little lyrical enterprise and soundbite vocals.

 

At 15 I was probably at that inbetween age when I was too young to hear it in clubs and too old to be taken in by the DIY playground chanting element, but in a year with KLF this always seemed like lazy music at it's most irritating.....

 

Edited September 27, 201113 yr by gezza76

2ND MARCH- CRAZY FOR YOU (REMIX)- Madonna (2 weeks)

 

Like Gezza, whatever I thought of 'Crazy For You' can be read in the 80s' #2 hits thread. :D

 

6TH APRIL- SIT DOWN- James (3 weeks)

 

Now this is excellent. A song I loved at the time and really hoped this would eventually knock 'The One And Only' off the top spot but it wasn't to be. Still, three weeks at #2 is a great achievement and whilst Chesney Hawkes never really captured the imagination of teenage girls ever again, James went on to have a reasonable successful career. 'Sit Down' will always be their signature tune and it's a song I still enjoy listening to 20 years on.

 

11TH MAY- LAST TRAIN TO TRANCENTRAL- The KLF Featuring The Children Of The Revolution (2 weeks)

 

It was a song I really liked in 1991 but then I eventually forgot about this song as I swiftly moved onto the next KLF single. So it's quite weird to think that since this was posted on 15th September, I've actually seen the video to this three times (iirc) since then - which is basically in the last 10 days or so. Clubland TV have added this to their playlist which is the channel where I've watched this video. My fave KLF single to still to feature but this was a great track nonetheless.

 

25TH MAY- GYPSY WOMAN (LA DA DEE)- Crystal Waters (1 week)

 

"la la dee la la laa, la la dee la la laa" and so it goes on. As much as I love myself a good slice of dance music, this is a song that despite really liking back in 1991 isn't really a song that I care for these days. Unlike KLF, it's not even a song I've stumpled across on music channels or radio. I guess this is more of a "forgotton gem" of the 90s. It does surprise me that this entered at #3 in the UK - had there been loads of hype surrounding this song prior to its release?

 

15TH JUNE- BABY BABY- Amy Grant (1 week)

 

My older brother bought this on cd single. :D In fact, in the summer of 1991 I remember he went on a cd single spending frenzy and bought loads of them (he must've liked a like of the songs in the chart). He then made a compilation album for me from all the cd singles he had bought. I'm sure I've still got that cassette somewhere...in a box collecting dust. :lol:

 

27TH JULY- NOW THAT WE'VE FOUND LOVE- Heavy D & The Boyz (1 week)

 

Needless to say, this sounds very much like a song from 1991 but I thought this was brilliant at the time. In fact, this song brings back really good memories of September 1991. My dad had Sky TV installed in our house in August 1991 - we were the only ones where I lived who had Sky TV and I soon discovered MTV and was hooked on the music channel. It was just fantastic to switch on and watch endless music videos all day long.

3RD AUGUST- MORE THAN WORDS- Extreme (2 weeks)

 

I think this is an excellent song and the acoustic stripped back approach to the song really works and actually enhances the song in a "less is more" way. There was a girl in my year at school who adored Extreme and when she found out I liked this song, she became very friendly. :lol:

 

17TH AUGUST- I'M TOO SEXY- Right Said Fred (6 weeks)

 

This was the ultimate party song in 1991 and for a good 12 months after. Every family party I went to in those 12 months, you could guarantee the DJ played 'I'm Too Sexy'. My sister also bought this on casette single at the time.

 

28TH SEPTEMBER- LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX- Salt N Pepa Featuring Psychotropic (2 weeks)

 

This takes me back!!! :lol: In 1991 there were quite a few singles making the charts about the subject of sex. Me and my mate put four of these songs together and created The Sex Megamix. :D It was basically 'I Wanna Sex You Up', 'Let's Talk About Sex', 'I'm Too Sexy' and a more obscure dance track called 'People Are Still Having Sex' which is "mixed" very badly using my twin cassette player. Oh, the fun we had. :lol:

 

12TH OCTOBER- WIND OF CHANGE- The Scorpions (2 weeks)

 

Bizarrely, 'Wind Of Change' was the European summer anthem that made its way to the UK much later than everywhere else. This song had already been no. 1 in loads of countries across Europe in the June/July of 1991 before finally becoming a UK hit some three months later. It's a song I remember liking but it wasn't a song I loved or wanted to listen to all the time...

 

26TH OCTOBER- GET READY FOR THIS- 2 Unlimited (2 weeks)

 

...unlike this (sorry Gezza!!!). Even though I was 10, I thought 'Get Ready For This' was brilliant. Mind you, I was a big 2 Unlimited fan and liked quite a few of their singles. Yes, the lyrics was trash but the energy of the songs were mega. Going way ahead of myself here but in 1994 2 Unlimited released 'Let The Beat Control Your Body' which I bought on cd single. Me and my mates used to play computer games like Sonic 3 and Street Fighter but we would mute the television and just have 2 Unlimited playing on the stereo. The big Eurodance beats mixed with the Sega Megadrive graphics of Street Fighters just worked perfectly for us back then. I guess we were easily pleased... :D

...unlike this (sorry Gezza!!!). Even though I was 10, I thought 'Get Ready For This' was brilliant. Mind you, I was a big 2 Unlimited fan and liked quite a few of their singles. Yes, the lyrics was trash but the energy of the songs were mega. Going way ahead of myself here but in 1994 2 Unlimited released 'Let The Beat Control Your Body' which I bought on cd single. Me and my mates used to play computer games like Sonic 3 and Street Fighter but we would mute the television and just have 2 Unlimited playing on the stereo. The big Eurodance beats mixed with the Sega Megadrive graphics of Street Fighters just worked perfectly for us back then. I guess we were easily pleased... :D

Yes Hits I'd long had you down as a 2 Unlimited sympathiser :D I'd also like to thank you for using the word "Mega" which I havent heard in years :) :P

14TH DECEMBER- WHEN YOU TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME- Diana Ross (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/Single_Cover_When_You_Tell_Me_That_You_Love_Me_Diana_Ross.jpg

 

And so we reach the end of 1991 with this mush. Now to be positive it has a hummable (?) enough tune but really this has so much sugar that it could rot your teeth at 50 paces, the bridge is the only thing about it that hints that there is something to salvage this from the drippy ballad genre. Maybe I'm bitter and twisted inside but is this really the sound of 1991?- I'd venture the opinion that it isn't, the fact that Westlife saw fit to cover it speaks volumes- one of those songs that belongs to everyone, meaning of course that it paradoxically belongs to no-one. I don't content that it's the worst song ever written but it's certainly in the top 100 IMO, time has, as you can tell, not mellowed me to this track!

 

I suppose the fact that this was the Xmas No 2 that year could explain its success and it was certainly Ross' biggest hit in some 5 years, but the magnificent "Chain Reaction" and "Upside Down" still sound fresh and exciting today, this has none of their charm, the video it should be said includes film of Ross with her sons so it may be that it was a gift for mothers from their kids on xmas day (mine is happy with 20 Marlborough) but that's the only justification I can see for this reaching No 2......

 

Edited September 29, 201113 yr by gezza76

4TH JANUARY 1992- JUSTIFIED & ANCIENT- The KLF Featuring Tammy Wynette (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/16/The_KLF_-_Justified_and_Ancient.jpg

 

How great is "Justified and Ancient"? The answer is VERY VERY great. In many ways a parallel can be drawn between this and "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" A dance group at the height of their commercial powers taking a famous 60s/70s female vocalist and re-introducing them into the public conciousness, and both worked a treat. Most famous for her 1974 (feminist angering) No 1 "Stand By Your Man" Wynette had long since stopped having hits in the UK (15 years ago in fact) by the time of this collaboration. Cauty's love of country music is often cited as the reason for Wynette's involvement on the track which had been kicking around in some form or another since 1987, but certainly she's the star turn here, in fact seeing her on TOTP singing about "MU-Mu land" is quite entertaining.

 

It's an unusual pairing that shouldn't work but it does, lyrical non-sense that both entertains and enthrawls, it's definately less dance and more pop, perhaps the cross-over was when the group (who always saw themselves as outsiders in the pop world through their own choice) realised that the KLF had run its course and was in danger of being accepted into the fold of the establishment? Whichever it was the only KLF single that I actually bought at the time and was the last truely great No 2 hit for a while (1992 is bad my friends I warn you now) but in quitting whilst they were ahead KLF never came to some squalid end with some ignominious No 48 final chart entry- a fitting tribute to a great group.....

 

 

Edited September 29, 201113 yr by gezza76

14TH DECEMBER- WHEN YOU TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME- Diana Ross (2 weeks)

 

I will admit that I quite liked this song when I was 10 years old. Then again, having become a massive follower of the UK charts by this point (I was listening to the Radio 1 top 40 nearly every Sunday by this point) and when it got to the top 20, it was quicker for me to list the songs I didn't like. :lol: That said, my musical tastes have matured and developed. I guess this would now be more of a guilty pleasure more than anything. What I do hate with a passion is the ridiculous "cut and paste" Westlife version from 2005. Just listen to each key change. Abysmal. :mellow: It sounds like they recorded the entire song in three different keys, then just cut and pasted the key changes. Dreadful...and all the more reason why I love 'The JCB Song' for justice to the UK charts. Also the reason why I fondly rememeber 'Can We Fix It' by Bob The Builder but again I'm getting away ahead of myself. :D

 

4TH JANUARY 1992- JUSTIFIED & ANCIENT- The KLF Featuring Tammy Wynette (2 weeks)

 

:wub: :wub: :wub: etc...

 

Every so often I hear a song that is just perfect. I can't fault it in the slightest. This is one of those songs. Whilst I'd liked the KLF's previous hits from 1991 they didn't compare to this gem. This is easily in my top 10 best UK #2 singles of all time. James 'Sit Down' would be the only other #2 from 1991 that I hold in high regard after all these years.

Yes, I agree, Justified and Ancient is just excellent. I guess its brilliance lies in its ability to create something so unique and interesting from fusing a number of different styles, while still maintaining the sense of fun that makes great pop music. It really does add up to this unstoppable energy that never lets up. Just adore it. And The KLF were excellent in general. Only Basement Jaxx since have even come close to matching them in making creative dance music with pop sensibilities.

 

Funny to read the background on Amy Grant. I knew nothing about her before but I always filed that song next to the likes of New Kids On The Block and Debbie Gibson in my mind (i.e. something from the teen pop genre). Sorry Amy! :D The song itself is very annoying with that jaunty rhythm. And yes, dated as hell too. Not a fan.

 

1991 was a pretty bleak year for #2s in general (bar Seal and The KLF) but it is good that the list was more focused and more relevant to what was going on in the music scene at the time - be it rave, new jack swing, eurodance, the Madchester scene, etc - compared to 1990 which just feels like a random list of songs. As such it feels more like a part of the 1990s, rather than a continuation of the 1980s (although there are still some songs that belong in the 1980s hanging about like Amy Grant and Extreme). 1992 even more so I would say, without spoiling anything...

18TH JANUARY- EVERYBODY IN THE PLACE (E.P)- The Prodigy (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a8/Everybody-in-the-place-01.jpg

 

Rave and I were never friends. Dance music in the early 90s meant either continental euro pop or rave/ jungle, and whilst I could stomach the former (there are some fine examples later in the decade) Rave always left me feeling disconnected from the record. Again it's a case of you probably had to be there to enjoy it and to understand it but I never went raving, but moreover the Prodigy's appearance here is quite telling of one of the main trends of the decade, namely the fragmenting of the music scene where pop music went tribal much like the 80s, but the difference in the 90s was that the tribal lines ran not along and between groups, but between genre's. Ironically this meant more pigeon-holeing, and much better marketing aimed at specific sections of the record buying audience. In 1992 It certainly felt as though "the mainstream" had very little to offer, the top tunes of the year simply weren't that "good" this was one of the reasons that sales fell off badly and it allowed previously "niche" acts to attract and obtain much higher chart positions that they would have done later in the decade. Ok so the Prodigy had bigger hits but they were more influenced by mainstream dance in 1996 than the rave culture of 1992, but the feeling that anyone "could" have a hit with a catchy tune that caught fire in the clubs was very much an early 90s mindset and one that is even more attainable in the download age.

 

"Everybody In The Place" is therefore symbolic for many things in 1992, but it's a track I've never cared for but then I never liked the genre, first hit "Charly" I recall was considered novelty at the time and few expected to hear from the band again, how wrong they were, although I could certainly have done without the myriad of children's TV series and characters put to a rave beat that it inspired in 1992 and of which we will sadly encounter soon.......

 

Edited September 30, 201113 yr by gezza76

1ST FEBRUARY- GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME- Kylie Minogue (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7e/Give_Me_Just_A_Little_More_Time.jpg

 

"Gezza in bad Kylie Review shocker"

 

Yes Kids, this is bad. I'd come a long way with Kylie since 1988, but by 1992 I remember listening to the charts this week and being surprised that this was at No 2!- Yes i'd forgotten it was even in the charts- unthinkable just a year before! It's a note for note cover of the Chairman of the Board hit from 1970, but it's a limp, insipid cover which fails to ignite any kind of Kylie Magic. That contract with S/A/W (which were now down to S/W since 91) was going to be up at the beginning of 1993 and Kylie had already told the producers that she wasn't going to be renewing it, perhaps therefore their attentions were no longer on Kylie- but she should certainly have vetoed this release (and the dreadful "Celebration" which she round that contract off with in Dec 92).

 

Freakily every time Wet wet wet (88,92,94) made No 1 a kylie record was stuck at No 2- a bit of a bogey band for her but really she should have been thankful this was even within eyeshot of the No 1 slot. Awful, but fear not for next time we meet her she'll be back on winning form.......

 

Edited September 30, 201113 yr by gezza76

That Kylie record is a shocker indeed! Haven't heard the original that I recall but her version is just a badly-sung (she sounds awful on that chorus!) 60s pastiche with a weak melody to boot. Then again, I hate Better The Devil You Know as well and I've made obvious on this forum my dislike for Kylie, bar a select few songs :D I also look forward to her next record on this list where I can actually say something positive about one of her songs! Anyway, back to GMJALMT, I'm guessing this only got to #2 due to the usual weak competition in January?

 

Everybody In The Place is okay but pretty weak by their standards. They had better songs with better riffs even in this year. Again, I imagine this only got so high due to weak competition. Out Of Space was far more deserving of such a peak than this, but of course that was released near Xmas...

 

I think you're being a bit harsh putting (early) The Prodigy in the same bracket as the likes of

Shut Up & Dance

and

Smart E's

though. The fact they sold far more albums than was typical of dance acts even at this infant stage of their career suggests there was far more interest in them than just a niche rave audience to me...

Edited September 29, 201113 yr by superbossanova

I think you're being a bit harsh putting (early) The Prodigy in the same bracket as the likes of

Shut Up & Dance

and

Smart E's

though. The fact they sold far more albums than was typical of dance acts even at this infant stage of their career suggests there was far more interest in them than just a niche rave audience to me...

It's not that I'm putting in the same bracket but I certainly think that the success of "Charly" gave Smart E's, Urban Hype & Ambassadores of funk (to pluck three randomly) the idea that putting things that were big with kids (albeit of different generations) with a rave tune would be big hits- god that made me remember "Tetris" by Dr Spin another example of "kiddie rave" as I will now call it :lol:

 

I suppose you could say they were trailblazers in that respect, they certainly improved greatly post 93, as I say they were considered a novelty act in 91 so continuing to exact hits was a surprise but I think as Jan was a notoriously poor period for sales they took advantage of that, but fair play to them in scoring a second top 3 hit which seperated them from the clan of immitators....

4TH JANUARY 1992- JUSTIFIED & ANCIENT- The KLF Featuring Tammy Wynette (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/16/The_KLF_-_Justified_and_Ancient.jpg

Easily one of my favourite tracks of all time - as you say it shouldn't work on paper but it does!

Justified and Ancient is also one of my favourite ever songs, it's just so utterly joyous in concept and execution.