richie

Heard of 'em but not sure if I've heard 'em. If they were on one of the Creation Soup compilations then I will have :)

The fun and urgency of Caught By the Fuzz, Mansize Rooster - even Alright - were gone. I dunno, Oasis seemed to just dampen everything with some kind of stodgy haze and everyone took a cue from it. I'd say it's a massive step down from His 'n' Hers and the singles that immediately preceded it. Yes! I actually forget that Different Class came out just after the "Britpop war" but it's certainly not Pulp's best album. With the exception of the Betas who had not quite formed as The Beta Band, they were all already around before then. Radiohead, Bjork, Mercury Rev and PJ Harvey all arguably produced their best work before August 1995. Of course there will be exceptions to my rule - it's not a thought out theory, it's just that I reckon that's when things changed. I could just as easily point at Wake Up Boo! by the Boo Radleys as being the turning point a few months earlier. "Indie" was getting into the top 10 but the plodding, popularised version of what it had been was not a continuation nor an improvement and the term started to belong to a much wider range of music. Before that, to say you were "into indie" to someone was greeted with the same bands. In the second half of the 90s, if you said you were into indie music people were as likely to say "Oh, like Kula Shaker or Space?" as they were to say, "oh, like The Beta Band or Urusei Yatsura"? I'd imagine there are some of them on music forums just now claiming that the Arctic Monkeys coming along was when indie died and that they could never match up to the Stereophonics etc.

That's fine, most people would say the exact opposite to me. But I really think the general "indie" sound was better before August 1995 than after.

Something has never seemed right about Raving I'm Raving. I bought a copy of it in an Inverness shop two weeks before it got to number two which makes me think the stock was already out but embargoed as there was an ongoing dispute. The Inverness folk either didn't get informed of the embargo or didn't care as nobody would check that far north. As I recall, Marc Cohn allowed the release to go ahead but no more discs were to be produced and ALL royalties had to go to charity (or maybe him, I can't remember). So, it ended up at no.15 the week after as stock simply ran out and then disappeared from the chart 100%. It ruined SUAD financially and, yep, the hastily put together "remix" with random synths replacing the piano sample and the new 'melody' for Peter Bouncer to try to sing was horrible.

Not something to celebrate. I see the moment John Humphries mentioned Oasis and Blur on the news as the death of indie music. Both bands released their worst singles to date and the flood gates opened for a generation of dad rock. Even bands who had been good up until that point (Supergrass, Ash, Pulp...) began to seriously dip in quality. Bands who had quite rightfully never made much of an impact up until then (Verve, Ocean Colour Scene, Dodgy...) started to hit the top 10. Moan, grumble etc. But does anyone agree with me?

For some odd reason, I bought the KWS single. I quite liked the cover at the time (although don't think much of it now) but I knew that their other tracks were more in keeping with the hardcore sound of the time and thought "Gameboy" might have been a rave track I'd heard somewhere earlier in the year that sampled the music from Tetris. Of course, it wasn't - it was pretty non-descript. Tetris would come to the charts later in the year, not in the form of the hardcore white label I'd heard but its polar opposite in L.L.W....urgh

I have never been more behind Usain Bolt than I will be on Saturday at 2:15. Gatlin should have been thrown out for good when he was caught a second time. "There are not going to be medals passed out to everybody in the world. It is going to be passed out to one person, the champion." - Justin Gatlin. Oh yes, Justin, there are medals for more than one person...and yours will be silver.

I'd never heard the Natalie Cole tune so just listened on Youtube. It's the weakest of the three there by far but it's kinda nice.

And just to upset things, I'll do the exact reverse and set them all equal again +03 Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais +02 James Brown - Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine +01 Natalie Cole - This Will Be

Number 24s +10 David Bowie - Heroes +09 X Ray Spex - Identity +08 Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Pump It Up +07 Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Staircase (Mystery) +06 Billy Connolly - No Chance (No Charge) +05 Elton John - Step Into Christmas +04 Rich Kids - Rich Kids +03 Nottingham Forest & Paper Lace - We've Got The Whole World In Our Hands +02 Squeeze - Slap And Tickle +01 Foreigner - Cold As Ice Number 29s +10 Buzzcocks - Everybody's Happy Nowadays +09 Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground +08 David Bowie - D.J +07 Robert Wyatt - I'm A Believer +06 Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Radio Radio +05 Ruts - Something That I Said +04 Cheap Trick - I Want You To Want Me +03 Sylvester - Dance (Disco Heat) +02 Stevie Wonder - Another Star +01 Angelic Upstarts - Teenage Warning Number 34s +10 Buzzcocks - Love You More +07 Undertones - Here Comes The Summer +04 Staple Singers - If You're Ready (Come Go With Me) +01 Equals - Rub A Dub Dub

Ah, no it wasn't - it was Sparky's Magic Piano!

The tracklisting sounds very familiar. I'm sure I had one with Tubby the Tuba on it too. I always found the fact that "Christopher Robin went down with Alice" weird - that two characters from different stories both went to visit the Queen at the same time.

Aha, thanks! I know Papa Oom Mow Mow in other novelty versions so I figured it had to be a good shout...and I like Sparks and Can in general.

Rumours suggest the match might go to a no-contest as Sting may well show up and challenge the Undertaker (just as the Undertaker did to Brock at Battleground) setting up a geriatric match between the two at Wrestlemania 32.

SL2's 'On a Ragga Tip' might be the most played rave track of all time (that or 'Out of Space' by The Prodigy) - both continue to get played on the radio today...testament to their catchiness I suppose...reggae and rave meet together uptown and all that. Worth pointing out that there was a response ragga-rave record by Progression called 'On a Rubbish Tip' that wasn't anywhere near as good as the title suggests...or is exactly as bad as the title suggests.

Best not mentioned really!

You sure it was Kenneth Connor? Bernard Cribbins did a UK version of the entire Danny Kaye EP (or vice versa) with The Ugly Duckling, King's New Clothes, Inchworm etc.

"Worst TV"? Julian Clary's brilliant outburst and Fruitbat sorting out cheeky git Pip Schofield are two of the best ever TV moments. Ditto the Catchphrase snake charmer and Paul Shane. Really should point out that "The Hopefuls" were not on The Word from the beginning. That was added during the highly desperate last series I think. Instead there was "Les Miserables" where people would try to cheery up a morose cartoon with their antics. Much, much better. A lot of the rest really is awful. Wayne Hussey pretty much kept James Whale's rubbish show on TV for another couple of years I think. I mean, what other show would give time to Jerry Hayes and Baz Bamigboye?

Soccer Saturday is really over the top. I'm usually not in on Saturday afternoons - or, if I am, I try to find a dodgy stream showing Sunderland getting beaten comprehensively.

That's a shame. Yes, I'll be watching - love the world championships.

ARGH, SO HARD TO CHOOSE A WINNER BETWEEN THE SKIDS AND PATRICK HERNANDEZ. TWO OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVES OF ALL TIME. +30 The Skids - Into The Valley +29 Patrick Hernandez - Born To Be Alive +28 The Specials Feat. Rico - A Message To You Rudy/Nite Klub +27 David Bowie - Starman +26 Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side +25 Desmond Dekker & The Aces - The Israelites +24 Sham 69 - Hurry Up Harry +23 Sparks - Beat The Clock +22 George Baker Selection - Una Paloma Blanca +21 Blondie - (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear +20 Third World - Now That We've Found Love +19 Isley Brothers - Harvest For The World +18 Boney M - Painter Man +17 Alice Cooper - No More Mr. Nice Guy +16 Chris Hill - Bionic Santa +15 Sacha Distel - Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head +14 Fleetwood Mac - The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Prong Crown) +13 Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Here Comes The Sun +12 Nazareth - Bad Bad Boy +11 Queen - Seven Seas Of Rhye +10 Isaac Hayes Movement - Disco Connection +09 Kate Bush - Kate Bush On Stage EP +08 Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock And Roll +07 David Bowie - Knock On Wood +06 Elton John - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds +05 Johnny Mathis - I'm Stone In Love With You +04 Mike Reid - The Ugly Duckling +03 Lindisfarne - Run For Home +02 Fatback Band - (Do The) Spanish Hustle +01 Leeds United F.C - Leeds United

Ok, pretty sure I cannot remember how ANY of the #26 records sound, so guessing this is my top 3 Number 26 +10 Sparks - Looks, Looks, Looks +05 Can - I Want More +01 Sharonettes - Papa Oom Mow Mow Number 32s +10 The Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais +09 Buzzcocks - Harmony In My Head +08 James Brown - Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine +07 The Commodores - Brickhouse/Sweet Love +06 The Undertones - You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It) +05 Abba - Ring Ring +04 The Wurzels - Farmer Bill's Cowman (I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman) +03 Rupie Edwards - Lego Skanga +02 London Symphony Orchestra - Theme From 'Superman' (Main Title) 01 Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop Number 37s +10 B-52s - Rock Lobster +09 Buzzcocks - What Do I Get? +08 Band Of The Black Watch - Dance Of The Cuckoos (The 'Laurel And Hardy' Theme) +07 Tony Christie - Avenues And Alleyways +06 Melanie - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow +05 Elton John - Bennie And The Jets +04 The Carpenters - Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town +03 The Beach Boys - Here Comes the Night +02 The Beach Boys - California Saga +01 The Beatles - Help!

Wasn't a huge fan of Ce Ce Peniston but it was pretty inoffensive stuff. I wonder if the CeCe Rogers lift was because someone saw "Ce Ce" and thought, "Hmm, I wonder?"

+20 Plastic Bertrand - Ca Plane Pour Moi +18 Shocking Blue - Venus +16 Sex Pistols - Holidays In The Sun +14 Jackson 5 - ABC +12 Stranglers - No More Heroes +10 Piero Umiliani - Mah-Na, Mah-Na +08 Stranglers - Peaches/Go Buddy Go +06 Jacksons - Blame It On The Boogie +04 Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town +02 Sylvester - You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

I couldn't remember what the lead track was! But happy enough to keep David and James above - don't really want the Clash to do a Smiths in the 80s ultimate 40 and occupy load of lower positions.