TOTP 1994 – the epilogue
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…
| Chart date (week ending) | Song | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | “Mr. Blobby“ | Mr Blobby |
| 8 January | “Twist and Shout“ | Chaka Demus & Pliers featuring Jack Radics & Taxi Gang |
| 15 January | ||
| 22 January | “Things Can Only Get Better“ | D:Ream |
| 29 January | ||
| 5 February | ||
| 12 February | ||
| 19 February | “Without You“ | Mariah Carey |
| 26 February | ||
| 5 March | ||
| 12 March | ||
| 19 March | “Doop“ | Doop |
| 26 March | ||
| 2 April | ||
| 9 April | “Everything Changes“ | Take That |
| 16 April | ||
| 23 April | “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World“ | Prince |
| 30 April | ||
| 7 May | “The Real Thing “ | Tony Di Bart |
| 14 May | “Inside“ | Stiltskin |
| 21 May | “Come on You Reds“ | Manchester United Football Squad |
| 28 May | ||
| 4 June | “Love Is All Around“ | Wet Wet Wet |
| 11 June | ||
| 18 June | ||
| 25 June | ||
| 2 July | ||
| 9 July | ||
| 16 July | ||
| 23 July | ||
| 30 July | ||
| 6 August | ||
| 13 August | ||
| 20 August | ||
| 27 August | ||
| 3 September | ||
| 10 September | ||
| 17 September | “Saturday Night“ | Whigfield |
| 24 September | ||
| 1 October | ||
| 8 October | ||
| 15 October | “Sure“ | Take That |
| 22 October | ||
| 29 October | “Baby Come Back“ | Pato Banton |
| 5 November | ||
| 12 November | ||
| 19 November | ||
| 26 November | “Let Me Be Your Fantasy“ | Baby D |
| 3 December | ||
| 10 December | “Stay Another Day“ | East 17 |
| 17 December | ||
| 24 December | ||
| 31 December |
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
Chart peak: 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
Source: Musixmatch
Two weeks and that’s all for me
Songwriters: David Allan Stewart / Shara Nelson
Heart of Stone lyrics © Eligible Music Ltd., Warner/chappell Music Ltd
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
Chart peak: 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
Source: LyricFind
Hold hands when we walk in the park
All right, you can get a cat, just as long as it barks
Songwriters: Charles Stobo Reid / Craig Morris Reid
Let’s Get Married lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc
Plus, I always liked the confessional conversation bit in the middle eight:
When we’re old if they ask me,
Source: LyricFind
“How do you define success?”
I’ll say, “You meet a woman
You fall in love
You ask her and
She says, ‘Yes.'”
Songwriters: Charles Stobo Reid / Craig Morris Reid
Let’s Get Married lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc
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
Chart peak: 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
Chart peak: 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 / The Innes 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
Chart peak: 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 Your Cheatin’ 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
Chart peak: 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
Chart peak: 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
Chart peak: 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.
Terry Hall – “Forever J”
Released: Aug ‘94
Chart peak: No 67
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 Music Week 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
Chart peak: 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.
Their Season In The Sun
All-4-One
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 Reality Bites, 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 Legally Blonde 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 