Colm

Good point.

I was considering not posting the list to maintain curiosity and anticipation.

I entered the following prompt into ChatGPT Can you provide me with a list of 50 obscure cult albums from the 90s that were critically acclaimed without repeating an artist? Of the 50 albums that were returned in the list, I only own 3 of them and have heard parts of another 2. There is a lot to be discovered here - for me, at least. Is there anything we could do here as a collective - maybe take one a week and do a listen through. Perhaps a book club type where we go away and listen to one each month? Maybe a sample play list that we could listen to and review? Any ideas?

There Must Be An Angel is one of the most delightful songs of the 80s

50 - Alphaville - Big In Japan tl6u2NASUzU 66th best seller of 1984 Chart Run 71-43-22-11-9-8-9-14-23-31-38-58-64 Into the top 50 we go with the only hit single from Alphaville. It's one of those song titles that was also a band name - like Go West or Heart (hi to the Pet Shop Boys). Big in Japan (the band) seem to be more interesting than Alphaville so I'll talk about them instead. :lol: BIJ were a sort of reverse supergroup in that members of it went on to be much more successful in other bands. Its alumni include Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood), Bill Drummond (KLF, et al), Ian Broudie (Lightening Seeds) and Budgie (Siouxsie and the Banshees).

Then you must not have been listening to Now That's What I Call Dance Explosion! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4dZSj2kEY...bf26743a5034e71

Spark had to grow on me. The video is her best though.

I hope comes over fresh and retro rather than dated.

Hotel. Used to be Winter, which is now once again my favourite single of all time after I revised my all time list last year. ofU9pT9t5Pg

51 - Bomb The Bass - Megablast/Don't Make Me Wait/ b_42p66WeM0 XdfqWEqObhM 66th best seller of 1988 Chart Run 20-6-6-9-14-21-29-34-51 Pleasingly, the follow up to Beat Dis wasn't just an inferior version of that debut hit, although Megablast certainly was that. Despite Megablast getting the primary slot in the title of the double-A-side, it was Don't Make Me Wait that got most of the airplay and is considerably the stronger of the two tracks. The record hit the top 6 in the exalted company of Groovy Kind of Love, He Ain't Heavy, Teardrops and The Only Way is Up. Tim Simenon went on to become a highly regarded and versatile producer and continued to also have hits under the Bomb the Bass banner.

52 - John Parr - St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) 7-u17jx0r0Y 67th best seller of 1985 Chart Run 56-45-38-27-10-6-6-6-9-17-27-44-71 John Parr hit big with the theme for the film St. Elmo's Fire, which was a US box office hit in the summer of 1985. It hit number 1 in the USA and finished as the 18th best seller of the year, there. The song is the product of something of a supergroup - members of Toto, REO Speedwagon and Mr. Mister all appeared on the single. It was in the top 10 in the UK while Jennifer Rush and A-Ha took up residence in the top 2 and is one of only 2 singles in this rundown to spend 3 weeks at number 6. John had some other minor chart success after this but never made the UK top 40 again.

I wasn't part of the listening session but I heard Hanky Panky recently and it certainly was a number 2.

I absolutely love Pour Que Tu M'Aimes Encore.

It gives me S10 and Frida Gold vibes.

53 - Bronski Beat - Why? H3LbzjFJdSA 67th best seller of 1984 Chart Run 22-7-6-7-11-16-27-31-58-66 Follow up to the absolutely essential Smalltown Boy (which should be experience in the 12" version for full gravitas). In the top 10 when Stevie Wonder's I Just Called, and the Ghostbusters theme were selling extremely well, Why? would have made number 4 in many earlier weeks of 1984. In fact, its weekly sales outpeaked those of their I Feel Love/Johnny Remember Me duet with Marc Almond which made number 3 the following year. Jimmy Somerville left after that hit and was replaced by vaguely similarly-voiced (but nowhere nearly as iconic) John Foster and the band continued to modest success.

His name change was part of his attempt to distance himself from the madness of his music career and the baggage that he wasn't able to shake off.

54 - Terence Trent D'Arby - If You Let Me Stay hMhEzd9Bsb4 67th best seller of 1987 Chart Run 62-38-22-15-7-7-7-8-12-20-33-51-72 D'Arby's debut single from a very, very hyped act in 1987. The hype came from both himself and his record company. He claimed that his debut album was the most important album since Sgt Pepper's and his record company had such confidence of his potential to be a major recording artist that they released a demo cassette titled "Work in Progress" months before the album had even been completed. The chart performance of the album did seem to support such haughty aspirations - it spent 13 weeks as the highest selling artist album (as opposed to compilation album) in its first 12 months. Eight of those were consecutive weeks in early 1988, the longest spell at the top since Brothers in Arms in 1986 and the longest for an American since the Kids from Fame in 1982. Sales by the end of its tenure were at 1.4 million. The follow up was a flop, missing the top 10 and exiting the top 75 after just 5 weeks. If You Let Me Stay is the first of 6 singles in this rundown to spent 3 weeks at number 7.

République d‘Áskorza :wub:

My first short list had 15. Cutting it down to 5 was difficult. Both of Neneh's tracks are All Time great so easily make the best 5. Neneh Cherry - Buffalo Stance Roxette - It Must Have Been Love Blue Pearl – Naked in the Rain Neneh Cherry - Manchild KLF featuring The Children of the Revolution – What Time Is Love?

Incredible information :wub:

My debut entry - Mila Jovovic - The Gentleman Who Fell. I submitted it about 10 minutes after I was convinced to join the competition by wardy. No thinking. No knowledge of what works in BJSC. I ended up qualifying and achieved a result I haven't beaten since.

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I was very surprised to find out that Paul Hardcastle wasn't American.

55 - Eddy Grant - Gimme Hope Jo'anna R-ZplG81oZg 67th best seller of 1988 Chart Run 66-44-36-25-12-8-8-7-14-30-46-56 And here's an example of a sound that Malcom McLaren was often accused of ripping off. Eddy hadn't released a single in over 3 years and hadn't had a hit in 5, when he released this anti-apartheid song, which was banned in South Africa. It became a hit all over Europe topping the charts in Belgium, Netherlands, Italy and Spain. No more singles were taken from the album, File Under Rock, which perhaps surprisingly, failed to reach the UK Top 100 despite being a minor hit in other European countries. He had to wait until the 21st century before troubling the charts again with a re-mix of Electric Avenue in 2001.

56 - Bow Wow Wow - Go Wild In The Country UrzKNGEl-ZA 67th best seller of 1982 Chart Run 75-50-46-48-23-16-9-7-11-20-33-38-56 I have no recollection of this band or this song. Bow Wow Wow were formed by Malcolm McLaren by luring two band members from Adam and the Ants, and then launching an audition process for a lead singer. They agreed on a 13 year old Annabella Lwin. Always with an eye for a marketing tactic, McLaren released their debut single as the world's first cassette single - the aptly named C30, C60, C90 which was about the joys of home-taping which was "killing the music industry". RIP. As a 15 year old on Top of the Pops in 1982, Anabelle wasn't short of attitude or confidence. The single is a product of its time with its mashing together of new wave guitar and world music rhythms - which McLaren often used. The band had one further hit in the form of much covered I Want Candy which was originally recorded by New York band the Strangeloves.