It's that time again where every week I pick my favorite song from those that entered the charts 20 years ago in 1995. This week's chart is from March 5 1995 and can be seen in full HERE. Every week a Twitter account called @ThisIsMyJam95 invites followers to pick their favorite new entry of the week, and I have decided to take it a step further by listening to ALL of the new entries before picking the best of the bunch. At number 36 was the rather appalling 'All I Want' by Those 2 Girls (who featured future TV presenter Denise Van Outen) and at number 24 were Drizabone with the soulful but bland 'Real Love', which was originally released four years earlier in 1991. At number 16 was Elton John with the dreary 'Believe'.
Rozalla's 'Call You Baby' was a rather camp slice of piano house that took the number 26 poisition, while the number 23 'Respect' by Judy Cheeks was another slice of house but with a heavy soul flavor. Both OK songs, but not quite as fine as some of the other new entries in a dance-heavy week. Coming in at number 14 were dance act Clock with a lively version of 'Axel F'. Reminiscent of a British 2 Unlimited, I recall buying a few singles of theirs during my years as a very young DJ at my Dad's old club in Corsham, including one with a Clock Megamix on the bside. Even during Britpop my tastes could vary wildly. Interestingly, although they set a record for the act to score the most UK chart hits with cover versions, Clock showed their true flavours by releasing hardcore versions of their songs under the alias Visa.
Sadly deceased hard house legend Tony De Vit's brilliantly energising 'Burning Up' gave him his breakthrough hit and charted at 25, and at number 13 were The Bucketheads with the brilliant Chicago-sampling 'The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind)'. Another massive club anthem to hit the Top 40 that week was the Nightcrawlers classic 'Push The Feeling On', which was enjoying its third and most successful re-release. The original 1992 track is a barely recognisable and hugely inferior song which was cut up and fattened by American producer Mark Kinchen to make the more familiar version that many of us know and love, aka 'The Dub Of Doom Mix'.
But the week's very best new entry is another golden great from the Britpop scene, the number 32 'Haunted By You', from the marvelous Gene. Often dismissed as Smiths wannabes, the more attentive always knew that there was a lot more to them than that, although 'Haunted By You' does remind me of a more sentimental 'What Difference Does It Make'. Gene went on to release four studio alnums before eventually disbanding in 2004. Those albums were all reissued last year with lots of bonus material, and a full review of the whole collection can be found HERE. Meanwhile, frontman Martin Rossiter released his long awaited debut solo album 'The Defenestation Of St Martin' in 2012, which turned out to be a wonderful record. More about that HERE.
