Side 1 of my imaginary mixtape meander through the Nineties.
1996 saw David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and the Lightning Seeds top the UK charts with Three Lions, proclaiming "Football's Coming Home". It wasn't the last time they'd hit #1 with the song or prove that the proclamation was a tad on the optimistic side.
At least Bristol could properly lay claim to the phrase. After a decade in the wilderness (well, Twerton near Bath), Bristol Rovers were indeed coming home. Their original home had been turned into a whacking great Ikea and 1996 saw them find a new, permanent home at the Memorial Stadium in the north of the city. And that's where they've been ever since.
I was a bit more transient, moving from one rented dive to another close to the city centre, before taking the plunge and moving for the first time just south of the river. It was a big deal, not least because I was moving from a squalid bedsit (though nothing to match Ernie Goggins or C) to a terraced house. It was also the first time that I co-habited with a girlfriend. Both of these continued to the end of the decade, but not much beyond, but that's a whole other story.
Everything was great, apart from the parking. Skill at parallel parking in the tightest of spots was a must, with a continuous row of static vehicles on each side of the not-very-wide road. Bin day was a squeaky bum moment, as the rubbish lorry made it's way slowly down the middle, invariably smacking off a few wing mirrors or scratching a few doors along the way.
I eventually sold the car. It was largely redundant anyway: I worked in the city centre, which was at most a twenty minute walk; there were loads of shops and decent pubs within an even shorter walk and Temple Meads train station was also pretty much on my doorstep, enabling those wider excursions and adventures.
Gig-wise, a mere handful for me, and no Julian Cope, who played Reading Festival and a few other shows, but nothing in Bristol. Instead, I got to see Stereolab and Tortoise play a double headliner at the Bierkeller. I also went to the Bristol Community Festival at Ashton Court, where Renegade Soundwave stole the show, yet sadly didn't make the cut for the final dozen here.
The only other three gigs that I remember/retained tickets for were all at The Fleece (or Fleece & Firkin, as it was known then) and my first time seeing all three. Cardiacs were every bit as brilliant and bonkers as I thought they would be, better in fact.
And 1996 was the year that my jangly-music loving girlfriend managed what friends (and John Peel) had failed to do, that is, convince me that The Wedding Present were actually a really, really good band. Of course, many of you will point out - and reasonably - that 1996 wasn't necessarily peak period Weddoes, but I was introduced to the full catalogue in one go and there's no denying that David and the band put on a bloody good show that night.
Moby also played at The Fleece & Firkin, and I was there. If at a glance this seems like an odd venue for the techno baldie then I must point out that 1996 was Moby's "hair metal" phase, albeit without the hair. After the success of Everything Is Wrong, Moby followed up with Animal Rights, ditching beats for thrash dirges, which pretty much everyone hated and nobody bought. Except me, and a few hundred people squashed into the sweaty confines of The Fleece. I'll come back to it another time but personally I had a great time.
Moby's included in today's selection with his #73 smash Come On Baby. The CD single came as a limited edition double pack in a rubberised gatefold sleeve, and a 'Death Metal' version of Whip It by Devo. I'm assuming Mute and Moby didn't make their money back on this one, but it's a lovely product to own. Moby covered the James Bond theme the following year and the hits resumed.
Another act blending Bond and beats, albeit a year before and with even greater success, was The Prodigy. Not that you'd recognise the jangly-sounding guitar providing the calm-but-sinister interludes as a John Barry sample. Firestarter was a turning point for The Prodigy though personally Breathe - both song and video - ramped things up even further, and deservedly became their second UK #1.
Not just one but two #1s this time, the other being Ready Or Not by Fugees. I'll be honest with you: I couldn't bear their cover of Killing Me Softly in 1996; I don't feel a lot different about it now. In fact, I was largely indifferent to Fugees, collectively or solo. Apart from Ready Or Not, which I love unconditionally. I say unconditionally, as I think it's mostly down to the beats and samples and Lauryn Hill's delivery of the chorus, rather than her at-times excruciating rap. But what a song.
More by accident than design, I seem to have skipped the first half of 1996 entirely, as all twelve songs were hits between July and December. I won't dwell on what may have been so bad about January to June 1996, other than to note that the period started with Earth Song by Michael Jackson at #1 and ended with the aforementioned Three Lions and Killing Me Softly jostling for the top spot. Other chart toppers in between were Babylon Zoo, Mark Morrison and Gina G, so maybe it's best I just give it a wide berth...
I've managed to squeeze in Julian Cope's last year of UK hit singles. Both I Come From Another Planet, Baby and it's follow-up Planetary Sit-In managed a peak of #34 before rapidly disappearing. Parent album Interpreter also managed to scrape the Top 40 (just) at #39. After that, the Arch Drude permanently moved to self-releasing music on his Head Heritage, to a more select (and adoring) audience.
Quite a few songs got more than one crack at the charts. Sneaker Pimps released 6 Underground in September 1996, peaking at #15 a couple of weeks later. The song was re-released the following year and did even better, crashing in at #9 in June 1997. I've decided to stick with their relatively modest first placing in 1996 for the simple reason that it included a rather fine remix by Two Lone Swordsmen aka Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood, and therefore qualifies for today's MAW.
Born Slippy by Underworld failed to make much of an impression when it was first released as a single in 1995, entering the chart at #52 on 7th May, dropping to #75 the following week and then into seeming obscurity the week after that. And then a little film called Trainspotting came along, and everything changed.
Both the album and the soundtrack became the essential experience of 1996. I'm assuming many rushed out to retrospectively buy and read Irvine Welsh's novel too. The music was fantastic though and Born Slippy re-entered the singles chart at #2 in July and pretty much refused to leave the Top 100 until April the following year. It's still like nothing else at the time, even by Underworld, let alone anyone else.
CJ Bolland also delivered a surprise hit with Sugar Is Sweeter. Up to then, an artist that I considered to offer up more serious, 'intelligent' dance music (though I hate that term), the decision to take a different route, employing the sublime vocal talents of Jade 4U aka Nikkie Van Lierop, was inspired.
Another surprise, though only in the sense that I realise with shame that this is their first appearance in this series, is Pet Shop Boys. Ten years on from West End Girls, Neil and Chris proved beyond any doubt that they could deliver songs with the same pop hooks and lyrical bite, that kept in step with shifting musical trends. Single-Bilingual was their third and final single of 1996 and my favourite af an admittedly strong trio.
Baby Bird make their first and only appearance in this series (and the Top 10) with You're Gorgeous, which got all the way to #3 in October 1996. As so many before and after, this was a lovely pop song which, on closer listen, revealed a darker narrative streak running through. Steven Jones' tale of an exchange between the narrator (a model) and their subject (a photographer) gains further meaning if you switch and swap the character's genders. Subversive pop at it's best.
Oh, and a parental advisory for a potty-mouthed song by Super Furry Animals, which was just too good to leave off.
Manic Street Preachers returned with their first album as a 3-piece, following the disappearance of Richey Edwards. It was all captured in the sound and feel of Everything Must Go, melancholy and reflective in places, though Australia was a reminder of their capacity for rousing, energetic romps. The latter got in under the line in December as the fourth single and Top 10 hit of the year.
Rounding off today's selection is a return for Justin Robertson and Roger Lyons aka Lionrock, teaming up with MC Buzz B for Fire Up The Shoesaw. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this got to #22, as it never quite felt that Lionrock releases got the respect and commercial success that I think they should have. Fire Up The Shoesaw is tons of fun, with a superb drum break sample for the bridge, consumate wordplay from Sean Braithwaite and a scuzzy, squally bit of guitar/amp feedback to finish things off.
1) Breathe (Edit): The Prodigy
2) You're Gorgeous (Re-Recorded Version): Baby Bird
3) Born Slippy.Nuxx (Short): Underworld
4) Single-Bilingual (Single Mix): Pet Shop Boys
5) Sugar Is Sweeter (Radio Edit): CJ Bolland ft. Jade 4U
6) 6 Underground (Two Lone Swordsmen Vocal Mix) (Edit By Khayem): Sneaker Pimps
7) Come On Baby (Eskimos & Egypt 7" Mix): Moby
8) The Man Don't Give A Fuck (Single Version): Super Furry Animals
9) I Come From Another Planet, Baby (Album Version): Julian Cope
10) Australia (Single Version): Manic Street Preachers
11) Ready Or Not (Album Version): Fugees
12) Fire Up The Shoesaw (Vocal Edit): Lionrock ft. MC Buzz B
7th July 1996: Born Slippy EP (#2): 3
21st July 1996: Fire Up The Shoesaw EP (#43): 12
21st July 1996: Interpreter (#34): 9
15th September 1996: The Score (#1): 11
29th September 1996: Sugar Is Sweeter EP (#11): 5
6th October 1996: Ugly Beautiful (#3): 2
13th October 1996: 6 Underground EP (#15): 6
10th November 1996: Come On Baby EP (#73): 7
17th November 1996: Breathe EP (#1): 1
17th November 1996: Single-Bilingual EP (#14): 4
8th December 1996: Australia EP (#7): 10
8th December 1996: The Man Don't Give A Fuck EP (#22): 8
