vastar iner
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I am the poster on your wall
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Post by vastar iner on Oct 23, 2011 12:33:03 GMT 1
Totally forgot the Red Dragon song. "Confide In Me" is by some distance the best effort by any Minogue, but all the credit goes to the superb production work by Brothers In Rhythm. Alas Kylie immediately resorted to the inoffensive, characterless, colourless, blander-than-bland ditchwater pap that had not interrupted her posterior's rise to fame.
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Post by Earl Purple on Oct 23, 2011 12:38:12 GMT 1
By the time Confide In Me came out, I was already posting on the internet, and posting my chart. Blur and Oasis were about, as were Pulp but they weren't called "britpop" yet. "Confide In Me" peaked in my chart at #3, behind two songs that were in my top 2 for ages, "Parklife" by Blur and "Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah" by the Wedding Present. And above R.E.M's "What's The Frequency Kenneth" which was kept at #4. And for once the "world at large" knew it...
Around this time, Virgin Radio started up and had a poster "we've found a way to improve Kylie - we've banned her..". Actually when Chris Evans took over he lifted the ban, invited her onto the show and got the person who had made the poster to introduce her song. And actually they did play the duet with Nick Cave even before the ban was lifted.
For many of us "indie Kylie" was her best phase, but commercially she flopped apart from this song.
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Post by evansabove on Oct 23, 2011 13:55:06 GMT 1
Confide In Me is one of Kylie's finest moments. It all went a big wrong after that with the ill-advised 'indie' period
I'd forgotten all about the Red Dragon song. What a great year it was for reggae
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Oct 24, 2011 17:10:57 GMT 1
24TH SEPTEMBER- RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT- Corona (2 weeks)"Rhtythm Of The Night" is probably considered a slightly cheesy dance song now, but I think to think of it in those terms is to undervalue it. It is emblamatic of where dance music was come 1994, its desire to be the dominating force on the charts matched only by boys with guitars certainly during 94-97 period, so in a way to acheive that it had to be anthemic, and Corona deliver this on every front. It took a re-release to achieve this, but the group eventually scored 3 top 10 hits in a row before the UK grew tired, but more importanlty than all this is that in 1994 the UK truly became open to the Euro market. Where previously we let the odd hit through we were, on the whole, very high handed with European music finding most of it beneath us, we had the imports that the holiday makers returning home made into hits but outside of this we weren't enormously interested. For this factor we have consider the burgeoning package holiday industry, the early days of budget airlines and the growing importance of Ibiza as a holiday destination of choice for the youngsters of the day, and it really all started in 1994 evidenced in part by the docou-pop of "Girls And Boys" by Blur in this year. It meant. in short, more youngsters going to specific holiday destinations that catered for them and where they got greater exposure to music they had never heard before, I recall going on holiday back in 1988 (for example) to Yugoslavia (as was) and hearing in our complex nothing but UK music, but by 94 and in Cyprus, there was a lot of dance music that was good and I had never heard back in the UK. So Corona is an example of just this, a truer democratisation of music that dance bought with it, most people could start to make music if they chose and there was a forum to get it to the public that didn't necessarily involve record companies and thousands of pounds worth of publicity. ROTN is VERY 1994 I make no pretence on that front, but it was a massive hit at the time, as ubiquitous as "Saturday Night" the record that denied it No 1, a n Italian paino dance track and has you humming it after just one listen, fantastic song I recommend it!
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Oct 24, 2011 17:11:32 GMT 1
8TH OCTOBER- ALWAYS- Bon Jovi (3 weeks)I have a problem with Bon Jovi, "It's My Life" aside, I don't recall anything they sung post 1997, esentially because they seem to have just done the same song and unable to expand outside their, admittedly impressive, fan base. However we're in 1994 at the moment and "Always" is a song that seems to me to be unremarkable even within the genre, there are some tracks I quite like from them around this period "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" and "Dry County" are really quite pleasing, the latter especially epic in scope, but "Always" seems to be like a parody of the genre, something Bryan Adams was doing some 12 months previously. Don't get me wrong I can see the appeal of the track, but it was just a non event for me, it did have a curious chart run 5-3-2-3-4-3-2-2-4, that fall in the middle due to the high debut of Take That's "Sure" and the rise of Pato Banton to No 1, but nevertheless it is a testement to the ongoing appeal that the song had back in 1994. Then again AOR balladeering always was popular at radio, you pays your money and you makes your choice, needless to say it's a song that I never bought.
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borneoman
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love is tough, when enough is not enough
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Post by borneoman on Oct 24, 2011 18:00:38 GMT 1
kinda disagree with those 2... Corona for me is dance music at its worst... same for Saturday Night. Would have haad anything on the top 2 except those two songs and I think the EU invasion started way earlier with Snap and Technotronic and 2 Unlimited too and in regards to Bon Jovi, you liked Dry Country but hated Always?? Really? 100% opposite for me. I think Always is a true classic, one of the good heavy metal ballads together with Alone and Is This Love but I agree they've had some bad periods in the 00s, especially the whole Bounce album... actually Always was their last great ballad
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Post by evansabove on Oct 24, 2011 18:15:25 GMT 1
Love Rhythm Of The Night and all the other singles from Corona around that period
I think Always is one of Bon Jovi's best ballads and 9 weeks in the top 5 is not to be sneezed at
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vastar iner
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I am the poster on your wall
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Post by vastar iner on Oct 24, 2011 19:20:49 GMT 1
Ah, Bon Jovi.
Can someone please tell me the logic that the BBC bans Gary Glitter yet plays Bon Jovi? Glitter may be appalling, but Bon Jovi were quite happy to take blood money from Gadaffi. Same goes for Jay Z and loads of others. Let alone Chris "wifebeater" Brown.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Oct 25, 2011 17:03:51 GMT 1
19TH NOVEMBER- ANOTHER NIGHT- (M.C Sar) & The Real McCoy (1 week)Why oh why is this not more famous? Everything about "Another Night" is cheesy europop but fantastic europop at that. Less remembered than Corona, and a better record for that in my opinion, the same female/ male back and forth that recalls Culture Beat with a beat seemingly borrowed (or at least very close) to Snap!'s "Rhythm Is A Dancer", that piano floats above the beat adding a cheeky air to the whole thing and seems almost as perfect as Europop could be. I recall listening to the charts at this time and being surprised by the fact that it reached this high, looking at the charts for the week it rose from 7-2 the tracks it leapt over had all been around for quite some time (Whigfield, Bon Jovi, Michelle Gayle, R Kelly) so I suppose the fact that it was a relatively new hit was enough to propel it into the upper eschalons of the chart. Anyway this is all good fun provided you don't take it all too seriously!
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Oct 25, 2011 17:04:55 GMT 1
3RD DECEMBER- LOVE SPREADS- The Stone Roses (1 week)Some bands reach mythical status through music alone, others through what they don't release. What I mean is that by not outstaying welcome you can be a much reverred act than had you released 5 or 6 albums and gone downhill. The Stone Roses debut album had seen the light day of 1989 and been hailed a classic by many music critics and often now cited as a major influence on the prevailing Britpop movement, but it took the band 5 years to finally make a follow up set, and in the intervening years the "Legend" grew. Perhaps it was all these factors which led to the second album underwhelming many, but it surely contributed to this track, the first single to be taken from it, debuting at No 2. "Love Spreads" is exactly what you would expect from a Stone Roses single, it isn't going to win over any new fans and so in one sense it is preaching to the converted, the trouble was by 1994 they were looking rather old hat in comparison to the likes of Suede. Blur & Oasis who all released landmark albums that same year. I don't mind a bit of the roses, "I Wanna Be Adored" is I think one of their best tracks, although the amount of praise heeped on them is disproportionate, indeed such was the negative feedback from the album it ultimately caused the band to disband and Brown embarked on a solo career. News that they are reforming will of course delight fans but it remains to be seen if they can reach out beyond that base, in conclusion this is bringing nothing new to the table, if it's your bag you'll love it, for me, OK but nothing special.
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Post by evansabove on Oct 25, 2011 18:15:05 GMT 1
Loved the Real McCoy single and the album from which it came. They did surprisingly well in the US too with this going top 3 as they rode the crest of the Ace Of Base success wave
Stone Roses did a couple of good songs but the rest are all just meh for me
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Post by andrew07 on Oct 25, 2011 18:35:05 GMT 1
As a huge Stone Roses fan and as much as I like "Love Spreads", I share that belief that had "Ten Storey Love Song" been the comeback single, that probably would have gotten to No.1.
"The Second Coming" album, if anything, is more of a John Squire album than a Roses album, as he had written the lion's share of the songs and his interest in Led Zeppelin shows up quite often ("Tears" for instance is their answer to Stairway To Heaven). It's not a bad album, but then it's certainly not as sublime as their debut.
I was amazed at the fact that they reformed last week, and the fact that they promised new songs, it may be difficult to top that debut album but I'll be interested to see what they deliver this time round.
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Post by Earl Purple on Oct 25, 2011 19:03:48 GMT 1
I think Second Coming was a very good album. "How Do You Sleep" was a stand-out track for me, actually. It's difficult to know if you can compare it to their first - the first was groundbreaking and this wasn't because the ground had already been broken.
I do indeed believe that Madchester was a forerunner to Britpop and therefore the Stone Roses were a key part to the 1990s indie scene.
We need a new indie-wave in the chart. Maybe their reunion can help bring it about.
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borneoman
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love is tough, when enough is not enough
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Post by borneoman on Oct 26, 2011 7:14:08 GMT 1
As much as I disliked Corona & Whigfield... I had a soft spot for The Real McCoy... to the point of buying their album not sure why I did that at the time, must be the only Europop CD in my collection for me, The Stone Roses are one of the best bands ever and their debut really was a ground-braking album, although I particularly think that their key moment was Fool's Gold, which isnt on the album. I still got the debut album in vinyl... is it worth something now?? for me album 2 was a total disappointment, def too much of John Squire in there, I only truly liked Ten Storey Love Song, the rest were fillers no killers... Personally, not looking forward to their comeback.... I kinda think they're in it for the money, not for the music...
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Oct 26, 2011 16:22:52 GMT 1
17TH DECEMBER- ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU- Mariah Carey (3 weeks)Here's Mariah's pension fund. There isn't much you can add about AIWFCIY really, it's become a regular fixture on the Xmas chart since those nasty dowloads were allowed to chart seperately back in 2007, and it has kinda spoilt it. In the context of 1994 it rounded off an excellent year for Carey who scored her first chart topper and collected a further 3 top 10 hits, and she outsold every other female, yes she had truly cracked the UK market and she stood no better chance of claiming the festive spot than she did in this particular year. Sleigh bells, check, nostalgic 60's feel to track, check, assorted christmas paraphanalia, check, yes it's all here and hell why shouldn't it have been a No 1. Of course history records that East 17 denied her, but in 1994 my relatives moved down from Scotland to our little town in Northants so it was the first Xmas I spent with friends in my hometown (instead of going to Scotland) and as a consequence I did the round of Christmas parties etc for the first time, so it will always hold a special place in my heart, back in 94 that is. Carey is, naturally, on good vocal form, just like in 1992, a straight delivery really is all that is required to prove her point and a pop tune that bounces with cheer and optimism is a joy to hear. If only the Mariah of 1994 could have lasted after 98 I think we'd all have been happier.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Oct 26, 2011 16:24:47 GMT 1
That's it folks- phew! another five years done!- my customary thanks to all who have contibuted their own thoughts on the records and made it another great thread- 95-99 will commence when I can be bothered- hopefully this side of Christmas though!
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Post by evansabove on Oct 26, 2011 17:02:42 GMT 1
Thanks for all the hard work gezza. Looking forward to the next instalment
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Post by Earl Purple on Oct 27, 2011 21:07:28 GMT 1
Mariah was totally denied in my chart in 1994, my chart being a top 20. I later declared that given what was in my chart at Christmas that year, I felt it should have been #6. Subsequently I did allow it to chart in 2007 and it peaked at #11, with the chart now a top 100.
At the time there were not that many new Christmas songs being released and although it had all the formula (actually pretty much a Phil Spector created formula), it did become a sort-of classic.
A few months into the next topic we reach the stage where pretty much every #2 entered the chart at that position. Actually I think "Common People" will start that run going, as Guaglione did climb to its #2 peak as did all those before it other than Annie Lennox. "Common People" will also be one of the many britpop classics we will meet in the next 3 years.
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