Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Aug 23, 2011 18:37:06 GMT 1
You know Vas I just knew you would have a different take on the Milli Vanilli story- I thought it would appeal to your rebellious view point! haha
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Post by evansabove on Aug 23, 2011 18:38:50 GMT 1
I could never get why Milli Vanilli were so big in the US with a string of #1s. The songs were ok but nothing outstanding
Urgh at Phil Collins and his social commentary. I preferred it when he was murdering Supremes songs
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Post by Earl Purple on Aug 23, 2011 19:06:30 GMT 1
I felt the same way about them, was the award based on the music? It would depend on what they actually won though, as if it were "best newcomer" and the session musicans were not new then they wouldn't qualify.
With regards to Phil Collins, Another Day In Paradise is a fine song, I Wish It Would Rain Down and Something Happened On The Way To Heaven were too. And the album was huge - 10 weeks was it at #1? Or longer? True that this was Phil Collins's last great album but I don't get the dislike. Phil Collins himself had never experienced homelessness first hand but I think it was a good topic for a song.
With Lisa Stansfield's "All Around The World" keeping it off number, it was the one moment in the second half of the year we had a great top 2.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Aug 23, 2011 19:40:48 GMT 1
I felt the same way about them, was the award based on the music? It would depend on what they actually won though, as if it were "best newcomer" and the session musicans were not new then they wouldn't qualify. Jody Watley got one for Best Newcomer several years after she was in Shalamar, so a new coherent and differently promoted unit should have been eligible. That whole category is stupid, though, No Doubt for example were nominated 5 years after their debut single.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Aug 24, 2011 18:31:20 GMT 1
2ND DECEMBER- DON'T KNOW MUCH- Linda Rondstadt & Aaron Neville (2 weeks)it had been doing the rounds for about a decade but "Don't Know Much" finally made it big as the decade was closing, it's the only single (out of the last 4) that I didn't buy, and now it's probably my favourite out of them. Now first off we need to address his mole, if only because at the time my mother would never fail to mention it and express her displeasure! For me it's really a rather earnest ballad, I've always much preferred the more mature ballads of love that has stood the test of time rather than the more teenage-y love at first sight kinda thing. both Neville and Rondstadt had of course long been popstars established in their own right, and on this track both of their voices are expressive and clear, damn it i'm almost convinced they are a real couple! It does somewhat surprise me that you don't really hear the song much nowadays- given some of the 80s hits that are truly awful but I suppose as the decade is more reknown for its power ballads this is rather understated, but it's charms are understated and undervalued....
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Aug 24, 2011 18:44:06 GMT 1
Linda Ronstadt's backing group became famous in their own right...you may remember them best under the name "Eagles".
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Aug 24, 2011 18:53:54 GMT 1
16TH DECEMBER- WHEN YOU COME BACK TO ME- Jason Donovan (3 weeks)What a fantastic way to end the decade- in a way it's enormously fitting, just as Abba (one of the supergroups of the 70s) ended that decade at No 2 so too do S/A/W, they have the final say of the decade they had dominated. "When You Come Back To Me" was Donovan's attempt at the festive top spot and although it peaked too early in December, it did return to the runner up spot for the first two weeks of the 90s, it's festive, kinda- there are references to "Presents" and a sprinking of sleigh bells, it's also one of the best produced records by S/A/W of 1989, ignor the uninspired key change and it's a very pleasant winter warmer indeed. Donovan was of course the biggest star of 89 and had it not been for the phenomenally successful Yuletide offerings from Jive Bunny and Band Aid II nothing would have stopped Donovan seeing out the 80s as the nation's No 1, incidentally his voice actually sounds at his best on the track and not as "nasal" as on his other 89 hits. It's also a record which is devoid of the usual S/A/W vocal gimmickery which is only to its credit, in short it's the more mature approach and evolution of their songwriting that is shining here, and would be further evidenced by some 1990's offerings, the problem was that as they were maturing so were their fans, including me, and the demise was closer than anyone suspected.....
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Aug 24, 2011 18:54:26 GMT 1
Linda Ronstadt's backing group became famous in their own right...you may remember them best under the name "Eagles". Nah never heard of them.............................
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Aug 24, 2011 19:02:29 GMT 1
So there we have it- I finally did it!- Thanks to all who posted their thoughts on the tracks and have made this thread such a pleasure to do- I hope you enjoyed my rantings and thoughts- there WILL be a 90s thread later in the year so keep 'em peeled.
In conclusion I like the early 80s more than I thought I would- more varied in the songs that appeared and quite frankly more interesting to comment on. I found 88 and 89 hard to talk about and that's the exact opposite of what I thought I would- perhaps as I was following the charts my objectivity got lost under my personal remembrances but it was a great decade filled with more exciting records and pop movements than the 00s could ever muster. There is something to be said for the wide range of records in the charts at the mo and my 80s are someone's 2010's I must remember that, but the lack of "pop movements" is to lamented- it makes for fonder memories and focuses the mind on specific periods in pop......i'm rambling again...sorry.... over and out!
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Post by Earl Purple on Aug 24, 2011 19:28:52 GMT 1
I seem to recall 2 different mixes of the Jason Donovan one, the first more regular and then some bells got added to the other mix to be more Christmassy. It is the first #2 I know of that peaked behind three different #1s, and whilst I actually prefer it to all 3 of the songs that kept it out, it doesn't take much to do that. My own Christmas #1 that year was "Dear Jessie" by Madonna, with Queen's "The Miracle" at #2.
Alice Deejay's "Better Off Alone" also peaked at #2 behind three different #1s a decade later. Not sure if Ghetto Superstar didn't too (I don't think it did).
Linda Ronstadt had been around a long time. That ballad is ok, but her biggest hit in my chart was "Somewhere Out There" with James Ingram, which was the theme to some Disney (I think) film about a mouse.
I remember at the time the radio got a bit obsessed with Aaron Neville, whom I had never heard of before, and was playing "G-d On Our Side" by the Neville Brothers, which was boring, droned on a lot, and thankfully flopped.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Aug 24, 2011 20:46:17 GMT 1
What a fantastic way to end the decade- You spelt "horrific" wrongly.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Aug 24, 2011 21:38:54 GMT 1
What a fantastic way to end the decade- You spelt "horrific" wrongly. Naughty Vas- In honour of you in the words of Rondstat and Neville "I don't Know much/ but I know you love S/A/W, and that may be all i need to know"
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Aug 24, 2011 22:30:04 GMT 1
I would love SAW if they were passed through an eponymous tool.
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Post by evansabove on Aug 24, 2011 22:43:27 GMT 1
Fantastic thread thanks gezza and great to read other people's view apart from the usual muppet on here
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Post by Earl Purple on Aug 24, 2011 23:39:10 GMT 1
S/A/W were dreadful but so was Jive Bunny's "Let's Party", Band Aid 2's "Do They Know It's Christmas" (which Waterman produced) and New Kids On The Block's "Hangin' Tough", the 3 songs that kept Jason out. New Kids's "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" was marginally better and Kylie's "Tears On My Pillow" was a bit of a twee cover but ok. Not a great run of #1s between Lisa Stansfield and Sinead O'Connor whose #1 hits from that time would still be happily played today.
The end of 1989 had a buzz to it indeed - Madchester. We had "Fool's Gold" in the chart near the end of the year and The Wonder Stuff I think charted with "Golden Green" around that time. (Always thought it should be Golders Green..) and I particularly recall "Welcome To The Cheap Seats" by the same band (with Kirsty MacColl). The Wedding Present even made their UK top 40 debut near the end of 1989 with the fantastic "Kennedy" and I think the Happy Mondays "Hallelujah" (not the Leonard Cohen song or the Eurovision winner) with Kirsty MacColl also singing on that one too..
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Aug 25, 2011 9:00:25 GMT 1
Fantastic thread thanks gezza and great to read other people's view apart from the usual muppet on here No, they didn't have a number 2 at all. Let alone in the 1980s. They did have a number 1 album in 1977 though.
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Post by eurofandave on Aug 25, 2011 13:37:52 GMT 1
I have really enjoyed reading this thread.Charts wise,i wasn't particularly fussed on 1989 but my fave number 2 hits from the year were Michael Ball's Love Changes Everything,London Boys' London Nights and Jason Donovan's When You Come Back To Me Thanks again gezza76 for a fantastic thread
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Post by Earl Purple on Aug 26, 2011 1:15:39 GMT 1
1989's list of #2s had some goodies: - The Living Years - Love Changes Everything - Song For Whoever - Poison - Another Day In Paradise
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Aug 31, 2011 14:47:21 GMT 1
After thinking about it I've decided my 10 favourite No 2 hits of the decade are:
UPSIDE DOWN- Diana Ross ANTMUSIC- Adam & The Ants AIN'T NO PLEASING YOU- Chas N Dave HEARTBREAKER- Dionne Warwick THEY DON'T KNOW- Tracey Ullman EVERYTHING SHE WANTS- Wham! TAKE ON ME- A-Ha! YOU KEEP ME HANGIN ON- Kim Wilde WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?- Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield JE NE SAIS PAS POURQUOI- Kylie Minogue
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2011 16:33:38 GMT 1
I think Pleasuredome was the best FGTH track. Relax was abysmal and deservedly disappeared without trace until that idiot Read banned it. Two Tribes had a visceral charm, Power Of Love was excellent, but post Pleasuredome they dropped alarmingly. Holly Johnson did some good solo stuff, and he was the real talent in that act. Gerry & The Pacemakers though...total tripe. Anaemic cover band. Technically Mike Read didn't ban Relax, he didn't have that power. What he did was bring attention to it via his speech on his Breakfast show...and no i never heard what he said. Did anyone hear it at the time? I've noticed it has never surfaced on the internet. We all hear that DLT resignation speech aired in various documentaries over the years but we never hear the Mike Read Relax moment. Maybe it wasn't recorded. I know DLT had asked beforehand that someone record his speech.
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