Another good parkrun this morning (not as good as Geth’s, whose broken running watch was apparently the lucky charm that finally got him a sub-25, but still good).
I was 52 seconds slower than last week, but as it was very warm and there were vast amounts of people out on the Moor today, I can’t complain. Still on track for a good result at Sunderland next week!
Day 24, and we’ve arrived at 26th April 1993.
While I didn’t have this particular Now! compilation, I did have rival compilation The Greatest Hits of 1993 (the first album I ever bought, on cassette, with my Christmas money), which had most of the same songs. As such, I’m very familiar with a lot of these. Let’s crack on!
Track 1: The Bluebells – Young at Heart
We’ve had this one already, on Now! #3! I know it was back in the charts in 1993, but I’m still cross about the Now! compilers repeating songs.
Urgh. I guess this is going to become an ongoing thing. See the link above for my review.
Track 2: Take That – Could It Be Magic
Great upbeat pop cover of the Barry Manilow song. Take That seem to have been doing a lot of covers at this point – I’m guessing it was before the mangement let Gary Barlow take over songwriting duties. I do like this one, though, especially for Robbie Williams on lead vocals.
Track 3: Sub Sub and Melanie Williams – Ain’t No Love (Ain’t No Use)
A bit repetitive, but a good uptempo dance track.
Track 4: Snap – Exterminate!
Another great, atmospheric track from Snap. I’ve always liked this one, even leaving aside the obvious Dalek connotations.
Track 5: Sister Sledge – We Are Family [Sure Is Pure Remix]
This was huge in my primary school playground at the time – you couldn’t escape it. Great remix of the ’70s classic.
Track 6: Snow – Informer
I’ve always loved this one, especially the gibberish chorus. Great, interesting song.
Track 7: Shabba Ranks and Chevelle Franklin – Mr Loverman
Annoying chorus alert! It’s a good tune, but I don’t like those vocals.
Track 8: Shaggy – Oh Carolina
Nice cover of the Folkes Brothers classic – great tune – but it’s another one where the chorus annoys me.
Track 9: East 17 – Deep [Breath Mix]
Great instrumentals, especially that bassline – wonderful atmosphere. I’ve always liked this one.
Track 10: Stereo MCs – Step It Up
Great head-nodder, fun theme. Good stuff.
Track 11: Arrested Development – Tennessee
Repetitive, not much melody. Not hugely keen on this one.
Track 12: Robin S – Show Me Love [Stonebridge Club Mix]
Classic track, great beat.
Fun fact: Jason Derulo sampled this on Don’t Wanna Go Home, and when I first heard it I literally went ‘who the ****’s sampled this?’ only to be immediately answered with that ‘JASON DERULO’ lyric he always used to do at the start of his songs. A handy, if annoying feature.
Track 13: Lulu – Independence [Brothers In Rhythm Mix]
Fairly generic tune, but it’s a nice solid bit of pop. Good sax solo too!
Track 14: West End and Sybil – The Love I Lost
Another annoying chorus, but I quite like the track otherwise.
Track 15: 2 Unlimited – No Limit
This was the classic singalong track on every school trip during 1993. Imagine, if you will, a bus full of sixty-six eight-year-olds, all squeaking ‘NO NO, NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO, NO NO THERE’S NO LIMIT’ over and over and over and over for a good couple of hours. Sometimes I’m amazed we never had a bus driver start screaming madly and drive us all off a high cliff.
Track 16: Cappella – U Got 2 Know
I absolutely love this classic dance track – brilliant tune.
Track 17: Sunscreem – Pressure Us
Another good upbeat dance number – like this one.
Track 18: Monie Love – Born 2 BREED
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Not at all keen on the theme of this song, but it’s quite a good upbeat tune.
Track 19: Hue & Cry – Labour Of Love
We already had this one on Now! #10, which I’m extra-especially cross about ’cause it’s my favourite Now! compilation!
Sigh. See the link for my thoughts.
Track 20: Duran Duran – Ordinary World
They’re back for the ’90s, and I still love Duran Duran! This is a gorgeous introspective one – beautiful track.
Track 21: Annie Lennox – Love Song For A Vampire
Lovely tune, great atmosphere.
Track 22: World Party – Is It Like Today?
Nice tune, like the instrumentals. Good stuff.
Track 23: KD Lang – Constant Craving
I’m not a fan of KD Lang’s vocals, but I do like the tune.
Track 24: Tasmin Archer – In Your Care
Good atmosphere on this one, though it’s a little slow for me.
Track 25: PM Dawn – Looking Through Patient Eyes
Not keen on the tune, the sung vocals or the rap. Not a fan.
Track 26: The Beloved – Sweet Harmony
Nice electro head-nodder – really like this one. Lovely sax solo too.
Track 27: Dina Carroll – This Time
Fairly typical Dina Carroll ballad – too slow and generic for my liking.
Track 28: Simply Red – Lady Godiva’s Room
An improvement on the last couple of Simply Red tracks we’ve had – great tune – but still a bit slow for me.
Track 29: Genesis – Invisible Touch [Live]
We already had the original studio version on Now! #7. Not sure why the live version was suddenly a thing.
See above for my review – the live version doesn’t add anything!
Track 30: Lenny Kravitz – Are You Gonna Go My Way
Great classic rock track that I’m going to make today’s top ‘wedding disco’ track! Brilliant stuff.
Track 31: Depeche Mode – I Feel You
Love this atmospheric track from Depeche Mode – great vocals, awesome tune.
Track 32: Peter Gabriel – Steam
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Good upbeat tune, happily nodding along here.
Track 33: Ugly Kid Joe – Cats In The Cradle
I always liked this cover of the Harry Chapin song and its whimsical lyrics, but I absolutely hate the fact that Ugly Kid Joe got rid of the apostrophe (the original title is Cat’s In the Cradle), as it makes the punctuation incorrect in the context of the song.
Track 34: Faith No More – Easy
Pointless ’90s cover of the Commodores classic. Always a great song, but the cover doesn’t do anything new.
Track 35: Bryan Ferry – I Put A Spell On You
Nice chillout-ish cover of the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins classic. Really like this one.
Track 36: Ultravox – Vienna
Not sure what this 1981 classic was doing back in the charts, but I’m not complaining! Wonderful, epic track.
Track 37: Paul McCartney – Hope Of Deliverance
Bit of a retro-tinged track, but it’s got a nice beat and a lovely tune. Good one to end on.
I’m so nearly there.
After a few up and down weeks, I had a great loss at Slimming World yesterday – 3lbs off and Slimmer of the Week. I’m now only 2.5lbs away from my target weight.
I don’t expect to achieve it next week, because apart from during the early days when I was losing very fast, I’ve never really had big losses two weeks in a row. I think the following week is a good one to aim for, though, so I’m going to try my very hardest. I desperately want to be at target before all the summer ‘holiday weekends’ start happening, as stuff like that always gets in the way of weight loss, so I’d much rather be in maintenance mode by then. There’s also the fact that once I’m at target, I won’t have to pay my weekly Slimming World fee anymore!
Fingers crossed – we’ll see how it goes.
Day 23’s Now! compilation takes us to 16th November 1992.
These tracks were also bang on trend, I guess.
Track 1: Tasmin Archer – Sleeping Satellite
Oh, it’s this one! Very pretty tune, like it.
Track 2: Jon Secada – Just Another Day
Another lovely tune, really nice atmosphere.
Track 3: Charles & Eddie – Would I Lie To You?
It’s an okay song (with yet another nice tune) but I’m not loving this one.
Track 4: Was (Not Was) – Shake Your Head
Good beat, but the song’s not got enough melody for me. Interesting chorus though.
Track 5: Bob Marley & The Wailers – Iron Lion Zion
A ’70s track back in the charts – great reggae classic.
Track 6: Go West – Faithful
Go West did this one when I saw them in November, and it seemed to go down well with the audience. I prefer their ’80s stuff (as you might expect), but this is still a great solid pop song.
Track 7: George Michael – Too Funky
Good head-nodder, nice instrumentals. Quite like this one.
Track 8: Arrested Development – People Everyday
Really like the beat on this one, though it’s a bit repetitive otherwise.
Track 9: Simply Red – For Your Babies
Slow, dull ballad, and you know how I feel about those.
Track 10: Erma Franklin – (Take A Little) Piece Of My Heart
Another oldie back in the charts, from the ’60s this time! This one’s a classic – great track.
Track 11: Brian May – Too Much Love Will Kill You
Beautiful track. I probably marginally prefer the Queen version (Wikipedia has some interesting stuff about the differences) but it’s a stunner in both cases. Lovely.
Track 12: Simple Minds – Alive And Kicking
Simple Minds’ 1985 classic back in the charts – this Now! compilation is certainly showing some love to the older tracks.
Wait a minute.
We already had this track on Now! #6! I can’t tell you how annoyed I am that we’re only 23 albums in and the Now! compilers have started repeating tracks already. Sort it out!
As such, I’ve already reviewed this one.
Track 13: John Lee Hooker – Boom Boom
Classic ’60s blues track, back in the charts for some reason. Summer 1992 was clearly a highly nostalgic time.
Track 14: Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart
Awful line dance ‘classic’. Country music is not my thing at all, I’m afraid!
Track 15: Little Angels – Too Much Too Young
Nice rock instrumentals, but the vocals are a bit cheesy for me.
Track 16: Richard Marx – Take This Heart
Richard Marx can be a bit hit-and-miss for me, and this one’s a miss. Too saccharine by far.
Track 17: Genesis – Jesus He Knows Me
It’s not quite clear from the title whether it’s meant to indicate startled realisation (‘Jesus! He knows me.’) or religious sentiment (‘Jesus: he knows me.’). Punctuation matters, people.
From the lyrics, it seems to be the latter.
It’s a great track otherwise – upbeat, epic atmosphere, awesome tune. Really like this one.
Track 18: INXS – Baby Don’t Cry
Not hugely keen on the melody, and it’s a bit repetitive.
Track 19: Crowded House – It’s Only Natural
Nice tune, good head-nodder.
Track 20: Erasure – Who Needs Love Like That [Hamburg Mix]
Remix of the 1985 classic. I couldn’t find the remix on Spotify, so it’s a good excuse to listen to the original!
Solid synthpop as ever from Erasure – great tune.
Track 21: The Shamen – Ebeneezer Goode
Classic early ’90s anthem complete with sledgehammer-subtle drug reference. Great, danceable song.
Track 22: Rage – Run To You
Slightly odd dance cover of the Bryan Adams song. I shouldn’t like it, but I kind of do.
Track 23: Bizarre Inc and Angie Brown – I’m Gonna Get You
Repetitive, irritating dance track. Not a fan.
Track 24: Heaven 17 – Temptation [Brothers In Rhythm Remix]
We already had the original 1983 version of the song back on Now! 1, so I really don’t think this remix should have been included!
For what it’s worth though, it’s a super interesting remix with a great atmosphere.
Track 25: East 17 – House Of Love
Great danceable pop classic. Really like this one!
Also, I never noticed until the Now! compilers’ inspired tracklisting here that both the ’80s and the ’90s had really famous pop bands with names that ended in ’17’.
Track 26: The Farm – Don’t You Want Me
Immediate side-eye at the notion of somebody covering the Human League classic, which in my view can’t be bettered.
Um…it’s fairly awful. Messy track, bad cover. Not a fan of this at all.
Track 27: Undercover – Never Let Her Slip Away
Nice tune, nice spiky synth line, nice sax solo. Cheesy vocals, but you can’t have everything!
Track 28: Doctor Spin – Tetris
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Novelty Eurodance reworking of the classic Tetris music (I guess it would have been ‘new’ rather than ‘classic’ at this point) with bonus sampling of 2 Unlimited’s Get Ready For This. Amusing, but a bit messy – though you can’t help but have an epic atmosphere with this tune.
Track 29: Ambassadors Of Funk and MC Mario – Supermarioland
More comedy stylings from the Now! compilers, with two Game Boy themed tracks one after the other. Now I feel nostalgic for my Game Boy. Of course, being a hoarder, I obviously still have it, though I’m more likely to play those classic games on my 3DS nowadays.
Anyway, the song. It’s a rap about playing Super Mario Land, with the Super Mario Land music interspersed throughout. Kind of all over the place, but I love that the Game Boy apparently inspired so much chart music at the time.
Track 30: Roxette – How Do You Do!
More solid pop-rock from Roxette – this one’s a bit retro-inspired. Interesting vocals too.
Track 31: Abba – Dancing Queen
Classic ’70s anthem, back in the charts for 1992. Can’t complain!
Track 32: Björn Again – A Little Respect
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
I’m not sure who’s trolling us harder here – Björn Again, who are covering Erasure as a response to Erasure covering Abba (my head hurts), or the Now! compilers, who have placed a track by an Abba tribute band directly after a track by actual Abba. Also, I can’t remember what phrase people used instead of ‘trolling’ before the internet became ubiquitous. ‘Taking the piss’, maybe.
As for the track, well, you can’t beat the Erasure original, but the quality of the music is not the point of this one, I don’t think.
Track 33: Vanessa Paradis – Be My Baby
Nice tune, very ’60s-retro-tinged.
Track 34: Betty Boo – Let Me Take You There
Lovely synth instrumentals, though as ever I’m not keen on Betty Boo’s rap style.
Track 35: Sophie B Hawkins – Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
I’ve always liked this one, largely ’cause we had it on a Top Gear compilation when I was a kid. Nice tune, great lyrics.
Track 36: Peter Gabriel – Digging In The Dirt
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
I tell a lie. This one is on Spotify, but it’s a live version, and I hate live versions, so I’m going to be un-lazy and pause the playlist.
Verse is a bit dull, but it livens up for the bridge. The tune is horribly repetitive though.
Track 37: Enya – Book Of Days
Wonderful heartlifting tune from Enya – absolutely beautiful atmosphere.
Track 38: Roy Orbison and KD Lang – Crying
I find the original Roy Orbison solo version pretty slow and saccharine as it is, and I’m not a fan of KD Lang anyway (I don’t like singer-songwriter slow acoustic-y type stuff), so I’m not keen on this.
Track 39: Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé – Barcelona
I’m extremely cross with the Now! compilers. We already had this track on Now! #10, where it opened my favourite childhood album perfectly. The fact that it was back in the charts to coincide with the Olympics is not an excuse to repeat tracks!
You already know what I think of this one – just follow the link above.
Yes, we’re still on the Royal Mile, but I promise this is the last week! Like most tourist hotspots in the UK, it has a lot of classic red phone boxes.
(Coordinates 55°94’94.4″N, 3°19’28.5″W.)
I’m normally all about the symmetry but I actually quite like how the one on the left is slightly taller. Nice to see someone inside as well!
Day 22, and we’ve arrived at 27th July 1992.
Let’s see what might have been on the car stereo while we were exploring!
Track 1: Erasure – Take A Chance On Me
Erasure get to their ‘Abba covers’ phase. I’m generally a fan of synth covers of classic songs, and I do like this one, apart from the random rap towards the end.
Track 2: CeCe Peniston – Finally
I’ve always found the chorus on this one annoying. Sorry!
Track 3: KWS – Please Don’t Go
Nice tune, but it’s a bit repetitive for me.
Track 4: Take That – It Only Takes A Minute
Take That make their first Now! appearance! I adored them so much as a little girl. Robbie was my favourite, and I was so gutted when he left the group. To this day, I don’t consider them proper Take That (‘Fake That’, I used to say derisively when they first reappeared in the ’00s) unless Robbie’s involved.
Ahem. Anyway.
This is a nice solid pop cover of the Tavares classic – good, danceable stuff.
Track 5: Nick Berry – Heartbeat
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Urgh, Nick Berry‘s back. I thought after Every Loser Wins, we had all suffered enough. This one is a pointless ’90s cover of the Buddy Holly classic, presumably to tie in with the TV show Heartbeat.
Track 6: Snap – Rhythm Is A Dancer
Absolute classic, epic dance track – I love this one! One of my favourites.
Track 7: Utah Saints – Something Good
Brilliant track with epic-level sampling of Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting. Now, THIS is how you sample appropriately. Wonderful stuff.
Track 8: The Cure – Friday I’m In Love
One of my favourite tracks from my favourite band – lovely feelgood song with beautiful instrumentals.
Track 9: Marc Almond – The Days Of Pearly Spencer
I’m going to see Marc Almond later this year! I’m very excited.
Sadly, it won’t be at the one-off Soft Cell reunion gig, which is one of my big gig disappointments this year – I really wanted to go, but due to a miscommunication I missed the ten-minute ticket window. However, I will be seeing him solo at the Electric Dreams festival, so that sort-of makes up for it.
This track has a lovely epic atmosphere and beautiful instrumentals – really like this one.
Track 10: The Beautiful South – Bell Bottomed Tear
Pretty tune and nice vocals, but it’s a bit slow for me.
Track 11: Prince – Thunder
I like the epic intro and chorus, and the instrumentals are interesting. Good track.
Track 12: U2 – Even Better Than The Real Thing
Repetitive instrumentals, dull tune. Not keen on this one.
Track 13: The Shamen – LSI (Love Sex Intelligence)
Good upbeat dance track – happily nodding along here.
Track 14: Electronic – Disappointed
Nice bit of synth electro from Electronic. Solid stuff.
Track 15: Shakespear’s Sister – I Don’t Care
Nice upbeat track with a rockier edge. Vocals not as impressive as usual for Shakespear’s Sister, but still solid.
Track 16: Carter USM – Do Re Me, So Far So Good
So, after me going on for weeks about various great Carter USM covers of various tracks, they finally show up on a Now! compilation with one of their original songs!
Great upbeat rock song, typically brilliant Carter lyrics and singalong chorus.
Track 17: Ugly Kid Joe – Everything About You
Could do without the spoken word on the intro, but it’s a classic track and a good head-nodder.
Track 18: SL2 – On A Ragga Tip
The reggae bit’s good, but the track in general is a bit haphazard.
Track 19: The Orb – Blue Room
Nice bit of chillout, though I could do without the siren noises.
Track 20: Richard Marx – Hazard
Epic atmosphere, great solid track.
Track 21: Elton John – The One
Nice tune, but it’s fairly generic for Elton John. Not a favourite.
Track 22: Roy Orbison – I Drove All Night
This one was apparently written for Orbison, but I prefer the Cyndi Lauper version, which came out first (I’m not sure which one counts as the ‘cover’ in this case). Still a great song, though, whoever’s singing it.
Track 23: Jimmy Nail – Ain’t No Doubt
More upbeat than usual for Jimmy Nail – I quite like this one.
Track 24: Joe Cocker – Unchain My Heart
A bit overblown in the vocals at the start, but once the beat gets going it’s quite good – great funk bassline.
Track 25: Curtis Stigers – You’re All That Matters To Me
Another too-slow too-saccharine one from Curtis Stigers, and this time there’s no sax to save it. Not keen.
Track 26: Wilson Phillips – You Won’t See Me Cry
Nice feelgood tune, nice atmosphere, great sax solo. Still a little slow for me though.
Track 27: Crowded House – Four Seasons In One Day
Lovely tune, great lyrics – really like this one.
Track 28: Annie Lennox – Why
Nice introspective track from Annie Lennox – I really like her stuff from this period.
Track 29: George Michael and Elton John – Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Classic duet, epic track – lovely song.
Track 30: Diana Ross – One Shining Moment
Lovely tune, but again it’s a bit of a slow ballad for me.
Track 31: Vanessa Williams – Save The Best For Last
This is another one of those feelgood ballads that I always heard on the radio on ferries during family holidays around this time. It was also used in an advert for Bisto or Oxo (I think? I’m sure it was stock cubes or soup or something ‘comforting’), so I kind of associate it with that vibe.
Track 32: En Vogue – My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)
Great upbeat head-nodder from En Vogue – really like this one, especially the a cappella bit towards the end.
Track 33: Soul II Soul – Joy
This one’s a bit dull in my view – nothing special going on here.
Track 34: Incognito – Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing
Great upbeat track to finish on today – love those instrumentals!
Back doing Recipe Wednesdays again – ’cause I’m hungry, and I can’t cook tea until Geth’s done the dishes. Sadly I’m not making ‘chicken’ pesto tonight ’cause I don’t have enough syns left before weigh-in tomorrow, but I thought I’d share this recipe anyway.
It’s another super-simple pasta recipe. Boil some pasta for fifteen minutes, and five minutes in, start boiling another pot of chopped mangetout, chopped green beans and garden peas (make sure there’s plenty of the first two if you’re doing Slimming World). Meanwhile, fry some Quorn chicken style pieces (or you could use real chicken if you’re not veggie) in Fry Light until it’s nice and crispy.
Once everything’s cooked, mix it all together in a giant pan then stir in a jar of supermarket pesto* (12 syns a jar, so 6 syns per person if you’re cooking for two like I am). Shower with parmesan (30g for a Healthy Extra A) and serve.
This is a longtime favourite of Geth’s, so I make it at least once a week if I’ve got the syns going spare!
*I’ve tried making my own syn-free pesto but it never tastes right!
Day 21, and Now! #21 was released on 13th April 1992.
Let’s have a listen to the stuff that soundtracked those ungodly-long-to-a-seven-year-old three-hour car journeys to the caravan!
Track 1: Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
Absolute classic, the ultimate in epic atmospheres. A welcome return to the charts made it the Christmas number one for 1991. Beautiful piece of work.
Track 2: Wet Wet Wet – Goodnight Girl
Wet Wet Wet definitely into their slower, more introspective ’90s phase. Some lovely vocals here.
Track 3: Shakespear’s Sister – Stay
Beautiful, classic song, with both vocalists used to brilliant effect. Absolutely adore this one.
Track 4: The Temptations – My Girl
There seems to have been a bit of a trend in the early ’90s for ’60s classics coming back into the charts, though I think this example probably had something to do with the My Girl film. Lovely track, anyway.
Track 5: Simply Red – Stars
Nice instrumentals, but the vocals and tune on this one annoy me.
Track 6: The KLF – Justified And Ancient
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Bit of a messy track, with too much going on. Not keen on the tune to the vocals either.
Track 7: Madness – It Must Be Love
Re-release of Madness’ awesome 1981 cover of the Labi Siffre song. Great to have this song and its fabulous sax solo back in the mix!
Track 8: Genesis – I Can’t Dance
Great rock-edged head-nodder from Genesis. Love that singalong chorus, not to mention the classic shuffle in the video!
Track 9: Julia Fordham – (Love Moves In) Mysterious Ways
Nice piano instrumentals, but it’s too much of a slow, dull ballad otherwise.
Track 10: Crowded House – Weather With You
I’ve always liked the atmosphere of the verses on this – lovely guitar and vocals.
Track 11: Right Said Fred – Deeply Dippy
Typically daft track from Right Said Fred – nice tune on the bridge though.
Track 12: Mr Big – To Be With You
Argh, annoying vocals from the start, and that chant-along chorus only makes it worse! Never been a fan of this one – too cheesy for me.
Track 13: Everything But The Girl – Love Is Strange
Everything But The Girl are a bit hit and miss for me. This one’s too slow and too repetitive as far as I’m concerned.
Track 14: Roxette – Church Of Your Heart
Solid pop-rock as ever from Roxette – nice tune, good head-nodder.
Track 15: Brian May – Driven By You
Nice upbeat rock track, suitably epic lines going on. Really like this one.
Track 16: The Wonder Stuff – Welcome To The Cheap Seats
I actually had this one in my head earlier today because the interview I was transcribing for work contained the phrase ‘we’re in the cheap seats’.
Anyway, the song is an absolute belter and one of my favourite Wonder Stuff tracks. Stunning folk-rock instrumentals, singalong chorus, and bonus backing vocals from Kirsty MacColl. Beautiful.
Track 17: The Jesus & Mary Chain – Far Gone And Out
Great upbeat rock track – Jesus & Mary Chain are another band that nailed that ’90s sound early on.
Track 18: James – Born Of Frustration
Love this tune and the way it builds – that trumpet hook is truly epic!
Track 19: The Cure – High
Lovely, sweet track from the Cure – gorgeous tune.
Track 20: Shanice – I Love Your Smile
The vocal hook on this one has always annoyed me, and that rap is awful and misplaced. It gets one point for the sax solo, though.
Track 21: The Pasadenas – I’m Doing Fine Now
Pleasant, inoffensive cover of the ’70s classic. A little dull for my tastes, though.
Track 22: Kylie Minogue – Give Me Just A Little More Time
Another generic cover of a ’70s track. Not a fan of this trend.
Track 23: East Side Beat – Ride Like The Wind
Nice atmosphere, good upbeat dance track.
Track 24: 2 Unlimited – Twilight Zone
Typically epic dance from 2 Unlimited – great track.
Track 25: The KLF and The Children Of The Revolution – America: What Time Is Love?
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
An annoying doubling-up-the-artist faux pas from the Now! compilers – we’ve not had one of those for a while!
Unfortunately, this track is just as messy as the earlier one in my book – some nice samples, but they get drowned out by the cacophony.
Track 26: Clivilles & Cole – A Deeper Love
This one’s a bit generic – the piano instrumentals and vocals sound like pretty much every song that was released around this time.
Track 27: Opus III – It’s A Fine Day
Really like the vocal melody on this one.
Track 28: Erasure – Breath Of Life
Another perfect piece of synthpop from Erasure – those synth lines are to die for.
Track 29: MC Hammer – Addams Groove
Daft novelty track to tie in with the Addams Family film. Still better than most of the stuff MC Hammer did.
Track 30: Salt-N-Pepa – Expression
Not enough in the track to keep my interest here – pretty much Salt-N-Pepa-by-numbers. I do quite like the line ‘excuse us while we rap’, though.
Track 31: CeCe Peniston – We Got A Love Thang
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Annoying vocals, generic tune. Not a fan.
Track 32: Paula Abdul – Vibeology
Like the instrumentals, but the song structure is a bit messy. Also, that I-can-only-imagine-it’s-a-pregnancy-reference ‘in the funky way’ hook is insanely annoying.
Track 33: Alison Limerick – Make It On My Own
Not enough melody for me here – this one’s pretty dull.
Track 34: Tina Turner – Way Of The World
As is typical with most Tina Turner songs of this era, this one’s a bit slow and dull for me. Nice sax solo though.
Track 35: Curtis Stigers – I Wonder Why
Mega sax intro, but it can’t save this boring, saccharine ballad. Not for me.
Track 36: Diana Ross – When You Tell Me That You Love Me
And we’re back to an overblown, slow ballad to close the compilation. Nice tune, but it’s just too cheesy for me.
I went for a long slow 10k this morning. I made sure to take it really easy, but I’m still running quite a bit quicker than I was when I was pushing myself this time last year, so I’m hopeful of a really good time for Sunderland now.
That’s the long run done, so after parkrun this weekend, it’ll just be a quick 4k next Tuesday to rest the legs for the race. Really pleased with how things are going!
Day 20’s Now! compilation was released on 18th November 1991.
I doubt any of the following tracks will be as pleasing as my pompom dress, but let’s have a listen anyway.
Track 1: Vic Reeves and The Wonder Stuff – Dizzy
Big Wonder Stuff fan – have seen them fairly often – so I really like this cover of the Tommy Roe classic that they did with Vic Reeves. There’s enough folky instrumentals here to make it quite different from the original – good stuff.
Track 2: Belinda Carlisle – Live Your Life Be Free
Vocals are a bit overblown here for my liking, but I do like the track, especially the rockier edge.
Track 3: U2 – The Fly
Urgh, the ’90s, when U2 got boring. Dull tune, repetitive vocals, no fun anymore.
Track 4: Pet Shop Boys – Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You)
And speaking of U2…being a synthpop nut, I do actually prefer this cover to the original. Sorry, Bono & Co.
Track 5: Erasure – Love To Hate You
Another solid synth track from Erasure – gotta love that I Will Survive sampling. This is a good example of a sample from a classic tune being used in a track that actually suits it.
Track 6: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Sailing On The Seven Seas
I’m a huge fan of OMD’s stuff, and this is a good solid track, even though it’s not quite as synthy as their earlier work. Great chant-along vocals.
Track 7: Simply Red – Something Got Me Started
I know I said before that the ’80s are my favourite Simply Red era, but this is definitely my favourite individual song of theirs. Great instrumentals, wonderful atmosphere on the vocals, nice upbeat tempo, and that sax-into-piano solo is mega. Love it.
Track 8: Lisa Stansfield – Change
Dreary vocals, boring backing track. Not a fan of this one.
Track 9: Zoë – Sunshine On A Rainy Day
Something about the vocal annoys me here. I’m not keen on the tune either.
Track 10: Salt-N-Pepa – Let’s Talk About Sex
This was a favourite for kids in my class to sing loudly in my primary school playground in 1991, probably because it was risque and hence kind of rebellious in the thinking of a six-year-old.
I think it was also popularised by the ‘Let’s Talk About Juice’ version in the Fruit-Tella advert (was it Fruit-Tella? Let me google that a minute. Um, googling was inconclusive, but it did tell me that it was definitely Fruit-Tella that did the ‘I’m Too Juicy’ takeoff of Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy, so I’m fairly sure they must have done this one too).
I will probably end up doing a whole post soon about how advertising doesn’t work in this respect. I remember pretty much every TV advert shown during my ’90s childhood, but I can hardly ever remember what the exact product was that they were advertising.
Track 11: Color Me Badd – I Wanna Sex You Up
Bit of a repetitive one, but I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for it due to it being another one that was used in Britain’s Got The Pop Factor.
Track 12: Kenny Thomas – Best Of You
It’s a nice upbeat tempo, but I find the song a bit dull.
Track 13: Prince and The New Power Generation – Gett Off
Prince is another artist who really went downhill in the ’90s as far as I’m concerned. Not enough melody or joy for me here.
Track 14: Rozalla – Faith (In The Power Of Love)
Nice upbeat dance track, and that sax solo is lovely. Some really interesting instrumentals here.
Track 15: 2 Unlimited – Get Ready For This
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Absolute classic dance track from childhood – played at every birthday party in the early ’90s, often during pass-the-parcel in order to ramp the adrenaline up.
Track 16: Moby – Go
Nice epic atmosphere, though the track is a bit repetitive.
Track 17: The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu – It’s Grim Up North [Part 1]
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
This is another alias of the KLF, incidentally. Good brooding dance track, really like this one. That Jerusalem sampling is inspired.
Track 18: PM Dawn – Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
Okay a cappella intro, but then we’re straight into the misplaced sampling of Spandau Ballet’s True with awful spoken word and cacophonic clashing vocals over the top. Just terrible.
Track 19: Paul Young – Don’t Dream (It’s Over)
Utterly pointless cover of the Crowded House classic from a whole five years earlier. Why did people even buy covers like this? Surely the original was still available to buy on an album in the record shops!
Track 20: Enya – Caribbean Blue
Beautiful chillout track from Enya – lovely stuff.
Track 21: Julian Lennon – Saltwater
Really nice instrumentals, though the vocals are pretty dull.
Track 22: Paula Abdul – Rush Rush
Nice tune, but it’s a bit slow for me. Interesting violin solo, though!
Track 23: Jason Donovan – Any Dream Will Do
This was too cheesy for me even as a six-year-old, though lots of my classmates loved it, which meant we had to sing it in music class a lot. Blurgh.
Track 24: Cathy Dennis – Too Many Walls
Again, solid pop, but I’d prefer it if it were a bit more upbeat.
Track 25: Alison Moyet – This House
Obligatory ‘going to see this artist soon!’ squee. Well, if you can count next February as ‘soon’…
Beautiful slow ballad with an epic, dramatic atmosphere and gorgeous lyrics. Hope she plays this one when I go see her!
Track 26: Marc Cohn – Walking In Memphis
Classic, beautiful song – absolutely love this one.
(I even have a real soft spot for the later Cher cover, though that one really is pointless – it’s just this version with Cher’s vocals on top. Anyway, I won’t get ahead of myself in case it features later.)
Track 27: Glass Tiger – My Town
Cheesy pop-rock, pretty generic. Not a fan.
Track 28: Scorpions – Wind Of Change
Lovely epic atmosphere, great rock ballad.
Track 29: INXS – Shining Star
Nice interesting track from INXS – great vocals, good build to the song, nice sax towards the end.
Track 30: Roxette – Joyride
Another great upbeat bit of pop-rock from Roxette – great stuff.
Track 31: James – Sit Down
A classic bit of ’90s indie. When I saw them at Beautiful Days in 2009 they actually finished with this one, which is apparently not at all usual, because being their biggest hit it’s the one they’re sick of. I do like it, though.
Track 32: Voice Of The Beehive – I Think I Love You
Really like those guitar instrumentals, and the atmosphere is great. This is probably the best version of the Partridge Family track as far as I’m concerned – it’s so different and so interesting.
Track 33: Slade – Radio Wall Of Sound
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 1: lazy tribute version substitute.
Slade’s earlier stuff is amazing to me, but this track is a bit rock-by-numbers, though I do like that singalong chorus.
Track 34: Monty Python – Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life
Not sure why this classic Life of Brian soundtrack song was back in the charts, but here it is. Pleasant diversion, but it’s a bit ‘novelty’ for me.
Track 35: Don McLean – American Pie
Often back in the charts since its original 1971 release, this is a great classic to end on! Beautiful lyrics, lovely tune, absolutely worth its eight-minute-plus running time.
