Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 2, 2011 0:18:25 GMT 1
2ND NOVEMBER- IF YOU EVER- East 17 Featuring Gabrielle (1 week)Implosion time is just around the corner for good old East 17, yet this is the first time we've met them in this thread. After playing runner up to Take That in the boyband stakes throughout the decade it looked as though their time for that promotion to No 1 spot in the affection of teenage girls looked assured when TT split then quite an unexpected thing happened. Though they maintained they were duped into giving a provokative response Harvey admitted in an interview to taking 12 E's on a night out and the press went crazy leading effectively to a split in February 1997 after first Harvey left (to return) then Mortimer left (the chief songwriter), poor old Gabrielle was left in the middle. However all that was still a matter of months away and this cover of Shai's 1992 US #2 hit was the first release from the band's Greatest Hits set "Around The World- The Story So Far" which was a big xmas seller for 96 (it was also added to Gabrielle's album as a bonus track for that Xmas) and turned into the second highest peaking single for both acts to that point in their careers. It's a bit too Americanised for my personal taste, East 17 were always at their best when they were bing very east London-esque "Deep" and "It's Alright" are two fine examples in their cannon, and whilst I can't fault the song really neither act are on top form here (Gabrielle's "If You Reeally Cared" is a much underrated track IMO) but in launching a GH set it turned the trick for East 17, it's a taste of what could have been, the titanic struggle between Boyzone and East 17 that was shaping up in late 96 just never happened, but for the band they had, unfortunately they have no-one to blame for that but themselves.
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Post by evansabove on Dec 2, 2011 8:52:33 GMT 1
Loved the E17/Gabrielle collaboration which was so much better than Shai's original.
So much hype surrounded Kula Shaker with so little substance
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borneoman
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Post by borneoman on Dec 2, 2011 8:55:58 GMT 1
agree on Kula Shaker, no substance at all, although I kinda like their Hush song, was a cover right...
and I do really like If You Ever, but again, I liked Shai's a capella version too. The original never did anything in the UK right?
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 2, 2011 9:27:56 GMT 1
MSPs and Underworld with two of the best number 2 singles ever.
The ones afterward were all just number twos. Surely the sole reason for Kula Shaker's success was that Crispian Mills was a third generation luvvie. It's who you know, tovarisch.
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Post by andrew07 on Dec 2, 2011 17:16:20 GMT 1
I thought Kula Shaker were ok at the time, and then Crispian Mills had to go and open his big mouth.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 2, 2011 17:56:08 GMT 1
23RD NOVEMBER- WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?- Warren G Featuring Edina Howard (1 week)Although there were fusions between the world of pop and the world of R N B/ rap previously "Haoliday Rap" in 1986 or even Vanilla Ice in 1990, it was rather the exception than the rule, but this record is really symbolic of where the genre was going in the 00s, nowadays it has fully embraced the "cheesy" hits of yesterday into new cooler versions of itself, a pop act can be "legitimised" or thought trendier by throwing Flo Rida or Pitbull on it, this is mainly due to the huge success of acts like Will Smith, Eminem and J-lo in the early 00s, but as a sercious chart force it dates back to the late 90s. With this kind of thing I always think you either love it or hate it, some are inspired (Eminem and Dido) and ebven his owwn "Regulate" in 1994, others are just pedestrian adding nothing to the original and leaving you with the general impression of "What was the point in that?" THIS is tragically the latter. It's not gonna offend every bone in your body but it's little more than a cash cow for the rapper, indeed I recall acts like Warren G were thought to have cheapened themselves with exploits like this and it is easy to see how. This is the lowest demoniter of R N B/ Rap, much like what N-Trance were by now doing to dance music, if you're not going to think outside the box when making this kinda thing then you're leaving an open goal for those who accuse you of being barren in the ideas department. I'm sure you have better things to do but listen if you will......
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 2, 2011 17:56:40 GMT 1
30TH NOVEMBER- NO WOMAN NO CRY- The Fugees Featuring Steve Marley (1 week)I never liked Bob Marley, I never liked The Fugees- this is gonna be fun. Roping in Marley's son adds that touch of "credibleness" to this version but indeed all the things that Warren G can be accused of could also be levelled at this song. I can't deny that the Fugees were probably one of the biggest bandss on the face of the world in 1996 and had of course just come of the back of a couple of No 1 hits on the trot, combining two genres that I care the least for was never gonna be a recipe for success in my book. I can't add much more- if I did it would only be negative so let's glaze over and move on to happier pastures- Christmas is just around the corner- Christmas 1996 that is!
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borneoman
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Post by borneoman on Dec 2, 2011 18:14:39 GMT 1
not a fan of any of those last 2 songs... I did buy the Fugees album but apart from Killing me Softly and Ready or Not, the rest was very very mediocre... including this cover of Bob Marley which was rather uninspired imho...
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Post by evansabove on Dec 2, 2011 20:01:25 GMT 1
not a fan of any of those last 2 songs... I did buy the Fugees album but apart from Killing me Softly and Ready or Not, the rest was very very mediocre... including this cover of Bob Marley which was rather uninspired imho... Agreed. 2 very uninspired cover versions from acts who had done much better
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 3, 2011 10:46:53 GMT 1
21ST DECEMBER- UN-BREAK MY HEART- Toni Braxton (3 weeks)With a song written by Diane Warren and a video starring Tyson Beckford, chances are this was always gonna be a hit. Braxton was, by this point, one of the biggest stars in the US where this was her second chart topper in a row, but this was never a record I loved. The Frankie Knuckles remix made it more palatable but I would not in any way, shape or form have prefered this to be No 1 instead of "2 Become 1". There's nothing particularly to dislike about the song, a song concerned about the usual lover left me scenario (although the video turns this into a lover killed kinda thing) and of course it stood at No 2 for my 21st birthday so I can't be too harsh on it, but I can't find it interesting like I can with "Breathe Again" two years prior. It's not your fault love it's mine.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 3, 2011 10:49:23 GMT 1
So that's it- another year over- I reach key at the door time (21), and all in all 1996 is a year I enjoyed very much at the time- great musically (IMO).
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 3, 2011 12:57:31 GMT 1
Just wondering whether Gabrielle's former decapitating beau had anything to do with her success. I doubt it was her ability, she only knew one note, and that was flat.
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Post by Earl Purple on Dec 3, 2011 19:26:57 GMT 1
With regards to George Michael, "Older" was an ok album but given that Listen Without Prejudice had been one of my favourite albums I did find it rather disappointing. Spinning The Wheel was, in my opinion, better than the two singles that had preceded it but wasn't that great in itself.
It's hard for anyone to maintain the standards when they have been right at the top, and so it was also with Michael Jackson who had done pretty well so far to release so many high-quality albums but whilst new material was fairly good, it just wasn't up there with the rest.
As for Kula Shaker, a strange one, there were 2 sides to them, the weird "Hare Krishna" type music (Tattva, Govinda, Sound Of Drums) and the pure rock side (Hey Dude and the cover of Hush). I always think of Tattva as their most memorable song.
And they shouldn't be compared to other britpop bands really. The whole thing about britpop was the large number of different bands that were around, not just a few major ones (Blur, Oasis and possibly Pulp).
Gabrielle had a #1 in my chart earlier in 1996 with "Give Me A Little More Time". It's one of the few singles to top my chart that went down on the way to getting there. (run 16-13-10-12-9-3-2-1).
Having a slow and fast version of diva songs became quite popular, I think especially with Unbreak My Heart. I actually preferred the uptempo version. They did of course do the same with Madonna's "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" around the same time, and with Mariah Carey's "My All".
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borneoman
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Post by borneoman on Dec 4, 2011 10:40:15 GMT 1
surprised at the lack of love for Unbreak my Heart, in my opinion, that's a classic. And for me, it's the opposite, I hate those dance remixes of ballads, imho, they should be forbiddn by law
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 4, 2011 11:58:46 GMT 1
18TH JANUARY 1997- QUIT PLAYING GAMES (WITH MY HEART)- The Backstreet Boys (1 week)From their debut back in the Summer of 1996 there was something terribly amateurish about BSB's, too American, too clean cut, bland and polished. That actually changed over time and by 1999 I would say they were producing as good a collection of songs as thier Birtish counterparts (take that as you will), but certainly singles like "Get Down" and "We've Got It Goin On" were woeful by the standards of Boyzone and certainly of Take That. Yet we had been spoilt by our boybands so far, and the Backstreet catch-up starts here. What changes here is that the boys have discovered Cheiron, or vice versa, and the sound that would dominate he chats by 99 and propel Britney to superstardom, can be found here, the euro friendly sound enables the record to sound a great deal more professional, thus making the first No 2 of the late 90s coincidently "sound" late 90s. It's not their first production credit with Cherion so one has to assume that their sound was developing and blossoming through 95 and 96 before they finally found pay dirt. Not a song I loved at the time but it was always passable enough to my ears, but with US money behind them they would go on to dominate the US boyband market until the end of the decade, in reality always eclipsing rivals N-Sync, and in my opinion rightly so, tracks like "Larger Than Life" and "Shape Of My Heart" are glowing examples of well written perfectly executed pop of their time. QPGWMH has none of that touch its true but allowances can be made.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 4, 2011 12:00:55 GMT 1
8TH FEBRUARY- WHERE DO YOU GO?- No Mercy (2 weeks)Sorry- Guilty pleasure time for me! This is CHEESY i know but I still love it. Doesn't that backing track sound very familar? It certainly did back in 1997 when this hit the charts with the tag of "a big hit on the continent", that's because it's very similar to the Todd Terry remix of Everything But The Girl's "Missing" from 1995. They actually released a cover of that very track as their first single (that's how much they loved it) but it failed to anything and so they took a La Bouche track (they were big on the continent as well) from 1995 and married it to the backing track, kinda like an early mash up and produced this. Imagine a Latin 911 and you're kind of there, they were barren of ideas (note follow up "Kiss You All Over" and "Please Don't Go" were virtually carbon copies of this) but this is kind of like that embarrassing "indescretion" you had on holiday in Ibiza that was kind of fun but we've all agreed to forget about it, if there were chavs in 1997 on a bus on the top floor they would probably be playing this, but for all of that I can't be too mean to No Mercy. Never outstaying their welcome and always cheery this is a little snip of Latin pop that I recommend.
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Post by evansabove on Dec 4, 2011 12:42:46 GMT 1
I'm with you on that one gezza. I bought No Mercy on cd single and i think it's held up pretty well over time
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Post by Earl Purple on Dec 4, 2011 18:17:33 GMT 1
During the early weeks of the year when the #1 was changing every week, the No Mercy song was actually the biggest selling single, until No Doubt steadied things up, staying 3 weeks on top and outselling No Mercy too.
I think No Mercy had 3 different singles peak at #2 behind it in its 3 weeks on top, as did R Kelly a few weeks later, and this becomes common now, which means we should be expecting a lot of #2s during 1997.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 6, 2011 0:04:01 GMT 1
22ND FEBRUARY- I SHOT THE SHERIFF- Warren G (1 week)Well I suppose if it ain't broke don't fix it is the theory, trouble is this was broke last time round! Anyway, having "re-interpreted" Tina Turner for his last No 2 hit in Nov 96 he turned now to Bob Marley (who you know I Love) to repeat the trick and once again the great British public bought into it. Now considering I don't like reggae he does actually make this song slightly more digestable for me but really it's like being asked your preferred method of dying, there's no good answer, the rapping is passable but oh how we have fallen from the greatness of "Regulate" which at least had a shiff of originality and swagger in it. Apparently Warren G is Dr Dre's half brother by way of useless info. Anyhoo, Warren quickly dropped off the radar after this track, only a couple of top 20 followed, and to be fair he's the author of his own misfortune, "Selling out" is an over used phrase and often mis-used, but in Warren G's case he went for short term gain and he paid a price.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 6, 2011 0:05:43 GMT 1
1ST MARCH- ENCORE UNE FOIS- Sash! (1 week)I was slow to come to the Eurodance scene, I always preferred my Dance UK based in the early/ mid 90s, and there are some Sash! records that I love (we'll come to one later in this thread) but "Encore" is not one of them. I know there's a lot of love for this track but for me it always sounded like a cheaper version of say Stretch N Verne or Faithless who hit in big in 96, there's probably some kind of dance division for that kind of music, but what I know is that's how I liked my dance music. His later stuff (and some would say his poppier stuff) was more to my liking but then I'm a pop kid at heart. There's a distinct lack of vocals in this Sash track which might accout for my growing sense of ennui with this, a barrier not broken down until Trance broke through in about 98/99 so had this of been two years later then maybe my appreciation of it would have been different. I can see the attraction of it in a light dance throwaway kind of way but it can't inspire love like it does with many, but as I said before I reserve my love of a Sash! record for later.
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