Underworld 'Born Slippy (NUXX)'

Chart Peak: 2 [original version peaked at 52]

YouTube

Two points that I think need to be got out of the way first: some people dispute whether the original 1995 'Born Slippy' is the same song as this one at all, but I've mentioned its chart position for the sake of completeness. I also dithered over whether to use the "from the movies" tag on this entry, since this track wasn't created specifically for cinematic use; but I ultimately decided it wouldn't have been on this album, nor possibly even released as a single, had it not been used in Trainspotting, so the tag stays.

The one other thing I feel like I should point out about this record is that it didn't change my life. I say that because I'm sure there are plenty of blog posts by people roughly my age who could make that claim, and I can imagine it could almost have happened to me. To avoid diving too deeply into autobiography, though, suffice it to say that when I first heard this, I didn't really get it. And it swiftly became a record more successful than was good for it, picking up some unappealing associations along the way, particularly that moment where everyone assumed Karl Hyde was saying "Shouting 'Lager lager lager!'" and decided to join in. Of course, he really is saying those words, but the punctuation is different, "shouting" and "lager" are just two things he's experiencing and telling us about, and that's at the heart of the song really: not unlike the film itself, it's portraying hedonistic behaviour rather than necessarily endorsing it. Thus we get the exciting but ultimately rather disturbing succession of different sounds and words piling on top of each other: that second percussion loop that arrives about two minutes in is my favourite moment in the build-up of the track. And, intentionally or otherwise, there's a poignant moment towards the end (at least of the edited version we're talking about here) where it lapses back to the unadorned keyboard notes that start the track before the beat kicks in again, as if to say that the cycle won't stop.

OK, so now I know it's a masterpiece. It just took me a while, that's all.

Also appearing on: Now 35
Available on:Trainspotting

Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen 'Theme From Mission: Impossible'

Chart Peak: 7

YouTube

It's probably a while since you've heard this one (unless you've been watching the film, I suppose: I've never seen it). We're in the middle of that slightly odd mid-nineties phase when U2 didn't seem to know quite who or what they were, and for my money wandered into some more interesting avenues than they have in this decade, but that's for another time. What we have here is the rhythm section taking time out to perform the theme tune to the old-TV-series-turned-blockbuster.

In contrast to Dodgy and OCS trying to make their albums sound thirty years old, Clayton & Mullen are evidently trying very hard to be up-to-date, with the inevitable consequence that it sounds a bit old-hat now. It's also oddly lacking in personality, presumably because the nature of the exercise didn't allow them a lot of room for interpretation: you'd hardly know it was them, really. The biggest problem is, though, that although it's a perfectly serviceable piece of theme music (you'd expect no less from Lalo Schifrin) not very much actually happens during it, and it's hard to stay interested for the full three and a half minutes.

Available on: Mission: Impossible - Music from and inspired by the motion picture.

Ocean Colour Scene 'The Day We Caught The Train'

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

I'm going to point out right at the start of this review that I was one of the large number of people who bought the Moseley Shoals album. I'm saying that now because I suspect a lot of people will automatically disregard my opinions on that basis, so if you're one of them you can come back tomorrow.

Now I'm among friends, I can admit that I bought the B-sides album. And the follow-up. I even bought their first album, the one even they don't like, in a sale. And I listened to them a lot too, so much so that I still half-expect this one to crossfade into 'The Circle'. If you're expecting this to be the point where I turn around and say I hate this now, though, sorry. It's not a record I get out all that often now, and I did lose interest in the band years ago, but I've got to admit that this still appeals to me, and I enjoyed playing it back in order to do this. Perhaps I don't like this for all the same reasons I liked it thirteen years ago, but it still entertains me.

Also appearing on: Now 35, 37, 38
Available on: Songs For The Front Row - The Best Of

Dodgy 'Good Enough'

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

This being an album from 1996, you might have been wondering where the Britpop was. Well, here you go. Perhaps Dodgy are the archetypal Britpop act: they weren't necessarily the best and they certainly weren't the biggest but somehow seemed to sum up how it looked and sounded.

This, their one and only Top 10 single, is from the sprawling Free Peace Sweet album, which I bought on my way home from school. I'd already heard this track, since it was clearly (and correctly) tipped to be a massive hit. Like many a big summer smash, it became tiresome after a while, but now that you only hear it occasionally, it's become enjoyable again. Not the deepest song ever penned, probably not even as clever or profound as they thought it was after a few funny-smelling cigarettes: but it rattles along charmingly, and the musicianship of the group (and semi-attached keyboard player Richard Payne) is solid throughout. I still prefer the previous single 'In A Room' though.

Also appearing on: Now 35
Available on: The Collection

Peter Andre featuring Bubbler Ranx 'Mysterious Girl'

Chart Peak: 2 [53 in 1995]

YouTube

Well, there's no forgetting this one. Back when we first got cable TV and were able to watch phone-in video-request network The Box, this one seemed to crop up a lot, even though this was the time of the first release when it missed the Top 50. Perhaps people weren't requesting it for purely musical reasons, Andre's six-pack stomach apparently being a major attraction to some elements of the audience. My other great memory is my brother and I laughing at the intro that sounded like "Peter Andre, down with Bubbler Ranx and Simon Mayo": actually, it turns out not to sound much like that at all, but we laughed.

Anyway, back to the story. 'Mysterious Girl' was rereleased after Andre had cracked the Top 20 with 'Only One', and went on to become one of the big hits of Summer 1996, narrowly missing out on Number One and hanging around so long the record company ultimately deleted it to help out the follow-up. None of this should distract us from the fact that it's an awful record, a flimsy reggae-RnB hybrid full of lyric touches so lazy they're sometimes incomprehensible ("The tropical scent of you"?). It's typical for what it is, of course, but the fact that it hasn't been allowed to go away is frustrating. And, as I later discovered, Peter Andre is from my hometown, though he was at least raised on the other side of the world.


This track also appears on: Now 57

Peter Andre also appears on: Now 35, 36, 28, 40
Available on: Natural

Robbie Williams 'Freedom'

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

Gosh! I'd completely forgotten this track was on here: and something tells me Williams would be quite pleased with that, as he's refused to include this track on any album release, even the Greatest Hits. 'Freedom 96', as it's sometimes called, is of course a cover version of George Michael's self-referential 'Freedom 90' and a fairly obvious cash-in for his first single after leaving Take That (who had in fact split by this point, but he'd jumped first). He later covered 'Making Plans For Nigel' just to labour the point.

As a production, it doesn't sound like any more time was spent on it than it deserved, and the effect is more like a record made by somebody famous for something else than the beginning of a major pop career. Just a pale facsimile of the George Michael record.

Also appearing on: Now 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51 (with Nicole Kidman), 52 (with 1 Giant Leap & Maxi Jazz), 54, 55, 56, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66, 74

The Spice Girls 'Wannabe'

Chart Peak: 1 (7 weeks)

YouTube

Yes, those footsteps are on the record, as well as the video...

Making a slight detour from the search for historic instalments in the Now series, Now 34 is one I picked out because it was the first I ever heard: my brother either bought it or got it for his birthday in 1996. This has the extra advantage that I know where I can find a copy of the CD if any of the tracks are difficult to source online.

That was never going to be a problem with 'Wannabe' though. If anything, I face the opposite difficulty, as with 'Fairytale Of New York' back there: it's hard to imagine that anyone who cares doesn't know what this sounds like, or needs any explanation of its origins. What stands out most at this juncture, I think, is how well-tailored a debut single it was: everything about it is cleverly designed to grab the attention and stick in the memory, like it or not. Smartly, the band are introduced, but not as the focal point of the song (compare and contrast 21st Century Girls) and they all get to do a bit of singing, but Victoria Addams (as she then was) has as little as possible. There's even a made-up word to keep people talking.

It seems almost irrelevant to talk about liking or not liking this record, but it hasn't aged brilliantly, thanks to its concessions to mid-90s RnB sounds. But maybe that's part of the reason it was so successful at the time: not just that long run at the top, but a 26-week chart run (half a year!). Like it or not, we were going to have to get used to it.


Also appearing on: Now 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 47
Available on: Spice