Woah! We’re into November in these 1995 TOTP repeats – that year is nearly over already! Not that I would have been thinking like that working in a record shop with the hectic festive trading period looming. I did ten Christmases with Our Price and they seemed to get progressively harder with the passing of every year. Maybe it was just the ageing process (I was 22 when I did my first and in my early 30s at the time of the last one) that meant I found them more and more tiring. Or maybe it was that the company expected us to get through them on less and less staff each year whilst simultaneously beating last year’s sales. I’d felt energised by the hustle and bustle of my very first Christmas but that feeling had dissipated over the years and coming to work had lost its sense of fun.
Presenting this TOTP though was a man who looked like he’d had loads of fun during his career as the lead singer of Madness what with all those wacky videos throughout the early part of the 80s. Whilst the band were on one of their hiatuses, Suggs undertook an initially successful solo career in this year keeping his profile high and affording him this ‘golden mic’ opportunity and what an opportunity! He got to host the show that had Madonna on it in person in the studio for the first time in eleven years! Suggs used this chance to hone his presenting skills and went on to secure the job of host on…oh yeah…Channel 5’s karaoke show Night Fever. Oh dear. Unbelievably, that show didn’t ruin his TV career and he went on to present shows including SalvageSquad, InsideOut and DisappearingLondon which won three Royal Television Society awards including one for himself as ‘Presenter of the Year’. Wow! Literally a few of days ago, I was listening to Gary Davies’s Soundsofthe80s show on Radio 2 and he announced that he was being joined by Suggs as co-host next week. I then saw him on TheJonathan Ross Show performing with Madness their new single “Round We Go”. All this proves that you can’t keep a good man down.
Right, that’s quite the lengthy intro so let’s get to the music and we start with a great tune. Echobelly were really hitting their stride by this point in their career with new single “King Of The Kerb” the second hit from their Top 5 album “On”. With this, “Great Things” and “Insomniac” (from their debut album “Everyone’s Got One”), the band had come up with a really strong trio of tracks. I wasn’t the only one who thought that – Madonna had shown an interest in signing the band to her Maverick label. Do you think they had a chat about it in the green room after this show? They ultimately didn’t sign due to their existing contractual arrangements and it was a change in said arrangements that would derail the band’s career. Having signed to Rhythm King with their records released on offshoot label Fauve, when the former’s distribution deal with Sony subsidiary Epic came to an end in 1996, a new deal was signed with Arista Records of the BMG group. This had the effect of Rhythm King being essentially shut down and subsumed by Arista. The band had reservations about the change of label and decided to stay with Epic. The contractual wrangling and singer Sonya Madan’s health problems (a potentially fatal thyroid issue) meant a third album “Lustra” wasn’t released for another two years by which point the band’s shine (and indeed that of Britpop) had lost its…well…lustre. The album only made No 47 in the charts. Echobelly have had various lengthy hiatuses since but are still a going concern and indeed are on tour later this year.
Talking of commercial declines, here’s another band who were starting down the other side of their own particular hill of success. MN8 began the year with a bang and a No 2 record in “I’ve Got A Little Something For You” and followed it up with two other Top 10 hits. By the time of fourth single “Baby It’s You” though, their chart positions were more of a knoll than a mountain. And rightly so by my reckoning. Although that first hit was annoying, it was catchy. This though, well it was just bland R&B styled pop wasn’t it? Its peak of No 22 could perhaps be explained away as the natural state for a fourth single from an album that had been out for six months as could the No 25 peak of its fifth “Pathway To The Moon”. However, when the lead single from the second album could only get to No 15 the following year, the alarm bells must have been ringing. That second album – “Freaky” – was a complete sales fail peaking at No 114. There has been no new material released by MN8 since though supposedly there have been talks over the years about a reunion.
Next, another showing of the video for “Heaven For Everyone” by Queen. The promo features footage from the films ATripToTheMoon, TheImpossibleVoyage and TheEclipse: Courtshipofthe SunandMoon all by French filmmaker Georges Méliès. This wasn’t the first time that the band had used this technique – the video for 1984’s “Radio Ga Ga” incorporated images from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Perhaps not surprising as they were both made by the same director, David Mallett. However, this isn’t the one that’s shown here. A second video directed by Simon Pummell was included on the VHS release of MadeInHeaven: TheFilms featuring performance artist Stelarc operating a robotic hand.
The Monday after this TOTP aired, the album “Made In Heaven” was released. It went straight to the top of the charts and despite only being available for two months was the 7th best selling album in the UK in 1995. The power and pull of Freddie Mercury was still very much alive after four years after his death.
It’s another performance of “Thunder” by East17 now as they’ve landed in the charts at No 4 following their ‘exclusive’ appearance two weeks ago. Although they were hardly down the dumper at this point, for me at least, this period of the career was less than impressive. I’d liked their early singles – “Deep” was a great song- whilst you couldn’t help but take note of their scoring the previous year’s Christmas No 1. By the time of third album “Up All Night” though, the formula seemed to be failing. Sure they were still having hits and the album sold well but it did half the amount predecessor “Steam” had done. In a sure fire move that the wobbles had set in with record label London Records, their next album release was a Greatest Hits collection. Just fourteen months on from this TOTP, Brian Harvey (who looks a bit like Phil Mitchell in this performance if you squint) would give that radio interview and the band would start to implode. By the way, had they been giving fashion advice to MN8? Those big jackets looked very East 17.
P.S. The Walthamstow outfit’s erstwhile rivals Take That would release a single in 2009 called “Up All Night”. What are the chances eh?
And another band who have been on the show in recent weeks! This time it’s UB40 with their hit “Until My Dying Day” taken from their “Best Of Volume Two” album. Admittedly it’s not just second studio appearance as this time they are live by satellite from Brooklyn in the shadow of its famous bridge. As a location, it’s a step up from the university car park that Diana King performed in the other week but it’s still not great. For one thing, hasn’t this location been used by other artists before (or perhaps from the Manhattan side of the bridge?). Secondly, it’s not quite the shot of a tree we got during that Diana King performance but we do get a couple of views of just the bridge without the band on camera at all. Now some might say less of UB40 filling your TV screen was a good thing but it does seem rather odd in retrospect. These ‘satellite’ performances were really outstaying their welcome by this point.
Here’s yet another song I don’t remember at all but in my defence, there’s a good reason for that – it wasn’t a hit in the UK. Yes, it’s one of those rare occasions when the TOTP producers decided to give an ‘exclusive’ slot to a single that would fail to break into our Top 40. On reflection, giving such a platform to “Rock Steady” by Bryan Adams and Bonnie Raitt seems a strange decision. Sure Bry had become a units shifting behemoth in the 90s due to that Robin Hood song and indeed, had been at No 4 in the UK earlier in the year with “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman” from the DonJuan DeMarco soundtrack. But Bonnie? A huge star in the States no doubt but over here, she’d only ever had one minor hit single when “You” made No 31 in 1994. In my head, she was the sort of artist whose albums would be featured in the Recommended Releases section in Our Price – not a hot enough record to guarantee sales but maybe a few could be squeezed out of it if it was discounted for a couple of weeks. The UK just didn’t really get her fusion of country/blues/rock. Look at these contrasting chart positions:
Album
Year
US Chart Peak
UK Chart Peak
Nick Of Time
1989
1
51
Luck Of The Draw
1991
2
38
Longing In Their Hearts
1994
1
26
“Rock Steady” was taken from Bonnie’s first live album “Road Tested” – yep, a live album. For an artist who had failed to set the UK charts alight with her studio albums, the idea that a live album would suddenly reverse that trend seemed an audacious strategy by her record label. Predictably, it did nothing over here.
Having spent a lot of words decrying Bonnie’s appearance on the show, I should say that my wife quite likes her. Well, she likes one of her songs to be more accurate. “Something To Talk About” featured on the soundtrack to the 1995 film of the same name starring Dennis Quaid, Julia Roberts and Kyra Sedgwick. One last thing to note here is that in his intro, Suggs depicts the duet as a ‘battle of the larynxes’ and pits Bonnie versus Bryan with a “ding ding round one” remark. Now isn’t that reminiscent of the aforementioned NightFever show he would go on to host?
Suggs goes old skool for his next link by donning a bowler hat and sporting an umbrella – all classic props from the ‘nutty boys’ video heyday. It seems though that there may have been some sartorial collusion with the next act who are McAlmont&Butler with vocalist David matching Suggs in the chapeau department. Whatever this duo released after the towering epic that was debut single “Yes” it was destined not to match its magnificence. So it was with “You Do”. That’s not to say it wasn’t a good song – it was, it is but inevitably it felt a bit after the Lord Mayor’s show.
Their album “The Sound Of…McAlmont & Butler” appeared in late November though it was really just the two aforementioned hits and all the extra tracks from their CD singles which may explain its minor chart peak position of No 33. By then, the duo had parted ways anyway. An interview in the NME given by McAlmont about the lack of substance to his relationship with Butler plus some unfounded accusations of his homophobia hastened the split. Both pursued solo projects (Bernard’s debut album “People Move On” is a personal favourite) before a reunion in 2002 ushered in second album “Bring It Back”. Another prolonged sabbatical then occurred before the duo toured together in 2015.
And so to the big, nay HUGE exclusive performance. With her first appearance on the show inperson for eleven years it’s….Madonna! I’m pretty sure this would have created some headlines back in the day. Not seen in the TOTP studio since that performance of “Like A Virgin” with that pink wig, Madonna suddenly found the time to be in the country to promote her latest single “You’ll See”. A new track written for her ballads collection “Something To Remember”, it’s a mature, emotionally charged love song who that Madge delivers competently which I think was the point of the whole project – to get people talking about her as a recording artist again , as a singer with an actual voice rather than the controversy courting, media baiting spectacle she had become. To that end, she appears here decidedly grown up in a dressed down yet stylish all black outfit and a classic, soft hairstyle. No gimmicks, no button pushing flashes of flesh – just a woman, her voice and a song to sing. And it works, though I have to say listening back to it now that it almost seems like a rehash of her 1986 ballad “Live To Tell”. It would return Madonna to the UK Top 5 whilst the album sold 10 million copies worldwide.
In 2024, is Madonna still relevant? I’m sure she still has a huge, global fanbase but is she as big a deal these days as a Taylor Swift (announced just yesterday as a billionaire!), a Miley Cyrus or even a countrified Beyoncé? I’m not sure. I think I would wish for her a more demure tail end of her career. All that Madame X stuff seemed a bit desperate. Madonna became one of the most famous people on the planet but even she’ll see that you can’t hold back the march of time.
Coolio and L.V. remain at No 1 with “Gangsta’s Paradise”. This record really was a phenomenon sales wise. Over two million copies sold in the UK alone, it would be our second best selling single of the year (only the bizarre Robson & Jerome craze prevented it from being top of the pile). Despite only being No 1 here for two weeks, it would spend the next five weeks either at No 2 or No 3. There was no quick descent down the charts for this monster. So how come it only got those two weeks at the top here? *SPOILER ALERT* Bloody Robson & Jerome again wasn’t it! Their single “I Believe” knocked it off the top spot and remained there for four weeks. Add that to their version of “Unchained Melody” (the aforementioned best selling single in the UK of 1995) and they had quite a lot to answer for this year.
Back to “Gangsta’s Paradise” though and its presence in the film DangerousMinds meant that the movie’s soundtrack was also a massive seller topping the American album chart and going triple platinum. Despite it no longer being the UK No 1, we’ll be seeing it on TOTP twice more in the repeats to come. Like I said before, it was an absolute phenomenon.
Order of appearance
Artist
Title
Did I buy it?
1
Echobelly
King Of The Kerb
No but I had a Best of with it on
2
MN8
Baby It’s You
Never
3
Queen
Heaven For Everyone
Negative
4
East 17
Thunder
Nope
5
UB40
Until My Dying Day
No
6
Bryan Adams and Bonnie Raitt
Rock Steady
Nah
7
McAlmont & Butler
You Do
No I didn’t but I had their album
8
Madonna
You’ll See
I did not
9
Coolio / L.V.
Gangsta’s Paradise
I was one of the few that didn’t
Disclaimer
I make no claim to the rights of this show and all ownership and contents including logos and graphics belongs totally to the BBC or copyright holder(s).
All opinions on the music and artists featured are my own. Sorry if you don’t agree.
OK, so given the news about the passing of Steve Wright recently and that this blog is based around a show that he was synonymous with, I think I should spend a bit of time talking about the late DJ. First of all, I should own the fact that I haven’t always had the kindest words to say about Steve in these TOTP reviews. I didn’t always feel this way. Growing up as a rather cautious teenager and unsure of myself, I’d spend hours on my own listening to Radio 1 in the mid 80s. Steve Wright’s afternoon show was definitely a part of that and my still as yet undefined sense of humour latched on to the characters he created such as Dave Doubledecks and Mr Angry from Purley. Wright’s show was the boiling point in the day’s schedule which the previous programming had been steadily creeping towards on the entertainment thermometer. After Steve’s stint, the content would reflect a calmer tone via Peter Powell’s drive time show and then Janice Long in the evenings both of whom were clearly more about the music. I liked them all for different reasons.
Wright was a permanent presence for all of my youth – even after I’d stopped listening to him I knew he was still there if required. I have a distinct memory of being in the Sunderland Polytechnic library one day and overhearing a fellow student saying to his mate that he’d done enough studying for one day and was off home to listen to Steve Wright. Sure this was the pre-digital late 80s and there weren’t the multiple choices of entertainment available as there are in this day and age but I can’t imagine a student in 2024 being susceptible to the pull of appointment radio (if such a thing still exists). Steve WrightintheAfternoon (in its original incarnation) ran until 1993 at which point new station controller Matthew Bannister switched Wright unsuccessfully to the breakfast show slot. He left Radio 1 in 1995.
Steve started to lose his appeal for me during his time at Radio 2. I was coming to the end of my 20s when he joined and I guess I just couldn’t make him relevant to my life anymore. As we moved into the new millennium I found his SundayLoveSongs show repetitive and lazy – I think I even sent an email into the show expressing my views. I know! I clearly had too much time on my hands. Rightly, I didn’t receive a reply. My dissatisfaction carried on though, disproportionately. If I ever caught any of his daily Radio 2 show, it sounded to me like he was phoning it in, relying on and recycling his past glories. When I started writing this blog, I found fault in his appearances in the BBC 4 TOTP repeats (he hosted 56 times between 1980 and 1989) – he seemed all over the place and I outrageously suggested he might have spent too much time in the Green Room pre-recording. More likely he was just not as comfortable with being on TV – his talent and affinity was for the medium of radio. Given his profile and longevity of career, we might have expected him to crossover into television like Terry Wogan but as far as I can tell his only other on screen* excursion was the very short lived Steve Wright’sPeopleShow that lasted four episodes in the mid 90s.
*He was the off screen narrator for TOTP2 for twelve years.
In the days following his death, the accolades from those that knew him told of how he forged the shape of UK radio by bringing the ‘zoo format’ to our shores. More than that though, he seemed like a genuinely lovely fella. BBC4 changed their TOTP repeats schedule to pay tribute to him by showing four** shows in which he featured as presenter. RIP Steve Wright.
** They included one which was originally missed from being repeated (the 13 December 1984 edition). I considered writing a review for that show but decided that it would ruin the chronology of my TOTP 80s blog and in any case, I’m too lazy.
With a twist of tragic coincidence, it so happens that in tonight’s ‘golden mic’ slot is someone who also died far too early. Dale Winton was just 62 when he died in 2018. I liked Dale. His SupermarketSweep show was marvellously silly, knock about fun and his contempt for Lulu was always going to endear him to me. I also appreciate that despite being on a pop music show aimed at a youth audience, he’s still in his standard suit and tie apparel.
OK, so the first act tonight looks and sounds familiar and no wonder – this was a Top 40 hit just 10 months prior. Except…the artist name has been changed and not to protect the innocent either. Back in November 1994, “The Sunshine After The Rain” was a hit for the mouthful that was New Atlantic/U4EA featuring Berri and they even appeared on TOTP which means…I’ll have reviewed it in this blog. Wonder what I said?
*checks blog archive*
Well, that hasn’t helped much. I just wrote about how I was always confusing it with “Sunshine On A Rainy Day” by Zoë from earlier in the decade and guess what? I’m still suffering from that conflation even though I wrote a post detailing said conflation fairly recently. OK, for the second time, this is not that song but a dance cover of the song Elkie Brooks had a Top 10 hit with in 1977. Seventeen years later, a No 26 hit for the aforementioned New Atlantic/U4EA wasn’t deemed a big enough success and was reissued but just under the slimmed down banner of a solo Berri. Why? I dunno – did Berri sign to a different record label who wanted to repromote their new artist but with a tried and tested hit? I really can’t be bothered to do any more research than that which has revealed Berri’s real name of Rebecca Sleight so if you’re still wanting an answer, do your own Google searches.
Did the two releases sound any different from each other? Well, I’ve watched back both TOTP appearances so you don’t have to and can report back that they are both the bloody same! Berri has changed her image a bit in the intervening months so that she looks even more like a prototype Sophie Ellis Bextor but that’s about it. Both have that interpolation of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” as their backing and both have that annoying scratch effect around the line “I wanna” towards the end. Really, what was the point?! Well, obviously it was to sell some records and make some money and so it did going to No 4 and selling 200,000 copies in the UK. Berri would have one further hit and still performs on the UK festival circuit.
You know me, dance isn’t really my thing which probably explains why in the bpm obsessed mid-90s, lots of tunes that were hits passed me by despite the fact that I was working in a record shop at the time and so had more access to them than many. I thought “Hideaway” by De’Lacy would be another such track but I did actually remember this one once I’d watched this TOTP repeat back. A huge slice of US garage in the same vein as Robin S or Rosie Gaines, it topped the UK dance chart and peaked at No 9 in the Top 40. What I didn’t remember (if indeed I ever knew in the first place) was that De’Lacy wasn’t the singer (who was one Rainie Lassiter) but the name of the band like Toyah or Nena. De’Lacy was though named after one of the people in the band – De’Lacy Davis who was the percussionist.
As with many of these dance hits, there were multiple remixes of the track but the one that spearheaded the commercial release on deConstruction records was the Deep Dish radio edit. Apparently the label was miffed that a slew of imports via an Italian licensee hit specialist dance shops before the deConstruction imprint was available claiming that this impinged on the sales of their release. Rumour has it that they wanted those imports to be withdrawn from sale – that’s right; they wanted them hidden away. I’ll get me coat.
A record breaking track now. “You Are Not Alone” by MichaelJackson was the first ever single to go straight in at No 1 in the US Billboard Hot 100. This seems incredible given that chart had been going since 1958 and also that this phenomenon was hardly a rare event in the UK. The Beatles did it in 1969 with “Get Back” whilst Slade took over the baton in the 70s with “Cum On Feel The Noize”. In 1982, The Jam achieved this feat with “Town Called Malice” and by the mid 90s, going straight in at No 1 was becoming de rigueur with the likes of Take That, Blur and Oasis all having done so. So why did it take so long in America? Not being a US charts expert, I don’t know the answer to that. I do know that the Billboard Hot 100 was a ratio of sales and airplay so maybe that had something to do with it? I’m sure someone out there will have a better explanation.
What I do know is that “You Are Not Alone” was also Jackson’s final US No 1 single and was taken from the “HIStory: Past, Present And Future Book 1” album. Although it was written by the now completely unpalatable R. Kelly who also sings backing vocals on it, the convicted sex offender was deemed far enough removed from the track for it not to need to be omitted from these BBC4 TOTP repeats.
Inevitably, the single was accompanied by a big budget video though the special effects in this one are toned down a bit compared to previous promos for the likes of “Black Or White” and “Scream”. There are however some sick inducing scenes with his then wife Lisa Marie Presley including the pair of them appearing semi nude against a temple backdrop. Their marriage ended the following year with Lisa Marie claiming coercive behaviour from Jackson and that he orchestrated their public appearances, the aforementioned scene in “You Are Not Alone” being just one example. As for the song itself, for me it’s one big, drippy ballad that’s so wet as to be unlistenable – its paucity of passion makes the song beyond redemption. Most of the UK failed to share my opinion once again and would ensure that our American cousins were (ahem) not alone in their love of the track by also sending it to No 1.
With the passing of Matthew Perry last year (what is it with this post and celebrity deaths?), the Friends story was ultimately put to bed. I really can’t imagine that there would be any appetite amongst fans or the cast for a revisiting of the show without Chandler. Back in 1995 though, the US sitcom was in its infancy. It premiered in the US in September 1994 but wasn’t broadcast in the UK until April the following year after Channel 4, who had a good track record for bringing American sitcoms to our shores, bought up the rights. Airing at 9.30 on a Friday evening, my wife was an early adopter and soon had me watching as well. By the end of its first season run on Channel 4 in September 1995, it was a resounding success. Inevitably, there was demand for the catchy theme tune that accompanied the credits. The tale behind “I’ll Be There For You” is a remarkably short one in reality though it wasn’t the original choice of song by the studio Warner Bros. Television. Look at this…
When REM turned down the request to use their song, the studio turned to the only band who were signed to Warner Bros. Records Inc. (the music division of the studio). Danny Wilde and Phil Solem, who had been in bands together since 1981 and had scored a decent sized hit as TheRembrandts in 1990 with “Just The Way It Is, Baby”, had achieved little commercial success thereafter. However, Friends producer Kevin S. Bright hadn’t forgotten the band and called their manager with a view to them recording the theme tune. Within a week of an initial meeting the song was written, laid down in the studio and airing on US television as Friends launched on 22nd September 1994.
Initially unavailable in America as a single (the band only recorded a one minute version of the song specifically for the credits), a Nashville DJ made a loop of that version thereby extending its length to three minutes and played it continuously. The clamour for a full length version caused the band to re-record it and it finally got a full release.
As with Deep Blue Something who would claim a UK No 1 with “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” in 1996, I don’t think the performance here by the band actually aids the record that much. They’re fairly unmemorable (sorry guys). Wasn’t there a video which included the cast members made that could have been shown instead?
*checks YouTube*
Yes, here it is…although…was this made in 1995 or was it put together for the 1997 rerelease. Yes, as Friends became a global phenomenon, the merchandising for the show went into overdrive. Mugs, calendars, T-shirts etc were all licensed and when the first series was released on VHS (remember them), they flew off the shelves. As such, it was a perfect time for the theme tune to be made available once more and it became a hit all over again. For statistics sake, “I’ll Be There For You” peaked at No 3 in 1995 and No 5 two years later disproving the lyric that it wasn’t their day, week, month or even their year.
Next, another of those pesky album chart slots which features a single that will eventually be released as a single anyway further down the line. Filling the spot this week are Boyzone who give us their version of “Father And Son” by Cat Stevens which is not only a track from their No 1 album “Said And Done” but will also become their next single when released in the November. After breaking through with a cover of a 70s ballad in “Love Me For A Reason” by The Osmonds a year previously, the group clearly thought it was worth another go using that same blueprint. And they were right; “Father And Son” would go all the way to No 2 selling 600,000 copies in the process and becoming not just the 13th best selling single of the year in the UK but surely one of Boyzone’s best known hits.
Talking of blueprints, the performance here with the five lads all sat on stools was surely the model for subsequent Irish boyband Westlife who seemed to spend their whole career sat on their arses singing indistinguishable love songs. Back to Boyzone though and this is really all about Ronan Keating who does all the heavy lifting vocals wise while the rest of them bill and coo around him. Stephen Gately* does attempt some harmonising at one point but the rest of them are stuck on “ooh” mode. In the middle of the song, Ronan addresses the studio audience by saying “Boyzone live on Top of the Pops” before exhaling in a ‘who’d have believed it’ kind of gesture. Do you think that was spontaneous on Ronan’s part or a deliberate, prearranged move to try and build the group some credibility?
*Stephen was another who died tragically young at the age of just 33. What is it with this post and death?
I can’t hear the Boyzone version of “Father And Son” without this scene from MaxandPaddy’sRoad To Nowhere coming to mind…
Heres some ropey old shit and no mistake! A second hit for Montell Jordan (who knew?). After “This Is How We Do It” was a US No 1, a follow up was required and so he gave us “Somethin’ 4 Da Honeyz”, a little tale he wrote about picking up women. How nice. This is nasty with Jordan informing us that if he sees a female worth his while (!) he knows that he can get ‘it’ and he’ll “hit it if she’s wit it”. He follows this up by saying if a woman is ugly, fat or skinny, it doesn’t matter as long as she likes to shoop (shoop shoop). Bloody hell! What a bellend! At one point he name drops soul singer Aaron Neville but, as someone remarked on Twitter, it sounds like he’s singing “could very well be the next Gary Neville”. Ha!
Jordan is now a born-again Christian and has become a worship leader and ordained minister at the Victory World Church in Atlanta, Georgia so presumably has learned his lesson and has a better attitude towards women.
Oh this is more like it! Echobelly had some excellent songs – in fact, their trio of singles that were “Insomniac”, “King Of The Kerb” and this one “Great Things” stand up alongside anything else that was labelled ‘Britpop’ at this time. Coming on like a more exotic Sleeper, at the height of their fame, they notched up two Top 10 albums and five Top 40 singles, their fast track to success certainly not hindered by lead singer Sonya Madam’s image. With so much attention being paid to Madan, comparisons with Blondie were always likely (something also experienced by No Doubt later in the decade and played up to in their “Don’t Speak” video).
Watching this performance back though, it’s not Debbie Harry I’m put in mind of but rather Britney Spears. A whole three years before the ‘Princess of Pop’ exploded around the world with “…Baby One More Time” and that video with the schoolgirl uniform, here was Sonya beating her to it. Not quite as provocative as Britney’s outfit maybe but still causing a stir, apparently Madan hadn’t anticipated all the fuss and saw her school clothes look as more GrangeHill than St.Trinians. Hmm. Anyway, Echobelly’s popularity dwindled as the decade progressed and by 2004, a protracted hiatus took place. They reconvened in 2009 and last released an album of new material in 2017.
Oh dear lord. What the f**k is going on here?! Michael Bolton hadn’t had a Top 10 hit in this country since 1991 when his version of “When A Man Loves A Woman” made No 8. So what do you do when your career needs reviving? Well, in Michael’s case a TV advertised Best Of was deemed the best plan of action and as was the emerging trend for such a collection back then, a new track was required to promote it. “Can I Touch You…There?” was co written and produced by Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange whose charge sheet of criminal songs includes tracks by Celine Dion, Bryan Adams and Billy Ray Cyrus. This one was right up there with any of those though. I’m guessing Bolton was searching for a new sound because this is a complete hotchpotch of a song. It’s as if Ace Of Base have taken the melody from Carly Simon’s “Why” and then roped in old Bollers to sing some double entendre lyrics over the top. It even goes a bit panpipes at the end! Who thought all of that was a good idea?! Well, plenty of people judging by its chart peak of No 6 meaning Michael got one final Top 10 hit after all. By the way, have you ever seen a woman with a bigger sax than the one on stage here has? Well if Bolton can be risqué…
It’s a second week at the top for Blur with “Country House” which has beaten “Roll With It” by Oasis into second place again. I don’t recall there being anywhere near the media frenzy that existed for the first week though. Blur would achieve another chart topper 18 months later when “Beetlebum” returned them to pole position. As for Oasis, they would go to No 1 a further seven times (making eight in total) with their final one being 2005’s “The Importance Of Being Idle”.
The play out video is “Scatman’s World” by Scatman John. The follow up to his novelty hit “Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)” which combined jazz scatting, rapping and a dance beat, this was, regrettably, more of the same. And this is the question – did we really need any more of the same? I have the answer – NO!
Scatman John (real name John Paul Larkin) died at the age of 57 from lung cancer and he brings to an end one of the most haunted by death posts I’ve ever written.
Order of appearance
Artist
Title
Did I buy it?
1
Berri
The Sunshine After The Rain
I did not
2
De’Lacy
Hideaway
Not for me
3
Michael Jackson
You Are Not Alone
Never happening
4
The Rembrandts
I’ll Be There For You
YES! I bought it for my wife but we ended up passing it onto our Friends obsessed Goddaughter
5
Boyzone
Father And Son
Nope
6
Montell Jordan
Somethin’ 4 Da Honeyz
NO!
7
Echobelly
Great Things
No but I had a Best Of CD with it on
8
Michael Bolton
Can I Touch You…There?
Never!
9
Blur
Country House
Not the single but I had The Great Escape album with it on
10
Scatman John
Scatman’s World
As if
Disclaimer
I make no claim to the rights of this show and all ownership and contents including logos and graphics belongs totally to the BBC or copyright holder(s).
All opinions on the music and artists featured are my own. Sorry if you don’t agree
After the horrors of 1993, I had high hopes that 1994 would be so much better. And it was in many ways; so why do I feel like it wasn’t. Well, as ever, the really massive mainstream hits were mostly lowest common denominator awful. My usual barometer for this is the list of No 1 singles during the calendar year so let’s have a look at the class of 1994…
Well, it’s not the greatest collection of chart toppers ever assembled is it? I think I would categorise them like this:
3 x boy bands – Take That (x2), East 17
1 x Levi’s advert soundtrack – Stiltskin
2 x reggae reworkings of old pop standards – Chaka Demus and Pliers, Pato Banton
1 x FA Cup final song – Manchester United Football Squad
2 x novelty record – Mr. Blobby, Doop
3 x dance records by complete unknowns – Tony Di Bart, Baby D, Whigfield
1 x dance record by relative* unknown – D:Ream *”Things Can Only Get Better” had been out before
2 x cover versions of a decades old ballads – Mariah Carey, Wet Wet Wet
1 x original yet very commercial track by legendary artist – Prince
I bought precisely none of them. It all seemed very retro and backwards looking. Four of the 16 titles were cover versions of songs more than 20 years old. The Levi’s advertising campaign team still had their hooks in the population with a song not even by a proper band getting to No 1. Yes, there were three dance chart toppers by new acts but Baby D soon ran out of steam and who really remembers Tony Di Bart? As for Whigfield, some might say “Saturday Night” should belong in the novelty record category alongside Doop. The anomaly of a football club having a No 1 was bizarre. OK, the England team topped the charts in 1990 with the help of New Order but I think there’s a different appeal for the national team. For a club side to do it? I guess it just showed the size of the Manchester United fanbase. It would never happen now manly because nobody releases Cup Final records anymore.
Now, if you discount Mr. Blobby as the previous Christmas No 1 which hangs over into the new year, the total of 15 was the second lowest of any year in the 90s. That, of course, was due to the 15 weeks reign by Wet Wet Wet at the top of the charts. Just three years on from the whole Bryan Adams debacle, another sales phenomenon happened but how? Well, the band were well established and had a fanbase anyway. Plus, the song in question was a ballad and was featured in one of the biggest films of the year. So, basically the same reasons as for Bryan Adams. We didn’t learn much did we?!
So, how did things look albums wise? A quick glance at the best sellers of the year tells a predictable story. Three of the Top 10 were Best Ofs (including the Top 2) whilst the rest of the Top 20 is made up of either rock royalty or mainstream acts that ticked all the right airplay boxes. Pink Floyd, Mariah Carey, Eternal all feature in the Top 10. It’s interesting to note that East 17 trounce Take That with the former at No 10 and the latter at No 22 which kind of upends the received wisdom about who was bigger. That’s the power of having the Christmas No 1 on your album I guess. A mention in dispatches should go to The Beautiful South with their collection “Carry On Up The Charts” ending the year in the runners up position whilst the enduring appeal of The Beatles saw their “Live At The BBC” album make the year end Top 10 despite only being released on 30 November. In a precursor to the following year’s Battle of Britpop, Blur’s “Parklife” comprehensively outsold “Definitely Maybe” by Oasis as it had a 4 months sales head start – the Manc lads may have lost that particular skirmish but they would win the sales war ultimately with their debut selling twice as many copies as “Parklife”.
Talking of Britpop, whether you lived it, liked it or hated it, 1994 seems to me to be the year it really started to gain momentum. Sure, you could make a persuasive argument that its origins lay in 1992 with the emergence of Suede but, in my opinion (and it’s just my opinion), it was this year that it properly gained traction. Not that Britpop was the only game in town. The UK public were still enamoured with nasty reggae versions of old pop songs and the Summer seemed interminably long with some very average songs hanging around the charts for weeks on end. However, the biggest hits weren’t the whole story. All the cool kids were getting into the likes of Portishead and this new thing called trip-hop (actually, when did that term start being used in common vernacular?). Massive Attack were still around and released their second album “Protection” this year.
What about TOTP though? After all, that’s what this blog is based around. 1994 was a year of huge change. Ric Blaxill replaced Stanley Appel as head producer and one by one removed the features of the latter’s ‘year zero’ revamp most notably presenters Tony Dortie and Mark Franklin. The Radio 1 DJs we’re back though most weeks it seemed to be the intensely annoying Simon Mayo in the hot seat. In addition though, one of Blaxill’s master strokes was to introduce the ‘golden mic’ slot where celebrity guests from the world of pop music, comedy and entertainment took over presenting duties temporarily. By February of 1995, it would be as if ‘year zero’ had never happened with a new logo, theme tune and title sequence introduced. 1994 also saw the BBC making use of its extensive archives to launch TOTP2 which featured retro performances from yesteryear. For a show based around the current charts and what was happening ‘now’, it was quite the extension of the brand. It would turn out to be a visionary move. Where once record companies would delete albums from their back catalogues routinely, these days there is a whole industry based around rereleased and super deluxe editions of ‘old’ music.
However, the new features have caused a couple of repeats to not be broadcast by BBC4 as they have included footage of Gary Glitter (both within a TOTP2 trailer and as guest presenter) and talking of songs we may have missed…
Hits We Missed
Dave Stewart – “Heart Of Stone”
Released: Sep ‘94
Chartpeak: No 36
After Eurythmics went on what would become a near decade long sabbatical as the 90s began, it was Dave Stewart who was first to get some new material out in the marketplace via his Spiritual Cowboys group though, if you discount his collaboration on “Lily Was Here”* with Candy Dulfer, it was Annie Lennox who was first to taste proper success. Her debut album “Diva” shifted 7 million copies but then she was the singer and public face of the duo so I guess that was to be expected? And yet, Dave Stewart is a master musician with a streak of creativity running right through him so the chances of him not coming out with something good were always going to be slim.
*If we’re being completists, then we should make note of Stewart’s input to wife Siobhan Fahey’s group Shakespear’s Sister who had a No 1 in the form of “Stay” in 1992 I guess.
“Heart Of Stone” wasn’t the massive seller it could and should have been but it was perfect daytime playlist material. I’m wondering if it got a lot of airplay on the local commercial stations that covered Greater Manchester as it sold steadily in the Our Price in Piccadilly where I was working. It’s got a great funky disco feel and a hook so big that Peter Pan would have been intimidated by it. Was there also just a hint of Steely Dan about Dave’s guitar work?**
**Nearly 30 years later, Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp would find himself similarly influenced by Steely Dan on his 2021 track “Ahead Of The Game”.
The track, along with the rest of the album “Greetings From The Gutter”, was recorded at Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in New York with the lyrics to the single even referencing the fact:
Two weeks in electric lady land Two weeks and that’s all for me
In short, it should have been a blockbuster Summer hit but the country was enthralled by the likes of Let Loose, Aswad and Big Mountain instead. What the hell was that all about?! Dave and Annie would eventually reunite as Eurythmics in 1999 for the “Peace” album.
The Proclaimers – “Let’s Get Married”
Released: Feb ‘94
Chartpeak: No 21
I love The Proclaimers and I don’t care who knows it! They make great pop songs and I, for one, find their distinctive Scottish accents endearing. Right, now my cards are on the table, let’s talk specifics. By 1994, the Reid brothers hadn’t released an album for six years. They hadn’t released a single in four. I’m guessing that they took time out to start families? Anyway, suddenly they were beck with a new album “Hit The Highway” and lead single “Let’s Get Married” which, if you accept the theory that artists tend to write songs about their own experiences, would suggest that Craig and Charlie had spent the last four years concentrating on their private lives.
I love “Let’s Get Married”, their paean to matrimony. Maybe its appeal was that it seemed so out of kilter with the hedonistic culture of the 90s club scene whose music seemed to dominate much of the charts. Or maybe it was the fact that at the age of 25 when it was released, I’d already been married 3 and a half years that it resonated so much. Either way, there’s something joyful about its enthusiasm for wanting to commit to a partner and optimism for a good life together.
Apart from their tunes and voices, I’ve also always been impressed by the duo’s lyrics and “Let’s Get Married” was no exception. My favourite lines would be the one confirming that the brothers are dog not cat people:
Let’s get married Hold hands when we walk in the park All right, you can get a cat, just as long as it barks
It’s not so much the words as the fact that when Craig sings the “How do you define success?” line, Charlie actually sings the question to his brother in the background with the lovely suffix ‘man’ to give it a personal touch. Genius.
The album did pretty well going Top 10 and achieving silver sales status despite the lack of a really big single on it. The equally excellent follow up “What Makes You Cry?” only made No 38 whilst third single “These Arms Of Mine” failed to get into the Top 40 at all. However, “Hit The Highway”s sales were significantly down on preceding album “Sunshine On Leith” and they wouldn’t release another album for 7 years (again I’m guessing a second wave of children were born to the brothers). They remain a touring and recording unit though. I’ve seen them a couple of times live and they didn’t disappoint.
Primal Scream – “Jailbird”
Released: Jun ‘94
Chartpeak: No 29
One of my favourite albums of 1994 was “Give Out But Don’t Give Up” by Primal Scream. Often derided as their attempt to become The Rolling Stones, I ignored such barbs and loved its out and out bluesy rock sound. Lead single “Rocks” was a banger but so was the follow up “Jailbird” that was also the album’s opening track. Yes, accusations that it wasn’t that dissimilar to its predecessor were hard to refute and yes, there’s another song on the album titled “Call On Me” and that’s not a million miles away from sounding like “Jailbird”. So what? If you like a style of music, you’re going to want to hear it again and again. What’s that? What about all the times I’ve slagged off artists for just releasing the same song over and over again like 2 Unlimited? Well, that’s…erm…well, the thing is…that’s completely different! Anyway, there were other songs on the album that were nothing like those three – “Funky Jam” and the title track spring to mind.
In 2018, the band made available the original Memphis recordings made with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section that were rejected by Creation boss Alan McGee for sounding too flat. I must have a listen to them at some point as the reviews for the lost album were very positive.
Oasis – “Whatever”
Released: Dec ‘94
Chartpeak: No 3
I was convinced that “Whatever” was going to be the Christmas No 1 based on the amount of copies we were selling of it in the Our Price store in Market Street, Manchester. We couldn’t get them out of the delivery boxes quick enough. Somehow though, they fell two places short and had to settle for No 3. After the T-Rex-ness of “Cigarettes And Alcohol”, the sublime melody of “Live Forever” and the slinky, meandering indie rock of “Supersonic” and “Shakermaker”, “Whatever” genuinely felt like something different and therefore took me by surprise. Hang on, they can do string laden ballads as well? WTF?! It felt like such a gigantic sound the first time I heard it – seriously epic and I loved it from the get go.
For the band’s detractors though, it was more evidence that they were unoriginal grifters, pinching other people’s ideas and peddling them as their own and as something completely new and different. How so? Well, there’s the middle eight that sounds suspiciously like “Strawberry Fields Forever” era Beatles and then the fact that “Whatever” was subject to a plagiarism lawsuit brought by Neil Innes of Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band / The Rutles / TheInnes Book Of Records fame over its similarity to his track “How Sweet To Be An Idiot” which resulted in a songwriting credit for Innes being issued. I neither knew nor cared about any lawsuits though and was just enjoying the beauty of this standalone track. I especially liked the audience applause and cheers sound effect at the end which presumably inspired Supergrass to follow suit on their 1999 hit “Pumping On Your Stereo”.
We only missed this TOTP performance because of the issue of the aforementioned Gary Glitter and so also didn’t get to see again the beginnings of the Blur/Oasis rivalry that would reach its apex the following Summer with The Battle of Britpop. Guest presenter Damon Albarn is very nearly the subject of being given the finger by Noel Gallagher through the rather ridiculous sunflower prop as he introduces the “five pretty boys from Manchester”. Things would get much more ugly between the two parties.
Eddie Reader – “Patience Of Angels”
Released: Jun ‘94
Chartpeak: No 33
I could never really get along with Fairground Attraction. I think I heard “Perfect” one too many times and I was done. However, even though my back had been turned in the opposite direction to the band, I couldn’t turn my ears away from the voice of Eddie Reader. After the group called it a day in 1990, Eddie would no doubt have been expected to go solo immediately but she turned a different corner by going into acting with a role in Scottish BBC comedy drama YourCheatin’ Heart before returning to music. Debut solo album “Mirmama” was generally well received but failed to set the charts alight but by 1994 she’d moved from RCA to Blanco Y Negro for her sophomore eponymous follow up. Led by the single “Patience Of Angels”, it was much more successful going gold and peaking at No 4 in the charts. My wife bought the single (she’d been much more open to Fairground Attraction than me) but I can hear why. For a start, it was written by Boo Hewerdine who had been responsible for some of the best unknown pop songs of the 80s via his band The Bible (I defy anyone not to like “Graceland”). Secondly, Eddie really nails the vocals on it but effortlessly so.
Sadly, Eddie would never be bigger commercially than 1994. Diminishing returns set in but she continues to record (2009’s “Love Is The Way” is a great album) and play live. I saw her at the Beverley Folk Festival around 2010 and she was fabulous; her voice still spectacular and she was charmingly engaging with the audience. You might almost say ‘perfect’.
Hits That Never Were
Redd Kross – “Yesterday Once More”
Released: Sep ‘94
Chartpeak: No 45
In 1994, I knew bugger all about Redd Kross. In fact, if I’d met them in a bar and they had introduced themselves as the band Kings X and I had spent the whole evening in their company, I would have had zero reason to doubt their professed identity. As I write this in 2023, I still know next to nothing about Redd Kross. However, what I do know is that in 1994, they contributed a track to a tribute album celebrating the work of The Carpenters and that I loved their version of “Yesterday Once More”. I loved it so much I bought it.
The album was called “If I Were A Carpenter” (clever) and featured ‘alternative’ artists like Shonen Knife, Babes In Toyland and American Music Club alongside a handful of artists who had gone on to achieve mainstream success like Sheryl Crow and The Cranberries. A single was released to promote the album and it was a double A-side. Joining Redd Kross were avant-garde rockers Sonic Youth with their version of “Superstar”. In my time at Our Price, I worked with loads of people who swore by Sonic Youth but I could never hear their appeal. Their Carpenters cover didn’t change my opinion and I must have only played their contribution to the album a couple of times ever. Redd Kross, on the other hand, I played the hell out of. Yes, it’s just a straight, rock through of a classic Carpenters melody but there was something about the soaring guitars and on point ‘rawk’ vocal that had me hooked.
There were two versions of the CD single released; a standard one but also a more limited one which also included The Carpenters originals – I got the latter. Why did it fail to chart? Well, I don’t think the album was an overwhelming success for a start, probably a bit too leftfield. I’m guessing any airplay the single got would have been for the Redd Kross track rather than the Sonic Youth one but which stations would have played it? Radio 1? Maybe in the more late night, specialist slots but I don’t remember it being played much in the daytime. Presumably, commercial radio would have been more likely to play The Carpenters originals? As I said earlier, I have no idea what happened to Redd Kross after they briefly showed up on my musical radar but they remain the architects of one of my favourite cover versions.
Echobelly – “Insomniac”
Released: Mar ‘94
Chartpeak: No 47
Here’s a band who have a small but perfectly formed collection of singles which should have elicited more and much bigger hits than was the case. Come the 1995 TOTP repeats, we’ll be seeing a fair bit more of Echobelly as they stand toe to toe with the protagonists of Britpop (although no doubt, seemingly like everyone else associated with that particular movement, they would say that they weren’t). In 1994 though they only pierced the Top 40 once with “I Can’t Imagine The World Without Me” which made it to a humble No 39. Before that single though came non-hit “Insomniac” which was a wonderful example of tuneful indie pop with its slow burning verses leading into a bridge that promised a huge pay off which its soaring chorus duly delivered.
Presumably I heard the track whilst at work in the Our Price in Market Street, Manchester as parent album “Everyone’s Got One” was a sizeable success peaking at No 8 despite the lack of a big hit single. Quite why “Insomniac” didn’t make the grade is a mystery though. Everything about it is great right down to the laid back, understated outro. In fact, the band themselves should have been a much bigger deal. Led by the charismatic and intriguing Sonya Madan, they had all the ingredients but were waylaid at the height of their success when Sonya suffered a life threatening thyroid problem during a world tour. By the time they reconvened in 1997 for third album “Lustra”, Britpop was in its last vestiges and it sank almost without trace. The band are still together (just) although it’s mainly just Sonya and founding member Glenn Johansson these days and their last album was released six years ago in 2017.
Backbeat Band -“Please Mr Postman”
Released: May ‘94
Chartpeak: No 69
I’ve included this one mainly so I can talk about the film Backbeat that came out in 1994. Although I’m no Beatles obsessive, like most* people I do love The Fab Four. I’m a particular sucker for their origin story. How exactly did they become four lads who shook the world?
*I know at least two people who can’t abide them.
I think my fascination started one night in the early 1981 when the film Birth Of The Beatles was aired by the BBC (presumably as a tribute to John Lennon weeks after his murder). It’s not a great film (although being made in 1979, it remains the only movie to document the rise the band whilst Lennon was still alive) but it introduced me to the names of Pete Best and Stu Sutcliffe and their roles in the legend of The Beatles. Fast forward to 1994 and my interest was rekindled by the film Backbeat. If I recall correctly, there were some free tickets for a premiere floating around in the Our Price store where I was working and so me and my wife attended at the cinema in Belle Vue, Manchester. I think there was a free brochure and pencil as we entered the screening (how exciting!). The film didn’t disappoint for me. As well as telling the story of the band’s beginnings (especially their time in Hamburg), it’s also an examination of the complicated three way relationship between Lennon, Sutcliffe and the latter’s lover Astrid Kirchherr. The performances by Ian Hart, Stephen Dorff and Sheryl Lee respectively are top notch. I’m sure Beatles super-fans will find fault with historical inaccuracies and examples of dramatic licence but I’m not really interested in those particular rabbit holes.
The soundtrack was performed by The Backbeat Band who were basically a supergroup comprising such names as Thurston Moore of the aforementioned Sonic Youth, Mike Mills of REM and nicest man in rock Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters. Two singles were released to promote the album – “Money (That’s What I Want)” and “Please Mr Postman” originally recorded by The Marvelettes and later covered by The Carpenters (Sonic Youth and The Carpenters again? I love it when a post comes together like that!). In 2011, a stage production of Backbeat opened at the Duke Of York’s Theatre in London and I saw that too. Like I said, I’m a sucker for the Beatles origin story.
I didn’t comment at the time in December 2022 about the awful, untimely death of Terry Hall aged just 63 but I couldn’t let it pass completely without any reference to him. Highlighting his heavenly single “Forever J” from 1994 seems right though. Taken from his criminally overlooked album “Home” (it peaked at a risibly unjust No 95), it has that timeless quality of sounding familiar on even the first ever listen, like a theme tune from an old, black and white TV show.
That evocative quality runs throughout the album despite there being a number of collaborations with different songwriters present. XTC’s Andy Partridge, Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds, Nick Heyward and even Damon Albarn all contribute to tracks on it. The biggest songwriting partner though was Craig Gannon, very briefly the second guitarist in The Smiths who was once described by Morrissey as “undiscussable”. Hall’s relationship with Heyward was covered in an interview with the pair in the music industry trade paper MusicWeek around this time. As it featured two of our favourite artists, my wife and I cut it out and put it on the pinboard in our little Manchester flat where it stayed for years. Not sure whatever happened to it though.
Two further singles were released from “Home” including Terry’s own version of “Sense” which he recorded originally with The Lightning Seeds but it made no difference to the album’s fortunes. Three years later, the equally lovely second solo Terry Hall album appeared called “Laugh”, again written mostly with Craig Gannon” but with contributions by Stephen Duffy and Damon Albarn. I feel fortunate to have caught Terry doing a gig around this time. He was brilliantly sardonic and when he introduced the song “No No No”, some brave punter thought he could take on Terry by shouting out “Yes Yes Yes!”. The reply came back from the stage in that withering brogue “Ha Ha Ha”. Perfect. Terry Hall leaves us with an excellent legacy of songs from The Specials to Fun Boy Three to The Colourfield and beyond. RIP.
Ian McNabb – “Go Into The Light”
Released: Sep ‘94
Chartpeak: No 66
Time for my regular name check for Ian McNabb in these Hits That Never Were slots. Pretty much every time I’ve had a McNabb or Icicle Works classic to feature that for unfathomable reasons were ignored by the record buying public. It really is insane that Ian’s sole journey into the UK Top 40 came in 1984 with “Love Is A Wonderful Colour”. By 1994, Mr McNabb was onto his second solo album (for context, his most recent “Nabby Road” came in 2022 and I think was his 18th!) which was the Mercury Music Prize nominated no less “Head Like A Rock”. Recorded in LA with Neil Young’s backing band Crazy Horse, it was and remains his highest charting album when it peaked at No 29. Its lead single was “You Must Be Prepared To Dream” which I was so impressed by that I even bought it but I’ve chosen the follow up “Go Into The Light” to spotlight here. This funky, squelching gospel ballad really should have been able to become a genuine Top 40 hit – I mean, it worked for Primal Scream and “Movin’ On Up”. Maybe that was the problem though; Bobby Gillespie and co got there first and McNabb was therefore seen as retreading old ground or worse, doing his best Primal Scream impression. Whatever. It’s a great track and that’s all that should count.
As with Terry Hall, I saw Ian live in 1994 in the Manchester Academy touring the album and I’m pretty sure members of Crazy Horse were on stage with him but I have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to Neil Young so I could be wrong. As I referenced earlier, McNabb is still recording and releasing music and seems to be permanently on tour, occasionally reactivating the Icicle Works brand though not with the original band members.
Almost the perfect one hit wonders (one massive No 1 and then nothing ever again), they spoilt it by not actually achieving that chart topper status when their hit “I Swear” was kept at No 2 for 7 consecutive weeks by Wet Wet Wet. Just to compound the the disappointment, they completely trashed the one hit wonder template by having a further solitary minor chart hit that got to No 33. Amateurs.
Big Mountain
Ooh. Inches wide! This lot went even closer to that perfect one hit wonder status. Just the one hit- a reggae-fied version of Peter Frampton’s “Baby, I Love Your Way” – but it also topped out at No 2 behind the Wets. Taken from the soundtrack to the ‘you-never-see-it-on-TV’ movie Reality Bites, it probably benefitted from the UK’s almost inexplicable fascination with reggae takes on pop classics in the early to mid 90s. Was nobody in charge of musical taste back then?!
D:Rream
This lot did manage to bag that No 1 that proved too elusive for the first two acts in this section but a succession of sizeable to middling hits put the kibosh on any classic one hit wonder status. Still, they were never bigger than in 1994 when “Things Can Only Get Better” bestrode the charts for 4 weeks in January. Even a reactivation in 1997 as the soundtrack to a successful Labour Party General Election campaign couldn’t stop them from being known as the band that once included Professor Brian Cox in their ranks.
Let Loose
Responsible for a well crafted but perfunctory pop song that hung around the charts all Summer and like the aforementioned All-4-One and Big Mountain, would surely have topped the charts but for Wet Wet Wet. Sadly for these pound shop heartthrobs, it turned out people liked that one song rather than them and they were unable to flog enough copies of their albums to lay any lasting pop foundations.
Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories
Winging into the charts with another hit from the soundtrack to RealityBites, Lisa had a winning, girl-next-door charm and a pleasant tune that struck a chord with the record buying public on both sides of the Atlantic. Indeed, “Stay (I Missed You)” was a No 1 record in the US. Although she would never scale such heights again, Lisa has continued to make music, creating a catalogue of work that comprises 15 studio albums. She has recorded collections of children songs and a number of her tracks have been featured in TV shows and movies such as LegallyBlonde and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Whigfield
And so to the act that succeeded where All-4-One, Big Mountain and Let Loose all failed. After 15 weeks, it was left to a Danish model and music student to topple “Love Is All Around”. After linking up with Italian producer Larry Pignagnoli and assuming a stage name based on one of her teachers, Whigfield (real name Sannie Charlotte Carlson) fronted one of the biggest (and possibly cheesiest) dance tunes of the decade. “Saturday Night” was a monster, the second biggest selling single in the UK of 1994 and even spawned its own dance. Despite a couple of further Top 10 hits, Whigfield couldn’t replicate the success of that single and within a year or so, it was all over, a cover of Wham!’s “Last Christmas”, their parting gift. We’ll always have that unwanted present of “”Saturday Night” though.
Last Words
Well, in conclusion I would say 1994 wasn’t as bad as 1993 but that’s a very low bar. Again, I don’t seem to have bought much music released this year; certainly not singles anyway. However, Oasis arrived to shake things up and would become a phenomenon in 1995 as Britpop went into hyperdrive. That’s my memory of 1995 as it stands. Fancy joining me to see if I was right or wrong?
Disclaimer
I make no claim to the rights of this show and all ownership and contents including logos and graphics belongs totally to the BBC or copyright holder(s).
All opinions on the music and artists featured are my own. Sorry if you don’t agree
TOTP Rewind - the 90s 