Here's the other part.
20 - "Things Can Only Get Better," D:Ream
The second and most successful of three chart runs for this single by a Northern Irish pop band. Decent dance track about learning optimism. Three years later, the Labour Party's would use it as a theme song that brought them back to power after 18 years. Did things get better? Well, I have never lived in Britain, so I can't really say.
19 - "I'm Broken," Pantera
Metal once again shows up, this time from this Texas thrash band. Phil Anselmo artfully shouts lyrics inspired by his struggles with crippling back pain, while the late great Dimebag Darrell shreds away. An impressive 4.5 on the Headbangometer.
18 - "Linger," The Cranberries
The Irish band's first U.K. hit was this jangly ballad inspired by Dolores O'Riordan's betrayal at the hands of her first boyfriend. Pretty and affecting. I don't think they did any better than this and "Dreams."
17 - "Rocks," Primal Scream
These Scots broke through in 1991 with their house-influenced Sceamadelica album, so it was a shock to fans when their follow-up LP was a collection of Stones-esque blues rocker like this track, a catchy stomper about getting one's kicks. I like it a lot, but it's so much of a detour that the backlash was more than understandable.
16 - "The Way You Work It," E.Y.C.
This American boy band (whose initials stand for Express Yourself Clearly) had most of their success in Britain with songs like this innocuous dance jam. It may be clear, but it's also bland.
15 - "Whatta Man," Salt-N-Pepa featuring En Vogue
The rap trio teams up with the vocal quartet for an ode to a man who is attractive, respectful, and proficient at both fatherhood and sex. Salt-N-Pepa doing their Salt-N-Pepa thing, which was quite welcome at the time.
14 - "Let the Beat Control Your Body," 2 Unlimited
More techno-rap from the Belgians. There was indeed bass in my face, but my body remained under my jurisdiction throughout.
13 - "Violently Happy," Bjork
The otherworldly Icelander had her fifth hit with this dance track about feeling so ecstatic you don't know what to do with yourself. The sound matches the sentiment. The world needed Bjork before we even knew we did.
12 - "I Believe," Marcella Detroit
After splitting with her Shakespear's Sister partner Siobahn Fahey, theformer Marcy Levy put out a solo album that produced three hits, thefirst and biggest being this idealistic peace and harmony ballad. Sweet, but underwhelming.
11 - "Shine On," Degrees of Motion
More boilerplate house-dance. Nothing more to add.
Breaking news: Disney has just announced that they are making a live-action remake of this week's Top Ten.
10 - "Breathe Again," Toni Braxton
The Maryland soul lady had her first U.K. Top Ten with this ballad on which she essentially admits that she will die if her lover leaves her. Romantic..?
9 - "I Like to Move It," Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman
The most enduring cultural contribution by Colombian-American producer Erick Morillo was this combination of house and dancehall that features Mr. Stuntman toasting about attractive women. Naturally, it would eventually become most closely associated with a series of animated movies about escaped zoo animals.
8 - "Return to Innocence," Enigma
German producer Michael Cretu created Enigma as a way to combine electronic dance music with sounds not common to pop. On his 1991 breakthrough "Sadeness Part 1," it was Gregorian chants, while on this one it was a recording of a traditional song of the Amis, an indigenous people of Taiwan. He uses it to great effect, but unfortunately, he didn't credit the original performers. Thankfully, that was eventually corrected. That was a return to innocence in and of itself.
7 - "Pretty Good Year," Tori Amos
Myra Ellen Amos grew up in North Carolina, then moved to Los Angeles in the 80s, where she got her first record deal with a synthpopband called Y Kant Tori Read. They were dropped after one flop album, but Tori found success in the next decade as a purveyor of ethereal yet raw piano pop. The second of her three Top Tens was this ballad with inscrutable lyrics about a relationship between two people named Greg and Lucy. I have always been a big Tori fan, to the point where I went to one of her shows on the tour supporting the album this track came from, Under the Pink. Undoubtedly my favorite of my relatively few concert experiences. And this song in particular probably ranks somewhere between 6--10 on my all time Torilist.
6 - "Renaissance," M People
The fifth of ten Top Tens for the Manchester dance outfit is this house banger about coming home to a lover. Not a da Vinci reference in sight, but still lifted to very-goodness by the powerhouse vocals of Heather Small.
5 - "Girls and Boys," Blur
The future Oasis archenemies had their first Top Five with this Eurodance- inspired tune about indiscriminate and uninhibited sex among youth in European vacation hotspots. It captures that vibe perfectly, with Damon Albarn ironically stating that one's partner or partners in such behavior "always should be someone you really love." I think I have it just ahead of "Country House" as their best.
4 - "Streets of Philadelphia," Bruce Springsteen
Bruce's biggest U.K. hit was this Oscar-winning contribution to the film Philadelphia, which starred Tom Hanks as a gay lawyer who sues his firm for wrongful dismissal after they fire him shortly after he is diagnosed with AIDS. Though it resonated the the time, the movie hasn't aged well; however, the song's stark spareness remains a powerful portrait of the loneliness and hopelessness of someone facing the end of their life. One of the Boss's crowning achievements.
3 - "The Sign," Ace of Base
The biggest hit by Ulf Ekberg and the three Berggren siblings of Gothenburg, Sweden was this sunny bit of techno-reggae about changing one's life for the better. I still prefer "All That She Wants," but I like this better now than I did then.
2 - "Without You," Mariah Carey
Surprisingly, her only British charttopper to date is this cover of Harry Nilsson 1971 smash ballad. She makes it bigger, but definitely not better.
And on top 23 years ago was...
1 - "Doop," Doop
This Dutch duo's only major impact on international pop culture was this mostly instrumental dance track that incorporates Roaring 20s jazz of the kind that would accompany the step known as "the Charleston." Anachronistic fun, and this chart's clear Uneasy Rider. Doop doop doop indeed.
Another one down. Thanks as always, and see you next time.
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