Popular '95

The NME top 50 singles (as found at http://www.rocklist.net)

1. Black Grape – Reverend Black Grape
2. Supergrass – Alright
3. Pulp – Sorted For E’s And Wizz
4. Oasis – Some Might Say
5. Foo Fighters – This Is Is A Call
6. Oasis – Wonderwall
7. Mcalmont & Butler – Yes
8. Pulp – Common People
9. Blur – The Universal
10. Tlc – Waterfalls
11. Tricky. Black Steel
12. The Boo Radleys – Wake Up, Boo!
13. Coolio – Gangsta’s Paradise
14. Orbital – Times Fly
15. The Verve – History
16. Teenage Fanclub – Mellow Doubt
17. Radiohead – High And Dry
18. Ash – Girl From Mars
19. Method Man – Release Yo’self
20. The Bluetones – Bluetonic
21. The Stone Roses – Ten Storey Love Song
22. Blur – Country House
23. Radiohead – Fake Plastic Trees
24. Plush – Found A Little Baby
25. Blackgrape – Kelly’s Heroes
26. Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – Llanfwrog Ep
27. Nick Cave And Kylie Minogue – Where The Wild Roses Grow
28. Clubbed To Death – Clubbed To Death
29. Scarface – Hand Of The Dead Body
30. Alanis Morissette – You Oughta Know
31. Black Grape – In The Name Of The Father
32. The Cardigans – Sick And Tired
33. Ash – Kung Fu
34. The Bluetones – Are You Blue Or Are You Blind
35. Weezer – Buddy Holly
36. Nicolette – No Government
37. Passengers – Miss Sarajevo
38. Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You
39. Beastie Boys – Root Down Ep
40. Pavement – Father To A Sister Of Thought
41. Pj Harvey – Down By The Water
42. Alex Reece – Pulp Fiction
43. Elastica – Waking Up
44. Hole – Doll Parts
45. Spooky – Stereo EP
46. Tortoise – Gamera/Ciiff Dweller Society
47. Take That – Back For Good
48. Radiohead – Lucky
49. Supergrass – Mansize Rooster
50. The Connells – ’74-’75

interesting to see Pulp’s ‘Sorted…’ rated higher than ‘Common People’

I also thought Mansize Rooster was Supergrass’ best song and far superior to Alright

and Yes was far and away the best song of the year

By the end of the year Muzik had imo established itself as the nation’s best dance mag and their first EOY lists are strong in quality and reasonably inclusive.

1995 – Singles of the Year

1. Josh Wink – Higher State Of Consciousness
2. T Power Versus Mk Ultra – Mutant Jazz
3. DJ Misjah & DJ Tim – Access
4. Faithless – Salva Mea
5. Alex Reece – Pulp Fiction
6. The Bucketheads – The Bomb
7. Method Man & Mary J Blige – You’re All I Need
8. BT Featuring Vincent Covello – Loving You More
9. Dave Clarke – Red 3 (Of 3)
10. Urban Blues Project – Deliver Me
11. Plug 2 – Rebuilt Kev
12. Man With No Name – Floor Essence
13. PFM – The Western
14. Size 9 – I’m Ready
15. Green Velvet – Flash
16. Glenn Undeground – Beyond
17. D’Angelo – Brown Sugar
18. Ruffneck – Everybody Be Somebody
19. Ghost Dancer – Martians
20. Daft Punk – Da Funk
21. Jeff Mills – The Purpose Maker
22. Pizzaman – Trippin’ On Sunshine
23. Francois Kervorkian – FK
24. The Pharcyde – Running
25. Indica – Labia

Muzik 1995 – Albums of the Year

1. Saint Germain – Boulevard
2. Goldie – Timeless
3. Raekwon The Chef – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
4. Leftfield – Leftism
5. BT – Ima
6. Dave Angel – Tales Of The Unexpected
7. Tricky – Maxinquaye
8. Eric Kupper – From The Deep
9. Black Dog – Spanners
10. Towa Tei – Future Listening
11. Method Man – Tical
12. Beltram – Places
13. A Guy Called Gerald – Black Secret Technology
14. Pizzaman – Pizzamania
15. Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Return To The 36 Chambers
16. Danny Tenaglia – Hard And Soul
17. Robert Hood – Nighttime World
18. D’Angelo – Brown Sugar
19. Nightmares On Wax – Smokers Delight
20. As One – Celestial Soul
21. The Ballistic Brothers – London Hooligan Soul
22. KRS One – KRS One
23. The Chemical Brothers – Exit Planet Dust
24. Larry Heard – Sceneries Not Songs Volume Tu
25. Omni Trio – The Deepest Cut

Muzik 1995 – Remixes of the Year

1. Jodeci – Feenin’ (LTJ Bukem Remix)
2. De’Lacy – Hideaway (Deep Dish Remix)
3. Method Man – Release Yo’ Delf (Prodigy Remix)
4. Espiritu – Always Something There (Tin Tin Out Remix)
5. Sade – Cherish The Day (Hani Remix)
6. System 7 – Alpha Waves (Richie Hawtin Remix)
7. Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy (David Morales Remix)
8. Scarface – I’ve Seen A Man Cry (4 Hero Remix)
9. Red Snapper – Hot Flush (Sabres Of Paradise Remix)
10. Rhythim Is Rhythim – Strings Of Life (Ashley Beedle Remix)

Muzik 1995 – Compilations of the Year

1. Penetrate Deeper (mixed by Deep Dish)
2. Coldcut: Journeys By DJ
3. Jazz In The House
4. Trade Volume 1 (mixed by Tony De Vit)
5. Freezone 2
6. Classic Hip Hop Volume 1
7. Perfecto: Perfection
8. Tresor Volume 3
9. AWOL Live At The Ministry
10. Artcore

Hmm, it seems that whenever I vote on these, there are never any 100% songs (as per now), and usually there are no 0% ones (however, there are three right now)

Peel list here:

1. Pulp – Common People
2. Pulp – Sorted For E’s & Wizz
3. Wedding Present – Sucker
4. Ash – Girl From Mars
5. Dreadzone – Zion Youth
6. Ash – Kung Fu
7. The Fall – Feeling Numb
8. Pulp – I-Spy
9. Dreadzone – Maximum
10. Long Fin Killie & Mark E Smith – Heads Of Dead Surfers
11. PJ Harvey – Send His Love To Me
12. Pulp – Mis-shapes
13. Supergrass – Alright
14. Zion Train – Dance Of Life
15. Bluetones – Bluetonic
16. Dreadzone – Fight The Power
17. PJ Harvey – Down By The Water
18. Catatonia – Bleed
19. Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – If Fingers Were Xylophones
20. Elastica – All Nighter
21. Bluetones – Slight Return
22. Tricky – Black Steel
23. Dreadzone – Little Britain
24. The Fall – Don’t Call Me Darling
25. Tindersticks – My Sister
26. Dick Dale – Nitro
27. Pulp – Disco 2000
28. Hole – Violet
29. The Flaming Lips – Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
30. The Fall – Bonkers In Phoenix
31. Pulp – Underwear
32. Spare Snare – Bugs
33. Stereolab – Pop Quiz
34. PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love
35. Dreadzone – Captain Dread
36. Cornershop – 6am Jullander Shere
37. Billy Bragg – Northern Industrial Town
38. Van Basten – King Of The Death Posture
39. Solar Race – Not Here
40. Pavement – Father To A Sister Of Thought
41. Leftfield – Afro Left
42. Harvey’s Rabbit – Is This What You Call Change
43. Ash – Angel Interceptor
44. Dose (With Mark E Smith) – Plug Myself In
45. Garbage – Vow
46. Dave Clarke – Red Three
47. bis – School Disco
48. Dreadzone – Life, Love & Unity
49. The Fall – The Joke
50. Safe Deposit – You Can’t

The Dreadzone entries above have got me reacquainting with “Second Light”. Great album.

Grading generously, 7 for me this year; a 700% improvement over 1994! Not a year for the ages at the level of #1s, rather just kind of what one would hope for every year.

Crazy amount of Dreadzone on that F50 (I’ll still endorse ‘House Of Dread’ tho) – somewhat at the expense of Rockers Hi Fi, Sons Of Silence, Pressure Drop and others making similar stuff. Maybe the multiball action came from a particularly strong Peel Session tho (I can imagine them being a more compelling live act at that point).

Number 30 makes me think Phoenix should record a track called ‘Bonkers In The Fall’ (or indeed ‘Conkers…’).

Hmm – – clicked the link from Facebook to find somehow that it had voted for me! Happy to have voted for Coolio and Shaggy but I would shifted these ‘votes’ from “Back For Good” and “Earth Song” to “Country House” and “Some Might Say.” Oh well…

Sophie B Hawkins – As I Lay Me Down (or indeed other of her singles/album tracks) : notably missing from all those lists….

(Quite the most boringly insular Peel Festive 50 list I’ve seen, too…)

Here’s the Billboard list of number ones, with a brief comment on each:

On Bended Knee – Boyz II Men
– Carryover from 1994. Typical Boyz II Men ballad for the period (ie kinda dull)

Creep – TLC
– I never liked TLC much, and this song didn’t change that.

Take A Bow – Madonna
– Trivia fact: At 7 weeks, this is her longest run at US#1. Of course, this stat is warped by comparing Pre-Soundscan hits vs. the Soundscan era. Certainly many of her best 80’s songs would have had long runs at #1 under Soundscan rules. Take A Bow by contrast was relatively forgettable.

This Is How We Do It – Montell Jordan
– The number one the week I graduated from college (or University as you would say in the UK). I can’t say I liked it much, but at least it was better than the corresponding UK#1 at the time.

Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman? – Bryan Adams
– His 4th and final US#1. From a movie (of course). Noteworthy how different this sounded from any thing else on the charts at the time.

Waterfalls – TLC
– Again, not a TLC fan, but this was one of their better singles.

Kiss From A Rose – Seal
– A late bloomer thanks to Batman. Weird to think Seal’s had a US#1 but never a UK#1 under his own name.

You Are Not Alone – Michael Jackson
– First single to debut at #1. Already discussed.

Gangsta’s Paradise – Coolio
– Billboard’s #1 single of 1995, despite a modest 3 weeks on top. Already discussed.

Fantasy – Mariah Carey
– Second single to debut at #1. I have a tendency to get this mixed up with Dreamlover, Heartbreaker, and really almost any other upbeat song recorded by her.

Exhale – Whitney Houston
– Third single to debut at #1 (sensing a pattern?). I can’t say I was a fan of what was her final #1. After a week of #1 glory, it proceeded to spend a record 11 weeks at #2 behind….

One Sweet Day – Mariah & Boyz II Men
– Yep, that one. The Hot 100’s biggest stars of the time team up and predictably debut at #1 and spend a record 16 weeks there. I know you guys don’t care your own 16-weeker that much, but at least it was better than this.

Overall, not a good list, unless you were heavily into R&B. If you drop Robson & Jerome, I prefer the UK one – I actually voted for 7 songs (and I admit to being the lone vote for LCBAB ;)).

One final note: The lack of single releases for certain big hits was becoming a major factor on the Hot 100 around this time. “I’ll Be There For You” by the Rembrandts could’ve hit #1 on airplay alone at its peak with just a single copy on sale. This would become an even bigger problem over the next three years until Billboard finally caved and allowed non-singles on its flagship chart.

Okay, here’s the run-down of Australian number ones from 1995, with comments from my extremely well-informed pop brain.

Real McCoy – “Another Night” – 6 weeks
Erm, can’t remember this one at all.

Hocus Pocus – “Here’s Johnny!” – 6 weeks
Nope, you’ve got me there.

Take That – “Back for Good” – 2 weeks
Hey, I hadn’t realised the That had an Oz number one. And it’s a good one.

Merril Bainbridge – “Mouth” – 6 weeks
Vaguely remember it existing, can’t remember how it goes.

Bryan Adams – “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” – 1 week
Oh for God’s sake. (I once wrote a limerick on Bryan Adams, wanna read it?)

U2 – “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” – 6 weeks
Oh yes. Top tune.

Jann Arden – “Insensitive” – 1 week
Uh, don’t remember this either.

Seal – “Kiss from a Rose” – 6 weeks
Hope your tetanus jabs are up to date, Seal.

Mariah Carey – “Fantasy” – 1 week
Not mine, Mariah.

N-Trance – “Stayin’ Alive” – 1 week
N-necessary.

Coolio – “Gangsta’s Paradise” – 11 weeks in 1995, 2 weeks in 1996.
Cool.

#18. 600%, surely?

@5, @9 – The idiosyncrasies are often the most interesting things about those publications’ round-ups, aren’t they?

’74-’75 is not quite a lost REM song, I think: the lyrics are too direct for Michael Stipe. He’s a bit younger, too: it should have been ’78-’79 if he’d written it.

You are right, though, that it is in the same territory as REM, and while it is deeply sentimental, it is still lovely. One of the rare examples of middle-aged rock actually having something to say about being middle-aged.

MM’s high placing for Hobo Humping etc is less defensible, IMO. The answer to the question “what would happen if you combined The Red Hot Chili Peppers with The Sugarcubes?” turns out to be “something intensely annoying.”

I always thought they redeemed themselves slightly by having originally been called Tokyo Sex Whale, after the ANC activist and politician Toyko Sexwale, but Wikipedia doesn’t support that theory.

Re 28: I’m sure like a lot of people on here, I love both those TLC songs. I’m also really like Mariah’s Fantasy – in my case it was possible (re 33) to be fully aware (and a fan of) Genius Of Love and like the way the sample is used. Also, loosely in relation to the long-running/why are you even mentioning it again? argument about TV talent shows and the Mariah (etc) effect, one of the things I like about Fantasy is that it uses Mariah roaming free at the top of her range essentially as a (pleasing) layer of noise.

Fantasy, then, is the one with the roller-coaster video, and Heartbreaker the one where she fights herself in the cinema toilet, and the bloke from Stand By Me/Sliders is in it. The Honey vid reminds me of In Like Flint than Bond (either that or it anticipates Archer).

Re 11: I remember being very disappointed by Oasis sneaking their way on to The Face’s list. Poor, I felt. Still, at least they’ve got Meth and Mary J at the top, and found a place for D’Angelo’s retro loverman classic Brown Sugar.

@Mark M.,36. To be clear, I liked Fantasy too; I was just guessing that Fantasy would have been much more intoxicating if that was where one was first hearing those TTC hooks.

FWIW, I find the singles from Mariah’s breakthrough period when she used full-on whistle-voice a lot (e.g., on Emotions) and those from her comeback period in the ’00s more memorable than, to have more personality than those from the mid/late ’90s.

people who should be bands: the nicely assonant 60s/70s footballer, Pop Robson

Whoops, minor mistake from my previous post: “Hold Me” only reached #16 in the US. It seemed like a bigger hit though.

Re 34: Incidentally, there used to be a techno night in Bristol around this time (’94, ’95) named Tokyo Sex Whale.

N-trance’s ‘Stayin’ Alive” got to #3 in NZ (but had 19 weeks in the charts so ’twas pretty big). N-trance’s next cover-tastic recycling, of Rod Stewart’s ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy’, did, however, get all the way to #1. Subsquent recyclings of G’n’R’s Paradise City and of Mister Mr’s (!) Broken Wings got to #4 and #43 respectively. It’s all a bit disappointing after the genuinely beloved, instant classic, ‘Set You Free’.

I liked the demented ‘Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe’ at the time (it got a big push in the US from its video being a fave of Beavis and Butthead) and eventually picked up Whale’s album very cheaply a year or so later – it wasn’t great. Second best track was the fresh ‘Young, Dumb and Full Of Cum’ so there’s that.

BTW, if anyone hasn’t seen it, Chic’s whole Glastonbury gig, all 1 hr 36 mins of it, is up on youtube, http://youtu.be/WmYSf52bncc. One for the ages.

This was my top 25 of the year as compiled at the time (the first year I did this properly) – includes a few from the previous year whether initially album tracks that became singles in ’95 (e.g. ‘Poison’) or re-releases/re-entries.

1. Leftfield Halliday – Original
2. Goldie – Angel
3. Massive Attack – Protection
4. Ruffneck ft. Yavahn – Everybody Be Somebody
5. Oasis – Some Might Say (lol token ‘indie’)
6. Nookie – Only You
7. Biosphere – Novelty Waves
8. Splash – Babylon (DJ SS Remix)
9. The Prodigy – Poison
10. Therapy? – Loose (Photek Remix)
11. Tricky – Black Steel
12. CJ Bolland – Starship Universe
13. Alex Reece – Pulp Fiction
14. Black Grape – Reverend Black Grape
15. Nookie – A Drum, A Bass And A Piano
16. De’Lacy – Hideaway
17. Ray Keith – Sing Time
18. New Order – Blue Monday (Hardfloor Mix)
19. T Power vs DJ Trace – Mutant Revisited (Rollers Instinct Mix)
20. The Bucketheads – The Bomb!
21. Everything But The Girl – Missing (Todd Terry Mix)
22. Carlito – Heaven
23. Ken Ishii – Extra
24. Alex Reece – Feel The Sunshine
25. Pascal – P Funk Era

I still rate most of those now tho a few scream ‘too high’ including ‘Original’ which is really not better than ‘Protection’ as a cool plodder and not exactly the highlight of ‘Leftism’ either – can’t really explain my thinking there, should’ve just put De’Lacy top oh well.

47 & 49: I saw The Bluetones at a gig at about this time – maybe 96? – which is why I am surprised that they were so rated early in their career (we went because it was the first gig by a name band in the area for some time – and we needed to support it, so that other bands might have turned up. It worked! After a fashion. The Manics turned up with Mansun in support and Weller played gigs on the way up to T In The Park). They were fine but I don’t think they were shattering by any stretch.

I sort of agree with Rory in as much as I think a decent greatest hits by The Bluetones is a decent enough listen – they were still capable of a tune even late in their career – but I’d stop short of recommending albums by them, with the possible exception of ETF, which I still think is reasonably good. I mentioned in a post elsewhere (Some Might Say? Country House? The Poll?) that the main thing I remember about them is that they had a fanatical following. They were still capable of selling out reasonable sized halls late in their career because there was a fanzine culture around them, and people would follow them around the country. I don’t think anyone was doing that to the same extent for anyone else in the lower leagues of Britpop. In that sense, they stick out in my mind as reasonable but not great and inspiring incredible devotion amongst a number even still.