The Hit Parade

Charting 1997: 1st February

2012-01-26T19:00:00.000Z

As we move further into January, the big names start to appear in earnest. And we get the first release I could claim to have been really looking forward to this year.

01.(NE) Blur - Beetlebum

Even allowing for the fact that sales are low in January, it says something of how big Blur were at this point that even a self-consciously anti-commercial move could give them a Number One single. They'd already been granted the rare honour of a pre-release appearance on Top of The Pops.
Blur were pretty much my favourite band at the time, but I was open to a new direction and went into town to get the red vinyl 7" and one of the two CDs - I'm not even sure I'd heard the song before but I was very pleased with what I got, a brilliant combination of experimentalism and accidental pop brilliance. 1997 Number One singles don't come much better than this in my opinion.
02. (1) White Town - Your Woman
03.(NE) George Michael - Older/I Can't Make You Love Me

Just under a year after the big comeback single 'Jesus To A Child', George was still scoring hits from his Older album, though even adding a new flipside (albeit a cover version) to the title track wasn't enough for it to join his previous three singles in the Top 2. Just as we weren't told that 'Beetlebum' was (probably) about drugs, it wasn't common knowledge at this point that this song was about the death of his partner.
04.(NE) Placebo - Nancy Boy

The hit that changed them from AN Other indie band only with a singer who looked a bit like a woman into household names of a sort. A heavily remixed version of the original album cut and a major improvement: I remember David Bowie requesting this track when guesting on Stuart Maconie's short-lived Radio 1 show but insisting on the single version. I always thought they sounded like a band trying too hard, but this was one time they at least got somewhere.
05. (5) No Mercy - Where Do You Go
06. (3) Texas - Say What You Want
07.(NE) Gabrielle - Walk On By

Well-produced, well-sung but utterly pointless cover, added to later pressings of her second album.
08. (2) Tori Amos - Professional Widow (It's Got To Be Big)
09.(NE) The Blueboy - Remember Me

Not to be confused with twee indie act Blue Boy, utterly ubiquitous jazz-sampling dance hit of early 1997.
10. (9) En Vogue - Don't Let Go (Love)
11. (4) Backstreet Boys - Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)
12. (7) Madonna - Don't Cry For Me Argentina
13.(NE) Skunk Anansie - Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)

Big fans of the bracketed song title (were Skunk Anansie). Their first proper slow single, albeit with a decidedly chunky rhythm section, and a song I could never totally make up my mind about. Nothing dates like newly-invented special effects in pop videos though.
14.(NE) Babybird - Candy Girl

The week after 'You're Gorgeous' finally departed the Top 75, Stephen Jones reaches the Top 20 for the second (and last) time with a song that's even more irritating. I didn't think either of them was as good as 'Goodnight' from 1996. Or indeed 'Sugar-Coated Iceberg' further down this chart.
15.(13) Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart
16.(17) Whitney Houston - Step By Step
17.(NE) Gene - We Could Be Kings

As it turned out, they couldn't, but they should have. Even though I didn't like Blur any less, Gene emerged as strong competitors for my affection as I began to look a little further afield for my music. I bought this on on 7" too, although with hindsight this edit isn't as good as the album version. Still the sort of thing that makes me wonder whether we're peaking a bit too soon.
18.(11) Spice Girls - 2 Become 1
19. (8) Reef - Come Back Brighter
20.(16) Ginuwine - Pony
21.(NE) Bally Sagoo - Tum Bin Jiya

This was the era when British Asian music (the sort of thing that's called Desi Beats nowadays) seemed to be on the verge of a big mainstream breakthrough, and there's no logical reason it shouldn't have but in the end it seemed more to be a matter of sporadic individual hits. Sagoo had made headlines when his previous single 'Dil Cheez' cracked the Top 20 but this slightly smaller follow-up hit seems to have been and gone without attracting much notice beyond the people who bought it.
22.(10) Lisa Stansfield/Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - People Hold On (Bootleg Mixes)
23.(14) Byron Stingily - Get Up (Everybody)
24. (6) Suede - Saturday Night
25.(20) The Prodigy - Breathe
26.(12) Nas - Street Dreams
27.(NE) Cyndi Lauper - You Don't Know

And quite possibly you didn't know that she was still having hits as late as 1997, though this was her last and a fairly minor one at that. Even though she went on Noel's Houseparty and everything.
28.(15) East 17 - Hey Child
29.(24) Mark Morrison - Horny
30.(21) Robert Miles Featuring Maria Nayler - One And One
31.(NE) The Offspring - All I Want

OK, I don't remember this at all, I didn't even realise they'd had an actual hit between 'Self Esteem' and 'Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)' until much later. Not to be confused with a recent identically-titled hit by the aforementioned Skunk Anansie.
32.(NE) The Braxtons - So Many Ways

Toni's sisters carry on after she'd gone solo. Hope they had a better accountant.
33.(22) The Lightning Seeds - Sugar Coated Iceberg
34.(19) Kavana - I Can Make You Feel Good
35.(18) The Outhere Brothers - Let Me Hear You Say 'Ole 'Ole
36.(23) Orbital - Satan (Live)
37.(25) MC Lyte - Cold Rock A Party
38.(NE) The Boo Radleys - Ride The Tiger

Their seventh and last Top 40 hit, as the reflected glory of 'Wake Up Boo' finally expired. Oddly enough, the only single of theirs I actually bought, though I've acquired some of the albums since.
39.(31) The Beautiful South - Don't Marry Her
40.(NE) Shaquille O'Neal - You Can't Stop The Reign

You wouldn't have thought the UK would be a fertile market for rap records by basketball players, but here he is having his only UK hit with a single that was a bit of a flop in the US.

44.(NE) Jayn Hanna - Lost Without You
47.(NE) Paganini Traxx - Zoe/Make Me Come

60.(NE) Beth Orton - Touch Me With Your Love

Making a Top 75 debut with one of her dancier numbers. Sorry about the unflattering still on that embed.
61.(NE) Martine Girault - Revival {remix}
62.(NE) The Corrs - Love To Love You/Runaway
Already second time around for 'Runaway' - it'd take a remix two years later for it to break into the Top 40.
63.(NE) Redd Kross - Get Out Of Myself

Charting 1997: Album chart 1st February

2012-01-26T17:00:00.049Z

Things finally start moving on the album chart, with Top 10 action and our first new Number One album of the year. Sort of.

01 (2) Original Soundtrack - Evita Spotify Amazon
New in the sense that it hadn't been Number One before, at least, it wasn't actually a new release. Madonna is credited on 14 of the 19 tracks, which is presumably how it scraped into the artist albums chart rather than the compilation one; it's sometimes counted among her tally of chart-topping albums and sometimes omitted. Also Jimmy Nail's only Number One album.
02 (1) Spice Girls - Spice
03 (3) The Beautiful South - Blue is the colour
04 (NE) Bush - Razorblade Suitcase (Spotify) (Amazon)
The archetypal British-band-who-were-bigger-in-America held back the release of this album over here in the hope of making a splash. And to shake off those Nirvana comparisons, who better to call in as producer than, er, Steve Albini?
05 (4) Celine Dion - Falling into you
06 (5) Lighthouse Family - Ocean Drive
07 (6) Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving
08 (NE) Daft Punk - Homework (Spotify) (Amazon)
Back in the days when you could still release an album before a single and still sell it off the back of airplay, (you can also see some examples of this in the climbers this week) they joined the select group of acts who'd had Top 10 albums before ever appearing in the singles chart. It's hard to express now how incredibly fashionable they were back then, but I couldn't be bothered to listen to the whole thing very often.
09 (9) George Michael - Older
10 (8) Simply Red - Greatest Hits
11 (18) The Lightning Seeds - Dizzy Heights
12 (10) Toni Braxton - Secrets
13 (11) Kula Shaker - K
14 (7) Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go
15 (15) Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
16 (13) Fugees - The Score
17 (12) Sheryl Crow - Sheryl Crow
18 (21) Suede - Coming Up
19 (14) Robert Miles - Dreamland
20 (32) No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
21 (16) Crowded House - Recurring Dream - The Very Best of
22 (19) Slade - Greatest Hits Feel The Noize
23 (22) Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
24 (30) Skunk Anansie - Stoosh
25 (17) East 17 - Around The World The Journey So Far
26 (24) Ocean Colour Scene - Moseley shoals
27 (27) Space - Spiders
28 (23) Robson And Jerome - Take Two
29 (29) The Prodigy - Music For The Jilted Generation
30 (26) Faithless - Reverence
31 (25) Boyzone - A Different Beat
32 (28) Enigma - Le roi est mort vive le roi
33 (33) Gabrielle - Gabrielle
34 (49) Baby Bird - Ugly Beautiful
35 (40) Whitney Houston - The Preacher's Wife
36 (20) Robson And Jerome - Robson & Jerome
37 (34) Beck - Odelay
38 (41) Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack
39 (37) Garbage - Garbage
40 (60) Blur - Parklife

50 (RE) Mark Owen - Green man
The first ever solo album by a member of Take That.
53 (RE) The Corrs - Forgiven Not Forgotten
59 (RE) kd Lang - Ingenue
Already five years old by now...
61 (RE) Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
...But not as old as this. Must have been a special offer somewhere.
62 (RE) Simply Red - Stars
67 (RE) John Williams - Plays the Movies
74 (RE) Lionel Richie - Back To Front

Charting 1997: Chart Show Indie Chart 25th January

2012-01-25T11:17:00.005Z

The Chart Show indie chart from this date in 1997. Maybe a bit of a spoiler for tomorrow's chart post, but somebody went to the effort of uploading it so let's all make the most of it. It also has that half a Wedding Present video from last week without the weird visual effects from The Vault channel.

Charting 1997: 25th January

2012-01-19T19:00:00.053Z

It's still a little early in the year for the really big releases, but that at least leaves room for some new acts to be launched and a level of activity I can't help but envy by comparison with January 2012.

01.(NE) White Town - Your Woman

One of those slightly fairytale stories of an unsigned act being discovered by a big record company after one DJ took to it and scoring a big hit all over the world. It even has the predictable Hollywood ending of success being shortlived, but Jyoti Mishra seems happy enough nowadays.
02. (1) Tori Amos - Professional Widow (It's Got To Be Big)
03. (7) Texas - Say What You Want
Yes, a genuine climber of the sort that was getting pretty rare by now.
04. (2) Backstreet Boys - Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)
05.(10) No Mercy - Where Do You Go
06.(NE) Suede - Saturday Night

For all the recent nostalgia about the Butler-era albums, it's easy to forget that this was the most commercially successful part of their career. Their third straight Top 10 single from the Coming Up album, even as the lyrics drifted into self-parody.
Londoners might also recognise the disused part of Holborn tube station in the video.
07. (5) Madonna - Don't Cry For Me Argentina
08.(NE) Reef - Come Back Brighter

You see, they had another Top 10 hit. This is possibly the better of the two, and certainly the less overplayed.
09. (9) En Vogue - Don't Let Go (Love)
10. (4) Lisa Stansfield/Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - People Hold On (Bootleg Mixes)
11. (6) Spice Girls - 2 Become 1
12.(NE) Nas - Street Dreams

His second Number 12 hit in a row, and he's still never beaten that peak.
13. (8) Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart
14.(NE) Byron Stingily - Get Up (Everybody)

First in a batch of hit singles from the high-voiced disco man.
15. (3) East 17 - Hey Child
16.(NE) Ginuwine - Pony

Elgin Lumpkin's stage name of course inspired the short-lived Melody Maker feature "Gin Or Wine? With Ginuwine".
17.(18) Whitney Houston - Step By Step
18.(NE) The Outhere Brothers - Let Me Hear You Say 'Ole 'Ole

The sound of a welcome being outstayed.
19.(14) Kavana - I Can Make You Feel Good
20.(19) The Prodigy - Breathe
21.(16) Robert Miles - One And One ft Maria Nayler
22.(12) The Lightning Seeds - Sugar Coated Iceberg
23.(11) Orbital - Satan (Live)
24.(17) Mark Morrison - Horny
25.(15) MC Lyte - Cold Rock A Party
26.(NE) Enigma - Beyond The Invisible

Another act who don't quite seem to fit in with the times, and indeed this was his/their last Top 40 single.
27.(NE) Thunder - Don't Wait Up
Their 14th consecutive Top 40 hit, but only one of them made the Top 20 and few seem to have attracted much attention beyond the fanbase. This particular one seems to have dropped off the face of the internet.
28.(13) Erasure - In My Arms
29.(20) Puff Johnson - Over And Over
30.(21) QFX - Freedom 2
31.(25) The Beautiful South - Don't Marry Her
32.(NE) Mr Jack - Wiggly World

Not sure why I particularly remember this of all minor dance hits I heard once on the chart rundown, but maybe it was the silly voice.
33.(NE) Arkarna - House On Fire

The sort of techno-rock that was assumed to be the future in 1997. This is on one of the Batman movie soundtracks.
34.(29) Jamiroquai - Cosmic Girl
35.(31) Warren G - What's Love Got To Do With It ft Adina Howard
36.(NE) Virus - Moon

An unsurprisingly common act name, but this is one of the many Oakenfold/Osborne pseudonyms. A record that doesn't seem to make any sense out of context.
37.(32) Spacehog - In The Meantime
38.(23) Mary Kiani - 100%
39.(26) Damage - Forever
40.(NE) The Wedding Present - Montreal

There is an actual video for this, and you can see a snippet here before it hits the ITV Chart Show wall of death. I remember Mark Goodier announcing this as a product of their deal with "The UK's biggest indie label" Cooking Vinyl. I was no more than casually interested at the time but it's become rather a fave since, even though it must rank among the band's least remembered hits.

52.(NE) Cliff Richard - Be With Me Always
61.(RE) The Prodigy - Firestarter
62.(NE) Passion - Share Your Love
63.(NE) Da Techno Bohemian - Bangin' Bass

Charting 1997: Album chart 25th January

2012-01-19T17:00:00.001Z

Three weeks in and we actually have a couple of new entries!

01. (1) Spice Girls - Spice
02. (2) Original Soundtrack - Evita
03. (3) The Beautiful South - Blue is the colour
04. (4) Celine Dion - Falling into you
05. (6) Lighthouse Family - Ocean Drive
06. (5) Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving
07. (8) Manic Street Preachers - Everything must go
08. (9) Simply Red - Greatest Hits
09.(12) George Michael - Older
10.(11) Toni Braxton - Secrets
11.(10) Kula Shaker - K
12.(15) Sheryl Crow - Sheryl Crow
13. (7) Fugees - The Score
14.(13) Robert Miles - Dreamland
15.(14) Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
16.(16) Crowded House - Recurring Dream - The Very Best of
17.(17) East 17 - Around The World The Journey So Far
18.(23) The Lightning Seeds - Dizzy Heights
19.(NE) Slade - Greatest Hits Feel The Noize (Amazon)
Strange though it might seem to release a Slade hits compilation just after Christmas, we can probably thank Oasis for creating the market. Anyway, here's one of the slightly less obvious tracks:

20.(RE) Robson And Jerome - Robson & Jerome
21.(26) Suede - Coming Up
22.(18) Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
23.(19) Robson And Jerome - Take Two
24.(22) Ocean Colour Scene - Moseley shoals
25.(21) Boyzone - A Different Beat
26.(28) Faithless - Reverence
27.(24) Space - Spiders
28.(25) Enigma - Le roi est mort vive le roi
29.(32) The Prodigy - Music For The Jilted Generation
30.(44) Skunk Anansie - Stoosh
31.(20) Michael Jackson - History - Past, Present and Future - Book 1
32.(62) No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
33.(36) Gabrielle - Gabrielle
34.(31) Beck - Odelay
35.(29) Jimmy Nail - Crocodile Shoes II
36.(30) Fine Young Cannibals - The Finest
37.(34) Garbage - Garbage
38.(27) Rod Stewart - If We Fall In Love Tonight
39.(37) Oasis - Definitely Maybe
40.(54) Whitney Houston - The Preachers Wife

48.(NE) Orbital - Satan
The double 12" single which was too long to qualify for the singles chart.
59.(RE) Shirley Bassey - The Show must go on
60.(RE) Blur - Parklife
62.(RE) Seal - Seal
Probably the second album.
69.(RE) Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
72.(RE) Ronan Hardiman - Michael Flatleys Lord Of The Dance
73.(RE) Terrorvision - Regular Urban Survivors Regular Urban Survivors
(Spotify)
74.(RE) ABBA - Gold - Greatest Hits

Charting 1997: 18th January

2012-01-12T19:00:00.077Z

Week 2 then and a very tight battle at the top end, possibly the last one ever to be swung by a Top Of The Pops appearance. Not only does last week's Number One slip down to Six, but the track that topped the first set of midweeks ends up in fourth place.

01. (2) Tori Amos - Professional Widow (It's Got To Be Big)
As the only track in the Top 4 that wasn't a new entry this week, it had the advantage of a showing on TotP (presumably just the video) late in the week, which must have swung it on the Saturday.
02.(NE) Backstreet Boys - Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)

They'd had Top 75 hits as early as 1995, but success elsewhere in Europe let to a relaunch over here in the second half of 1996 and by now they were within a thousand copies of their first UK chart-topper. Still effectively unknown in the US at this point, though this would eventually peak at 2 there as well.
03.(NE) East 17 - Hey Child

Since Take That had split in 1996, they might have expected to take over as Britain's biggest boyband, but in truth they were nearing the end of their own journey too, and this second single from their greatest hits was the last release by the original line-up. It probably would have been, even were it not for the controversy about Brian Harvey's supposed endorsement of drugs shortly before it was released. Ironically enough, this is their one hit with Tony Mortimer singing lead.
04.(NE) Lisa Stansfield/Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - People Hold On (Bootleg Mixes)

Stansfield's vocal from Coldcut's 'People Hold On' played over the instrumental version of the Tori Amos remix. Would have been funny if these had ended up as the Top 2 I suppose; but now we end up with an odd parallel to the chart 15 years later with fundamentally identical tracks by Flo Rida and Avicii at 1 and 4 in the chart. I remember Mark Goodier playing an interview clip from one of Coldcut who wasn't best pleased about this release.
One of the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels did upload the official video to YouTube, but in unwatchable quality.
05.(10) Madonna - Don't Cry For Me Argentina
Boosted by the release of a remix, several weeks into the chart run. That's a practice that was falling somewhat into disuse by now, with the increased focus on first-week chart positions.
06. (1) Spice Girls - 2 Become 1
07.(NE) Texas - Say What You Want

One thing we're going to see a fair bit of in 1997 is big comebacks or breakthroughs by struggling acts. Here a new image and slick, more modern sound rescue the Scottish group from one-hit-wonderdom. And there's more to come.
08. (4) Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart
09. (5) En Vogue - Don't Let Go (Love)
10.(NE) No Mercy - Where Do You Go

One of Frank Farian's less fondly remembered projects.
11. (3) Orbital - Satan (Live)
12.(NE) The Lightning Seeds - Sugar Coated Iceberg

His/their highest-charting original song not to mention lions. Co-written by Babybird, but I still liked it.
13.(NE) Erasure - In My Arms

Their chart-dominating phase (and, to be honest, most of the songs people actually remember) were already past; but even ten years after 'Sometimes' they could still pull off a significant hit by selling to the fans.
14. (8) Kavana - I Can Make You Feel Good
15.(NE) MC Lyte - Cold Rock A Party

Apparently she'd been around for years, but it took the production of Sean "Puffy" Combs and his Diana Ross samples to get her a major UK hit.
16. (6) Robert Miles - One And One ft Maria Nayler
17. (9) Mark Morrison - Horny
18.(13) Whitney Houston - Step By Step
19. (7) The Prodigy - Breathe
20.(NE) Puff Johnson - Over And Over

Another key motif of this era would be the gradual arrival of urban RnB as a part of the British musical mainstream, rather than a cult interest.
21.(NE) QFX - Freedom 2

Reissue of a near-hit from 1995. According to Wikipedia "They were featured on over 20 compilation albums world wide.^{[citation needed]"}
22.(NE) 3 Colours Red - Nuclear Holiday

At the time, this was the most successful debut single in the history of Creation Records.
23.(NE) Mary Kiani - 100%

Very much in the category of people whom I remember being pop stars, but don't remember any songs by.
24.(NE) Chakra - I Am

One of the early big trance hits to cross over. I have to admit most of this stuff was in one ear and out the other for me at the time.
25.(19) The Beautiful South - Don't Marry Her
26.(14) Damage - Forever
27.(12) Terrorvision - Easy
28.(11) Boyzone - A Different Beat
29.(18) Jamiroquai - Cosmic Girl
30.(24) Kenickie - In Your Car
31.(21) Warren G - What's Love Got To Do With It ft Adina Howard
32.(32) Spacehog - In The Meantime
33.(16) Celine Dion - All By Myself
34.(25) Faithless - Salva Mea
35.(NE) The Kinks - The Days EP
[Days; You Really Got Me; Dead End Street; Lola]

Second version of this song to rechart within a couple of years, Kirsty MacColl having narrowly failed to return to the Top 40 a couple of years earlier. Both re-issues were for the same reason, the tracks having been featured in adverts.
36.(17) The Woolpackers - Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll
37.(29) Lighthouse Family - Loving Every Minute
38.(NE) The Absolute - I Believe ft Suzanne Palmer

39.(10) 3T - I Need You
40.(33) Chicane - Offshore

52.(NE) Geoffrey Williams - Drive
56.(NE) OMC - On The Run

See, he did have another hit. If you count 56 as a hit.
57.(NE) Serial Diva - Keep Hope Alive
71.(RE) Madonna - You Must Love Me
74.(RE) Garbage - Milk ft Tricky

Charting 1997: Album chart 18th January

2012-01-12T17:00:00.015Z

Nobody releases albums in the first week of January so still not a lot of excitement here. The biggest movement seems to be Michael Jackson's leap from outside the Top 50 to the Top 20, and I can't even remember why that happened.

01. (1) Spice Girls - Spice
02.(10) Original Soundtrack - Evita
03. (3) The Beautiful South - Blue is the colour
04. (2) Celine Dion - Falling into you
05. (4) Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving
06. (6) Lighthouse Family - Ocean Drive
07. (5) Fugees - The Score
08. (8) Manic Street Preachers - Everything must go
09. (9) Simply Red - Greatest Hits
10. (7) Kula Shaker - K
11.(16) Toni Braxton - Secrets
12.(12) George Michael - Older
13.(17) Robert Miles - Dreamland
14.(11) Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
15.(14) Sheryl Crow - Sheryl Crow
16.(18) Crowded House - Recurring Dream - The Very Best of
17.(19) East 17 - Around The World The Journey So Far
18.(20) Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
19.(15) Robson And Jerome - Take Two
20.(58) Michael Jackson - History - Past, Present and Future - Book 1
21.(13) Boyzone - A Different Beat
22.(21) Ocean Colour Scene - Moseley shoals
23.(31) The Lightning Seeds - Dizzy Heights
24.(22) Space - Spiders
25.(30) Enigma - Le roi est mort vive le roi
26.(32) Suede - Coming Up
27.(28) Rod Stewart - If We Fall In Love Tonight
28.(42) Faithless - Reverence
29.(26) Jimmy Nail - Crocodile Shoes II
30.(25) Fine Young Cannibals - The Finest
31.(45) Beck - Odelay
32.(37) The Prodigy - Music For The Jilted Generation
33.(27) Dodgy - Free Peace Sweet
34.(34) Garbage - Garbage
35.(33) The Woolpackers - Emmerdance
36.(36) Gabrielle - Gabrielle
37.(35) Oasis - Definitely Maybe
38.(29) Louise - Naked
39.(23) The Smurfs - The Smurfs Go Pop
40.(39) Alisha's Attic - Alisha Rules The World

54.(RE) Whitney Houston - The Preacher's Wife
As Houston-fronted soundtracks go, it was less of a blockbuster than The Bodyguard but hardly a flop.
62.(NE) No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
Bolstered by airplay for their next single.
64.(RE) Orbital - In Sides
I downloaded a version of this album that includes the hit version of 'Satan' but I don't think that was ever released phsycially in the UK. Presumably it raised their profile enough anyway.
72.(RE) Elvis Presley - Presley the all time greatest hits
Somebody must have mentioned that the anniversary of his death was coming up.
74.(RE) Celine Dion - The Colour of my love

Charting 1997: Album Chart, 11th January

2012-01-06T17:00:00.013Z

From next week onward, my plan is actually to post the album charts first, but frankly there isn't much going on in this one, and most of the albums we'll be seeing again later this year, so it didn't quite seem dramatic enough a place to start. So just a quick post today.

01. (1) Spice Girls - Spice
Starting the year as they meant to go on, topping both charts. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say we'll be seeing a lot of this.
02. (2) Celine Dion - Falling into you
03. (3) The Beautiful South - Blue is the colour
04. (7) Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving
05. (6) Fugees - The Score
06.(10) Lighthouse Family - Ocean Drive
07.(12) Kula Shaker - K
08.(19) Manic Street Preachers - Everything must go
09. (5) Simply Red - Greatest Hits
10.(11) Original Soundtrack - Evita
11.(18) Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
12. (8) George Michael - Older
13. (9) Boyzone - A Different Beat
14.(16) Sheryl Crow - Sheryl Crow
15. (4) Robson And Jerome - Take Two
16.(14) Toni Braxton - Secrets
17.(21) Robert Miles - Dreamland
18.(13) Crowded House - Recurring Dream - The Very Best of
19.(15) East 17 - Around The World The Journey So Far
20.(23) Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
21.(24) Ocean Colour Scene - Moseley shoals
22.(26) Space - Spiders
23.(28) The Smurfs - The Smurfs Go Pop
24.(27) Peter Andre - Natural
25.(25) Fine Young Cannibals - The Finest
26.(17) Jimmy Nail - Crocodile Shoes II
27.(41) Dodgy - Free Peace Sweet
28.(20) Rod Stewart - If We Fall In Love Tonight
29.(37) Louise - Naked
30.(29) Enigma - Le roi est mort vive le roi
31.(38) The Lightning Seeds - Dizzy Heights
32.(47) Suede - Coming Up
33.(32) The Woolpackers - Emmerdance
34.(48) Garbage - Garbage
35.(45) Oasis - Definitely Maybe
36.(33) Gabrielle - Gabrielle
37.(56) The Prodigy - Music For The Jilted Generation
38.(40) REM - New Adventures In Hi-Fi
39.(46) Alisha's Attic - Alisha Rules The World
40.(35) Stevie Wonder - Song Review - A Greatest Hits Collection
41.(34) Bryan Adams - 18 til I Die
42.(58) Faithless - Reverence
43.(31) Buddy Holly - The Very best of
44.(30) Phil Collins - Dance into the light
45.(RE) Beck - Odelay
46.(39) Tina Turner - Wildest dreams
47.(59) Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack
48.(62) Snoop Doggy Dogg - Tha Doggfather
49.(63) Cast - All Change
50.(42) Daniel O'Donnell - Songs of inspiration
51.(RE) Fun Lovin' Criminals - Come Find Yourself
52.(60) The Beatles - Anthology 3

Wonder how long that'll stay up?
53.(71) Backstreet Boys - Backstreet Boys
54.(52) Mark Owen - Green man
55.(RE) Massive Attack - Blue Lines
56.(36) Roy Orbison - The Very Best Of
57.(43) Michael Ball - The Musicals
58.(61) Michael Jackson - History - Past, Present and Future - Book 1
59.(51) Dina Carroll - Only Human
60.(68) Skunk Anansie - Stoosh
61.(RE) Radiohead - The Bends
62.(RE) Sleeper - The It Girl
63.(RE) 3T - Brotherhood
64.(RE) Pulp - Different Class
65.(75) The Beautiful South - Carry On Up The Charts The Best of
66.(22) The Smurfs - Christmas Party
67.(RE) The Prodigy - Experience
68.(RE) Shed Seven - A Maximum High
69.(44) Art Garfunkel - The Very Best Of: Across America
70.(57) The Moody Blues - The Very Best Of
71.(RE) Baby Bird - Ugly Beautiful
72.(RE) Blackstreet - Another Level
73.(RE) Paul Weller - Stanley Road
74.(67) M People - Bizarre Fruit/Bizarre Fruit II
75.(74) Runrig - Long Distance The Best Of

Charting 1997: 11th January

2012-01-05T19:05:00.052Z

A quick word on dates first: by tradition the official date attached to any chart in reference works is the Saturday after it was announced, so as far as 1997 is concerned that's six days difference. This is why I don't count the chart dated 4th Jan as a 1997 chart, because it belongs to 1996 really. It's not much of a loss, hardly anything happened.

Anyway, as it's the start of the year I'm giving you the full Top 75, you lucky lucky people. And right at the start of the year, you can see one of the biggest differences between 1997 and 2012: there are a whole batch of singles released on the 30th of December 1996 to capitalise on what was then reliably the lowest-selling week of the year.

01. (1) Spice Girls - 2 Become 1

Incumbent Christmas chart-topper, of course.
02.(NE) Tori Amos - Professional Widow (It's Got To Be Big)

I'm pretty sure this remix had been a B-side when the song was a minor hit the previous year, but soon picked up enough of a following to get a release in its own right and become her biggest hit, albeit an unrepresentative one.
03.(NE) Orbital - Satan (Live)

As the NME advised at the time, if you bought all three CD formats you'd effectively get a live album for six quid. And the remixed studio version that got played on the chart rundown.
04. (2) Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart
05.(NE) En Vogue - Don't Let Go (Love)

You'll know this one, it was in the Top 30 a couple of weeks ago.
06. (4) Robert Miles - One And One ft Maria Nayler
07. (6) The Prodigy - Breathe
08.(NE) Kavana - I Can Make You Feel Good

Apparently song titles aren't covered by the Trades Descriptions Act.
09. (8) Mark Morrison - Horny
10. (5) Madonna - Don't Cry For Me Argentina
11. (7) Boyzone - A Different Beat
12.(NE) Terrorvision - Easy

Released as a double-grooved clear-vinyl 10" single. I can't believe I didn't buy it.
13.(15) Whitney Houston - Step By Step

Peaking (in chart position if not sales) this week. The song was originally the B-side of an Annie Lennox single I don't even remember the A-side of.
14.(11) Damage - Forever
15. (3) Dunblane - Knockin' On Heaven's Door/Throw These Guns Away
16. (9) Celine Dion - All By Myself
17.(10) The Woolpackers - Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll
18.(17) Jamiroquai - Cosmic Girl
19.(12) The Beautiful South - Don't Marry Her
20.(16) 3T - I Need You
21.(18) Warren G - What's Love Got To Do With It ft Adina Howard
22.(13) East 17 - If You Ever ft Gabrielle
23.(14) Spice Girls - Say You'll Be There
24.(NE) Kenickie - In Your Car

Sounds even better when they get the words right, doesn't it?
25.(20) Faithless - Salva Mea
26.(22) Fugees - No Woman No Cry
27.(21) Peter Andre - I Feel You
28.(NE) Tricky - Tricky Kid

As he was credited on some early Massive Attack tracks before he fell out with them.
29.(24) Lighthouse Family - Loving Every Minute
30.(NE) Runrig - The Greatest Flame {1997 re-issue}

Or is it a 1996 re-issue?
31.(NE) The One - One More Chance
Again, song titles aren't always accurate since this was obviously their only single. Apparently they were some sort of boyband from GMTV.
32.(29) Spacehog - In The Meantime
33.(27) Chicane - Offshore
34.(26) Snoop Doggy Dogg - Snoop's Upside Ya Head ft Charlie Wilson
35.(23) Robson And Jerome - What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted
36.(NE) Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy {1997 remix}

I can't really remember which mix it was. But have this one anyway as it's the last we heard of them.
37.(30) 2Pac - I Ain't Mad At Cha
38.(33) Salt-N-Pepa - Champagne
39.(25) Babybird - You're Gorgeous
40.(19) The Smurfs - Your Christmas Wish
41.(34) Boyzone - Words
42.(39) Louise - One Kiss From Heaven
43.(NE) Nut - Scream
44.(42) Gina G - I Belong To You
45.(37) The Mike Flowers Pops - Don't Cry For Me Argentina
46.(NE) S-J - Fever
47.(28) Faithless - Insomnia {1996 mix}
48.(31) Mark Owen - Child
49.(40) Eternal - Secrets
50.(36) Manic Street Preachers - Australia
51.(NE) Global Communication - The Way/The Deep
52.(32) Prince And The New Power Generation - Betcha By Golly Wow!
53.(45) Oasis - Whatever
54.(35) No Way Sis - I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing
Yes, this happened.
55.(46) Simply Red - Angel
56.(28) Elton John And Luciano Pavarotti - Live Like Horses
57.(41) Heller And Farley Project - Ultra Flava {1996 Re-release}
58.(64) Underworld - Born Slippy (NUXX)
59.(48) Michael Jackson - Stranger In Moscow
60.(47) SWV - It's All About U
61.(43) Ant And Dec - When I Fall In Love
62.(50) Oasis - Wonderwall
63.(73) 911 - Don't Make Me Wait
64.(RE) The Lightning Seeds - What If...
65.(53) Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger
66.(49) Kula Shaker - Govinda
67.(56) Oasis - Cigarettes And Alcohol
68.(58) Oasis - Some Might Say
69.(RE) PJ Proby And Marc Almond - Yesterday Has Gone
70.(57) Spice Girls - Wannabe
71.(RE) Dina Carroll - Only Human/Run To You
72.(59) Oasis - Live Forever
73.(62) Oasis - Roll With It
74.(61) Oasis - Shakermaker
75.(51) Diana Ross - In The Ones You Love

Charting 1997: Chart Show Rock Chart 4th January 1997

2012-01-04T11:17:00.000Z

Before we start with the Sunday chart tomorrow, I had a quick look on the old YouTube for remnants of the old ITV Chart Show. All I could find of the first episode from what proved to be its last full year was the Rock Chart, but that might not be a bad thing since it cuts down on spoilers a bit.

Charting 1997: the soft launch

2012-01-01T15:04:00.000Z

After the "massive" "success" of the 1996 chart I posted a few weeks ago, I somehow convinced myself it'd be a good idea to extend the #chart15yearsago hashtag for a full year; after all, 1997 is one of my favourite chart years that I can actually remember and even though it's not that long ago mathematically, it has that ring of a vanished world now, back in the days of multiple CD single formats, first-week discounting, fourth singles from albums going Top 10 and a very high turnover - unprecedentedly at the time in fact. Also unprecedented was the sheer volume of singles sold that year; as far as I know this year remains the high-water mark of physical single sales, though total sales are now higher in the download era.

So my plan is to start posting every weekly chart from the year 1997 in real time, for as long as I can stay motivated and assuming nobody tries to stop me - plus I'll be embedding as many of the new entries as I can (with apologies to people on slow connections or browsers). And I might drop in one or two of my own reminiscences if I can find anything worth saying. I contemplated setting up a new blog for this but I decided to leave it in the Hitparade blog because that's already linked from Popular and I thought I might get some interest from there. I have however set up a new Twitter account @Charting1997 where I'll be tweeting a lot of the same music, but with slightly shorter commentary. Feel free to interact through either channel.

The first chart(s) will be published on the fifth, so let's start the musical year with the three tracks I managed to find from Jool's Holland's 1997 Hootennany. All three from acts we'll be seeing more of in future.

Kenickie - In Your Car

Paul Weller - Will It Go Round In Circles?

Simply Red - Everything Must Change

And if anyone wants a massive spoiler, here's a Spotify playlist of every charting single I could find from the entire year. That's 931 tracks even with a several omissions. What have I taken on?

Another unpopular old chart post: 1996

2011-11-16T23:54:00.001Z

This chart is officially dated the 16th of November 1996, so by the time any reads this it'll really be the chart of 15 years ago last week. Anyway, I've embedded all the new entries within the Top 40, and a couple of my favourites below that level.

Spotify list here for those who partake.

from ChartStats

01. (1) Robson And Jerome - What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted

02. (2) Spice Girls - Say You'll Be There
03. (3) East 17 Featuring Gabrielle - If You Ever
04.(NE) Michael Jackson - Stranger In Moscow

05. (5) Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart
06.(NE) Robert Miles Featuring Maria Nayler - One And One

7.(NE) The Woolpackers - Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll

08.(NE) Backstreet Boys - I'll Never Break Your Heart {1996 re-issue}

09. (7) Babybird - You're Gorgeous
10. (6) Gina G - I Belong To You
11.(NE) Dodgy - If You're Thinking Of Me

12. (8) Faithless - Insomnia {1996 re-issue}
13. (4) Simply Red - Angel
14. (9) Boyzone - Words
15.(NE) The Divine Comedy - The Frog Princess

16.(11) Celine Dion - It's All Coming Back To Me Now
17.(NE) Fine Young Cannibals - The Flame

18.(14) Reef - Place Your Hands
19.(10) 911 - Don't Make Me Wait
20.(NE) Fluke - Atom Bomb

21.(12) Babyface - This Is For The Lover In You
22.(NE) Beck! - Devil's Haircut

23.(19) Space - Neighbourhood {1996 Re-Release}
24.(16) Alisha's Attic - Alisha Rules The World
25.(17) Livin' Joy - Follow The Rules
26.(NE) Fun Lovin' Criminals - The Fun Lovin' Criminal

27.(18) Deep Blue Something - Breakfast At Tiffany's
28.(15) Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - 1st Of Tha Month {1996 re-issue}
29.(23) Blackstreet Featuring Dr Dre - No Diggity
30.(NE) Jimmy Nail - Country Boy

31.(21) The Beautiful South - Rotterdam
32.(20) Donna Lewis - I Love You Always Forever
33.(13) Bjork - Possibly Maybe
34.(RE) Oasis - Whatever

35.(NE) Strike - My Love Is For Real

36.(RE) Oasis - Wonderwall
37.(30) Spice Girls - Wannabe
38.(RE) Oasis - Cigarettes And Alcohol
39.(24) Madonna - You Must Love Me
40.(RE) Oasis - Some Might Say
41.(NE) Chris Rea And Shirley Bassey - 'Disco' La Passione
42.(RE) Oasis - Live Forever
43.(32) LL Cool J - Loungin
44.(25) Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over {1996 re-issue}
45.(22) Underworld - Pearl's Girl {1996 Re-release}
46.(27) Suede - Beautiful Ones
47.(RE) Oasis - Supersonic
48.(RE) Oasis - Shakermaker
49.(31) Mark Morrison - Trippin'
50.(35) Damage - Love II Love
51.(37) BBE - Seven Days And One Week
52.(29) Cast - Flying
53.(RE) Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger
54.(39) The Chemical Brothers - Setting Sun
55.(RE) Oasis - Roll With It
56.(26) BT Featuring Tori Amos - Blue Skies
57.(40) Fugees - Ready Or Not
58.(28) The Lightning Seeds - What If...
59.(NE) Code Red - This Is Our Song
60.(NE) Kenickie - Millionaire Sweeper

61.(33) Braids - Bohemian Rhapsody
62.(NE) Tiger - My Puppet Pal

63.(38) El Mariachi - Cuba
64.(NE) Alex Reece - Acid Lab
65.(NE) Let Loose - Darling, Be Home Soon
66.(36) Tricky - Christiansands
67.(NE) Honeycrack - Anyway
68.(NE) The Rutles - Shangri-La

69.(34) My Life Story - Sparkle
70.(59) Robbie Williams - Freedom
71.(48) Dina Carroll - Escaping
72.(NE) Angel Moraes - Heaven Knows - Deep Deep Down
73.(42) Duke - So In Love With You (1996 Re-Release}
74.(NE) Mankey - Believe In Me
75.(62) George Michael - Spinning The Wheel

Another experimental old chart post: 1967

2011-07-09T13:32:00.000+01:00

So, I've been posting these in one or two places every week, but once in a while I like to try them out on here, as it's easier to link to on a blog. And it also gives me the opportunity to embed some videos - there are more of them than you might think considering how long ago this is.

In addition, anyone who uses We7 or Spotify can hear as much of the chart as I could find, though that doesn't include either of the Top 2.

Thanks to Chartstats for chart data. Note that this is the Record Retailer chart which is now used for "official" reference works, not necessarily the most familiar to people at the time.

01. (1) Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade Of Pale

02.(NE) The Beatles - All You Need Is Love

03. (3) The Monkees - Alternate Title

04. (2) Engelbert Humperdinck - There Goes My Everything
05. (4) The Turtles - She'd Rather Be With Me
06. (6) Vikki Carr - It Must Be Him (Seul Sur Son Etoile)
07. (5) The Hollies - Carrie-Anne
08.(17) Pink Floyd - See Emily Play

09.(10) Topol - If I Were A Rich Man
10.(11) Aretha Franklin - Respect
11. (9) The Young Rascals - Groovin'
12.(13) Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music
13.(NE) Scott Mckenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)
14.(12) The Small Faces - Here Come The Nice
15. (8) Traffic - Paper Sun
16.(14) The Supremes - The Happening
17.(18) Cream - Strange Brew
18.(15) The Four Tops - Seven Rooms Of Gloom
19. (7) Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich - Okay!
20.(16) Petula Clark - Don't Sleep In The Subway
21.(28) Marvelettes - When You're Young And In Love
22.(21) Gladys Knight And The Pips - Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me
23.(20) The Tremeloes - Silence Is Golden
24.(22) Vince Hill - Roses Of Picardy
25.(36) Nancy Sinatra/Nancy Sinatra And Lee Hazlewood - You Only Live Twice/Jackson

26.(27) Cliff Richard - I'll Come Running
27.(25) The Mamas And The Papas - Dedicated To The One I Love
28.(29) Otis Redding - Shake
29.(39) Young Idea - With A Little Help From My Friends
30.(37) The Dubliners - Seven Drunken Nights
31.(RE) Mike Sammes Singers - Somewhere My Love
32.(30) Lulu - Let's Pretend
33.(32) Anita Harris - Just Loving You
34.(24) The Beach Boys - Then I Kissed Her
35.(40) The Bachelors - Marta
36.(45) Tom Jones - Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings
37.(23) The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset
38.(NE) Sandie Shaw - Tonight In Tokyo
39.(50) Jimi Hendrix Experience - The Wind Cries Mary
40.(31) Cilla Black - What Good Am I
41.(26) Engelbert Humperdinck - Release Me
42.(41) Nancy Sinatra And Frank Sinatra - Somethin' Stupid
43.(42) Herb Alpert - Casino Royale
44.(49) Happenings - I Got Rhythm
45.(43) Sandie Shaw - Puppet On A String
46.(35) Joe Brown - With A Little Help From My Friends
47.(NE) Johnny Mann Singers - Up, Up And Away
48.(33) Judith Durham - Olive Tree
49.(NE) Desmond Dekker And The Aces - 007
50.(NE) The Bee Gees - To Love Somebody

And as a little bonus, a few new entries from the following week's chart:

23.(NE) Dave Davies - Death Of A Clown

48.(RE) John Walker - Annabella
50.(NE) Otis Redding And Carla Thomas - Tramp

Experimental old chart post (1997)

2010-05-11T00:09:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone.

It's creepingly come to my attention that I haven't posted anything on here for a long time, having sidetracked myself so conclusively with my other blog. One of these months I will get round to writing up a Number 16, but in the meantime I thought it might be interesting, or at least easy, to reawaken things with an old chart. I've been posting these on Usenet for over a year now but Sweeping The Nation tells us that many of his most popular posts are chart-related and it reminded me of an idea I had some years ago when Tony Blair left office: to look up the chart for the week he entered it. What with one thing and another I never got round to it, but it just so happens that the chart I've treated uk.music.charts to this week is the one after that, and since somebody in it actually got a few thousand votes, I thought it might be worth giving it a fresh audience. Sadly, my other great idea, to dab in a few YouTube links, was scotched by record companies hiding some of the ones I most wanted to include, but as a partial substitute I've set up a playlist with as much of the Top 75 as I could find (may not work outside the UK).

And I couldn't do this without the help of ChartStats

01.(NE) Gary Barlow - Love Won't Wait
The only Number One single written, but not performed, by Madonna.
02.(NE) George Michael - Star People '97
So called because it was the 97th single from the album, or at least felt like it.
03.(NE) The Seahorses - Love Is The Law
04. (4) The Cardigans - Lovefool {re-issue}
05. (2) R Kelly - I Believe I Can Fly
Two songs from the movies there.
06.(NE) Jamiroquai - Alright
07. (6) Shola Ama - You Might Need Somebody
08. (1) Michael Jackson - Blood On The Dancefloor
His last Number One, dropping an unusual-even-then seven places in its second week.
09. (5) DJ Quicksilver - Bellissima
10. (3) 911 - Bodyshakin'
Best thing they ever did, if you ask me. But then that's probably why you didn't.
11.(NE) Red 5 - I Love You... Stop!
12.(NE) Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench
Didn't like this at the time. I've reconsidered since.
13. (9) Blackstreet - Don't Leave Me
14.(NE) Ant And Dec - Falling
Their last single, until the football song. Which was probably just as well, as this wasn't exactly a career high.
15.(NE) Mansun - Six (EP) - Taxloss
It's not really an EP if there's only one song common to all formats, you fools.
16.(NE) Dru Hill - In My Bed
17. (8) Robbie Williams - Old Before I Die
He covered 'Making Plans For Nigel' on the B-side. See what he did there?
18. (7) Republica - Drop Dead Gorgeous
19.(NE) Paul McCartney - Young Boy
People say Jeff Lynne started out trying to sound like the Beatles and ended up making the Beatles sound like him.
20.(15) The Course - Ready Or Not
21.(13) The Lightning Seeds - You Showed Me
Their biggest hit that doesn't have the word "Lions" in the title.
22.(NE) Gene - Where Are They Now?
I always thought this was a weird choice of single, but of course I bought it anyway, with 'Cast Out In The Seventies on the flipside.
23.(16) No Doubt - Don't Speak
24.(11) Brainbug - Nightmare
25.(NE) Goodfellaz - Sugar Honey Ice Tea
Many a true word spoken in acronym
26.(NE) Nuyorican Soul Featuring Jocelyn Brown - It's Alright, I Feel It!
27.(14) Daft Punk - Around The World
It's just as well this came out as a single, it makes no sense as anything other than the soundtrack to that video
28.(NE) 3 Colours Red - Pure
29.(NE) Hurricane #1 - Step Into My World
Their first hit...
30.(NE) Prefab Sprout - A Prisoner Of The Past
...and their last
31.(NE) Jay-Z Featuring Foxy Brown - Ain't No Playa
32.(10) The Notorious BIG - Hypnotize
33.(20) Sash! - Encore Une Fois
34.(17) U2 - Staring At The Sun
Nobody ever mentions this one now
35.(NE) Tin Tin Out Featuring Tony Hadley - Dance With Me
36.(21) Texas - Halo
37.(19) D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better {second re-issue}
The song they couldn't play on the radio due to the duty of impartiality. We should have enjoyed it while it lasted.
38.(25) Spice Girls - Mama/Who Do You Think You Are?
39.(12) James - Tomorrow
40.(28) Michelle Gayle - Sensational
41.(28) Snoop Doggy Dogg - Vapors
42.(NE) Fountains Of Wayne - Sink To The Bottom
Speaking of odd choices of single
43.(22) Orbital - The Saint
44.(NE) Human Nature - Wishes
45.(23) Blur - Song 2
46.(34) The Brand New Heavies - Sometimes
47.(26) Faithless - Reverence
48.(24) DJ Supreme - Tha Wild Style {remix}
49.(31) Smoke City - Underwater Love
50.(NE) Katrina And The Waves - Love Shine A Light
They'd just won Eurovision, of course.
51.(NE) Dreadzone - Earth Angel
52.(36) Kavana - MFEO
53.(NE) Feeder - Cement
54.(37) Bruce Springsteen - Secret Garden {re-issue}
55.(35) 2Pac And Snoop Doggy Dogg - Wanted Dead or Alive
56.(33) Tony Toni Tone Featuring DJ Quik - Let's Get Down
57.(32) Silver Sun - Golden Skin
Their first hit, such as it was. The record company blocked the YouTube upload but it's still on Muzuat time of writing.
58.(RE) Peter Andre - Natural
59.(30) Keith Sweat Featuring Athena Cage - Nobody
60.(41) Supergrass - Richard III
61.(NE) Tilt - My Spirit
62.(43) N-Trance - DISCO
Not the worst version of this song ever recorded.
63.(NE) LSG - Netherworld
64.(NE) Bis - Everybody Thinks That They're Going To Get Theirs
Not as bad as some Bis records.
65.(NE) Various Artists - Feverpitch EP
[The Pretenders 'Goin' Back'; The Las's 'There She Goes'; Orlando 'How Can We Hang On To A Dream?'; Nick Hornby 'Football']
66.(NE) Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Wail
67.(53) The Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin' Beats
68.(27) Kenickie - Nightlife
Removed from YouTube thanks to Warner Music, who don't even own the UK rights.
69.(45) Erykah Badu - On And On
70.(58) Wet Wet Wet - If I Never See You Again
71.(42) Zhane - Request Line
72.(52) B Real/Busta Rhymes - Hit 'Em High (The Monstars' Anthem)
73.(48) Depeche Mode - It's No Good
Asking for trouble with that title.
74.(51) Cast - Free Me
75.(29) Tricky - Makes Me Wanna Die

Number 17: Electronic

2009-07-05T21:27:00.000+01:00

Vivid (Parlophone CDR6514)

Chart Debut: 24th April 1999

Writers: Electronic

Electronic are an odd little chapter in rock history, a sort of part-time supergroup formed by two people who never really seemed to want to be famous and never really seemed to have an identifiable image of their own. Even the name is odd - slightly bland and forgettable, but also misleading as a description of their sound. Amid all this confusion though, they managed to release a small but solid catalogue of recordings, and I don't think they ever released a bad single which isn't something I could comfortably say of either the Smiths or New Order.

Some of the singles were really very good indeed, and I realised gradually that their first one, 'Getting Away With It' was one of the best of recent(ish) years, but it's also a bit too obvious for these purposes. So instead we turn to what proved to be their last single: a follow-up ('Late At Night') was planned but ditched at the last minute. 'Vivid' is exactly the sort of hit that I wanted to write about here; at the time it can't only have been me buying it, but nobody ever seems to mention it now and it's certainly not the song that they're associated with now. Maybe it's not the sort of thing that people expected from the duo (as they definitely were by now - no big-name guests at this point in their career) but it's one that instantly appealed to me, thanks to Johnny Marr's insistent harmonica riff. Indeed, the song was apparently written mostly by Marr, who even fronted a demo version of the track before Bernard Sumner supplied the final lyrics and the lead vocal. In truth, those lyrics sound like a typical set of Sumnerisms, most notable for the fact that the words in each chorus are different, possibly not the most obvious commercial move to make. You could certainly make a case for them, but they do seem like the sort of thing he can write by the yard, and this is a record that grabs me more at a musical and performance level than a lyrical one, and I'd like to think he wouldn't mind me saying that.

Official website: Archived version. Try the unofficial Feel Every Beat instead.
YouTube if you want to: Actually, whether you want to or not the record company don't seem to want you to, but it is audible on Last.FM Or you can watch 'The Sweetness Lies Within' by Hefner, which has some of the same actors in it.
Where to get it: I listened back to the album Twisted Tenderness in preparation for writing this, and I must admit I still struggled to get into it, although it certainly has its moments; the version of 'Vivid' on there is a slightly longer and less tight edit. An expanded digital-only version includes several B-sides and remixes. The single cut is available as a download or on the Best-of Get The Message, with or without a DVD for those who really want to see the video.

Number 18: Bill Withers

2009-05-24T23:11:00.001+01:00

Lean On Me(A&M AMS 7004)

Chart Debut: 12th August 1972

Writer: Bill Withers

I resisted this choice for a long time, not because there was anything wrong with the record but because I doubted my own ability to write about it. 'Lean On Me' feels like a song that lends itself brilliantly to trite observations.

So, what changed my mind? Well, I was quite encouraged by the realisation that it's one of the few tracks on here that were made by people older than me. But the most important influence wasn't to do with this song at all, but with his first US hit 'Ain't No Sunshine'. When I had to search YouTube for the Lighthouse Family for the purposes of my other blog I was slightly concerned to notice that some of the people who'd done cover versions of 'Ain't No Sunshine' attributed it to them. A couple of weeks later, somebody sang the song on the telly, pushing the Withers original into the UK Top 40 for the first time: but some people seem to have gone for a Lighthouse Family version. Clearly, there are people who don't know enough about Bill Withers!

Perhaps that's always been the fate of this song, though: despite topping the US chart it was a bigger hit here for Mud and then Club Nouveau. The many other cover versions by everyone (even Bon Jovi) seem to suggest that it's become the sort of standard that's no longer really associated with the originator, although perhaps that suits the modest but presumably comfortably-off Withers rather well. With this in mind, I'm going to skip all the obvious observations about the song itself and emphasise how good this version is. Withers is perhaps the least showy of the great soul singers, as you can tell from the title and cover of the Still Bill album where this first appeared, and he judiciously avoids overcooking this, evading the tendency of some singers to turn this into sentimentality. After all, this may be a tribute to the community spirit of his childhood in smalltown West Virginia, but he had chosen to move away from there and perhaps this song is about the hardships that meant people had to work together as well. His touring band back him here as well as co-producing, and they help to create the open, warm-hearted spirit that the song seeks to evoke, as well as supplying an effective contrast between the the more upbeat sections ("Call on me brother if you need a hand") and the the slower verses and chorus. By the time we get to the sung outro it's almost gospel, and indeed the song does seem to have acquired that connotation in some places, although it's not really there in the lyric.

Perhaps I've made this description sound a bit like he did a cover version of his own song, but in a way it almost doesn't matter that he wrote this song, so much as that he lived it.

Official website: Billwithersmusic.com
YouTube if you want to: WMG have silenced all copies of the studio recording, even though they don't seem to own the rights. There remain plenty of TV performances, including one introduced by Kenny Rogers.
Where to get it: There are too many compilation albums to count, but a quick scan suggests that Very Best Of is supposed to be the current one, whilst Ain't No Sunshine is a lot for a budget price and Greatest Hits is the one we used to listen to in the car.
I have the entire Still Bill album on a two-on-one CD with Just As I Am
but it is also available alone with two bonus tracks from Live At Carnegie Hall: you'd be better off with the whole of that though.

Number 19: Pulp

2009-03-01T17:31:00.000Z

The Sisters EP (Island CID 595)

Chart Debut: 4 Jun 1994

Writers: Pulp (lyrics by Jarvis Cocker)

"Your Sister's Clothes" features the sisters from "Babies" four years on. Now the younger sibling finally gets her revenge for earlier years. "Seconds" explores the idea that perfect people are... well, perfectly boring to be honest whilst "His 'n' Hers" is one man's fear of domestic interiors set to music. What are you frightened of? (And remember - shove it in sideways).

With sleevenotes like that, it's hard to add much with my own scribblings. And yet Pulp are an act I was determined to sneak in here - not only a very good band, but one who were a major pop success for a while and seem almost tailormade for this feature. They're also the band I keep coming back to, never the first name I'd think of but every now and again I go through a phase of listening to them fairly intensely and wondering whether they're the best pop group ever. Of course the downside of this is that several of their hits fail the Hit Parade test because they're still too familiar to be worth writing about, so I've chosen a four-song EP.

Babies is of course by far the most familiar of the songs here, already enjoying a second lease of life by the time it made the chart: it was originally released as a single in 1992, on an indie label but with the cover backing of Island. Once Island had officially signed the band, they unsurprisingly wished to make the most of it, squeezing a remixed version onto the His N Hers album; the EP features an edit of the original mix, reportedly at the band's insistence. It's musically somewhat atypical, being more than averagely guitar-based, but at the same time unmistakeably Pulp: there are few acts who'd have written a song about spying on teenage girls from a wardrobe, and fewer still who'd do it well. Apparently the young Jarvis Cocker really did fall asleep in a wardrobe once, during a family holiday.
Whatever misgivings Pulp might have had about returning to the song, it certainly made a major chart breakthrough for them after the fondly-remembered-but-it-only-peaked-at-33 'Do You Remember The First Time?', and led to their debut Top Of The Pops appearance, something Cocker must surely have been looking forward to for a very long time. Although it's not really visible in the clip, he celebrated by revealing a sign inside his jacket that reads "I HATE WET WET WET", a reference to that act's weedy version of 'Love Is All Around' having just climbed to Number One. Little can he have known that it would stay there for another 14 weeks...

The real value for money comes with the three previously unreleased tracks. Well, those and the print that came with the 12" single, anyway. Your Sister's Clothes is the one with the closest connection to the lead track, and between the two of them they presumably account for the EP title. Given the sleeve note, it seems that the younger sister is taking her revenge by sleeping with the older sister's boyfriend, who might logically be the character singing the song - though if so he seems to be using both of them. Musically, it's notable as one of the last Pulp tracks to feature Russell Senior's, er, unique, violin style so prominently. It's laid over a minimal synth line (so minimal, indeed, that the working title was 'Glass', after Phillip Glass) which leaves plenty of room for Jarvis to be Jarvis. Mind you, I don't remember Phillip Glass ever writing as catchy a chorus as this.

Seconds is more of an exercise in song-writing, perhaps, revelling in the many possible meanings of the title word: "second rate", "seconds turn to hours", "slides into second place", "he said he'd last all night then gave you seconds"... But the key concept is about second best - is it something to fear or something to look forward to? Cocker himself described the fear of refusing so long to settle for second best that you end up with fifth best. Funnily enough, when I was a kid I used to think Curtis Mayfield was singing "take nothing less than the second best" on 'Move On Up', which I found quite an interesting idea in retrospect. Also apparently referred to is the notion of second-hand people who've been around the track a few times, which of course is most of them. It's no surprise that in terms of the band's worldview, that's not treated as a bad thing. After all, they were famous for their second-hand clothes, and enjoying their first Top 20 success over a decade after their first recordings (albeit not with the same lineup) they must have felt like a second-hand band themselves sometimes.

Whilst His 'N' Hers failed to make the cut for the album of the same name, it embodies the main lyrical theme of the album, and indeed of much of Pulp's material at this time - a fear of domesticity. This is tricky territory for rock music, because most songs that try to do this end up sounding merely smug - and the standard ideas of "rebellious" "not like everybody else" lifestyles embraced by most rockers are every bit as conventional and unimaginative as that which they affect to disdain. What marks out much of Cocker's lyric writing in this period is partly the eye he had for detail and the sense of humour with which he describes this world, but mainly the sense of vulnerability he shows. He's not walking around boasting about how he's so much cleverer than people who work for a living: he's fearing the idea that his life might go nowhere. Indeed, this song seems distantly derived from a demo called 'Frightened', unreleased at the time but recalled here in the section where the protagonist is asked post-coitus what scares him: "Belgian chocolates... James Dean posters... endowment plans..." and so forth. He does admit in a 2006 sleevenote that this may have played on his mind all the more because their rehearsal room at the time was a warehouse of pottery figurines. It also prefigures later songs like 'I Spy', where sexuality is used as an escape from everyday life. It's not necessarily a convincing point of view, and its somewhat tawdry nature makes it a difficult place to spend a lot of time, but it's certainly a compelling one.

Even allowing for the fact that they'd gone four years between (recording) albums, it says quite a lot for the amount of music Pulp were writing at this stage that they were able to leave such high-quality material for what were, effectively, B-sides - for that matter, even 'Babies' wasn't on the original LP version of His 'N' Hers. In fact, I'm hardly the first to say this but the B-sides of this time are rather more impressive than those from the bigger and better Different Class.

Official website: Pulp People (not very up to date). www.doyourememberthefirsttime.co.uk.
YouTube if you want to: The original 'Babies' video features more of Cocker's chest hair than was strictly necessary, but look out for a cameo role by Fred Pride. This release occasioned a more glamorous remake and for some reason a spoken-word version. This latter-day performance by a bearded Jarvis makes it easier to understand why Mrs Brown is so keen for me to shave. Somebody's also uploaded the audio of 'Seconds', and a live version of 'His 'N' Hers', complete with audience participation.
Where to get it: Your first port of call should surely be the 2006 deluxe version of His 'N' Hers, which includes all four of the songs discussed here (and 'Frightened') although the version of 'Babies' is the 1994 mix, as is that on Hits. The original single version shows up only on Pulpintro .
Also recommended are the DVD edition of Hits, rather more carefully put together than its compact disc equivalent, which includes both promo videos and the spoken-word edit. And Mark Sturdy's biography Truth & Beauty was very helpful and a genuinely entertaining read.

Number 20: 808 State

2009-01-15T21:39:00.000Z

Lopez (ZTT ZANG87CD)

Chart Debut: 2nd Feb 1997

Writers: Bradfield/Wire/808 State

If the writing credit doesn't give it away, this is the second song out of three to feature the lead vocals of James Dean Bradfield; but as I'm writing this in a week when Beyonce has two singles in the Top 10 and eight other acts are in the Top 40 twice, I have no qualms. In fact the one thing that did put me off writing about this one was that I don't think I really know what it's about. The lyrics (by his bandmate Nicky Wire) are full of fascinating imagery: "Ultramarine, everything vanishes," "Joy gives me my last regret," and the one that makes it to the single cover "Every sun feels like the last"; but I certainly couldn't paraphrase them. Inevitably, it crosses my mind that the lyrics might be about Richey, and the armchair psychologist in me can imagine that he might have been more comfortable discussing the subject in a side-project than in the full glare of a Manics record that he knew would be examined in great detail. But I have no evidence at all of that.
Whether or not the lyrics are literally elegiac though, the music seems to have some of that quality about it, prefiguring the sound that the Manics would attempt (with varying degrees of success) on such albums as This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours and Lifeblood. It's very swoopy, with judicious use of beats to create a somewhat cavernous atmosphere, that suits the despondency of the song. You can find the instrumental version at the bands's website if you so wish.It's different from most of the other 808 State material I'm familiar with ('Pacific State', 'In Yer Face', 'The Only Rhyme That Bites'). However, it did become their first Top 20 hit in a long time (helped no doubt by the newly-acquired starpower of the Manics, who'd had four Top 10 singles in 1996), even if it now seems almost entirely forgotten.
I have to admit, though, that none of this really meant much to me at the time. I have a vague idea that I heard the song on the chart rundown and failed to appreciate any of it. Only about four years later did I happen upon a copy of the CD single for £1 in one of those random cheap shops you see in towns - and I still might not have bought it had there not been a Propellerheads mix on the disc. With hindsight, one of the better pounds I've spent.

Official website: www.808state.com
YouTube if you want to: promo video.
Where to get it: As above, I bought this on single, but the Don Solaris album where the track first appeared has now been re-released in an expanded form. Alternatively, you can find it on the cumbersomely-titled retrospective 808:88:98

Metapost: half-way there. Sort of

2008-12-14T14:36:00.003Z

Well, we stand here on the brink of the Top 20. That makes this the half-way mark in terms of the total number of records in the countdown, although pedants will spot that I've only written 19 proper articles. In tribute to the days when Mark Goodier used to break the chart rundown at this point to announce the album chart, I've taken this opportunity to launch a new concept on the sibling blog Now That's What I Call A Challenge, where I'm working my way through the entire content of the first ever Now album just in time for the 25th anniversary.

The Hit Parade will return when I've decided what Number 20 is going to be.

Number 21: Delays

2008-12-06T21:31:00.000Z

Nearer Than Heaven (Rough Trade RTRADS175)

Chart Debut: 3rd April 2004

Writer: Greg Gilbert

There's almost a story behind this one. At any rate, the original release of this single in April 2003 is one of the last times I heard a record on the radio by somebody I'd never heard of, loved it and was determined to get hold of it. And that was back in the days when I was on a dial-up internet connection so it really meant going out and getting the CD single. Except that neither of the shops in Harrow had it - hard as it is to believe, there was a time when there were three record shops in town, although only two bothered with singles at the time. I finally managed to track the disc (bottom right in the photo) down in Sister Ray in Berwick Street one day when I had to go into London for an exam. I have a particular memory of sitting in the cafe in the Bloomsbury branch of Waterstones drinking coffee con panna and feeling inexplicably pleased with myself.

When it comes to writing, one regular challenge is to avoid the temptation to concentrate exclusively on the lyric, which is always easier for a non-specialist to write about. In this case, however, the lyrics aren't really something I noticed much when I originally heard it: I don't think I ever knew what they were until I saw them written down somewhere or ever, and even now I'd struggle to recall them all out of context, still less to paraphrase them. With all due respect to whatever Greg Gilbert was trying to say here, it's obvious that the words aren't a focal point, except perhaps sonically, which presumably accounts for those Cocteau Twins comparisons. Co-producer Graham Sutton (of Bark Psychosis) lends some sumptuous soundscaping here, but one reason this really stands out is that it's counterbalanced by other parts of the track, especially the muscular drumming (by the enigmatically-named Rowly) and the shards of twelve-string guitars - it was claimed at the time that Geoff Travis had signed them to Rough Trade because they reminded him of The Hollies. You don't hear backing vocals like that every day either. The combined effect of these elements is to keep the song from being so wispy as to blow away in the wind, but without seeming to bludgeon you with its self-importance.

Needless to say, I was hooked. I like to think that I can claim a tiny bit of credit for their next single 'Hey Girl' breaking them into the Top 40 (at the very bottom rung). I even bought the limited-edition 7" single of their version of Mazzy Star's 'Ride It On'; when I later got them to sign this at an instore event they denied having seen one before. I was even happy for them when this turned up on the soundtrack of the blatantly awful movie Blackball. After the big hit 'Long Time Coming' at the start of 2004, a re-release of this was inevitable, and so I bought the 7" and the new CD (with different B-sides) illustrated here. I'd still have liked it to be a bigger hit, but it was a pleasure to see this land one place ahead of the latest overcooked, overhyped Missy Elliot single. I don't think I even thought twice about paying the extra to get the album with bonus DVD, despite not having anything to play it on.

I've kept on buying the albums and most of the singles since. I can't honestly claim that I've been as enamoured of the more electronic style they've moved towards on later releases, but it still feels like a shame they've never been able to match this level of commercial success, not even now they're on a major label. This early material will always be special to me though.

Official website: www.thedelays.co.uk
YouTube if you want to: official video. And the band themselves have also posted the original demo. Also see a surprisingly amateurishly shot performance for some magazine in a pub in Camden - this audience all seem to know the words.
Where to find it: Even though this blog is meant to be about singles, I reserve the right to gush over albums. And Faded Seaside Glamour is certainly one to gush about.

Number 22: Manic Street Preachers

2008-12-04T00:17:00.000Z

Revol (Epic 6606862)

Chart debut: 13th August 1994

Writers:Richey James, Nicky Wire, James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore

Even though I chose this one (and most of the rest of this chart too) a couple of years ago, now that the time comes to write this entry it's lent a certain unfortunate topicality by the recent news that Richard Edwards (Richey James) has now been officially declared dead, almost fourteen years after his disappearance, and thus at least twelve years after people started trying to read the runes of this album The Holy Bible as if it were a last will and testament.

Even without considering that element, it was always a difficult listen and remains so now. Indeed, it tells you something about the record as a whole that 'Revol' is almost light relief in the middle of it. There aren't a lot of laughs here (unless you join in the fan's favourite pastime of misconstruing James Dean Bradfield's unconventional diction) but on an album that also includes 'The Intense Humming Of Evil' and 'Archives Of Pain', a three-minute song with an identifiable riff and a chorus is quite an uplift.

Deciphering the lyrical content is a challenge, one that seems to have defeated even ostensible co-writer Nicky Wire. It's commonly understood as an analogy comparing romantic relationships and political revolution and finding them both doomed: the title is of course both the start of the words "revolution" and "revolt", and "lover" spelt backwards. The verses are short sharp shocks combining the names of political figures with peculiar sexual imagery ("Brezhnev - married into group sex/Gorbachev - celibate self-importance"). The chorus, meanwhile, is four repeats of the title followed by Bradfield barking (and, perhaps, slightly mispronouncing) "Lebensraum! [Living Space - a Nazi slogan] Kulturkampf! [Culture War - Bismarck] Raus Raus [get out!] Fila fila [get in line]". No English words there, of course, which was possibly not the easy route to radio play, but notice how this contrasts fascist-sounding slogans with the mostly Soviet figures in the first verse. Evidently, this isn't a partisan point being made.

None of the lyrical mystery I'm describing here conveys the sheer musical weirdness of this. Particularly to people who only became familiar with the band's work after their 1996 breakthrough, the notion that something like this could be considered a potential hit single is almost baffling. Even the band seem to have felt that way, virtually disowning the song soon after release, rarely performing it live and excluding it from their singles compilation. But the atypical structure is something I always find compelling, and despite (or even because of) the low-budget production it's one of the band's tightest recorded performances. As if to underline this, there's a remixed version intended for an abortive US release of the album. It's tougher and beefier in many ways, but somehow doesn't entirely capture the excitement of the original.

YouTube if you want to: Video.
Official website: www.manics.co.uk
Where to find it: It's not the sort of record to play every day, but THB is something of a must-have if only to savour the fact that somebody dared to make it. For a little bit extra there's an expanded anniversary edition featuring the complete US mix of the album, selected live versions and an 80-minute DVD. Speaking of DVDs, the promo also appears on the compilation Forever Delayed, although not on its CD equivalent.

Number 23: Otis Redding

2008-11-23T10:29:00.000Z

Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)(Atlantic 584 049)

Chart debut: 24 November 1966

Writers: Otis Redding, Steve Cropper

I tend to have mixed feelings about very dramatic introductions in pop - the kind that don't just kick into the song but have a life of their own. Sometimes they seem like a showy trick on the part of the writers or producers boasting about their melodic and arrangement abilities. Sometimes they sound a little bit like one of those exercises from school where they'd show you how the same notes sound so different in different keys. And sometimes I just want them to get on with it.
The start of 'Sad Song' is a bit different, though - it opens with a literal fanfare, as if to poke a bit of fun at itself. Self-mockery isn't something many of us instantly associate with soul music, but Otis always seemed to have enough awareness of himself to get away with it - even the title of this cut combines Steve Cropper's pastiche of Otis's attempts to communicate arrangement ideas with a slight dig at his gloomy image. It's natural to bracket him with other "tragic rock stars" but he's not like the ones who died because they were drinking to get over the pain.
The joy of the song is the way he turns it into a communal experience. Perhaps that makes it the ultimate sad song. Incidentally, there is also a 'Happy Song', released only posthumously. It doesn't work as well as this one.

YouTube if you want to: It's part of a live medley from Norway where he's certainly enjoying himself. There's a homebrew video to the studio track too.

Metapost: 1969 Muxtape

2008-05-11T12:09:00.000+01:00

UPDATE TO THE UPDATED UPDATE UPDATE: Muxtape is of course no more. Darn.
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE UPDATE: Everything now restored. Let me know if anything isn't working.

Picking up the gauntlet thrown down by Sweeping The Nation, I've compiled a 12-track Muxtape of tracks from the year 1969, which I chose because I thought it might be more of a challenge than the other years I'd considered. As Muxtape doesn't really offer a lot of room for explanatory text, and the Amazon downloads they link to aren't available here in Europe, I've used this space to give a bit of background, and to show where the tracks are available digitally to Brits without the aid of proprietory software.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to boast about the fact that I didn't attempt any rude puns here. I even left Serge Gainsbourg off, in case he led me astray.

UPDATE (Again!): Due to some sort of backup problem, it's all gone offline. Sorry about that.

1. Bobby Womack 'California Dreaming' (from The Last Great Soul Man [copy protected])
Actually a minor US hit in 1968, but scraping in here as it was unsuccessfully issued in Britain the following year; it was revived after appearing in a TV commercial a couple of years ago. Bob Dylan played it on his radio show a couple of weeks ago and reminded me how good this track was just as I was looking for tracks to put onto my new MP3 player. In some ways I like this more than the original.
2. The Beatles With Billy Preston 'Don't Let Me Down' (not legitimately available as a download - I have it on Past Masters Volume 2)
Because I couldn't not have The Beatles, and this one was already on the computer. Originally the flipside of 'Get Back' of course, and one of their more underappreciated tracks of this era.
3. The Bonzo Dog Band 'Mr. Apollo' (from Tadpoles)
The follow-up single to 'I'm The Urban Spaceman', though obviously not another hit for them. Although not everything they did has aged well, there are plenty of other Bonzos tracks this year I could have gone for - but this one wins out thanks to Viv Stanshall's monologue at the end; I'm resisting the temptation to quote as that would only spoil it. There's another version where he does it in German.
4. Marvin Gaye 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' (from The Complete Collection)
I hesitated to make such an obvious choice, but ultimately decided it was so superlative I couldn't avoid it.
5. Johnny Cash 'Wanted Man' (from The Man In Black )
The best-of collection gives this a 1969 copyright date. Anyway, it's a Dylan song not recorded by the man himself (his most prominent 1969 release was 'Lay Lady Lay', and that was never going to make the cut) very much betraying the influence of Hank Williams.
6. The Isley Brothers 'Behind A Painted Smile' (from Universal Masters Collection)
Another personal favourite, which is why I couldn't leave it out even though it was already a couple of years old by the time it charted. The Motown years may not have been the most enjoyable experience of their career but it had its moments. I even love the ending.
7. Horace Andy 'Skylarking' (from Skylarking)
Reggae isn't a part of the music world where I feel very much at home, but I know a good voice when I hear one. 'Wonderful World, Beautiful People' and 'The Israelites' were both hits in 1969 too, but I didn't have those to hand.
8. The Kinks 'Victoria' (from The Singles Collection)
I remember hearing The Fall's version a few times and thinking how remarkably they'd managed to remake the song in their own image. Then I heard the Kinks version and realised it sounded like The Fall already. Dave Davies claims that they once sang the entire song backwards on stage; "People thought we were mad. In fact, we probably were."
9. Cream 'Badge' (from I Feel Free)
According to George Harrison's I Me Mine, Ringo turned up at his house while he and Eric Clapton were struggling to think of a rhyme for "I told to you not to wander round in the dark". And the one he came up with is the one they used.
10. Fairport Convention 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes' (from Unhalfbricking)
If I'd realised this was on the computer when I put the original set together, I probably would have included it over a couple of the ones I have used. But the blessing in disguise of my Rolling Stones track not working was an ideal opportunity to sneak it in. Sandy Denny had brought this song with her when she joined Fairport, so this is arguably not the original version but it seems safe to call it the definitive one.
11. The Beach Boys 'Break Away' (from The Warmth Of The Sun)
A contractually-obliged final single for Capitol, which proved to be a bit of a last hurrah for Brian Wilson (at least for a while) and a UK Top 10 hit to boot, although it flopped in America. Although it's not their most-lauded 45 even in Britain, and is often ignored entirely in the US, it's always been a bit of a favourite of mine, even if the lyrics can make for uncomfortable listening now we know what we do about his mental state at the time. Oddly, he split the publishing rights with his father.
12. Louis Armstrong 'We Have All The Time In The World' (bizarrely hard to find as a download, although it's easy to obtain on CD)
Like my first selection, a rather late developer here, finally charting in 1994 off the back of another advert.

The one that got away - The Rolling Stones 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' [B-side version] (from Rolled Gold Plus [album version,])The version I uploaded was the edited mono version from the B-side of 'Honky Tonk Women', but for some reason I haven't found that on download, so I've linked to the longer album cut. Between you and me, though, I've never been too keen on those choirboys at the start.

Number 24: The Verve

2008-02-01T12:53:00.000Z

History (Hut HUTDX59)
Chart debut: 30 Sept 1995
Writers: The Verve

If there's a reason why I haven't posted a lot on here, it's been a spate of writer's block about this song: it's an obvious disadvantage of this particular blog setup that I have to post in order.
Even the band reuniting hasn't done the trick, inspiration-wise. So - to get it out of the way I'm going to embed the video. Make up your own minds.

See you at Number 23!

Official website: www.theverve.co.uk, not that there's a lot to it now.
YouTube if you want to: Extra! Live in 1998.
Where to get it: A Northern Soul remains my favourite Verve album; the track appears in remastered form on the singles compilation This Is Music, now available with or without a DVD of videos.

Let hands be shook, champagne poured...

2007-02-13T20:10:00.000Z

It seems to be awards season again, and that sounds like a flimsy excuse for me to fling in a self-indulgent look at 2006 In Music, while I'm trying to work out what to say about Number 24. Of course, I could try to falsify a proper Top 20 singles and albums in order, but all the proper music bloggers did that two months ago, so I'm going to award the Golden Pottos 2007 in the following categories:

Best Breakthrough Single By A Band Who Turned Out To Be Rubbish:
The Feeling 'Sewn' (from Twelve Stops And Home)

Worst Single From A Band Who Are Usually Really Good:
The Charlatans 'NYC (There's No Need To Stop)' (from the otherwise not at all bad Simpatico)

Most Underrated Hit Single:
Snow Patrol & Martha Wainwright 'Set The Fire To The Third Bar' (from Eyes Open)

Best Single That Probably Shouldn't Have Been Released Because There Had Already Been So Many From The Album:
Maximo Park 'I Want You To Stay' (from A Certain Trigger)

Most Pointless Bonus DVD:
Snow Patrol Eyes Open

Most Idiosyncratic Pronunciation Of The Word "Obviously":
Paolo Nutini 'Jenny Don't Be Hasty' (from These Streets)

Best Single That Mentions A Monkey:
Hot Chip 'Over & Over' (from The Warning)

Band I Most Wanted To Like But Haven't Quite Convinced Myself About Yet:
Guillemots (album: Through The Windowpane)

Worst Editing:
Gene John Peel Sessions

Most Interesting Juvenilia:
Pulp's 1981 John Peel Session (released on The Peel Sessions

Best Compilation That I Couldn't Justify Buying Because I Already Had Most Of It:
The Wedding Present Search For Paradise: Singles 2004-2005

Best Compilation I Was Glad I Didn't Already Have All Of:
Andy Partrige Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Box

Best Compilation That Features A Member Of My Family:
Various Artists Cd86

Best 7" package:
Graham Coxon 'I Can't Look At Your Skin'/'What's He Got?' (double single)

Best B-side:
Graham Coxon 'Livin'' (from 'Standing On My Own Again')

Overall Achievement Graham Coxon

Sadly Missed:
Grant McLennan (The Go-Betweens)

And slightly more seriously, here are ten of my actual favourite singles, but in alphabetical order:

Arctic Monkeys 'When The Sun Goes Down' (from Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Belle And Sebastian ''Funny Little Frog' (from The Life Pursuit)

Franz Ferdinand 'The Fallen' (reworked from You Could Have It So Much Better)

Gnarls Barkley 'Crazy' (from St. Elsewhere)

Richard Hawley 'Just Like The Rain' (reworked from Coles Corner)

McAlmont & Butler 'Speed' (digital and 7" only).

Massive Attack 'Live With Me' (from Collected)

Peter, Bjorn and John 'Young Folks' (from Writer's Block)

The Raconteurs 'Steady, As She Goes' (from <Broken Boy Soldiers)

Thom Yorke 'Harrowdown Hill' (from The Eraser)

The Hit Parade reserves the right to change any or all of the above. We're like that sometimes.

Number 25: The Wedding Present

2006-12-03T18:21:00.000Z

3 Songs EP [Corduroy/Crawl/Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)] (RCA PB44029)

Chart debut: 29 Sep 1990

Writers: David Gedge; David Gedge; Steve Harley

Anyone who knows how I chose the title for this blog might not be surprised to see this band crop up. In fact, they seem almost tailor-made for this blog: plenty of Top 40 entries to choose from (19 to date) and yet few if any that are familiar to the casual listener, with the possible exception of 'Kennedy'. More people, it's fair to say, have heard of David Gedge and his ever-changing band of indie romantics than actually heard them.

This also has the honour of being our first EP entry, and as the title implies it contains the three songs listed above (a limited-edition 10" version added a live version of 'Take Me'). It was their second collaboration with Steve Albini, after the re-recorded single of Brassneck issued at the start of the same year - the union was ultimately consummated when Albini recorded the band's most acclaimed album, Seamonsters.

Corduroy was the nominal lead track, and the only song to be used on an album: it was re-recorded for Seamonsters. It finds Gedge in fairly typical lyrical territory, addressing a lover who has spurned him and returned - he coincidentally takes the part of the other man in this situation on their next single 'Dalliance'. The strength here is in the contained anger, noisy but taut guitars and Gedge's deadpan vocal; the effect is as though he's taken a deep breath and decided to say what he has to say to her, rather than just exploding in anger. The chorus contains some intriguing imagery - he wants to show her a photo, but "It's not from that day - I threw all those away." We can probably surmise as much as we need to from that line about what that day was. Like many of the best lyrics, what he doesn't say says as much as what he does.
The original EP recording is for my money the definitive reading of the song - as those familiar with Albini's work will expect, it's a very minimalist arrangement, but the band themselves play their hearts out - in particular, Simon Smith's drums really hit home. He's presumably also responsible for the very loud "CRACK!" sound at 2:43 that I almost regret mentioning here because it won't surprise anyone who reads this. Mind you, if you've got the song on vinyl, you can see it in the groove anyway.
By comparison, the album track (same line-up, same engineer, same studio) seems to lose something, although perhaps it fits the sound of the rest of the LP a little better.

Crawl is for me the real joy of the package, not only because it's the least familiar of the three songs here - although ironically enough it was the track that got the video made for it, issued on the old VHS tape *Punk and usually available at this helpful fansite. It makes something of a break from their other music of this era, opening with a deftly-strummed acoustic guitar, though the tension is soon racked up by the entry of the rhythm section. Gedge's lyrics are still more impressionistic here, to the extent that it's hard to paraphrase at all. I don't know where he is, but I'm glad I'm not there with him - even if "everyone here could be a millionaire" they don't sound like the sort you'd want to be around. It's not at all clear what the vantage point is, or even whether all the lines are coming from the same person but somehow the mystery helps draw the listener in. The last words before the instrumental outro are "'There were some things I had to do'/Say that again and I'll kill you." [my punctuation].

Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) is possibly the most familiar track here; it is of course a cover of Cockney Rebel's 1975 Number One, and perhaps at the record company's insistence it was the track chosen for their second Top Of The Pops performance. This might explain why this was one of the few Wedding Present single releases to peak in its second chart week (with thanks to Polyhex). The band thrash their way through the song effectively, and the electrified recasting of Jim Creegan's Spanish guitar solo is entertaining enough, but this isn't the best of their many cover versions. And does it really make sense for Gedge to complain that somebody's "Brought the Rebel to the floor"?

Seamonsters appeared in 1991 to critical acclaim and became the band's only Top 20 studio album. Founding guitarist Pete Solowka left soon afterwards, and 1992 saw the band make history with their twelve consecutive hit singles in as many months. After that, however, the band seemed to slip off the radar, with two and a half further albums selling mostly to fans before a temporary split in January 1997. Gedge revived the name in 2004, in time for one last Peel session, and released the excellent but largely overlooked Take Fountain album in 2005.

Official website: www.scopitones.co.uk
YouTube if you want to: Crawl video.
Where to get it: The digitially remastered version of Seamonsters includes all the studio tracks from the EP, so you can decide for yourself which 'Corduroy' is better. The new Ye Ye: Best Of The RCA Years collection has 'Make Me Smile'. Sadly the live 'Take Me' appears only on the deleted US compilation Singles 1989-1991, available only from Scopitones at time of writing.

Metapost: Moving pictures

2006-11-05T12:10:00.000Z

A new post in imminent but in the meantime I've added a few YouTube links to the existing entries. Ironically enough, I've had some difficulties with Blogger's editing software while trying to do this - hey Google, it's your product I'm plugging - and I have to extend my apologies to the Undertones, who I don't think ever made a video for the song I chose, McAlmont, who seems too obscure and Squeeze and the Supernaturals whose names produce too many false positives.

Number 26: Crowded House

2006-09-17T13:39:00.000+01:00

Four Seasons In One Day (Capitol CL 655)

Chart debut: 20 Jun 1992

Writers: Neil Finn, Tim Finn.

I never said I was trying to be cool, did I? I make no apologies at all for liking this track, although it's one that might not qualify entirely under my self-imposed rule of picking relatively little-known tracks, since it appears on two big-selling albums (details below, as ever). But it was a relatively low-selling single and it's the sort of thing that I imagine some people might not think to listen to.
So, we know the basics. Neil Finn, ex-Split-Enz, formed Crowded House with Nick Seymour and Paul Hester (the latter also a member of the final Enz line-up) and enjoyed a massive international hit with 'Don't Dream It's Over'. After the slightly less impressive performance of the second Crowded House album, the songs written for a third were considered insufficient by their record company; enter the elder Finn brother, Tim (who had of course founded Split Enz) and a batch of songs the pair had written for an album they were working on with former Beach Boy/Rutle Ricky Fataar. After a slow start (thanks to the ill-advised choice of 'Chocolate Cake' as lead single) the resultant Woodface album proved to be a major breakthrough for the band in the UK, spawning their first Top 20 success with Neil Finn's 'Fall At Your Feet' and their only Top 10 hit 'Weather With You' - the latter coming from the Finn Brothers project though, ironically, by the time the 45 appeared Tim Finn had already left.

This then became the fourth single from an album that had been available for some time, possibly accounting for is less than stellar chart performance. Like its predecessor, it's a song about depression; and with hidsight it's impossible not to associate that with drummer Hester, whose own problems sadly led him to take his own life in 2005. The obvious difference is in the mood - whereas 'Weather With You' belies its dark subject matter with a big singalong, this burrows into it; I suppose you could argue that whilst this song describes the wide arcs of different emotions for the sufferer (ie, the four seasons), the depiction of them depends on the other song. What we hear is very much the ghostly side of Crowded House, with Neil Finn's lead vocal sounding curiously isolated at the top of an arrangement that's actually quite complex but uses dynamics cleverly to sound sparse. Peter Paphides' sleeve notes to the Recurring Dream compilation compare the high backing vocals to vultures surrounding a corpse, but perhaps they're also one of the first audible nods to the band's Antipodean origins (though this track was apparently recorded in Los Angeles). More conventional harmony appears only on the chorus (at least, the nearest equivalent this song has to one) bolstering the mysterious but haunting image "blood dries up...like rain". Perhaps the most dramatic moment of all is the pause in the middle of the line "I will risk my neck... again".

It's instructive to compare the finished article with the Finn Brothers' 1989 demo, issued as a B-side in 1995 and later included on an obscure Centenary Edition of the album (it was EMI's centenary, of course, not theirs). The structure is already in place but this being a mere sketch it's played only on acoustic guitar and electric piano; it consequently loses some of its impact. Indeed, it sheds light on just how much went into the album version, and how carefully measured it all is. There's only a tentative version of the keyboard solo as well. The ending is as dramatic in either version, after less than three minutes. One other small point - both versions also include what I believe to be the only swear word in a Crowded House record, "Smiling as the shit comes down." A radio edit substitutes "...as the ship goes down" and is also used in some versions of the rather overdone video.

After this, the album was milked for a fifth single, 'It's Only Natural'. Only one further studio album was completed, Together Alone, arguably continuing in the same vein as this song.

Websites: No sign of an official site as such, hardly surprising for a band who split up in 1996. However, you'll find some info from their fanclub site at www.frenz.com and www.somethingsofinn.com seems the most up to date unofficial site.
YouTube if you want to: That video, uncensored.
Where to find it: If nothing else, the Recurring Dream collection is a must for anyone not interested in the full catalogue, especially since some of the new material thereon is actually quite decent. The original Woodface is slightly flawed, but still worth owning for its highlights. It's appeared in various forms, including a heavyweight vinyl LP, and a double-pack with Together Alone. The video is also available on a DVD compilation.

Number 27: The Beach Boys

2006-08-13T15:19:00.000+01:00

When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) (Capitol CL 15361)

Chart debut: 29th Oct 1964

Writers: Brian Wilson/Mike Love

Yeah, I know. Only 27 - what were they thinking? In context, though, this was only the third Top 40 hit for the Beach Boys in the UK, although it followed the Top 10 hit 'I Get Around'. It was to be almost a year before they reached the album chart - real stardom didn't happen for them on these shores until 1966, ironically just before the point when their star began to wane in their homeland. But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet.
As it happens, 'When I Grow Up' comes from a pretty pivotal juncture in their history. It got its US release in August 1964, already their third single of the year (there were two more 45s and an EP by December, not to mention two studio LPs, a live album and a Christmas one) but didn't make it onto an album until March 1965. By then, Brian Wilson had retired from the stage and begun working more-or-less full time on recordings while the band were away on tour (with Glen Campbell standing in). The UK single release was postponed until the eve of their first visit to these shores.

It's inevitably the lyrics that catch the attention first on here, all the more so in the knowledge that Brian Wilson was only 22 at the time. He also had yet to marry and had no children, so it's quite likely that he is really asking himself some of those questions: "Will I look back and say that I wish I hadn't done what I did?", and all. It's also very tempting to load in all kinds of retrospective significance to the lines about "Will my kids be proud or think their old man's really a square?" in the light of what we now know about the relationship between the Wilsons and their father, or to relate that cry of "Won't last forever!" in the fade to the fact that Dennis Wilson died before he was forty.
Nonetheless, these lyrics are (as a result of a 1995 court judgement) credited to Mike Love, who sings the first half of each verse. Love doesn't normally seem as introspective a character, and it may well be that he's writing simply in order to appeal to the concerns of a teen audience - you can compare this to the dozens of surf songs on their first three albums, written despite the fact that most of the band weren't really interested in the sport. And no bad thing, that. What really makes this song matter is the arrangement. Brian Wilson, not uniquely in that era, was constantly looking for new sounds to take advantage of the possibilities of the studio. This time around he settled on, of all things, the harpsichord, not a typical part of the rock sound at that time (and not something a rock band could play on stage) but it's the most striking instrumental part here, playing a distinctive melody and lending the song an atmosphere of classicism. Thr rhythm beneath it is complex enough that it took the band (who seem to have played the instruments themselves this time) 37 attempts to get a good enough backing track to dub the harpsichord onto. Well worth the effort, though, and this sort of combination of looking forward and back seems to me very much the essence of what the Beach Boys were about at this stage. Atop that is a very intricate vocal arrangement, most notable for the contrast between Mike Love's low voice and Brian Wilson's falsetto, but also full of clever little details like the group humming "Maa-aan" through the middle section. Indeed, if this record has a flaw it's that there's so much packed into two minutes that it can sound a little crowded in the mono mix. The 1993 box-set includes a remix with vocals and instruments pushed into opposite sides of the stereo spectrum, which wouldn't have been viable for mainstream release but is revelatory (and helpful for researching things like this).

Flipsides are usually outside the remit of the Hit Parade, but I think it's worth putting in a word for 'She Knows Me Too Well', one of my favourite non-single tracks by the band and another example of their growing sophistication.

Official website: Coming soon at www.beachboyscentral.com apparently. In the meantime, there's www.brianwilson.com and, let's be generous, www.mikelovefanclub.com
YouTube if you want to: Of course we're in the pre-video age here, but their UK television debut on Ready Steady Go includes live performances of this song and 'I Get Around', bisected by a classic slice of Sixties British interview technique. Also, look out for Mike Love emphasising the word "square".
Where To Get It: Both sides of the single ended up on the 1965 Beach Boys Today! album, which is one of the very best they ever put out; some have suggested that in hindsight, the sequence of five slow songs on Side Two resemble a dry run for Pet Sounds. It's currently coupled on CD with the follow-up Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) which is exceedingly patchy but does contain some classics. Has there ever been a really good album with two exclamation marks in the title?
If you prefer the compilation route, the latest to arrive on these shores is Sounds Of Summer, which was unfortunately based around their US chart hits and is consequently full of rubbish tracks from the Eighties, although you do get a bonus DVD. The 2001 Very Best Of offers a more UK-friendly selection of tracks, although the packaging is unimpressive. On the opposie side of the coin, the Good Vibrations box-set is a fascinating mix of hits and rarities. I also tip my hat to Keith Badman's diary of the band's activities from 1961-76, which was a helpful source for this piece.

Number 28: Idlewild

2006-07-24T00:42:00.000+01:00

A Modern Way Of Letting Go (Parlophone CDR 6598)

Chart debut: 22 Feb 2003

Writers: Idlewild

So far these posts seem to be taking me about a month each, but I'm going to knock this one out pretty sharpish to suit the song. It was the fourth single from Idlewild's third "full-length" album, The Remote Part, but where the bulk of that set comes from the band's folky side, this track is a real throwback to the punkier sound of early chart entries like 'Everyone Says You're So Fragile'. Ironically, by the time this hit the shelves as a 45, bass player Bob Fairfoull had quit the band in protest at their move away from rock. Now, unlike a lot of people, I actually think the evolution of their sound was a good thing, and much prefer this album to the more one-dimesional thrash of their first releases. In fact, when I first heard the album the songs I liked best were the quiet ones, but there's a real energy here that's made it one of my all-time favourites for those headphones/air guitar moments (don't pretend you've never done it!).
Lyrically, it's not the band at their deepest but there's something charming about "Losing isn't learning to be lost, it's learning to know when you're lost," even if "You can only be yourself when you understand what you know" sounds like it belongs in the theme from Henry's Cat. What really makes this is a superb ensemble performance, with Roddy Woomble obviously a better and more confident singer than he was five years earlier but still capable of a good yell (eg: "The modern way of letting you... GO!!"). And in what's proving a bit of a recurrent theme on this blog, they get the ending right too, pummeling the riff until an abrupt end at 2:23. By far their most underrated track.

As it turned out, The Remote Part was easily (and I think deservedly) their most successful album. A new line up of the band, with Fairfoull replaced by Gavin Fox and keyboardist Allan Stewart, released the even less metallic Warnings/Promises album in 2005 to a fairly muted reaction, and their contract with EMI was not renewed. They remain a going concern, albeit with yet another bass player now (Gareth Russell, ex-Astrid) though Woomble's solo album seems likely to delay any further action.

Official website: www.idlewild.co.uk
YouTube if you want to: The (slightly disappointing) video is not recommended for sufferers from motion sickness, who should probably try this TV performance with the later lineup instead.
Where to get it: The Remote Part is an excellent album, concise and well-balanced. But their career to date is summarised on Scottish Fiction, with or without bonus DVD.

Number 29: Stevie Wonder

2006-06-28T14:16:00.000+01:00

Heaven Help Us All (Tamla Motown TMG 757)
Chart Debut: 21 November 1970

Writer: Ron Miller

Again, 29 wasn't the easiest number to work with, but it has gifted me an opportunity to further part of this blog's mission: Stevie Wonder has thrice peaked at 29, but I discarded 'Higher Ground' on the basis that it was too obvious a choice to need my assistance (meanwhile 'Another Star' fell victim to my self-imposed rule about owning the tracks on CD). This for me is a more interesting story, coming from the period just before Wonder's acknowledged purple patch of the 1970s. In fact, the album where this track first appeared, Signed Sealed & Delivered was the end of Wonder's original contract with Motown, signed when he was still a child star; it was also a pivotal release with Wonder taking his his first production credits (though not on this particular track) and also writing a lot of the material, though again this song is an exception, having been penned by hired gun Ron Miller - but it all appears in a tacky cover with Stevie climbing out of a cardboard box (because he's been "delivered" geddit!!!??).

As a matter of fact, I own this track in a different place - in an angered reaction to the re-recorded version of 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours' he did with Blue I rushed to obtain the original, and it happened that the first place I found it was on Greatest Hits Volume 2. As I liked Stevie Wonder already, I'd probably have bought these tracks eventually, but sometimes it's good to be impetuous. Anyway, back to the song. It's as gospel-tinged as the title implies, though of course we're used to hearing the phrase colloquially, almost as an expression of hopelessness. The first verse runs with this interpretation: "Heaven help the girl who walks the streets alone/ Heaven help the roses if the bombs begin to fall" but even in the second we're in subtly different territory - "Heaven help the black man if he struggles one more day" continues the same sense of the expression, but when Wonder sings "Heaven help the white man if he turns his back away/ Heaven help the man who kicks the man who has to crawl" it sounds more like a threat than exasperation; well, I suppose it's a threat driven by exasperation. The chorus covers the more traditionally hymnal "Lord hear our call" but the third verse reverts to more earthly concerns: "Heaven help the boy who won't reach twenty-one/ Heaven help the man who gave that boy a gun". There's a prayer in the final verse, eloquently asking the Lord to "Keep hatred from the mighty/ And the mighty from the small". And yet, for all his appeals to a higher power, Wonder doesn't come across (at least to these ears) as expecting God to fix everything overnight - for me the key word here is "help". Now, of course I'm forming that opinion on the basis of what I've heard in the subsequent Wonder catalogue and the philosophy he expresses in so much of his self-written material, but it seems to me that he's expecting us humans to get our hands dirty too and sort the world out with the benefit of divine guidance. Whether I'd have got the same impression from a lesser singer, I'm less sure, but this is a tour-de-force for his sometimes overlooked gifts as an interpreter (the same album also includes his version of 'We Can Work It Out' which takes on a similar meaning in Wonder's performance). You could probably even trace a thematic connection to the other two singles that peaked at 29 if you really wanted to. For a dissenting view, though, look at Gearchange.

In the context of his overall career, this is only a minor work, but the more I've listened to it in order to do this, the more it's impressed me. The next Stevie Wonder album was the transitional and oddly hard-to-get Where I'm Coming From, released before he'd agreed terms with Motown, before Music Of My Mind began his peerless run of classic albums in the 1970s.

Official website: While you're waiting for Steviewonder.com, we can enjoy the existing official site at Steviewonder.net, the less than spectacular UK site or the unofficial but flashy World of Wonder.
YouTube if you want to: Unsurprisingly, there's no official video, but somebody's played it over some footage of an Indian shanty town, which apparently came from a Boyz II Men video of all places. And speaking of things that might make you exclaim the title of this song, there's also Cher and the Osmonds doing a Stevie medley.
Where To Get It: The original Signed Sealed & Delivered album is still available, cover and all. I've also provided a link to the aforementioned Greatest Hits Volume 2, but be warned that it's only half an hour long. The UK edition of the Definitive Collection also includes this track, and it should go without saying that the version I've linked to below is the one that Blue do not appear on.

Number 30: Dodgy

2006-05-26T21:12:00.000+01:00

So Let Me Go Far (Bostin/ A&M 5809032)
Chart debut: 7th January 1995

Writers: Nigel Clark/Andy Miller/Mathew Priest

I always thought this should have opened the album, you know. After the minute of pre-amble the song proper starts with the harmonised lyric "So in the morning I awoke/I turned my eyes towards the road." Isn't that exactly where you want to begin an album? And the harmonies around the title line in the chorus have real power. Better still, as the song continues, the sound builds to illustrate the protagonist's journey. In the second verse we get the line "Those pills you gave me for the pain/Made my mind never feel the same" although knowing Dodgy it's not entirely clear whether they consider that a good or a bad thing. There's a bit of a sting in the tail of the chorus too: "When I reach there let me know." It's a song about a curiosity and self-discovery, it would seem.
It would also be good for my storyline if this had been their first hit single too, but in fact that honour went to the song that really does open the Homegrown album, 'Staying Out For The Summer', which managed to sneak in at 38 in September 1994 (when the record company released a new version of that song in the actual summer it did better, but that's another story). The classic record company trick of releasing this single on the 28th of December when hardly anybody's buying singles more or less guaranteed this an advancement on that, but sadly also meant that nobody really noticed it when it was in the charts, or remembered it since. I'm not even sure whether I'd heard it before I borrowed the album from a fellow sixth-former, although I did eventually see a bit of the video, complete with their ubiquitous camper van. Apparently the single version is a remix (by Hugh Jones, who produced it in the first place anyway) although a second CD is fronted by a live recording.

With hindsight, perhaps Dodgy's whole premise got a bit tiresome after a while, but I still consider the album to be a minor classic of its type, and this song has the extra benefit of not being overexposed. Dodgy went on to greater commercial success with the dreadfully-titled 1996 album Free Peace Sweet and even scored a Top 10 single in the shape of 'Good Enough'. But they splintered soon afterwards, with frontman Nigel Clark jumping ship after a desultory single and compilation album. The remaining members soldiered on with a new line-up for a few more years but interest faded away.

Unofficial website: Mighty Dodgy Vibe - the old official site seems to be long gone.
See also Adrian Denning's album review and a discography.
YouTube if you want to: live on The Word. {Now deleted!}
Where to get it: The best of collection Ace A's And Killer B's wraps up most of the singles (including this one, in its album version) alongside selected flipsides and album tracks. However, it might well be argued that all the Dodgy you really need is Homegrown, undoubtedly the best of their albums and unsurprisingly the only one still in print.

Bonus:This isn't, you'll have noticed, an MP3 blog. But we reserve the right to include tracks from long-deleted compilation albums tied in with festivals that no longer take place as and when we feel like it. Hence 'So Let Me Go Far' live at the Phoenix Festival. Note: this file is provided for information purposes only. Any legitimate owners of this material who wish for it to be removed are advised to contact us.

Metapost - on the way to the Top 30

2006-05-18T21:14:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone, to try and build up anticipation for the Top 30 in Mark Goodier style, we present The Hit Parade's first ever Metapost.

Anyone who checks this site regularly will have observed that we now have a new look. Also, check out our exciting new links - in particular, Joe Williams' How To Have 1000 Number Ones - The Easy Way details his quest to collect every one of the first thousand chart-topping tracks, exactly the sort of idea this blog was inspired by, though thankfully the Hit Parade version doesn't involve spending any real money. Part of the advantage of this theme is that it has a defined endpoint, of course. Of course, the Hit Parade also offers us the choice about which records to write about, but Joe isn't really writing about the music so much as the quest. And the descriptions of his internal torment when he has to buy the Gary Glitter records are fascinating. Also on a Number One subject is the more familiar Popular which really does try to write about every chart-topping track in chronological order. Currently they're up to 'Silence Is Golden', with the Glitter issue still ten virtual years away.

Coming up at 30, it's... no, that'd be telling.

Number 31: XTC

2006-04-28T05:00:00.000+01:00

Towers Of London (Virgin VS372)
Chart debut: 18th October 1980

Writer: Andy Partridge

Another instalment in our "they have other songs" series, although if I'm honest that was sort of the original intent of this whole project. I've frequently expressed the view that XTC would be far wealthier had they been paid on the basis of how many other acts were compared to them in reviews, although Andy Partridge would no doubt counter that being paid all they were due for the record sales would have been a start - it's no coincidence that on the Black Sea album this is segued into a song about money.
Anyway, we all know about XTC and what a droppable name they've become, currently because of the trendy influence of their early yelping material. We all remember the big hit singles even if the reliably contrary Partridge would sometimes rather you didn't - it's widely reported that he wanted to use a burning copy of 'Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me)' as the cover of a singles compilation. Still, it only amounts to six actual Top 40 hits in what will soon be a (slightly intermittent) thirty-year career, which limited my options here rather - but I was only too happy to choose this track, an unprecedented second hit from Black Sea, and the track that was apparently slated as the first single until Colin Moulding came up with 'Generals And Majors' (which only got to 32). Interestingly, this is a London song by a defiant non-Londoner, but unlike many songs that fit that description it's not a rant or a love-letter but finds a unique perspective, attempting to remember the workers who actually built the city. The beauty of this approach is not only that it's not obvious, but that it's also somehow non-partisan: in a way, he could almost have written this song about Swindon. He didn't though, and somehow he's caught the spirit of the city remarkably well - that "anvil" sound (actually a tape cabinet being hit with a mic stand) dragging slightly behind the beat conjures up a sense of a drizzly grey city, and yet as a semi-Londoner myself, I find that an oddly welcoming image, be it Partridge's intent or not.

Aside from the aforementioned fake anvil, the musical end is kept up by ringing guitars (Dave Gregory claims two of them on his website) and the reliably solid drumming of Terry Chambers. Indeed, throughout the Black Sea album Chambers and Colin Moulding make a good case for themselves as one of rock's greatest rhythm sections. The original single edit drops the guitar solo and one iteration of the middle-eight, and is if anything the better version because it's just that little bit tighter. There's a very obvious echo of the Kinks here, especially with the London theme, but of course the Beatles are never far out of sight in this context. Indeed, the night after Lennon died, XTC segued this song into 'Rain' at a concert in Liverpool.

Official website: www.xtcidearecords.com But don't miss the incredibly long-running and detailed Chalkhills (est 1991!).
YouTube if you want to: video and some footage from XTC At The Manor, with the band pretending to record this single: parts one, two, and three. But not necessarily in that order.
Where to get it: If Black Sea isn't the best XTC album (and it might well be) it's certainly the most accessible. It's a good starting point, as is the double-CD singles set Fossil Fuel, the place to go for the 7" version. There's also an interesting early version of the song on the Coat Of Many Cupboards box set. Meanwhile, Chris Twomey's authorised biography comes highly recommended.

Number 32: The Undertones

2006-03-26T23:50:00.000+01:00

You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It!) (Sire SIR 4024)
Chart debut: 20 October 1979
Writer: John O'Neill

They had more than one song you know. Brilliant as 'Teenage Kicks' is, it's slightly unfortunate that in the last few years it seems to have obscured entirely the fact that the Undertones ever made any other records (except maybe 'My Perfect Cousin') Yet in a brief career they packed in a handful of pop gems, several others of which got them into the charts and onto Top Of The Pops and all. Right, that's that off my chest, now let's get on with the article.
My brother was kind enough to give me the remastered and expanded CD of their debut album a couple of birthdays ago and an impressive little thing it is too; but this non-album single is a hint of where they were heading. Simplistically put, the original career of the Undertones is a swift (four albums in five years) progression from low-budget punk-pop energy ('T*****e K***s') towards a sort of blue-eyed soul, which arguably laid the template for Feargal Sharkey's briefly popular solo career. We're still close to the start of that curve here, but bass player Mickey Bradley was right to describe it as a progression, and to suggest that they'd "left the Ramones thing behind". And, as he notes approvingly, "there was a slow middle bit." The lyrics are not exactly sophisticated: "I'll pick you up in my car/Take you home, it's not far" but they work ideally in context, capturing the sense of romatic desparation with enough vulnerability to seem more charming than threatening (unless it's just sparking off too many memories of my own youth of course). And at the risk of over-using the word "energy" in this post, the strength of the ensemble performance here gives it a pace (even in that slow section) that makes the pleading less annoying than it might otherwise have been. It doesn't seem as melodramatic as it would on the page because it's so convincingly done, and it sounds as if it really is that important to the protagonist, instead of being played up. At the same time they have enough spring in their step to make it sound cheery - perhaps the lesson we should draw is that only having girls to worry about is a fairly lucky state.
What makes this track really special (over and above the quality of the song) is the way it's topped and tailed. Three seconds of tuning-up seems just to increase the drama when a thump of Billy Doherty's kick-drum ushers in the guitar riff that is effectively the refrain here (the song title appears in something more akin to a verse). At the other end of the song, we come out of that middle section, a one-note piano vamp fades in from nowhere at about 2:24, the guitars start to punch harder until Sharkey finally yells "why don't you USE IT?" and the band stops a second or two later - it's easy to imagine them all falling on the floor afterwards as if they've put all they have into less than three minutes and couldn't play more if they wanted to. Of course that's very unlikely to be the case, but it doesn't really matter as long as they capture the feel. And that's possibly the real sign of progression here, the fact that they (with the help of producer Roger Bechirian) were learning how to make records as well as play songs, which was a direction they certainly followed on the second album Hypnotised.
It's interesting to note that the sleeve design seems to have picked up on the ending of the track too, with the phrase "use it!" underlined, as well as the neat joke of printing the catalogue number on the front. Whether the die-cut rear cover was as necessary is another question. This may not be the best Undertones single, and it certainly isn't the most famous, but in a way it's their quintessential work.

Official website: www.theundertones.com will even play you the intro to this track, though a redesign is promised.

Where to get it: As I mentioned earlier, this was never included on an album at the time, but of course things are different in the CD era, and having been included on some re-issues of Hypnotised it now finds a home on the value-for-money 26(!)-track edition of their debut album. For a single-disc retrospective, the current The Best Of The Undertones - Teenage Kicks looks hard to beat, though it's not to be confused with an earlier album of the same name. The double-set True Confessions - (Singles=A's+B's) was a good idea somewhat spoilt by the fact that not all the tracks are the actual single versions, though of course this song is unaffected.

Number 33: David Holmes

2006-03-02T06:30:00.000Z

Don't Die Just Yet (Go! Beat GOLCD6)
Chart debut: 10th January 1998
Writer: Serge Gainsbourg

As some may have divined from the gap in postings here, the choice of a Number 33 single wasn't the easiest in the list: it may be worth explaining that I roughed out a list of possibles before I started, but reserve the right to chop and change until publication point. In fact, I've broken a self-imposed rule here by including a track I don't own in its single version.
David Holmes (born 14th Feb 1969 in Belfast) had already demonstrated some of his interest in fusing hip-hop sounds with the atmosphere of movie soundtracks (as well as his aversion to the apostrophe!) with debut album This Films Crap Lets Slash The Seats, but it was the follow-up set Lets Get Killed that made him a name to be reckoned with, and brought him a Top 40 hit with this surpising Serge Gainsbourg cover. This is, in fact an instrumental version of 'Melody', the opening track from Gainsbourg's Histoire De Melody Nelson (Holmes claimed that he'd hired someone to translate the lyrics but decided against recording them due to their "pervy" content). The choice of title (including, you may notice, the first ever David Holmes apostrophe) was presumably intended to suit the mood created here; the lack of vocals aside, the arrangement is close to Gainsbourg's version, but the atmosphere is slightly more ominous, though it retains the funk tinge thanks to guitar and bass work of former Warm Jets member Paul Noble.
The album is a fascinating work as a whole - there are no conventional vocals, but the basis is tapes Holmes made whilst walking the streets of New York at night in 1996. It's dark, yes, but in its way a more compelling and endearing portrait of NYC than any number of more conventional tributes (well, as far as I know anyway - I've never been there myself and there's too much swearing for me to play this to my Granny). There are tunes you'll know too: not only is 'Radio 7' another renamed cover version (of the James Bond theme), but 'Rodney Yates', 'Gritty Shaker' and the other hit 'My Mate Paul' have been almost ubiquitous in adverts, trailers and similar. Holmes also used some of this material on his soundtrack to Ocean's Eleven. For some reason, I'll always remember Mary-Anne Hobbs playing a track on her late-night show in the early days of September 1997 and not being allowed to announce the album title.

By the way, the single included a slightly shorter edit of this original version, a remix by Arab Strap (audible, at time of writing, here) and one by Mogwai which had to be withdrawn due to sample clearance issues.

Official website: www.davidholmes.tv - or see Gritty Shaker for slightly more info. His profile at Yahoo also has the video for this track.
YouTube if you want to: video
Where to get it: Lets Get Killed.

Number 34: The Supernaturals

2006-02-03T05:30:00.000Z

Lazy Lover (Food CDFOOD 85)
Chart debut: 26th October 1996

Writers: James McColl/Ken McAlpine/Derek McManus/Alan Tilston/Mark Guthrie.

Dull autobiographical note: this is one of the first records I can remember waiting for, not counting follow-ups to records I owned. I wasn't much of a music radio listener back then, but I saw in the paper that there was going to be a Cast concert on, and these Glaswegians were the support band, with this being the song that instantly stood out, and was announced as their next single. I don't recall knowing the release date but as the sort of person who visits record shops at least once a week, that wasn't a problem. My only disappointment was that I'd settled for the CD single before I found a copy of the blue 7" single, although I am compensated by an additional track.

But enough about me - what about the tune? Well, it's certainly Britpop, and if that word fills you with dread, this record will fill you with even more. It's bouncy, it's silly, it's got a plinky-plink piano part (from Ken McAlpine) and a big singalong chorus. And the lyrics might be about, ahem, pleasuring yourself "I'd much rather do it in my head". Back when I was a student I couldn't get enough of that sort of thing (er, I mean the music - wash your minds out with soap and water). Whilst I can't honestly claim that it sounds as brilliant ten years on, it's still enjoyable, and dare I say it's worn better than some of the more acclaimed material of that time? It's certainly aged better than Cast.
After the possibly superior follow-up single 'The Day Before Yesterday's Man' and a re-issue of the debut single 'Smile' the band were lucky enough to enjoy a Top Ten debut album. It didn't quite last though, and after the trailer single for their second album wasn't the huge hit EMI had expected, the wind sort of went out of their sails. A depleted line-up put out a third album in 2002, before realising the game was up. Frontman and songwriter James McColl has since re-emerged with a new band, The Hussys.

James McColl's blog: http://thehussys.blogspot.com/
Fan Site: www.thesupernaturals.com/main.shtml
Where to get it: The debut album It Doesn't Matter Anymore is probably all the Supernaturals you need, and seemingly all you can get anyway. Plus it's got a cute picture of a monkey on the front.

Number 35: Turin Brakes

2006-01-26T21:28:00.000Z

Average Man (Source SOURCD 085)
Chart debut: 7th Jun 2003

Writers:Olly Knights/Gale Paridjanian

One of the great lost hits of recent years, I think. As the follow-up to their Top 5 smash 'Pain Killer' (inevitably revisited in acoustic form on the CD single here) and third single off the much-reissued Ether Song album, this track possibly suffered from unrealistic expectations. Nonetheless, it deserved to make more of an impact than it did. Indeed, it's one of the records that helped give me the germ of the idea for this blog.
Although the album as a whole is coloured by Tony Hoffer's glossy LA production and the keyboards of David Palmer (not to be confused with the former member of Jethro Tull, who is now a woman), this particular track is a little closer to the earlier Turin Brakes sound, played largely on acoustic guitars with a fine slide guitar riff and their trademark vocal harmonies.
The lyrics are in a way somewhat cynical and partially self-deprecating: "If I was a farmer instead of a faker/If I was realer and not just some raker", seems like a questioning of the artist's worth in society, but as the song deepens, the perspective shifts and widens. It's a song about the compromises people have to make, and the slyly ambiguous tone draws you into it - this isn't the normal "be yourself" cliche, despite having been recorded in LA, but neither is it a complete ode to conformity; it's about getting older and realising that not quite everything is possible after all. When they chime in the chorus "Have another drink my son, enjoy another cigarette 'cause it's time you realised you're just an average man" [NB The Hit Parade does not recommend the abuse of alcohol and tobacco] they're close enough to it themselves not to be loftily patronising. The middle eight thunders "And if this is darkness..." before slinking back to the comfort of the chorus, which is witty and deathly serious at the same time. In summation, this is all a bit dark and complex for overnight success, but it's got a catchy enough tune.

Official website: www.turinbrakes.com
YouTube if you want to: video
Where to get it: As I pointed out earlier, there are at least five permutations of the Ether Song album. Mine is the initial double-CD in the gatefold sleeve, but I've also selected for your pleasure the mid-price CD with the later single '5 Mile' added and the classy double LP.

Number 36: Squeeze

2006-01-09T23:27:00.000Z

This Summer (A&M 5811912)
Chart debut: 9 September 1995

Writers: Christopher Henry Difford/Glenn Tilbrook

I reserve the right to make blatantly sentimental choices throughout this blog, and this just about qualifies as one of our many wedding songs. However, it wouldn't be here if I didn't think it deserved the recommendation, and for extra points it's not always remembered in the classic cannon of Squeeze singles, because it came so late in their career. At this point the lineup featured founders and songwriters Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook with Keith Wilkinson on bass and the late Kevin Wilkinson (no relation) on drums.
At this time the record company attempted to promote them as "Godfathers of Britpop" which the band understandably didn't seem too happy about, although ironically enough Difford's lyric tips its hat to one of the bigger acts of the time: "the summer that began to blur/Has put us on the calendar". And just to underline the point, there's a live acoustic version of 'End Of A Century' (one of only three covers they ever released) on my copy of the cassette single. Maybe while they were at it the record company should have tried releasing a single that refers to "This Summer" in the future tense at a more opportune time than late August (a remixed version did appear just over 11 months later and reach 32). At least the slightly late release date gave them time to film a cheery video (at time of writing you can see a clip here) in Eastbourne, with a cameo from no less than John Thomson.
But what about the record, you ask? It's a record I'd be tempted to call chirpy if I didn't know that some people would be permanently put off by that, although those people should be warned about some of the other tracks I've got coming. Certainly it's optimistic, and Squeeze's ability to convey happiness without lapsing into faux-bouncy cliche is one reason why I consider them a national treasure. Apart from the Blur gag, Difford's lyric is full of the joys of new love withjust the merest trace of naughtiness ("Nights we spent out of control/Like two flags wrapped around a pole"). Look out for the solo doubled on high and low guitars which perhaps unintentionally echoes the Difford/Tilbrook vocal interplay that marked many of their early hits.

Modest though it is, the chart position of this release was Squeeze's best showing since 1987 and served as a decent curtain-raiser for their last classic album, Ridiculous even if the openly middle-aged lyrical content failed to guarantee massive sales and the money they did make was swallowed up by a tax bill. The Difford/Tilbrook partnership staggered through a final ill-advised album before calling it a day. This remains an important part of their legacy.

Official websites: www.squeezefan.com; www.glenntilbrook.com; www.chrisdifford.com.
Where to get it: Everyone who loves British pop should have a Squeeze singles collection, though, and The Big Squeeze is an excellent career summary, including the cream of the overlooked Nineties output and a bonus disc features the rather fine B-side of this single, 'Periscope'. It's also available with a DVD anthology of their videos up to 1989, and appears to have been released in mainland Europe as Squeeze Gold.
If you don't fancy that, though, there's no shortage of other collections - since I wrote the original post we've seen the release of The Squeeze Story and Essential Squeeze but perhaps more excitingly, the original Ridiculous album is back in print for the first time is years and with bonus tracks too.

Number 37: Athlete

2006-01-07T00:15:00.000Z

You Got The Style (Parlophone CDATH002)
Chart debut: 29th June 2002

Writers: Athlete

Although my aim here is to concentrate on relatively less-known tracks (you don't need me to tell you about 'Good Vibrations') this one is a slight expection as it's arguably the most famous track from the Vehicles & Animals album, and certainly better known than its chart performance might suggest.
At the time when this originally appeared, though, I had no particular expectations for it, and I don't imagine many other people did either. The band had created a bit of a buzz with their debut EP on Parlophone's subsidiary label Regal, but that peaked no higher than 85 so even with a bit of radio play this wasn't an obvious chart hit. It was, however, a brilliant single for the summer, one of the few that really captures the spirit of a British summer - there's an obvious cheeriness about it, in the bouncy chorus especially, but there's also a reminder of the less pleasant side, the stuffiness of hot weather and a nod to the UK race riots in Summer 2001: "I've seen the tension on the high street growing/Seems that you have to be careful who you look at". Yet this social comment is subtle enough not to overshadow the song and this succeeds where a more finger-wagging approach might have failed: after all, it's not all that creative to tell people racism is wrong, but this evokes a wistfulness about how wasteful that sort of tension really is. And they were able to make a video with a cute dancing atom in it too. A masterful piece of writing which got them even more noticed; the name Squeeze was mentioned more than once, although the NME likened it to a Cockney version of Pulp.
The icing on the cake was the packaging - although I've bowed to convention and used the CD catalogue number above, my copy is the rather neat etched 10" vinyl, which more than makes up for the underwhelming B-sides.

Perhaps surprisingly, this breakthrough wasn't instantly followed up, as their next single charted slightly lower. Indeed, none of the singles from that first album breached the Top 30 and even a re-issue of this track in 2003 only got to 42. The album itself did good business though, and they finally had a proper hit with 'Wires' in January 2005. But that's another story.

Official website: www.athlete.mu
YouTube if you want to Live at T In The Park
Where to get it: On Vehicles & Animals, which is possibly better than the new album.

Number 38: The Charlatans

2006-01-03T22:53:00.000Z

I Never Want An Easy Life If Me And He Were Ever To Get There (Beggar's Banquet BBQ31CD)
Chart debut: 19th March 1994

Writers: Martin Blunt/Jon Brooks/Tim Burgess/Mark Collins/Rob Collins

Let's get the survivors bit out of the way shall we? You know the drill by now, drug, depression, prison, death... anyone could be forgiven for forgetting that they ever made records. But they did, and indeed still do, which is possibly something you'd not have predicted fifteen years ago.
It's probably fair to say that Up To Our Hips is the most underrated Charlatans album, the only one until 2004 not to spawn a Top 20 single, and remembered mostly for coinciding with Rob Collins serving a brief prison sentence. But it's the album that explains why they didn't go the way of Northside and the Mock Turtles after their big hit, with a somewhat stripped-down sound (produced by Steve Hillage of all people) and a greater focus on the darker, psychedelic side they'd always had.
When I bought the album unheard, this track stood out with it its insistent riff, the intro that bursts out of the speakers (after the shuffling fade of 'Come In Number 21' on the album), the bubbling electric piano (R. Collins) the energy and the prominent backing vocals: "How does it feel?" Further listening has revealed the claustrophobic atmosphere of the whole record and the darker side of that very energy - they're up against the wall and they know it, they're both waving and drowning. That's where the defiance of the unwieldy title comes in; they disdain the easy path in the knowledge that it's no longer open to them. And "them" is certainly the word here, because the bond between them is so intensely important. The energy is manic; I have the (not entirely literal) mental image of them throwing themselves at the walls.
Looked at that way, it's pretty heavy stuff and I'm starting to see why even a limited one-week-only release in a special box with three postcards and a demo version of the previous hit couldn't take this any higher than 38. And although that's unfortunate really, it suits this blog very well - this track never gets played on the radio, and although I don't claim it as their best single it's one that deserves more posterity than it has.

Official website: www.thecharlatans.net
YouTube If You Want To: The promo video, which may have cost almost £20 to make.
Where to get it: I've talked up the Up To Our Hips album more than enough, I think, but those wishing merely to dip their toes in the water are advised to pick up the "best-of" collection Melting Pot. Meanwhile, the B-side 'Subterranean' crops up on Songs From The Other Side and the video (which I've now seen) features on their first DVD.

Number 39 - Roots Manuva

2006-01-02T22:48:00.000Z

Too Cold (Big Dada BDCDS078)
Chart debut: 2nd April 2005

Writers: Rodney Smith/Ralph Lamb/ Andrew Ross

The only record I'm including from 2005 in this selection: which isn't to say that it's the only record I liked last year, it just fits. Rodney Smith (you can see why he needed a stage name!) became about as big a star as an underground UK rapper could with his second album Run Come Save Me, and by the start of 2005, after the Streets and Dizzee Rascal had made names for themselves he looked set for a big breakthrough.
It hasn't quite happened yet, but the year did bring him his first Top 40 singles chart action with 'Colossal Insight' and this slightly surprising track, built around what sounds remarkably like a sample of the Dance Of The Nights from Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet although unlike Sia's 'Taken For Granted' the usage wasn't sufficient to require a credit. Over this, Manuva raps with his typical humour about the dangers of Mammon, though he can't resist the boast "I touch breasts with my money". And here's a line you don't often hear in a rap track "I ain't the best MC..." though he does claim "I got certification I'm the first MC" which I doubt would stand up in court. He even denies being the saviour of UK rap, which possibly reflects the pressure he felt in the previous years: the title track of the Awfully Deep album is a darkly joking account of his mental health problems.
The CD single itself is as decent a value-for-money package as can be expected: 'Too Cold' itself appears as a Radio Edit (like the album version but shorter and with less swearing) and remixed by Sa-Ra, Nightmares On Wax and the Go! Team. I'm not typically a fan of remix packages, but these get bonus points for sounding very different from each other, with the Go! Team one a particularly impressive lo-fi recasting, hitting the spot for me where their own records never have. There's an admittedly dispensible B-side, plus the video starring - ahem - Lord Manuval in an 18th century setting with comedian Jim Tavare as his butler, as well as a little game which allows the listener to create their own remix. And if that doesn't sate your appetite for different versions of the song, look out for the dub version on the 7" and the demo on the limited edition version of the album. Speaking of which, here's a little exclusive for you: the Hit Parade Mix of 'Too Cold'. For evaluation purposes only, of course.

Official website:www.rootsmanuva.co.uk
YouTube if you want to: promo video
Where to get it: Although the album isn't quite the masterpiece that might have been hoped for, it's still well worth having for the singles and 'The Haunting' alone. Alternatively, grab the single if you still can. The remix companion release Alternately Deep offers the B-side 'No Love'.

Number 40 - David McAlmont

2006-01-01T18:18:00.000Z

Look At Yourself (Hut Recordings HUTCD87)
Chart debut 9 Aug 1997.

Writers: David McAlmont/Guy Clark/Boo Hewerdine

A talent who's never quite found his place, David McAlmont (born 2nd May 1967) is probably best known for his collaborations with Bernard Butler in the imaginatively-named duo McAlmont & Butler. Despite the quality of the records, though, this pair were famously fractious and their initial partnership failed even to produce a studio album; prior to that, he had been in Thieves, who managed to record an LP but split without releasing it (those tracks were issued as McAlmont's 1994 debut).

This, then was his first intentional solo single, and it's lyrically connected to the most famous McAlmont/Butler song 'Yes', a triumphant stomper which it's tempting (but almost certainly wrong) to relate to Butler: "Don't look at me as if you wish me dead/ Why have a problem with my self-respect?" Perhaps surprisingly, though, the style is different, a frenetic pounding track that's closer to gospel (apart from the words!) than the softer soul with which his former duos were associated. Special mention is due to the wailing harmonica, although no player is credited.
At the time of release, I remember puzzling over which format to buy and wondering why the Radio Edit (3:21) was longer than the Album Version (3:12). As I discovered upon obtaining the latter version in the Rough Trade shop a couple of years later, "edit" was something of a misnomer with Dave Bascombe having retooled the song extensively, with an extended drum intro and a much more energetic effect, so that's the version to track down. Sadly, "album version" proved to be even more of a misnomer, as this track has never appeared on one - the rather good A Little Communication finally appeared in 1998, but omits this track in favour of a moodier and slightly more organic sound. Before that, his collaboration with David Arnold on a version of 'Diamonds Are Forever' did even better than this. It got to 39.

Official website: www.davidmcalmont.co.uk
Where to get it: as above, it's not on an album, it's on no compilation I'm aware and the single is long deleted, so all I can say is Good Luck! You can still browse
the available McAlmont catalogue at Amazon.