Decadance I: 1991

Side 2 of a made up mixtape, focusing on the Nineties. Today we arrive in 1991. 

Guitars are beginning to creep back into the mix, but today's selection is still very much about getting on to the dancefloor, whether of the club or indie variety.

Looking at the best-selling UK singles of 1991, there was clearly a collective madness permeating society as far as record buying was concerned. How else do you explain Bryan Adams spending four effing months at #1? Or The Simpsons also hitting the top spot and having the 5th best seller of the year? Is there any rational explanation for the existence of Color Me Badd?!!

I spent a large part of 1991 in Australia, whose singles charts were arguably just as bad, though I was at least spared The Stonk by comedians Hale & Pace. 

Continuing with the info on each single's peak (UK) chart placing and date throws up some interesting observations. As with yesterday's selection, 1991's dozen songs include eight UK Top 40 hits and four that, well, weren't.

Just the one #1 this time and that a cheeky piggy back on a re-release of Should I Stay Or Should I Go by The Clash thanks to a jeans TV advert. Mick Jones had regrouped and relaunched Big Audio Dynamite II the previous year and included a reworked and renamed song from their debut album. Change Of Atmosphere became Rush and it gave Mick another hit single...though it made little if no difference to the chart fortunes of follow up album The Globe.

The selection opens with Intastella, a band I loved but for whom commercial success seemed elusive. Century, despite a 12" remix from Adamski, peaked at #70 and proved to be the second highest charting single of their career in the UK. A shame, as they had some cracking tunes, including this one.

Today's MAW (Mandatory Andrew Weatherall, not to be confused with Masters At Work, although he's equally deserving of the label) is a monumental remix of 101 by Finitribe. Even the 3:20 single edit is a masterclass, to the extent that this was the album version selected for An Unexpected Groovy Treat the following year. 

Released in July 1991, as far as I can tell 101 managed to scrape to #171 by the end of August and that was it's peak. As I said above,  clearly a collective madness permeating society as far as record buying was concerned.

Apart from the aforementioned Big Audio Dynamite II stowaway, the only other song from 1991's Top 20 best sellers is Sunshine On A Rainy Day by Zoë. Quite an achievement given that the original 1990 version failed to make the same impression. All I will say is that returning to the UK and seeing the leather trousered, barefoot Zoë throwing all manner of shapes on Top Of The Pops made a lasting impression on me.

An unexpected delight whilst I was on the other side of the world was hearing Bristol-born boy done good Gary Clail cracking the Top 10 with Human Nature. I was already a fan of his work with Adrian Sherwood and On-U Sound System, but the additional boost of an in-vogue remix by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne made all the difference. Hearing Gary's Bristolian burr ("put their hands in their pockets") alongside the dulcet tones of the legendary Alan Pillay still makes me smile.

Poor If? though, they really did try. They had some great tunes, seemingly tapped into the zeitgeist with their lyrical subjects and had impeccable taste in remixers, including Leftfield and Justin Robertson. Sadly, people just didn't buy any of their records. They had three goes with Saturday's Angels between 1991 and 1992, the 2nd being the best, with a peak of #83. This radio-friendly remix by The Grid aka Dave Ball and Richard Norris didn't in fact feature on any of the three attempts, instead tucked away as a B-side on another undeservedly flop single from 1991, Open Up Your Head.

Unfinished Sympathy was Massive Attack's first big hit...except it wasn't. Following a frankly bizarre edict regarding band names that might be triggering due to the ongoing Gulf War, the BBC banned a load of songs during this period.

The list apparently included Atomic (Blondie), In The Army Now (Status Quo), I'm On Fire (Bruce Springsteen), State Of Independence (Donna Summer), Walk Like An Egyptian (Bangles) and When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going (Billy Ocean).

The record label dodged this potential issue by renaming Massive Attack as Massive for this one single, but it seemed to work, although I sure that there were some music lovers out there devastated this this wasn't in fact a belated follow up by Massivo ft. Tracy.

Intastella weren't the only young upstarts, however. Saint Etienne, Flowered Up and The Mock Turtles were all establishing themselves, though arguably I should have made some room here for James or Manic Street Preachers. 

 

However, there was another band who showed some early promise, by the name of Blur. I wonder what became of them?

Be here next Saturday for some 1992 action. I'll be as surprised as you to find out what makes the final twelve.

1) Century (7" Version By Chris Nagle & Mike 'Spike' Drake): Intastella
2) 101 (Sonic Shuffle Edit By Andrew Weatherall & Hugo Nicolson): Finitribe
3) Nothing Can Stop Us (Album Version): Saint Etienne
4) Sunshine On A Rainy Day (7" Radio Mix 1991 By Youth & Mark 'Spike' Stent): Zoë
5) Do What You Feel (Dum Dum Vocal Edit By Dave Lee): Joey Negro ft. Debbie French

6) Human Nature (On The Mix Edit By Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne): Gary Clail / On-U Sound System ft. Alan Pillay

7) Saturday's Angels (Elevator Heaven Mix By The Grid): If?

8) Unfinished Sympathy (Nellee Hooper 7" Mix): Massive Attack ft. Shara Nelson

9) Take It (Album Version): Flowered Up

10) Rush (Edit): Big Audio Dynamite II

11) Can You Dig It? (Extended Mix By Martin Coogan, Pete Smith & Karl Madert): The Mock Turtles

12) There's No Other Way (Album Version By Stephen Street): Blur

20th Jan 1991: Saturday's Angels EP (#83): 7

3rd Mar 1991: Should I Stay Or Should I Go EP (#1): 10

10th Mar 1991: Unfinished Sympathy EP (#13): 8

14th Apr 1991: Can You Dig It? EP (#18): 11

21st Apr 1991: Human Nature EP (#10): 6

12th May 1991: Foxbase Alpha (#54): 3

12th May 1991: A Life With Brian (#34): 9

12th May 1991: There's No Other Way (#8): 12

25th Aug 1991: 101 EP (#171): 2

8th Sep 1991: Sunshine On A Rainy Day EP (#4): 4

17th Nov 1991: Century EP (#70): 1

17th Nov 1991: Do What You Feel EP (#36): 5

Side Two (47:18) (KF) (Mega) 

There's Still Something Going Round Inside My Head

Side 1 of a cassette compilation, recorded 23rd July 1994.

 

First of all, welcome to Alex from Germany, who has just started a music blog called Bamboo Temple Garden. On Thursday, Alex commented on my previous posting of side 2 of this mixtape which reminded me (a) how much I liked this particular cassette and (b) that over a year later I hadn't got around to posting side 1. Where does the time go?!

The determination to make this Saturday's post coincided with the completely unexpected but very welcome news on Friday (via Swiss Adam) that the mighty Fluke has reunited and have a new single out on Monday. Incredibly good timing as Fluke kick off this side with their own remix of 1993 single Bubble, which was originally only available on the vinyl 12" single. To say that I'm thrilled that they're back is an understatement.

Next up is another legend, Fabio Paras, operating under the Smells Like Heaven alias with Londres Strutt. I love this song, especially the remix here by Boomshanka, but it also used to cause my girlfriend at the time no end of amusement over a misheard lyric. Once you hear the sampled refrain "bassline kicking" as "baste my chicken", there's no going back, I'm afraid...

Dave Lee was at the forefront of the 1990s disco revival and the singles and remixes around his solo album Universe Of Love set the template for the rest of the decade. Believing his own name to be lacking the fizz and pop needed for his musical output, Dave merged the names of two US artists, Pal Joey and J Walter Negro, to create Joey Negro. Dave continued to use the name for three decades until in July 2020, he recognised that it was not acceptable and the alias was permanently shelved. Whilst the name may have been ill advised, the music is and has always been brilliant.

Which I could also say about A Man Called Adam, who have continued to produce great music in each decade from the (late) 1980s to the 2020s and show no sign of running short on inspiration. Bread, Love And Dreams is a much-loved single from their debut album, with a memorable cover image of Sally Rodgers' bum... I'm still not sure that I've connected that image with the lyrical themes of the song, but I guess it stood out on the record shop racks at the time. What also stood out was the quality of the mixes, not least their own but those by Slam and, included here, Graeme Park.

I only need mention the Sabres Of Paradise or the names Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns and you know you're in for a treat. This is their epic remix (one of three) of Conquistador by Espiritu aka Vanessa Quiñones and Chris Taplin. It's a 12-minute propulsive house monster, not a typical Sabres mix in many respects but proof that when they wanted to go there, they could lead the way every time. 

Who else to follow Andrew Weatherall than David Holmes? David sealed his reputation with an equally epic remix of Smokebelch II by Sabres Of Paradise, but this remix of should've-been-huge Freaky Realistic predates that milestone. Named after the now-legendary Belfast club that David and Iain McCready ran at the time, the two Sugarsweet mixes of Koochie Ryder take the song into a much different (head) space and will be a pleasant surprise if you're only familiar with David's later work.

And to close side 1 (and bridge to side 2, as it happens), The Grid aka Dave Ball and Richard Norris bring their own remix of Crystal Clear. This single came as a seemingly unbeatable remix package featuring Justin Robertson and The Orb. Both excellent but The Grid are more than up to the challenge, the Trimar Mix adding female vocals and an energy that elevates it even higher than the original album version. And it's all achieved in under five minutes. Great stuff.

 

If that doesn't have you smiling and grooving wherever you are, check your pulse, you may need medical attention... 

 

1) Bubble (Braillebubble): Fluke (1993)

2) Londres Strutt (Boomshanka Remix By Ben Mitchell & Steven Harper): Smells Like Heaven (1993)

3) Do What You Feel (Dum Dum Vocal Edit By Dave Lee): Joey Negro ft. Debbie French (1991)

4) Bread, Love And Dreams (Parkside Mix By Graeme Park): A Man Called Adam (1992)

5) Conquistador (Sabres Of Paradise Mix No. 3 By Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Espiritu (1993)

6) Koochie Ryder (Sugarsweet Mix Part 2 By David Holmes & Iain McCready): Freaky Realistic (1993)

7) Crystal Clear (Trimar Mix By Dave Ball & Richard Norris): The Grid (1993)

Side One (45:30) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two here