vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Sept 18, 2011 14:39:44 GMT 1
Someone should have told Crystal Waters that there is more than one note in the harmonic spectrum.
Amy Grant's video for "Baby Baby" was banned from Christian networks in the States for being too racy. Certainly it wouldn't be banned for being too rubbish. Incidentally, Peter "I was in Chicago once" Cetera's brother was called Et.
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Post by Earl Purple on Sept 18, 2011 15:12:43 GMT 1
Gypsy Woman did make the chart "interesting" but my #1 at that time was "Promise Me" by Beverley Craven which was #3 behind it and Cher in an all-female top 3.
Baby Baby was ok. We were, in general, in the poorer part of this year by now. "Walking Down Madison" by Kirsty MacColl topped my chart around this time and Kylie Minogue got her biggest NM hit to date with "Shocked" peaking at #4, higher than its UK #6 peak. Both those songs are memorable for having a bit of rap in them, without actually being predominantly rap songs. Michael Jackson's "Black Or White" would also contain a rap later in the year. I quite liked this, very much a "sound of 1991".
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Sept 18, 2011 18:43:30 GMT 1
Those songs put the c in rap.
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Sept 18, 2011 19:08:41 GMT 1
Those songs put the c in rap. yeh insert pointless rap here the sound of 1991 it is now switched over that most chart songs are now mostly pointless rap with a bit of vocal added hehe. B&W was an awful rap and how ever great Kirsty is 'Walking down Madison' was just 'Madchester' bandwagon jumping although I suppose having sung with The Happy Mondays a couple of years earlier we can let her off. Dont remember the rap in 'Shocked' sure it wasnt on the album version. I still blame The Soupdragons personally
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Sept 18, 2011 19:14:25 GMT 1
That wasn't rap, that was toasting.
Technically, John Barnes is the first UK rapper to reach number one...if one doesn't count Benny Hill, of course.
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Post by Earl Purple on Sept 18, 2011 19:21:44 GMT 1
I would say Ian Dury was the first
and I wouldn't know if there was rap on the album version of Shocked as I didn't buy Kylie albums.
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Post by andrew07 on Sept 18, 2011 20:03:12 GMT 1
Blur got accused of jumping on that "baggy" bandwagon that same year too, with "There's No Other Way". But Alex James explained in an interview that the record company pressured them into making a record in a similar vein to The Stone Roses, and to have a drum beat that sounded similar to Reni's (I'm not sure if that was Dave playing or if that was a drum machine). Some Americans even mistook them for the Roses at that time too.
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Post by Earl Purple on Sept 18, 2011 20:14:21 GMT 1
I never considered "There's No Other Way" sounded like the Stone Roses, but I did always think it was similar to the Charlatans "The Only One I Know".
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Post by raliverpool on Sept 18, 2011 22:48:54 GMT 1
Rest of 1990 thoughts:
Nessun Dorma - forever associate with World Cup 1990 and England's near miss, the late Bobby Robson, Platt's extra time injury time winner; Gary Lineker's coolness in front of goal and of course Gazza's tears, and the penalty misses.
Mona - Forgettable fluff, from a Neighbour's beefcake whom I saw in the West End Grease circa 1993/4 on one of the two occasions the then unknown Denise Van Outen stood in for Debbie Gibson. I quite liked his later single One Reason Why (#29, 1992).
Hanky Panky - worked as a Dick Tracy soundtrack song, but not at all as a single IMHO.
Tom's Diner - Preferred the original, as I like most of her 1980s/early 1990s output, but not a patch on Luka, Marlene On The Wall or my fav of hers In Liverpool.
Bacharach & David EP - As this was a rather respectable effort (Dignity remains by far my favourite song of the band named after a Steely Dan song), I can't cry "There's Been a Murr-derr" (Lorraine McIntosh is also an established actress whose work includes Taggart).
Groove Is In The Heart - Love it, love it, love it. An era defining classic impossible to follow up. Robbed of a #1 spot by a song I've always hated.
I've Been Thinking About You - I never got what was special about this track, and I always liked 9AM (Comfort Zone).
Blue Velvet - This US #1 from 1963 should have stayed on the wonderfully creepy David Lynch film.
The Anniversary Waltz Part 1 - Horrific Jive Bunny inspired Rock & Roll medley.
Fog On The Tyne (Revised) - I wish this criminal record had never been made. Still it's better than Diamond Lights I suppose.
Don't Worry - This still sounds great today. It had a sob story Simon Cowell's TV producers would kill for, and had a brilliant uplifting pop tune to match.
Justify My Love - A glorious bold pop record that Madonna at her very very best excelled at. Not for the first time, the songwriting publishing was subsequently split in litigation (which the media had a field day with at the time), although (on this occasion) this was no fault whatsoever of Madonna, as Lenny Kravitz had based the song on a poem written by friend and Prince protégé Ingrid Chavez for which he did not credit her.
I'll do the first part of 1991 comments, tomorrow.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Sept 19, 2011 14:08:14 GMT 1
27TH JULY- NOW THAT WE'VE FOUND LOVE- Heavy D & The Boyz (1 week)
Jamaican Born Dwight Myers became Heavy D (& the boyz) who had been rap stars since the late 80s in the USA where the majority of their fame came from, indeed it was he who performed the rap on Michael Jackson's "Jam" single in 92, yet this was the group's sole UK top 20 single. A cover of a 70s O'Jays record "Now That We Found Love" is uninspiring, I suppose you could read it as a prime example of early 90s US commercial rap fused with Pop and therefore a stepping stone to the current line up stars who pretty ply a similar trade in the charts now.
A record I don't despise but equally I haven't listened to in some years, the beat and the production have aged badly, and it was kept from the the UK No 1 spot by the record that also kept the next 6 records from No 1 and which I shan't name (the record equivalent of Voldermort) but for this particular week I have to say that was probably the right outcome.
Traditionally the big hitters- star wise- tended to avoid releasing in the summer (when sales were low, though you could argue one factor led to the other) and that always creates a vacuum in the charts which is by necessity filled with records like this, instantly filling but with little sticking power, we'll see more examples of that before the summer is out.....
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Sept 19, 2011 14:09:26 GMT 1
3RD AUGUST- MORE THAN WORDS- Extreme (2 weeks)Believe it or not I was about to write a scathing review of this, then I decided to watch the video before I wrote it, and surprisingly I think I changed my mind. Get rid of the boyband covers that have been done over the years (BBMack, Westlife etc) and listen to the original and it's actually quite an effecting record. There is a symbolic beginning to the video when Bettencourt and Geary diconnect the electric guitar and put the drum sticks (the stock in trade of their more punkier records prior to this) to illustrate this is a band stripping away the pomp and hyperbole of the "rock band" down to the basics. Acoustic records trade on the theory that there is a "realism" and "authenticity" to the sound which is lost when using more produced means of music, of course that's rubbish, ballad's- even acoustic ones, are "produced" like any other track, but in a way this mirrors the record. It's a song about stripping away the words used in relationships to cover a multitude of sins, such as the believe that "I Love You" is a pardon for all manner of cruelties, it's actually rather ingenious to match the medium with the message and I'd never gave them credit for that until now. It launched Bettencourt (the guitarist) as a minor heartthrob for the girls at school, though would last for 6 months top and it's been one of the few records I've changed my mind about the review just before I wrote it, it proves moreover that sometimes supposed familiarity with songs is an illusion.....
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Sept 19, 2011 14:10:56 GMT 1
Postings will continue next saturday folks!-
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Post by evansabove on Sept 19, 2011 16:08:30 GMT 1
One of all my all-time favourite rock ballads is More Than Words
Have a good break gezza
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Post by raliverpool on Sept 19, 2011 18:57:09 GMT 1
1991 comments:
Crazy - great vocal, fantastic production, good tune.
(I Wanna Give You) Devotion - I could never stand the singer's voice. Early 1990s Dance music at its very worst, probably as it was on Now 19 and stunk to high heaven in the company of Unfinished Sympathy, You Got the Love, 3AM Eternal & Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now).
Crazy For You - of course a great song, but it belonged to 1985.
Sit Down - thinks about buying the original Rough Trade Records version on cassette in 1989 which I sold in the mid 1990s at a car boot sale (along with Blur's Popscene) and cries "what was I thinking, you idiot, etc".
Last Train To Trancentral - The KLF were the best British Pop band since the 1960s IMHO.
Gypsy Woman - Another one of those records that was instantly great, then a few weeks later became rather annoying to listen to.
Baby Baby - I know I shouldn't but I liked that annoying synth riff that ran through the song, with the varying chord changes. A Guilty Pleasure of a track.
Now That We've Found Love - uninspired Pop/rap fusion of it's time.
More Than Words - a fantastic track. Such a shame the song has become boyband talent TV fodder over time.
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borneoman
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Post by borneoman on Sept 19, 2011 20:32:28 GMT 1
didn't know Westlife had done More than Words too, guess I'm lucky
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Post by thehitparade on Sept 19, 2011 22:14:34 GMT 1
My brother once won a book by Edward De Bono as a school prize. He said "I've seen another book that's similar but not quite as good - it's by Edward De Timbooth". After that I could never take James as seriously as they seem(ed) to take themselves.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Sept 20, 2011 6:38:00 GMT 1
"More Than Words" is uber-irritating. Firstly, the apparent insistence of the rock charts to include everything by a rock band in it, even though the rock element of a record like "More Than Words" is softer than talc. Secondly, the arrant money-grubbing nature behind it - practically every rubbish hairband desperate for a hit would do some rubbish ballad to glom US airplay (q.v. Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", the acme of appallingness). Talk about betraying principles...
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Sept 20, 2011 19:00:09 GMT 1
& practically every rubbish hairband desperate for a hit would do some rubbish ballad to glom US airplay (q.v. Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", the acme of appallingness). Talk about betraying principles... For once I completly disagree the ability to carry off a great power ballad is essential for a hairband or 80s-early 90s rock band. As for Poison having principles I doubt that they do anyway and 'ERHIT' is naff but these bands can laugh at them selves and dont take them selves seriously. Rather that to the fake angst in nu-metal for example. If you dont think 'Is this Love' or 'Wanted dead Or alive' or 'Alone' are brilliant you are not qualified to comment. Yes there are bads ones like Warrant -'Heaven' or 'Winds of change' or anything by Winger. ps If you think Mmore than words' is bad listen to their previous single 'Get the Funk out' its like a evil abomination of RHCP and Faith No More
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Post by andrew07 on Sept 20, 2011 19:54:45 GMT 1
Pretty soon, those hair metal bands would be left struggling - as a band from Seattle were just about to burst onto the scene over here - and with an album that has just been given a special deluxe edition reissue
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borneoman
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Post by borneoman on Sept 20, 2011 20:02:11 GMT 1
^guess grunge killed hair metal bands but I think it's a bit of a pity cos I loved some of those mentioned above like Alone or Is This Love and is a pity that no one does ballads anymore...
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