23rd December 1989 for three weeks

Five years after the original version was released Band Aid was back with a new version of Do They Know It’s Christmas? Band Aid II was produced by Pete Waterman and so was full of the stars from the Stock, Aitken and Waterman repertoire – Kylie, Jason and Sonia. Cliff Richard, Wet Wet Wet, Lisa Stansfield, Cathy Dennis, Big Fun, Bananarama, Chris Rea and Jimmy Somerville performed on the record.

As I said when I talked about the original version, Do They Know It’s Christmas? has not aged well. It feels patronising. Well, Band Aid II takes it up a notch. This version feels like it has no meaning. It sounds too poppy – like they are all having way too much fun organising it. It sounds like it’s more about the pop stars than the meaning behind the song. So this version has not aged at all well. In fact, you never, ever hear this version played.

Musically it’s got some nice touches that make it different to the original, but they just feel self-indulgent and show-offy.

The last Number 1 of the 1980s ends a year dominated by Stock, Aitken and Waterman and Jive Bunny who produced seven of the year’s biggest hits.

2/10

16th December 1989 for one week

And can you believe it? After just one other act reaching Number 1, Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers were back at Number 1?!

As it was December, it was time to mash a load of Christmas hits together to create the ultimate Christmas party track, Let’s Party!

It is incredibly formulaic but, once again, it worked. They capitalised on the seemingly huge market for this style of production and gave it a Christmas spin.

Their rapid success placed Jive Bunny into a special category – they were only the third act to reach Number 1 with all of their three debut songs, following on from Gerry and the Pacemakers (before I was born) and Frankie Goes To Hollywood (already featured on the blog). And Jive Bunny managed to do this in the quickest amount of time.

Let’s Party spent just one week at Number 1, but still, this means that they enjoyed 9 out of the last 20 weeks at Number 1 with three different songs. Huge.

However, it was like someone said, “That’s enough now. We’ve had enough. No more, for God’s sake,” and from this point on their singles enjoyed smaller and smaller success. I cannot remember any of their other releases whatsoever. Although they had another couple of Top Tens, they never came close to reaching the top again. It’s probably a good thing.

4/10

25th November 1989 for three weeks

I can remember the huge hype around New Kids On The Block. They were the ‘biggest’ band in America and they were now being promoted in the UK where it was hoped they would be the same. 

Although I believe this was the second time The Right Stuff was released in the UK, it finally smashed the chart in November 1989 (having enjoyed its success in America in January of this year).

I can remember thinking that the song was ok. It didn’t blow me away. I didn’t think there was much of a tune. 34 years later and I don’t think my opinion has changed. It’s not a good song. It was the band that was hyped, the song was, and is, weak.

We will meet the band once more in 1990.

4/10

11th November 1989 for two weeks

Lisa Stansfield was everywhere in the early Nineties. But I honestly don’t know what’s she’s been up to since.

But she released some great songs. Once I realised that she was singing about her lover and not a baby, I remember enjoying this song as a child.

I don’t think you hear this song quite so much these days, which is a shame because it’s good.

6/10

21st October 1989 for three weeks

Jive Bunny returned pretty quickly with their second Number 1. It must be fairly unusual to have just one other record in between Number 1s, even if the one in the middle was there for six weeks.

If anything, at the time I think I preferred That’s What I Like. It is more of the same – like Swing The Mood, TWIL mashes up several songs from the Sixties to make a totally fun song. Everybody liked it – it was different. Older people could safely say that music they liked was in the charts. Younger people liked the novelty and the fun. Jive Bunny gave everyone something in common.

The fun for Jive Bunny isn’t over yet!

5/10

9th September 1989 for six weeks

I hated this song as a child. But I can’t remember why. Writing this post now, I have a feeling it was because I loved Jive Bunny. Why on earth was this other song keeping Jive Bunny off the top?!

My attitude today could not be more opposite. Ride On Time is one of the best songs that there has ever been. It is way ahead of its time – it’s hard to believe that this came out in 1989 amongst all of the cheese and novelty that there was around. It’s a timeless record, sounding as at home on the radio in 2023 as it did when it was first released. When I got into dance music in the 1990s I grew to love the song. In my opinion, it’s one of the best dance records ever released.

There was a whole big thing going on with the samples and singers used on the song that I was completely unaware of at the time. James Masterton has written more about this song than I was ever aware of.

Ride on Time was the record to spend the longest time at Number One since Stevie Wonder in 1984. It was also the biggest selling single of 1989.

10/10

5th August 1989 for five weeks

I am pretty sure that no one in 1989 saw what would be coming in the latter half of the year – a take over by Jive Bunny. They pretty much dominated the chart for the rest of the year. We will be meeting them again very soon after this!

I can vividly remember Swing The Mood – it is a mash up of lots of rock and roll records from the Sixties. There was an animated character – Jive Bunny who I can remember liking.

I thought this song was a good idea when I was ten. I’m not so sure that it sounds as good 34 years later.

But it was clearly a fun song and you can see why a mash up of all these old songs had appeal. The mastermix became a thing in the Eighties and Nineties and there would be lots of bands who would release a mastermix of their best hits. I think it all started with Jive Bunny (and the Mastermixers, of course).

4/10

22nd July 1989 for two weeks

I have clear memories of this song when I was a child. I can remember Sonia being on TV promoting it and I can remember hearing it every where. I can remember that she was Scouse and laughed a lot.

It is a fabulous pop song – pop perfection. Sonia sings it brilliantly, although, to be fair it sounds like a Kylie Minogue song!

Sonia never troubled the Number 1 spot again, but she was on the charts for a few more years to come. Her song was chosen as the Eurovision entry in 1993 – Better The Devil You Know which was also very catchy!

I have clearly played this song more than I thought as the other day, when it came on in my car, our children knew the chorus and sang along!

10/10

24th June 1989 for four weeks

Soul II Soul came along in 1989 with a bona fide club classic.

I can remember Back To Life vividly as a child. Those shuffling beats and that bass rhythm are sublime – I was too young to understand what made the song so good, but I just knew that I liked it.

Nothing else by Soul II Soul ever cut it for me. Back To Life is head and shoulders above the rest of their songs. It has aged well and wouldn’t sound out of place on the charts in 2023.

10/10

10th June 1989 for two weeks

Jason Donovan’s Sealed With A Kiss was a significant moment in 1989. Not only did it mark three Number 1s in a row from producers Stock, Aitken And Waterman, it also entered the chart at Number 1.

Somehow, SAW and Jason Donovan had created enough hype around the song that it went straight in at the top! It’s a great pop song and it’s another guilty pleasure!

I didn’t know that this was a cover version. The original came out in 1962.

Stock, Aitken And Waterman were absolutely riding high! It seemed like everything they touched turned to gold. We will take a break from them for one Number 1, a huge dance anthem, before returning to them with a brand new artist.

6/10