1st May 1993 for three weeks

I have very little memory, if any of the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. I am aware that it happened and recalled friends talking about it. But I never watched it.

The concert took place in April 1992, to pay tribute to the wonderful Freddie Mercury, but it took almost a year for the EP to be released.

This is the first EP to be reach Number One since Erasure’s Abba-esque in June 1992. The Five Live EP included five songs – Somebody To Love (performed by Queen and George Michael), These Are The Days Of Our Lives (performed by George Michael and Lisa Stansfield) and then Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone, Killer and Calling You, all performed by George Michael.

Somebody To Love and These Are The Days Of Our Lives are absolutely wonderful songs. Wow, the performances are excellent! They have stood the test of time and still sound magnificent, as you might expect anything performed by Queen, George Michael or Lisa Stansfield to do.

This is not the last we’ll hear from Queen (although we have to wait until 2000). George Michael will be with us again in three years time. But this is the last we’ll hear from Lisa Stansfield, who reached the Top Ten a couple more times during a more dancier-sounding phase in 1997.

10/10

3rd April 1993 for four weeks

I had heard Young At Heart many times over the years. I was surprised when suddenly it popped back up in the charts. It had been released originally in 1984, so it took nine years to suddenly catch fire.

It was featured on an advert (can’t remember what) during an era when people would go mad for music from adverts.

Young At Heart is a fun party song. I loved the violin. It was good to see an old song at Number 1 and I thought that was good.

Despite its popularity its not one you hear very often these days. But on listening again it still sounds so catchy! Playing the air violin is not a thing, but if it was, you’d play this.

8/10

20th March 1993 for two weeks

I can remember feeling underwhelmed by Oh Carolina. I thought it seemed silly, somehow. Like No Limit, I just couldn’t see the appeal.

The song has definitely improved with age, but it’s is not one of my favourite Shaggy songs! It somehow sounds quite different but also not at all memorable. Strange.

We will meet Shaggy again a few more times in the future, but not for a couple of years.

6/10

13th February 1993 for five weeks

The year began, of course with Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You at the top. It continued to be a smash it and it wasn’t until February when something else could take its crown.

The first new Number 1 of 1993 was a dancefloor smash by 2 Unlimited – No Limit.

2 Unlimited’s first single Get Ready For This was the first ever CD single that I bought. I didn’t own a CD player, but my older brother did. He was a git to us and wouldn’t let us use it. But I would sneak in and play it. I loved the song.

I was not a big fan of any of the singles after that, and when No Limit reached the top I wasn’t impressed. The song used to be played a lot in the youthy and the girls in the year seemed to love it. I just couldn’t get my head around why it was so popular. 

The song has grown on me since 1993 and I prefer it more now than I did then. But I’d still not choose to play it.

We’ll meet 2 Unlimited again next year.

5/10

5th December 1992 for ten weeks

Oh wow – this was such a moment in music. Whitney Houston’s performance of this Dolly Parton song was one of the biggest hits ever, selling well over a million copies. It was at the top of the charts for ten weeks, was the 1992 Christmas Number One, and remained at the top until February 1993. It was the biggest-selling single of 1992 and also the ninth biggest of 1993. 

There was something about the song that made you stop and listen. The video was just the same. Whitney’s voice was something to behold – it drew you in and made you pause to absorb its power and emotion. I think it was the emotion that she put into the vocals that gave it the edge over something else. You could the love in her voice. 

It’s widely regarded as one of the best vocal performances ever. Her performance of this song, as well as the other tracks on The Bodyguard soundtrack that made the accompanying movie so huge.

Has it held up over the last 32 years. Yes – it remains an absolute moment.

Tragically this will be the last time we’ll talk about Whitney on this blog. Although she’ll come close to reaching Number 1 later in this decade, and again in the 2010s with a remix, she never reached the top. I don’t claim to be an expert but her private life became difficult and affected her music career and she sadly died in 2012.

9/10

21st November 1992 for two weeks

Who exactly were Charles & Eddie? I know absolutely nothing about them. I don’t recall them ever having any other songs. But their one smash hit, Would I Lie To You?, really was a huge smash. 

WILTY was such a massive radio-friendly song that was everywhere. I can remember hearing it on the radio all the time – Atlantic 252 – and it was one of those songs that you can’t help but sing along to.

Quite like End of The Road, Would I Lie To You? sounded so very different and really caught everyone’s attention.

32 years later, I think it sounds great! I really like it and still love to sing along. It has aged really well, although I don’t think you hear it around very much these days.

9/10

31st October 1992 for three weeks

This song was a special moment. I can remember me and a friend being absolutely obsessed with End of The Road. It was a song from an Eddie Murphy movie and we loved Eddie Murphy. There was something so new and unique about it – a love ballad that lads could like. Somehow it was perfection and it was quite rightly a huge smash hit Number One.

The song is still on my favourite songs playlist, 32 years later. It sounds very Nineties, but also still quite unlike anything else. The band members’ vocals each sounding unique but also great when they sing together. For me it still holds up as a fantastic song.

9/10

17th October 1992 for two weeks

I remember really liking Sleeping Satellite. It was just a nice song. It still is. Tasmin Archer sings it beautifully and the song sounds best when you can sing it at the top of your voice.

There’s probably not really a lot more to say than that. I don’t think Tasmin Archer ever had any more hit singles. Sleeping Satellite was covered by dance band Aurora in 2003 which was also good.

7/10

19th September 1992 for four weeks

I was too young to appreciate what Ebeneezer Goode was all about. Misunderstanding it for a great dance pop song with a dodgy character called Ebeneezer Goode, years late I found out that it was a song all about drugs. I remember hearing the fact and being surprised that I didn’t know this when it came out.

The Shamen were one of the first dance bands that I followed. I enjoyed a few of their hits – Move Any Mountain, Boss Drum and LSI being a few that stood out. Ebeneezer Goode wasn’t my favourite but it was by a mile their most successful.

The song doesn’t really sound as good as it once did.

6/10

8th August 1992 for six weeks

I don’t have any specific memories about Rhythm Is A Dancer when it came out. But, my word, over time I absolutely grew to love it.

RIAD is one of the best dance anthems ever. It has everying that makes it a huge success – a massive bass, a great tune, fantastic vocals, a great rap (back to that in a moment) and it sounds perfect when it is played loudly!

It is simply sublime… except the line ‘I’m as serious as cancer when I say rhythm is a dancer’. It’s just a stupid rhyme. 

The early Nineties were a great time for Snap! This was their second and final Number 1 and their best song. 

32 years later and it remains such a brilliant song which has stood the test of time.

10/10