Hits 21 - 1992 (2): KWS, Erasure, Jimmy Nail

Episode Date: February 14, 2025

Hello everyone! Welcome back to Hits 21: The 90s.At the roundtable this week it's Rob, Ed, and Andy!This week - KWS get to covering and stealing, Erasure are Abba-ish, and Jimmy Nail... has a go/does his best, delete as appropriate.Twitter: @Hits21UKEmail: [e-mail]

Music Hi there everyone and welcome back to Hits21 The 90s where me, Rob, me, Andy and me, Ed are looking back at every single UK number one of the 1990s. If you want to get in touch with us just for now, send it to hits21podcast at gmail.com. Our presence on social media has changed since since the last episode that we made. Updates on that coming shortly. Thank you ever so much for joining us again. We are currently looking back at the year 1992 and this week we'll be covering the period between the 3rd of May and the 1st of August! It's another long stride through 1992 this week. Because we are not active on Twitter at the moment, the weekly poll, the results that we're pulling in are literally just coming from Spotify

so apologies if things don't go to plan for what some people had hoped for, but stay, Shakespeare's sister got every single vote Goodnight Girl and Deeply Dippy got nothing and Stay got every single vote, so well done to Shakespeare's sister. That's fair enough. Time to press on with this week's episode and here are some news headlines from May to August 1992 so we've got a lot to cover. In football, UEFA awards the hosting of the upcoming Euro 1996 tournament to England. Leeds United win the last ever first division title ahead of the formation of the Premier League. Liverpool win the FA Cup after beating Sunderland 2-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium and

Barcelona win the European Cup after beating Sampdoria 1-0 in the final which was also hosted at Wembley Stadium. So it's all Wembley in England in football at the moment. Riots erupt in several areas across the country including Blackburn, Burnley, Coventry, Salford, Huddersfield and Bristol. Nigel Mansell becomes the most successful Formula One driver from Britain after winning a record 26th Grand Prix. A controversial biography about Princess Diana is published by Andrew Morton and Scotland's last steelworks factory closes. Great Britain and Northern Ireland win 20 medals at the Olympics in Barcelona, including five golds. Mafia boss John Gotti is sentenced to life in prison and Bill Clinton is chosen as the

Democratic candidate for the US presidential election later this year. The films to hit the top of the UK box office during this period were as follows. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle for one week, Basic Instinct for two weeks, Wayne's World for three weeks, Basic Instinct for one more week, Wayne's World for two more weeks, Sleepwalkers for one week and then Batman returns for three weeks. Ireland win the Eurovision Song Contest for 1992 get used to me saying that by the way their entry Linda Martin won with her song Why Me? The United Kingdom finish as

runners up. William the Pug makes his last on-screen appearances in EastEnders and Suzy Dent makes her first appearance on Countdown. Wow she's been doing that a while I did not know that she'd been doing that for that long. Impressive. The BBC announces that it has obtained the rights to show highlights of the upcoming Premier League season after ITV's deal comes to an end. Jay Leno makes his debut as the host of the Tonight Show after Johnny Carson's retirement and Sesame Street celebrates its 3,000th episode. So Andy, the UK album charts, how are they?

So we start this period with The Cure at number one with their latest album Wish which went number one for one week and went gold. That's then followed by yet another week at the top for Simply Red with Stars which just it just won't flush really at that one. That went number one for one more week with of course a 12 times platinum record behind it. Then we've got Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine with 1992 The Love Album which went number one for one week and went gold and it's also one week and gold for Iron Maiden with Fear of the Dark. Then we've got Michael Ball by Michael Ball which went number one for one week and went gold and finally someone sticks around a little bit longer and spares me from running this

segment for half an hour. It's Lionel Richie with Back to Front who went number one for six weeks. And went four times platinum with that one. Four times platinum is a little bit low for an album that went number one for six weeks. So it must've been a bit of a quiet summer to be fair. Then we've got The Orb with their album UF Orb

which went number one for one week, and get this, has no classification. That's an all-time first. There was a song last week, Rob, that you were surprised had no classification. Is it possible that there's some jiggery-pokery around this time that we're not aware of, that some songs and some albums don't have classification? Possibly. Although The Orb, they are fairly popular popular but I know that orb sort of generally

they're kind of like a loved but still cult electronic act they're very much so they're sort of dance dance favorite yeah but it's almost impossible in the 90s to get number one and not at least get silver at some point in the 30 years that have followed. So that's unusual. But assuming that that's true, that is the lowest selling number one album that we've ever covered on the show so far. I don't think that'll be surpassed, if I'm honest.

And then we see out this period with Neil Diamond with the greatest hits 1966 to 1992. Love how that assumes it's going to be more greatest hits after 92 and that went to number one for three weeks and went single platinum. So yeah that's your lot a lot of different albums this week. Ed what are they doing in America in 1992? Not much crossover with the UK actually. 1992. Not much crossover with the UK actually. Adrenalize by Def Leppard gets by on Sheer Hormones for another couple of weeks before I can't read what I've put because it's totally crossed out by Criss Cross for a single week before it is Crisscrossified by the Black Crows, returning for a week with the Southern Harmony and Music Companion, only to rise again with a tenuous metaphor for another week.

Now, some give a little bit and get a little bit. Some give a lot and then there, but Billy Ray Cyrus, father of future pop superstar Taylor Grande, gave all, resulting in 17 weeks at the top of the US album chart. And you know what, that's it for this period because he really cleans up sharp here. My job, to be honest, looking ahead is pretty easy,

albums-wise, for the rest of 92. As between the start of June and the end of the year, there are only five albums at US number one. And only two until mid-November. So, yeah. Wow. Anyway, on to singles which is also remarkably brief. Chris Cross hopped hip-a-ly with everyone's second favourite early 90s hip-hop single with the word Jump in the title which takes us into

mid-June where Mariah Carey was there for two weeks and finally a Seattle rapper gets sprung to the top of the charts with a surprise backdoor smash. Yes Sir Mix-a-lot sits at pole position talking about bum cakes for five whole weeks taking us through to August. Alright then, thank you both very much for those reports and we are going to check out our first song this week, which is this. Please don't go, please don't go, please don't go, please don't go, please don't go, please don't go Babe, I love you so Please don't go And I want you to know

Please don't go That I'm gonna miss your love Please don't go The minute you walk down that door Please don't go Please don't go Please don't go He's the man you want out that door He's the man He's the man He's the man He's the man

He's the man He's the man He's the man He's the man He's the man He's the man He's the man He's the man He's the man Please don't go... Baby, I love you so

And I want you to know The fun when we miss your love Okay, this is Please Don't Go by KWS Released as the lead single from their debut studio album titled KWS, Please Don't Go with Gameboy is KWS's first single overall to be released in the UK and their first to reach number 1, however as of 2025 it is their last. Please Don't Go is a cover of the song originally released by KC and the Sunshine Band which reached number 3 in the UK in 1980 and it's also a cover version of the version released by W which reached number 41 in the UK also this year in 1992. Please don't go with Gameboy, first enter the UK

charts at number 30, reaching number 1 during its third week. It stayed at number one for five weeks. Across its five weeks, atop the charts, it sold 307,000 copies, beating competition from the following songs. Nothing Else Matters by Metallica, Hang On In There Baby by Curiosity, Workaholic by 2 Unlimited, My Lovin' by En Vogue, Come Play With Me by The Wedding Present

Knockin' On Heaven's Door by Guns N' Roses Everything About You by Ugly Kid Joe Beauty and the Beast by Celine Dion and Peebo Bryson Keep On Walkin' by Cece Penniston Raving I'm Raving by Shut Up and Dance Jump by Kris Kross Friday I'm In Love by The Cure, Hazard by Richard Marks, Something Good by Utah Saints and Midlife Crisis by Faith No More. When it was knocked off the top of the charts Please Don't Go with Gameboy dropped 1 place to number 2.

By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for 16 weeks. The song is currently officially certified gold in the UK as a 2025 but pre-cantar etc. Andy, KWS, how are we feeling? Yeah first of all can we stop with these electro dance early 90s combos with three letters in their name, one of which is the letter K. I'm finding this very difficult to not get confused between them, to be honest. This is a good example of a song that works better in the club, I think, because I can absolutely imagine Avernet Large to something like this back in the 90s in the clubs actually sitting and listening to this on your phone.

You know it there isn't much meat on the bones here. Like I had to kind of grapple with this to try and get some more juice out of it. And the whole point of it really from what I can tell is that you don't need to do that. That like it's supposed to just kind of wash over you and you can just sort of freak out and dance to it and have fun. And for what it's worth, I do think it's pretty nice. I really like that vocal line. I think the sound of it is lovely and warm while still being something you can kind of shake and freak out to, like I say.

So I'm broadly like positive about it but please don't go is the very last thing I would say to this song because that especially like the six minute edit like it just goes on and on and on and on and on where I'm saying please go no please please go you've got you've got to go and have your tea you've got kids to get home to like you've been here for three weeks go home and yes it felt so like an unwanted guest every time I listened to it to be honest, because it doesn't justify its length, it doesn't justify that full existence really. So I have to knock it down a few points, but it's all right this. Yeah, it's not the kind

of thing I listen to very often. and I fully, you know, acknowledge that obviously as we've established in previous episodes, this is a real blind spot for me. You know, the early 90s club scene because I didn't really understand 3AM Eternal by KLF either. But all I can say is that this sounds nice, that it's not the kind of thing I would sit and listen to. But if this came on in a bar or came on in a club, I can totally see why this would be lovely and refreshing and get people dancing. The B side, the other A side to this Gameboy, that's really interesting because that doesn't seem to have been very easy to get hold

of until it was uploaded to YouTube about 10 or so years ago where all the YouTube comments are like oh my god it's here. It's been so hard to find this. And that's, I mean, that song is a really different story, which I'll get into in a second, but that seems to have been quite an influential one. That means quite a lot to people of that scene, Game Boy, that people are surprised it was never a full single in its own right, because it was really influential in the early 90s scene. in its own right because it was really influential in the early 90s scene. I can sort of see why because that is like bananas. There's a lot in that song like that drum beat that just wants to sort of drill your head in with that all the way through. It never lingers on anything for more

than about eight bars which I find a little bit kind of obnoxious to be honest. It kind of reminds me of Ross Geller on his keyboard with his woof woof woof, the way they just keep throwing in new sounds to it all the time. So that was one I wasn't really sure whether I liked or not, but I did at least admire the ambition of that. And across the two songs, you get to quite different things. You know, you get bang for your buck with that double A side. And you definitely get a sense of an artist

who would have been exciting. So I think this is one of those that I need a lot more time with, like longer even than the several weeks that I've had. You know, I think this is one of those that maybe at the end of the decade, I might look back and think, oh, actually, that was really good. Because this is not my scene at all. But both of them, they've got things going for them that I really good because this is not my scene at all but both of them, they've

got things going for them that I really quite like. They've both got drum sounds and bass sounds and synth sounds that are really interesting to me and like, you know, do make me want to get up and dance and do feel quite invigorating but I'm not crazy about either of them. I think I'm just too detached from it that I'm so far down the other end of the corridor from what the audience was for this that all I can really do is admire it like a painting but I do quite admire it so yeah broadly thumbs up for both of those yeah. How strange it is for a song I find to be so middle-of-the-road and unremarkable to feel like it's a bit of a minefield to discuss it because this is one of the occasions we've had a few

times on the show where the backstory behind a particular song is more interesting than the finished product that we're actually supposed to be talking about because it does that thing I've mentioned a few times on the show where because we're doing a modern cover version we have to speed it up for no real reason except that speeding things up makes it sound newer. Like even in the age of power ballads, it's just shorthand for like, is it faster? Yes, that must mean it's a cover version of something from 20 years ago or whatever. We're not far off undercover's remix of Baker Street, which does basically the same thing as this, where it takes a late 70s, early 80s number,

speeds it up a bit, does some new vocals over it, bit house, that kind of thing, but doesn't stray too far away from what is ultimately kind of adult contemporary. It's just, this is adult contemporary via a very basic structure of house. And this being a sound-alike cover of an idea that the group W had earlier this year exposes KWest to comparison, and I think that the W version is a bit superior and the original KC and the Sunshine Band version is superior still. You know there aren't many dynamic peaks and troughs with this. Vocal performances feel a bit swallowed by the mix at points, it just kind of floats

along. I like the baseball organ in the back that's kind of timidly but firmly kind of keeping things going but that's from the W version anyway so but none of this can be said for the other A-side Gameboy which I think is a genuinely striking bit of music after listening to Please Don't Go it's like it's come from a completely different group not the most radical thing I've ever heard even in the context of this show but what difference it is and what a contrast it is from Please Don't Go.

Almost to the point where they don't really go together as two A-sides, because Game Boy feels bold and memorable, and Please Don't Go isn't either of those things. Game Boy, hard to find, scrubbed off streaming services, apparently doesn't exist apart from a couple of pirate uploads on YouTube, as you were saying, Andy, but I feel like it hit me harder in the first few seconds than the whole of Please Don't Go cycles through a load of samples over what is roughly the same back beat for almost four minutes but it's constantly intense always trying to give you something new not a classic or anything but I think it would have been sneaking near to the vault if it had been released on its own but it was never going to be released on its own was it so yeah Ed, KWS. Yeah first of all Andy if

these are Ross Geller compositions then Please Don't Go would certainly be infinite time time and Rob yeah you say they don't really go together the two A sides they it's not like they're sounds like a group experimented with two different approaches, partly because of the reasons you said about the A-side being basically a rip-off. They don't even share any discernible character. There's nothing linking them other than vaguely in the sphere of dance music, which is a little disconcerting especially when you know the backstory oh yeah nothing's got the way the wedding present had a top

ten single ever sorry I've just mildly mildly back yes that's how interesting the charts are at the moment seriously a faith no more bloody hell they were going mad at this point credit to whoever put them in the top ten but anyway, onto the song. And yeah, as you mentioned, Rob, it's pretty much a carbon copy of an Italian cover of the Casey and the Sunshine band song. I'm not much of a fan of the original.

I think it's pretty slow, pretty flabby kind of 70s balladry. I love myself grandiose 70s ballad, possibly more than anything on earth, but this is very much in the slightly hoary, slightly crackly, farty end of that trope. And yeah, the W version really does mix it up and gives it a bit of pep. Nonetheless, I don't think there's enough elevating it above a lot of early 90s sort of chart friendly dance pop to understand why a carbon copy of it got to number one for five weeks. Maybe there's another story behind that but bloody hell there's precious little about the KWS outfit online and I did try to look. Yeah it's very repetitive as Andy's already mentioned. I've not really

got much more to add to this only that I'm not much of a fan. I only I think I made it through once and the rest of the times I just skipped when I got fed up of the Please don't go. Please don't go. Please don't go. Because it uses its very small bag of tricks far too many times. And then of course we get the other A-side. Gameboy. Which, yeah like you Rob, I really, really like this. It seems I don't have anything to base this on again,

because a lot of my research turned blank, but it seems like a proper organic, see what shit sticks and how the audience reacts piece of live dance music of the time, except that it's really short. And I really enjoy it. Like every time I listen to it, I kind of, I get quite pumped up.

I mean it does verge on chaos there's no real through line and as you say Andy it's like well it's just a series of like discrete bits shoved together but it's almost part of the unpredictable fun and there is the propulsion underneath that kind of, you know, it provides a spine for the piece still. And I think I'd love this. I think I'd have a ball if this came on like ear-boggering volume in a club. It's got an instantly penetrating synth hook. It only comes up twice, but it's a great one.

And like a lot of the other bits in this, it kind of teases you because it kind of teases harmony without giving you decisive harmony because it's kind of triadic movement. And I like that because the whole song just keeps you in suspense, it doesn't land and I find that quite exciting. Maybe that lack of you know cohesion in terms of it having a through line indicates a bit like with the first side maybe this is kind of a these might be chances. Credit to them I really like this track but it might just be like let's see what we can do that we'll have a hit at this point you know let's try anything it might be that they never set foot in a club in their life either with or without turntables or any equipment. But I don't know. I've listened to a couple of other songs off their solitary album, which isn't available on streaming.

It's available in bits on YouTube of varying quality. And I'll be honest, the jury is still out about their intentions. They did have a follow-up top 10 hit with a cover of George McRae's Rock Me Baby that kind of coasts on the same sort of style as Please Don't Go but I actually think it's a bit better. It's less gratingly repetitive and maybe because they had to come up with it themselves, it just feels a little bit more controlled and a little less contrived. But anyway, yeah, it is a bit of a tease this one,

the Game Boy side of the equation, but and it's very short for a dance track, but bloody hell, for getting something like this, which is very much like rave culture stuff to number one without any chorus or sort of sweetening pill with the exception of the A-side. Yeah kudos I dig this it's just a shame that it's the contentious and legally troublesome A-side that's on Spotify in about 12 billion different iterations and Gameboy isn't available on Spotify at all. I can't speak for the streaming platforms but I somehow doubt it's on those either. This is a tough one because I've got to basically balance it as a single release because it is a double A- side and to be honest I think the A side not just because of its context is

kind of shit really it doesn't do much for me I just find it annoying and a bit bit flappy whatever the fuck that means but the B side I'm perversely pleased that some thrilling bit of like dance detritus like this just made it to the top of the charts even though it was somewhat covertly. Yeah, mixed bag but I do dig Gameboy. So I'm Alright then, so the second song up this week, sort of, is this. Is these. If you change your mind, I'm the first in line Honey, I'm still free, take a chance on me If you need me, let me know and I'll be around If you got no place to go when you're feeling down If you're all alone, when the pretty birds have flown

Honey, I'm still free free Take a chance on me Gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie If you put me to the test, if you let me try Take a chance on me Take a chance on me Oh, we can go dancing, we can go walking As long as we're together Listen to some music, maybe just talking Get to know you better Cause you know I've got so much that I wanna do When I dream I belong alone with you it's magic You wanted to leave me there, afraid of a love affair

But I think you know, that I can't let go If you change your mind, I'm the first in line Honey I'm still free, take a chance on me If you need me, let me know and I'll be around Okay, so this is the ABBA-esque EP by Erasure. Released as an extended play, the ABBA-esque EP is Erasure's third EP to be released in the UK overall and their first EP to reach number one. It is their only number one EP or single in the UK charts, which means as of 2025, it is their last. The ABBA-esque EP went straight in at number one as a brand new entry. straight in at number one as a brand new entry. It stayed at number one for... FIVE WEEKS!

Across its five weeks atop the charts, it sold 337,000 copies beating competition from Too Funky by George Michael, Heartbeat by Nick Berry, It Only Takes a Minute by Take That, The One by Elton John, Blue Room by The Orb, I'll Be There by Mariah Carey, Disappointed by Electronic, One Shining Moment by Diana Ross, Sesame's Treat by Smart Ease, Ain't No Doubt by Jimmy Nail, and Rhythm Is A Dancer by Snap. Jimmy Nail and Rhythm is a Dancer by Snap. When it was knocked off the top of the chart, the ABBA-esque EP fell three places to number four. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 12 weeks. The EP is currently officially certified gold in the UK as of 2025, but that's pre-Kantar etc etc so with this yes we have the whole EP to discuss but I think it got to number one on the strength of

the cover of Take A Chance On Me which seems to have endured as the most popular of the songs from the EP so I've kind of kept my notes to Take A Chance On Me but I don't know about you guys Andy Erasure Abba esque I'm I'm in a bit of a bad mood about this one to be honest. I really am First of all I have this This is one of the few CD singles I actually do have come I mainly sort of let them drop by the wayside when I was moving between homes and stuff which I sort of regret but some years

ago my dad was having to clear out of his CDs and asked if I wanted this, I'd never listen to it, I thought yeah I'll have that. Which means that when I, for those who've been listening for a long time you might remember that I reviewed every album I own or that my husband owns, every album we have in the house I reviewed when I listened to them all on my iPod, about 600 of them. So this is the first single that, because I consider this more of an album than a single, I've actually reviewed this already on our Hits21 Twitter feed, which is very odd. And I gave it 1.5 out of 5, so I gave it the equivalent of 3 out of of ten which would absolutely be pie-hole territory for us and so I thought oh how have my views changed at all in the two or so years since I did that and a little bit maybe a little bit I think that metric was a bit different because it's all stuff I

own so the standard for me personally is much higher but not much more to be honest this annoys me with erasure I you know I find myself instinctively saying quite a lot when people ask me about erasure I'm like oh I like them and I'm more and more getting the feeling as the years go by that it's just a little respect that it's just that that I sort of like Ola more and always and stop is okay. But really I struggle to think of anything that I would be like, oh yeah I love this other than a little respect and I'm starting to question whether I really am a fan of Erasure at all to be honest. And this is a big big step in the other direction as far as my fan base is concerned.

With ABBA, I think one of the greatest things about them, and for context, I'm a huge fan of ABBA, absolutely love them. I think one of the best things about them is how great they are at establishing tone through instrumentation, through performance, through the through the sort of melodic and harmonic work that they're doing against each other. And I think they create such an overall package, which is the tone of ABBA, which is a really unique thing. Where most of their songs, they have this sort of optimism in the face of pessimism. You know, they've going through downbeat things, but they're still doing it with a bit of a song in their heart, a bit of a smile on their face and yes they have you know a bit more fun in some other songs but generally that sense of bittersweet melancholy is something that comes through from the production, from the instrumentation, through the sheer skill of that songwriting and it's not an

easy thing to recreate. It's kind of like a perfect chemical balance that if you change one aspect of it then it falls apart and this is the proof in the pudding of that I think that we get this horrendous production applied to these songs even take a chance on me which I think admittedly is probably the best of the four but that sort of generic almost stocky Ken Waterman style ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba dum ba ba dum ba ba dum ba ba dum things unto all the songs, the listless emotionless vocals over the top. It's just stripped the heart out of all of these songs.

And I was just, I just thought like, there's really no accounting for tastes, because this was number one for five weeks. I'm like, there is just no question as far as I'm concerned. Like it's almost objective to me that the originals are so much better for all four of these especially Take A Chance On Me which I think it gets a little bit overlooked I think sometimes that every time I listen to Abba Gold and Take A Chance On Me comes on it always sort of stands out like oh that's actually

really nice like it's really really melodic really lyrical it's got such a bounce to it but still has depth and this version to take a chance on me is the opposite like it's sort of music and I just I'm kind of speechless to be honest that people liked this so much because I think it really gets ABBA wrong and if I was ABBA far from being very flattered by this which is how they reacted to it, I would be a little bit missed to be honest, like what are you doing to our songs? Why are you doing this? And the whole thing of this coming about I think is quite strange to be honest that they you know swapped songs with ABBA for a little bit, they had this cordial relationship and then they

did this EP as a sort of love letter thank you. It kind of feels a bit like love bombing them to be honest like you know doing a whole EP of four of their songs and like turning it into a thing for yourself it seems a bit strange even the likes of Steps who were like very very openly trying to do ABBA they never went that far they never actually like just straight up did big ABBA singles. So I'm uneasy with the concept, I think it's a bit odd. I'm very, very disappointed by the songs and my instinctive sense of protection towards ABBA's material means that I'm going to give this a harder ride than most because it's not some unknown thing that, you know, if you cover ABBA, you're going

to be in trouble because I think This is a well-worn lesson throughout history. Really. I asked this question earlier today To you two of are there any good covers of ABBA songs at all because of this thing because they capture such a unique Tone because they are so a sum of their parts. Are there any good covers of ABBA? I would like to just just open the floor. Do you have any good ones that you can suggest? A few have been put forward. Lizzie said SOS by Porter said. Just giving that one a shout out which I thought was okay. But do you two have any others to add to the table on that? I couldn't really think of much. No, to be honest.

We'll put it out to the listeners to see if there's anything that they could think of. But I don't think it's a coincidence, I don't think it's just a case of oh none of us can think of one, I think there is something about the richness of ABBA songs and the fact that so many things, the performance, the songwriting, the production, the instrumentation, the use of counter melody against melody and the use of harmony and the different kind of structures and sounds that go through it something like Dancing Queen in particular is like just a work of art for how that's constructed you can't recreate that from the start again and manage to do it justice with with almost any other song really and the fact that they try four times here, get it really wrong four times, and don't

seem to have really tried that hard, if I'm honest. Like they feel sort of like karaoke covers with more modern, I say modern, with a slightly eyebrow raise, you know, a more modern production put on them. And the more I've listened to these, the more I've got quite annoyed and fed up about these, to be honest. So I don't think my opinion of them has improved much since I gave it a three out of 10 a few years ago. I really don't like this at all. No, sorry.

Yeah, I think this is the first thing we've had on the podcast for a little while that actually feels quite distinctly eighties. Yeah, definitely. Not just in execution and sound, but in terms of like concept as well. It just it all does feel quite like an 80s kitschy thing. But I will say Erasure were just slightly ahead of the ABBA revival curve because ABBA Gold is out not long after this, which is when the ABBA revivals and retrospectives really kind of got going. So they just pip it to the post there, but they pip it to the post with the most average and plain renditions of a few ABBA hits. And take a chance on me, which

is obviously, you know, the most kind of featured one. It kind of sums it all up. We have a cover that's faster than the original because it has to be because we're in the future now and you can only speed things up in the modern world. The only major cover I can think of that we've covered that is slower than the original is Mad World, the Gary Jules one with Gary, there's Gary Jules and Michael something or other. But that one is the only one. And Michael Andrews of course, yes. That's the only one I can think of that like slows it down. Or the other ones, it has to be like at least 5 to 10 BPM faster. Otherwise this is just played entirely straight, like it's paying too much respect to the original, in a way.

I struggle to feel any individual identity, except of course in that perfunctory but unusual rap verse, which again, we have to have it because it's the early 90s, you gotta have a rap verse, which again, we have to have it because it's the early 90s. You've got to have a rap verse. It's the only attempt to shake up the formula. The rest is quite timid. Actually, I think timid is the word never unpleasant, definitely ably delivered and produced, but just slightly frightened of ruffling any feathers. I think it's just like very clear that it is erasure doing ABBA,

not erasure redoing ABBA But yeah, Ed that's that's all I have on it. So Ed, I know you have more opinions on a razor generally than I do so Finishes off well finish off this erasure section. All right in a short three-word review They aga do if I'd ABBA no No, ABBA you were right to point out Rob, they weren't on a high point critically here. In fact, the sound garden era might have been their nadir in terms of even being noticed.

They weren't even being ridiculed. They were just tinsel that you left in a box in the cupboard somewhere. And I do think this was genuinely well-intentioned from the, you know, I know that for both of them, for Andy Bell and Vince Clark, Abba's music was foundational for them. Vince Clark just loved the music and Andy Bell,

it was just a big important part of sort of, of kind of gay culture for him, I think. I like Eurasia, really solidly like them quite a bit across their whole career, which sounds like faint praise. They are a band that are solid. I think that run of albums from The Innocents, which is the album A Little Respect is on, to the self-titled in 95 is really, really good. If you like Yazoo, if you like early Depeche Mode, both of which were Vince Clark projects by no coincidence, go for it because you're going to have a solidly good time, but you usually know what you're going to get with Erasure. This kind of production is all over it. I mean, they have all of their songwriting skill,

which they definitely have, an arrangement skill in terms of the pieces of a song, which they definitely have. And Andy Bell's versatility as a vocalist, which he certainly has, they have all the atmosphere of a Portaloo. It's very flat and decorative, which might be fine in some cases, but you can't say that about fucking ABBA. They were technical and there's a lot of depth, there's a lot of dynamism and this kind of flattens it out to all surface. Now, as I say, I think this was a solid gesture in the ABBA wastelands at this point. I hope it won some new listeners to Erasure. However, I don't know that it did

because it's ABBA that's selling this and I think it mis-sells both artists in that way. Now, you know, it's, as I say, I do think it was positive, but from the kind of drag in the videos to the sort of flat knees up Mecca Brown arrangements, it seems to further code ABBA as, for casual listeners at least, as sort of a kitschy party novelty, you know,

very tinsely, very kind of twee and fae and all of this stuff. Not, as I think we can all probably agree here, one of the great singles acts of the 20th century. This froths them too much. It probably took, as you say, Abba Gold and Muriel's wedding before people started to recognize the gravitas and humanity in Abba's music properly again. You mentioned Steps, Andy. Yeah, and you're right, but I think there was far more care taken in what they were doing because that was the other end of the decade when, from my perspective at the time at least, Abba were being looked at again. People were starting to acknowledge them as part of the musical landscape again. So yeah, I think it was a slightly different context to that.

But a lot of this, as you mentioned, Rob, I mean, it's just sort of aping a lot of the original material, you know, the tempo, the tone, broadly the motifs, but the dynamic elements are flattened, the cinematic and more wistful and quiet parts are sort of squished by an industrial press. Sounds very mechanical, really. It's a misfire, unfortunately, for me, but I do like Eurasiaasure and I think this just does nothing for either act and it is a shame, it is a shame that this is going to be

the only time that we cover Erasure in any depth on this show. Alright then so the third and final song this week is this. She says, it's not you, it's me I need a little time, a little space, a place to find myself again, you know Oh yeah, I know goodbye when I hear it She smiles, but her heart's already out there Walking down the street, she says I don't want nobody else, I love you There won't be somebody else and that's true So you'll always be my friend, sweet darling Why does she pretend?

Ain't no doubt that you claim to see No one like you's no good for me Your heart's beating another door I'm a dumb fool for the Eskimo Eskimo, Eskimo She says, it's like in the song, remember If you love somebody, set them free My totes with me But you know I'll always come back Okay, this is Ain't No Doubt by Jimmy Nail.

Released as the lead single from his second studio album titled Growing Up in Public. Ain't No Doubt is Jimmy Nail's fourth single overall to be released in the UK and his first to reach number one. However, as of 2025, it is his last. Ain't No Doubt first entered the UK charts at number five, reaching number one during its second week. It stayed at number 5, reaching number 1 during its second week. It stayed at number 1 for three weeks. In week 1, it sold 59,000 copies, beating competition from A Trip to Trumpton by Urban Hype, which climbed to number 6, Sexy MF by Prince and the New Power Generation, which got to number 7, Even Better Than the Real Thing New Power Generation, which got to number 7.

Even Better Than the Real Thing by U2, which climbed to number 8. And LSI by The Shaman, which got to number 9. In week 2 it sold 72,000 copies, beating competition from This Used to Be My Playground by Madonna, which got to number 5. A Drove All Night by Roy Orbison which climbed to number 8, and Shake Your Head by Was Not Was which climbed to number 10. And in week 3 it sold 63,000 copies beating competition from Who Is It by Michael Jackson which climbed to number 10.

When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Ain't No Doubt dropped 1 place to number 2. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for 12 weeks. The song is currently officially certified gold in the UK as of 2025, but that's based on that pre-cantar data. So Ed, you can set off the beginning of the end of this episode with Jimmy nail I will put the Jimmy nail in the coffin of this episode This this this starts great. I love that kind of sonic CD real book audio intro It's the best bit of the song the backing track sounds fantastic It's got a lot of detail. It's got a nice groove, I dig it and

I'm like oh oh this is gonna be cool. Now I know that the self-effacing aspect is part of Jimmy Nail's shtick but yeah he does all he can to ruin this for me. He can sing, which he doesn't really do here. The sort of, it's got this weightless tenor mumbling that I just kind of get distracted by and just my mind wanders in the quote unquote verses until the backing singer comes in. And when he does his, she's lying, she's lying thing. I mean, maybe that's supposed to go for kind of wry, And when he does his, she's lying, she's lying thing,

I mean, maybe that's supposed to go for kind of wry. Maybe it's supposed to sound a bit like Peter Sellers on the bedazzled soundtrack or something, but it always just reminds me of you crazy cats by PJ and Duncan. And the little interjections PJ and or Duncan do in that, that are supposed to again sound sort of suave and cheeky and slightly sexy but just sound so fucking stupid. Meow. And yeah, I don't appreciate this sort of false, self-effacing shite,

but over a very strong backing track, I wish they'd done more with musically, to be quite honest. Not got much more to say here. It is a nice backing track in search of a strong foreground really. And instead we get our V the same pratt gurning about with his cap out hoping that you'll give him some sympathy or something. I don't like this very much.

Andy, Jimmy Nail. I say this so often on the show that the words have probably lost all impact by now but I've really got to say it like come on now how did this get number one like come on this is just crazy that some guy from Alf Weed the same pet decides to have a go with a completely average normal solid pop song and gets number one like what was going on in 1992, it's, all three of them have been quite surprising this week and we said about an episode last year, I had to check what the songs were, but it was, it was 3AM Eternal, it was Do The Bartman,

and it was, oh, it was The Clash with Should I Say or Should I Go? And we described that as the weirdest bunch of songs that we'd ever covered. That was our weirdest episode ever. I think this is the past here. I think this is the the weirdest bunch of songs that we'd ever covered. That was our weirdest episode ever. I think this is the past day. I think this is the strangest group of songs that we've ever covered in an episode. Because Abba-esque was completely out of time, belonged in the 80s and from the nature of

what it was doing belonged in the time even earlier of that. And then the please don't go and Game Boy AA side at the start is unlike almost anything we've ever covered. And now we've got this, which is just inexplicable at the top of the charts. I don't think it's bad at all, but I do think like it shows quite a few traces of when someone is not a career musician and they're doing things that are like, hmm, I can see that, I can see you're working a little bit too much here. Like the references are a little obvious to say the least. That first minute with that spoken word, kind of lustrous thing he's doing against that

warm synth, I'm just thinking we've got West End girls at home. Like that's just seems to be quite clearly what it's doing to be honest. And when it gets going, it's much better, but then in the chorus That you that did it I was I was thinking about it for ages thinking Has this ever like being a football chant because it kind of has that vibe to it of like a bunch of people go But then I realized what it was I mean, maybe it was a football champ, but that's not what I was thinking of I realized that what it sounds of that what it sounds like is,

I don't know what I've been told, da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Like, it's that old army... Well, I don't know if it's a real thing they did in the army, but it's that old silly, like, boys' military thing that's made its way, probably accidentally, into the song, because it's probably just a tune that got in Jimmy Nail's head and hasn't realized where it's come from. There's just a lot of like sort of amateurish things about it which make it quite hard for me to take

this seriously but it's completely fine, like it sounds quite nice. I agree it's got a nice backing track to it and the backing vocalist does more than have a share of heavy lifting, I think it's fair to say as well. But this really does feel like someone having a go at pop music and inexplicably making it to number one. I don't think there's anything particularly bad about it, but I'm just completely bewildered as to why this is here. It's really strange. Yeah, but it's fine.

I wouldn't say he, Jimmy, nails it, but. Hey. But it's not it's not. I wouldn't say he Jimmy nails it, but But it's not it's not bad song at all just what the hell what the hell about if I just lost my mind this week This is weird. I'm actually more on the fence with this than I thought I would be because make no mistake I don't think Jimmy nail is exactly the most charismatic pop star to ever emerge and Andy I agree with you that it feels like it's cribbing from West End Girls, but without any of the evocative atmosphere and absolutely killer delivery and unique identity that that had. But I think I do appreciate the spoken word elements of this, just because like how often do you get long spoken word sections on a number one song, and the little lounge at down tempo flashes the back and forth with the

she's lying to she's lying like first it's all kind of despondent where he's sort of like stop fucking lying i think they lean into his qualities as an actor to make the verses stronger which is a shame for the chorus because it involves him having to sing. Well he kind of bellows rather than sings I guess, but I dunno, I think this is sort of charmingly un-stylish. It's trying very earnestly to be stylish, but it kind of leaves itself open for attack

in that way and I find that sort of adorable and to be a sort of positive quality just yes Andy I agree that like I just find the whole thing a bit strange I understand that this is before I was born I have no context for this whatever context I do have has to be learned it has to be researched and research only tells you about 50% of the story but i feel like erasure getting to number one with a bunch of abba stuff kind of makes sense kws kind of you know breaking out of the clubs and managing to make it onto the radio and getting a big hit out of it yep i get it but like i'm not sure about this. This feels like something that people would try to get to number one for a joke, and it would get to like number seven, while something far more fashionable and serious,

maybe more sophisticated got to number one. But it feels like, you know, the early 90s are a bit of a strange period. 1992 is an incredibly strange period because the recession has hit everybody's pockets, which means that the charts are barely moving at the moment. You know, there's a lot of stasis. The fact that we're six songs into 1992 and we are in August suggests that there's not a lot of activity. There's not a lot of new stuff that's genuinely grabbing people, it just seems to be like, Indiacs that we didn't even know were capable of getting top 10 singles,

probably because they're not selling very much but still getting top 10s. If you know what I mean, like you know, in later years if something like you know, Jesus and Mary Chain or the Wedding Present had sold 10,000 copies in a week, It may have only landed them in like the top 20. You're probably right. It's not like all of a sudden, you know, a million and a half people are like, oh, I've got to get that new, you know, I've got to get sea monsters by the wedding present or something. I mean, sadly, it's a great record, but anyway.

But yeah, I think that's probably to explain why things like this are happening where, again, we've covered 13 weeks this week and it's three songs and... Yeah, I don't know, it feels a little artificially inflated because of the relative stasis. A bit like now, actually, in 2024, 2025, where because things are just there they just happen to be number one it's just that the ways that the charts are so static at the moment the methods are very different and it's because passive listening is contributing to chart positions in 2024 and has been since about 2014 2015 2016 which is when the rot with streaming on the charts really kind of sets in and the charts still haven't adjusted to streaming becoming a thing.

But in the early 90s, it's kind of exactly the same as it's been for about five or six years. It's just that there is a lack of money and a slow economy. Does a slow economy mean slow charts at this point? Well, I do think that potentially hooks into that question I had at the start of the episode about UF Orb managing to get number one without even going silver. That definitely suggests that it's really, really quiet out there.

So I think that backs up your point. I agree with what you're saying. I think that's very, very plausible. Rob, you and I differ, I think, on what we find the perceived intention of the track to be. Because what kind of sticks in my craw is the sort of, I find it sort of as if it's trying disingenuously to sound un-stylish. It's almost like it's built around him being sort of full with this schlubby, unassuming thing. And that's what it's selling.

I don't, I think, I think it is pretty manufactured to be like, Oh, he's so anti-pop. Look at him. And I think that's why it works. I think people, I can't speak for the cultural penetration of Alphina St. Pet at the time. I know it was popular, but maybe it was, you know, a bit like, you know, we're listening to episodes of chart music or something, they'll have like the song from Minder in it or something,

which is a big deal at the time. It's the only fucking reason that they touched the chart. Do you know what I mean? And I get that impression here that it's leaning into his perceived schlub everyman personality to sell something that's pretty insubstantial. I don't, I mean the sound of it though, it doesn't sound uncool or anti-pop at all. He does. That's the thing, his aspect does. It's like, it's like an audio invasion of the charts where it's like, ooh, listen to this stylish bass and oh, here comes Jimmy.

Oh, it's only little old me oh yeah but I do think that's like that point doesn't come across because the sound of it is relatively up-to-date like it yeah it sounds quite a lot like prey by take that which is just around the corner which is gonna be like the biggest thing in the UK at that time he's completely up to date it sounds great but I think I think in many respects respects it's representing the clash in the song itself, the concept, not the band. So it's like a really sheen, like modern piece of pop, but it's like Jimmy Nail is just completely

incongruous and out of his depth in this environment. Oh, listen to how out of place he sounds in it. I always think that's a deliberate contrast. It's like he is, like in the chorus, it's supposed to be he's commenting on a pop song in a sort of way like that. Like he's not supposed to be there. Oh, look at the interloper.

You shouldn't be here. How charming. Sorry. If you're gonna do that, you should play it broader. You should go for bigger comedy with that. Like, I guess maybe something like, you know, the Peter Kay and Matt Lucas version of 500 Miles where the whole joke is that it's just their silly voices against this quite beloved old song.

You know, just maybe go for like, go, go, go a bit broader. I guess that nuance was lost on me like that. I had I hadn't got that from it. I mean, this is as I say, this is conjecture, that's why I said perceived intention. This is purely my read against other equally valid reads, and that's all it is. I know nothing of the context other than, oh, he was in our Fide Saint-Pet and he had some other singles later on and that's it. Just to finish off, I will say that Jimmy Nail looks like Patrick Fischler after 10 years in prison. I think That's what has always kind of stuck in my head since I've seen him

You know on the cover and like cuz I you know I've seen a few episodes of Alfie de Saint-Pete and stuff like that But it's never really stuck in my mind like this where you know if you find you know Patrick Fischler's scene from Will Holland Drive, and then like if you put 10 years of prison onto that face that's Jimmy Nail. There you go. So I guess it's after Patrick Fishler sees the face that he sees in his dream emerge from behind the wall. That's Jimmy Nail after Patrick Fishler's worst nightmare. So Andy we have Please Don't Go, Abba-esque, Ain't No Doubt, Where Are They Going? Well I am going to say Please Don't Go to Please

Don't Go because I don't want it to go to either the vault or the pie hole. It's staying exactly where it is. As for Abba-esque, more like a pie-esque, it's going into the pie hole. Yeah. And I wasn't going to, the first time I listened to it, I was like, that's a bit rubbish, but it's not going anywhere. And then I started teetering towards the pie hole and now I'm really confident. Like I couldn't wait to pie hole this. I was like, yeah, take a chance on you.

It's a chance I won't take again. Fool me once, shame on you. It's a chance I won't take again. Fool me once, shame on you. Yeah, anyway. But with Ain't No Doubt, there ain't no doubt about me not moving anywhere. Like I say, I used my best put before is that he didn't nail it. Second to said that,

I thought I should have saved that for the end segment. So I'll just say there ain't no doubt that that's staying where it is. Yeah. Ed. I'd actually vote Game Boy on its own just by a just by a Nat's wing. It does it pumps me up that track. But I'd also been Please Don't Go. I'd put that in the pie hole. I really don't like it. So yeah, I guess that KWS stands for cool. We're stationary now

Erasure It's neither Muriel's wedding nor is it a funeral to be honest quite Erasure are instead playing at murals office team building exercise, so they're not going anywhere Jimmy nail Is going straight in the vault for me. I'm lying. It's the pie hole for sure. I'm lying. Yeah, it's not going anywhere. It's just there. Although, really not convinced by it. Please Don't Go is going nowhere. I think Please Don't Go has just missed the pie hole and Gameboy just misses the vault so it's happy where it is. And Abba-esque is Abba-ish but not enough so that's going nowhere as well.

And Ain't No Doubt is also going nowhere. It's a week of just pfft for me. You know, no strong feelings whatsoever about any of them really as that kind of Futurama thing did. Do you remember that on YouTube where the I have no strong feelings whatsoever or whatever it was where the like and dislike bar people actually put effort in to make sure it was exactly at 50% either way? Really? Yeah it was like a committed YouTube campaign. It can happen sometimes people on the internet can co-operate.

Not often, but sometimes. So, we will see you next time as we continue our very swift journey through 1992. We will see you for it. Bye bye. Welcome here any day All you cats Thought about you You crazy cats Raise your hands To the red and sharp Let me say You crazy cats