5 May 1994 It was a dreadful song anyway: insipid, retrograde AOR balladry about being old people. How it won can only be explained as a whole continent really, really wanting to come back to Ireland on another expenses-paid jolly same time next year. (The UK entry that year, 'Lonely Symphony' sung by Frances Ruffelle, … Continue reading Bill Whelan – ‘Riverdance’
The Irish World Cup Players Pool – ‘Watch Your House For Ireland’
29 April 1994 Ugh: the splashy branding and the mercantile-sounding group name—presumably The Irish World Cup Players Numbered Swiss Bank Account was taken—should tell you that this USA '94 venture was well removed from the joy and innocence of Italia '90. Ireland's USA '94 campaign in toto reflects this too. Despite a few highs—actually winning … Continue reading The Irish World Cup Players Pool – ‘Watch Your House For Ireland’
Bruce Springsteen – ‘Streets Of Philadelphia’
25 March 1994 The 1993 movie Philadelphia popped back into the news in June 2022 when its Oscar-winning star, Tom Hanks, agreed with a New York Times journalist that it rightly wouldn't be made today with its "inauthenticity" of a straight actor playing a gay character. A consideration of this movie both in its 1993 … Continue reading Bruce Springsteen – ‘Streets Of Philadelphia’
Mariah Carey – ‘Without You’
18 February 1994 Well, hello at last to the person who created one of the dominant pop forms of the whole '90s: the OTT power ballad style of Whitney, Celine, Boyz II Men and more. While 'Vision Of Love' in 1990 certainly blew the diva starting whistle, you can't say it was by design. Its … Continue reading Mariah Carey – ‘Without You’
Enigma – ‘Return To Innocence’
11 February 1994 Visitors to Paris usually just take in the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and the Louis Vuitton store. Difang and Igay Duana, though, saw Paris and ended up on a worldwide number one single without their knowledge. They were a Taiwanese folk singing duo who came to the French capital … Continue reading Enigma – ‘Return To Innocence’
Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting – ‘All For Love’
21 January 1994 Can you imagine the amount of corporate conference-calling and your-people-faxing-my-people and he-doesn't-do-mornings that went into putting together this all-star movie soundtrack juggernaut? The pitch was probably: Bryan Adams had a huge hit with a song from the Robin Hood movie, The Three Musketeers is kinda like Robin Hood set in France, there … Continue reading Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting – ‘All For Love’
East 17 – ‘It’s Alright’
14 January 1994 Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel? Who subjects East 17's 'It's Alright' to any sort of rigorous analysis? You can't fault it for energy; once the beat kicks in there's a tidal wave of bounce and verve. Nor can you fault it for sincerity; however anodyne or vague it may seem … Continue reading East 17 – ‘It’s Alright’
Take That – ‘Babe’
19 December 1993 By the time Take That get to number one in Ireland, they're no longer Robbie Williams' Take That—cheeky dance routines and disco bops—but instead Gary Barlow's Take That: 'classic' songwriting and Gary at the piano with four bored-looking backing singers. As it happens, the lead vocal on 'Babe' is by Mark Owen, … Continue reading Take That – ‘Babe’
U2 – ‘Stay (Faraway, So Close!)’
5 December 1993 Wim Wenders must really be a great director if he can make me believe a U2 song is dreamy and lovely. Back in my mid-teens, when I was impressionable in many things but not impressionable enough to buy a U2 album, I consumed 'Stay (Faraway, So Close!)' through its Wenders-directed video, and … Continue reading U2 – ‘Stay (Faraway, So Close!)’
Bryan Adams – ‘Please Forgive Me’
28 November 1993 If your favourite part of 'Everything I Do (I Do It For You)' was the droning, dreary middle section, have I got another Bryan Adams song for you! But wait: what has our Bryan done to you that he has to ask you to "Please forgive me" here? Left the toilet seat … Continue reading Bryan Adams – ‘Please Forgive Me’
