17 October 1993 The '90s resurgence in power balladry was in part the US music industry's way of sweeping the Milli Vanilli lip-syncing scandal under the carpet: they lucked onto Mariah Carey, saw how her debut single caused a sensation and a flurry of record-buying, then lumped in on her strain of loud, technically impressive … Continue reading Meat Loaf – ‘I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)’
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince – ‘Boom! Shake The Room’
10 October 1993 In 1993 Will Smith was not yet an Oscar-winning actor, an Oscar-host-slapping stage-crasher, or even Will Smith. Much in keeping with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince made rap and hip hop records that were generally either goofy ('Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble'), sentimental ('Summertime') or … Continue reading DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince – ‘Boom! Shake The Room’
Pet Shop Boys – ‘Go West’
3 October 1993 You can write songs as brilliant as 'West End Girls', 'Suburbia', 'Love Comes Quickly', 'Rent', 'Being Boring' and 'What Have I Done To Deserve This?', but wear designer traffic cones as hats (for 'Can You Forgive Her?') and then cover a Village People hit and all that gets forgotten. 'Go West', for … Continue reading Pet Shop Boys – ‘Go West’
Culture Beat – ‘Mr. Vain’
29 August 1993 There's a sad story behind this number one single. Culture Beat was the project of German producer Torsten Fenslau. In November 1993, a mere two months after 'Mr. Vain' topped the charts across Europe, he was in a car crash and died, aged only 29. That said, there's no hidden depth or … Continue reading Culture Beat – ‘Mr. Vain’
Freddie Mercury – ‘Living On My Own’
22 August 1993 Our second posthumous Irish number one of 1993: however, I'm pretty sure that this wasn't from the momentum of the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert that has already given us two other Irish chart-toppers. If you don't recall the original 1985 release of 'Living On My Own' you're not alone; I only … Continue reading Freddie Mercury – ‘Living On My Own’
4 Non Blondes – ‘What’s Up?’
18 July 1993 Grunge: what were we thinking? Sludgy guitars, droning songs, whiny singers, lumberjack shirts - as a scene and a sound it hasn't aged well, and to be honest didn't sound all that great in the first place. Its performative angst became a tool for the US music industry to pivot away from … Continue reading 4 Non Blondes – ‘What’s Up?’
Haddaway – ‘What Is Love’
27 June 1993 Well, you can't say Haddaway shirks the big philosophical questions. (The B-side was called 'Where Do Odd Socks Go?') Not that he gives us an answer or anything. Also, as those of you joining us from Pedants' Corner are already shouting at your screen, the lack of punctuation in the song title … Continue reading Haddaway – ‘What Is Love’
Niamh Kavanagh – ‘In Your Eyes’
23 May 1993 Aside from winning the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest, 'In Your Eyes' provides an unlikely musical connection between two very different hit movies decades apart, The Commitments and Frozen. Its singer, Niamh Kavanagh, didn't appear in The Commitments but sang lead vocals on a couple of its featured songs, notably 'Destination Anywhere'. Its … Continue reading Niamh Kavanagh – ‘In Your Eyes’
George Michael and Queen with Lisa Stansfield – Five Live (EP)
2 May 1993 If ever you fear you've lost your cutting edge, go back and watch the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, the Woodstock of '90s British soft rock. For all the funds and awareness it raised for AIDS charities, this Queen-fest really was a stinker of a musical event but also a fairly accurate bellwether … Continue reading George Michael and Queen with Lisa Stansfield – Five Live (EP)
Snow – ‘Informer’
25 April 1993 Here we are again: a white chart-topper, wearing his whiteness as a badge of identity, peddling a watered-down and infantile facsimile of music of Black origins. Darrin O'Brien had no Caribbean cultural or family heritage, but his line was that he had immigrant neighbours from that region in his native Toronto. Also, … Continue reading Snow – ‘Informer’
