Late summer, 1995. Often I start these entries by telling you what the big news was at the time of the chart I'm covering, but in this case, the chart was the big news of the day. The race for the number one spot was between two bands representing different regions, different influences, and perhaps most significantly, two social classes. It made front-page headlines and led off national newscasts, and a nation waited with bated breath to find out who came out on top. But before I tell you more about it, I've got 38 more songs to cover, starting with these 20:
40 - "The Key," Matt Goss
This Londoner first became famous alongside his twin brother Luke in the band Bros, whose 1987 breakthrough hit was entitled, ironically enough, "When Will I be Famous." They would reach the Top 40 eleven times before breaking in in 1992, and while Luke turned to acting, Matt began a solo music career. His first hit was this funk-popper on which he applies his white-soul voice to a lyric about trying to find a way to make his dreams come true. It's good as these things go. Goss would have four solo Top 40s total, and in recent years he has transitioned into a successful career in Las Vegas.
39 - "Come on Home," Cyndi Lauper
The quirky New Yorker had her biggest home success in the 80s with ten Top Forty singles, but in the U.K, she only reached those heights four times in that period. In the 90s, however, with her U.S. fortunes sagging, she would reach the British Top 40 seven times. Her sixth hir of the decade was this reggae-pop number about returning to where one began if the wider world isn't working out for you. It's fun and catchy. Cyndi is just one of those people you wish you could just be in the presence of for even two minutes, because it just seems like there would be nothing but love and positive energy coming off of her.
38 - "In the Summertime," Shaggy featuring Rayvon
The Jamaican-American dancehall rapper teamed with Barbadian singer Rayvon for his second U.K. hit, a cover of Mungo Jerry's 1970 worldwide #1. Rayvon sings the original lyrics, and Shaggy adds a toast about picking up women. Nothing important, but it works as background beach music.
37 - "Freedom," Shiva
The biggest of two hits for this three-person dance group was this energetic house track about wanting to be carefree and happy. Singer Louise Dean had a very strong voice, but sadly, at this time she was already gone, killed in a hit and run accident two months earlier. We may very well have heard much more from her otherwise.
36 - "Zombie," A.D.A.M. featuring Amy
A Italian group's dance cover of the Cranberries' hit of the previous year about the decades of sectarian violence in Northern Island. It's a catchy track, but the contrast of the subject matter with the peppy beats and guitar is jarring. It all just comes out weird. This chart's Uneasy Rider in a weak field.
35 - "A Girl Like You," Edwyn Collins
From Edinburgh, Collins first tasted success with the band Orange Juice in the early 80s, but by the middle of the decade they had broken up, and his solo career languished in obscurity until he broke through with this cool pop-rocker about desire and obsession. It went Top Five here, and reached the Top 40 in the U.S. He pretty much returned to obscurity afterward, but he continues to make music and perform, even after surviving a cerebral hemorrhage in 2005.
34 - "Living Next Door to Alice (Who the Fuck is Alice)," Smokie featuring Roy "Chubby" Brown
The popular 70s band scored their first hit in fifteen years with a new version of their biggest international hit, featuring foul-mouthed interjections by Yorkshire comedian Brown, who is best known for his girth, his penchant for wearing a leather pilot helmet and goggles, and for his raunchy material. Reading about him and listening to this, I would definitely say he's a British thing, and I don't understand. But that's okay. Who the fuck am I?
33 - "Heaven Help My Heart," Tina Arena
Born to Italian immigrants in Australia, Filppina Arena first found fame on a kids' talent show in the late 70s, then became a grown-up pop star in the 90s. Her international peak saw her score five U.K Top 40s, the third being this midtempo ballad about looking for love. Maybe it's the fact that she's Australian, maybe it's the soft-rock arrangement, but I was reminded a lot of Olivia Newton-John. But not enough for me to desperately seek out her other material.
32 - "Summertime Healing," Eusebe
Not much I can tell you about this North London rap group, except that they consisted of cousins Alison, Steve and Sharon Eusebe, and they seemed to have released one major-label LP then disappeared. This single is a positive, seasonal vibe that borrows its hook from Marvin Gaye's last big hit. It's pretty good. I would have liked to have heard where they would go from here.
31 - "Girl From Mars," Ash
This trio from County Down in Northern Ireland scored the first of their 18 Top 40 hits with this energetic rocker about a summer romance with a young lady who probably was not a space alien.
Good, catchy stuff that belongs on any "Best of Britpop" playlist.
30 - "Push," Moist
This Vancouver band were a staple of Canadian rock radio in the 90s, but they also managed to score one Brit hit with their first single, an urgent rocker about trying to break out of an unequal relationship. Having knowledge of much of their catalogue, I'd put this third behind "Silver" and "Leave it Alone." Also, I just learned that they reunited a couple years ago after a 12-year hiatus. Good for them, I guess.
29 - "Hope Street," The Levellers
Named for a 17th Century British democracy movement, this Brighton folk-punk band has scored 15 Top 40 singles to date. This one is a vivid portrait of people living lives of desperation. It definitely does make me curious about some of their other output.
28 - "Destination Eschaton," The Shamen
The ninth of twelve Top 40s for this Scottish dance group was this burbly rave track about journeying through outer space. Or the space between your ears. Anyway, it's trippy, but nothing that I find particularly striking.
27 - "Hold On," Happy Clappers
Your basic 90s dance track with soulful female vocals and a "boom-cha boom-cha" beat. Unremarkable.
26 - "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," U2
The Irish boys added to their hit ball with this swirly number about the glittery weirdness of rock stardom that they contributed to the soundtrack of the Val Kilmer Batman movie. Listening to it with fresh ears, I found that I enjoyed its ambition, where when it was out I remember finding it kind of pretentious. I'm not sure if I was right then or now.
25 - "Let Your Yeah be Yeah," Ali Campbell
The UB40 frontman scored three solo hits this year, the second being this cover of a 1971 U.K Top Five by Jimmy Cliff. Not surprisingly, it's reggae-lite. Can't tell it from what he was doing with his band at the time. I should look up the original sometime. Or even the version by Brownsvulle "Smokin' in the Boys' Room" Station. That's bound to be ten times more interesting.
24 - "Don't You Want Me (Patrick Prins Remix)," Felix
Essex DJ Francis Wright had five Top 40 hits, but three were different versions of the same song. The second of these was a remix of Felix's 1992 original by Dutch DJ Prins. I've never heard any incarnation of the song before, but this one is pretty cool as these things go. There's actually stuff that distinguishes it from other dance tracks of the time.
23 - "Isobel," Bjork
Icelander Bjork Gudmundsdottir released her first album in 1977 when she was only twelve, then abandoned kiddie-pop and spent the next decade in Reykjavik's punk scene, eventually landing in a band called The Sugarcubes, who released three albums between 1987 and 1992 and gained a worldwide following. After that band broke up, she began a solo career that has made her one of the stranger platinum-level pop stars ever. The seventh of her 21 U.K. Top 40s was this trippy electronic pop song inspired by a moth who landed on her shirt collar one evening and stayed for an extended period of time. That's pretty much par for the course for her. Either you get her or you don't. I do. She's just this odd little gift to the world that I wouldn't want to imagine life without.
22 - "You Oughta Know," Alanis Morissette
Oh yes, the song that turned a Canadian dance-pop lightweight into the female rock poet of the mid-90s. It's still jarring when I think about the first time I heard it. But it is unquestionably a terrific pop song. And the world still wonders which TV Joey she was so pissed off at, the one from Friends or the one from Full House.
21 - "'74-'75," The Connells
This North Carolina band had some success in the late 80s and early 90s on the American alternative charts, then they found themselves out-of-nowhere pop stars in the U.K with this acoustic ballad about a failed relationship. I can definitely hear what the Brits heard, not to mention the Scandinavians who made it a #1 hit in Sweden and Norway. It's simple, catchy pop-rock.
In Part Two: eighteen more songs, and then the main event.
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