Urban Cookie Collective 'Feels Like Heaven'

Chart Peak: 5

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'Feels Like Heaven', due for release on 1st November '93, is the follow-up to the No. 2 smash 'The Key, The Secret'... Urban Cookie Collective is masterminded by producer Rohan Heath.

At the time, this was a comparably-sized hit to their first, but posterity has seemed less impressed with it, and indeed I don't think I'd ever heard it before. Unconnected to the Fiction Factory song, this is probably forgotten mostly because it's so similar to their first hit (and most of their others). Since 'The Key, The Secret' never managed to appear on a Now album on any of its chart runs, I might as well admit that I've never fully understood why it's so widely considered a classic of the genre: I don't not like it, but I've never thought it anything exceptional. So whilst I don't think this song is really any worse, I can't get too excited about it either. If you do like it but find it too long, why not try the slightly shorter edit available on this compilation album.

As an extra bonus, how about the drum and bass version of 'Champagne Supernova' that Noel Gallagher allegedly stopped them releasing? You're welcome.


Also appearing on: Now 27
Available on: The Very Best Of

Urban Cookie Collective 'Sail Away'

Chart Peak: 18

YouTube

'Sail Away' was the 3rd Top 20 hit for the  group which is the brainchild of producer Rohan Heath... It followed the Top 5 smashes 'The Key: The Secret' and 'Feels Like Heaven'.

The aforementioned 'The Key: The Secret' is of course their most famous track: it charted three times, and first time out was only kept off the top by a posthumous Freddie Mercury single. It somehow eluded the Now series, but we're compensated by this single which sounds a little too close for comfort. Perhaps they were trying a little too hard to milk the formula but all I hear is a record that reminds me of another song that I don't feel particular nostalgia for anyway. Probably one where you had to be there.

In other news, I notice Diane Charlemagne gets a credit for vocals, buried with the writing credits at the back of the booklet. As was the way then, the production credits are on the disc label itself.

Also appearing on: Now 26
Available on: The Key, The Secret: The Very Best Of