Now That's What I Call A Challenge

Metapost: Happy New Year

2012-01-08T23:16:00.000Z

Happy 2012 everyone. I'm planning a few weeks off from this blog while I work on a couple of other projects, but if you need a Now fix in the meantime, why not check out this thread on the Haven forum, where one of the regulars has collated artwork (and chart positions) for every track on all 80 volumes of the series to date?

And for anyone who missed it, the secret answer to what's different about Now 16 is that it's the only album in the series not to include a Number One single.

Fresh 4 featuring Lizz E 'Wishing On A Star'

2011-12-31T22:16:00.044Z

Chart Peak: 10

YouTube

'Wishing On A Star' originally made No.3 in 1978 for Rose Royce, whose back catalogue has provided hits for acts as diverse as Jimmy Nail and S'Express... Fresh 4/Lizz E made the Top 10 in October 1989.

Clearly, this was the era for reworkings of late-70s tracks, with the tracks from De La Soul and Inner City on this album and the near-miss from Big Fun. And 'Wishing On A Star' is the gift that keeps on giving, with Jay-Z and Paul Weller adding to the diversity of the covers and making it one of the most-charted songs in UK history: a version by X-Factor finalists is on its way out of the Top 50 at time of writing, though a competing attempt by Seal found less favour.

For all that the song's only shown up on one Now! album to date, and it's this version from an act who drifted so far into one-hit-wonderdom that I can't even tell you what the "E" stood for. Band member Krust and producers Smith & Mighty went on to slightly bigger things as associates of Roni Size and his Reprazent collective, which would tip you off that this was a product of the Bristol scene if you hadn't already heard it in the accent of rapper Flynn. As it turns out this is really rather an impressive version, maybe the best I've heard: it's not dissimilar in approach from 'Dub Be Good To Me' around the same time and whilst I personally don't think it's quite as good as that, it still has that slightly chilly air about it. A lot more than I'd bargained for and a pretty good way to end the album, if you can overlook the slightly rushed fade on this 7" edit.

Available on: Back To Life

Redhead Kingpin & The FBI 'Do The Right Thing'

2011-12-30T21:32:00.025Z

Chart Peak: 13

YouTube

American rapper Redhead Kingpin reached No. 13 in August 1989 with this track.

Anyone else get the impression they were losing interest at this point in the sleeve notes? No mention of the fact that Redhead Kingpin's real name is David Guppy (no relation to Darius Guppy of fraud fame, so far as I can tell) or to the fact that his mother was apparently a police officer. At least the picture of the band makes it pretty obvious where he got the stage name from.

I have to admit I don't remember this at all from the time, but at least that saves me from getting it mixed up with the similarly-titled Simply Red hit. It's somewhere on the border between rap and that New Jack Swing sound we heard earlier on this album from Bobby Brown, though there's more charm on offer here, and a positive message amid the over-familiar samples. He does sound a bit like he's filling when he starts listing various districts of New York in which people should be doing the right thing, and the record's probably about a minute too long but it's rather enjoyable all the same.

Available on: Pure Dance Party

Neneh Cherry 'Kisses On The Wind'

2011-12-29T19:51:00.024Z

Chart Peak:

YouTube

Neneh's third Top 20 hit in a row following 'Buffalo Stance' and 'Manchild'... Surely the only Swedish-born artiste to appear on 4 Now albums in a row.

4 in a row? If they were anticipating putting her on Now 17, they were wrong. Mind you, I can't think of another Swede who's even managed three in a row - not even Ace Of Base. I'm open to correction on that though, feel free to do so.

The third hit from her solo debut did even better in the US than here, and seems somewhat forgotten now. In all honesty it's not as impressive as 'Buffalo Stance' or as melodic as 'Manchild', although it has some lyrical charm with its tale of a precocious teenage girl. Though I do remember hearing it at the time, I haven't really given it a thought in the last twenty years or so and it's not that surprising really. The production has dated worse than I expected too.

Also appearing on: Now 14, 15, 18, 29 [with Youssou N'Dour], 30 [with Cher, Chrissie Hynde and Eric Clapton], 35
Available on: Raw Like Sushi

Oh Well 'Oh Well'

2011-12-28T19:51:00.000Z

Chart Peak: 28

YouTube

'Oh Well' was written by Peter Green, the original leader of Fleetwood Mac (it made No. 2 in late 1969)... Oh Well are a German trio and the song had taken them to No. 28 by 22nd October 1989.

Fleetwood Mac's original of 'Oh Well' is a bit of an anomaly in their catalogue. Their first (and in the UK, highest-peaking) hit on the Reprise, it's invariably ignored on compilations released by that label, which tend to ignore the Green-era blues recordings and concentrate on the more lucrative AOR recordings of the 1970s and 1980s. Another interesting little factoid: the title was translated differently in Spain, Mexico and Venezuela. I don't know whether that says anything about the lyrical content.

Anyway, it might not have seemed the most obvious candidate for a Eurodance makeover, but it was the late 1990s after all and I presume that it was a well-enough-known song in Germany for people to recognise it. This version is based only on the A-side Part 1, rather than the instrumental second half, and resets Green's surreal (possibly improvised) lyric over background music that sounds like the theme to a regional TV news programme - it even has one of those thumping endings where you can just imagine the anchors straightening their paper scripts against the desk, even though they're going to read the entire bulletin from the autocue. I thought this was quite fun at the time but it hasn't aged all that well.

Available on: Oh Well (download single)

Shakespear's Sister 'You're History'

2011-12-26T22:34:00.029Z

Chart Peak: 7

YouTube

Former Bananarama singer Siobhan Fahey, AKA Mrs Dave Stewart, found success in August 1989 when 'You're History' became the first British hit for Shakespear's Sister - It reached No. 7

For a while it was their only hit in fact, although you might notice that the notes refer to the act's origins as a Fahey solo project. Her first single in this guise flopped greatly though, so collaborator Marcella Detroit (aka Marcy Levy) was promoted to band membership, at least promotionally. And this seemed like the right place to launch the duo too: even though Fahey is technically the lead vocalist here, it's Detroit's very high-pitched delivery of the title line that is the real hook. You wouldn't want to hear her screech the whole song like that, but as the chorus it makes the ideal contrast with Fahey's low mumbled responses.

It also adds a layer of silliness that makes it easier to forgive some of the dubious rhymes. Yes, it's another one of those "go away useless ex" songs (maybe a stage forward from the situation in the Jimmy Somerville track, if you're listening on vinyl or cassette and haven't got Brother Beyond in between) but it's an unusually effective one, actually sounding generally glad to be rid of him. A record that's more than the sum of its parts.

Also appearing on: Now 21, 22
Available on: Sacred Heart

Brother Beyond 'Drive On'

2011-12-24T18:22:00.019Z

Chart Peak: 39

YouTube

Our third and last CD-only track, so no sleeve notes again. It's a pretty minor hit, but one can only assume that at time of going to press it was expected to climb further than it actually did. With hindsight, Brother Beyond were something of a precursor to the boy-bands-with-guitars of the 2000s, their struggling career having been rescued the previous year by the intervention of our old friends Stock/Aitken/Waterman. After the first album finally became successful they made what they now acknowledge was the classic mistake of thinking they didn't need SAW and could do the next album on their own.

'Drive On' was a self-penned song; ironically enough guitarist David White is the brother of the band's original drummer Eg White, who later made quite a name for himself as a songwriter, with many a Top 10 hit under his belt. I did find a lot of them quite dull though, so I wouldn't necessarily say this was much worse, but it obviously wasn't the target audience wanted, with its grown-up moodiness and attempt at a political lyric. It also seemed to expose some less than brilliant singing and understandably only just grazed the Top 40. Even playing it safe with a cover version as the next single couldn't revive their career.

And on that not exactly uplifting note, Merry Christmas. Next post coming on Boxing Day.

Also appearing on: Now 13, 14
Available on: The Very Best Of Brother Beyond

Jimmy Somerville featuring June Miles-Kingston 'Comment Te Dire Adieu'

2011-12-23T19:42:00.043Z

Chart Peak: 14

YouTube

After a successful spell as lead singer with Bronski Beat ('Smalltown Boy', 'Why?' etc.) and then the Communards ('Don't Leave Me This Way', 'Never Can Say Goodbye' etc.), Jimmy looks to France for inspration on his solo debut - due for release on 30th October 1989.

Yes, that's yer actual French you know, although interestingly enough the song was originally written in English and had been a US hit for Vera Lynn of all people. It was given a French lyric by Serge Gainsbourg (which I think is his only contribution to the Now series, unless anyone knows different?) and recorded in that form by Francoise Hardy, which is presumably the version Somerville would have known; nonetheless, it seems that he may have been making a point by recording the song in a language other than English, with its attendant commercial disadvantages for the UK market.

Surprisingly for Gainsbourg, the lyric isn't obviously rude, barring any innuendo detectable only to native speakers. It's notable for the many "ex" rhymes - including references to Kleenex and Pyrex; you can take the song out of English, but you can't take the English out of the song. I quite like that image of a Pyrex heart, impervious to warmth, actually. Anyway, the song isn't best-suited to a duet performance, but Somerville and Miles-Kingston sound like they're having a lot of fun (and look like it in the video too, but if they're pretending to be French shouldn't the car be left-hand-drive?). The dancey production doesn't exactly have the sophisticated air of Hardy's version though and the finished article hovers dangerously between entertainment and in-joke.

Also appearing on: Now 17, 18, 31
Available on: Read My Lips

Cliff Richard 'I Just Don't Have The Heart'

2011-12-22T23:01:00.034Z

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube

Cliff's 101st British single was written and produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman... It reached No. 3 on 27th August 1989. The follow-up 'Lean On You' was a Top 20 hit in October.

It's tempting to suspect an element of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" here, since Cliff's hundredth single was kept off the top of the chart by an SAW act (more on that if we ever do Now 15), but as both songs are from the same album it's unlikely in reality. However, it's easy to forget that for the first thirty years or so of his career, part of his survival plan was adapting to changing trends: a decade or so before this he'd proved the point with the discofied 'We Don't Talk Anymore' and the oddly dark new wave style of 'Carrie'. In a sense it was only logical that he'd gravitate in this direction soon enough. I'm not quite so sure what was in it for the producers though.

It goes without saying that, love him or hate him, Cliff is on a different level of performing skill than Big Fun, and he was presumably a bit higher up the pecking order for songs too: 'I Just Don't Have The Heart' is more memorable than 'Can't Shake The Feeling' (at least, I remembered it more, despite there being many bigger Cliff songs to distract me from it) and coincidentally almost the exact opposite in sentiment - he doesn't need or want to shake the feeling, he wants it back. Catchy as it is though, it's not one of the trio's more inspired compositions - the way the entire song seems to be put on hold for that handclap in the chorus gives it a curiously clumsy air at odds with the mechanical production. It seems to have been one of his last attempts to sound modern, though that's probably just as well unless you wanted to hear him collaborating with Chase & Status in 2012.

Also appearing on: 6, 10, 15, 17
Available on: The Platinum Collection

Big Fun 'Can't Shake The Feeling'

2011-12-21T20:36:00.022Z

Chart Peak: 8

YouTube

Big Fun are Jason, Mark and Phil... Their first hit was 'Blame It On The Boogie' - a cover of the Mick Jackson/Jacksons hit, it made No. 4 in early September... This is the follow-up which is due for release on 13th November 1989.

It probably won't have escaped your notice that 'Big Fun' was also the title of a hit by Inner City, and it wouldn't have been totally surprising for them to have been sequenced next to each other for that very reason, although the effect is undermined somewhat by putting them on different sides of the record. And had they actually included 'Blame It On The Boogie' they could have had three revivals of late seventies pop in a row. Incidentally, a note to younger readers: Mick Jackson was not related to The Jacksons, but he did write that song and his version was released in competition with the more internationally famous Jacksons rendition.

You can sort of tell I'm trying to put off writing about 'Can't Shake The Feeling' can't you? It is of course, a Stock/Aitken/Waterman composition and production, coming at the tail end of their imperial phase of success. They'd suffered a backlash as long as they'd been as famous as the acts in front of them of course (I should know, I was part of it) but it has to be said that Big Fun really are everything the SAW detractors accused them of - even with the benefit of studio techniques it's obvious that they couldn't sing, and on the evidence of that TotP appearance they couldn't really dance either. Even the song is pretty second-division for PWL, a sort of high-NRG without the energy. I'm sure Big Fun were lovely lads but they didn't really have enough going for them to overwhelm the criticism and within nine months of this hit their chart career was over.

Available on: A Pocketful Of Dreams

Inner City 'Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin'?'

2011-12-20T23:52:00.015Z

Chart Peak: 12

YouTube

Inner City - Kevin Saunderson and Paris Grey - have already had 4 Top 20 hits in Britain in the last 12 months. This track is due for release on 6th November 1989 and was originally an American hit in 1979 for Stephanie Mills.

Side 3 spins to a close with one of only two American Top 100 hits for the duo (and neither of those made the Top 70). With hindsight some of their material seemed to have pretentions toward being a new Chic, and for a while it worked but they were never totally in the same class. This is a perfectly decent cover version of a perfectly decent track but there's nothing especially exciting about it - possibly some of the club mixes went down better but it's a slight non-event in this form.

Also appearing on: Now 13, 14, 15
Available on: Good Life - The Best Of

De La Soul 'Eye Know'

2011-12-19T21:30:00.062Z

Chart Peak: 14

YouTube

The third British Top 30 single of the year for De La Soul... 'Eye Know', which is based around Steely Dan's 1978 American hit 'Peg' followed 'Me Myself And I' and 'Say No Go' into the chart... had reached No. 16 by 22nd October 1989.

Sorry it's not the real video, I couldn't find a full version on YouTube. It's not very good anyway. There's no video for the Steely Dan track either, but then you wouldn't have expected one in those days. I thought I should listen to it for research as the only previous time I can recall hearing it was about 22 years ago,being played on the radio by a DJ who evidently relished the opportunity De La Soul had given him. Although my Dad had (and to the best of my knowledge still has) a copy of Aja, and has always been quite keen on Steely Dan, I don't remember him actually playing it much. Maybe it just wasn't the sort of thing that made an impression on a child.

De La Soul were certainly a band I remembered actually hearing and liking though. Naturally at the time I was too young and naive to place them in any sort of musical context or to be any more than subconsciously aware of the source material: the battle between gangsta rap and the jazzier more upbeat version on offer here was totally unknown to me. Of course being a wimp I grew up with more of an affinity for the latter and nowadays the rap section of my record collection is dominated by the positive vibes of Jurassic 5, Ugly Duckling and other non-Now acts. Inevitably, I ultimately acquired the seminal 3 Feet High And Rising, a seminal work in hip-hop history that was famously called the Sgt. Pepper of the genre; it's also been compared to Dark Side Of The Moon, although that's not as close a match to the colourful and humorous style of this album. One way 3 Feet differs from both those precedents is that it produced multiple hit singles: four of them, in fact, which I'm pretty sure was unprecedented for a rap album in the UK and hasn't happened much since either.

The third of those hits, 'Eye Know' isn't quite my favourite but it's still a brilliant single, one of the few attempts at a hip-hop love song that isn't utterly cringe-making. And it has a brilliant swing in its step that - perhaps controversially - I don't hear in the Steely Dan track which is a bit too pedantic to feel really soulful. It doesn't seem at all wrong that they sample the whistle from Otis Redding, and what greater praise could I give?

Also appearing on: Now 15, 61 [with Gorillaz]
Available on: 3 Feet High And Rising

D-Mob Introducing Cathy Dennis 'C'Mon And Get My Love'

2011-12-17T22:59:00.032Z

Chart Peak: 15

YouTube

The third hit for D-Mob following 'We Call It Acieed' and 'It IS Time To Get Funky'... Had reached No. 23 by 22nd October 1989.

And indeed, this was the single that launched Cathy Dennis to an unsuspecting world, as well as becoming D-Mob's biggest US hit. It wasn't his or her biggest success back home though and seems little remembered now, although it does come from the largely ephemeral field of pop-dance. It's a fun and upbeat track that reminds me rather of Kylie's work around this time (though dare I say it better sung) but who would ever have guessed that over a decade later Kylie would still be around and having be hits with songs written by Cathy Dennis?

As much as I enjoyed this track I don't find myself with a huge amount to say about it. I suppose it falls slightly between the stools of serious fashionable dance and out-and-out pop, or maybe it's because Dennis can afford not to do comeback tours and stuff that her hits are less in the public eye nowadays than some of her contemporaries.

D Mob also appear(s) on: Now 13, 15, 17
Cathy Dennis also appears on: Now 20, 36
Available on: FFRR Silver

Adeva 'I Thank You'

2011-12-16T20:45:00.011Z

Chart Peak: 17

YouTube

The Success of 'I Thank You', which had reached No. 17 by 22nd October 1989, gave Adeva her 4th British Top 30 hit of the year... It followed 'Respect', 'Musical Freedom' (with Paul Sampson) and 'Warning'.

If you ignore that Paul Sampson track, this was her third consecutive hit to peak at 17, a chart position it shares with such memorable hits as 'Making Plans For Nigel' by XTC, 'Live With Me' by Massive Attack and indeed the other two Adeva songs. But this one I'd totally forgotten, and I can hear why. It's pretty much house-by-numbers: well-sung and not unpleasant to hear but it's straight in one ear and out the other.

Also appearing on: Now 14
Available on:Pure Summer

Lil' Louis 'French Kiss'

2011-12-15T22:39:00.000Z

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

CD bonus track time again, so I've had to guess that the version you actually got was the same one on YouTube. Unlike the Fine Young Cannibals track on the first disc, I can make an educated guess that this was relegated to the more expensive format because of its top-shelf content. The younger sections of the audience might not even have known this track, as it was largely banned from daytime radio and presumably owes most of its success to late-night shows and clubs. That said, it's hard to know how anyone actually would dance to this with its constantly slipping tempo and stops; but that might say more about my dancing ability than the record. It's easy to see why people in their late teens would feel very cool about buying it and playing it when their parents weren't around.

I don't want to sounds like I think it's a bad record because it obviously isn't, but by the standards of pop music it's not especially sexy, and to be honest I've always found it a bit creepy. I can appreciate the invention and skill involved and I do sort of like it but I don't really know when I'd want to listen to it.
If ever there was a big hit you wouldn't expect there to be a knock-off version of by the Top Of The Poppers, this is surely it (video possibly NSFW).

Available on: Ibiza 1991-2009

Technotronic featuring Felly 'Pump Up The Jam'

2011-12-13T20:37:00.000Z

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

Felly, a Belgian-born former model and fashion designer, teamed up with studio wizards Technotronic to make her first single 'Pump Up The Jam' ... It made No. 2 in in early October 1989 for two weeks.

Well the chart info is accurate anyway - those were also the last two weeks at the top for Black Box, which must have been the moment when a lot of older people stopped being interested in the chart. However, it's pretty well-known known that Felly didn't sing on the record (and indeed couldn't speak English at the time): the vocals were apparently by Ya Kid K, who openly fronted some of their later singles. Oh, and she wasn't born in Belgium either, but in DR Congo, or Zaire as it would have been at the time.

Although I do remember some criticism at the time when it became obvious that Felly couldn't have been the singer, there was none of the same sort of outrage as with Milli Vanilli - I guess people didn't feel as duped with dance music because they don't really believe in it or take it seriously in the same way to start with. It's the kind of music I knew I was supposed to be a bit superior about even at the age of 11 and I didn't expect to have much time for it in my thirties but actually it's aged surprisingly well as simple and fairly minimalist dance - they called it "hip-house" back then apparently. The lyrics are as good as they need to be, ie not very, but they do accurately draw your attention to the fact that the beat is pumping. The space in the arrangement actually makes it feel a bit fresher now than it did then, especially to those of us who've heard the 2005 remix.

Technotronic also appear on: Now 17 (with MC Eric), 18
Available on: The Workout Mix: 5k &10k

Bobby Brown 'On Our Own'

2011-12-09T23:01:00.033Z

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

I didn't think I'd seen Ghostbusters 2 (I was certainly far too young to have seen it at the time) but I'm all the more convinced of it having seen the video for the tie-in single: none of the clips look familiar. Mind you, there's not much of the film in there, as this video combines its state-of-the-art-in-1989 visual effects with more of the sort of celebrity cameos that featured in the clip for the theme from the first film. I even recognised some of them. Well, Donald Trump anyway.

That's where the similarities with the previous title song end though. 'Ghostbusters' is one of the highlights of Now 4, as endearingly light-hearted as the movie it was written for. This time around, what we get is, like the video, up-to-date RnB of the time from the hugely successful writers/producers Babyface and LA Reid, fronted by the Brown (no relation) who was a big star in the late 1990s if never likeable - he's also one of only two people on Now 16 to have appeared on the first Now! album, back when he was in New Edition. The song doesn't seem to have all that much to do with the film, aside from the rapped precis which opens the track and is repeated towards the end, rather suggesting that it was something already in the can. It's a perfectly OK record but nothing more than that, and deservedly failed to have anything like the afterlife of the first theme song, despite being one of his biggest hits at the time.

Also appearing on: Now 15, 30, 31
Available on: Dance Ya Know It

Rebel MC and Double Trouble 'Street Tuff'

2011-12-08T22:04:00.000Z

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube

The Rebel MC (Mike West) and Double Trouble (Leigh Guest and Michael Menson) successfully teamed up in the summer of '89 on 'Just Keep Rockin'... 'Street Tuff' is their second hit and had reached No. 3 by 22nd October 1989.

Now, this is a bit more like it. Unfortunately the one thing they do have in common with Milli Vanilli is that one of them is no longer among us: Michael Menson was murdered in 1997. I felt like I had to mention that somewhere but best to get it out of the way first so we can cast our minds back and hear the song as we would have at the time.

For those who don't remember this one from the time, we're still in the early days of non-novelty British rap; so much so that at one point Rebel MC takes it as a sign of his rapping prowess that you'll "Feel the music, and you wonder, is he a Yankee? No, I'm a Londoner." As with Derek B a few albums ago, he evidently expected his audience to be thinking good rapping=American, although to be fair to them they wouldn't have heard P-Diddy yet. As with much hip-hop of this era, his lyrical agenda is largely limited to telling us how good he is at rapping, but to give the guy his due he's not bad at it.
It's possibly more interesting to consider the music, based on a sped-up version of the bassline from '54-46 That's My Number' by Toots and The Maytals, which in turn refers to 'What'd I Say'. As Desmond Carrington would say, the music goes around. Although some of the samples laid over it are rather of their time, it has an appealingly chunky quality to it now, at least for those of us who remember it from our younger days. A fun, if dated, dance record.

Also appearing on: Now 15, 17 [Rebel MC only]
Available on: Dave Pearce Best Of The Dance Years 1988-92

Milli Vanilli 'Girl I'm Gonna Miss You'

2011-12-05T20:17:00.027Z

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

This American chart-topper gave Milli Vanilli their 3rd British Top 20 hit... It is the group's most successful single to date and had reached No. 2 by 22nd October 1989.

And so Side 3 picks up roughly where Side 2 had left off, with a drippy ballad that peaked at the same chart position at approximately the same time. Ah, but as soon as you saw the names you'll have noticed the one important difference, won't you? It's forever the fate of Milli Vanilli to be remembered for what they didn't do, rather than anything they did - this proved to be their last significant UK hit and it was only a year after this that they had to hand back their Grammy Award. Which is kind of understandable (at least, more understandable than their winning it in the first place) but looking back now there's a side of me that wants to be above worrying about that. After all, nobody seemed to care whether Boney M were singing on their records, so why should Frank Farian's other projects be treated any differently.

Fortunately, there's another reason to avoid the question: the record itself isn't really any good. I suppose it sounded OK when I was 11, but soppy cliches are more tiresome to me now than more upbeat ones. There's no residual charm for me now.

Also appearing on: Now 13
Available on: Frank Farian Summer Hits

Richard Marx 'Right Here Waiting'

2011-12-03T21:25:00.001Z

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

After phenomenal American success, Richard Max finally made his British Breakthrough this year firstly co-writing Cliff Richard's big hit 'The Best Of Me' and then reaching No.2 in late September 1989.

There's certainly no argument about the scale of the American success: this was his second Number One single over there and he'd had a load of hits from a debut album that was largely ignored here in the UK. With hindsight, it's maybe a little more questionable how permanent a breakthrough this was for him: he did go on to have three more Top 20 hits over the next five years, but never really made himself a consistent hitmaker. There's no disputing the bigness of this song, though; it sat in the runner-up position behind Black Box's all-conquering 'Ride On Time' for a fortnight, but we can safely guess that it had greater pan-generational appeal and would have been more of an airplay hit, though the sort of radio I listen to back then was playing both.

The record itself certainly seems of its time, though as I've noted here before, his 1990s recordings don't really sound any less 1980s. The whole aesthetic is very late-80s AOR: the gruff voice, the mullet, the pseudo-rebellious album title (Repeat Offender). In fairness, this does set itself apart with a relatively sparse production, concentrating mainly on piano and vocal and avoiding big thuddy drums. This does focus attention on the song itself though I can't entirely celebrate that as it's a bit too formulaic for me, as real as the emotion apparently is, and as much as I know that the silent majority of the general public lap this up. I'm only surprised Westlife haven't covered it, to be honest.

Also appearing on: Now 22, 23, 27
Available on: Repeat Offender

Living In A Box 'Room In Your Heart'

2011-12-02T23:18:00.040Z

Chart Peak: 5

YouTube

The 6th British hit single for Marcus, Richard and Tich A.K.A. Living In A Box and also their 3rd hit this year... Had reached No. 7 by 22nd October 1989.

Yes, another Box and another act who had more hits than you might have thought. Strangely, the eponymous hit that was their signature song seems to have eluded the Now! series, but we do get their other Top 5 single.

Certainly, we're back in sharp-suited soul territory here, although there's a little bit more oomph to this than to the Wets or indeed Then Jerico. Richard Darbyshire is a fairly convincing facsimile of a soul singer until he starts overdoing it, and the song, co-written by Albert Hammond, moves in a logical enough direction but it's a bit too predictable to do the trick in retrospect. I was interested to learn when researching this post that the bizzare edit I remembered hearing on the radio, which lops out most of the second verse irrespective of rhythm or rhyme, is also the video edit; however the full verse features on Now 16 itself.

Keyboard player Marcus Vere now makes vehicle-related DVDs for little children. I'm quite cheered to know that.

Also appearing on: Now 14
Available on: Gatecrashing

Then Jerico 'Sugar Box'

2011-12-01T23:18:00.000Z

Chart Peak: 22

YouTube

'Sugar Box' was the group's 3rd Top 40 single in Britain this year following 'Big Area' and 'What Does It Take'... It made No.22 in late August 1989.

Back to vinyl for another hit of comparable size to 'I'm Not The Man I Used To Be', but one that certainly made less of an impression on me. In fact I can honestly say that I have no memory of ever hearing it before I brought Now 16 home to time it.

I didn't remember much of that experience either, except noticing that Mark Shaw sings the phrase "Lips Like Sugar", also a song title for Echo & The Bunnymen, and it occurs to me that the two acts have a certain amount in common. Well, they both had stupid names that imprinted themselves more on my mind at the time than the actual songs (so maybe they weren't so stupid after all), and they both seemed like they wanted to be taken quite seriously. They both seem like they were groping towards the same sort of musical territory, but that sort of self-conscious anthemery is always a bit of a turn-off to me. For my money, U2 did this better, Simple Minds did it with more ruthless efficiency and the Bunnymen failed more interestingly. Not only do I not know whether "Sugar box" is meant to be be something rude, I can't even make myself care.

Also appearing on: Now 14
Available on: The Best Of Then Jerico

Fine Young Cannibals 'I'm Not The Man I Used To Be'

2011-11-30T20:55:00.000Z

Chart Peak: 20

YouTube

No sleevenote this time, as this is one of the three tracks exclusive to the CD version of Now 16. I don't know exactly what the mechanics were of this, whether this was because the record company refused to clear it for all the formats or whether it was intentionally relegated to bonus track status - but it certainly isn't the smallest hit on the album. Indeed, it was a pretty big song at the time and if it doesn't seem to get mentioned much nowadays it's only because it gets overshadowed by other hits from their admittedly meagre output.

It's only become clear to me as I've been studying the Now! albums that the Fine Young Cannibals were actually really rather good. To be sure I enjoyed hearing the songs at the time, but they seem to have more depth to me now. And for once I can be pretty sure it's not the nostalgia talking, because the picture they paint of eighties Britain isn't all that pretty. On this present track, though, the gaze is turned somewhat inward on a song that sounds like a lament for lost youth (although Roland Gift was still under thirty when he recorded this, so I imagine there may be more going on than the obvious). Possibly it's the return of the narrator from 'Johnny Come Home' further down the road to oblivion. It makes for an odd track to put on a compilation called "Happy Birthday Dad", really, but at least he might appreciate the music, which seems like a precursor to Emeli Sandé's excellent recent hit 'Heaven'.

Aptly enough, this song of weariness was to be their penultimate major hit. They split after dragging one more single from the second album, and then re-emerged with a one-off single and best of album in the mid-1990s. They deserve to be more remembered though.

Also appearing on: Now 5, 6, 14, 15
Available on: Happy Birthday Dad (Digital Version)

Kate Bush 'The Sensual World'

2011-11-28T23:54:00.000Z

Chart Peak: 12

YouTube

'The Sensual World', which made Number 12 in September 1989, was Kate's biggest British hit single since 'Running Up That Hill' in 1985.

So... shall I pretend that taking a week to get round to this post is a tribute to Kate Bush's notoriously slow work rate? If so, it'd be an ill-timed one, since she's just released her second album of 2011, albeit that only one of them had new material. That said, there was an eleven-year gap between The Red Shoes and Aerial, which is roughly the same length of time that divides this from 'Wuthering Heights'. Of course, this sporadic release schedule is one reason she features relatively rarely in the Now! series - just the two solo singles - but even when she does she feels as out of place as an act of her commercial stature might reasonably seem. For all its chart success, 'The Sensual World' isn't really a pop song, and was utterly baffling to my 11-year-old ears; not difficult to listen to as an aggressive rock or hip-hop track might be, just hard to understand; especially since I didn't really know what the word "sensual" meant, although I was pretty sure it was something rude. I didn't know (and wouldn't have understood anyway) that the song was originally based on a speech from James Joyce's Ulysses, although Bush was unable to get permission at the time - she did manage to clear it for the re-recording earlier this year. I didn't know it was derived from a Macedonian folk tune either, but then I didn't know there was such a place as Macedonia, let alone two of them.

Actually reading Ulysses was somewhat more research than I thought necessary for this blog post, though, so I'm just going to look on this as a record. Interestingly, whilst the word "sensual" obviously implies sexuality, and that's certainly implied by the lyric and the breathy vocals, I think Bush is also using the word in a more general sense, as she talks about her character "stepping out from the page" and embracing reality in all its physical and emotional impact. It's obviously possible to read this as somehow autobiographical from somebody whose first hit was adapted from a book, but whether there's any truth in that we're never to know. Either way, it's a heady mix with the twisty melody and those haunting pipes. And yet, it's not the sort of thing that would realistically ever have been a hit single were it not from a legendary act, and it doesn't wholly seem to make sense without some broader context. It's admirable but doesn't stand alone in the same way as her next single, 'This Woman's Work'.

Also appearing on: Now 6, 8 (with Peter Gabriel)
Available on: The Sensual World

Wendy & Lisa 'Waterfall '89'

2011-11-18T23:35:00.000Z

Chart Peak: 69 [original version: 66 in 1987]

YouTube

Former Prince henchwomen Wendy and Lisa finally cracked the UK Top 30 with their previous single 'Satisfaction'... The 1989 re-mix of 'Waterfall' is the follow-up, due for release on 30th October.

Yes, it really does say "henchwomen". Supposedly the song is about their departure from Prince's backing group The Revolution, although the exact facts of the matter seem to remain in dispute. What's obviously not in doubt is that for all their obvious talent as musicians and composers, they struggled to sell singles in their own right.

I can't actually find the 7" version of this mix online, so it's just as well I did have the LP to compare with the original version. It does indeed seem to be a shorter version of the 12" mix, and is noticeably more slap-bassy and less screamy-guitary, but it's hard to say whether this makes it sound more or less dated. It does seem oddly lacking in dynamics now and to be honest it doesn't sound like a major hit in either form. Perhaps they're better off concentrating on the soundtracks that are their bread and butter now.

Available on: Wendy And Lisa

Transvision Vamp 'Born To Be Sold'

2011-11-17T21:56:00.002Z

Chart Peak: 22

YouTube

Released on 23rd October 1989, 'Born To Be Sold' is the follow-up to the group's three Top 20 hits so far this year - 'Baby I Don't Care', 'The Only One' and 'Landslide Of Love'.

I guess they were taking a flyer on the possibility that this would follow suit, but it wasn't to be and indeed The Vamp (as nobody actually called them) never made the 20 again. I am of course aware that there are plenty of people (most of them males who had certain hormones in high concentration circa 1989) for whom Wendy James is an uncriticisable figure, but she's not really my type. I generally don't have much time for her as a singer, associating her and the band with overloud thuddy eighties rock.

As it turns out, 'Born To Be Sold' is a slightly different sort of track, with a slower pace that allows James to adopt a whisper rather than a screech. Still not a voice I'd seek out but far better. The lyric is a slightly annoying conceptual one about celebrity. The thought crossed my mind that with the eclectic list of names mentioned, it feels slightly like the opening song in a musical. The production and the wardrobe for the video aside, it feels more contemporary than most music from 1989.

Also appearing on: Now 13, 15
Available on: Velveteen

Tina Turner 'The Best'

2011-11-16T22:31:00.034Z

Chart Peak: 5

YouTube

Tina's biggest British single hit since 'We Don't Need Another Hero' in 1985, 'The Best' was No. 5 for 2 weeks in late September 1989.

Yeah, it's not really called 'Simply The Best', people just think it is. Another thing people might not know about this song is that Bonnie Tyler peaked at 95 with the original of it in early 1988. Compared to that, Tina's version is at least a bit more assured, leaving Tyler's effort sounding a bit like a demo.

I must say, though, that like 'I Want That Man' this track has now lost any attraction it ever had for me, now sounding lost in a pile of cliched lyrics, clattering excess production and Edgar Winter's naff sax solo. The only hint of any kind of spontaneity is that yelp before the last chorus, which sounds so out of place that the first time I heard this on the radio, I thought it was the DJ. Yes, I used to listen to the sort of radio station where they would do that, and I'm not proud of it. I'm sure the people who made this record aren't too proud that it's developed an association with Northern Irish (and Scottish) sectarianism, which led to it recharting last year.

Also appearing on: 1, 4, 6, 17, 18, 21, 25, 26, 32 34, 44
Available on: I Grew Up In The 80s

Queen 'Breakthru'

2011-11-15T22:31:00.000Z

Chart Peak: 7

YouTube

'Breakthru' was the 2nd of 4 British hits so far in 1989 for Freddie, Brian, Roger and John... It reached No. 7 in July.

As it turned out, they made it to five singles by the end of the year, all drawn from The Miracle, which is the album where they're all merged into that slightly creepy five-eyed monster on the cover. More seriously, it's also the first album they made in the knowledge that Freddie Mercury was terminally ill (though it was of course a secret from the general public at the time). Heard it that context, it's possible to interpret the chorus lyric "Break through these barriers of pain" in a slightly different way from how they'd have sounded at the time, although apparently this song was written primarily by Roger Taylor; it's officially credited a group competition. And it must be said that Mercury still looks in pretty good shape in the video, although he had less than three years to go by then. And while we're on the subject of lyrical misinterpretation, I've only recently realised he's singing "Your face fills my mind" in the first verse and not, as I'd thought for about twenty years, "your face feels like mine".

External facts aside 'Breakthru' is a good potboiler of a song that just doesn't quite sound as good as it should, somehow. I'm resisting the obvious pun here, but it's one those records that always sounds punchier and more convincing in my memory than when I actually listen to it. Perhaps the fault lies in overproduction, which is a common failing of the band's work in this era, and to be fair of many others too. Still, a song it's no hardship to be reminded of.

Also appearing on: Now 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 15, 19, 21, 25 [with George Michael], 32, 33, 54 [with Vanguard]
Available on: The Miracle

Wet Wet Wet 'Sweet Surrender'

2011-11-12T20:15:00.000Z

Chart Peak: 6

YouTube

'Sweet Surrender' became the 6th hit for Marti, Tommy, Neil & Graeme since 'Wishing I Was Lucky' started their success in 1987... It made No. 6 on 1st October 1989.

I was slightly unsettled to note that the original album version of this song stretches to six minutes, although fortunately this is a truncated single edit of about four and a half minutes. Even that wasn't enough of a cut for TotP, who seem to lose interest about half way though.

I think they might have had a point too. Of course, in an audiovisual medium there's the extra aggravation of Marti Pellow's deeply irritating cheeky-chappie persona, but in sound only the effect is more boring than actively annoying. I thought I remembered this song more than I actually did, but closer inspection suggest I was actually getting it mixed up with 'Angel Eyes'. This is the sound of the band living up, or rather down, to their name with a thoroughly dull song that only hints at some signs of life with the middle-eight, and doesn't really deliver then either. It marked the end of their first run of chart domination, although TV and the movies would come to save them later.

Also appearing on: Now 10, 11, 12, 21, 28, 31, 37, 38
Available on: End Of Part One - Their Greatest Hits

The Beautiful South 'You Keep It All In'

2011-11-10T23:15:00.000Z

Chart Peak: 8

YouTube

Following the success of 'Song For Whoever' (No 2 in July), Dave, Dave, Dave, Paul & Sean teamed up with guest vocalist Brianna Corrigan to score a second Top 10 smash with a highest position of No. 8 on 1st October 1989.

Your eyes do not deceive you, the original lineup of The Beautiful South was 60% Daves (Brianna Corrigan was, as noted above, officially a guest musician on the first album, although she was considered a full member of the band for the next two. Although this is one of only two occasions when the band scored consecutive Top 10 hits, it seems like a bit of a forgotten song now. It was always a big favourite of mine, though.

Of course, when I was eleven I couldn't claim to understand what Corrigan and Paul Heaton were arguing about. Even now I don't really get all the references but I can still enjoy the dark domestic comedy; and this is also a great showcase for the fact that the band usually had three singers (Dave Hemingway gets a go towards the end) and even though they didn't all sing on every track, it lent them a variety that makes you wonder why so many bands use the same vocalist all the time.

What really stands out for me is the music though. The soul influence on the band isn't always noted (though they covered a relatively obscure Bill Withers song as a B-side), but it's clearer here than in most places. It's impressively tight, packing bundles of energy into less than three minutes, the complex twists and turns, the luxuriant arrangement and the massed backing vocals give it a light jollity that contrasts with the uncomfortable lyric. You can hear more of this on the instrumental version that backed some formats of the single. The bass playing is also excellent, despite being by one of the rebellious band members who weren't called Dave.

Also appearing on: Now 15, 18, 22, 27, 28, 32, 35, 36, 41, 42
Available on: Welcome To The Beautiful South

Curiosity Killed The Cat 'Name And Number'

2011-11-07T20:14:00.042Z

Chart Peak: 14

YouTube

After three big hits in 1987 - 'Down To Earth', 'Ordinary Day' and 'Misfit' - Curiosity (Ben, Julian, Miggy & Nick) had a rest and then recorded their second album... 'Name And Number' was the first single and it peaked at No. 14 on 1st October 1989.

Sources seem to vary as to exactly what name the band were using at the time of this single, but judging by the sleeve of this album and the images of the single that I've found online, I've titled this post with the felicidal suffix that they eventually dropped.

Of the many sharp-suited pop-soul acts who emerged in this country around the mid-late 1980s, Curiosity were probably the most teen-friendly (unless you count Wet Wet Wet) and one gets the impression they were trying to shrug off some of the boyband reputation with the second album. Though not lyrically groundbreaking (it's the old standby of phoning somebody who doesn't pick up), 'Name And Number' certainly sounds like an attempt to be a bit grittier and funkier than their earlier material. Unfortunately, they're not the easiest band to take seriously and the ploy doesn't totally come off, but it's a catchy enough pop song. It didn't quite work out commercially either: though this was a decent sized hit, they found themselves in the unenviable position of following a Number One album with a No. 29, and no further hits ensued until they did a U-turn, shortened the name and released cover versions.

At least the chorus to this song had a second lease of life - it was of course used on De La Soul's 'Ring Ring Ring', which was probably more lucrative for them internationally than this. It doesn't really justify "Ben VP"s dance remake though.

Also appearing on: Now 9, 10
Available on: True 80s 3 CD SET

Sydney Youngblood 'If Only I Could'

2011-11-05T23:15:00.016Z

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube

Sydney comes from Texas originally, but has lived in Germany for some years... 'If Only I Could', a call for peace that he wrote himself, was his frst hit reaching No.3 for 2 weeks in October 1989.

Well, he didn't write it all by himself - there are three other writers listed, presumably because this track is heavily based on 'Break 4 Love' by Raze. However Youngblood's (or Ford's, as he originally was) contribution is not to be dismissed. He does have a rather rich, warm voice and his lyric has a charming utopianism about it, although the argumentative might suggest that not being able to make the world perfect doesn't mean he can't improve it. Others might counter that making this record is a significant contribution in itself.

Also appearing on: Now 17
Available on: 101 80s Anthems

Deborah Harry 'I Want That Man'

2011-11-04T19:37:00.057Z

Chart Peak: 13

YouTube

This is her 2nd big solo hit in Britain - had reached No. 14 by 22nd October 1989... Debbie Harry was, of course, the lead singer of Blondie who had 13 Top 20 hits (including no less than 5 No. 1s) in this country between 1978 & 1982.

To settle the question of nomenclature first, the single was originally credited to Deborah Harry, and is listed as such on the sleeve here, but I've tagged this entry with the name by which she's most commonly known. Actually, it's interesting to look back now and see how little success she had as a solo artist; it's well-known of course that she spent a significant amount of the 1980s distracted by Chris Stein's illness, but even so it's remarkable how few of even the singles she did release were major hits: this is one of only two Top 20s and just two more reached the Top 40. Blondie were obviously very successful in the UK and it's fair to say that Harry was very much the focal point of the band, so it's curious that she seemed to bring so little of the fanbase with her. Perhaps it proves that the band split (and reformed?) at the right time.

It may or may not be coincidence that both the major hits she did manage came from outside songwriters. 'I Want That Man' was penned by Tom Bailey and Alannah Currie of the Thompson Twins, who were at the time a married couple. Despite this (and the fact that Harry herself is obviously a woman) it has a definite "gay anthem" feel about it, which is interesting in that you don't often hear about Blondie as being a big act in the gay clubs, though I'm not sure whether that's because they weren't or just because it's drowned out by Harry's heterosexual male audience. Either way, she camps it up heroically here, but is perhaps somewhat undercut by the stompy stadium-rock production, when you'd think something more high-NRG would suit the target audience better. Perhaps the 12" mix went down better, but in case it didn't EMI opportunistically commissioned some new remixes a decade later in the wake of the Blondie comeback, taking advantage of the lyric "here comes the twenty-first century". Cash-in or not, those seem to avoid falling between two stools better than this original.

Also appearing on: Now 8
Available on: Most Of All - The Best Of

Erasure 'Drama!'

2011-11-03T20:19:00.035Z

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

'Drama!' was Vince and Andy's 9th big British hit single in the last 3 years... It reached No. 4 on 1st October 1989 and 3 weeks later their album shot in at No. 1.

I've always had a bit of an ambivalent attitude about the use of punctuation marks in song titles. On the one hand I quite like the idea of them, but on the other they often seem to be an attempt to oversell the song itself. I suspect Erasure were aware of this and used the exclamation mark with some sense of irony in this case, but I must admit things don't start brilliantly; when I started watching the video I found myself looking at the cat and trying to work out what sort of car Vince Clarke was sitting on more than I was able to concentrate on the song.

Things do pick up a bit as the song digs in a bit. I can understand this more as an adult than I would have at the time, as there's a resigned, exasperated quality about it: as much as Andy Bell bemoans the "infinite complexity of love" he ends up acknowledging the "ultimate necessity" of it too. I also like the big massed backing vocals of "GUILTY!" which seem like a precursor to some subsequent Pet Shop Boys material. It still feels a tiny bit unfinished to me, though, as if it could have been even better.

I think it might be a Hillman Avenger, by the way.

Also appearing on Now 09, 10, 13, 14, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 54
Available on: Wild!

Belinda Carlisle 'Leave A Light On'

2011-11-02T19:04:00.049Z

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

Her 4th British smash hit following the success of the 1988 trio 'Heaven Is A Place On Earth', 'I Get Weak' and 'Circle In The Sand' ...Had reached No. 4 by 22nd October 1989.

And so we go from a one-off appearance to a regular star of the series; and curiously enough this is one of four times when she's the second track on the first disc. The sleeve note is not technically wrong in calling this her fourth big UK hit, but of course it doesn't mention the two less popular singles from her previous album, let alone the cash-in re-issue from her former label that scraped the Top 75. Also curiously unmentioned is the guitar solo by George Harrison, which I believe is his only contribution to a main series Now! album: he certainly doesn't appear as a solo artist or as a Beatle.

The start of this comeback hit is probably the closest her solo material ever got to reflecting her punk roots, with a tense guitar part that faintly recalls 'I Got You' by Split Enz. After that we launch back into full-on eighties stadium rock, for this is a track much happier to be of its time than the retro styles of the Tears For Fears opener. This very confident punch does arguably undermine the sentiment of the song a little, as Belinda never sounds like she needs to implore anyone to wait in for her. But then again it is only a song and whilst the effect is a little wearing on the ears now, this a decent pop record that works on its own terms and was unsurprisingly a massive hit. As if to prove the point, hits were soon harder to come by: her next three singles all fell short of the Top 30.

Also appearing on: Now 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 26, 34, 35
Available on: Original Hits - Drivetime

Tears For Fears 'Sowing The Seeds Of Love'

2011-11-01T22:56:00.090Z

Chart Peak: 5

YouTube

This was the first Tears For Fears single in nearly 4 years and has been described as a "towering and sophisticated pop song with some very deliberate Beatleisms"... It raced into the Top 10 on release, finally peaking at No. 5 on 10th September 1989.

I think Now 16 is the most expensive one I've ever bought, costing me the princely sum of £2 in the PDSA shop last winter. I allowed myself that sort of spend because I also got a nice Thinsulate hat for a bargain price at the same time. It's a handsome vinyl LP, one of my favourite Now covers in fact, although I will have to try and remember to include the extra tracks that are only on the CD version. Now afficionados will also know the other thing that distinguishes 16 from every other album in the series, but I won't spoil it just yet.

Anyway, we kick off with the only ever Now appearance for one of the biggest bands of the first half of the 1980s. One can presume that contractual issues kept the likes of 'Shout' and 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' off earlier volumes, and after this big comeback hit they struggled somewhat, never troubling the Top 10 again. As the release schedule suggests, the Seeds Of Love album whence this came had a rather troubled gestation, with the founding duo getting through countless musicians (including three different drummers) and several studios to try and get what they wanted. Rarely are classics forged in such circumstances, although it must be said that their effort was rewarded with a somewhat lusher and more full-bodied sound than their earlier work - the original of 'Mad World' does sound decidedly cheap and tinny nowadays. Even so, this is such an obvious attempt at a Beatles pastiche that even I noticed when I was 11; and unfortunately it sounds like the work of people who've never really listened to the Beatles but have heard other people describe them.

It's true that there are several superficial touches that immediately call Magical Mystery Tour to mind: the trumpet solo that sounds like 'Penny Lane', the ostinato reminiscent of 'I Am The Walrus', the big cello section and a fair impersonation of Ringo's "backwards" drum fills, for instance. But at the same time, there's no way anyone could mistake this for the real deal: of course this is partly because of Roland Orzabal's voice (which I admit I've never liked) and partly because of the lyric which tries to encompass both Summer-Of-Love positivity and Lennonesque cynicism and sarcasm. That's a very tough balance to strike and it doesn't really come off here. Incidentally, I once read in an American newspaper that the line "kick out the Style, bring back the Jam" was a critique of Paul Weller (they didn't mention the MC5 parallel) and if true this is obviously anachronistic to 1967 as well as being the opposite of what you'd expect TFF to think. The most crucial mistake, though, is that this lacks the economy of the best Beatles work: even the 7" edit we get here clocks in at about 5:40, which is not something John, Paul, George, Ringo and George Martin would have countenanced at their peak (aside from the extended outro to 'Hey Jude', and even that was done to make a point). There's a strong sense that production has been ladled onto this track rather than being integral to it, and the basic performance isn't really as tight as it could have been, a little too blatantly the product of high-tech eighties studios and click-tracks.

I don't want to sound like this is a really bad record, because it isn't, and it's certainly one of the best things they ever did together (also one of the last, until a reunion in the mid-2000s); it's just that when it's so obvious what they were aiming for, it's hard to ignore how far they missed. 'Sowing The Seeds Of Love' sounds more like a precursor to the self-consciously anthemic Oasis songs than a throwback to Sgt. Pepper.

Available on: Mad World: The Collection

Amen! UK 'Passion'

2011-10-26T22:13:00.027+01:00

Chart Peak: 15

YouTube

Amen! UK are Panos Liassi, Luvain Maximaba and Candy Girl Pauls Masterson... 'Passion' was a major floor filler in the clubs and then crossed over to make the national Top 15 in early February '97.

The illustration of the single cover shows the "UK" part of the name hidden away in the exclamation mark, which does rather suggest they were forced to add it, presumably due to legal action from the US rock act Amen. And when the starting point of a post is typography, you can probably guess how excited I am about the song.

I've had to listen to 'Passion' several times to try and form any memory of it at all, and I'm still struggling: it's an utterly generic commercial dance track whereon an uncredited female singer informs us about some passion which is not only running through her brain, but also driving her insane. It's nice of her to let us know but I don't especially care. This is precisely the sort of thing that put me off dance music: there's no energy, no surprises in the rhythms or melodies, just three minutes of boredom.

It all makes for a dull ending for what had been a relatively interesting album. Burying a lot of samey dance tracks at the end wasn't a great move.

Available on: Classic Dance Anthems

B.B.E. 'Flash'

2011-10-25T21:05:00.013+01:00

Chart Peak: 5

YouTube

Due for release on 17th March '97, 'Flash' is the storming follow-up to the huge British and European anthem 'Seven Days And One Week'.

They mean British in the sense that it was popular in Britain, of course, since B.B.E. were Italian and French. And yes, "British and European" is a bit of a tautology, but we all knew what they meant. There's something quite mid-late 1990s about a dance act from mainland Europe scoring consecutive Top 5 singles (and in this case, two more Top 20s thereafter) with obviously club-oriented material: no cover versions or big name guest stars here.

'Flash' is another totally instrumental track, though a more eventful one than DJ Quicksilver's attempt. Some of the percussive sounds on it remind me a bit of 'Gunman' by 187 Lockdown. It's not quite the sort of think I'd listen to out of choice still, but it has less of the sense of going round in circles than most big trance hits.

Also appearing on: Now 35
Available on: Brave New World 6

DJ Quicksilver 'Bellissima'

2011-10-24T00:30:00.014+01:00

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

'Bellisssima' is the European club anthem that looks set to invade the the Uk chart sometime around 31st March '97... You have been warned!

I realise it's pretty standard practice to refer to any dance record as a "club anthem" but it rarely seems truer than this. 'Bellissima' is one of those tracks that are so functional it almost feels unfair to try and form an opinion on them out of the intended context, but then again this is exactly the sort of challenge I was trying to set myself when I started this. It's an entirely instrumental track that starts with a standard progression and builds in an odd whistling note every so often to give the track structure. Not really for me, I must admit.

Also appearing on:Now 38, 39
Available on: Positiva Presents Essential Club Anthems

Sash! 'Encore Une Fois'

2011-10-22T22:30:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 2YouTube

Sash!'s Faithless-inspired smash 'Encore Une Fois' flew into the chart at No.2 on 23rd February '97... It is one of the fastest-selling dance tunes of recent times selling around 200,000 copies in just 2 weeks.

Few would have guessed at the time, but Sash! were embarking on a record-breaking career: this was the first of three hits to peak in the runner-up position in 1997 alone, and they ended up with five number 2s, more than any other act who never managed a Number One. And by the way, I did say "they" - although Sascha Lappessen is the public face of the act, they are in fact a trio; I presume the other two DJS shown in this video are the other two members of the groups, but it's hard to tell as they're rarely seen publicly. As usual, they worked with various guest vocalists, sometimes credited, sometimes not: this one is fronted by their fellow German Sabine Ohmes, who capitalised on this success by adopting the stage name Encore! and singing only in French hereafter, most famously on her hit 'Le Disc Jockey' (see what she did there?), which is even more similar to the original of this track than to the British hit version.

I do recall hearing this for the first time on the chart rundown and being totally unable to grasp the appeal of it to anyone. Although it was hardly the first record in this style to become a hit (hence the sleevenote reference to Faithless), it still remained utterly beyond my ken. This wasn't even the "serious" dance I was reading about in the NME, to my ears just a lot of humming noises with somebody speaking French over it. Over the years, Lappeson became a more endearing presence on the pop scene and I can get into "imagining why people might like it" territory with this one now, but it's not a favourite of mine still.

Also appearing on:Now 37 [with Rodrigues], 38 [with LaTrec], 39, 41 [with Shannon], 42, 45, 71 [with Stunt]Available on: Ministry Of Sound: The Rush 2010

The Source Featuring Candi Staton 'You Got The Love'

2011-10-21T23:38:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 3 [4 in 1991]
YouTube

John Truelove's club anthem was originally a Top 5 smash in 1991... New mixes saw the powerful cut, which features the timeless vocals of Candi Staton, return to the chart at No. 3 in February '97.

In fact, Candi Staton's original gospel single crept into the Top 100 just before Christmas 1986, but it's fair to say that more people are familiar with Truelove's dance reworking, originally a bootleg that later went legit. And if they missed it the first time around, they'll probably have caught up with the seemingly endless stream of revivals since: this is the highest-charting version to use Staton's vocal, although of course 'You Got The Dirtee Love' outdid this by one place in 2010.

The main result of all this is that my ears are quite fatigued of this song. It's been just about long enough since the last remix that I can stand to hear this now, but I still find it hard to give it the sort of close listen that would reveal why people might prefer this mix (by Rhythm Masters, says the sleeve note here) over any other. Indeed it's hard to escape the suspicion that they didn't and it was just an excuse to milk a few more bob out of a one-hit wonder.

Also appearing on:Now 19, 63 [other mixes of this track]
Available on: This Is... 1997

Ant & Dec 'Shout'

2011-10-20T23:25:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 10
YouTube

Released on 3rd March '97, 'Shout' looks certain to become Ant McPartlin and Dec(lan) Donnelly's 12th Top 20 hit in barely 3 years... They have been described as a cross between Reeves & Mortimer and Zig & Zag (!)

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you might be faintly surprised to learn that the only two song from it I have a physical single of are this and 'Beetlebum'. I was slightly surprised there weren't more of them myself, really. But as for my possession of this single at all, well, that's nothing anomalous. You can probably see in the image that I didn't pay full price and my purchase of the single itself was mainly out of curiosity about Steve Lamacq's remix on the B-side. I already knew the song from the album though because my brother had it; both of us had rather a soft spot for Ant & Dec. As dabbling actors, they always seemed to be having more fun being pop stars than most, distancing themselves from the other boy bands who insisted they were serious RnB groups.

By the time the duo had reverted to their own names they'd embraced Britpop more than any of their peers , presumably because this was nearer their own taste than the watered-down swingbeat of their earlier hits. 'Shout' goes a bit further by adding a bassline after the fashion of 'Walk On The Wild Side' and stinging fuzz guitar as well as the slightly odd lyric which the boys themselves presumably had a hand in. It's a slightly odd mix but an enjoyable pop record. It's just a pity that they followed up with the dull ballad 'Falling' and then retired from pop, if we forget the England 2002 single. Which we probably should.

Also appearing on: Now 31 [as PJ & Duncan], 35Available on: Ant & Dec - The Essential Collection

Alisha's Attic 'Indestructible'

2011-10-18T23:54:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 12YouTube

Alisha's Attic are sisters Karen and Shelley... They came from Essex to conquer the world and have done alright so far - Indestructible' is their 3rd hit in less than a year and has followed 'I Am I Feel' & Alisha Rules The World' into the top 20.

Brian Poole's daughters were nothing if not consistent chart performers at the end of the last century: this was the second of three consecutive hits to peak at 12, and the singles either side of it peaked at 13 and 14. It's faintly surprising that they're so little represented in the Now! series, although having a lot of hits close together can be a problem in that way. The greater problem is that they're represented here by a rather middling song, which sort of floats by without making much impression on the listener, rather than one of several stronger singles with more attitude or melody that could have been here. Maybe it's a female thing. Like Cathy Dennis (remember my last-but-one post all those months ago?) both Poole sisters moved into songwriting once their stardom as performers was over. Shelly [as she now spells it] seems to have become the more successful in terms of actual hits. Also appearing on:Now 41Available on: Alisha Rules The World

The Divine Comedy 'Everybody Knows (Except You)'

2011-10-08T14:54:00.002+01:00

Chart Peak: 14

YouTube

Due for release on 10th March 1997, 'Everybody Knows' finds mainman Neil Hannon in real romantic mood this time around... It is tipped to give them their biggest hit to date.

In the end, it didn't quite make it - this matched the peak of breakthrough hit 'Something For The Weekend' but spent one less week in the Top 75. Perhaps I should take the blame as I bought none of the three CD single formats available: it seemed unnecessary when I'd got the album for my birthday two days earlier: it seems to have been a matter of policy for the Divine Comedy to release albums before singles. Apparently you were supposed to buy all three (card-sleeved) CD singles and fit them into the large box around the album CD, but I didn't realise that at the time, and probably wouldn't have bothered anyway.

I did like the song though. Like most people, I'd only become aware of Neil Hannon and his work the previous year, although I had read a review about him in the NME before Chris Evans started playing him so I'm almost cool. Anyway, this seemed like a refinement of the template of his previous album, aided by the fact that he could now afford to record the whole orchestra at the same time: the album was officially recorded at soundchecks at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, although probably with a little touching-up in a studio afterwards. It lends the production a certain lightness of touch that prevents Hannon's ironic lyric from being too irritating. Mind you, even at the most jokey (his dramatic delivery of the line "I made a small boy cry") there's always some sort of sense that the desperation is real - within the scope of the performance, at least, not necessarily in Hannon's own personal life - that saves this from sounding like a joke at the listener's expense.

Also appearing on: Now 42
Available on: A Secret History? The Best Of The Divine Comedy

Cathy Dennis 'Waterloo Sunset'

2011-09-23T22:52:00.033+01:00

Chart Peak: 11

YouTube [warning: contains John Barrowman]

Cathy hit big in the early 1990s with tunes such as 'Just Another Dream', 'Too Many Walls' and the Top 5 smash 'Touch Me'... She returned to the UK Top 20 in 1997 with this cover of the Ray Davies classic 'Waterloo Sunset'.

It's not on YouTube, but the original video for this single actually featured a cameo appearance from Ray Davies, so presumably he had no objections to this version. I recall reading at the time that they'd met up at a songwriting retreat or something, and presumably Dennis got her money's worth from that as she has of course become a hugely successful songwriter.

Here we find her at the tail end of her career as a pop star, when she'd made an unexpected swerve into sixties-styled pop, with original material as well as covers. Presumably this was to at least some extent a reaction to Britpop, but commercially it didn't pan out brilliantly for her even here (and needless to say, it made no impact at all in the US, where she'd been more successful than I expected before this). This is, in all fairness, a perfectly respectable version of the song but it lacks some of the depth of the original, not really conveying the mixed emotions of the Kinks version. I'm open-minded enough not to hate it but I can't really see the point.

Also appearing on: Now 16 [D Mob introducing Cathy Dennis], 20
Available on: Am I The Kind Of Girl ?

Space 'Dark Clouds'

2011-09-22T22:47:00.015+01:00

Chart Peak: 14

YouTube

'Dark Clouds' was the 4th hit single in a row for Liverpool's Space... It is the latest in a string of successes following 'Female Of The Species', 'You And Me Vs The World' and 'Neighbourhood'.

Second Merseyside act in a row (and Mansun were from Chester, which isn't all that far away), and another single that I remembered not minding at the time. I suspect that's more because it seemed to tone down the self-conscious quirkiness of their previous hits than because it was an especially appealing song; to be frank it sounds pretty useless now and I can understand why it's almost entirely forgotten. I also recall that one of the B-sides was a song called 'Influenza' which I'd previously had on a free cassette from Select Magazine (this feels like it must have been about a hundred years ago, doesn't it?) and had genuinely liked. I'm somewhat reluctant to go back to it now, but the album I've linked to below contains both tracks should you with to disagree.

Also appearing on: Now 34, 35, 39, 41
Available on: Invasion of the Spiders

Cast 'Free Me'

2011-09-21T22:47:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 7

YouTube

Due for release on 24th March '97, 'Free Me' is the stonking new single from the top Mersey combo they call Cast... It is likely to storm into the chart in a fairly big way, like.

So I was all set to start this post by talking about how forgotten this song and band were and then what do I hear on Steve Wright's Non-Stop Oldies the day I start to write this post? Well, actually it was the follow-up to this, 'Guiding Star' but still, it was a bit of a surprise.

At the time, though, Cast were very much on a roll and the first single from their second album cruised easily into the Top 10. I recall quite liking it a the time, although I noticed the very similar middle eight to David Bowie's 'Little Wonder' from earlier in the year. I probably hadn't heard it for a good five years when I bought my copy of Now 36. Sadly it proved to be the track that disappointed me most: not that it's a bad song, but it's not an outstanding one either, and even though all the same people were involved it seems to lack the surefooted production of the singles from their first album. Probably just as well I never bought Mother Nature Calls, then.

Also appearing on: Now 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 43
Available on: True 90s (3 CD Set)

Mansun 'Wide Open Space'

2011-09-19T23:03:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 15

YouTube

Mansun are Paul, Chad, Stove and Andie... They have hit the singles chart with titles such as 'Take It Easy Chicken', 'Stripper Vicar' and this track, the pulsating Top15 hit 'Wide Open Space'.

It might have seemed more logical to use the bigger and more recent hit 'She Makes My Nose Bleed', but posterity has rather vindicated this selection. Though far from their biggest chart hit in the UK, 'Wide Open Space' is perhaps their most-remembered song nowadays - it's also the closest they came to a hit in the US, although that's still not very close to be fair.

Not unlike James, there was always something rather self-admiring about Mansun, and their obsession with gimmickry and in-references. Nonetheless, I have to hand it to Paul Draper, who wrote produced and sang this (apparently he claims to have played all the instruments as well): this is a brilliant piece of record-making, cleverly arranged for multiple guitars, pianos and Mellotron. Importantly there's enough variation in the arrangement to hold your attention without it distracting from the melody. The words were apparently an afterthought, which is a good excuse for me not to try and make sense of them - but don't think I didn't notice you slipping the word "bugger" into the backing vocals, Draper! Tut tut. It's not the rudest word ever on a Now! album but that's another story.

My one complaint is that the edit featured here (and on other compilation albums) has a rather inadequate fade (presumably because somebody was afraid of running into the next track) rather than the full close of the original single and video.

Also appearing on: Now 40
Available on: Attack Of The Grey Lantern (Collectors Edition)

James 'She's A Star'

2011-09-17T23:22:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 9

YouTube

James have been making melodious, lyrical and intimate music since way back in the early 1980s... 'She's A Star' saw them back in the UK Top 10 with a bang in early '97.

I'm not entirely sure what's supposed to be so "intimate" about this song, and if anything I'd call it rather the opposite - it has a stately quality that makes it seem a bit like they're trying to write a classic song self-consciously, as it were. And the result is that like a lot of James records it leaves me rather cold. There are parts of it I can admire: it's catchy, there's a nice slide guitar part and the little bit of wordplay where Tim Booth sings "She knows where to hide in the dark/She's nowhere to hide in the dark" is sort of cute. But is set against a backdrop that's fundamentally chugging and Booth's vocal mannerisms tend to irritate rather than charm me.

But like the sleevenote says, this did get them a massive radio hit and their third Top 10 appearance, starting something of a revival in the band's fortunes for the next few years. I just don't really get it.

Also appearing on: Now 20, 21, 26, 37, 41, 43
Available on: Whiplash

Blur 'Beetlebum'

2011-09-15T22:49:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 1 (1 week)

YouTube

'Beetlebum' marked a winning return to the chart for Blur when it entered at No. 1 in late January '97... The quartet are now into their 7th year of hit-making.

I was slightly surprised to get as far as seven tracks into the second disc of an album from this era before I got to a single that I had a photographable physical copy of. For the record, I did buy 'Breathe' as a download, though obviously not at the time. No way I was going to miss out on the long-awaited comeback single from my then-favourite band, even though I'm not sure I'd heard it beforehand: in fact, I even went against my usual principles and bought one of the CD singles as well as the 7", although when I later conferred with my brother it turned out we'd both got the same CD. Darn.

You might have deduced from the above intro, and the fact that this song was widely perceived at the time as an attempt to jettison the kind of fans who'd
cheer when they get to the chorus on Top Of The Pops, that this was heading in the direction of me being disappointed. But no, not a bit of it. I loved this record from the moment I heard the intro. For all that it superficially seems to be the opposite of their other Number One, 'Country House', it's actually a very cleverly structured track: yes, the mood it achieves is very different but it does that through a much more subtle arrangement than is first apparent: listen out for the piano in the chorus and the synthesised trumpet in the verses.

Even the difference in tone seems to me at least partly a matter of choice. It's widely held - and no longer denied by Damon Albarn - that 'Beetlebum' is a song about heroin use, probably inspired by people very close to him indeed. So it's dark territory of course but then again a lot of their earlier songs had darker sides too, they just weren't played up as much. And even this track has a melodic base to it that makes it easier on the ear than if they'd worked as far into the free-jazz direction as they'd threatened to. That didn't stop it being one of the least successful Number One singles ever, but it should have.

Also appearing on: 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 37, 42, 43
Available on: Blur

Sheryl Crow 'Everyday Is A Winding Road'

2011-09-12T23:05:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 12

YouTube

Sheryl won Best International Female award at the Brits recently and performed this rousing worldwide hit on the show... 'Everyday Is A Winding Road' was a No. 12 smash in late '96.

Apologies for the break in transmission back there. I wasn't feeling well and I try to avoid writing up anything I actually like when I'm out of sorts because I fear not doing it justice.

Anyway, whilst she may not have been a very close fit with my britpop-dominated early record collection, I was very keen on the first two Sheryl Crow albums at the time, particularly her self-produced second set; perhaps shamefully, I worked out that buying it doubled the number of albums I owned with female producers. In all honesty, she pretty much lost my interest after that point and I don't drag these two out much either, but this track has remained a favourite. Listening with a critical ear now, I admit that the lyric comes over as a little self-conscious, and perhaps over-reacts to her pop-star image; there's an element of "ooh look, I mentioned nicotine because I'm sooo edgy", but this remains a fine-sounding record full of looped percussion and "duelling" harmoniums (harmonia?) to create a genuinely interesting sound picture. You can almost hear the dust. Neil Finn's only-really-noticeable-when-you-know-they're-there backing vocals probably weren't wholly necessary, but nice of him to chip in anyway. It turns out to be his last Now appearance to date as well.

Also appearing on: Now 35, 37, 39, 41, 52
Available on: The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow

Monaco 'What Do You Want From Me?'

2011-09-01T23:51:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 11

YouTube

'What Do You Want From Me?' is Monaco's debut single... They are the legendary former Joy Division/ New Order bassist Peter Hook and singer David Potts and they make a right good racket too!

Of course, both Hook and Potts had also been members of the less-celebrated Revenge, and if we want to be picky about this, New Order officially still existed in 1997, although they were effectively silent in the second half of the decade. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that the success of Monaco (admittedly this is one of two Top 40 hits, but that's two more than Revenge ever had) was due to this lack of new New Order material at the time.

Certainly - and unsurprisingly - the instrumental of this track does sound very like the parent act, especially but not only because of Peter Hooks' typical high-lying bass part, but the finished article is slightly different. Hook's lead vocal on the verses suggests why he wasn't the lead singer in New Order, whilst Potts' sha-la-la backing vocals give it something of a flavour of the janglier side of Britpop, laid on top of the post-punk-dance foundation. It probably shouldn't work but for most of the running time of this song it does. It's not flawless; the drum programming is less imaginative than on some of the tracks earlier in this disc and they seem to have been undecided about whether to use a piano solo, a guitar solo or a synth-string solo. But this is a good enjoyable track that deserves to be remembered more than it is.

Available on: True 90s (3 CD Set)

Placebo 'Nancy Boy'

2011-08-30T22:15:00.026+01:00

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

Placebo are Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal and Steve Hewitt... Singer Brian met Stefan at school in Luxembourg but they didn't form the band until they ran into each other in London years later... The driving 'Nancy boy' gave them their first UK smash in January '97 when it reached No. 4

Another of the songs I associate very closely with that coach trip at the start of the year. At the time I hated this track - and Placebo in general - for their pseudishness, and their rather tiresome "Oooh look we're singing about sex! Isn't that naughty?" atmosphere. When I saw the video a few months later I hated that even more for the same reasons, although I did think it was amusing that Steve Hewitt's face is obscured throughout: he presumably doesn't play on this track as it was originally released on the album before he joined the band. To me the band's name seemed all too accurate.

This single mix is heavily reworked from the original album version and in all honesty the best parts of it do seem to lie in the remix. I'm rather more tolerant of this record now and can appreciate it for what it is, a well-put-together rock single, but I'll never really love it. I certainly wasn't one of the people who helped the album re-enter the Top 200 at 5, a rare achievement.

Available on: 101 Indie Classics [Explicit]

The Chemical Brothers 'Block Rockin' Beats'

2011-08-29T21:16:00.053+01:00

Chart Peak: 1 [1 week]

YouTube

Due for release on 24th March '97, 'Block Rockin' Beats' is the follow-up to last year's chart-topping collaboration with Noel Gallagher... It could be very large indeed!

On my copy of Now 36, and presumably on everyone else's too, the first note of this track is missing, which would be highly annoying if I didn't have a copy of this track already. It's the only example I've ever encountered of such a production error on a Now album, unless anyone else knows different.
It's particularly irritating that it interrupts the otherwise rather neat intro (better on this single edit than the album version, which starts with a sound effect). Like 'Breathe', this is dependent on a bassline, allegedely inspired by Pink Floyd's 'Let There Be More Light', which hooks in the listener as the Chems run through their familiar repertoire of siren like effects, pounding beats and out-of context vocal samples. Even more so than the previous track, it's a truly outstanding shot of drum programming, twisting and turning with remarkable feel.

Like 'Breathe', it became the act's second consecutive Number One single, although even by 1997 standards this wasn't a particularly big one: it entered at the top (in a week when the Chart Show on ITV had anointed their old friends and collaborators The Charlatans as chart-toppers instead) but it managed to slip all the way down to 8 the next week. Despite that, it actually feels a more commercially acceptable track than the Prodigy's effort, possibly because it lacks the full-on aggression of their work: indeed, the Chemical Brothers, despite their druggy-sounding name, never seemed to have a controversial or confrontational public image. They've always preferred to come across as craftsmen more than the agitators of their more established rivals.

The other difference is that 'Block Rockin' Beats' stays much closer to the established structures of rock music, and indeed won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance the following year. With their wide understanding of musical history, it was the Chemical Brothers, rather than 2Unlimited, who became the dance act that the Britpop fans could and did enjoy. In a way perhaps they were emblematic of the way pop's relationship with the past changed in the 1990s.

Also appearing on: Now 43, 51, 60, 67
Available on: Brotherhood [+digital booklet]

Prodigy 'Breathe'

2011-08-27T20:38:00.065+01:00

Chart Peak: 1 [2 weeks]

YouTube

'Breathe' was the Prodigy's 11th consecutive Top 15 hit single... It topped the chart in November '96 as the follow-up to the astonishing 'Firestarter' and propelled Liam, Maxim, Keith and Leeroy into the super-league of UK groups.

Coming at dance-rock from rather the opposite direction to U2, (The) Prodigy are of course one of the biggest singles acts of the 1990s (and beyond - their unbroken Top 20 run stretched from 1991 to 2009) but are largely absent from Now! albums. Doubtless this suited their rather annoying self-conscious outsider image to a tee, but I suspect the more prosaic explanation was that XL Recordings were reluctant to licence the tracks (of their other commercial big-hitters, The White Stripes never appeared in the series, Dizzee Rascal didn't until he'd left the label and Adele only shows up sporadically). That said 'Breathe' does push towards the fringes of what might be acceptable to the mass audience these compilations are aimed at, with its confrontational nature and heavy bass.

The aforementioned 'Firestarter' was a major shift in direction for the act, most obviously because it was their first record to feature any musical contribution from a member other than Liam Howlett, with Keith Flint bawling out a lead vocal. As that had also been their first chart-topping single, the follow-up had to up the ante somewhat, and 'Breathe' does so, not least because Maxim joins Flint as a vocalist: Leeroy Thornhill remains silent, which may be why he eventually left the group. It also goes one better compositionally; where 'Firestarter' relies rather on shock value - both to the general public and to fans expecting something more electronic - 'Breathe' is a much more thoroughly structured piece, if no less aggressive. The lyrics make little or no literal sense, but they work to conjure a suitably dark atmosphere, underlined by the multiple outstanding bass parts - and the (evidently synthesised) drums are remarkably intricate as well. The result was a record both disturbing and exciting, and one that even a long-term disliker of the Prodge like myself had to admit was pretty good. It was a creative pinnacle they couldn't sustain, although they sold plenty of albums off the back of this, and my enthusiasm soon juddered to a halt like the ending of this track.

Oddly, my strongest personal recollection of this track - hearing it in the the chart rundown on a summer evening - is entirely incompatible with its release date in November. I also thought, before I started studying these things, that I remembered it being on Now 34, though it obviously isn't and indeed couldn't have been. Memory is a funny thing sometimes.

Also appearing on: Now 28
Available on: Their Law The Singles 1990 - 2005

U2 'Discotheque'

2011-08-26T22:19:00.050+01:00

Chart Peak: 1 (1 week)

YouTube

U2 were formed at Dublin's Mount Temple School nearly 20 years ago... They are regarded by many as the biggest band in the world today and this cracking cut, 'Discotheque', entered the chart at No. 1 on release in February '97.

I suspect most people who bought the album might have had some inkling of who U2 were already, but nice of the note to clarify things anyway. 'Discotheque' became the sixth consecutive one-week chart-topper, an unprecedented sequence at the time, and gave way after only one week itself, although it was reportedly their fastest selling single yet. And if you've been reading this blog all week, you'll get Mark Goodier's Brian Harvey joke.

Of course we're deep into U2's ironic, experimental era here, as exemplified by their much-trailed Village People impression in the video and the album title Pop. With hindsight, the band have dismissed this album as rushed (they recorded it in only two years!) and especially now there is something rather confused about it. Perhaps it's not wholly surprising that their next move was to rerecord an old B-side as the lead track for a best of album, but it was still disappointing. I wouldn't have admitted it in 1997, but a U2 who don't know what they're doing still have more to offer than the autopilot band that took over in later years. Intentionally or otherwise, the record sounds as confused as the situation I suppose it's supposed to be about, and that distorted Edge guitar riff is impossible to get out of your head. Even Bono's voice isn't that annoying once Howie B's messed with it enough. At worst, an interesting failure.

Also appearing on: Now 4, 5, 20, 22, 32, 37, 41, 47, 48, 49, 53, 57 [LMC vs U2], 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 72
Available on: Discotheque [3 track]

911 'The Day We Find Love'

2011-08-25T21:44:00.031+01:00

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube
'The Day We Find Love', which was a No. 4 smash in February '97, gave Lee, Spike & Jimmy their biggest hit to date... it followed their previous successes with 'Don't Make Me Wait', 'Love Sensation' and 'Night To Remember'

Yes, 1996-7 was the era of the teen-oriented Shalamar cover version. I've got to admit that at the time I did have a little bit of a soft spot for 911, who always seemed of the more fun boy bands of their era, especially compared to the rather po-faced likes of the Backstreet Boys. But for my money they never bettered 'Bodyshakin', which is one hit of theirs that never made the Now! series.

Like most acts of this type, they let the side down with too many slow songs (especially considering they were originally discovered as dancers), and this is one of those; it's another song that I remembered existing but not the sound of. It sounds like a record that's trying too hard to be grown-up and fails to work on any level at all really. Don't say I didn't warn you about the end of Disc 1, eh? See you on the other side.

Also appearing on: Now 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 43
Available on: The Greatest Hits And A Little Bit More

Backstreet Boys 'Anywhere For You'

2011-08-24T20:58:00.035+01:00

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube
Due for release on 17th March '97, 'Anywhere For You' is the follow-up to 'Quit Playin' Games'... It is surely destined to give the American harmonisers another British hit.

You can feel the enthusiasm dripping from that note there. This is one song that I genuinely didn't remember at all - I didn't just not remember how it sounded, like the Boyzone track yesterday, I didn't even remember that it existed. Of course I remember the band (indeed, they're still going now) and many of their songs. They were were particularly notable as one of the few US boybands to be really successful at the time, although they'd yet to conquer their home market at this stage.

Despite making the Top 5, this ballad passed me at the time, and it has again now. I noticed when I was searching online to make the links for this post that autocomplete tailed off after the band name, which implies that not many other people remember it. And yes, I'm aware that I've written a lot in this post without saying much about this song, but it really is utterly featureless. Even other slow Backstreet songs tend to have choruses that stick in the head but this is quite possibly the least distinctive track in Now! history. And that's quite a claim, believe you me.

Also appearing on: Now 35, 37, 38, 39, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51
Available on: Greatest Hits - Chapter 1

Boyzone 'A Different Beat'

2011-08-23T20:17:00.042+01:00

Chart Peak: 1 (1 week)

YouTube
'A Different Beat' was the boys' 7th Top 5 smash in a row and second chart-topper... It stormed straight in at No. 1 in December '96.

A strange one this - I remember listening to the chart rundown where it entered at the top (and probably at least some of the other five weeks it was in the Top 40) and I even remember Mark Goodier congratulating one of the band down the phoneline. And yet I don't remember the song at all. So here goes...

Ah yes, it's their "ethnic" one, complete with African children in the video, although Boyzone themselves clearly went nowhere south of Clapham to film their part. Although musically not quite at the level of inspid balladry the band would soon descend to, it's obvious that the group was already being run as a showcase for Ronan Keating and Stephen Gately - you can see in this TotP clip (from the days when they tried to pretend the bands weren't miming by playing the crowd noise very loud) that the other three aren't sure what to do with themselves when the song isn't especially danceable. Oddly enough, four band members have writing credits, I don't know whether that's just a misprint. Were it not for their apparent involvement, I'd have suspected that somebody wrote this as a potential charity single and dumped it on Boyzone when it was rejected. Certainly the sentimental lyric points in that direction but also lends itself well to the Christmas market and promotion of their second album, to which this was the title track.

Also appearing on: 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 71
Available on: A Different Beat

East 17 'Hey Child'

2011-08-22T15:14:00.050+01:00

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube
'Hey Child' was yet another Top 3 smash for East 17... It was the follow-up to 'If You Ever', their hugely successful duet with Gabrielle and their 16th UK Top 20 hit in a row.

Just a quick warning - it's all boy bands till the end of Disc One, so if you don't want to read about them I'd suggest you come back on Friday or Saturday.

Anyway, this was indeed the sixteenth East 17 hit, although the sleevenote's not totally accurate because the second one only got to 28. It was also the last hit for the original incarnation of the band: it was the second new track from their snappily-titled compilation Around The World - HIT SINGLES - The Journey So Far, and at that stage of their career the record company probably would have quit while they were ahead anyway. In the event though, it was during the promotion of this single that lead singer Brian Harvey made his notorious and shocking-at-the-time comments about how great taking Ecstacy was; he claimed at one point to have taken 12 in a night, although as a non-user myself I don't know whether this is possible. In any case, this raised enough controversy (particularly in the slow news time of early January) that the band were more or less forced to sack him, and whilst he subsequently rejoined, main songwriter Tony Mortimer bailed out instead. This remaining trio carried on for a while under the (ironic under the circumstances) name E-17, but it didn't last.

As it happens, 'Hey Child' is (unless I'm hugely misremembering things) their one hit to feature Mortimer as lead singer, although of course he raps on several other hits. I don't know whether this song was especially personal to him, or whether Harvey just didn't want to do it, but either way he isn't a very good singer, and the song is his usual preachiness (presumably aimed at a newborn) with a side order of psuedo-gospel. It feels a lot longer than four minutes, I can tell you, and there's probably a reason why it's not one of their songs that people remember.

Naturally, the success of Take That in the last five years created a lot of pressure for their biggest rivals to reform, and there seems to have been a lot of stop-start activity with various incarnations of the act, usually minus either Harvey or Mortimer. The latest version (which includes Mortimer and a lead singer who was on X-Factor once) has a comeback single out soon, whilst Brian Harvey was recently in the news for filming the police when he hadn't paid his electrity bill.

Also appearing on: Now 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 35 (with Gabrielle), 41 (as E-17)
Available on: The Very Best Of East Seventeen (DMD)

Kavana 'I Can Make You Feel Good'

2011-08-20T20:28:00.031+01:00

Chart Peak: 8

YouTube

Kav's cover of Shalamar's 1982 groover 'I Can Make You Feel Good' gave him his first Top Tenner in January '97 when it made No. 8... It was the third chart single for Manchester's newest singing sensation.

The days were ending when a teen-pop act who didn't make the Top 10 with his first two singles would get to release a third, although perhaps "Kav" was in any case protected by sharing a manager with Take That. Actual quote from the Wikipedia entry about his debut album: "Kavana worked with many big name stars on the album including Lulu and Howard Donald".

Anyway, his version of this song is a fairly straight retread of the original (caution: clip contains Simon Bates getting the title wrong. Twice.), but with a slightly more Nineties production. I was never fond enough of the original to care one way or another about covers of it, and he does an acceptable but uninteresting job. Ten years after his sole Now! appearance, he readopted his first name (Anthony) and re-emerged as a reality TV show competing for a part in Grease. He didn't win.

Available on: Special Kind Of Something - The Best Of

Gabrielle 'Walk On By'

2011-08-19T23:28:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 7

YouTube

Brit-Award winner Gabrielle made No. 7 in January '97 with this cover of Dionne Warwick's classic 'Walk On By'... Her other Top Ten smashes include 'Dreams', 'Give Me A Little More Time' and 'If You Ever' (with East 17).

The second highest-charting version of this song (Sybil took it to Number 5) and the only one ever to show up on a Now! album. Compared to the last Burt Bacharach composition I wrote about here ('On My Own'), this is of course a fine song, bolstered by Hal David's passive-agressive lyric; it's a pity that his contribution seemed somewhat overlooked in the big Bacharach revival of the 1990s. But you knew this was a good song, and you probably knew she was going to sing it well too, though if you didn't this Totp version with a live vocal might prove the point.

It gets a good production in the style of Nellee Hooper (I don't think it actually was him, but there's no credit in the booklet for this track) and the only problem is, it seems so utterly pointless. At least, it's not bringing enough new to the song to seem worth releasing as a single, but it's a decent album track.

Also appearing on: Now 25, 26, 27, 33, 35 (with East 17), 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 58
Available on: I Am Stressed

Eternal 'Don't You Love Me?'

2011-08-17T23:11:00.023+01:00

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube

'Don't You Love Me?' became Eternal's biggest hit to date when it shot straight into the Top 3 on 2nd March '97... It is the girls' 12th consecutive Top 20 hit.

This is already the third song title on the album that starts with the word "Don't". How negative.

I jest of course, but this is negative in the sense that it speaks of bad things happening. I remember feeling at the time that narrating all this real suffering and then asking "don't you love me?" in the chorus seemed a bit self-centered, but I suppose it's meant to imply that the people in the verses are saying that to God or something. Either way, though, it's about as effective a piece of social comment as Jamiroquai's effort, and less funky.

It feels very like a self-conscious effort to launch the band onto the US gospel market, although as far as I'm aware they never had any real success there. For all that the Bennett sisters are by all accounts committed Christians, it feels to much of a cynical move to convince.

Also appearing on: Now 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38
Available on: The Best

Damage 'Love Guaranteed'

2011-08-16T23:30:00.033+01:00

Chart Peak: 7

YouTube

Due for release on 10th March '97, 'Love Guaranteed' is tipped to be Damage's 3rd big chart smash. It follows the London fivepiece vocal group's previous winners 'Love II Love' and 'Forever'.

Still in RnB boyband territory, although of course Damage were an entire band instead of a solo artist. I remember I first became aware of them when somebody overnight stencilled their logo (the band name written into the shape of a footprint) all over the street in front of a nearby school.

The record isn't as tough-sounding as that might suggest. In fact it's quite drippy. They always seemed to fall slightly between the two stools of the serious RnB act they obviously wanted to be and the wimpish proto-Westlife pop act they had to be. Still, slushiness is no excuse to make boring music and this is forgettable in the extreme. In fact about the only part of it I can remember is that Christopher Lee is in the video. Although the band re-emerged in 2000 with a slightly more serious image, they seem to elicit relatively little nostalgia for a boy band with so many hits under their belts.

Also appearing on: Now 35, 37, 46, 48, 49
Available on: Ultimate Pop

Peter Andre 'Natural'

2011-08-15T20:15:00.011+01:00

Chart Peak: 6

YouTube
'Natural' shot stright into the UK chart at No. 6 on 2nd March '97... it followed the No.1 smash 'I Feel You' and became Peter's 4th big UK smash in just 9 months.

If he's no easier to take seriously than Mark Morrison, Andre is certainly more likeable; he seems to have better relationships with his hometown too, having been in Harrow only recently to assist a local charity. 14 years down the line, the title track of his first album is unlikely to be mistaken for a good record but neither is it as insultingly bad as Mark Morrison's effort.

It's watered-down makeweight RnB which clearly exists as an excuse to make a video of him with his shirt open; they even do the classic boyband shot where they get blown by the wind in loose white shirts, though I'm not sure who the other three guys are supposed to be. At least his attempts at seduction are a bit more consensual than Morrison's and the song has a sort of OK bassline.

Also appearing on: Peter Andre also appears on: Now 34, 35, 38, 40, 57
Available on: Natural (Eastwest Release)

Mark Morrison, 'Horny'

2011-08-14T00:06:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 5

YouTube
Mark has had hit after hit after hit in the last year... 'Horny' was a Top 5 monster in December '96 - it came after 'Return Of The Mack', 'Crazy' and 'Trippin' and was itself followed by his 5th top tenner 'Moan And Groan'.

If I thought I had any younger readers, I might want to emphasise the truth of that sleevenote to them: posterity recalls Mark Morrison as a a one-hit-wonder (which he seemingly was in some places) but here in the UK he managed five Top 10 singles in a year, though that was pretty much his lot, with only one Top 20 appearance since.

I don't know whether anyone actually remembers this song, but it's unlikely to come as a great surprise that 'Horny' find him huffing and puffing in his usually sub-Bobby Brown style about sex, dropping such couplets as "drop your clothes on the floor and close the door" (why that way round Mark?) and the unmissable "Roses are red and violets are blue/ Get on the floor, I wanna freak you". He even calls in a female rapper to explain how irresistable he is. You see her in the video, alongside some dancers in skintight police uniforms handcuffing him. As if all this wasn't laughable enough - and frankly it is - the way he says "you gotsk me horny" always reminded me of Popeye.

I suppose it's just about possible that his entire career was supposed to be played for laughs, but if so he's been in remarkably deep cover all these years. He was last seen calling himself the Beatles of Leicester and complaining that the city didn't pay enough respect to him.

Also appearing on: Now 36
Available on: Return Of The Mack

George Michael 'Spinning The Wheel (Forthright edit)'

2011-08-12T23:20:00.003+01:00

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

England's top vocal artiste, George Michael, has returned in the last year with a string of hit records... This is the massive club mix of 'Spinning The Wheel' which was a No. 2 smash for him in August '96.

And a club mix it is indeed. Why it features in place of the jazzy original (or the edited version of it that was the A-side of the single) I don't know but perhaps it's connected to the way the Now albums always seem to be one single behind with his tracks of this era - this fits into the period covered by Now 35, but that has his previous single, which belonged on Now 34, and that has the one that belonged on Now 33.

The song seems, or did to my uninterested ears at the time, to be another of the many songs about a protagonist who wonders where his beloved is and what they're up to, with the strong suspicion that they're being cheated on. In the light of what we know now, though, it takes on a somewhat deeper and darker hue with the implicit fear of HIV transmission; that of course explains the title and some of the shots in the video. And especially knowing what happened to Michael a couple of years later, it's tempting to wonder whether the song is consciously or subconsciously aimed at himself.

I have warmed to the original of the song somewhat over the years. But this mix seems to miss the point entirely, although Michael himself apparently liked it enough to perform this arrangement live.

Also appearing on: Now 22 (with Elton John), 23, 25 (with Queen), 34, 35, 37, 38

Robert Miles featuring Maria Nayler 'One And One'

2011-08-10T22:31:00.026+01:00

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube
DJ/Producer Robert Miles has had 3 major British hits in the last year. The Brit-Award winning Italian first hit with 'Children', then 'Fable' and then this tune - the haunting 'One And One' which was a Top 3 smash in late '96.

His first vocal hit, 'One & One' was co-written by Billy Steinberg and Rick Nowels, names I'd associate more with Belinda Carlisle than European trance. Indeed I half-expected it to be a cover of one of Carlisle's album tracks or something, but apparently not. Still, it's the kind of style you'd expect from the credits, and was presumably added to the album in an attempt to get a hit in America. Nayler has a pretty, breathy voice and the finished product is breezy and radio-friendly, but underwhelming.

Robert Miles also appears on: Now 34
Available on: ONE AND ONE

Jamiroquai 'Virtual Insanity'

2011-08-09T22:55:00.023+01:00

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube
The stormin' 'Virtual Insanity; was the track that broguth Jay Kay and Jamiroquai to an even bigger audience in the autumn of 1996... it was a Top 3 smash in August and was quickly followed by the groovin' 'Cosmic Girl' 3 months later.

Slightly odd for the sleevenote to draw attention to how out of date this inclusion is, but presumably Jamiroquai tracks were hard to get onto Now albums, as their impressive tally of hits only netted them four appearances, and their only Number One single never made it.

This was their second-highest placing though, and comes from their biggest-selling album - allegedly the biggest-selling funk album ever - Travelling Without Moving. I almost bought it myself, having sort of liked a few of the singles, but in retrospect I'm fairly glad I didn't, because I can't imagine I'd have listened to it much - the more I hear of Jamiroquai, the less I like them as they seem to reshuffle the same limited stock of musical ideas in a rather soulless way. On this particular song, Jay Kay also tries his hand at a bit of social commentary, declaring that "It's a wonder man can eat at all when things are big that should be small", trying to deride technological progress even as his album cover flaunts his enthusiasm for the four-wheeled kind of technology. I mean, I like cars and care about the environment too, but I try to avoid this sort of finger-wagging smugness.

Also appearing on: Now 26, 44, 50
Available on: High Times: Singles 1992-2006 (Special Edition)

The Blue Boy 'Remember Me'

2011-08-08T14:22:00.029+01:00

Chart Peak: 8

YouTube
'Remember Me' has been one of 1997's most successful singles to date... Its distinctive Marlena Shaw sample has helped the tune to spend 6 consecutive weeks in the UK Top 15 to date.

Not to be confused with the long-running indie band Blueboy (I've just had to edit the Wikipedia article!) or indeed with the Orange Juice song they were presumably named after, this Blue Boy (seemingly the accepted spelling) was Scottish DJ Alexis Blackmore, but as you'll see he's not named in the sleevenote and he's also the first act on this album whose face we don't get to see - the only illustration is the single cover.

Despite my general lack of radio listening, this is one track I did hear several times during a minibus trip from Lancaster to Norwich and back in early 1997. It reminds me of the times more than almost any other record I didn't buy back then.
'Remember Me' is based on samples from a live version of Marlena Shaw's 'Woman Of The Ghetto (which is a slightly ironic song to linking to on a night when my hometown has been put on lockdown for fear somebody might try to loot JD Sports, but that's by the by). Unfortunately the effect once looped and reedited (and indeed remixed for the single version) is actually a bit annoying, though it doesn't get on my nerves as much as it used to. And the single-buying public clearly loved it because it hung around much longer than most hits of the time, and was one of only a few tracks that year to peak after its first week. The best thing I can say for it is that it was an excuse to revisit the source material.

Available on: Funk Soul Classics

White Town 'Your Woman'

2011-08-06T20:35:00.048+01:00

Chart Peak: 1 (1 week)

YouTube
White Town is Jyoti Mishra... He hails from Derby and 'Your Woman', with its spanking Al Bowlly sample, raced to No.1 on release in January '97

Officially it was the lead track on the Abort? Retry? Fail? EP, but really a single in its own right, 'Your Woman' is famous as the home-recorded single that got picked up by Mark Radcliffe on Radio 1 and got to Number One. With my aforementioned radio avoidance I don't think I heard this before it charted either and I definitely remember that I didn't like it at the time, but I don't remember why.I know that at the time I was resistant to anything at all reminiscent of 80s synth-pop, and perhaps there's a little too much self-conscious cleverness about the record too.

All of which said, it's grown on me a lot in the years since, and when I acquired Now 36 it was one of the first tracks I ripped and put onto my MP3 player. I'm more impressed now by the mystery of the lyric (Who's singing to whom? Why is an obviously male voice telling us he can't be a woman?) and the sheer number of different musical ideas Mishra manages to squeeze into the track - I especially like the bleepy sounds followed by the crunchy bass and the stumbling finish. It's tempting to see that as some sort of metaphor for his career, but this might not be entirely fair. It's true that the single is a strong candidate for the one-hit-wonder label - the follow-up 'Undressed' managed not to even make the Top 50, whereupon EMI let him go - but Mishra seems happy enough that way now, and this did become one of the bigger British hits in the US of that era, reaching 23 and presumably helping keep the wolf from his door.

My brother was well ahead of me with this song, and he bought the album Women In Technology on cassette when you could still do such a thing (it doesn't even seem to be available on CD any more). I can only remember one other song from it now, though, and it wasn't even the other single. Oh well, it's this song that counts here.

Available on: Violent Veg - 40 Favourite Songs For Dad!

No Doubt 'Don't Speak'

2011-08-05T21:12:00.028+01:00

Chart Peak: 1 (3 weeks)

YouTube
'Don't Speak' was an American smash hit first and then a huge British chart-topper in February '97... Gwen and the boys expect a second big hit soon with 'Just A Girl'.

In early 1997, I didn't listen to the radio all that much, but I did listen to the chart rundown. So when Mark Goodier announced that the previous week's Number One had dropped to 6, I was at a loss to guess what might have replaced it; I guessed correctly that it wouldn't have been the one single I bought that week, 'Last Day' by Silver Sun. It turned out to be this lot, who I recalled having a minor hit with the original release of 'Just A Girl' the year before. Years later I was to discover that bassist Tony Kanal (as seen shirtless at the start of the video) went to the same primary school as me, though not at the same time.

Though I hadn't heard it before it became Number One, I've heard it often enough since, even on the radio the day I started writing this post. I must admit I was never fond of it, finding it terribly whiny and self-consciously emotive. Matthew Wilder's (yes, he of nothing breaking his stride fame) production is full of good ideas, but rather too full - we have to have the flamenco guitar solo *and* the muted trumpets *and* the big string section - the full whack just drags on too long. It's very much one of those songs where I can tell why people like it, I just don't want to listen to it myself.

Also appearing on: Now 37
Available on: Tragic Kingdom

The Beautiful South 'Don't Marry Her'

2011-08-04T20:44:00.030+01:00

Chart Peak: 8

YouTube

Top British pop group, The Beautiful South, had another smash with 'Don't Marry Her'... It followed 'Rotterdam' into the Top 10 in late '96

I know the question you're going to ask - and yes, of course it's the censored version. I remember my Dad got the Blue Is The Colour album for Christmas that year and had to be advised to heed the sticker warning of "blue language" on the opening track before he played it in the presence of the various assembled grandparents. Even in sanitised form (complete with the "tribute" to Sandra Bullock") this is a much darker record than its spotless MOR sound might fool you into thinking, clearly a product of Paul Heaton at his most misanthropic.

The siren voice of Jacqui Abbot tempts a man away from his imminent marriage by painting a dystopian picture of settled domestic life. Of course, it's unclear how literally we're supposed to take this since the early lyric "I'll never grow so old and flabby, that could never be" is one of the most transparently empty promises in pop, but even if it's just the man's fantasy it's a pretty bitter pill, even when sugared by the charming melody and brilliant musicianship. I loved this record at the time as a subversive masterpiece, but I admit to finding it slightly harder going as a fully-fledged adult.

Also appearing on: Now 15, 16, 18, 22, 27, 28, 32, 35, 41, 42
Available on: The Beautiful South - Gold

Bee Gees 'Alone'

2011-08-03T20:27:00.017+01:00

Chart Peak: 5

YouTube

It is 30 years this year since the Gibb brothers first charted with 'New York Minig Disaster 1941'... The trio's songwriting abilities and unique harmonies are again in evidence on their latest Top 5 smash 'Alone'

And if you thought Texas had been around for a long time in 1997, this is in another league. As I said earlier this year, they recovered from a quiet 1980s (at least as performers) with a series of hit singles in the 1990s, few of which are remembered now. Even as long ago as that you wouldn't have thought that the older demographic this sort of thing appealed to would still have been buying singles, but evidently their fans were loyal.

As a record it's as predictable as you'd expect, Gibb-by-numbers with even the gimmick of playing the intro on (synthesised?) bagpipes not attracting much attention. There's a level of craftmanship there that you might admire but the finished product is no more than competent.

Also appearing on: Now 29
Available on: The Ultimate Bee Gees

Texas 'Say What You Want'

2011-08-02T23:43:00.045+01:00

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube

Texas first hit big in 1989 with 'I Don't Want A Lover'... Ms Spiteri and the boys had their biggest hit to date with 'Say What You Want' - a No.3 monster in January '97.

Though they'd had other hits in between, Texas really seemed to be drifting into one-hit-wonderhood at this point. I remember being very surprised to hear them announced as a new entry on the chart early in 1997 when I'd pretty much forgotten they ever existed; but of course this proved to be only the start of their real commercial peak. Although most of the personnel were the same, they really seemed like a different band from the blues-rock incarnation of their earlier years, with a new slinkier sound influenced by trends in RnB but still old-school enough to appeal to a more mature audience. Perhaps no less importantly, they did what they'd always refused to do before and focussed more attention on Sharleen Spiteri, who started appearing alone on the record covers and in videos.

That description makes things seem very contrived, and doubtless it was to some extent, but they just about get away with it by displaying an apparently genuine love for the music. 'Say What You Want' was clearly "inspired" by Al Green's 'Tired Of Being Alone' and Marvin Gaye's 'Sexual Healing', but any record that can recall that latter song without making me want to throw up is onto a winner. I think they made better records before the formula got too tired, but this was a well-made pop single. And it sets out 1997's stall as a year of comebacks and surprise success from older acts.

Also appearing on: Now 37, 38, 38, 40, 43, 47, 48, 49, 56, 62, 63
Available on: I Don't Want A Lover

Spice Girls 'Mama'

2011-08-01T19:47:00.067+01:00

Chart Peak: 1 (3 weeks)

YouTube

'Mama', due for release on 3rd March 97, is tipped to give the Spice Girls their 4th consecutive No. 1 in Britain... Ginger, Scary, Baby, Sporty and Posh would go down in pop music history as the first act to top the charts with their first 4 hits... Oh and 'Wannabe' has just hit No. 1 in America - wow!

I don't think it's too much of a spoiler at this point to say that they did manage it, and that they then extended the record-breaking run to six, though that has been beaten since.

We're sort of back on my home turf here, 1997 being one of my favourite pop years - and indeed one of the best years of the 20th century for singles sales. That's not so say that music was all good, as we'll see in the next couple of months, but it was a time when I seemed to notice and form an opinion on almost any track that charted. My hope is that even when I don't like something on Now 36 I'll at least feel strongly enough about it to make for an interesting post.

We get a good early test of my theory right here at the start of the album. Undoubtedly the Spice Girls had their moments, and at their best they were an exciting an joyful pop phenomenon for a couple of years. But like most manager-led pop acts, they couldn't avoid the call of the big ballad, hence the third hit (and Christmas Number One) '2 Become 1', which went on to sell a million but is ironically their only hit not to appear on a Now album. That should have been enough for anyone, but then came this slush cynically released just in time for the Mother's Day market, and for charity too, making it one of the most inevitable Number One singles of all time. Admittedly, anyone who bought the single was getting a much better song as the other A-side, but this is what we have here - the other side's on Now 37.

Perhaps it's a little unfair to criticise this one track for being cynical when all their songs that I did like were created in an atmosphere of cynicism. Indeed, pretty much every piece of music I've ever heard has arrived through somebody's cynical self-interest somewhere and I'm fine with that, intellectually. The problem isn't that 'Mama' is a cynical construct, it's that it sounds like one, to the extent that I even find myself wondering whether they gave it that title so people in non-English-speaking countries could get the gist. It's too dull musically to distract from the slush of the lyric, and the pointless DJ scratching 19 seconds in doesn't change that. It seems to go on for hours as well. The most notable thing hearing it now is that there seems to be a male voice singing on the chorus.

Also appearing on: Now 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 47
Available on: To The Best Mum In The World...Ever!

Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald 'On My Own'

2011-07-20T18:36:00.004+01:00

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

'On My Own' charted at No. 19 on 29th April and had sped to No. 2 by 13th May. Patti and Michael were kept in the runner-up spot for three weeks by 'The Chicken Song'

I was all set to put the "from the movies" tag on this entry until I went to look up exactly which film it was from, and found out it wasn't actually in one at all. I'd always thought it was but I suppose it just sounds like the sort of track that would be used in a mid-80s movie. Apparently the song was previously recorded for, but omitted from, a Dionne Warwick album.

It's fair to say, I think, that the big revival of Burt Bacharach's reputation about ten years ago was not centred on this song, but he did indeed write it alongside his then-wife Carole Bayer Sager; they later divorced, which is ironically appropriate given the song's subject matter. Perhaps it could be argued that this song does provide a convincing portrayal of the despondent atmosphere after a failed relationship: but if so it achieves that largely by being dull and unemotive. Indeed, even the production team seem to lose interest in the song and fade it out at a seemingly arbitrary point while they're still singing.

It makes for an underwhelming end to an album that actually started quite well: the first disc was generally quite good but Side Four is almost a total washout.
If you want to draw your own conclusions, here's my usual embed:

Free music - Now 7

And if you prefer Spotify, the official Now Music team have compiled the playlist.

Next album starts in August.

Available on: The Ultimate Collection

Aurra 'You And Me Tonight'

2011-07-19T21:58:00.010+01:00

Chart Peak: 12

YouTube

It's yet another one-hit-wonder, and this time one with a bit of backstory. Aurra had originally been a spin-off act from Slave (a group which once included Steve Arrington of Now 5 fame) but over time they reduced to a duo. Legal disputes over the name meant that this single was credited to Deja in the US [and in the linked video], but somehow they seem to have got away with it for a while over here and released this single under the original name. It shows up on compilation albums under both credits, should you wish to purchase it.

It starts off sounding like it might be going somewhere, with the male protagonist realising that his girlfriend has changed the locks, and on close listening they are arguing throughout the verses, with the man pleading and the woman refusing to trust him. But the effect is so slick that I had to re-listen several times to notice that, and the chorus doesn't seem to fit in at all with the sentiment. The overall effect is distinctly average.

Available on: Top Of The Pops - One Hit Wonders

Midnight Star 'Headlines'

2011-07-18T21:34:00.023+01:00

Chart Peak: 16

YouTube
This disco chart-topper crossed over to the national Top 30 in late June and had reached No. 16 by 8th July

This must be about the last time anyone referred to disco music in the present tense. Midnight Star look decidedly overstaffed in the sleeve illustration here, with nine members all lined up. Apparently though, their brief era of British success was followed by a schism within the band whereby the two Calloway brothers (both brass players) left to form their own duo - they're in the writing and production credits for this though.

Like the preceding tracks, 'Headlines' has a gimmicky air about it which is a bit off-putting all these years later. It seems so totally of its time and place that it doesn't really make sense now, and whilst I sort of remember liking their other big UK hit 'Midas Touch' I don't really want to check now in case it's too disappointing.

Available on: Soul Hits Of The 80's

Lovebug Starski 'Amityville (the House On The Hill)'

2011-07-16T21:34:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak:

YouTube

A track rescued from utter obscurity by its appearance on Halloween compilations: the one linked to below is at a real bargain price at time of writing, though presumably because it's July.

I think it's fair to say that even by the mid-80s, rap music wasn't taken very seriously by most people in Britain, and whilst this isn't in the same catagory as 'Stutter Rap' or 'Rat Rapping' and despite writing and production credits for no less than Kurtis Blow, it's much more obviously a novelty hit than even the track that precedes it. It is of course inspired by the famous book/film/lawsuit The Amityville Horror although in truth it doesn't actually pastiche the original story in any way, it just compiles the usual set of haunted-house clichés. And then half-way through, somebody does some Star Trek impressions. I'm not making this up, honest. The finished article is not so much scary or funny as tedious.

Available on: Monster Halloween Hits

The Real Roxanne with Hitman Howie Tee '(Bang Zoom) Lets Go Go'

2011-07-15T23:03:00.024+01:00

Chart Peak: 11

YouTube

I've never seen the film Son Of Rambow, but evidently both this and the previous track appear on the soundtrack. Even knowing that it's set in the 1980s, that's quite a coincidence. I presume the characters were born a little longer ago than I was though, because I was definitely too young to know about the Roxanne craze in mid-80s rap, and in fact I have no memory of this record at all.

Anyway, it transpires that Adelaida Martinez adopted her stage name to record an "official" answer record to a UTFO B-side, and scored a surprise UK hit with the follow-up. It's a decent early rap effort, although the production sounds a bit cheap now and the samples from old cartoons break up the flow somewhat. Especially when the track ends with a lengthy chunk of a Bugs Bunny cartoon that doesn't make a lot of sense in sound only. They wouldn't be able to afford that nowadays, I bet.

Available on: Son Of Rambow (Music From The Motion Picture)

Nu Shooz 'I Can't Wait'

2011-07-14T23:30:00.050+01:00

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube
Charted at No. 35 on 20th May 1986, rising to the heights of No. 2 by 24th June

One reason why I pushed Now 7 to the front of the queue was because this particular track had become topical: it's extensively sampled on the recent hit 'Buzzin' by Mann. Of course no sooner had I made the decision and started preparing than a track from Now 8 actually entered the Top 40 in its original form, but never mind.

Despite myself (and more to the point despite 50Cent, who appears on the UK version of it) I quite liked the Mann record which went some way to reviving my interest in 'I Can't Wait': in practice one effect is to make this sound terribly slow in comparison. In fact, on a literal basis this seems to lack the urgency that a song of this title ought to have. And yet there's something oddly addictive about its cold synth bass and the cutting-edge-at-the-time pitchshifted vocal. Singer Valerie Day is also a percussionist and so that's presumably her I can hear pinging away at some metal instrument on the right-hand channel - Friendly Fires eat your heart out! Between these various disparate elements we get a record that's both incredibly naff (well, the band name would see to that) and oddly charming, both dated and modern in 2011. It certainly has more going for it than the utterly forgotten version by Ladies First, who were a sort of own-brand version of Mis-Teeq.

Nu Shooz were a a married couple and it's pleasing to see that they still are, though Day loses some points in my eyes for quoting quack psychiatrist Louann Brizendine on her website.

Available on: The Switch: Music From The Motion Picture

Jaki Graham 'Set Me Free'

2011-07-13T22:32:00.012+01:00

Chart Peak: 7

YouTube
The follow-up to 'Mated' charted at No. 62 on 29th April and had raced to No. 7 by 10th June 1986.

Another of those songs that I must have heard enough while they were current for them to sound familiar when I hear them now - but I struggle to remember it any time when I'm not listening to it. At this point in history we're nearing the end of Graham's brief run of significant chart success, although she did re-appear in the mid-90s with a few minor Top 75 entries and she continues to record and tour to this day.

I wanted to like this, not least because British soul music often seems underappreciated, and I don't not like it. I just find it difficult to feel strongly about either way. Everyone does a good job, it just doesn't leave much of an impression.

Also appearing on: Now 5, 6 (with David Grant), 8
Available on: Breaking Away

Billy Ocean 'When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going'

2011-07-12T19:55:00.029+01:00

Chart Peak: 1 (4 weeks)
YouTube

Charted at No. 28 on 21st January 1986 - had sped to No. 1 by 4th February where it stayed for 4 weeks.

'Go And Get Stuffed', as my Mum used to call it, was the lead single from the file Jewel Of The Nile, which I never saw but was aware of thanks to the famous (though seemingly absent from YouTube) video starring Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito. Had I been in America, though, I might have been more ignorant since that video was reportedly banned from the telly over there due to the actors not being members of the musicians union. However, I can neither confirm nor deny this: neither can I confirm Wikipedia's claim that the song was co-written by somebody called Willy Head - he's not credited on the LP label, that's for sure.

It's a song I liked at the time, but about the best I can say for it now is that it does what it's designed for. There's something rather good-natured about Billy Ocean that makes a lot of his records more likeable than they really deserved to be, and this is case in point - fun for a few minutes but ultimately uninteresting.

Also appearing on: Now 11
Available on: The Ultimate Collection

Queen 'A Kind Of Magic'

2011-07-11T23:42:00.039+01:00

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube

You see, that's what makes Now 7 different from every other album in the series - it's the only one I know of that features a hidden track. Presumably they only got permission to include this song after the sleeve had gone to press. And Queen's punishment for this brinkmanship was demotion from their usual spot at the very start of the album to the back end of Side 3.

I'd entirely forgotten that this song appears (in a somewhat different form) in the film Highlander; though I do remember seeing the film at school a few years later I'd presumably lost interest by this point. It's obvious once you know though, with the various lyrical references like "there can be only one". In 1986 it was just a song to me, and one I could hardly fail to remember. Listening to the two versions now I have to award a lot of the credit to Freddie Mercury for restructuring and re-arranging Roger Taylor's song from the film version to the more familiar production featured on the single and album (and here of course). Though hardly revolutionary, it's a well-constructed pop record and on that basis one of my favourite Queen hits. Ironically, it's Taylor's dull click-track drumming that's the weakest point in the finished article.

Also appearing on: Now 2, 3, 4, 6, 15, 16, 19, 21, 25 [with George Michael], 32, 33, 54 [with Vanguard]
Available on: The Platinum Collection

Simply Red 'Holding Back The Years'

2011-07-09T20:24:00.061+01:00

Chart Peak: 2 [51 in 1985]

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Originally made No. 51 in November 1985 but it took until June 1986 before 'Holding Back The Years' finally made No. 2 for 2 weeks, becoming Simply Red's second Top 20 hit in Britain.

By coincidence, both A-Ha and Simply Red have recently completed long-trailled farewells; indeed Simply Red seem to have been splitting up for longer than I've been writing this blog but they seem to have been the tortoises here. After securing their place on Now 5 with the substantial hit 'Money'$ Too Tight To Mention' they missed the Top 50 three times and even after this they had to wait another six singles for a second Top 10. It's perhaps strange that the sleeve note doesn't mention one major reason why this track became a hit at the second time of asking - third if you count the original version by Hucknall's "punk" band Frantic Elevators - and rescued them from one-hit-wonderdom. For this is yet another US Number One single, although of course the Reds did eventually do what Genesis, Peter Gabriel and Bananarama couldn't by topping the British chart, but almost a decade later.

It's conventional to say that 'Holding Back The Years' is the acceptable face of Mick Hucknall, and generally, I'd be inclined to chisel away at that. To some extent I already have by revealing that I quite liked 'Fairground' after all, but I can't dispute that this is a good record. I can imagine that people who saw the band live - and they were really a band in those days - must have been utterly wowed by it. On record it suffers from a now rather dated production and of course from the sheer overexposure, but it's redeemed somewhat by what's probably Hucknall's best recorded vocal. Here's where I will slightly break from the consensus; people often say "the guy's a tit but you can't knock the voice," whereas I actually think his singing's got a lot worse over the years. He's in great form here though and does a good job of conveying regret. Perhaps he knew how many awful records he was going to inflict on us in the next 20 years.

Also appearing on: Now 5, 9, 20, 21, 23, 24, 32, 33
Available on: Classic Soul Anthems

A-Ha 'Hunting High And Low (re-mix)'

2011-07-08T20:13:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 5

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Their 4th consecutive UK Top 10 single following 'Take On Me', 'The Sun Always Shines On TV' and 'Train Of Thought', 'Hunting' made No. 5 in June 1986.

It's easy enough to forget now just how big A-Ha were for a while in the mid-eighties: it's especially easy if you use the Now albums as your main source of knowledge, since they were rarely allowed to appear by the label WEA, which preferred to divert them to their rival Hits series. Anyway, after a slow start they were genuine stars with a teen following in Britain which outlasted their brief American success - I remember seeing a feature on the making of this video on children's TV at the time. Doubtless Morten Harket's chiseled good looks contributed to this somewhat but they notched up hits in a way they found it harder to do later in their career.

Obviously they're still best-known for punchier electro-pop anthems, but for my money they play to their strengths better with haunting ballads like this one. Which isn't to say that this is a perfect record by any means - it never quite seems to go anywhere but at least it starts to sound like you might want it to It's aged surprisingly well too, or at least this version has: I've never heard the original album track, but the sleeve and label consistently mention that this is the "re-mix" so this may have been considered a selling point. And let's face it, nobody needs to hear 'Take On Me' ever again.

Also appearing on: Now 9, 63
Available on: Hunting High And Low (Deluxe Edition)

Bucks Fizz 'New Beginning (Mamba Seyra)'

2011-07-06T21:46:00.031+01:00

Chart Peak: 8

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When 'New Beginning' reached No. 8 for 2 weeks in late June/early July 1986, it became their biggest hit for 4 years. Bucks Fizz are still one of a very select few to have had 3 No. 1's from their first 5 single releases.

It's hard to see how they could have left that oddly-specific group, but of course it has grown in the last 25 years: newcomers since then have included Billie Piper and Britney Spears, as well as everyone who's topped the chart with all their first three singles. But we digress.

The title 'New Beginning' was obviously a hopeful one, as well as a reflection of events in their career - Shelley Preston had replaced original member Jay Aston and this was their first release for new label Polydor. Unfortunately for them, the title of the ensuing album Writing On The Wall proved more of an omen as this was their last ever Top 40 single and they split not long afterwards, before embarking on the endless cycle of reunions, fueds and reconciliations that seem to be the fate of such acts. Curiously enough, I have no recollection of this number from the time - but I do remember the cover version of 'Love The One You're With' that unsuccessfully followed this and from which their career never seemed to recover. It turns out not to be as terrible a record as it might have been, but a rather pompous one, with a subtitle in Swahili to give it that fashionable global feel.

Available on: 80s Triple Set

Bananarama 'Venus'

2011-07-05T21:45:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 8

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Originally a No. 8 hit for the Dutch group Shocking Blue in February 1970, Bananarama had also reached No. 8 with their version by 8th July 1986.

Third cover version in a row there (fourth if you count 'My Favourite Waste Of Time') and for the third side of the album in a row, there's a US Number One by a British act who've never topped the UK chart. Indeed this was by no means the biggest hit for the 'Nanas over here but it's still pivotal in their career as their first of many collaborations with Stock/Aitken/Waterman. It's not an entirely typical SAW production, not least because the band came to them; they were already stars and hadn't been groomed for stardom by SAW, and nor were they signed to Pete Waterman's label so they probably had more power over stylistic decisions.

The other difference is of course that this is a cover of already well-known source material (although I hadn't heard the original at the time, and SAW records often appealed to a very yound audience who wouldn't have either) and it wisely retains the most distinctive feature of the original hit, that guitar riff. It's layered onto a track that was apparently meant to sound like Dead Or Alive and is in some ways more energetic than the original, but somehow seems to lose something else. Perhaps it's the deadpan earnestness of the original vocal that beats the barely-even-one-dimensional singing here. But you know, this does the job it was designed to do I guess.

I presume it's because I've been trying to think myself back into the past for this blog, but hearing this track again has reminded me of a limerick round on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue which might have been around this time. Somebody was given the opening line "A Roman centurion called Nicodemus", and rhymed it with "Had a dirty great enormous passsion for Venus". I can't remember all of it but the closing line was "Derek Jameson said 'Do they mean us?'" It really does seem like a long time ago.

Also appearing on: Now 3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 (with Lananeeneenoonoo), 15
Available on: Smash Hits 1986

Doctor And The Medics 'Spirit In The Sky'

2011-07-02T23:09:00.003+01:00

Chart Peak: 1 (3 weeks)

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Originally a No. 1 for Norman Greenbaum in May 1970, the Doctor (real name Clive Jackson) and his band took 'Spirit In The Sky' back to the top on 3rd June 1986 for three weeks.

Another one I could hardly fail to remember from those days, although I don't think I've ever heard another Doctor And The Medics song. Not unlike Amazulu, they found themselves stuck in a circle of covers; whilst they never seemed like they were trying hard to be taken seriously, their fans will claim that they started out as a group with slightly more to offer than novelty hits. I'm not going to take a position on that but I will say that now this is older than the original was at the time, it's hard to see the point - aside from the fact that it's the only one of the three chart-topping versions of this song ever to appear in the Now! series.

They make surprisingly little alteration to the song and whilst that saves it from sounding utterly of its time now, it's at the expense of making the Doctor's Kiss-like make-up the only distinctive feature. I was never that fond of the song anyway.

Also appearing on: Now 8
Available on: Laughing At The Pieces

Amazulu 'Too Good To Be Forgotten'

2011-07-01T20:34:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 5

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Following the success of 'Excitable' and 'Don't You Just Know It', Amazulu's cover version of the Chi-Lites 'Too Good To Be Forgotten' Made No. 5 in July 1986

Another song title that seems like it's asking for trouble - it's tempting to suggest in retrospect that this record is too forgotten to be good. Apparently Amazulu were at one point a serious ska band but by the time I remember them they were drifting into a covers act who seemed to be on children's TV all the time. Of course there's a venerable tradition of cover versions in ska and reggae and there's nothing wrong with being commercial, but something about this just rings too hollow. It probably doesn't help that the song itself is so self-satisfied in tone to start with.

Available on: True 80's Love

Owen Paul 'My Favourite Waste Of Time'

2011-06-30T21:54:00.039+01:00

Chart Peak: 3

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Owen Paul - real name Owen McGee - is from Glasgow. This is his first hit. Charted at No. 65 on 27th May and had reached No. 3 by 8th July.

Sometimes when I'm working on this blog I worry that I might be going a bit native and losing my faculties as I find myself writing a glowing report about a record by somebody I always thought I hated. It's reassuring to report that such a thing won't happen this time. This is a truly terrible example of 80s pop at its worst. Of course, bad music has always been with us and there have always been awful records that have been successful: this isn't the worst of them but it feels like a temporally-specific kind of rubbish - some sort of power-pop without the power. Paul apparently trained as a footballer and much as I'm sure he's a lovely bloke, he sings like one; perhaps the most annoying thing about the track is the atmosphere of "will-this-do" as nobody involved in the performance or production really seems to be giving their best here. They weren't as willing to waste their own time as ours.

Surprising fact I learnt when reading the label: this song was written by cult US singer-songwriter Marshall Crenshaw. And Owen Paul McGee (as he now styles himself) toured recently as lead singer for Ex-Simple Minds, a group formed by the original pre-stadium rock rhythm section. This remains his only Top 75

Available on: Essential 80s - Classic Eighties Pop And Rock Hits

Wham! 'The Edge Of Heaven'

2011-06-29T23:56:00.040+01:00

Chart Peak: 1 (2 weeks)

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Their final single and their fourth No. 1 following 'Wake Me Up', 'Freedom' and 'I'm Your Man', 'The Edge Of Heaven' reached the top on 24th June for 2 weeks.

The funny thing is, I don't remember Wham! splitting up being that big a deal at the time. That probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was a boy, but I suspect fans were somewhat reassured by the fact that George Michael had already proved himself as a solo artist: even more so than Midge Ure, as he'd scored two massive Number One hits with his first two solo efforts. He was evidently still contractually obliged to supply new Wham! material though, and so they became one of the few acts to release an intentional farewell single, and of even fewer to top the charts with one; the only others I could think of offhand were The Jam.

The difference is of course that where 'Beat Surrender' is obviously the product of weeks if not months of deliberation and planning as Paul Weller tried to create the most fitting epitaph for his band, 'The Edge Of Heaven' has rather an air of "better get that Wham! single finished before Coronation Street comes on," which might be how we end up with a chorus lyric that consists entirely of "Yeah yeah yeah, na na na na na na" and verses that sort of semi-make sense. It's not all bad news though, as George isn't exactly immune to overdoing things and this less thought-out track is actually OK musically, in a slick undemanding way. As something of a fan of a good pre-chorus section I quite like the one here (which is where the title is hidden). The video is almost a premonition of his solo career - the half-decent idea of inserting clips from earlier vids is totally undermined by the pretentious decision to put everything in moody black-and-white. That's George Michael in a nutshell for me.

Also appearing on: Now 3
Available on: If You Were There/The Best Of Wham

Midge Ure 'Call Of The Wild'

2011-06-28T23:56:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 27

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Charted at No. 46 on 10th June 1986 - had reached No. 27 by 8th July. It is his fourth solo Top 30 hit in Britain.

Anyone who's been following the 1976 Top Of The Pops re-runs will have noticed that 1986 also marked the tenth anniversary of Ure's first chart appearances as a member of Slik. At this point he was still a member of Ultravox, although they were only a few months away from splitting, and he already had one solo album under his belt but the really big singles were already starting to elude him and this non-album 45 seems pretty much forgotten now; I don't know whether he'd have been more inclined to use it for the next album had it been a bigger hit.

It may not have been intentional, but 'Call Of The Wild' seems now a bit like an attempt to blend the Central European sensibility of Ultravox with some traces of Ure's Scottishness - it didn't occur to me to wonder until today, but the rest of the band weren't actually from Scotland. The video director certainly seems to have picked up on the Celtic element, even if it leaves Ure looking slightly embarassed at the cliché. I've warmed to the man somewhat over the years but this is still a song that seems to huff and puff a lot without really saying anything much. Perhaps I'm not Scottish enough.

Anyway, it's the end of a second side that's been slightly rocky - certainly more so than might have been expected when it started with Chris De Burgh.

Also appearing on: Now 6
Available on: No Regrets

Furniture 'Brilliant Mind'

2011-06-27T14:50:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 21

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Although they've been around since the end of 1982, 'Brilliant Mind' is the first Top 30 hit for Furniture. It had reached No. 21 by 15th July.

And as it proved this was the only chart appearance ever from the famously ill-fated indie act. It's also the last track on a Now album from Stiff Records, who were nearing the end of their glory period: they'd already lost Madness by this point and were soon to go bankrupt (the label was revived a few years ago, releasing singles by The Enemy and albums by Chris Difford among others).

'Brilliant Mind' has some claim to be the label's last classic and whilst only a moderate hit, it's become a staple of eighties compilation albums and it was until recently the only Furniture song I'd ever heard: I recently listened to their album The Wrong People as part of the research for this post. Whilst there are decent tracks on there, none of them made the same impression on me as this masterful record, which sounds very eighties and yet oddly contemporary, presumably because the doomy side of the decade has been revived in recent years by many a modern-day act and even the saxophone that decorates this track has suddenly reappeared as the sound of several hits in the summer of 2011. And of course there are parts of it that already sounded familiar, most notably the arpeggiated guitar figure that resembles the Beatles' 'And I Love Her'. Still, I find myself warming to this rather more than to most songs that come over so self-consciously serious; perhaps it's the aftertaste of disappointment that overhangs this song so heavily - it's easier to take the protagonist coming over as a bit self-confident and knowing when you know he's putting on a bit of a front.

Of course that disappointment looks a bit prescient when we know what happened to the band after this: they stumbled on for another five years and even did an album for a major label but finally split after filing to manage further success. Singer "big" Jim Irvin became a music journalist and has cropped up a few times in the series as a songwriter: this year he co-wrote a Number 60 hit for boy-band-with-guitars Twenty Twenty. Perhaps it's better to remember him for this.

Available on: The Wrong People

Big Country 'Look Away'

2011-06-23T23:11:00.000+01:00

Chart Peak: 7

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'Look Away' became Big Country's biggest UK hit to date when it reached No. 7 in late April 1986

And their highest-charting single it remained, though it's possibly not their best-remembered. It got to Number One in Ireland too. Like the Housemartins, they were always a band who seemed like they had something to say: but they always seemed to be very to let everyone know they were Saying Something. In this case the bombast rather seems to overshadow whatever it is they actually are singing about, but at least the chorus is OK.

Also appearing on: Now 2, 4, 8
Available on: Fields Of Fire: The Ultimate Collection

The Housemartins 'Happy Hour'

2011-06-23T22:58:00.033+01:00

Chart Peak: 3

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'Happy Hour' charted at No. 58 on 3rd June 1986 and had raced to No.3 by the end of that same month to give "the fourth best band in Hull" their first hit.

That's more like it! Although this was already their third single, it's the first time I (and many others) became aware of them, and the semi-claymation video alone had my attention instantly. And the song sounded like I thought a pop song should sound when I was eight, all bouncy and jangly. Only gradually did it dawn on me that the song is actually a rather caustic satire on power relationships in employment and sexism, but then that's probably for the best at that age; I don't even think I'd heard of a happy hour outside this song.

Of course, drinking culture has proved to be a regular motif in PD Heaton's songwriting (and indeed in his life)
so with hindsight this is just one chapter in the story. But from a 1986 perspective this remains a classic example of why the Housemartins seemed the ideal pop group during their brief existence: they had something to say, but more to the point they made you want to hear it because they had enough swing and soul, and they weren't afraid of the mainstream. Most of all, they get through the whole song, even the bells solo, in a sprightly 2-and-a-half minutes. That's a lesson many others on this album could do with learning.

Also appearing on: Now 8, 9, 10
Available on: Dad's Jukebox

Simple Minds 'All The Things She Said'

2011-06-22T23:00:00.024+01:00

Chart Peak:

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When 'All The Things She Said' reached No. 9 in April 1986, it became Simple Minds's 4th consecutive UK Top 10 single following 'Don't You' [sic] 'Alive And Kicking' and 'Sanctify Yourself'.

Another act noted for making a similar drive towards the mainstream, Simple Minds hadn't been around as long as Genesis but had made up for lost time and by 1986 their singles were largely indistingushable from other soft-rock acts. We catch them here at their absolute commercial peak, in both senses of the word, pulling this and two of those other Top Tens from their biggest-selling studio album.

As a pop song, though, I don't think this is any better than 'Invisible Touch', its greatest strength being that it's marginally less pompous than some of their worst stuff around this time. It's catchy but no more than that. And I can't really tell whether Jim Kerr is doing an impression of Bono in the video on purpose or not. Either way it's nice of Father Dougal to help out on guitar though. Can we have somebody working to the best of their ability next please?

Also appearing on: Now 1, 5, 6, 14, 15, 23, 30
Available on: Once Upon A Time

Genesis 'Invisible Touch'

2011-06-21T23:05:00.034+01:00

Chart Peak: 15

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Their 8th Top 20 single, 'Invisible Touch' made No. 15 in June 1986.

Not the most fascinating sleeve note ever, but again notable for what it doesn't mention: though far from their biggest UK hit, this was their only Number One in the US, spending one week at the top in July 1986 before it was deposed by, of all things, 'Sledgehammer'. It kicked off a run of five US Top Five singles from the album of the same name, none of which made the Top Ten here, surprisingly. A pedant will note that this song finally went Top 10 in a live version in 1992, but that's another story which we'll tell if I ever do Now 24.

The song also went Top 5 in Canada, which I mention because it's the one song I associate most closely with our summer holiday over there that year. I'm not entirely sure why that is, as I must have heard the song back hom as well and it can't have been the only one I heard over there, but such is a child's memory. I also recall trying to work out what an "invisible toucher" was - only years later did I realise Phil Collins was actually singing "invisible touch-yeah". I think I did make the connection with his hit 'Easy Lover' of the previous year which covers similar lyrical ground; with hindsight I have to wonder whether Collins had a particular person in mind or whether he was just a lazy writer, didn't realise both songs were going to be singles or whatever.

Anyway, this is one track that tests even my preference for pop-oriented Genesis. The lyrics are OK, but the music and production are just too far into the direction of 80s American radio even for my taste. There's an especially cringeworthy moment from about 1:43 where Tony Banks - who'd been a professional keyboard player for a good twenty years by this point - suddenly turns into a twelve-year old who's been allowed to touch a synthesiser for the first time. Invisible Touch is the only Genesis album I've ever tried to listen to in full, but I started at track 2.

Also appearing on: Now 1, 8, 9, 21, 23, 24
Available on: Turn It On Again - The Hits

David Bowie 'Absolute Beginners'

2011-06-20T22:49:00.031+01:00

Chart Peak: 2

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Bowie not only had a No. 2 hit in March 1986 with 'Absolute Beginners' but also played the part of Vendice Partners in the film.

It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. OK, I admit I've never actually seen the film of Absolute Beginners, but nobody seems to have a good word for it; not even Paul Weller who was such a big fan of the book he named one of his own songs after it and crops up on the film soundtrack as a member of the Style Council. Nonetheless the title song gig went to Bowie, who makes his last Now! appearance towards the end of his eighties commercial revival. As it turns out he only had one more Top 10 single to come (1993's 'Jump They Say') but this followed his chart-topping charity duet with Mick Jagger - indeed both tracks come from the same session, but this had to be held back to match the film release date.

A big hit then, and given the response to the film presumably on its own merits, but I have to admit I've never been a huge fans of this track. It's full of good ideas and romantic intent but somehow between producers Langer & Winstanley (a few years on from their best work with Madness et al) and the group of session musicians assembled, all the life seems to have been sucked out and it's a ponderous thing; even the 7" edit featured here clocks in at 5:37 and the full-length version will take up more than eight minutes of your time. It's all well done and not as bad as I believe the film is, but far from his best work of even the decade.

Also appearing on: Now 2, 5 (with Pat Metheney Group)
Available on: The Best Of 1980/1987