Love Not So Manic Now and the follow up Stars. Had no idea it was a cover either.

I did know it was a cover but I don't think I've ever heard it before now, I quite like that original version too

I adore Dubstar, 'Anywhere' is another absolute gem from them.

 

236 | Meat Loaf - I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)

 

Another official #1 falls next as we head back to 1993 and the biggest single of the year from Meat Loaf. It only managed one week at the top for me, unlike the UK, before being toppled by Cappella who've already featured - it did however stick around a while and I did get the parent album too. The main thing I can recall about it was being infuriated that everyone used to go on about how nobody would ever know what 'THAT' was... yet it quite plainly details the answer in the song lyrics if you actually pay attention to them. I stumbled across a post on Facebook about the same thing the other month and it infuriated me all over again just how many people were still spouting on about the mystery of it all... GAH! The other main thing I can remember occurs in the video at around the 7 minute mark... in so much as it took me many years of watching the video before I actually realised that Meat Loaf was supposed to have transformed from the 'beast' to a normal version of himself at the end - I honestly never noticed the difference :kink:

 

In retrospect the Prodigy would probably have had another #1 for me with One Love but it wasn't to be at the time. At this point they were an act I enjoyed but didn't obsess over, that would come slightly later... and the new entry that I'd highlight now goes to Lionrock with a pretty decent club track, built around drums and rhythm with an emotive crowd speech breakdown halfway through.

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 17 October 1993

Weeks: One

1990s chart rank: 168

2020s plays rank: 259

Biggest song it kept from #1:

(#4 w/c 17 October 1993)

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

Not So Manic Now suited them so much that it came across like it was written for them. 10/10

Always liked Dubstar, though Stars may have had the edge for me. Meatloaf is a legend, and I was glad to see him back in all his OTT Jim Steinman best drapes after a post-Steinman shoddy career for the most part. Bat Out Of Hell the musical is well worth a trip if they run it again, one epic rock Jim Steinman track after another. I OD'd on this one a bit too much at the time and I've not gone back to when it sounded refreshing and new yet (30 years on), and Meatloaf's more recent rather unwise "I would rather die than get a Covid vaccination" pronouncement really wasn't his best life choice. It won't hurt his career though.

Stars is my fav from them too

 

235 | Chicane - Offshore

 

This was my christmas #1 for 1996, how festive! If I remember correctly at the time the release of this the week before was up against Salva Mea by Faithless so I didn't fully notice it compared to the dramatic structure of the re-release follow up to Insomnia. In the end however Salva Mea stalled at #3 for a second week as this leapfrogged it and everything else to the top. At the time this felt really different for a dance song in the charts, it was less instant yet ultimately the tune felt quite catchy after a few plays and then after a few more it felt like something completely new to me. I guess if you're hearing it in retrospect it may not feel as fresh, that's always the way when you have an act's whole discography to look through, but at the time this was the first the world was hearing from them and of course they were about to become even more popular in the following years and turn into one of the most successful dance acts on the charts.

 

I mentioned Faithless stuck at #3 and that was the biggest song that missed out this week... in retrospect I actually really like this one but at the time it charted on hype following up Insomnia yet ultimately felt not quite as good as that was so it didn't quite live up to the hype at the time. Spacehog entered further down the official chart that week, I didn't chart it at all at the time but I do quite like it now - it's pretty catchy.

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 22 December 1996

Weeks: One

1990s chart rank: 251

2020s plays rank: 172

Biggest song it kept from #1:

(#3 w/c 22 December 1996)

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

 

 

234 | The Verve - Lucky Man

 

Next up is the third single from one of the biggest albums of the 90s, Urban Hymns. This was the peak of my affections for them as they had grown on me with each single from the album and I still think that this and Drugs are easily their best two songs. That said, I don't have loads to say about this tbh which typifies why I thought they were a bit overrated back in 1997 - they were the radio friendly option compared to the genius album that was OK Computer. But yeah, as radio friendly indie goes, this is a pretty great example of it.

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 30 November 1997

Weeks: One

1990s chart rank: 202

2020s plays rank: 220

Biggest song it kept from #1:

(#4 w/c 30 November 1997)

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

love Chicane and that song, and Salva Mea is great too

 

also love Lucky Man, lots of memories attached to it as my best friend always sing this to me on guitar but I don't consider myself to be a lucky man at all :D

Actually I'm just listening to I Thought It Was You as linked in the Verve post and that's aged quite well, it's still a really smooth and catchy house track :wub: even with the pretty dated snippets of a film(?) sample

Lucky Man :wub: :wub:

Lucky Man :wub:

I preferred Salva Mea at the time, topped my charts - though I need to reacquaint myself with it after 25 years of hearing Insomnia and no plays for Salva Mea. I've never revisited 1996. The Verve also topped my chart with Lucky Man, but I'd opt for Bittersweet Symphony as the classic. They were generally great at the time though. In terms of other great track around at the time: Texas, Put Your Arms Around Me, or Bernard Butler Stay for me if we're talking forgotten tracks.

Offshore definitely the best 'discovery' I've listened to in this, really liking it.

Oh great, glad you've found something you like and didn't already know ^_^ Sunstroke was also a nice single from them around this time, the original version better than the single mix though imo.

 

233 | The Beloved - You've Got Me Thinking

 

Here's one that I'd bet pretty much nobody remembers these days. I really liked the Conscience album when it was released and this was the second single to be lifted from it, a ballad that's not really that representative of the album at all. These days the lyrics sound a little overly earnest but as a kid I used to think they were sweet and it's still a lovely little ballad... I particularly like the section from 2:15 onwards with the spanish guitar and cycling strings before going into the section where everything kinda comes together again. Is it a classic or anything? Almost certainly not but it's making for quite a relaxing listen just now.

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 04 April 1993

Weeks: One

1990s chart rank: 170

2020s plays rank: 251

Biggest song it kept from #1:

(#3 w/c 04 April 1993)

Biggest fave now that I didn't love at the time: The Lemonheads - It's a Shame About Ray

The Beloved :wub:

 

232 | Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee)

 

Haha! Well not even I escaped this as it took over the world in 1999. Indeed I bought it on import a few weeks earlier as record shops had taken to making those available for songs that they expected to be huge. I remember buying both this and a song that was #4 that week for me, Get Get Down by Paul Johnson. Back to Blue... well it is what it is really, an impossibly catchy euro dance single and whilst it hasn't exactly aged well it remains difficult not to love the chorus... everyone had their own version, mine was "Aberdeen, I will die in Aberdeen I will die in Aberdeen I will die in Aberdeen" etc which tbh always felt quite likely should I ever encounter Aberdeen. It was quite dance heavy in my place in 1999 with Toca Me debuting a spot behind (as the original instrumental version of the huge hit in waiting), the aforementioned Paul Johnson in at #4 and something that's yet to feature in the thread hanging around at #3.

 

My obsession with dance music meant that I missed Beth Orton at the time, albeit I did buy the single some weeks later. I'd been aware of Beth Orton but largely through her work with the Chemical Brothers on their first two albums. Central Reservation was the title track of her second album and had been remixed for the single release, it turned out to be a slow grower for me and eventually peaked in my top 10 however it won't get a mention unless I do so now. She ended up being someone I would see live a few times and really follow from here on in, she had two #1 singles for me from her next album and remains a staple on my acoustic/chilled playlists now.

 

 

The stats:

 

Date: 19 September 1999

Weeks: One

1990s chart rank: 171

2020s plays rank: 249

Biggest song it kept from #1:

(#2 w/c 19 September 1999)

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

You're right I didn't recall You've Got Me Thinking! Peaked at 39 in my charts apparently, sounds pleasant but it's not quite Hello or Sweet Harmony. Always liked The Beloved though. Sybil's Good & Ready was decent too, as was Shame About Ray.