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Post by Earl Purple on Nov 24, 2011 22:58:30 GMT 1
Today is exactly 20 years since Freddie Mercury died.
Free As A Bird wasn't as good as Real Love, which they released next as part of Anthology 2.
And on the subject of covers, we are about to witness a cover version of a song we've only just had on this topic and which was one of the greatest songs of all time to reach #2. Not sure about the cover of it though.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Nov 24, 2011 23:08:50 GMT 1
^agree, "Real Love" was the better song. And I don't remember vast hype around "Baby It's You" a few years before even though that was a new Beatles single. And as we've proved in the Lost Number Ones thread, the Beatles actually had had 18 number one singles...and, perhaps, more.
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Post by evansabove on Nov 24, 2011 23:46:37 GMT 1
Those 'new' Beatles tracks were terrible and should have been left where they were
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Nov 25, 2011 18:12:12 GMT 1
30TH DECEMBER- WONDERWALL- The Mike Flowers Pops (1 week)Christmas is often the time of novelty records that wouldn't be "funny" at any other time of the year, turth is this wasn't really funny at the time! I recall seeing Mike Flowers Pops at my Fresher week at Uni in Sep 95, the group having got themsleves a cult following already, and after about 2 songs the joke wore thin with pretty much all of us and we waited for the disco music to start again (I'm so retro there). The band had been recruited by Radio 1 DJ Kevin Greening to cover various "Hits of 95" in their psedo 60's easy listening style,and "Wonderwall" was the first product. Chris Evans heard it and made it his record of the week after which the release became an inevitability. With the origianl still riding high in the top 10 this cover joined it in time for the Christmas chart, and though popularly picked to become a surprise chart topper, it became the third "victim" of the phenomenal success of "Earthsong". I'm no fan of the song, even in an ironic or comedic way, but still I suppose as the silly season ended it did at least have the shame to drop like a stone spending a mere 5 weeks in the top 40.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Nov 25, 2011 18:13:18 GMT 1
So that's 1995! How was it for you? I confess I rather enjoyed it on the whole- started Uni, moved out of my parents and started "Living" as they say!..
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Nov 25, 2011 19:37:13 GMT 1
Mike Flowers was more the victim of disgusting gerrymandering by the BBC, who refused to play him when they played Wacko. A deliberate sabotage strategy to give more publicity to the American act with the American song.
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Post by evansabove on Nov 25, 2011 20:07:47 GMT 1
Mike Flowers was more the victim of disgusting gerrymandering by the BBC, who refused to play him when they played Wacko. A deliberate sabotage strategy to give more publicity to the American act with the American song. I think they just didnt play it coz it is crap personally. Not funny at all
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Nov 25, 2011 21:00:32 GMT 1
I agree it was rubbish, but the BBC should not have been making a value along those lines. It's meant to be neutral. And at least it's deliberately rubbish, as opposed to the accidental rubbish of Jackson.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Nov 26, 2011 11:52:31 GMT 1
3RD FEBRUARY- SLIGHT RETURN- The Bluetones (1 week)So welcome to 1996, I turned the big 2-0 in January 96 and whilst we skip over Jan for this thread (it's just Boyzone back up anyway) it did see the return of George Michael (more of later) and the arrival of Babylon Zoo, which incidently resulted in "Slight Return" being in this thread. A song that kinda passed me by at the time and I only grew to love over the years. It's a jaunty little number though and should have been a hit when first released in 1995, but taking advantage of the traditional post Christmas lull the single was re-issued and became the biggest single of a career which only came to an end last month. In my first year at Uni I was living with two flatmates who were quite into Indie and I probably developed a taste that would last me until this day (although always pplaying second fiddle to pop, and dance through the late 90s) so hearing this ong always reminds me of old friends, the kind you don't think of maybe month to month, but then you hear a song and you're back there. Anyway this is an innocent enough tune and a rather underrated Britpop gem long due a re-evaluation, it's not "Don't Look Back In Anger" but then it's much better than Kula Shaker (oop's no spoilers!).
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Nov 26, 2011 11:53:05 GMT 1
10TH FEBRUARY- ANYTHING- 3T (3 Weeks)Proving the addage of "It's not what you know...." here's Jacko's nephews, briefly a boyband for about 12 months, Taj, Tito, and Taryll released a string of top 20 smashes none bigger than their first "Anything". Presented to them through Qunincy Jones, the track debuted in the top 5 here before ncountering Babylon Zoo, I can't find any explanation as to why it took them 8 years to release a follow up album, but needless to say it was unsuccessful. It won't be the last time we'll hear from them in this thread but "Anything" never really grabbed me back in 96, it's a competant enough ballad, and I rather enjoyed listening to it again just now for the first time in years but beyond that it isn;t a song that brings back any particular fond memories. In my world I'd just discovered Dubstar who would be making one of the outstanding albums of the year in "Disgraceful", and of course mourning the sad departure of Take That from the pop arena. If nothing else this is the sound of radio friendly mid 90s R N B, like magnolia painted walls, it ain't gonna offend anyone, and that's not always good.
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Post by Earl Purple on Nov 26, 2011 22:31:46 GMT 1
I saw the Bluetones live in September, and they played all 3 of their NM #1s, including Slight Return. They made a comment about it being the song everyone always wanted to hear them play. In my chart "Slight Return" was the song that kept "Spaceman" off #1 in my chart, and then was replaced by "Don't Look Back In Anger" after 3 weeks on top. "Marblehead Johnson" was their 2nd #1 topping the chart for 6 weeks and finished 2nd in the chart of the year with "Slight Return" 4th. Ocean Colour Scene had my #3 of 1996 with "The Day We Caught The Train" and you can guess what my #1 was..
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Post by andrew07 on Nov 26, 2011 23:52:06 GMT 1
Slight Return was ace and their Expecting To Fly album was and still is a great album. I also liked "Marblehead Johnson" and "If..." too. Very understated band who, like Shed Seven, didn't do very well sales wise after Britpop peaked, but still maintained a live following. They split this year but it's definitely worth rediscovering them again
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borneoman
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Post by borneoman on Nov 27, 2011 10:05:10 GMT 1
loved Slight Return, made me buy the album, which imho, was very very very dull... never got into it
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Post by Earl Purple on Nov 27, 2011 12:31:18 GMT 1
Interesting you mention "If..." because that was their 3rd #1 in my chart. When they played it live, it sounded to me better than the studio version I have. At the end, you just chant along with the "na na na" and the whole audience was chanting along with it. I imagine this is a favourite with fans, although it didn't go top 10.
They were still going and releasing until last year. This year they decided to split and their farewell gig was in Oxford - that was the gig I attended. Frag and Sofie were there with me. Unfair to compare them with Shed 7 as they were far better than that band.
Some examples of later Bluetones songs:
The correct title is actually Surrendered.
from 2010.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Nov 27, 2011 12:32:50 GMT 1
2ND MARCH- CHILDREN- Robert Miles (3 weeks)Never a huge fan of this back in 1996, it's grown on me slightly over the years and I don't mind it now but quite why it gets the inordinate amount of praise heaped on it now is a little beyond me. Anyway written by Miles as a response to both the photograph's bought home by his father of child war victims from Former Yugoslavia, and the slew of deaths caused by ravers returning from clubs in car accidents in his native Italy. The "Strage del sabato sera (Saturday night slaughter) had claimed an estimated 2,000 lives in Italy by this point in the decade and Miles tried to pen a track that would be played at the end of the night to calm departing party goers down, a rare piece of pop altruism. Anyway us brits took it to heart and propelled the songs into one of the top 10 best selling records of the year so clearly my opinion was in the minority, but I defy most people to hum the follow up "Fable" which also made the top 10? Well Ideas ran pretty thin on the ground clearly as that was more or less a retred of this track but he redeemed himself by the end of the year with the excellent, and in my opinion, much better track "One and one" which stalled one place to low to make this thread. It also went to No 1 in virtually every European country and but for Oasis and a farewell bow from Take That would have done the same here, so whilst it isn't a no from me I'm certainly ambivalent about its success.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Nov 27, 2011 12:35:08 GMT 1
30TH MARCH- THE X FILES- Mark Snow (3 weeks)I'm not sure this works as a single by dear god it works as a theme. Listening to it now it actually pretty much sums the TV series, dark, eeire, tension laden, all conveyed without words. Mark Snow (real name Mark Fulterman) is mainly a composer for TV and Film who got his first major success composing the theme to Starsky & Hutch in the mid 70s, then "TJ Hooker" in the 80s before masterminding this theme to what became quite a big 90s sensation "X Files", indeed so successful was it that a "cover" of this by DJ Dado also made the top 10 here just a matter of weeks later. Snow's composition credits have now extended to One Tree Hill, Smallville, but this remains his calling card chart wise. I have no strong feelings on this record, I quickly got bored of it chart wise, there were just TOO many instrumental hits around at this time for my liking, and you know my thoughts on that, but it was quite nice hearing it again 15 years on. Note made to listen again in 2026. By way of trivia Snow is also married to the sister of Tyne Daley (she of "Cagney & Lacey" fame)
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Post by Earl Purple on Nov 27, 2011 12:56:09 GMT 1
One And One fell one place short to reach this topic as it peaked at #3. It was a good song but Robert Miles didn't actually write it.
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Post by evansabove on Nov 27, 2011 13:52:17 GMT 1
I was a massive X Files fan and the theme played a huge part in setting up the episode. It shows how popular the series was as no way was the single good enough for 3 weeks at #2
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Post by Earl Purple on Nov 27, 2011 14:18:34 GMT 1
I was a massive X Files fan and the theme played a huge part in setting up the episode. It shows how popular the series was as no way was the single good enough for 3 weeks at #2 unlike Catatonia's hit "Mulder & Scully" 2 years later that was good enough to reach #3 on the strength of the song.
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borneoman
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Post by borneoman on Nov 27, 2011 15:19:02 GMT 1
loved Robert Miles' Children, and I can even hum Fable actually Fable sounds exactly like Children, could have been called Children pt 2... so what's the story behind One and One? was a cover of an unreleased track right? not sure if that makes it a cover... I liked the X Files song, but listening to it on tv for 30 sec was enough, no need for the single release
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