210 | Drugstore - El President

 

Heading up an all new top 5 this week in 1998 were Drugstore with El President, defeating the Dandy Warhols, a returning Tori Amos with Spark, Catatonia with Road Rage and Lo-Fidelity All-Stars with Vision Incision. Now Drugstore may seem an unlikely act to have pulled this feat off however they had the secret weapon of featuring Thom Yorke as a guest vocalist which was clearly always going to get my attention. It's a really dramatic track with the strings and flamenco(ish) style guitars and I think it's one of the forgotten gems that will appear in this thread.

 

In at #2 were Dandy Warhols, their second single in a row to make the top 3 after I'd really liked Every Day Should Be A Holiday earlier in the year. They would go on to have four number ones on my chart but sadly none will feature here because the earliest was Get Off in 2000. I think I'll flag the Lo-Fis also in this section as they never really achieved much success but they were a great trip hop / alt dance kinda band - in fact quite difficult to pigeonhole in terms of sound but they're definitely worth checking out.

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 26 April 1998

Weeks: One

1990s chart rank: 229

2020s plays rank: 153

Biggest song it kept from #1:

(#2 w/c 31 May 1998)

Biggest fave now that I did love at the time but this was a hella busy week:

Pet Shop Boys is my fave natch, love that track, album and period for them.

 

I bought the Boss Drum album on cd but havent heard it in years. 25 years prob! I always liked The Shamen though, including this on.

 

Smashing Pumpkins i only vaguely recall always a bit hit and miss for me. Like the Uncle Fester tribute...

 

Rendez vous is decent but its not up there with Good Times which i adore.

 

Its Like That was a banger, and a huge one. Still prefer Walk This Way on the whole though.

 

 

 

 

209 | Gouryella - Gouryella

 

Time for some trance *.* This was the equivalent of a held back release for me as I'd originally bought the 12" promo from my local record shop back in 1998, I'd never heard it before but it was the one in the pic above and the name of Ferry Corsten (yep, not Tiesto!) made me want to take the risk. By the time it was officially released in 1999 I'd known it long enough for it to smash in at the top. Ferry Corsten really couldn't do any wrong by this point, every thing he released during 98/99 was absolute gold... although he was difficult to keep track of because he released under so many different guises with many different collaborators.

 

This, and a few other tracks that are still to come, mean that Whitney had to settle for #4 with her second great single of 1999. She did make #1 twice for me during the decade but you'll have to wait and see what with. Finally, a shout out to Ca$ino who were way down the UK chart at #74 but having just heard it I realise that I used to hear this all over the place in commercial clubs *.*

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 04 July 1999

Weeks: One

1990s chart rank: 175

2020s plays rank: 207

Biggest song it kept from #1: Whitney Houston - My Love is Your Love (#4 w/c 04 July 1999)

Biggest fave now that I didn't love at the time:

 

208 | Mariah Carey - Fantasy

 

Mariah's second and final appearance in this thread, she nabbed her first #1 for me with Fantasy as the comeback single following the huge Music Box era. I still think this is Mariah at her best even if I don't care for her anywhere near as much these days. It was backed with a David Morales remix which helped me to love it even more at the time - although oddly I don't even really care for the remix anywhere near as much now either and would probably say I prefer the original to it.

 

For the second time in recent posts it is Erasure who find themselves in the position of being kept from #1. Stay With Me represents the point when the public seemed to lose interest in them as a band and it was definitely a very different type of song from them, I remember being a little disappointed when it comfortably missed the top 10. In retrospect I prefer this of the two, and indeed the album it is lifted from is one of my absolute faves from them - it's full of long songs (calling Rollo!) and is a deliberate move away from the radio friendly singles they had given us until this point. History is my pick of tracks I didn't know at the time, it completely passed me by - as did the Verve in general tbh until Bittersweet Symphony was released.

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 17 September 1995

Weeks: Two

1990s chart rank: 203

2020s plays rank: 177

Biggest song it kept from #1: Erasure - Stay With Me (#2 w/c 17 September 1995)

Biggest fave now that I didn't love at the time: The Verve - History

'Fantasy' is my favourite thing that Mariah has ever done too! Also really like the song it samples, 'Genius of Love' by Tom Tom Club ^_^

 

207 | The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral

 

First appearance of the thread for the mighty KLF! Given my obsession with them at the time, I don't think it gives away too much to say this was their second #1 in succession on my chart, and only narrowly missed out on doing the same for the UK... they'd have gotten away with it if it wasn't for that pesky Cher. This was another rework of older material, turning a fairly simple yet effective trance track into something as gloriously OTT and impossible to ignore as only they could produce. The part at 2:13 was always my favourite, it sounded so euphoric *.* I was surprised to see this outside of the top 200 when my spreadsheet did its magic but looking back it fell away quite quickly compared to some of their other songs - no idea why as I remember liking it just as much at the time.

 

They (and a couple of others) stood in the way of OMD at the time, a band who I'd just sort of assumed were new at the time oooops. Sailing on the Seven Seas was a good comeback single but there was better to come in the decade imo. Also climbing in to the top 10 were Blur but they were far too indie for my tastes at this point in my life, a year or so too early for me appreciate what they were doing.

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 28 April 1991

Weeks: Two

1990s chart rank: 194

2020s plays rank: 186

Biggest song it kept from #1: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Sailing On The Seven Seas (#3 w/c 05 May 1991)

Biggest fave now that I didn't love at the time: Blur - There's No Other Way

Not commented here for a while. A few I'm not familiar with and will take a listen to - Smashing Pumpkins, Shamen, Gouryella (I'm sure I will recognise this though, definitely heard of it but can't place it).

 

El President is wonderful :wub: Always enjoyed Two Princes a lot, and It's Like That definitely one of my very favourite number one singles.

 

 

VB didn’t make it I’m afraid, her AA, AAA, AAAA and AAAAA side sales weren’t counted so she only made #21 :( But at least #21 has a number one in it of sorts I guess.

 

#21 on your countdown isn't bad tbh!! We VB fsns will tske it!!!

 

Also Fantasy and Heartbreaker and Touch Ma Body and Dem Chickens are Maeiah's best hits.

 

Oops I fell behind with this thread too but will attempt to keep up with it again now (and maybe one day catch up with the stuff I missed x) - today I learned Etienne De Crécy have been around since the 90s and had a couple of minor UK hits, I only know them from their BJSC hit! (which is great x)

 

'It's Like That' (the timing of that coming up in the latest 90s survivor), 'Gouryella' and 'Last Train To Trancentral' are good tunes from these last few songs.

Neither Drugstore nor Gouryella charted for me, oops! Whitney's My Love is one of her best though so you can put me down for that one (and the album it came from which I bought).

 

Fantasy only just missed out on the top spot for me, mariah at her best, and I also love the Tom Tom Club original. I also rated the Erasure track and Verve passed me by completely - Radio 1 didn't play it, I didnt get to hear it, those were the rules in those days...

 

KLF obv topped my chart too, but this was also the lesser of the Big Four for me - or i should say 5, as Kylie Said To Jason also went top 5 :lol: OMD was a joyful comeback for me, and a great album, that wasn't the best track on it though, I did a pirate cassette tape copy of the tour Andy did to promote it (just so, so awful recording quality I gave up on that as a thing, OMD were fab though) and yes OMD did better singles in the 90's (and 80's and 21st century). It's got the Glitter Rock beat, though, borrowed by many an act since OMD and Shakespear's Sister revived it. Blur I also very under-rated There's No Other Way at the time, barely top 20 for me.

 

206 | Blur - Girls & Boys

 

The last time I posted I featured a Blur track as one I like now but didn't love at the time, this time they feature fully but with a track I loved at the time but think a little less of now. I mean it's okay but these days I prefer many of their other tracks that sadly won't feature in my list. However for a 14 year old me Blur's lead single from Parklife was the perfect blend of indie music and pop and cemented them as a big favourite with me. I can remember watching a news item about them and the concept of 'Britpop' when they were interviewing members of the public and seeing whether they liked Blur tracks such as 'For Tomorrow' and almost universally the public decided that it wasn't going to catch on - how wrong they were eh?

 

I've got three tracks to mention here this time that Blur prevented from reaching #1 and arguably I prefer them all to my chart topper these days. D:Ream are first up with a single I'd bought back in 1993, it was remixed in 94 as the follow up to their #1 and because of my familiarity with it they found themselves straight in at #2. It's a track that I still consider to be by far their best and I can remember at the time debating between Blur and D:Ream and opting for Blur because I felt it was a bit cooler :lol: I probably also had in mind that D:Ream would make it the following week but that didn't happen as Blur held on and they actually fell behind a rising Alison Moyet with the single remix of Whispering Your Name, a track that was getting more promo than usual because it featured Dawn French in the video. These days I still really like the song although I prefer the original album version without the somewhat dated production. However everything mentioned so far pales into insignificance at the feet of Do You Remember The First Time? which is one of my absolute favourite Pulp tracks but sadly one I didn't pay attention to until later in the 90s so it never charted for me at all :(

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 20 March 1994

Weeks: Two

1990s chart rank: 176

2020s plays rank: 203

Biggest song it kept from #1:

(#2 w/c 20 March 1994) and

(#2 w/c 27 March 1994)

Biggest fave now that I didn't love at the time:

 

205 | Beverley Craven - Promise Me

 

Next up is a track that suffers a huge 88 place drop as a result of my chosen method of compilation, you'll see from the stats below that it would have been at the much higher position of 122nd if it was purely based upon 90s success. Sadly it's a song that I had almost completely forgotten about as it never seems to feature anywhere these days - nor has it seemed to feature anywhere since about 1992... all of which is a real shame as this is an absolutely lovely piano ballad, I'm listening now and it really does hold up as a powerful ballad with vivid lyrics and a wonderfully emotive delivery - plus the simple orchestration means it hasn't really dated that much either so goodness only knows why it disappeared from everyone's consciousness almost as quickly as it entered. Anyway, this is one of my favourite reminders from having undertaken this project as I've since added it to my playlist in the hope of bumping it up my play count a little bit.

 

Another act that enjoyed chart success almost exclusively in 1991 was Amy Grant, the christian singer with a penchant for pendants. Baby Baby was her big hit and my family, being pretty strict christians at that point, bought the album solely on the basis that she was too. It was a fun pop album to be fair to her, there's much worse from the era and it probably deserved to do better in the UK and match the type of success she achieved with it in the US. My main memory of this song will always be the way Amy pronounces the words 'devotion, notion and ocean', I can't help but over emphasise it every time I hear it.

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 09 June 1991

Weeks: One

1990s chart rank: 122

2020s plays rank: 255

Biggest song it kept from #1:

(#3 w/c 09 June 1991)

Biggest fave now that I didn't love at the time:

Promise Me is one of my favourite ballads ever. I certainly haven’t forgotten it. :heart: :wub:

'Girls & Boys' is just a good fun track for me.

 

204 | The Beautiful South - Perfect 10

 

This was the final #1 on my chart for Paul Heaton and company, they managed 3 in the 90s but would also likely have made it in 1989 with You Keep It All In. These days the lyrics are a bit cringe but at the time I was focusing primarily on the tune and it definitely is one of the catchiest songs of the decade with everything riding atop a pretty funky backing. It was a big hit for them in the chart also where it made #2 stalling behind B*Witched, a big improvement over most of the positions reached by their singles so it clearly clicked with a wider audience.

 

The song that entered behind The Beautiful South in the UK was Doo Wop from Lauryn Hill. Oddly, despite me liking the Fugees (and Sister Act 2 :lol: ) I didn't pay that much attention to the single at the time so it only made #16 for me despite it being a big fave now. Instead the other new entry of the week for me was a re-issue of Beachball by Nalin and Kane, a big trance tune that had been around the clubs for a few years - this time it was a remix from Tall Paul that prompted the reissue of the track.

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 27 September 1998

Weeks: One

1990s chart rank: 140

2020s plays rank: 235

Biggest song it kept from #1: Nalin & Kane - Beachball (#4 w/c 27 September 1998)

Biggest fave now that I didn't love at the time:

 

203 | Young Disciples - Apparently Nothin'

 

Another one week #1 from 1991 up next in the form of Young Disciples who were part of the new soul scene that was developing in the late 80s and early 90s via the likes of Soul II Soul, Massive Attack, Jamiroquai and Brand New Heavies etc. Their biggest and best single was Apparently Nothin' which I fell in love with as the beats were a bit harder (comparatively anyway) and felt more modern that a lot of typical soul songs from the era - you'd possibly describe them as being from the early stages of the Acid Jazz scene maybe? Whatever we term it as, I still really like it and it's a staple on my Summer playlist so regularly gets a play round ours.

 

Being kept at bay this week were Deacon Blue. I have a soft spot for Deacon Blue and think they had quite a lot of decent radio friendly singles, this one was a bit of a grower but turned into something pretty catchy in the end - I'm not really sure how well they performed with albums but they really should have been selling like the Beautiful South and Crowded House etc as constant hit makers. If you're not familiar with the title it's the one that goes on about the pale girl in blue room with a pink dress etc...

 

Last but certainly not least we have Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam new to the UK chart this week at #49 with the remix of Let The Beat Hit 'Em. I didn't know this track until later in the decade when I bought the Clivilles and Cole compilation album of their remixes in about 1994ish and this was instantly one of my favourites on it, together with their own essential tracks like A Deeper Love and a fun mega mix of their C&C Music Factory hits. For those of you who don't know it, you'll hopefully recognise it as being the original sample for an absolute banger that reached #1 last year.

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 18 August 1991

Weeks: One

1990s chart rank: 248

2020s plays rank: 125

Biggest song it kept from #1:

(#3 w/c 18 August 1991)

Biggest fave now that I didn't love at the time:

 

202 | Ocean Colour Scene - The Day We Caught The Train

 

Last one for this evening sees Ocean Colour Scene appearing with their only single to top my chart, the Beatles-esque Day We Caught The Train. I had liked The Riverboat Song but I'd assumed that they were a bit of a one hit wonder so I was really surprised when they came back with this, a track that was more melodic and retro sounding. I eventually bought the album it came from too and that was an unexpectedly decent attempt also, particular favourites being The Circle and the closing track Get Away - britpop era bands did have a habit of making great last tracks for albums. I'm curious to know how much this sold as it felt bigger than its #4 peak in the UK - but looking at that particular week it was the highest new entry but defeated by the huge selling top 3 of Killing Me Softly/3 Lions/Mysterious Girl so the chances are it could have sold decent numbers to make #4.

 

Girls & Boys was the opening track this evening and in a nice piece of completely unintended symmetry, a song that samples it features in this post too. Blurred was a bit of a novelty dance track really in retrospect but at the time it briefly felt quite cool, entering in the runner up spot before falling away relatively quickly. Lower down the UK chart was Folk Implosion just missing out on the top 40 with Natural One, I think I must have had this on a compilation somewhere as I remember going through a phase where I really liked it but I definitely didn't know it when the single was released. In retrospect it sounds like something that could have been lifted from Odelay! by Beck.

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 09 June 1996

Weeks: One

1990s chart rank: 177

2020s plays rank: 194

Biggest song it kept from #1: Pianoman - Blurred (#2 w/c 09 June 1996)

Biggest fave now that I didn't love at the time:

207 | The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral

 

BANGER! *.*

They always played this when the Exeter City football team come out the tunnel at the start of home games (still unsure why and when this started), and I would hear it most Saturdays at just before 3 as I used to live opposite the ground at St. James' Park.

 

Hope more KLF to come- particularly “It’s Grim Up North”.

Well, Blur: Girls & Boys was indeed getting all the kudos at the time, and Pet Shop Boys did a great cover of it, but as I've never cared what critics say I went my own sweet chart way and put the way better classic D:Ream U'R The Best Thing on top of my charts, along with Alison Moyet's Whispering. I thought I was right then, and I think I'm right now :teresa: (Except that I also underestimated Pulp, lack of airplay I think :lol: )

 

Oh dear Oh dear, Promise Me has never been a fave sorry! I can't get past the deep intake of breaths being worthy of taking the Michael for at least 30 years now. It still crops up in banter whenever her name is mentioned. Shame as the follow up was much better, and her recent stuff with fellow 80's/90's songstresses was pretty good. Baby Baby was more to my taste, yay for your parents.

 

Perfect 10 not one of their best records, I got mightily sick of hearing it quite quickly after an initial like, so put me down for Doo Wop instead from the Sister Act 2 star (oh and Fugees too) :)

 

Young Disciples is one I liked and Carleen Anderson actual-James-Brown-god-daughter did a lot of good stuff with hosts of big names, and bands like Incognito and Brand New Heavies. Ocean Colour Scene I liked the more they on, preferring later tracks to the early stuff, but anyone who based their look on 60's act Steve Ellis of Love Affair was going to catch my attention :dance:

Girls and Boys, Promise Me and Perfect 10 are quite a trio, love them all.

 

My favourite you've mentioned in that batch is U R The Best Thing - for me so much better than their big hit, a brilliant song.

 

Also, Baby Baby is great. I actually downloaded it on iTunes last year because I wanted a 'hard' copy and realised it never appears on any compilations for some reason. I love the bizarre change in the song at 2:22 where the production goes up several notches to sounding like a different song altogther (to music you might hear at a fairground?).

Edited April 13, 20232 yr by gooddelta