18th July 1992 for three weeks
All I knew about Jimmy Nail was that he was an actor who appeared on a programme called Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. I had never watched the programme. And then he was due to appear in another TV show, but I can’t remember what it was called. As an actor that I had barely, it felt like a surprise when suddenly he was releasing songs.
To be fair, Ain’t No Doubt is an absolute banger. It still sounds great to this day. It deserves more airplay!
8/10
13th June 1992 for five weeks
Considering the quality of Erasure’s songs over the years (A Little Respect is wonderful), it feels ironic that this EP was their only song to go to Number One.
Abba-esque EP is an EP of ABBA Cover songs – Lay All Your Love On Me, SOS, Take A Chance On Me and Voulez-Vous. The one I remember hearing mostly was Take A Chance On Me. If my memory serves me correctly, this was the one that had the widest airplay. I can remember seeing the video on the TV. I didn’t know what an EP was at the time.
TACOM is, at least in my opinion, the best song on the EP.
7/10
9th May 1992 for five weeks
I absolutely love this song and still do. Please Don’t Go was a proper summer anthem and I loved hearing it.
I can remember begging someone at the youth club to record it for me onto a tape so I could listen to it at home. I had no idea that it was a cover version. To me, still, this is the definitive version.
Although it doesn’t feel quite as fresh as it once did, I still absolutely love the song. It’s brilliant to sing along to.
10/10
18th April 1992 for three weeks
Right Said Fred were behind one of the biggest songs on 1991 – I’m Too Sexy. It had never topped the charts, but everyone knew the song. It was a novelty song – it appealled to kids because the thought it was funny and a bit naughty. Adults liked it because it was a bit daft. Somehow the band had hit the sweet spot and it became an enduring classic.
They followed this up with the equally daft and cheeky, but less successful, Don’t Talk Just Kiss in 1991.
It took until their third single – Deeply Dippy – before they finally had a Number 1 single. It is another daft song, but somehow was less silly. For me Deeply Dippy stands out for the trumpet section which sounds amazing!
32 years later the song sounds fun – just don’t try to take it too seriously.
7/10
22nd February 1992 for eight weeks
I can remember hearing this song for the first time. It was on the radio in the car outside my gran’s house. I instantly liked it.
The song has aged like a fine wine – it sounds even better now than it did back then. The vocals are amazing. I like the growly voice – I love the way the songs starts acapella and the moment that the backing music kicks in is sublime.
It still sounds like nothing else – it is so unique. It’s an absolute classic.
10/10
25th January 1992 for four weeks
We last met Wet Wet Wet in 1988 when they topped the charts with the charity single, With A Little Help From My Friends.
The Scottish band had to wait four years before topping the charts for the second time. Goodnight Girl is a much better song and (as we’ll discover when we meet them for the third time) the only one of their three chart toppers to be written by the band and not be a cover version.
Goodnight Girl is a typical sounding pop love song from the early Nineties. The girls loved it. 32 years later and the song still sounds alright.
7/10
21st December 1991 for five weeks
I must be honest. I had very little awareness of Freddie Mercury. I knew of Queen and I was familiar with his voice. But I knew little of the singer.
I remember my friends talking about it. At the time, unfortunately, I heard gay jokes, due to his death from AIDS. It was so awful. I had very little understanding about all of this.
This double A-side single was released to raise money for AIDS charities after the sad death of Freddie Mercury in 1991.
Bohemian Rhapsody is probably one of the most famous songs ever. Everyone knows it. Everyone has sung along to at least part of the song. The lyrics are incredible, but are total nonsense. It had spent nine weeks at Number 1 in 1975/76, including being the Christmas Number One in 1975. This is the first time we’ve discussed a record that has been re-released to reach Number One all over again. On this second release it spent another five weeks at the top. So this is 14 weeks – one of the most successful chart toppers of all time!
It is both amazingly brilliant but also incredible bonkers at the same time. This has led to many covers of the song that parody it. In 1992 there was a memorable scene in Wayne’s World where everyone in the car headbangs to the song.
There was a version sung by the Muppets released in 2009. You have to listen to it to believe this was actually a thing.
Much must be said of These Are The Days Of Our Lives. This is a beautiful rock ballad. It felt so poignant, soundtracking all of the news reports about Mercury’s death. It is an incredible song, and, I’m sure, would have topped the chart in its own right.
10/10
7th December 1991 for two weeks
Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me is a fabulous song. This version is incredible. It’s a recording of a live performance, recorded at the end of George Michael’s tour, at Wembley in March 1991. Partway through the song, George introduce’s Elton: “Ladies and gentlemen – Mr Elton John”. It’s brilliant.
I must admit that I don’t remember much about this as a child, but I grew to love the song over the years. I know that I heard it on the radio a lot. It has stood the time test – it still sounds ace – two singers at the top of their game!
Including the songs released as part of Wham, George has featured on this blog many times:
And we have plenty more from him to come!
And as for Elton John, we have only met him once with Sacrifice. There’s also more to come from him!
10/10
23rd November 1991 for two weeks
This is the fourth time that we’ve met Michael Jackson on the blog. Firstly, there was One Day In Your Life in 1979, Billie Jean in 1983 and I Just Can’t Stop Loving You in 1987. I don’t remember any of the hype around these earlier songs. But I can vividly remember watching Top Of The Pops, waiting for the premier of the video of Black Or White.
The video began with Macauley Culkin and ended with The Simpsons. Inbetween, even then, I remember thinking it was overhyped. Now, I realise it was just self-indulgent. Michael Jackson was portraying himself as some sort of saviour – like he could fix racism. But I remember at the time thinking that he had either a skin condition that made the colour of his skin fade, or either he had deliberately taken treatment that made the colour fade. I didn’t really understand the message of the song.
The song was ok. It is far from his best, but it was probably his most hyped up! They literally released the song at the same time around the world like it was a global event.
I don’t feel like the song has stood the test of time. I never thought it was great, and I still don’t.
5/10
9th November 1991 for two weeks
Dizzy is a fantastic song. Especially after The Fly, Dizzy was like a breath of fresh air at Number 1.
I have no awareness of what prompted comedian Vic Reeces to record a pop song, but I am so glad he did. He linked up with the band The Wonder Stuff to produce a cover of Dizzy, a song by Tommy Roe which reached Number 1 in 1969 (although I didn’t know it was a cover).
The original is an ok song. The cover speeds it up and enhances all of the best parts of the song. The violins sound sublime. The backing vocals are awesome. The bit where he is ‘going round in circles all the tie-ee-ie-ee-ime is fabulous’. It is pop perfection.
Vic Reeves (and Bob Mortimer) recorded a brilliant cover of I’m a Believer in 1995. The Wonder Stuff’s finest hour was actually ‘Size of a Cow’, a brilliant song released earlier in 1991. Neither act ever troubled the Number 1 spot again.
10/10
Number 1s of my lifetime 