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’
Meat Loaf – ‘I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)’
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’
