Colm

I certainly didn't dislike Get Ready for This as much back then. But it's quite thin on redeeming features.

9 Salt-N-Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex A public service announcement in the form of a pop-rap song. STDs are less irritating. 14th best selling single of the year. You can thank Bryan Adams that this didn't make it to number 1. Colm's Score 3.9

Welcome to 1991. I'm sorry. 10 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This It's quite baffling, in a year that brought us The Prodigy, Altern-8 and several KLF classics that the two biggest selling dance singles of 1991 were Oceanic's pedestrian Insanity and this basic tripe. I do kinda enjoy the intro, though - what a let down the rest of it is. Those of you that purchased enough copies of this to make it the 11th best selling single of the year, I hope you're happy with your life choices. Colm's score 3.7

Always? Why do you say that?

1991 is so mid. :(

The full club version of Brim Full of Ashes is amazing. 1998 had 3 of my all time favorite number 1s.

I used to remember all those positions too.. 😁

1 Roxette - It Must Have Been Love That leaves us with the 14th best selling single of the year. Outselling 5 number 1s and all but one of the number 2s. This spent a period as my favourite song ever back in the 90s. Today I learned that this was released in Sweden in December 1987. It wasn't released anywhere else. When the band were approached to do a song for the Pretty Woman soundtrack they were too busy to write an original so they added overdubs to the 1987 version and submitted it. It went on to be their most successful single. Second best seller in the USA in 1990. Colm's score 10

2 Luciano Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma Also improving on expectation is this. This is music in its purest form. Unadulterated, undiluted talent. I can't really add to that. Unlucky to be released at the same time as Elton's Sacrifice, this was the best selling single to not reach number 1 in 1990 - finished in 11th place. Colm's score 9.5

3 Alannah Myles - Black Velvet I did not see this coming. No way that that this could be higher than Dirty Cash! I ignored this when it came out as some sort of husky-voiced 80s throwback. What changed? I read the lyrics. It's not that the lyrics were amazing but just reading them allowed me to understand the song on a slightly different level - almost inviting me to sing along. This is why I do these threads. Discovering diamonds that I thought were lumps of coal. This finished as 18th best seller of 1990. Colm's score 8.5

4 Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks) The instrumental is the star here. That beat kicks like a savage! On top of that, the subdued, seductive vocal. This was released in 1989 but only got to number 100 . It really does not sound like something from 1989. I loved it then. I love it now. I was delighted when it turned up on Now 18 which came into my possession due to a birthday cash injection from Colm's grandmother. This was the 19th best seller of 1990. Colm's score 8.3

My dilemma is thus - I send something I love, it qualifies and then ends up in the bottom 10. I send something I don't love and it fails to qualify.

5 The Beautiful South - A Little Time Now we're into songs that I actually like a lot. This passed me by at the time but it really improved for me. It's so beautifully written and sung. Finished as 12th best seller of the year. The video is such a wonderful concept. Colm's score 7.7

I love Marianne too but that's probably because it sounds most like her earlier material. The album was just a disappointment after Under the Pink which is still in my top 5 albums ever and after Caught a Lite Sneeze as I really loved that and still do. The raw talent here Choirgirl is her most rounded album. I think if it was my first Tori album then it would be my favourite. It's just consistently interesting. Only She's Your Cocaine isn't really really good.

6 Technotronic - Get Up (Before the Night is Over) Definitely a step up from Pump Up the Jam, production wise. Alas the song itself is a step down, melodically. It sounds better than I remembered. Finished in 17th place on the Year End chart. Colm's score 7.2

7 Kim Appleby - Don't Worry I remember loving this at the time. Listening back now, it's not really at the same level of production standards of Mel and Kim's output. I suppose, it doesn't have to be. It was unfortunate to be in the top 3 with two of the biggest sellers of the year - Unchained Melody and Ice Ice Baby. It finished the year as the 20th best seller. Colm's score 7.0

It was great to see them review it and to give it the best score they've given any of her albums. I've always felt it was an overlong album with plenty of stuff that could have been culled off it. It was never going to be a gold mine for singles but Talula was her weakest at that point. She reached new depths of "abstract" lyrics on this album - particularly on Marianne The weasel squeaks faster then a seven day week I said Timmy and that purple Monkey Are all down It did spawn Hey Jupiter, which when remixed, is one of her best ever songs.

It grew in stature in the decades since. Madchester/Baggy were getting all the attention from the alternative press at the time and dance music was blossoming.

8 M.C. Hammer - U Can't Touch This I thought I'd enjoy this a lot more than I have during this review. It's obviously a cultural reference point in early 90s pop music. It's fine, I guess. Spent ages in the top 10 which is always an interesting thing. Finished the year as the 15th best seller. Only 2 other songs sold more in 1990 without going to number 1. Colm's score 6.2

9 Bombalurina - Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini Marginally more fun is this which finished the year as the 16th best seller despite a 3 week stretch at number 1. Colm's score 5.9

That Prodigy track was so well made. Liam Howlet is so talented. Perfect Day and High are wonderful too.

A mixed bag in 1990 with a few duds scattered in between 11 and 20. 10 Partners In Kryme - Turtle Power A fairly lame sounding song now. Probably sounded ok back then. The pop-rap isn't bad for the time. I enjoy it more than I expected. As far as I remember it debuted higher than any other debut single entering at number 4. It went on to spend 4 weeks at number 1, a very common occurrence in 1990. That happen 8 times. This was the lowest selling of all 8, finishing the year as the 13th best seller. It was their only hit in the UK Colm's Score 5.5

Hello. I did a similar thread where I rated and ranked the Top 10 of each year of the 1990s. [when I find it I will link it here] It was quite popular so I decided to do number 11 to 20. There will be more surprises in here as fewer of us will remember everything that finished 11 to 20 in the YTD charts.

1998 is such a rich year musically. So many albums that I like/love and most of those providing excellent singles. I too was anti-Lighthouse Family but loved High. No Surprises is nice. I was never a fan of that Oasis song. In fact I lost interest in Oasis in 1997. I loved Angels from the beginning. It had that Oasis trick of having a real long vowel sound in the chorus which meant that it could be belted out by drunk people in a pub or at a gig.

Damn. I missed this.