Assumed that Goldfinger song was a cover of Shirley Bassey, it sounds like good heavy Britpop with good use of phaser effects.

 

Keep On Jumping is good, disco house became a trend in the charts by this point.

 

 

'A Design For Life' is so grand and majestic :heart:

One of the first songs I ever liked 'A Design For Life' was on the music channels loads back then and it's epic.

We have today had the provisional schedule for the 19th July and there are no 1996 episodes - just a retro hour.

 

Next Friday's double bill of the 2nd and 9th May 1996 will be the last 1996 shows until the 20th September.

A Design For Life. :wub:

 

What a stunning track.

A Design for Life deserved that #1 rather than the lacklustre Return of the mack :/

at least they got their first top 3 single

 

This the Manics discography up to that point, many 1-week hits and a solitary top 10 covering the MASH theme:

 

Motown junk/94

You Love Us/62

Stay Beautiful/40

Love’s sweet exile/Repeat/26

You Love Us/16 (re-issue)

Slash’n’burn/20

Motorcycle Emptiness/17

Theme from MASH/7

Little baby nothing/29

From despair to where/25

La tristessa durera(Scream to a Sigh)/22

Roses in the hospital/15

Life becoming a landslide/36

Faster/PCP/16

Revol/22

She is suffering/25

A design for life/2

 

A Design For Life is a 90s classic and one of the best number 2’s ever.

 

Also love Goldfinger - a great top 5 for Ash.

I remember being so annoyed that the Manics were blocked by Mark Morrison! Whilst I still do think A Design For Life is easily the better track, I have warmed to Return of the Mack over the years and can definitely now see its appeal in retrospect.

Motorcycle Emptiness deserved so much better than #17!

I also loved the Ash song. Girl From Mars had been a great debut hit

but then they followed it up with Angel Interceptor, which was so meh and disappointing I almost lose faith in them

but Goldfinger was another great song and put them bak on the right track

Gold Finger is definitely my favorite Ash song. Orbital went in at number 11 that week with The Box, which is one of my favorite pieces of electronic music.

The Box is amazing, Orbital are one of my all time favourite bands, so many strong songs.

 

Also was a fan of Goldfinger, it was my favourite single of theirs at the time but can’t say I’ve heard it in a long time now

I don't believe I actually know 'Goldfinger' somehow, even though I'm hugely familiar with 'Girl From Mars', 'Angel Interceptor' and 'Oh Yeah'. I'll give it a spin!

I hadn't heard The Box before Friday, interesting snapshot of mid-90s London in the video, impressive piece.

 

A Design For Life is a masterpiece, such a shame it couldn't overthrow Return of the Mack.

 

Ooh Ahh...was really turning into a monster hit, with a long run and big, growing sales. And an interesting chart run for Suggs too, I do like his version of Cecilia.

from Genius:

 

Tim Wheeler of Ash was quoted to say that: “Goldfinger is the best song we’ve ever written, and the best words I’ve ever written”.

yes The Box is amazing, one of Orbital's best. Truly deserved top 10, still sour it peaked at #11

 

that top 20 also had Babylon Zoo's followup to Spaceman called Animal Army peaking at #17

and Skunk Anansie having a 2nd top 20 in a row with the re-release of Charity, in at #20

'The Box' is fantastic and I clearly remember the TOTP appearance of its video which helped draw me in to its darker electronic sound. It was very fleeting for an #11 hit though with just 4 weeks Top 75. I also recall there being three instrumental hits back-to-back from #9 to #11 that week which was certainly unusual.

 

'A Design For Life' is stunning and 'Goldfinger' is my favourite Ash song - to have songs like that entering the Top 5 in the same week seems like a distant pipe dream now.

A Design for Life is a stunning comeback for the Manics after Richey’s disappearance. Whilst they are not quite at their creative “Holy Bible” peak here, it’s a real triumph to see how well they are doing commercially.

4TH MAY

 

 

Nothing could stop George Michael scoring his 7th solo chart topper this week- sales of “Fastlove” ended up at 110,000 as he scored his second hat-trick of solo credited No 1 singles dating back to “Five Live EP” in 1993. His album “Older” was already a practically guaranteed chart topper after waiting 6 years since his last studio album but it should debut now with big sales. “Fastlove” contains a sample of Patrice Rushen’s “Forget Me Nots” a No 8 hit in 1982 and keep an eye out in the video for a dig at his former label Sony! Incidentally if you include his Wham! hits then he’s topped the charts 11 times putting him fourth in the all time list!

 

 

 

 

Continuing with those 80s acts doing well in the 90s The Pet Shop Boys return with a new single from their first album (proper) in three years and it’s their 15th top 10 single. “Before” comes with a remix of “In The Night” for those hard core fans and is new at No 7 (35,000) and heralds a new album due in the autumn.

 

 

 

One place below Pet Shop Boys is a football single- must be the end of the season? And Manchester United must be involved? They seem the only club capable of generating a top 10 single year after year and this is now the third year they’ve done it, the song is “Move Move Move (The Red Tribe)” and is co-produced by a certain Pete Waterman. The team have already won the League (almost) and have their sights set on the FA Cup final on May 11th, the single meanwhile debuts on sales of 30,000.

 

 

 

More Britpop for you now, Sleeper have been slowly amassing the hits since their breakthrough with “Inbetweener” in early 1995 with some thanks to its Dale Winton featured promo and a support slot for Blur. Their name is plucked from the Woody Allen film and frontwoman Louise Wener has already become something of a tabloid star who is never afraid to share an opinion making her good print. The band record their first top 10 single this week with “Sale Of The Century” which sneaks in at No 10 (25,000).

 

 

Mark Morrison’s album is new at No 4 but sales of “Return Of The Mack” barely alter at all with another 89,000 copies passing hands as it dips 1-2, Gina G also maintains No 3 (73,000) and has now sold 308,000 copies making it the biggest Eurovision seller since Bucks Fizz 15 years ago.

 

Suggs Featuring Louchie Lou & Michie One aren’t done yet as they climb 6-5 (52,000) but are still below the Manic Street Preachers who are off 2-4 (59,000). Michael Jackson retreats 4-6 (48,000) and Lisa Marie Experience slide 7-9 (27,000).

 

1- FASTLOVE- George Michael (110,000)

2- RETURN OF THE MACK- Mark Morrison (89,000)

3- OOH AAH JUST A LITTLE BIT- Gina G (73,000)

4- A DESIGN FOR LIFE- Manic Street Preachers (59,000)

5- CECLIA- Suggs Featuring Louchie Lou & Michie One (52,000)

6- THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US- Michael Jackson (48,000)

7- BEFORE- Pet Shop Boys (35,000)

8- MOVE MOVE MOVE (THE RED TRIBE)- Manchester United Squad (30,000)

9- KEEP ON JUMPIN- Lisa Marie Experience (27,000)

10- SALE OF THE CENTURY- Sleeper (25,000)

 

11TH MAY

 

 

When Mr Blobby returned to No 1 in late 1993 it was viewed as a freak achievement in this day and age, an anomaly of the Christmas charts but it almost happened this week as George Michael’s “Fastlove” haemorrhaged 32% of its sales to record just 74,000 sales whilst the former chart topper from Mark Morrison lost a more modest 20% to emerge with 71,000 and was within striking distance at the end of play. With Gina G in continuing in third place (64,000) on a decline of 12% and Eurovision still a fortnight away it all makes next week’s chart an interesting prospect with any of the tracks capable of making No 1.

 

 

 

Blur’s fourth single from “The Great Escape” becomes a forth top 10 single to be taken from it. “Charmless Man” comes with a promo featuring actor Jean-Marc Barr and sees the album bounce 54-47 but it has already sold over 820,000 in its 34 week lifespan, the single opens at No 5 (43,000).

 

 

 

It’s a good week for Britpop as The Bluetones add to Blur in the top tier by coming in at No 7 (31,000) with double A-Side “Castle Rock/ Cut Some Rug”. A third single from their No 1 album “Expecting To Fly” which rises 37-31 and has already gone silver (100,000).

 

 

 

Back in the late 80s/ early 90s rapper Busta Rhymes was part of a group called Leaders Of The New School which broke up live on an episode of “Yo! MTV Raps” in 1994 with Busta going on to do feature raps before recording his solo album which is now ready. Lead single “Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check” dutifully enters at No 8 (29,000) and features a sample of Sugarhill Gang’s “8th Wonder” among others, his album left the charts quickly after its No 48 debut but hopefully can shift something more now that it contains a hit.

 

 

 

The Netherlands seems to be producing the club hits these days and hot on the heels of Technohead come Klubbheads, a trio of DJ’s whose “Klubbhopping” has been big in clubland for a few months now and gets its chart berth at No 10 (24,000).

 

 

Suggs Featuring Louchie Lou & Michie One inch ever closer to the top of the chart 5-4 (54,000) and are to be congratulated on the longevity of the cover of “Cecilia” especially given the increasingly quick turnaround of the charts these days. Manchester United rise 8-6 (42,000) as they formally win the premiership, but Manic Street Preachers drop 4-9 (26,000).

 

 

1- FASTLOVE- George Michael (74,000)

2- RETURN OF THE MACK- Mark Morrison (71,000)

3- OOH AAH JUST A LITTLE BIT- Gina G (64,000)

4- CECLILIA- Suggs Ft Louchie Lou & Michie One (54,000)

5- CHARMLESS MAN- Blur (43,000)

6- MOVE MOVE MOVE (THE RED TRIBE)- Manchester United Squad (42,000)

7- CUT SOME RUG/ CASTLE ROCK- The Bluetones (31,000)

8- WOO-HAH GOT YOU ALL IN CHECK- Busta Rhymes (29,000)

9- A DESIGN FOR LIFE- Manic Street Preachers (26,000)

10- KLUBBHOPPING- Klubheads (24,000)