All 4 1994: 25th December. Take A Hot Hot Bow, Devil!

So this is it for 1994, huh, a meaty chunk of new arrivals and plenty of movement across the board that makes this week a fair bit more interesting especially going into 1995 and well, it's not interesting right at the very top of the charts because The Cranberries have number one on lock right now thanks to "Zombie", it's sitting pretty thanks to having such a strong sales margin, it's going into 1995 looking pretty.

"All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey which jumped five places to number two presumably because it's Christmas and all a lot of people wnant to do is listen to Christmas music, I don't forsee it making a run at number one however it did move past "Tomorrow" by Silverchair at number three, "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow at number four, "Always" by Bon Jovi at number five. "Short Dick Man" by 20 Fingers feat. Gillette at number six and "If I Only Knew" by Tom Jones at number seven. 

"Turn the Beat Around" by Gloria Estefan continues to get raw on the dancefloor up one spot to number eight although that could be because "Chains" by Tina Arena is effectively done at this point down one to number nine. 

Rising three places into the top ten is "On Bended Knee" by Boyz II Men at number ten because Australia just loves it's slop. 

Losers

So the losers begin with former number two hit "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey slumping from thirty three to forty eight looks like the public's love for this song is not endless after all!

"Spin the Black Circle" by Pearl Jam continues to spin the wrong down this week down eleven to thirty five. 

"Sooner or Later" by GF4 plummeted ten spots to thirty one after the song stalled out at number twelve (which I am okay with...I still don't like that song).

More from Madonna in the new entries but "Secret" slipped from sxiteen to twenty four. 

Gains

The problem going into 1995 might be the utter inane crap that is rising, let's start with goddamn "Baby, Come Back" by Pato Banton feat. Ali and Robin Campbell which somehow continues gain, this week it's up eight to eighteen.

The Stone Roses at least got a decent twelve place gain to thirty six with "Love Spreads" while "Sure" by Take That bounces around like a zoomy cat up twelve spots to thirty seven. 

New Entries

Five songs new to the chart this week so let's start this exploration with...

49. “Hot Hot Hot” by Arrow

Stick with me for this one because we're kicking off the week with a remastered version of a 1982 song from a Montserrat musician known as Arrow which apparently peaked at fifty nine in the UK in 1984 and it's fair to say I get the appeal here as the percussion kick up quite the stomping rhythm before the horns kick in and it actually really sounds like a summer party on tape which is perfect for Australia at this time of year, I won't say it's for me but I can see plenty of fun being had with this...check it out if you are curious.

45. “Seether” by Veruca Salt

This song comes from Veruca Salt's album "American Thighs" and is a more pop leaning than the rest of the album and you are can tell, there definitely some more pop concessions in the sound of this sound from the hook to even the vocal delivery. Lead vocalist Nina Gordon told an interview that the song could well be about the feminine urge to sometimes rage and how rage is occasionally something that someone cannot fight and they have to go with it and let their emotions out. Solid song but I just can't get behind the vocals especially with the subject matter of the song. 

43. “Sight for Sore Eyes” by M People

So somehow this is the tenth single from M People's album "Bizarre Fruit" and this one has more of a gospel tinge that combines decently with the groove supplied by the percussion and the piano, it's supposoed to be this song where this other person is so beautiful and handsome to the point where they are a sight for sore eyes...its fine enough but it's not anything I'll remember in a month's time. 

21. “Take a Bow” by Madonna

Latest single from Madonna's album "Bedtime Stories" and I have to say this sounds really nice on the ear, it's a gentle ballad that Madonna just sounds incredible over especially with those strings which should not have surprised me as much as it did considering she collaborated with Babyface for this song. The somber tone of the song makes sense given the subject material all about unrequited love and saying goodbye to a relationship. I really like this a lot, definitely one of Madonna's better efforts so far in the nineties. 

15. Sympathy for the Devil” by Guns ‘n’ Roses

I cannot be the only one giggling that the final song to be covered for 1994 is a song all about having sympathy for the devil and it debuting on the Australian chart on Christmas Day...now come on...it's almost too perfect however was anyone really asking for this cover of the Rolling Stones song that strips away Axl Rose of his personality and Guns 'N' Roses made to sound like "Freedom" by George Michael? This song just really sounds like Guns N' Roses have been neutered and I cannot imagine listening to this at any point. 

Yeah, it's very obviously worst of the week but the best is going to Madonna for "Take a Bow".

That's wraps up it up for the top 50 chart in 1994, stay tuned for the top ten best and worst hit songs lists. On Sunday January 3rd, we begin to look at the top 50 charts of 1999,

All 4 1994: 18th December You Want A Blame Day Coma

The year is slowly winding down but the drama on the top 50 singles chart has not slowed because we got yet another new number one this week, this time, it's The Cranberries notching their first chart topper with "Zombie" rising one spot to the top., it got there thanks to some absolutely enormous streaming.

As a result, "Tomorrow" by Silverchair returned to number two because the previous week's number one "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow slumped back to number three...purely due to "Zombie" having an incredible week on sales. 

Remaining at number four is "Always" by Bon Jovi while much to my shock and absolute disgust "Short Dick Man" by 20 Fingers feat. Gillette rose three slots to number five...ugh, it pushed past "If I Only Knew" by Tom Jones down one to number six. 

Christmas is in the air so "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey climbs five spots to number seven as Tina Arena's "Chains" appears to be heading out of the top ten down one to number eight while "Turn the Beat Around"  by Gloria Estefan and "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring hold steady at nine and ten respectively. 

Losers

"Regulate" by Warren G and Nate Dogg slipped twelve spots to fifty this week and looks like it's in need of some regulation to stay on the chart next week. 

"Sure" by Take That continued to lose ground this week down ten spots to number forty nine.

Former top ten hit "Swamp Thing" by The Grid slipped eight to forty four while "Ain't Nobody" by Jaki Grahm tumbled eleven spots to forty three. 

 "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails collapsed from twenty one to thirty six this week while "I Swear" by All 4 One felt an eight spot swear off to number thirty five. 

Also down eight is Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey's cover of "Endless Love", it's at number thirty three. The nightlife is getting a bit much for Alicia Bridges as her hit "I Love the Nightlife" is down seven to thirty one. 

"Spin the Black Circle" by Pearl Jam spun the chart circle and itself down eleven to twenty four. 

Gains

So the gains this week are mostly of songs that look like they will be huge to start 1995 with "On Bended Knee" by Boyz II Men rising nine spots to thirteen and "Here Comes the Hotstepper" by Ini Kamooze up from forty eight all the way to twenty three.

Then there's the continued gains for "Cruise Control" by Severed Heads which climbed from thirty seven to twenty two.

Re-Entries

One re-entry with "The Rhythm of the Night" by Coronoa back at number forty two. 

'New Entries

Fiur new entries this week beginning with...

47, “Bang and Blame” by R.E.M'

So R.E.M have been on a run outs with me with singles lately so I have to hope this newest single would work for me? Well yes and no as yet again the vocals again get buried on the hook and Michael Stipe doesn't even sound all that convincing on that hook...singing "bang bang bang" repeatedly for the hook. The instrumentation sounds ifne enough but no...this one doesn't work at all for me. Next!

40. “Coma” by Max Sharam

Max Sharam is an Australian-American multi discipline singer songwriter with this song coming from an EP of the same name released in 1005 and I will say it's one of the more interesting songs to have hit the top 50 in recent times! The verses remind me a lot of middle eastern music or maybe a little bit of Bjork before diving into a hook that sounds about standard for pop/rock but she sounds absolutely great and the hook does work for what it's worth, I do like th9s and hope it sticks around. Check this out!

32. “You Want This” by Janet Jackson

The seventh single from Janet's 1993 album "Janet" and this one bares a lot of hallmarks back to her output on "Rhythm Nation" with more industrial sounds and noises on the song and I have to say that they really feel unnecessary in a song where Janet is making this guy, who clearly is attracted to her, work to be the object of her affectons and as a result the noises take any kind of tension sexual or otherwise out of the song. It's not bad, it's just got one or two misplaced elements that ruin the song. 

20. “Stay Another Day” by East 17

Trigger warning: Mentions of suicide.

Third single from East 17's second album and really there's not much I can say about this one, a piano ballad that occasionally brings in some decent strings and there's a reason for that, this song is about those conversations with those loved ones before that loved one take their own life or dies and this song wishes that those loved ones could stay another day. 

It's a sentiment that...yeah...I can get behind and as a result I am going to be very gentle on this because it's not really bad but not a song I would seek out myself. 

So that wraps up the week with best of the week going to "Coma" by Max Sharam. Worst of the week is going to R.E.M for "Bang and Blame".

All 4 1994: 11th December. Put Yourself On Bended Knee Hotstepper

So this week shocked me, we had some wild things happen in the top ten and we have a rather "eclectic" mix of new entries at hand however let's dive into the top ten because we have a brand new number one coming somewhat out of nowhere because I thought this song had peaked instead rising two places to the top spot is "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow, it got there thanks to sales doing really well. 

It got there just ahead of "Zombie" by The Cranberries which is positioning itself to be the next song to potentially take the number one up three spots to number two. 

All of this pushed previous chart topper "Tomorrow" by Silverchair back two spots to number three while "Always" by Bon Jovi also fell back two to number four. 

A new entry enters at number five courtesy of Tom Jones with 'If I Only Knew", we'll talk more about this song later. 

Speaking of talking about something later, Boyz II Men also make an appearance in the new entries however their former number one "I'll Make Love To You" remains at number six.

The biggest victim of all the drama at the top was "Chains" by Tina Arena which slid three spots back to number seven, this song definitely peaked last week.

The second of our two new entries in the top ten is "Short Dick Man" by 20 Fingers feat. Gillette at number eight, again we'll talk about the (questionable) quality of this song later.

Rising two spots to reach the top ten at number nine is "Turn the Beat Around" by Gloria Estefan while The Offspring round out the top ten down two to number te ton and that song's time in the top ten seems to be coming to a close. 

Losers

It might be good night for "Goodnight Girl '94" by Wet Wet Wet on the charts as it tumbled nine to fifty this week.

A bunch of former top ten hits are also making their way out like "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" by Elton John slipping eight to forty six, "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Doour and Neneh Cherry sliding twelve to forty five, "Rockin For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat. Angie Brown down twelve to forty two, "Swamp Thing" by The Grid collapsed eight to thirty six,"Endless Love"  by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey slumped ten spots to twenty five and "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails tumbling out of the top ten to twenty one (I am shocked it stuck around in the top ten that long if I am going to be bluntly honest)

"Yesterday, When I Was Mad" by Pet Shop Boys slumped from twenty nine to forty four. "Sure"  by Take That lost it's sure footing on the chart down eight to thirty nine. 

"All Come Together" by Diesel slumped from twenty six to thirty four while "Confide In Me" by Kylie Minogue is slipping away gracefully down ten to number thirty and Jaki Grahm's pretty damn  good cover of "Ain't Nobody" slipped seven to thirty two.

"I Love the Nightlife" by Alicia Bridges is clearly done enjoying the chartlife as it tumbled nine places to twenty four. 

Gains

As for the gains...well we are in that time of year so of course "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey is up eleven spots to number twelve but Christmas doesn't excuse "Baby, Come Back" by Pato Banton feat. Ali and Robin Campbell climbing eleven spots to twenry nine. 

I guess I'll tolerate "Dead Eyes Opened" bv Severed Heads up twelve spots to thirty seven but it's pretty bleak if thats the only gain I vaguely like.

New Entries

Six new entries this week beginning with...

48. “Here Come the Hotstepper” by Ini Kamooze

We're starting a pretty weird line up here with a Jamaican reggae singer who  began performing in the early 90s with this being his debut on the ARIA singles chart. Now this song has all kinds of samples in it with "The Champ" by The Mohaws, "Hot Pants"  by Bobby Byrd ad "La Di Da Di" by Doug E Fresh and Slick Rick. As for what I think of the song? I like it! It's got this summery vibe that fits very well for this time of year and Ini Kamooze sells the whole insanity given 'hotstepper' is a man ion the run from the law in Jamaican patois. Yeah, good song. I dig it!

31. “Better Get a Lawyer” by The Cruel Sea

We move onto the first of two Australian acts up for review this week and somehow oddly appropriate given what I mentioned about man running away from the law on "Here Comes the Hotstepper"! Anyway rhis song comes from The Cruel Sea's fourth studio album Three Legged Dog. 

The content is probably more interesting than the instrumention here which does feel a bit by the numbers with a decent guitar chord progression and Tex Perkins tells the story of getting in trouble with the law even though he hadn't done anything wrong with the ook being from the police officer telling him to get a lawyer and the lawyer he gets had better be a good one. I don't know...the hook is pretty damn memorable but I think The Cruel Sea have done better than this...just saying.

22. “On Bended Knee” by Boyz II Men

Another pianao drenched love ballad from Boyz II Men where he is throwing himself at this woman's feet begging her to give him one more chance even though he has let her down and I have to say this is the most over dramatic tantrum sounding chorus I've ever heard, he vows he will never walk again until she comes back to him and I suppose forgives him for everything she did wrong.

Oh god, there's even a spoken word passage begging her to return and no...in most cases if this sort of theatrics is what this guy is carrying on with, it's time for her to move on and speaking of moving on...lets do it ourselves before I actually vomit in disgust.

17. “Put Yourself in My Place” by Kylie Minogue

Oh thank goodness for Kylie...maybe she can get everything back on track with this song being released as the second single from her self titled album and yeah, no shock that Kylie herself vocally is the highlight of this song, she sounds incredible and that's helped by the mix allowing her and the instrumentation to breathe and better support Kylie.

As for the content, it's a song where she's dealing with the sudden end of a relationship and is begging her ex to put himself in her shoes for a change so he can empathise with what she is feeling over the end of the relationship...the song certainly deals with relationship drama than that Boyz II Men song that we mentioned a moment ago. Great song!

8. “Short Dick Man” by 20 Fingers feat. Gillette

Oh wow. We have found the most insipid and incredibly juvenile song of 1994...congratu-fucking-lations 20 Fingers and Gillette for releasing this god awful piece of song that pretty much is an ode to mocking a man who is unfortunate enough to have a small manhood. The song even uses a part of "Tweeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini" to mock this poor man over the laziest beat available. Absolute garbage, Get this garbage off the charts, it doesn't belong here and everyone involved with this needs to grow the fuck up!

5. “If I Only Knew” by Tom Jones

Thank goodness we're not ending it off on "Short Dick Man" but rather veteran and legend Welsh singer Tom Jones and I got to be honest I was not really expecting much with this song other than it to be carried on the charisma of Jones himself like a lot of his material has over the years so colour me shocked that this song has one HELL of a killer groove and Jones as per usual sounds absolutely phenomenal...also helps when Jones screams "YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" at the beginning of the song...real attention grabber.

The content of the song is pretty much Tom wondering what he has to do to know to get this woman to love him and break down the wall that's between them which to a degree feels somewhat icky but that hook is outrageously sticky so yeah...I dig this.

However it's not best of the week, that's goign to "Put Yourself in My Place" by Kylie Minogue. As for the worst of the week...it's not a competition, I've never been more disgusted listening to a song than "Short Dick Man" by 20 Fingers feat. Gillette so that's running away with the honour of being the absolute worst song of the week. 

All 4 1994: 4th December: Dead Love Eyes Come Back by Gyroscope

So we're into the final month of 1994 and honestly...this year has been a whole load of fun and helps that the music barring a few weeks here and there has been pretty darn great...just a shame this week is rough in the new enrries but before we get to all that...let's talk about our top ten where for yet another week, it's "Tomorrow" by Silverchair at number one, its starting to slow down on sales margins. 

Which night be good news for "Always" by Bon Jovi which held firm for another week at number two and looks the most likely to go to number one. Yeah, "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow remained at number three but its a shaky number three at best and "Chains" by Tina Arena looks to have peaked at number four. 

Up five to nnumber five is "Zombie" by The Cranberries which looks set to make a play for number one in the weeks ahead itself. 

"I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men rebounded one spot to number six although that might be because "Spin the Black Circle" by Pearl Jam fell two spots to number seven,

The Offspring moved up one spot to number eight with "Come Out and Play" while "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails fell back three places to number nine, 

Finally down two places to number ten is Madonna's "Secret".

Losers

Down twelve to number forty eight is "When Can I See You" by Babyface while "Nothing But You" by Cold Chisel slumped eight spots to forty seven.

East 17's "Stream" is almost out of chart steam down seven to forty two while "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John stumbled seven slots to thirty eight. "Lay Your Love on Me" by Roachford got abandoned so its down seven to thirty five.

" 7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry fell from twenty six to thirty three, "Rockin' For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat. Angie Brown fell six to thirty while :"Yesterday, When I Was Mad" by Pet Shop Boys fell ten spots to twenty nine.  "Swamp Thing" by The Grid fell seven to twenty eight. 

Gains

There are quite a few gains across the board this week beginning with "Trouble" by Shampoo which climbed it's way from thirty three into the top twenty at nineteen however the biggest gain of the week belongs to "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey which surged from fotty six to twenty three. 

Headless Chickens remain in "Cruise Control" up six to twenty seven while "Sure" by Take That found a sure footing on the chart up from forty two to thirty one. "Wantaway Lover" by Toni Pearen surged from forty one to thirty six while Wendy Matthews is "Standing Strong" up eight to thirty seven.

Re-Entries

Two returns this week with "Think Twice" by Celine Dion back at frty five and "Last One Standing With You" by The Black Sorrows and Jon Stevens returning at forty six. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week, beginning with...

50. “Gyroscope” by Tumbleweed

We're starting with a rock band formed in Wollongong with this song coming from the album "Galactophonic" and it's yet another song that thinks it's cool to absolutely bury the vocals so deep in the mix that the words being sung can barely be heard...seriously? The music sounds great, the guitars have some crunch to them and the drums go hard but it's all ruined by the mixing and mastering on the vocals. Skip it. 

49. “Dead Eyes Opened” by Severed Heads

So last week it was a NZ band called Headless Chickens, now we're dealing with an Australian electronic/dance act Severed Heads...it's getting bit weird out here! Anyway this song features lyrics taken from a radio program that was narrated by Edgar Lustgarden. Honestly while this is not for me in anyway shape or form...it's a bit too abstract for me, I do see the appeal here...check it out if you are curious. 

44. “Love Spreads” by The Stone Roses

New single from The Stone Roses and this song might be the best I've heard so far of this week's new entries, there's a consistent grunt and energy to the instrumentation I really like, the guitars are the star of the show here. As for the content, the song was apparently inspred by a book called "Women's history of the world" by Rosalind Miles, a 1988 book that discussed womens role in the world, representation and history so yeah...good song, check it out.

40. “Baby, Come Back” by Pato Banton feat. Ali and Robin Campbell

Oh god, I am not going to lie seeing this song featuring members of UB40 had me bracing for this to be bad. Pato Banton is a British reggae singer and this is the first time he has hit the ARIT charts but this song is lyrically a disaster especially when it turns out he messed around behind this girl's back and demanding she comes back and not leave town like he has earned that right to tell her to come back when he hasn't and the victim playing he does in the latter of this song is just disgusting. Get out of here, this song sucks.

Easy worst of the week goes to "Baby, Come Back" by Pato Banton and UB40. Best of the week goes to "Love Spreads" by THe Stone Roses. 

All 4 1994. 27th November: All I Want Is Your Wave Pants for Christmas

 So this week brough about some movement in the top ten just not at the very top where "Tomorrow" by Silverchair remains tied to the top spot thanks to terrific sales however as per program for the past frew weaks 'Always" by Bon Jovi is right behind it at number two,

Rising one to number three is "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow while Tina Arena's "Chains' is finally moving in the right direction up three places to number four.

It pushed "Spin the Black Circle" by Pearl Jam back two spots to number five, "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails down one to number six and "I'll Make Love To You" by Boyz II Men slipped one space to number seven. 

Stsying steady at number eight is "Secret" by Madonna while "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring continues to play at number nine.

However we do have a new arrival to our top ten at number ten with "Zombie" by The Cranberries rising five spots to number ten. 

Losers

So we did see "All Come Together" by Diesel down eleven spots to twenty nine while "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour slipped six spots to twenty six. 

Kylie Minogue's "Confide In Me" fell back eight spots to twenty two while "Yesterday, when I was Mad" by Pet Shop Boys floundered six spots to nineteen. 

Gains

So let's start with Gloria Estefan's "Turn the Beat Around" up nine slots to thirteen.,.ugh. CDB also got a decent nine place gain to fifteen with "Hook Me Up".

In unfortunate news, Lucas's "Lucas with the Lid Off" jumped from twenty three to eighteen because Australia hates me.

At least Harry Connick Jr got a six spot rise with "(I Could Only) Whisper Your Name)" to twenty three while "Lay Your Love on Me"  by Roachford is getting some love laid on it up from thirty five to twenty eight. 

The Headless Chickens have found some direction despite being headless with "Cruise Control" up nine to thirty four. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week beginning with...

50. “My Wave” by Soundgarden

So this is the fourth single from "Superunknown" and was only released here in Australia. This song is unusual because of it's 5/4 time signature and you know what? I think it's better for being just that little different because I really do like this even if its more the instrumentation just being awesome, Chris Cornell is buried behind the instrumentation to the point I can hardly hear him. Nice song though

48. “Tighten Up Your Pants” by Audio Murphy feat. Melinda

I do not have the words for this, it's basically Eurodance song using country tropes including squaredancing etc and there's even bizarrely yodelling leading into the first verse of the song but no pedalsteel or rich organic country guitar to make it feel country but rather taking the tropes of country just make another vaguely stupid dance song, we've had plenty like it in 1994 and this one might be the worst yet. Awful. 

47. “Sure” by Take That

So ignoring the fact that I had to dig through nearly half the video to find the song, I am really hoping Take That can save this week because yowsers, this week is looking rough otherwise and...well...I am not sure I like this..it feels messy in some ways especially with the odd brrt noises that don't mesh well with the rest of the production and the female backing vocals singing "Sure" that kind of got on my nerves. The boys sound good at least but still...this could have been better. 

46. “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey

So I have to make something clear here, I generally do not care a lot for Christmas music...most of the Christmas standard songs do not connect for me as an Australian (it'd have to be a completely abnormal summer for Australia to see snow in December) but maybe Mariah Carey's approach to Christmas music can change that...and nope...I cannot stand this doo wopped over sung goofy assed nonsense. Mariah doesn't care about the presence she just wants her man to be sitting under the Christmas tree and in doing so insults Santa for putting a toy under the tree (Excuse me, but Santa and his elves went to a lot of trouble to get you that toy, Mariah)...All I want for Christmas is for this to go away,, 

That wraps our week and wow,,,this was rough, Audio Murphys and Melinda take worst of the week for "Tighten Up Your Pants", As for the best, it's not great but it's going to "My Wave" by Soundgarden.

All 4 1994: 20th November Spin Cruise Control Twice For You

No preamble, let's dive straight into this week's top ten where for yet another week, our top two remains the same with "Tomorrow" by Silverchair at number one and "Always" by Bon Jovi at number two...now Silverchair has a decent margin on sales but Bon Jovi looks to be steady and not going anywhere 

We have a new entry from Pearl Jam at number three with "Spin the Black Circle", more that song's quality later. "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow jumps one spot to number four which pushed "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails back to number five.

Boy II Men suffered a two place drop with 'I'll Make Love to You" to number six while "Chains" by Tina Arena remained chained to number seven. 

"Secret" by Madonna is going hush hush down two to number eight while "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring climbed one spot to number nine,

Turns out the love isn't endless for "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey down two to number ten. 

Losers

So let's blow through some of these with "Jessie" by Joshua Kadison down nine spots to forty eight. The Cult's "Coming Down" living up to it's name down six to fotty six while "Gimme" by Boom Crash Opera slipped from twenty four to forty this week.

Former chart topper "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet slipped further this week down twelve slots to thirty nine hile "Nothing But You" by Cold Chisel plummeted from twenty one to thirty eight.

"Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories fell from twenty nine to thirty six while Elton John's not feeling the love anymore with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" sliding from thirty two to twenty five.

"Steam" by East 17 is losing most of theirs down eleven to thirty

Gains

So we had a bunch of gains again this week starting with "Zombie" by The Cranberries up fifteen to fifteen!

Sadly we also got "Turn the Beat Around" by Gloria Estefan up from forty five to twenty two because...ugh...just ugh,

Even worse "Lucas With the lid off" rose ten to twenty three but I'm okay with CDB "Hook Me Up" rising big from thirty eight to twenty four. 

However why the fuck is "Compliments on Your Kiss" by Red Dragon with Brian & Tony Gold up twelve to twenty five? Seriously?

Re-Entries

Just the one return this week and I am happy that it's "Standing Strong" by Wendy Matthews at forty five

 New Entries 

Just the four new entries this week. let's begin with...

50. “Last One Standing for You” by The Black Sorrows with Jon Stevens

First cab off the rank this week is a collab between The Black Sorrows and Jon Stevens which is wild considering I really never thought their sounds belonged in the same stratosphere of music but anyway, in the end we got a pretty good pop rock song even though I think Jon Stevens somewhat over the top vocals and really Stevens vocals are the main problem with this song, the rest is pretty damn solid. That's a shame.

49. “Think Twice” by Celine Dion

Canadian singer Celine Dion is back with her third single from her 1003 album "The Colour of My Love" and as is the case with most Celine Dion songs, her vocals are just the star of the song, I mean sure the subtle strings and guitar do their parts but it's Celine that shines here, she sounds absolutely gorgeous. The content is Celine begging her lover to think twice before leaving her because he might be making the biggest mistake of his life. Good song, check it out if curious. 

42. “Cruise Control” by Headless Chickens

So from Canada back to New Zealand where this group are based with thos song being the second single from "Body Blow" but remixed by a band called Eskimos in Egypt and we got the remix on the charts that isn't as good as the original version that charted so well in New Zealand,, the song just loses a lot of it's grit and texture and just feels a little too polished compared to the original from 1991 however it's not terrible, I just prefer the original that's all. 

3. “Spin the Black Circle” by Pearl Jam

We end off the week with a short sharp and loud rock song from Pearl Jam, it's the lead single from the album "Vitalogy" and is apparently about the band's love of vinyl records  The guitars are sharp and the drums are definitely doing a lot of heavy lifting here but again I do wonder if Eddie Vedder is getting buried in the mix here a bit. It's not terrible but it's definitely not a Pearl Jam song I am going to seek out.

That completes our week with "Think Twice" by Celine Dion taking the best of week while for worst, that's going to The Black Sorrows and Jon Stevens for "Last One Standing for You".

All 4 1994: 13th November Trouble Coming Down Interstate...Hook Me Up, Love?

 Let's just dive straight into the week with our top ten instead of mucking around because it actually looks interesting apart from our top two where "Tomorrow" by Silverchair remains at number one for a third week ahead of "Always" by Bon Jovi which cannot claw back the margin so remained stuck at number two.

Much to my surprise, "Closer"  by Nine Inch Nails climbed three spots to number three, happy to see this so high...it's just surprising, that's all, it did push "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men back one spot to number four. 

Rising six spots for Sheryl Crow is "All I Wanna Do" hitting number five, this song could make a play for the number one in coming weeks, as a result "Secret" by Madonna got shoved back to number six while both "Chains" by Tina Arena and "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey remained at six and secen respectively.

"Come Out and Play" by The Offspring jumped one spot to number nine surpassing former chart topper "Confide In Me" by Kylie Minogue which slipped to number ten and looks to be on it's way out. 

Losers

Not many major losers this week although we did see "Fly Girl" by Kulcha down six to forty six and "Hands Out of My Pocket" by Cold Chisel slip six to forty nine.

"Red Light Avenue" by James Reyne is hitting it's chart red light as it stumbled down seven to foty two while "Do You Wanna Get Funky" by C&C Music Factory skidded down nine spots to forty one.

Former number one and likely year end chart topper "Love is All Around" continues to leave gracefully down eight spots to twenty seven. 

Gains

We got a slew of big gains and unfortunately I am not that thrilled about some of these like "Sooner or Later" by GF4 up big from twenty five to twelve or "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" by Pet Shop Boys gaining an eight place boost to fifteen. 

I will say I am pleased that Diesel's "Come Together" got a nice nine place gain to seventeen and I'm fine with "Eighteen Strings" by Tinman up nine to twenty. 

What is showing signs of momentum lies with "Zombie" by The Cranberries up a massive fifteen places to number thirty...this song might be set to rule the charts well into 1995. 

"Lucas With the Lid off" by Lucas climbed six to thirty three...sigh. Less said the better about that one.

Re Entries

Just one return this week with "Miss You" by Haddaway back at forty eight. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week, beginning with...

50. “Interstate Love Song” by Stone Temple Pilots

So the third single from the Stone Temple Pilots album "Purple" and my god...this is great, I love how sharp and prominent the instrumentation is ehre, it all sounds so crisp. As for the content of the song, well, it's moe about the lies told to loves especially around feelings like saying "I'm fine" when he really is not. Hope this does well, terrific song. 

40. “Coming Down” by The Cult

Okay, more rock only this time coming from UK rock band The Cult and while I like some of the instrumentation, I do not at all like the vocal mixing and recording at all, they sound like they were recorded three studios over and the producer added them out of sheer ambivalence, the backing vocals sound louder in the mix than the lead singer which is beyond weird. Yeah, this is a come down...next song.

38. “Hook Me Up” by CDB

Time for some pop r'n'b courtesy of Australian male four piece Hook Me Up and wow...does this sound like a Bobby Brown song that he would have left out but I am not going to lie the instrumentation sounds smooth as hell even if I have the same issues with some of the vocal mixing here as I did with "Coming Down" by The Cult. This isn't terrible but I am going to forget this in record time. 

34. “Trouble’ by Shampoo

Finally we're finishing this week off with this song from Shampoo, a British female pop duo and well...this is a pop song made for teenagers who can relate to being caught staying out late when their parents have expressly advised not to. Shampoo remind me of a more juvenile Mel and Kim ("Respectable" and "Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)', anyone?) because while that chorus is catchy as hell, the verses are delivered in a way that completely takes me out of the song...it sounds bratty in a way that isn't cute but rather annoying and distracting from the rest of the song, 

That was our week and yeah, "Interstate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots just runs away with it. As for worst of the week I'm going to give it "Coming Down" by The Cult because man, that vocal mixing should be better.

All 4 1994: 6th November. Turn Lucas's Girl Around

 No mucking around this week, let's just jump straight into the top ten where for a second week, Silverchair's "Tomorrow" holds sway at number one and it's looking good for the long haul, it thankfully kept "Always" by Bon Jovi at bay at number two and "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men at number three.

New into the chart this week is "About A Girl (MTV Unplugged)" by Nirvana at number four, here on solid sales and I am sure a lot of fans wanting to heart Kurt Cobain's voice again after he died in April 1994. 

"Secret" by Madonna moved into the top five with a one place gain to number five, not sure about the strength of this song going forward. but it was enough to see "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails shift down two places to number six and "Chains" by Tina Arena unlock it's chain at five to move down two to number seven. 

 "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey remains endlessly in love at number eight. while down two is former chart topper "Confide in Me" by Kylie Minogue to number nine.

Surprisingly...rising two to join the top ten is "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring at number ten! Wasn't expecting this song to do so well but I am fine with it being here,

Losers

So E.Y.C's "Black Book" is heading toward being given the red card off the top 50 as it plummeted from thirty six to forty nine...good riddance quite honestly. "Gimme" by Boom Crash Opera slipped seven to twenty one. 

Former number one "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet stumbled six places to nineteen. It's on it's eway out gracefully. 

Gains

Surprisingly not that many big moves this week but for some reason we did see "Sooner or Later" by GF4 get a solid eight place boost to twenty five because apparently we need a bland nothing of a song from a girl group gaining traction and Cold Chisel got one hell of a big jump from thirty one to sixteen. 

"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow looks headed for a stint in the top ten as it rises five to eleven. 

New Entries

50. “Turn the Beat Around” by Gloria Estefan

So I am going to be honest here, I am not a fan of Gloria Estefan, I think she's talented but the material she is given to work with isn't great and this sounds like a cut that belongs to the work she did with Miami Sound Machine in the 80s and this is Gloria Estefan trying to play in a more 90s sound and it just doesn't work for me at all. Also this just feels like its riding the Eurodance trend with the big doofy beats so yeah...I don't care this. 

45. “Zombie” by The Cranberries

Oh god, there's no possible way I can talk about this song and do it justice because The Cranberries have crafted one of the most incredible political songs. The song is about an IRA bombing in Warrington in 1993 that injured fifty six people and horrifically took the lives of two children and condemns the violence and bloodshed that occured during rhe "Troubles" between the UK and the IRA (a group that wanted to separate Northern Ireland from the UK and reunite it with the Republic of Ireland. You can hear the seething rage in the vocals of Dolores O'Riordan's voice as she is singing. God damn, incredible song.

39, “Lucas With the Lid off” by Lucas

And now we get to something that's a bit weird and I am not entirely sure of the idea that it's any good. This is from Danish rapper Lucas Seccon and is the second single from Lucas's second album "Lucacentric" and somehow features a sample from Benny Goodman's "When Buddha Smiles" and I am going to have say no to this because geezus christ, this sounds like mumble rap. I wish it reminded me less of Jive Bunmy and the Mastermixers. Next.

4. “About A Girl (MTV Unplugged Sessions)” by Nirvana

I tend to be a bit reticent to cover live versions of songs mostly because music live tends to sound great and covering this specifically feels painful if you remember that Kurt Cobain died in April of 1994 so yeah out of pure respect to Kiurt Cobain, I am just going to say, this is excellent, go and give this a listen. 

However the best of the week is going to "Zombie" by The Cranberries, as for the worst of the week...that's going to Lucas for "Lucas With the Lid Off"

All 4 1994: 30th October. Sooner or Later, All Come Together for You

 Well, wasn't expecting a new number one this week but that's what we have because we have a trio of teenagers at the top of the chart, that's right, Silverchair's "Tomorrow" has climbed two spots to take the number one. 

It mercifully moved past "Always" by Bon Jovi which remains at number two. Former chart topper "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men fell two places to number three.

The big surprise other than our new number one was the nine place gain for "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails to number four. I wasn't expecting this song to get here.

Tina Arena keeps chaining herself to new chart positions each week as "Chains" climbs two to number five, it pushed past "Secret" by Madonna which slipped one to number six,  "Confide in Me" by Kylie Minogue which fell three spots to number seven and "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey which slipped two spots to number eight.

Finally two songs remain where they are those being "Swamp Thing" by The Grid and "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry at number ten. 

Losers

Def FX slipped seven places to fifty with "Post Moronic" while JX's "Son of a Gun" slipped fourteen spots to forty four. 

Also suffering a massive collapse is former top five hit "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters as it tumbled from twenty eight to forty one. "Red Light Avenue" by James Reyne is going the wrong way but can't seem to find a way to go back down eight to forty. 

Not going to complain that "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" by R.E.M slipped nine to thirty eight while "Do You Wanna Get Funky?" by C&C Music Factory stumbled seven spots to thirty. 

Unfortunately "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" by Elton John crashed from sixteen to twenty two.

Re-Entries

Just the one return with "Love Ain't Here Anymore" by Take That back at forty seven. 

Gains

I am reasonably happy that "(I Could Only) Whisper Your Name" by Harry Connick Jr jumped twelve spots to thirty seven and 'Eighteen Strings" by Tinnan got a sizeable boost from forty six to twenty seven.

However why is "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" by Pet Shop Boys up from forty seven to twenty six and "Gimme" by Boom Crash Opera up eight to fourteen? Ugh. 

 New Entries

Five new entries this week, beginning with...

34. “The Strangest Part (These are the Times)” by INXS

New INXS single from the band's greatest hits album and this one is actually better than a lot of their recent output, it has a groove thanks to the drums plus Michael Hutchence has enough charisma that I'm fairly certain he could convince somebody to buy a bridge. As for the content of the song, it appears to be a commentary on the band's lifestyle. It's a little safe for INXS but considering I haven't likeed any of their singles in 1994, I'll take this one. 

33. “Sooner or Later” by GF4

The brand new single from Girlfriend or as they are now known GF4 following the departure of Robyn Loau and yeah, this is not great, sure the harmonies here are really good but it's the weird ass dance electronic instrumentation that doesn't blend well with the girls voices and leaves them sounding insubstantial and wispy in the mix and as for the rap verse...it's find but wow it shows just how much the departure of Robyn has hurt this group. Not good but not terrible either. 

31. “Nothing But You” by Cold Chisel

So this is another song of those songs that really does feel like a Cold Chisel demo. Ian Moss taking the lead on the song and it doesn't quite have the same stick or hit the landing as good as some of Cold Chisel's other songs with Moss as lead such as "My Baby" (a song I think is one of Chisel's best), I don't think it's a bad song but when the instrumentation doesn't feel like it's on all cylinders than yeah I am going to pass on it more often tthan not. 

24. “All Come Together” by Diesel

I think by now most people know that I am a sucker for Diesel's music and yeah this one is no different because this is pretty damn good almost great even if I think the chorus don't quite come together the way it should. The song hits on everyone working together to reach a common cause or purpose and the connection of people in overcoming diversity to find love. Definitely a damn good song that I think might get a little underrated, check this out. 

16. “All I Wanna Do” by Sheryl Crow

We end of this week's new entry reviews with a song from American singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow and well, this song is certainly an interesting pop/rock song because the opening line of the song "All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die" comes from the opening line of a poem by Wyn Cooper and the song has this really interesting downbeat vibe where this man is sitting at a bar just watching the world go by and everyone else hustling to clean cars in work clothes all while he feels like he is wasting his life. It's a dark song but a good one check it out

That wraps up our week, I am going to give worst of the week to "Sooner or Later" by GF4...a return that fell flat for me. Best of the week is going to Diesel for "All Come Together" 

All 4 1994: 23rd October. Closer Secrets and Compliments Whisper Your Name on Eighteen Strings

 Holy shit, this week is probably one of the last nuts weeks of 1994 that we'll get, a complete avalanche of new entries that we'll get to later but that didn't touch our number one so let's dive into the top ten where for a second week "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men kept hold of the number one spot, it kept a safe margin ahead of "Always" by Bon Jovi which jumped two spots to number two and seems to be the song that looks most likely to take the top spot next.

Then rising three places to number three for Silverchair is "Tomorrow", this song has momentum, I hope it can surpass "Always" but we'll have to see. 

All of this pushed "Confide in Me" by Kylie Minogue down to number four and it could be vulnerable to the new entry at number five from Madonna called "Secret", this song has good sales and could possibly move above Kylie next week.

The big loser out of all this was ?Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey as it slipped three spots to number six however on the rise is "Chains" by Tina Arena which climbed two places to number seven. 

From there, the last three are songs on their way out with former chart topper "I Swear" by All-4-One slipped three to number eight, 'Swamp Thing" by The Grid also tumbled three to nine and "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry collapsed three spots to round out the top ten at number ten. 

Losers

"No Matter What You Do" by Olivia Newton-John slipped eight to number forty eight while it was similar for Cold Chisel's "Hands Out of My PocKet" which fell to forty two but that eally is it for the big losers.

Gains

No major gains either given all the new entries on the chart this week.  The biggest gain his week is "Voodoo People" by The Prodigy up four to twenty five.

Re-Entries

Culture Shock's "My Enemy" is unfortunately back at number forty one. 

New Entries

A ridiculous EIGHT new entries so I am going to endeavour to keep these reviiews short, let's begin with...

50. “Walkaway Lover” by Toni Pearen

So Toni Pearen is back on the charts after her breakthrough in 1993 with "In Your Room" and I have to be honest here, I do not like this, it sounds like generic eurodamce just with something of an Australian flavour and the production around Toni's vocals are a complete wash, "In Your Room" this ain't. I don't see this sticking around...Next. 

49. “(I Could Only) Whisper Your Name” by Harry Connick Jr

So American entertainer (best way to cover everything this guy does) is back with a brand new song and this one has a decent swagger to it thanks to those horns and this song has some insane change ups especially with that solo that wasn't great...bit ear piercing for my tastes but I do like that the song revolves around protecting this girl from rumour and innuendo while emphasising others will have their own opinions. Good song. 

47. “Yesterday, When I Was Mad” by Pet Shop Boys

So I haven't really liked any of the Pet Shop Boys singles so far in 1994 including the song from "Absolutely Fabulous" and yeah this song is actually decent, it's got the feel of the sort of sound I like coming from the Pet Shop Boys. There's more of a groove and texture to this that makes the song overall work better for me. Not going to be my favourite this week but it's fine. 

46. “Eighteen Strings” by Tinman

I wasn't sure what to expect coming into this song from English House producer Tinman and so I guess what we got did surprise me a little with that every nice electric guitar opening before making way for something that seems a little more standard house. The lyrics are definitely standard club and partying songs but I definitely do not hate this. Check it out if you are curious. 

45. “Compliments on Your Kiss’ by Red Dragon with Brian & Tony Gold

So we have another reggae song on the chart and this one mght be one of the worst I've heard yet with it's weirdly chipper and none too romantic beat as these guys mumble "Compliments girl on our kiss" like who even says that to a person they are in love with?. They then go on about this girl's body and done to death lyrics about how his heart skips a beat every time he sees her with the hook and verses repeated. Yeah this sucks...NEXT

44. “I Miss You” by Haddaway

So Haddaway return and I actually really like this a lot, this song is so much better than "What is Love?", a's a bit more somber and there's genuine warmth as the content focuses on an ended relationship where the narrator is realizing they are on their own now and life feels a lot harder without that other person in his or her life and they miss them enough to the point they want back into a relationship with that other person. Yeah, I'm taking this, it's good. Check it out. 

13. “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails

The second single from Nine Inch Nails album "The Downward Spiral" and this might be one of more unnerving songs I have covered this series, a song all about self loathing and obsession although I kind of get why some think it's a sex song...the lyrics do open the way for that kind of misinterpretation. The production relies on elements of funk and industrial rock but all up this song inbetween the vocal delivery where he sounds like he singing through clenched teeth the loathing and hatred is that bad...it's an unsettling song but still one that is really damn good. 

5. “Secret” by Madonna

Finally the biggest new entry of the week courtesy of Madonna, taken from her album "Bedtime Stories" and I will say I do like this one. Madonna sounds great here, low and deliberately confessional delivery that works great for her and the production playing up the mystery of this secret that's been hidden. Yeah, you know what? I'll take this too. 

That ends an honestly beyond long week and I am buggered but the worst of the week falls out easily "Compliments on Your Kiss" by Red Dragon, Brian and Toni Gold is awful and nets the weeks lowest honour.

As for the best, we have some contenders but I think this belongs to Haddaway for "I Miss You". 

All 4 1994: October 16th. Love, Steam and Standing Strong Ain't Here Anymore

 Ahh,1994 continues to be a wild and fascinating year especially with the shifts in the top ten because we do have a new number one with "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men taking the top spot, this song has some insane momentum behind it, it crushed it's opposition on sales.

Former number one "Confide In Me" by Kylie Minogue slipped back to number two as it couldn't match Boyz II Men on sheer weight of numbers.

"Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey remained at number three while much to my annoyance "Always" by Bon Jovi climbed four spots to number four. this song has legs unfortunately so look for another ridiculously sappy song to get to number one. 

All-4 -One slipped one spot to number five with "I Swear", I am not sure why this song is sticking around so much...utterly sick of it at this point. Anyway, "Swamp Thing" by The Grid remains stuck at number six. 

Sliding two places to number seven is "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry. this song has peaked and now appears to be on the downswing so it should continue to fall gracefully. 

Silverchair's "Tomorrow" climbed one spot to number eight and "Chains" by Tina Arena climbed one to number nine in good news for Australian music. 

Finally wrapping up the top ten is "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet down three to number ten. 

Losers

The losers this week are songs pretty much on the downswing anyway with "Heaven 'n' Hell" by Salt 'n' Pepa down eleven to forty seven while "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous.

"Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden sld further toward the back hole on the charts as it tumbled from twenty four to thirty one while "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain slipped seven to thirty and "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters fell from fifteen to twenty one.

Gains

"Come Out and Play" by The Offspring really is coming out to play on the chart as it tagged it's way up from twenty one to sixteen. 

Not happy that the pretty ordinary "Gimme" by Boom Crash Opera which climbed ten places to twenty two while "Voodoo People" by The Prodigy climbed from forty one to twenty nine. 

"Red Light Avenue" by James Reyne was green lighted to climb eight spots to thirty five while Roachford's "Lay Your Love on Me" climbed from forty two to thirty seven. 

Unfortunately "Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better)" by K.W.S and Gwen Dickey rose six places to forty three. 

Re Entries

Just one return this week with Kulcha's "Don't Be Shy" back at forty nine. 

New Entries

Three new songs this week beginning with...

41. “Standing Strong” by Wendy Matthews

Starting with some new Wendy Matthews music is always a good start to the week's new entry reviews and yeah, this song is the lead single from the album "The Witness Tree" and yeah, this song is excellent, the gentle piano and guitar build up and Wendy's vocals are impressive here. The song's lyrics are somewhat interesting too, a promise made by one lover to another about lifting them up and putting them on more solid footing, tack on one hell of a hook and you have a great song. Check this out!

38. “Love Ain’t Here Anymore” by Take That

So I have become somewhat a defender of Take That, I still think "Pray" is a really damn good pop song and this one is also decent except it's not as upbeat here, it's a song about a couple realizing that there's just no love in the relationship anymore and communication is breaking down. It's got this really nice gentle swell and those vocal harmonies on the hook are a excellent touch. Nice song, definitely well worth a listen.

19. “Steam” by East 17

East 17's latest single winds up the week and honestly...I don't care for this much, sure the production has a bit of fite and spark to it but dear god why do the members of East 17 sound like THAT in the mix? Like come on when you have production that's selling attitude and you are giving it the "Oooh steam!"...it gets a bit deflating to listen to and the rapping isn't anything all that impressive. Yeah, I'll stick to Take That.

It's easily the worst of the week with best of the week going to "Standing Strong" by Wendy Matthews

All 4 1994: October 9th Goodnight Voodoo Girl (Ain't Nobody Loves People Better)

So a reasonable week at hand here. Some new entries and some interesting moves within the top ten too so let's get to that where for another week "Confide In Me" by Kylie Minogue remains at number one for another week but it's now got a challenger right behind it courtesy of the four place rise to number two for "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men, it's got traction and it's comng for that number one spot. 

'Down one to number three is "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey while "I Swear" by All-4-One rebounded one to number four and "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry slipped two spots to number five. 

"Swamp Thing" by The Grid also rebounded one to number six while "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet slipped three to number seven.

Now we have three new songs into our top ten for the first time this week beginning with "Always" by Bon Jovi climbing eight spots to number eight while "Tomorrow" by Silverchair bounced up from twenty six to number nine and finally. "Chains" by Tina Arena is up three spots to number ten. 

Losers

So "Shine" by Collective Soul slipped eight spots to forty eight while "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real feat. The Mad Stuntman skidded down eleven places to forty seven and "Disarm" by The Smashing Pumpkins slipped eight to forty five, 

"American Life in the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery fell seven to thirty nine while "Dreams" by The Cranberries slumped eight to thirty eight. 

"Hands Out of My Pocket" by Cold Chisel tumbled eight spots to twenty nine, "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain slid eight to twenty three. 

Gains

Most of the big gains this week are in the top ten but we did see an eight place gain for "Fantastic Voyage" by Coolio to thirty seven while "No Matter What You Do" by Olivia Newton-John up seven to thirty five. 

Up seven to twenty seven to twenty seven is "Fly Girl" by Kulcha.

New Entries

Four new entries this week, beginning with...

50. "Post Moronic" by Def FX

So I literally cannot find any info about what Def FX song charted so I am going to leave this open for now. 

49. "Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better)" by K.W.S and Gwen Dickey

Okay...no...we have Jaki Graham's cover of this Chaka Khan song as the definitive cover of this song, we don't need a version from the group that made that god awful cover of KC and the Sunshine Band's "Please Don't Go" in 1992 but at least unlike that god awful cover this one does seem to actually have a pulse and a a decent melody even if Gwen Dickey sounds absolutely smothered in the mix, I'll be sticking with the Jaki Graham cover. 

41. "Voodoo People" by The Prodigy 

I really don't know what to say about this one, it comes from The Prodigy's second album "Music For the Jilted Generation" and well, I like the production, the groove there is awesome but those vocals are incredibly difficult to adjust to. This song is fine but I am not sure I am ever going to come back to it. That's all. 

30. "Goodnight Girl '94" by Wet Wet Wet

This was a song released in 1991 and of course Wet Wet Wet are trying to take advantage of the success of "Love is All Around" and honestly, this is a whole lot of sappy nothing lyrically over sparse piano anf guitar with some percussion thrown in. It's a pretty vague nothing of a love song with this dude saying he won't tell anyone about his goodnight girl. I'll forget this in no timee.

Yeah, bit of a rough week but I guess "Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better" by K.W.S and Gwen Dickey gets worst of the week with "Voodoo People" by The Prodigy getting best of the week.

All 4 1994: 2nd October Always Lay Your Fantastic Voyage On Me

 We have one hell of a fascinating  week at hand here mostly because the top spot isn't one percent certain for next week but anyway lets get to the top ten where "Confide in Me" by Kylie Minogue spent a third week at number one...again, it's future at number one is looking shaky as it lost its sales margin. 

Right behind it, up four places to number two is "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey, this song has a head of steam going and looks set to make a play for the top spot next week. The same could be true of "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry up one spot to number three while "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet got something of a second wind up one to number four. 

All-4-One slumped two places to number five with "I Swear" as it begins its graceful descent while "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men climbed one spot to number six.

"Swamp Thing" by The Grid had the biggest fall inside the top ten down four places to number seven while "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories  remained at number eight. 

Returning to the top ten is "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John rising three places to number nine..YAY! 

Finally "Rockin' For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat. Angie Brown slipped back one spot to number ten. 

Losers

Some long term songs that have stuck around longer than you might expect are finally getting the death rattle with "Hey D.J" by Lighter Shade of Brown down fifteen to fifty this week and "Don't Turn Around" by Ace of Base down eleven spots to forty nine. 

Similar case for "Letitgo" by Prince which tumbled eleven to forty eight and "Shine' by Collective  Soul which skidded from twenty seven all the way down to forty (it does have a year end spot wrapped up though)

Francis Dunnery's "American Life In the Summertime" slipped seven to thirty two while "Hands Out of My Pocket" by Cold Chisel is seeing it's hands sliding back into a pocket as it slumped eight places to twenty one. 

Gains

Some decent sized gains this week, let's start with the unchained seven place movement to number thirteen for "Chains" by Tina Arena, this song is potentially heading for a stint in the top ten which I wouldn't nind. 

However I do mind that "Gimme" by Boom Crash Opera got a huge boost up from forty two to twenty nine...why? 

At least Babyface's "When I Can See You" got a good ten place boost to thirty nine. 

New Entries

Six new entries this week beginning with....

46. "Lay Your Love on Me" by Roachford

So Roachford is back wtth yet another single straight out of his own somewhat acoustic r'n'b and you know what? I might like this song even more than "Only to Be With You"! This song seems to have this nervy tension about it with Roachford urging this girl to lay all her love on him especially as it's hit a point in their relationship where the talking isn't enough anymore and he wants something more from the relationship only she isn't sure. The only issue I have is were the handclaps really necessary? Otherwise great song!. 

45. "Fantastic Voyage" by Coolio

Third single from Coolio with thhis one sampling 1980s "Fantastic Voyage" by Lakeside and yeah, this groove goes off! I love it however that sumptuous groove and melody belies tbat this song is actually about the dream of escaping urban black poverty and dreaming of a place where his kids can play without the fear of a drive by shooting. All up it's actually a pretty sad song but yeah, I think this one is worth a listen, check it out. 

43. "Red Light Avenue" by James Reyne

The lead single from James Reyne's album "The Whiff of Bedlam" and another pretty damn good song this week although I will say this ballad is a strange choice of lead single as this song's content is dark, this is about somebody doing anything they can to make ends eg: selling out be it through prostitution, drugs or even a child selling candy...yeah this is a sad one but ultimately  I think it's one of James Reyne's best, check it out. 

42. "No Matter What You Do" by Olivia Newton-John

Ahh the return of Olivia Newton-John to the charts with this pretty standard "I love you and will stand by you no matter what you do" track because that's just pretty much what this sosng is and that weirdly trying to be hip for 1994 production is doing nothing for me whatsoever. Pass. 

26. "Tomorrow" by Silverchair

Now we have a debut from three Newcastle teenagers courtesy of this song from the EP also titled "Tomorrow" and well...this is as grungey as anything you'll hear out of Seattle from Soundgarden or Nirvana especially wirh the vocals from Silverchair's frontman Daniel Johns but those guitars just help drive the song home, as for the content, it appears to be a conversation between a very wealthy man and a man who is doing it tough, Damn good song but I think it's going to have a fight to be the best of the week. 

16. "Always" by Bon Jovi

Ending this week with more rock, this time from American band Bon Jovi except this is more of a piano ballad with some of the most dramatic and ridiculous language I have ever heard from this band. "This Romeo was bleeding but you can't see his blood"...what the hell is that even supposed to mean? That's all before we get to the hook where Jon Bon Jovi shrieks in the most nasal tone possible "Annndddd IIIII WILL LOVE YOU BAYBEEE FOR ALLLLWAAAYS", talk about clingy and over dramatic! 

That ends the week on a bit of a sour note but yes "Always" by Bon Jovi is getting worst of the week. Best however is tougher because wow, four of the six are damn great songs, I am going to give it to "Red Light Avenue" by James Reyne...just ahead of Silverchair and Coolio

All 4 1994. 25th September. Gimme A Fly Girl

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All 4 1994. 18th September Black Book of Endless Love Chains Selling Drama Out of My Pocket

 Well, things just got interesting...it's been a duopoly at the rop for the past couple of weeks and now that duopoly is out on its ear because we do have a new number one, rising a massive thirty places to hit the top spot...it's "Confide In Me" by Kylie Minogue at number one and it got there on those massive sales numbers in a surge so big that previous number one "I Swear" by All-4-One was never going to match as it slipped back to number two. 

The same happened for "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet at number three and "Swamp Thing" by The Grid at number four. 

"7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry remained at number five and "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories followed suit at number six. 

The big victim in all of this is "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters which slumped three places to number seven while "Rhythm of the Night" by Corona climbed two spots to number eight. 

Finally we have two new entries to wrap up the top ten for this week with "Hands Out of My Pocket" by Cold Chisel entering at number nine as our biggest debut of thr week while Luther Vandross has teamed up with Mariah Carey for "Endless Love" which enters the chart at number ten. We'll talk about both songs later.

Losers

Stone Temple Pilots are on the precipice of slipping out of the top fifty this week with "Vasoline" sliding from thirty seven to fifty. 

Green Day's "Long View" fell ten to forty eight (this song really just hasn't gotten going at all). Kulcha's "Don't Be Shy" slumped seven spots to forty seven while "The Ballad of Oz" by Daddy Cool tumbled eleven slots to forty six. 

"Wild Night" isn't going to last much longer for John Mellencamp and Me'shell N'degeocello as it folded fifteen spots to hit forty five. It was also a rough week for "That's The Thing About Football" by Greg Champion as it fell eleven to hit forty four (then again I don't expect this song to stick around).

The hardest fall of the week belonged to Des'ree as "You Gotta Be" utterly fell into a hole down from twenty six to forty two. Roachford was hit with a ten place fall to thirty nine for "Only to Be With You".

Ten place slide for "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous as it hit twenty nine while "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real Stuntman probably hated to move it down nine to twenty three. 

We did have three songs fall out of the top ten with "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain falling five spots to number twelve, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John slumping from nine to thirteen and " Son of a Gun" by JX crumbled eight spots to fourteen. 

Gains

We had some decent sized gains this week starting with the huge boost for "I Like the Nightlife (Disco Round)" by Alicia Bridges which boogied all the way up from it's debut of forty one up to twenty thanks to the impact of "Priscilla: Queen of the Desetrt"

Another noted boost off the debut was for Jaki Graham's great cover of "Ain't Nobody" wbich got a well deserved bump up from forty three to twenty eight while "Dreams" by The Cranberries also had a decent boost off it's debut as it climbed from fotty two to thirty six.

"Wild Flowers" by Things of Stone and Wood jumped from from forty nine to forty one.

Sadly not all the last week debuts having gains this week are good with "My Enemy" by Culture Shock getting a seven place gain to forty three,

 New Entries.

Six new entries this week, let's get the show rolling with...

49. "Selling the Drama" by Live

We're leading off with Live's lead single from "Throwing Copper" and my god this song is way too on the nose for it to be a 1994 song with lyrics ained at how political and religious leaders try to control the public and yeah, I get it especially if we're looking at the political scene in Australia and around the world. I guess my criticism would come in on the production where sometimes the vocals can get a bit smothered by the guitar riffs etc but still damn good song.

35. "One Night A Day" by Garth Brooks

Like, I said last time when "Stnading Outside the Fire" charted, it's impossible to get a decent quality version of a Garth Brooks song and this one is no different so unfortunately I am not able to review this particular song. 

30. "Black Book" by E.Y.C

So lets go another round with E.Y.C and I guess this is fine if you can ignore how lethargic the production and instrumentation is forcing you to pay attention to the lyrics which are just...wow...toxic much" You tell this girl she can open up to you and tell you whats going because she can trust you then on the hook say "Well girl, I'm taking you out of my black book". Toxic and manipulative garbage..,next!

21. "Chains" by Tina Arena

So the next two songs are ballads and we begin with the lead single from "Don't Ask" and my god, we have a powerhouse of a love song here that just builds and builds into that crescendo at the end. Tina sells the pure joy of being in love with this guy and  being spellbound by being in chains or in love with the incredible backing harmonies that join in on the verses and choruses plus the instrumentation is just perfect here. Phenomenal song.

10. "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey

Genuine question here: Who was asking for this cover of Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross's sappy 1981 ballad? Mariah's got a good song on the charts right now so this cover feels a little unnecessary but I will give Luther Vandross this, he can sell this even if he is going to get outsung by Mariah Carey...I wish they'd learnt how to harmonise properly on this. At the end of the day, it's just two people declaring their endless love for each other, nothing more nothing less, now can we move on from the sappy please?

9. "Hand Out of My Pocket" by Cold Chisel

Oh here we go...this is more like it, time for some Cold Chisel even if this song doesn't sound like a typical Cold Chisel rocker and  Barnesy isn't screaming his lungs out. It's claimed by Australian music historian Glenn A. Baker that the song was inspired by a horrible incident on Christmas Day where a ousin of Jimmy Barnes who is Hare Krishna decided to hold a self immolation rite in a bathtub...yowsers. Either way while this is good, this really does sound like the band are indifferent to the song, there's not quite the same energy that typically gets Chisel going. That's all I'll say,

As a result, best and worst of the week fall out quite easily. Worst is going to "Black Book" by E.Y.C and best of the week to "Chains" by Tina Arena

All 4 1994. 11th September. My Wild Flowers Dreams Confide In Me: I Love Football and Nightlife

A busy as hell week here and I have to say, things look like they may be headed for a bit of a shake up as we got the return of Kylie Minogue to deal with but she isn't a player in our top ten so let's get to that where for another week "I Swear" by All-4-One ruled the roost but the question is for how much longer. 

"Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet continues to be a like a pimple on a backside remaining at number two, can people please just be done with this gooey nonsense clogging the charts?

"Swamp Thing" by The Grid climbed one spot to number three, it ultimately pushed back "100% Pure Love" bv Crystal Waters back to nunber four

"7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry moved up two spots to number five which was nice to see while "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories lived up to it's name and remained at number six and "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain slumped two spots to number seven.

Rest of our top ten are gains with "Son of a Gun" by JX u[ one to number eight, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" by Elton John up one to number nine and finally "Rhythm of the Night" by Corona climbed one to number ten.

Losers

"Snake Skinned Shoes" by The Black Sorrows as done well to stick around for as long as it has but it's down sevcn place to forty seven and appears to be headed on it's way out likewise for "Alone Like Me" by The Sharp which collapsed ten spots to number forty four.

"Don't Turn Around" by Ace of Base suffered a six place fall down to twenty seven while "Hey D.J" by Lighter Shade of Brown is shouting for the D.J a little less loudly as it slipped eight to twenty four.

Gains

Not much in the way of gains this week with "Regulate" by Warren G and Nate Dogg up eleven spots to twenty but other than that...pretty quiet, most movement stymied by the new entries this week so let's get to that, shall we?

New Entries

A whopping seven new entries this week, let's begin with...

50. "My Enemy" by Culture Shock

Starting off with a weekly dose of Eurodance and its already a bad sign when I am greeted what sounds like a casio keyboard playing a painfully gerneric melody along with vocals that are absolutely buried in the mix and sounds terrible. I won't be revisiting this song anytime soon. Can we do better please?

49. "Wild Flowers" by Things of Stone and Wood

Well this is better.. a piano led song from Things of Stone and Wood that's actually pleasant with the drums really doing a lot of heavy work with the song's content appearing to be a running commentary on how we as humans always seem doomed to repeat past mistakes and the rise of racism with the line that hits asnd resonates the hardest being "Why do Nazis seem to grow like wild flowers?", a troubling question in 1994 and probably even more timely in 2025! Good song all up. 

43. "Ain't Nobody" by Jaki Graham

Now for our regularly scheduled cover of the week, this time this cover is of Rufus and Chaka 1983 song "Ain't Nobody" which went on to become something of a medium hit in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 but didn't cross over to Australia so now we've got a version released by British singer/songwriter Jaki Graham hittinng the charts and I will say I like this a fair bit more because Graham has some real distinctive power and presence on the microphone, she sounds phenomenal here and I love how fresh it sounds, the original does hasn't aged as well as some might hope it as especially sound wise. I'll take this though!

42. "Dreams" by The Cranberries

So The Cranberries are an Irish rock act that apparently released this song in late 1992 and went on to appear on the band's debut album "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We" and yeah, this song is legitimately great, I love how distinctive in sound to the point the melody washes over you and then there's frontwoman Dolores O'Riordan who vocally just makes her presence on the mic known, she sounds so good here and given the song is about her first love back in Ireland it makes sense that she sounds lovestruck and to a point giddy. Yeah, check this out!

41. "I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round)" by Alicia Bridges

Well here we go, this is here because of the movie "The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert", this song originally was a decent sized hit in 1979 saw the song reach number nine on the Kent Music Report chart and reach number forty six on the year end chart for the same year now it's being re released in line with the release of "The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert"...I got to say it's a song that's very much of it's time and does feel out of place on a chart that's smothered in euro-dance, pop and grunge rock with hints of r'n'b and hip hop given this is a disco song and Alicia Bridges does have a terrific voice even if she sounds way too casual about loving the nightlife and wanting to boogie, it's good fun but I don't see this disco revival lasting.

33. "That's The Thing About Football" by Greg Champion

Oh this is timely especially with the AFL finals underway, Greg Champion is from ABC's Coodabeen Champions and is also a songwriter and guitarist, he co wrote this song with Mike Brady (the man behind "Up There Cazaly") and Paul Kelly...now that's some serious pedigree of Australian music talent there so what about the song? Well it's definitely written to be an anthem for going to the footy and it does have one killer hook even if it takes a bit to get there. It's definitely a novelty track but one that I can respect the hell out of. Nice.

31. "Confide In Me" by Kylie Minogue

And the biggest new song of the week is the lead single from Kylie Minogue's fifth studio album and I have to say this is a pretty daring choice of lead single mostly because this is a move away from the clean cut pop sound from the Stock Aitken and Waterman era and into something darker and dare I say edgier thanks to her signing with dance label Deconstruction records , there's elements of eastern music, indie music and even trip hop and Kylie's vocals on this are just...wow...she sounds absolutely incredible on the hook

That vocal delivery from Minogue makes sense for the content of the song to where she seduces and tries to manipulate people to confude in her, she can manipulate a situation between her and another person and that she holds the power. Yeah, this song is one of Kylie's best. Check this out,

However it's not the best of the week, that's going to "Dreams" by The Cranberries...it was a close run thing. 

However worst falls out easily...that's going to Culture Shock for whatever the hell "My Enemy" is.

All 4 1994: 4th September. You Mean Standing Outside the World, Enough is Enough

Alright, no mucking around, let's drive straight into things with the top ten this week because the top three didn't change at all, mostly down to margins being too big to close so "I Swear" by All-4-One at number one, "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet at number two and "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters at number three.

"Swamp Thing" by The Grid climbed one spot to number four, its got decent momentum, it's just a question if that momentum can get bigger to catch the top three but for now, it was big enough to push past Big Mountain's "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain down one to number five.

Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories are starting to push for a spit in the top fove as "Stay (I Missed You)" climbed one to number six while "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry moved up three to number seven.

Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" remains in the number eight hole this week while "Son of a Gun" by JX slipped three places to number nine.

In the best and possibly best news on the charts for 1994, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John got a six place boost to join the top ten at number ten! So so happy to see it here. Let's hope it can rise higher in the weeks ahead. 

Losers

Not really that much in terms of big losers this week although we did see Kulcha's "Don't Be Shy" slide from twenty seven to thirty eight and former number one "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies slip ten to thirty.

"Only to Be With You" by Roachford slumped from twenty one to twenry nine...bit of a shame this song is on the downswing, it's not bad. 

Gains

Ir's on the gains front that things are interesting because rhere was an eleven place gain for Joshua Kadison's "Jessie" to number seventeen while "Rockin' For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat. Angie Brown rocketed with bullet points from forty one to eighteen,

Up seven splots to thirty is "American Life in the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery while "Regulate" by Warren G & Nate Dogg climbed nine to thirty one. 

Most annoyingly "Afternoons and Coffeespoons" by Crash Test Dummies climbed six places to forty two. 

New Entries

49. "You Mean the World To Me" by Toni Braxton

Surprised we didn't get an immediate follow up single to "Breathe Again" (a song that is good but has become kind of forgettable) and I got to admit I was curious what we'd get going in and yeah, we got a pretty sweet love song combining both piano and guitar but allowing Toni Braxton's vocals to shine and shine they do, there's a passion in the vocals from Toni that really make the song believeable. I dig it. 

48. "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" by Kym Mazelle & Jocelyn Brown

Ahh, it's been awhile since we dealt with a cover version on in one of these retro episodes but today we get to deal with Kym Mamzelle and Jocelyn Brown's take on the hit duet between Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer, the original hitting number 8 on the Kent Music Report charts in 1979,  

Now it starts out well enough, it starts out favouring soft but strong vocals then dives into this weird Eurodance/disco vibe that really doesn't work especially when in comparision the production helped both Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand but on this cover, it feels like both Kym Mamzelle and Jocelyn Brown are having to sing shout to be heard over the noisy production. 

I'll stick to the original...next!

47. Standing Outside the Fire" by Garth Brooks

So Garth Brooks on the charts and briefly stepping away from being in 1994 mode, I'm going to confess that I cannot find a decent enough version of the song to be able to review this properly. I may also have to do this with any future Garth Brooks songs that chart. Sorry.

43. "Alrabaiye (Take Me Up)" by Amadin feat. Swing

And we end the week with more eurodance because that's the way we want to finish with one of the more screechy and annoying songs I've heard in quite some time and when I say screechy I am talking about the vocals that get increasingly more annoying as the beat that never changes so yeah... this isn't good. Next!

That was our week and the best and worst fall out easily, for the first "Alrabbiaye (Take Me Up" by Amadin feat. Swing...obviously. Best of the week is going to "You Mean the World to Me" by Toni Braxton. 

All 4 1994: 28th August. Regulate Afternoons and Coffeespoons whiile Children play

This was an interesting week...more for the fact that there were some shifts in our top ten that I find exceedingly interesting going forward...now of course our top four didn't change with "I Swear" by All-4-One holding the number one spot ahead of "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet at number two, "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters at number three and "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain at number four. 

Then we get to all the shifting that happened with "Swamp Thing" by The Grid moving up four to number five, it's got momentum thanks to sales and could rise higher in the weeks ahead. 

JX got a one place gain to number six with "Son of a Gun" while Lisa Loeb launched four spots into the top ten with "Stay (I Missed You)". 

This saw "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden tumble two to number eight while "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real slipped back one to number nine.

Rising four spots into the top ten is the brilliant "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry. It's a terrific song and am happy to see it here.

Losers

Sad to see "You Got Me Floatin'" by P,M Dawn not really getting all that much traction, its down seven to number fifty. 

The losses continued this week for Eternal as "Stay" collapsed a further nine spots to forty three. "Snake Skinned Shoes" by The Black Sorrows toppled from twenty one thirty eight...ouch!

The chart fire is well and truly going out for "Light My Fire" by Cluh House feat. Carl has it stumbled nine slots to thirty seven. 

Finally tumbling out of the top ten is "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous as it crashed six spots to number eleven.

Gains

There are a lot of gains this week so let's start with "Rhythm of the Night" by Corona which smashed it's way up from twenty seven to fourteen. I'd not be surprised if this breaks into the top ten. 

Also gaining big is "LetitGo" by Prince which jumped ten places to twenty two this week while Public Enemy hit an eleven place sweet spot with "Give It Up" hitting twenty four.

Joshua Kadison's appeal to "Jessie" earnt that song an eight place gain to twenty eight while 'American Life In the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery continues to climb up nine to thirty.  

New Entries

Five new entries this week beginning with...

48. "Afternoon & Coffeespoons" by Crash Test Dummies

Time for the follow up to "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" and well...rhis is better than "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" even if the instrumentation reminds me a lot of "Happy Birthday Helen" by Things of Stone and Wood however it's tbe lead vocals that drive me up the wall and the fact it does feel like he is trying to force each word to feet into the song hard, the vocal delivery just makes me want to grind my teeth so yeah...no thanks, I am moving on. 

47. "Rain (Let the Children Play)" by Marcia Hines

The lead single from Marcia Hynes eighth studio album "Here and Now" has arrived on the charts and I don't know? Maybe for a song where it's about letting the children play, I was expecting something a bit more infectious and energetic or at least reflective of children playing but instead we get this meditative piano ballad that suits Marcia's voice but doesn't really hit in the way that I was hoping it would. It's good but could stand to be better.

41.  "Rockin' For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat Angie Brown

The moment I saw the artists involved I knew this was an electronic dance cut, Motiv 8 is the stage name of British electronic dance producer Steve Rodway. This song uses a rather prominent sample of Italian act 49ers 1992 single "Move Your Feet" and I guess this is solid, I like Angie Brown's vocals and there's almost somehow a gospel vibe to the song that works in it's favour. I dig this. Check it out!

40. "Regulate" by Warren G & Nate Dogg

Getting an eclectic mix of songs this week because we're diving into R'N'B and hip hop with Warren G and Nate Dogg with this song intriguingly using a four bar sample of Michael MacDonald's "I Keep Forgettin' (Every time You're Near) along side "Sign of the Times" by Bob James and an interpolation of "Let Me Ride" by Dr Dre and I got to say there's a smooth slickness to the use of the samples and the interpolation that make me dig this a fair bit even if the production doesn't quite match content which centres around the stealing of property! Cool song. I dig it. 

35. "The Ballad of Oz " by Daddy Cool

So this was credited with the B side from Skyhooks called "Happy Hippy Cut" so I am only going to review the song credited first which is this song from Daddy Cool and...I am already reminded of "Eagle Rock" in the instrumentation especially with the guitars and handclaps. I appreciate the song is telling a story but I don't know...I just can't get behind it when all the instrumentation wants me to do is go back to better Daddy Cool songs. Don't hate it but sure don't love it either.

That was our week, bit of a rough one but best and worst fall out reasonably easy. For best, I'm going with "Regulate" by Warren G and Nate Dogg...the production killed did enough for me.

As for the worst, yeah it's got to be "Afternoons and Coffeespoons" by Crasb Test Dummies