20 December 1996 If you list every Irish number one single in alphabetical order, starting with those which begin with numerals, '2 Become 1' by the Spice Girls is first on the list. It was also Ireland's 1996 Christmas number one, and its Christmassy New York video (actually shot with green screen in a London … Continue reading Spice Girls – ‘2 Become 1’
Tag: 1996
The Prodigy – ‘Breathe’
6 December 1996 We're probably catching The Prodigy at the wrong moment here. They'd already had a string of brilliant Irish top ten singles through the '90s, first with sparkling primary-colour rave, then with murkier hip-hop textures, and most recently before this with the scorching electro-punk of 'Firestarter'. That latter track was a genuine sensation … Continue reading The Prodigy – ‘Breathe’
Dustin & Geldof – ‘Rat Trap’
15 November 1996 Ha ha ha! This is gas, right, because Dustin - get this - is a terrible singer! And he's making a record! So it's going to be this really terrible record, which is gas, right? Kinda like if a really terrible chef opened a restaurant and all the food was terrible, but … Continue reading Dustin & Geldof – ‘Rat Trap’
Boyzone – ‘Words’
11 October 1996 I was all set to dismiss Boyzone's 'Words' as yet another cheap, insipid cover of a schmaltzy '70s ballad, but I was wrong. It's a cheap, insipid cover of a schmaltzy '60s ballad. I guess I associate the Bee Gees instinctively with '70s shiny-floor shlock and cheese. Perhaps we can all learn … Continue reading Boyzone – ‘Words’
OMC – ‘How Bizarre’
20 September 1996 OMC have the pleasure of being our first number one act from Aotearoa, also known as New Zealand. Alas, as I face a re-listen to 'How Bizarre' after all these years, I fear the pleasure will be all theirs. I remember this track being extremely naff and cheesy, with its mariachi guitar … Continue reading OMC – ‘How Bizarre’
The Wild Swans – The Hurling Songs (EP)
6 September 1996 Remember the '00s TV ad where the ardent Galway supporter drives around to every record shop buying up copies of their county's techno-banger single? Not that I'm suggesting some ride-or-die Wexford stalwart in 1996, hopped up on their long-awaited All Ireland victory, cleaned out M.J. Doran's in Gorey of cassettes like the … Continue reading The Wild Swans – The Hurling Songs (EP)
Spice Girls – ‘Wannabe’
9 August 1996 Lucy O'Brien and Caitlin Moran are among those who've pointed out that feminism suffered by being simplified to the Spice Girls concept of Girl Power, the latter defined by Moran as "being friends with your friends and buying Spice Girls records". As O'Brien notes in the revised and updated edition of her … Continue reading Spice Girls – ‘Wannabe’
Fool’s Garden – ‘Lemon Tree’
2 August 1996 In summer 1996 'Lemon Tree' by German band Fool's Garden seemed to fill all available Irish radio airspace like an ever-expanding gas. To borrow its chorus: I wonder how, I wonder why. Was it the schlager whimsy dressed as then-trendy Britpop-adjacent larkiness? The all-ages blandness? Probably a bit of both. Considering how … Continue reading Fool’s Garden – ‘Lemon Tree’
Fugees – ‘Killing Me Softly’
14 June 1996 Louis Walsh knows best: people will buy anything as long as it's a cover of a schmaltzy '70s ballad. Boyzone led the way, for their farewell single Take That inexplicably followed, and here crossing the Atlantic are an ostensible hip hop act with their breakthrough hit and contribution to the EU corn … Continue reading Fugees – ‘Killing Me Softly’
The Tony Rich Project – ‘Nobody Knows’
7 June 1996 What exactly the project is here, I'm not sure. Write the most maudlin, mawkish romantic ballad ever? Throw generic supermarket piped music into a comparatively positive light? Or is 'project' short for 'projectile vomiting after a fill of slush and mush'? Whatever the project scope, I imagine Tony Rich's Gantt chart only … Continue reading The Tony Rich Project – ‘Nobody Knows’
