Posted October 27, 201311 yr Inspired by AlexRange's Retro Favourites I thought I'd go back to the 1990s - the only decade I full absorbed - and work out what would have been number 1 each week for the whole decade. My process was somewhat guided by a few things. 1. Hindsight - Many songs I discovered long after their release are now favorites, for example, back in 1990 I wasn't quite aware of the Pixies as I am now. 2. Like a lot of people who do personal charts I thought I'd be most satisfied if my charts reflected what would seem most like an official chart. I trawled though every weekly scan of the decade to extract the songs I remembered liking and the ones I learned to like since then. When I'd done a few weeks I quickly realised that I'd be ignoring a lot of classic songs if I just did the number 1s - so I expanded to the Top 3s. There are some surprising results. For example - All but one of these ended up having a number 1 - Spice Girls, Roxette, Celine Dion, N-Trance. As in the official chart some number 2s have sold more than some number 1s and so where appropriate I will highlight when they occur. Then there's default number ones - sometimes there was just nothing great around in the charts and some merely very good songs managed to slip a few weeks at number 1 into an otherwise peak free career. Lovers of the 90s - or even casual fans - should enjoy this. There's 195 numbers and 471 Top 3 singles in total. Predictions are welcome. I might start with a few teasers - bands that made it to number 1 once or twice to see if that can stir some speculation. If this dies in the water it may not be completed. I'll start in the next day or so. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""22 1990 07 Jan 90 Erasure - You Surround Me - 2 wks 21 Jan 90 Del Amitri - Nothing Ever Happens - 2 wks 04 Feb 90 House of Love - Shine On - 2 wks 18 Feb 90 Stone Roses - Elephant Stone - 1 wk 25 Feb 90 Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence - 6 wks 08 Apr 90 They Might be Giants - Birdhouse In Your Soul - 3 wks 29 Apr 90 Adamski - Killer - 5 wks 03 Jun 90 Roxette - It Must Have Been Love - 3 wks 24 Jun 90 B-52s - Roam - 2 wks 08 Jul 90 Depeche Mode - Policy of Truth - 2 wks 22 Jul 90 Pixies - Velouria - 1 wk 29 Jul 90 Blue Pearl - Naked In The Rain - 1 wk 05 Aug 90 LFO - LFO - 1 wk 12 Aug 90 Together - Hardcore Uproar - 2 wks 26 Aug 90 KLF - What Time is Love? - 3 wks 16 Sep 90 George Michael - Praying for Time - 2 wks 30 Sep 90 Faith No More - Epic - 3 wks 21 Oct 90 Pet Shop Boys - So Hard - 2 wks 04 Nov 90 George Michael - Waiting for That Day - 1 wk 11 Nov 90 The La's - There She Goes - 3 wks 02 Dec 90 Julee Cruise - Falling - 1 wk 09 Dec 90 Pet Shop Boys - Being Boring - 4 wks 1991 06 Jan 91 Enigma - Sadness Part 1 - 4 wks 03 Feb 91 Queen - Innuendo - 3 wks 24 Feb 91 The Source featuring Candi Staton - You Got The Love - 3 wks 17 Mar 91 REM - Losing My Religion - 5 wks 21 Apr 91 The Shamen - Hyperreal - 2 wks 05 May 91 OMD - Sailing on the Seven Seas - 1 wk 12 May 91 KLF - Last Train to Trancentral - 4 wks 09 Jun 91 Pixies - Planet of Sound - 3 wks 30 Jun 91 Primal Scream - Higher than the Sun - 2 wks 14 Jul 91 Erasure - Chorus - 4 wks 11 Aug 91 Bomb the Bass - Winter in July - 3 wks 01 Sep 91 REM - Near Wild Heaven - 2 wks 15 Sep 91 The Prodigy - Charly - 3 wks 06 Oct 91 Rozalla - Everybody's Free - 1 wk 13 Oct 91 Erasure - Love to Hate You - 3 wks 03 Nov 91 Alison Moyet - This House - 1 wk 10 Nov 91 U2 - The Fly - 3 wks 01 Dec 91 The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu - It's Grim Up North (Part 1) - 3 wks 22 Dec 91 Erasure - Am I Right? - 4 wks 1992 19 Jan 92 The Prodigy - Everybody In The Place - 1 wk 19 Jan 92 Blue Pearl - Can You Feel the Passion - 1 wk 02 Feb 92 The Sugarcubes - Hit - 1 wk 09 Feb 92 Tori Amos - China - 5 wks 15 Mar 92 Shakespeare's Sister-Stay - 1 wk 22 Mar 92 Rozalla - Are You Ready to Fly? - 1 wk 29 Mar 92 Tori Amos - Winter - 6 wks 10 May 92 SL2 - On A Ragga Tip - 2 wks 24 May 92 The Sisters Of Mercy - Temple Of Love - 1 wk 31 May 92 The Levellers - Fifteen Years - 1 wk 07 Jun 92 Utah Saints - Something Good - 3 wks 28 Jun 92 Crowded House - Four Seasons In One Day - 4 wks 26 Jul 92 Snap! - Rhythm is a Dancer - 1 wk 02 Aug 92 Altern 8 - Hypnotic St8 - 2 wks 16 Aug 92 Felix - Don't You Want Me - 3 wks 06 Sep 92 Queensryche - Silent Lucidity - 3 wks 27 Sep 92 Manic Street Preachers - Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide is Painless) - 3 wks 11 Oct 92 Suede - Metal Mickey - 4 wks 08 Nov 92 Shakespears Sister - Hello (Turn Your Radio On) - 4 wks 06 Dec 92 The Prodigy - Out Of Space - 5 wks 1993 10 Jan 93 Arrested Development - Mr. Wendal - 2 wks 10 Jan 93 The Beloved - Sweet Harmony - 3 wks 14 Feb 93 Annie Lennox - Love Song for a Vampire - 3 wks 07 Mar 93 Suede - Animal Nitrate - 6 wks 18 Apr 93 Duran Duran - Come Undone - 1 wk 25 Apr 93 New Order - Regret - 4 wks 23 May 93 Depeche Mode - Walking In My Shoes - 4 wks 20 Jun 93 Manic Street Preachers - From Despair To Where - 4 wks 18 Jul 93 Blur - Chemical World - 3 wks 08 Aug 93 The Waterboys - Glastonbury Song - 2 wks 22 Aug 93 The Breeders - Cannonball - 2 wks 05 Sep 93 Paul Weller - Wild Wood - 2 wks 19 Sep 93 New Order - World (The Price of Love) (Perfecto remix) - 3 wks 10 Oct 93 Crowded House - Distant Sun - 3 wks 31 Oct 93 Pearl Jam - Go - 2 wks 14 Nov 93 The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds - 1 wk 21 Nov 93 Crowded House - Nails in My Feet - 1 wk 28 Nov 93 Aphex Twin - On - 3 wks 19 Dec 93 R.E.M. - Find The River - 4 wks 1994 16 Jan 94 Pearl Jam - Daughter - 1 wk 23 Jan 94 Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl - 3 wks 13 Feb 94 Manic Street Preachers - Life Becoming a Landslide - 2 wks 27 Feb 94 Cocteau Twins - Bluebeard - 1 wk 06 Mar 94 The Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm - 6 wks 17 Apr 94 Michael Nyman - The Heart Asks Pleasure First - 1 wk 24 Apr 94 Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Philadelphia - 3 wks 15 May 94 The Levellers - Julie - 2 wks 29 May 94 The Prodigy - No Good (Start The Dance) - 2 wks 12 Jun 94 Manic Street Preachers - Faster - 6 wks 24 Jul 94 Warren G ft. Nate Dogg - Regulate - 3 wks 14 Aug 94 Manic Street Preachers - Revol - 1 wk 21 Aug 94 Oasis - Live Forever - 5 wks 25 Sep 94 Kylie Minogue - Confide In Me - 5 wks 30 Oct 94 Pink Floyd - High Hopes - 3 wks 20 Nov 94 Suede -The Wild Ones - 2 wks 04 Dec 94 Erasure - I Love Saturday - 6 wks 1995 15 Jan 95 Portishead - Glory box - 1 wk 22 Jan 95 N-Trance - Set You Free - 4 wks 19 Feb 95 Massive Attack - Protection - 2 wks 19 Feb 95 Sheryl Crow - Strong Enough - 1 wk 12 Mar 95 The Stone Roses - Ten Storey Love Song - 1 wk 19 Mar 95 Boo Radleys - Wake Up, Boo! - 3 wks 09 Apr 95 Grace - Not Over Yet - 3 wks 30 Apr 95 Portishead - Sour Times - 4 wks 28 May 95 McAlmont & Butler - Yes - 5 wks 02 Jul 95 Moby - Into The Blue - 2 wks 16 Jul 95 Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Stuck - 2 wks 30 Jul 95 Lightning Seeds - Perfect - 2 wks 13 Aug 95 Tricky - Hell is Around the Corner - 1 wk 20 Aug 95 Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know - 1 wk 27 Aug 95 The Connells - 74-75 - 2 wks 10 Sep 95 Mike & The Mechanics - Another Cup Of Coffee - 2 wks 10 Sep 95 Céline Dion - Pour Que Tu M'aimes Encore - 1 wk 01 Oct 95 David Bowie - Hearts Filthy Lesso - 2 wks 15 Oct 95 Garbage - Only Happy When It Rains - 3 wks 05 Nov 95 Everything But The Girl - Missing (Todd Terry Remix) - 1 wk 12 Nov 95 Radiohead - Lucky - 2 wks 26 Nov 95 Blur - The Universal - 2 wks 10 Dec 95 Erasure - Fingers and Thumbs - 5 wks 1996 13 Jan 96 Dubstar - Not So Manic Now - 1 wk 20 Jan 96 Tori Amos - Caught A Lite Sneeze - 2 wks 03 Feb 96 Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out) - 6 wks 16 Mar 96 The Beatles - Real Love - 2 wks 30 Mar 96 The Prodigy - Firestarter - 4 wks 27 Apr 96 Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life - 7 wks 15 Jun 96 Metallica - Until It Sleeps - 2 wks 29 Jun 96 Ocean Colour Scene -The Day We Caught The Train - 2 wks 13 Jul 96 The Divine Comedy - Something For The Weekend - 2 wks 27 Jul 96 Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go - 1 wk 03 Aug 96 Tori Amos - Hey Jupiter (The Dakota Version) - 4 wks 31 Aug 96 My Life Story - 12 Reasons Why I Love Her - 1 wk 07 Sep 96 R.E.M. - E-Bow The Letter - 2 wks 21 Sep 96 The Fugees - Ready or Not - 2 wks 05 Oct 96 Ocean Colour Scene - The Circle - 3 wks 26 Oct 96 Faithless - Insomnia - 2 wks 09 Nov 96 DJ Shadow - Stem - 5 wks 14 Dec 96 Manic Street Preachers - Australia - 4 wks 1997 11 Jan 97 Orbital - Satan (Live) - 3 wks 01 Feb 97 Placebo - Nancy Boy - 1 wk 08 Feb 97 David Bowie - Little Wonder - 3 wks 01 Mar 97 Daft Punk - Da Funk - 3 wks 22 Mar 97 Monaco - What Do You Want From Me? - 1 wk 29 Mar 97 Lamb - Gorecki - 4 wks 26 Apr 97 Texas - Halo - 1 wk 03 May 97 Daft Punk - Around the World - 5 wks 07 Jun 97 Jewel - Foolish Games - 3 wks 28 Jun 97 Paula Cole - Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? - 3 wks 19 Jul 97 James - Waltzing Along - 2 wks 02 Aug 97 Massive Attack - Risingson - 4 wks 30 Aug 97 Missy Elliott - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) - 2 wks 13 Sep 97 The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work - 5 wks 18 Oct 97 Belle & Sebastian - Le Pastie de la Bourgeoisie - 2 wks 01 Nov 97 Depeche Mode - Useless - 4 wks 29 Nov 97 The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up - 3 wks 20 Dec 97 Bjork - Bachelorette - 4 wks 1998 17 Jan 98 BT - Flaming June - 3 wks 07 Feb 98 Green Day - Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) - 3 wks 28 Feb 98 Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha (Norman Cook Mix) - 2 wks 14 Mar 98 Madonna - Frozen - 3 wks 04 Apr 98 Ian Brown - Corpses In Their Mouths - 3 wks 25 Apr 98 Ma$e featuring Total - Tell Me What You Want - 1 wk 02 May 98 Tori Amos - Spark - 1 wk 09 May 98 Massive Attack - Teardrop - 4 wks 06 Jun 98 Embrace - Come Back To What You Know - 5 wks 11 Jul 98 Mansun - Legacy - 4 wks 08 Aug 98 Lucid - I Can't Help Myself - 3 wks 29 Aug 98 Embrace - My Weakness Is None Of Your Business - 1 wk 05 Sep 98 Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - 5 wks 10 Oct 98 Massive Attack - Inertia Creeps - 2 wks 24 Oct 98 The Cardigans - My Favourite Game - 1 wk 31 Oct 98 Alanis Morissette - Thank U - 3 wks 21 Nov 98 Mansun - Negative - 4 wks 19 Dec 98 Air - All I Need - 4 wks 1999 16 Jan 99 Robbie Williams - No Regrets - 2 wks 30 Jan 99 Three Drives On A Vinyl - Greece 2000 - 1 wk 06 Feb 99 Placebo - Every You, Every Me - 2 wks 20 Feb 99 UNKLE feat. Ian Brown - Be There - 3 wks 13 Mar 99 Skunk Anansie - Charlie Big Potato - 3 wks 03 Apr 99 Aphex Twin - Windowlicker - 7 wks 22 May 99 Veracocha - Carte Blanche - 3 wks 12 Jun 99 Travis - Driftwood - 1 wk 19 Jun 99 The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl - 3 wks 10 Jul 99 Gouryella - Gouryella - 2 wks 24 Jul 99 Manic Street Preachers - Tsunami - 2 wks 08 Aug 99 Orbital - Nothing Left - 1 wk 14 Aug 99 Destiny's Child - Bills, Bills, Bills - 3 wks 04 Sep 99 Badly Drawn Boy - Once Around The Block - 3 wks 25 Sep 99 Suede - Everything Will Flow - 4 wks 23 Oct 99 The Chemical Brothers - Out of Control - 4 wks 20 Nov 99 Travis - Turn - 1 wk 27 Nov 99 Blur - No Distance Left to Run - 3 wks 18 Dec 99 The Charlatans - My Beautiful Friend - 3 wks Edited May 31, 201411 yr by AnthonyT
October 27, 201311 yr Author yZ5qZX0qd88 07/01/1990 Erasure - You Surround Me 2 Weeks And we're off. At the start of the 1990s Erasure were at the peak of their success - perhaps more a plateau as the period from 1987 to 1994 seemed to be an endless string of pop classics. You Surround Me was the second single from the Wild!. It was low key and under-performed, chartwise compared to Drama and would also be surpassed by the follow up singles - Blue Savanah and Star. The verses in particular are great. This is not the last time you'll see them in this retrospective of the 1990s. It's rarely mentioned in their canon as being a standout but they're singles from the period I mentioned were so strong that even the less well known ones contained lots of Vince Clarke's magic touch. The opening Top 3 consists of tracks hanging around since the end of 1989. Top 3s 07/01/1990 1 - You Surround Me - Erasure 2 - In Private - Dusty Springfield 3 - Fools Gold - Stone Roses 14/01/1990 1 - You Surround Me - Erasure 2 - In Private - Dusty Springfield 3 - Nothing Ever Happens - Del Amitri Edited October 28, 201311 yr by AnthonyT
October 27, 201311 yr Author Are there fabulous dance songs or 90s R&B tracks featured in the countdown :D? I'd say over a quarter are dance tracks and maybe 20 or 30 urban songs.
October 27, 201311 yr What a wonderful beginning, You Surround Me is one of my favourite Erasure tracks... A definite highlight of the countdown already.
October 27, 201311 yr Author yeVOzaDBEmc 21/01/1990 Del Amitri - Nothing Ever Happens 2 weeks I've always been a fan of observant lyrics detailing the minutiae of small town boredom. Nothing Ever Happens extends this into the theme of loneliness. It builds nicely from the strummed riff with accordion, banjo, several layers of plucked guitar to an enchanting celebration of nothing happening. Del Amitri were one of those bands of which non-music fans know many of their songs but didn't know who the band were. Top 3s 21/01/1990 1 - Nothing Ever Happens - Del Amitri 2 - You Surround Me - Erasure 3 - In Private - Dusty Springfield 28/01/1990 1 - Nothing Ever Happens - Del Amitri 2 - Shine On - House of Love 3 - Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor Edited October 27, 201311 yr by AnthonyT
October 27, 201311 yr Where as I actually did have #1s from back then, well it started in 1990 so I'll be able to see how many we share Tony... It better be lots! (Although mine would include no hindsight which is obviously a good leveller)
October 27, 201311 yr Author There should be a decent overlap. Could you perhaps have a go at working out which three of these had a number 1 and what tracks they might have been? Spice Girls, Roxette, Celine Dion, N-Trance.
October 27, 201311 yr Author GkXLcRF5V5Y 04/02/1990 House of Love - Shine On 2 weeks There was loads of indie around in 1990. Madchester was in full flow and alternative guitar music was getting at least interest from the kids, if not sales. Shine On was a re-release from 1987 but the climate of shoe-gazing and baggy in 1990 gave it a much bigger audience. It peaks with a lovely guitar solo reminiscent of The Shadows. There were comparisons with U2 also - especially the end-piece. Wonderful. Spent a period in my Top 10 of all time in the early 1990s Top 3s 04/02/1990 1 - Shine On - House of Love 2 - Nothing Ever Happens - Del Amitri 3 - Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor 11/02/1990 1 - Shine On - House of Love 2 - Nothing Ever Happens - Del Amitri 3 - Elephant Stone - Stone Roses Edited October 28, 201311 yr by AnthonyT
October 27, 201311 yr Author Spice Girls 2 Become 1 Roxette Joyride N-Trance Set You Free ? 1 correct. And that would be N-Trance. The rest will be far trickier. You might have to wait and see/
October 27, 201311 yr Author Anthony, will any normal female pop singers (not Kate Bush, Bjork) have retro # 1 hits in your chart ? Yep. Plenty. But perhaps not with songs that you like. I just counted 12 and over 10 female fronted bands. Edited October 27, 201311 yr by AnthonyT
October 28, 201311 yr Author pFqWRhr4CBA 18/02/1990 Stone Roses - Elephant Stone 1 week Speaking of Madchester. How to describe this! Everything about it is wonderful - mercurial guitar, propulsive bass and drums, jangle! The intro alone has multiple movements and phrases. They were on a roll at this point - the non-album singles were flowing and they were genius. A brief week at number one belies its significance in 1990. The reason for this will be explained in the next entry in this rundown - Elephant Stone would spend the next six weeks behind it. Top 3 18/02/1990 1 - Elephant Stone - Stone Roses 2 - Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence 3 - Shine On - House of Love
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