I would say All I Want For Christmas Is You is far more 60s-inspired than 50s! I don't think it's ever really been hidden that it's essentially a rehash of the Phil Spector sound of the 1960s - indeed it was even made obvious with the styling of the second, lesser-known video of the track that you posted above. I should also note here that it shares a title and a rather similar lyrical theme to a country hit from several years previously but clearly not similar enough to get any opportunistic lawsuit slapped on Mariah's backside so it's largely irrelevant anyway.

 

It's a song that captures the jovial feeling of excitement shared by many in the build-up to Christmas better than most which perhaps is the key to its continuing success. I myself have grown out of that kind of anticipation in recent years though which is largely why it has slipped in my affections, whereas several years ago I probably would have called it my favourite Christmas song of all. However, it remains a song that is a joy to hear again, usually in November, after 11 months of dormancy, but as you said it does end up grating by early December at the latest (depending on how tolerant one is feeling) and the cycle repeats itself again the next year.

 

Looking forward to getting into the (better) second half of the 1990s, with my personal memories of the tracks only being able to increase as we hurtle further and further towards 1998, the year I fully woke up to the charts and became officially obsessed. In terms of 1994 I actually had no connection to any of the tracks here from my childhood which probably suggests my parents didn't buy much/any music from that year. Not even All I Want For Christmas Is You, which I don't recall hearing on the radio or anywhere at all in the late 1990s, perhaps because it was still too recent at the time to garner any classic airplay as I did hear the likes of Last Christmas, Merry Xmas Everybody and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday often over those respective Christmas seasons.

Edited October 25, 201113 yr by superbossanova

Right people's whilst I have Uni work/ the 90s thread to do in the chart section this one is taking a back seat until new year when I'll begin again with the second half of the decade- apologies but hey it's something to look forward to in January!!

17TH DECEMBER- ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU- Mariah Carey (3 weeks)

 

Aah yes, Buzzjack's favourite Xmas single of all time. Well it most certainly feels that way. Quite a bit I can add here.

 

Firstly, as compiler of the ChC Multichart between 2004 and 2008, you could guarantee this song re-entered every December. I've never compiled the Buzzchart so can't say for certain it's been happening here too. It's just one of those tracks that has successfully stood the test of time.

 

Secondly, back in December 2005 on Cool Clarity a number of posters took to the microphone and recorded themselves singing this track. All recorded vocals were sent to me and I had right laugh putting together what was called CC Christmas Cracker with our very own version of 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'. :lol:

 

Maybe somewhat interestingly, I was compiling my own chart in 1994 and my Christmas no. 1 was Oasis 'Whatever'. :D

Really didn't care for "Another Night", I think its slightly boring actually. Much prefer Amber's slightly similar "This Is Your Night", now that gets me going everytime I listen to it.

"Rhythm Of The Night" is definitely a classic, although unlike Hits, I prefer the original european version, although I guess it's because I grew up with it. Remember being in school, we had aerobics class in P.E and that song was always played - oh how I wished back then to be old enough to go clubbing.

"Confide In Me" is definitely a gem, although I prefer the underrated "Put Yourself In My Place" if I had to choose her best non-dance track.

Really loved "The Sign", "Baby I Love Your Way" and "I Swear" - for me those were 3 special tracks growing up, they bring up nice memories. Not songs I listen to anymore, but whenever they come about I do get slightly nostalgic.

I can't sleep so I decided to add to the thread periodically....

 

 

7TH JANUARY 1995- LOVE ME FOR A REASON- Boyzone (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/Love_me_for_a_reason.jpg

 

Dear god- PLEASE watch the TOTP performance, it's live (unfortunately for the late Gately who is severly off key) but then that's not the point. The POINT is the screams of the girl during the instrumental break. Yes we've entered the era of the Boyband in all its choreographed hell. Over the next five years there will be over emoting worthy of an Oscar and teenage girls tears spilt over many a break up, perhaps the pop world understood by 1995 that the giant that bestrode the genre was on it's last leg and news that Robbie had left Take That in the summer saw a flurry of new boybands emerge keen to grasp the crown. There is little doubt that Boyzone were their successors, sadly for East 17 who were about to implode themselves in just 12 months time.

 

There is a criticism often levelled at Boyzone that they were bland, the Cliff Richard's of the 90s and it's not without some merit, but then why break something when it ain't fixed, they are a symbol of why Louis Walsh is sitting on that X Factor panel (we all wondered I know). Boyzone were also Irish, a fact which in the late 90s was a positive, the connotations were all good, loveable, cheery, family orientated Irish who weren't quite as sophisticated as the English but they were such a crack that you couldn't be nasty about them, or so the stereotype went, English boybands were sullen, American ones edgy, but Irish ones were just adorable and it was on this theme that Boyzone traded. That it was held off the top by East 17's sole chart topper was indicitive of the last time that the Walthamstow boys were ahead of these Irish upstarts, but pop is often self referencing and to break the UK market Walsh chose "Love Me For A Reason" a cover of another boyband record (had boybands existed in the 70s)- the Osmonds.

 

It's a faithful cover which even at the time was lame, its position on this thread more a fact of the sales collapse of other records around it than genuine demand for this product, I recall mocking one of my friends for buying this on cassette at Xmas 94, 5 years later I'd be the one buying "By Request" in its week of release! I had to take it back (the criticism that is- I'm NEVER handing back the album :lol: ) So it was hardly a auspicious beginning as anyone who has seen that first clip of them on the Late Late Show in Ireland in 1994 will know, but in a short time only the Spice Girls would be shifting singles on a quicker scale than these boys.

 

 

Edited November 7, 201113 yr by gezza76

11TH FEBRUARY- SET YOU FREE- N-Trance (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/13857.jpg

 

Now largely considered a dance "Classic", "Set You Free" was always a cut above the average song in the chart even the first time around. Recorded origionally in 1992 at S/A/W's studio and featuring the vocals of Kelly Llorena, it failed to chart first time around, having much better luck at the third time of asking. It's a song that kind of has an infectious euphoria about it- the quiet synth line at the beginning of the track lulls you into a false pretence before that slightly manic beat kicks in, that's the surprise that has you hooked. It demands endurance as it never lets up until the end, and a powerful vocal line ensures maximum Diva-esque production, there's a thin line between absurdity and profoundity and this is a song that treads that line beautifully.

 

It was thrown into sharp relief by the likes of "Cotton Eye Joe", Nicki French & Perfecto Allstarz, who were all charting at the time, it almost defies cheesy dance music which is the genre it SHOULD be classified as, but somehow manages to escape that tag through sheer force of personality. A song I loved at the time, there have been better dance tracks since no doubt but "Set You Free" set a high standard which exceeded anything in the charts of the time.

 

Lyrically it's quite prosaic, nothing more than being in love with somebody, but it reflects that first time love feeling so perfectly, the all consuming there will never be another relationship quite like this one, that I will feel so deeply, it's a tale that every listener could relate to, the mix of the mundane and the EPIC is played out with minimal input lyrically speaking, sometimes less is more.

 

 

Edited November 8, 201113 yr by gezza76

Set You Free is an absolute dance classic and I associate so many happy memories with it!

If there have been better dance tracks since Set You Free then they've passed me by, this is my favourite song of all time! :wub:

If there have been better dance tracks since Set You Free then they've passed me by, this is my favourite song of all time! :wub:

:lol: yes I thought you might pop up when I did that review!- Your love is duly noted- though the period 98-01 provides many of my personal dance faves!

18TH FEBRUARY- NO MORE "I LOVE YOU"S- Annie Lennox (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5d/AnnieLennoxNoMoreILoveYousCDSingleCover.jpg

 

Believe it or not, there were only 9 songs to debut at No 2 in the 1990's to this point, 1995 was teh tipping point with by far the greater majority of acts debuting there in the second half of the decade including this by Annie Lennox. There were multiple reasons for this, price discounting, radio playlisting songs sometimes 8 weeks prior to release, promo being focused on the first week of release etc, but now that we've dealt with that little historical chart feat what about the track?

 

Well it's a cover of a 1986 song by The Lover Speaks, and for my money it has never been a song that I have liked. After the brilliance of the "Diva" album which I wholeheartedly bought into, I was very disappointed by Lennox Circa 1995, the previous album had been full of original pop gems that glistened like shiny new vignettes of pop, "Medusa" however was an album of covers, it seemed to surprise most of the UK record buying public to be honest reflecting in chart position and sales as it seemed curiously ill advised and ill thought out considering she could still write, sing, and deliver good quality original tracks. It's a bit of a headscratcher really, although vocally on top form and she delivers with passion it all seems rather pointless and rather derailed a very good promising solo career which would have gone who knows where if it were not for this. In conclusion the word "Why?" springs to mind.

 

Edited November 16, 201113 yr by gezza76

4TH MARCH- I'VE GOT A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR YOU- MN8 (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/14341.jpg

 

Very short lived boyband MN8 and the only hit I'm sure most of you would remember. It's not a bad stab at R N B in a boyband mould but really it isn't much cop. Innuendo laden (and not really very subtle at that) it left me unimpressed at the time and indeed I remain so, it all sounds like a poor man's R Kelly (and that's saying something). Their "Success" was confined to 1995 & 1996 in this country and in total they accumulated just 3 top 10 hits, however what's far more interesting is that they were very much harbingers of what was to come from Boyband. Whilst Take That & Boyzone was very much focusing on the grooming of the male physique (or the pretty boy angle), the other branch of boybands were fo

 

cusing on the masculine angle, in this tradition are MN8, East 17, Five, Blue, where the focus was much more on the 6 pack and the urbanisation of pop music. Interestingly it has almost come full circle now with the likes of JLS being an amalgamation of the two strands, but MN8 can be seen as the first mainstream success of black boys singing "black" music in its simpliest terms, by the end of the decade white boys would be singing R N B influenced tracks so the switch around is intriguing to note.

 

Anyway never a favourite of mine and just a touch dull to my ears.

 

Edited November 16, 201113 yr by gezza76

11TH MARCH- DON'T GIVE ME YOUR LIFE- Alex Party (2 weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/14366.jpg

 

A song that always takes me back to my very early clubbing days. Yes I was now a grown up (well a 19yr old anyway) and clubbing meant a long bus trip to Northampton and Roxy nightclub as it was then back then with a floor that your feet stuck to and a punch up somewhere by the evening's end. Anyway I digress, "Don't Give Me Your Life" always takes me back to a good time, it's no "Set You Free" in fact put side by side it's rather a poor relative, but it's harmless fun, the group actually acheived a minor Ibiza hit in 1993 with "Read My Lips" which became their first top 40 hit before this came along.

 

Nostalgia aside the track is actually quite weak, OK chorus and rather forgettable verses the guys behind the track, The Visnadi Brothers soon dumped one front singer for another and turned thmselves into Livin Joy (well the two projects were running alongside each other in reality) so they finally got that chart topper in just 2 months time with the re-release of "Dreamer"- this song will never be more than just "meh" for me!

 

Incidentally apologies for the quality of the TOTP clip the best I could find.

 

Edited November 17, 201113 yr by gezza76

Always loved Don't Give Me Your Life as much as Set You Free and Dreamer - classic 90s dance. My clubbing days were pretty much parallel with yours it seems!

27TH MAY- GUAGLIONE- Perez "Prez" Prado & His Orchestra (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/14473.jpg

 

Proving what we knew all along that shoving a song onto a commercial would make it a hit all over again. "Guaglione" is actually a 1956 Neopolitan folk track which won the Napoli Song festival that year and translated means street urchin, and was translated into a mambo tune by Perez Prado who was at one time "the king of Mambo".

 

Prado is incidentally, the man responsible for "Mambo No 5" way back in the day and scored a UK No 1 single in 1955 with "Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White" yet I confess I really can't stand "Guaglione". It bored me at the time, and it bores me now, no more or less than Lou Bega did in 1999, I just don't "get" it - whatever "it" is and I don't really want to find it quite frankly.

 

NEXT

 

Edited November 17, 201113 yr by gezza76

Always loved Don't Give Me Your Life as much as Set You Free and Dreamer - classic 90s dance. My clubbing days were pretty much parallel with yours it seems!

We must be of a similar age Jester! :D

We must be of a similar age Jester! :D

Think so - I am 36 in January.

Think so - I am 36 in January.

Whoo- ho Me too! on the 7th!

LOVE Don't Give Me Your Life, the bridge is fantastic especially :wub:

I need to catch up but :D . Me and Gezza discovered we share the same birthday. Now Gezza discovers he turns 36 in the same month as Jester. :D

I can't sleep so I decided to add to the thread periodically....

7TH JANUARY 1995- LOVE ME FOR A REASON- Boyzone (1 week)

 

Boybands!!! Don't you just loath them? :D Nah, in all seriousness I think every boyband has released at least 1 decent track. Yes, even Westlife. :kink: However, this isn't exactly a personal fave by Boyzone. My fave Boyzone single to peak at #2 would come along some two years later.

 

11TH FEBRUARY- SET YOU FREE- N-Trance (1 week)

 

ANTHEM!!! This song is what " :dance: " was made for. Honest, play 'Set You Free' and marvel as the dancing smilies dances in time to the music. Minutes of fun. :D 'Set You Free' is an absolute joy and easily one of the best dance hits of the 90s without a shadow of a doubt. It's just a shame they went from this to their follow up single will appear here in the not too distant future.

 

18TH FEBRUARY- NO MORE "I LOVE YOU"S- Annie Lennox (2 weeks)

 

I actually quite liked this at the time but will admit it's a song I've long got over. In comparison, I still really enjoy listening to 'Little Bird' from 1993 with all the Annie Lennox lookalikes in the video. At the time I was compiling my own singles chart and after 'Set You Free' topped my chart, this song also became a #1 not long after. I used to write my top 30 charts onto a sheet on A4 writing paper and had these stored in a cardboard file for years. Then around 2001 I decided I didn't need them anymore and threw them all away.

 

4TH MARCH- I'VE GOT A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR YOU- MN8 (1 week)

 

Aah. :unsure: Let's just refer back to my Boyzone comment. "Nah, in all seriousness I think every boyband has released at least 1 decent track". That statement in null and void as of this instant. In fact I know that's a load of garbage - there's been many boybands over the years who have made me worry about the music industry and question "why did you sign them?". Not that MN8 were crap but they really weren't that good. I don't even know why this song was so popular. Maybe the chorus with cheeky melody made teenage girls weak at the knees. It's a song I never saw the appeal of - and never will.

 

11TH MARCH- DON'T GIVE ME YOUR LIFE- Alex Party (2 weeks)

 

Now this is more like it. :D This was a track I really enjoyed at the time. By this point I was completely bored of Celine Dion 'Think Twice' which iirc was still hogging the no. 1 spot when Alex Party stalled at #2. This is easily the better of their two hits. 'Read My Lips' was ok(ish) but lacked that radio friendly elements that made this song so much more appealling for my 14 year old self.

 

27TH MAY- GUAGLIONE- Perez "Prez" Prado & His Orchestra (1 week)

 

Well, it worked in the shape of the Guiness advert. I remember when it first got shown on TV and paying more attention to my sister giggling her head off at the man doing his dancing thing in the advert. The power of TV and it's happening all over again now. See Charlene Soraia 'Wherever You Will Go'. In fact, iirc my sister bought this on cd single so much was the effect of the advertising campaign. Makes me think of when 'In The Air Tonight' and 'Rhythm Is A Dancer' returned to the UK top 40 following two other more recent successful advertising campaigns.