Hits 21 - 1993 (4): Culture Beat, The Fresh Prince, Take That and Lulu

Episode Date: April 11, 2025

Hello everyone! Welcome back to Hits 21: The 90s.At the roundtable this week it's Rob, Ed, and Andy!This week - Culture Beat are in search of Mr. Vault, we introduce Andy to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Take That return to the 70s for their next number one.Email: [e-mail]: https://bsky.app/profile/hits21uk.bsky.social

Music Hi there everyone and welcome back to Hits21 The Nineties 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, please email us at hits21podcast at gmail.com. Thank you ever so much for joining us again, we are currently looking back at the year 1993 and this week we'll be covering the period between the 22nd of August and the 16th of October, just shy of two months. Last week's poll winner, dreams can come true for Gabrielle. So well done to Gabby on that one. So it is time to press on with this week's episode and here are some news headlines from August to Octobery time-ish, 1993. The Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, and Yasser Arafat, the leader of the

Palestine Liberation Organisation, shake hands at the White House. British holiday maker Gary Colley is shot dead in Florida during a mugging, he was 34 years old, and the British National Party wins its first ever council seat in Millwall. At the same time, the UK Independence Party is formed, choosing to call itself UKIP to avoid confusion with the British National Party. No need to confuse the two. During the Russian constitutional crisis, Northern Irish journalist Rory Peck is shot dead in Moscow by soldiers loyal to Boris Yeltsin.

And unemployment falls by almost 100,000 in the space of a month, which is the biggest drop for four years. An article published in Canada titled Doomsday 2000 makes the first references to the Y2K bug. In Somalia, American and local forces clash in violent confrontations in which more than a thousand people are killed. And Scientology leader David Miskevich announces that the IRS has granted the church a tax exemption.

The films to hit the top of the UK box office during this period were as follows. The Firm for one week before The Fugitive begins a run of seven weeks at the top. And Sky Multichannels launches in the UK meaning that many satellite channels only become viewable with a paid package. On ITV, while we were walking down the aisles and we heard the beep, Dale Winton presented the very first episode of Supermarket Sweep, while Anne Robinson makes her debut as the presenter of Watchdog on the BBC. Cartoon Network begins being broadcast on British TV and the World Chess

Championships are shown on UK TV for the very first time. In America the pilot episodes of The X-Files, Frazier and NYPD Blue are broadcast. Canadian actor Raymond Burr dies at the age of 76 after being diagnosed with liver cancer. And Late Night with Conan O'Brien broadcasts its very first episode. Andy, the UK album charts, how are they? Yes, we start on a bit of a damp note. As you may remember from last week, much of August, well all of August I should say, and much of September is dominated by UB40 with promises and lies which was at number one for seven weeks proving that democracy simply doesn't work. That's toppled at last

thank God by Mariah Carey, the only time I've ever been thankful for a Mariah Carey number one, with Music Box that goes number one for one week in September and goes five times platinum. After that we get the highest selling album of 1993. Anyone want to hazard a guess at what it might be? A bodyguard sound check? Well it is Meat Loaf with Bat Out of Hell 2 Back into Hell, which is in and out literally for the entire rest of the year. It has a total of 11 weeks at the top, but almost every week of that is interrupted, which is really annoying for this segment.

So it's at number one for one week and went six times platinum. Before a little band no one's ever heard of called Nirvana get in at number one with Inutero, which went number one for one week and just went gold. Meatloaf are back in at number one after that for another week with Bat Out Hell 2. And then we close this period with the Pet Shop Boys with their latest Veri, which went number one for one week and went platinum. Ed, how are things in America? Actually syncing up a bit more than usual in some ways. Albums-wise, Billy Joel bids adieu to being a pop recording artist

with River of Dreams, which kips at the top for three straight weeks. Anyone else ever think that the title track of that sounds a bit like the theme to the Podington Peas? Or was that just me? I love that theme tune. It's the same. But Joel can neither rest in Peas, nor in peace, as Garth Brooks returns with In Pieces.

Oh, thank God, we couldn't wait another minute, Garth. Which mines the top spot for three whole weeks. He'll be back, of course he fucking will, but his effortless re-coronation is interrupted like in the UK by scruffy, smelly Seattleites Nirvana with Inutero, which is at number one again for just one week and sadly bids adjure to another career in a far less timely fashion. Singles wise, again a bit more symmetry here, UB40 cap off their eight week run

at number one in the United States, succeeded in more ways than one probably by Mariah Carey, who's on top for another eight weeks with Dream Lover. I can't actually remember that song I keep thinking it's the the Bobby Darin number showing my my advancing years you know the one Until then, something else, because I want a girl to call my own. I want a dream lover so I don't have to dream alone. Oh yes, I'm doing a listen, sorry. Oh, don't stop, don't stop, keep going.

Yeah. Or join to the chord change. Dream lover, until then, I don't know the words again. But now I don't know the Mariah Carey song, but I think rather like you Andy, it would be improbable that I would like it less than the tyrannical twaddle it replaced at the top. And most importantly though, because that's the whole of the singles, sod off all that cods wallop, September 1993 saw the release of Sonic CD for the Sega Mega CD.

A game no one owned, fewer played and I don't like. And that's the asonic news. Rob? Thank you both very much for those reports and Ed for your rendition there. We are going to crack on with the three songs that we've got for you this week and the first of them is this. I'm calling Mr. Raider, callingin' Mr. Wrong, callin' Mr. Bane Callin' Mr. Raider, callin' Mr. Wrong, callin' him insane He say, I know what I want and I want it now

I want you, cause I'm Mr. Bane I know what I want and I want it now I want you, cause I'm Mr. Bane. I know what I want, and I want it now. I want you, because I'm Mr. Bane. Call me great or call me wrong. Call me insane. Call me Mr. Bane. Call me what you like, as long as you call me. Time and again, feel the presence of the aura of the man.

Not to compare, lovely sign for a chance. Just a touch of your hand, or a moment to share. Can't deny the urge to make them want to lose themselves to the debonair. What hold me back, the simple fact is that I'm dying for a chance just to touch your hand or a moment to share Can't deny the urge that makes them want to lose themselves to the debonair Once pulled me back the simple fact is that I'm all that and I'm always there Once sexy, can't perplex me now you know who's law As if you didn't know before I know what I'm on and I want it now I want you and then I want a little more Okay, this is Mr. Vane by Culture Beat. Released as the lead single from the group's second studio album titled Serenity, Mr. Vane

is Culture Beat's third single to be released in the UK and their first to reach number one, however as of 2025 it is their last. Mr Vane first entered the UK charts at number 24, reaching number one during its fourth week. It stayed at number one for... FOUR WEEKS! In its first week atop the charts, it sold 50,000 copies, beating competition from Right Here, Human Nature Remix by SWV, which got to number seven, and Dream Lover by Mariah Carey, which climbed to number 10. In week two, it sold 77,000 copies, beating competition from Faces by 2 Unlimited, which got to number 10. In week three, it sold 64,000 copies,

beating competition from Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana, which got to number five. And in week four, it sold 54,000 copies, beating competition from Go West by Pet Shop Boys which got to number 2, Boom Shake the Room by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince which climbed to number 3 and Creep by Radiohead which got to number 7. When it was knocked off the top of the charts Mr. Vane fell two places to number 3. By the time it was done on the top of the charts Mr. Vane fell two places to number three

By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for 15 weeks The song is currently officially certified gold in the UK as a 2025 Precantor that deadlines coming up. Oh my god the songs that it's just gone past in that list there Heart-shaped Box right here. Creep. Ugh. Okay Andy you can kick us off with Mr. Vane. This is a sort of reimagining of Rhythm as a Dancer, let's be honest. I think I said this when we looked at Rhythm as a Dancer that when I was doing the theme tune for these two years I constantly got confused while I was trying to mimic Rhythm as a Dancer like am I mimicking Rhythm as a Dancer here or Mr.

Vane? The answer is both, neither, the same, it doesn't really matter because they are very intrinsically linked but I think it's quite an interesting exercise to convert the two because this is only like one here on from Rhythm as a Dancer and I do think you can hear both new sounds in this and also kind of a little bit more of a 1993 sensibility in this. It's definitely less restrained and cool and more boom boom powerful than Rhythm is a Dancer is, which I don't really like to be honest and it definitely is far far more reliant on the male rap than Rhythm is a Dancer was, which again, I don't really like. This is quite a big week for relatively

empty macho rapping, to be honest. So overall, I don't like this as much as Rhythm is a Dancer, certainly not. But I do think that this has a energy to it that is really infectious. I think that central hook of, Carl and Mr. Rayner, it really does get in your head. That's an excellent hook. It really is. And I think although it sort of pales in comparison to Rhythm as a Dancer, despite being so similar to it, I think it does sort of stand in its own right. I think the really good bit about this that kind of sends it over the edge and makes it memorable in its own right is that I know what I want and I want it now. That's the much better part of this. It's not all good though because I do think although those two vocal lines are both really strong, the vocals are not the

best on this to be honest. I think unfortunately that singer, she's just not got a huge strength to that voice. It sometimes feels like you really need, you know like black box where you have this massive female vocal anchoring the whole thing. Whereas it just feels like the song is kind of swallowing her up a lot of the time and especially that I want it now. I feel that that needs to really land on the beat with like a now and it sort of doesn't. It's a little bit weak and mildly out of tune every single time and that is the risky run because obviously they've used the same recording every single time we hear that chorus.

It's just been chopped and copied and pasted throughout, which means those tiny little imperfections are audible every single time, which is something that I really don't like. And I think, I'm not sure I'd say all three songs this week, but certainly two songs this week have this problem of that they just don't go anywhere, they don't go anywhere at all, that they just start with a chorus and then you get a verse, second chorus, verse, third chorus, all of which sound exactly the same and that's just it.

It doesn't really go anywhere else. We've remarked on this loads of times about the early 90s about how there's often no zero to 60, it's just like a constant forty, which I don't really... It's not to my temperament, it's not really to my sensibilities, others may disagree, but I think this is a good example of that, where there isn't really much movement, there isn't much up and down, much ebb and flow in this, except at the very end, where the percussion is stripped away and it's just the vocals and the synths, and I thought, oh, wouldn't that have been lovely if we had a little bit more of that in the middle,

if we had a bit of a drop and then a rise back up again. So it's a bit of a shame. I think some tighter production and a stronger vocalist would really have lifted this and taken it out of the shadow of Rhythm as a Dancer, which I think is kind of unavoidable with this. But it's all right. Like I say, it's very catchy and it's very enjoyable. It's just a fun diversion and it isn't really anything more than that.

But I wish it was more than that because it could have been. Oh well. Just recently we've obviously gone past living on my own, no limit, Ebony's a good, Rhythm is a Dancer, Please Don't Go, you know, and there's a lot more of this kind of stuff to come. If I was alive in the early 90s and sort of like 18 and 19, I would probably be complaining a little bit about the lack of variety among the number ones. I think Two Unlimited are in the charts again as well, the second week that this is at number one.

But to be honest, looking back sort of now, I'm quite weak for this kind of 90s Euro dance rave sound. So I'm not, I don't know, because I think that this kind of sound I'm into it. And with this song specifically, I found myself being pulled into the narrative, the story and the lyrics. You know, I'm reminded of No Limit and Rhythm as a Dancer, but there's quite a, quite a menacing tone to this and quite a menacing tale being told about, you know, a narcissistic and possibly abusive partner who's very controlling, sets lots of rules, you know, in the rap verses that really comes through, which on these kinds of tracks normally leave a little bit to be desired, you know, they rarely go beyond things like put your hands up in the air, wave them like you just don't care, making techno, put it

you know like that, so it doesn't really go much beyond that. So it's really refreshing to get something like this and especially little wordplay lines like you know call me what you like as long as you call me time and again and you know the little scene setters of lines here and there. Instrumentally I think it's you know fast and aggressive but most importantly for me with you know how I think about pop I think it's quite urgent actually I think it's in a race to get you know get the point across. There's a moment during the end of each rap verse where that arpeggiated synth line comes back underneath quietly at first but then louder the do do do do do do do do do do do that

thing and it sounds like something's about to explode and then it does kind of build to i don't know if drop is the right word because i feel like the term drop didn't really enter the lexicon for at least another 10 years uh from this point but you know the the female vocal parts um but done by tanya evans who's a British vocalist, hooks for days you know you got the column did did did column did did you got that I know what I want very rhythmic which definitely helps with its memorability feel like the song has a point that it returns to each time as well to give it a bit of grounding and refocus in I love the way that Tanya pronounces that the I want you bit because it's I want you where she actually sounds

vaguely European actually it feels like you know if you were to ask her for some tissue she would say oh here are the tissues um she'd be one of those people. At you! And I'm quite drawn in, yes, I'm quite drawn into the, I want you. Because it does feel slightly from the continent in a way, which is suitable because obviously Culture Beat were a German group. I think, I don't know if that's something they workshopped in the studio, I don't think it has enough to sustain more than four minutes like it thinks and I think we're in an era of pop where there's lots of new equipment being used and it means we've not quite worked out how to get the best possible sound quality out of the records yet. There's a touch too much reverb on those big laser synths in the instrumental sections but I think this is a very strong opener this week. I think it will be in with a shot of the crown as well when we come to the end of the year.

I, yeah, I'm definitely a fan of this one, quite a big fan of it actually. Ed, how about Culture Beat for you? Yeah, I was, I, oh, this, this is so close to a vaulting for me. I'm kind of on your, I'm a bit more on your team, I think, Rob, here, because I do prefer this a smidge to Rhythm Is A Dancer. Well, Rhythm Is A Dancer probably has the better intro that kind of builds up. I think, as kind of, I think both of you have indicated, this perhaps has the stronger hooks to it. That chorus is fabulous. And I've got to say, I know you're not the biggest fan of the rap sections,

Andy, and to be honest I think we've had quite a lot of these sort of shoe-horned-in dance rap things where it's like, oh it's just a dance track who gives a shit. This one I think is a bit better and more purposeful than a lot of the examples we've seen recently. Because it does, I think you've indicated Robert, has that back and forth. It's like a call and response. Whereas a lot of the recent Euro dance and techno tracks, it's just some random bloke coming in because there should be a rap at some point in the song

talking about, you know, much crowd and I move loud or whatever. Whereas here, you know, there are some decent, there are some decent rhymes. He's got decent delivery. I mean, it's heavily like, I want to be Rakim, but there's nothing wrong with that. It does the job. It's a nice sort of audio counterpoint to the rest of the song. It really pushes it into like the bass and baritone level before raising it back up for the choruses. Yeah, it's kind of like the streamlined rhythm is a dancer because it has this sense of purpose and as you say, well, urgency throughout.

And yeah, unfortunately, the only thing holding this back for me just by a smidge is that it is too goddamn long and it does nothing with that last minute. I was hoping somehow that one or both of you would be able to justify me wanting to do what my heart is screaming for and actually push this into the vault. Alright then so we are gonna move on to our second song this week which is... this. But on stage I'm free, hiked up, psyched up, ready for wallin' Standin' in a crowd of girls like an island, I see the one I wanna sit

Come here cutie, I flip her around and then I work that booty Work the body, work, work the body, slow down girl, you're about to hurt somebody Hold up yo, let's get just one thing clear, there's only one reason, but I can't hear You're wibbin' and want me to jibbit and jibbit and jay yo, what's up? Yo! You're wibbin' and want me to jibbit and jibbit and jay yo, what's up? Yo! You're wibbin' and want me to jibbit and jibbit and jay yo, what's up? Yo! I came here tonight to hear the crowd go Boom shake shake shake the room Tick tick tick tick boom Well yo are y'all ready for me yet?

Pump it up, race! Well yo are y'all ready for me yet? Pump it up, race! Well yo are y'all ready for me yet? Pump it up, race! Well here I go, here I go, here I here I go Okay, this is Boom Shape The Room by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. Released as the lead single from the duo's fifth studio album titled Code Red, Boom Shake The Room is DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince's eighth single overall to be released in the UK and their first to reach number one. As of 2025, it is their last but it's not the last time we'll be coming to the Fresh Prince, aka Will Smith, on this podcast. Boom Shake The Room first entered the UK charts at number 13,

reaching number 1 during its third week. It stayed at number 1 for... two weeks! In its first week atop the charts, it sold 52,000 copies, beating competition from Moving On Up by M People, which got to number 4, She Don't Let Nobody by Shakhmadamus and Plyers, which climbed to number 6, Life by Hadaway, which got to number 8, Condemnation EP by Depeche Mode, which got to number 9, and On The Ropes EP by The Wonder Stuff which got to number 10. And in week 2 it sold 56,000 copies, beating competition from Relax 93 by Frankie Goes To Hollywood which got to number 6, Going Nowhere by Gabrielle which got to number 9,

and It Must Have Been Love 93 by Rockset which climbed to number 10. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Boomshake The Room dropped 1 place to number 2. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for 15 weeks. The song is currently officially certified silver in the UK as of 2025 for Precantar etc. Ed, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince the Tom Twister of a band name there. How do you feel about this? It's astonishing that Will Smith got so uppity about not being taken seriously by his peers when what we basically have here, talking about the last track being a bit of a Reimagining you use that word wrong. This is basically

Crisscrosses jump again. Yes, it is. Yes it is and Honestly, it seems to me that Will Smith is like are what those little kids are doing That's I want that cash except somehow I've removed the purpose and the context from the lyrics. But I do like this. It's got a sense of fun. Jazzy Jeff, he knows what he's doing in production wise. It's fun. It is very much of that ilk, but it's a good beat. But it's all borrowed though is the problem. Everything here is kind of borrowed.

And I would honestly say, this sounds like hyperbole, that this is a far shallower and less purposeful use of rapping than Mr. Vane. Because, you know, one verse doesn't seem to connect to the next here. In fact, one line doesn't really often seem to connect to the next here. In fact one line Doesn't really often seem to connect to the next there's no narrative. Where the fuck does that stammering come from? He's got metaphors and Sounds just sounds at times. He's borrowed from other artists

It's like that what that fucking fucking can I kick it bit? So I kick you like a football and they say I'm good at kicking the football Which is how I know I'm a good footballer And then they go Womp there it is. I like to work and they tell me that I'm good at wumping by indicating this with their mouths I'm like a car now a car Driving fast with the rhymes and you don't want that because he's going to figure the figure the figure the figure the figure the

fast fast fast figure the figure the figure the figure the fast. Sometimes I'm insecure though for a little while talking about my generation or whatever the fuck. I mean it's just I mean it's in terms of content it's crap. He's got his sort of gravelly, oh, I'm hard now, I can rock the rest while doing my Chris Kross impression. But it gets the job done. It is exactly what it needs to be.

But unfortunately, it's literally no more than that. In an era of novelty rap, this actually ends up being one of the most novelty-ist of rap tracks which is amazing considering they'd already had a considerable and fairly influential career by this point but hey he was probably just in it for the extra cash now he's already doing a fresh prince by this point so his eyes were going elsewhere I guess but yeah he puts in the energy even though the lyrics are

crap yeah Will Smith don't got a cuss in his raps to sell records, clearly. Proof being a number one. Do you know, like, I was actually reading about this. I thought it was like some kind of myth that like, oh, Will Smith doesn't rap much because he's, uh, swear much in his raps because he's a family-friendly rapper and, you know, I thought like, if you listen to his albums and stuff, there might be a few curse words here and there. But no, when he was age 12 and he was writing raps in a notebook,

an older family member looked at it and said, oh, comport yourself with a bit of dignity, Will. Do this, but don't swear. And he thought, that made me see that I was more than just an average rapper. I was someone who could do it in a... Oh, yeah. But yeah, okay. Maybe swear sometimes. average rapper I was someone who could do it in a... oh yeah but yeah okay maybe swear sometimes maybe there would be more variety in your lyrics and your

verses wouldn't run out of steam halfway through the song? Not to mention that recent events in the present day suggest that he has a lot of bottled up feelings that he should probably just get out there to be honest you know maybe all that swearing was replaced by hitting to be honest you know maybe all that swearing was replaced by hitting someone on TV you know there is a bit of a straight line there potentially. He's put on a very good face for a long long time I think but Rob if I may just interject here sorry yeah we're both piling on you now not long before this was another mega selling out

hip hop album with no swearing in it whatsoever. And people don't mention that it's not got any swearing in it whatsoever, cause it's great. And that's Mama Said Knock You Out by LL Cool J, which has no cursing on it at all. And it's fucking great. This is not, but anyway, carry on. I have less on this than I expected.

I think Will has a lot of personality and energy on this. You can tell, I think, that he's been listening to a lot of Public Enemy in the last five years because he definitely fancied himself as a much less political Chuck D here. Just where everything he's saying is coming out of his shoulders. He's like, It's like that kind of demeanor behind the microphone but with not much substance in what he's saying to my ears that exposes him a bit as well because he's definitely not Chuck D and as the

song goes on the content of his verse starts to fade a bit he brings it back around I think with the kind of stuttering and the stammering in the final verse, because it's something different. It is. It's not the best idea. What does it mean? Well, nothing, but it does when you're kind of walking in and you're listening and it's like, oh, he's doing the stuttering thing.

That's an idea kind of thing. But you can feel the strength of each new lyric weakening as the song goes through. The bit that it really starts to make me go, hmm, is the second verse when he compares, he does that rhyme with the football and he's like, I went and threw it and then you think the next line is going to be, you know, continuing on from that. But he just kind of goes, well, it was a good throw. And how do I know that it was a good throw and how do I

know that it was a good throw so it's like you've just wasted three lines here just repeating yourself with slightly different words kind of marks time until you get to a punch line which is about a line too late I think it also in the last verse it gets a bit spiritual individual l, lyrical, spherical, miracle kind of thing, where he's like trying to fill out the word count on an essay. But the atmosphere stays, I think, quite firmly, I think, until the end. He just about carries it through. I think the interjections of the crowd keep it quite light on its feet.

I like the hybrid beats as well where it definitely has the arse of an east coast beat but the kinda skinny, wiry lead parts of a west coast track. I actually followed that theory through to the sample which is Funky Worm by Ohio Players and yeah, NWA, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and the Game have all sampled this same song but also Beastie Boys, Public Enemy and even our friend Chris Cross on Jump, would you believe Ed? So yes it does sound like Chris Cross because it's the same song. Funky Worm is just kinda 90s rap in the way the Isley Brothers are but you know, I will say great hook, not just the utterances of the title but the tip tip tip tip tip

that kind of syncopated back and forth off the beat. I think if we were covering summertime I would be much more favourable towards that. And I have to say that this would be getting awfully close to being considered to being in the vault if Will's verses were much stronger. But yeah this is solid but just not quite enough. Andy, do you feel any better about it than me and Ed do? I think solid, but not quite enough is a very good summation of it, to be honest.

I've been very interested to hear what you two have both picked out as things that is obviously cribbing from something else, because there is so much, you know, it's a good illustration of the no song, well almost no song exists in a vacuum, like everything's pulling in from past and pushing to the future but never quite as obviously as this really where it's just like it's just sounds so much like so many different things around it where like before I put this on I was like boom shake the room which one's that again is that the one with this is that the one with that and it's like I can see why I'm getting confused because it does

sound an awful lot like Jump it sounds an awful lot like a lot of things from this era this is like the most 1993 thing that there is this bloody fresh Prince doing a big crowd rap thing come on I also thought it was interesting that sometimes things surprise you with how long they've been around. I absolutely hate, hate that style of rapping that's got that kind of earnest, moany sort of voice to it. I guess I would describe it as that moment just after a child has dropped their ice cream where they're in shock and struggling to not cry

where it's like Your words like this and I always associate that with Limp Bizkit who I think are like the worst vocals ever Maybe in Music history like the vocals that annoy me the most is What's His Face from Limp Bizkit. Andy, how do you feel about Dizzy Rascal's vocals? I do have that problem. It depends on the song. It's one of my only problems with bonkers

is that it goes a little bit, what are these crazy about me? He's always had that. I love him to bits bits but he does always sound like he's on the verge of tears. Yeah, I mean I do actually really like the late North East stuff from Dizzy Rascal and you know, I think those songs are kind of so good that they get past that vocal quality to be honest but yes it's one of the few things I would mark against Dizzy Rascal to be honest in that era. But anyway, answer to this, yes I mean, this is one of those songs things I would mark against Dizzy Rascal, to be honest, in that era. But anyway, as for this, yes, I mean,

this is one of those songs that I have to acknowledge is just so, so not made for me. Like, it's not really for me to repint it really. First of all, you know, with 32 years hence and even as a 90s kid, I sort of have to throw in my badge, to be honest, because I've never seen the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, never watched a single episode of it Completely, completely blank for me. I don't know why I've not chosen to do that But it seems like to be this thing that our generation have kind of taken into their hearts quite a lot And it's just nope not for me I don't have any reference points for

it whatsoever I couldn't name you any characters apart from I assume the Fresh Prince which is Will Smith that's like all I can tell you I think that's worth a one-off episode we make you watch the pilot of the Fresh Prince yeah I'm fine with that fine with that but yeah so it's just like so, so enough for me. And I'm not that interested in Will Smith anyway, to be honest. But even with that, like it's still kind of cheap and nasty and very, very mass market. Like there's not been much sense of artistic identity put into this. But would you really expect that? You know, it is a cash in. It's, it's trying to kind of get them to that level where they can start doing stuff like Fresh Prince of L.A. and eventually stuff like Wild Wild West

and Men in Black, you know, like it's whatever. It is what it is to be honest. I don't dislike it but I do think like it's, it feels like there is a very big corporate hand behind this which is not something that you ever ever want from young cool rap artists is to feel a big corporate hand behind you that's like yes let's let's have them do this to kind of endear the audience to them I feel there's a lot of that throughout with those kind of interactions with the audience and I could politely call it that there's just there seems to be a lot of that throughout with those kind of interactions with the audience that I could politely call it that. There seems to be a lot of like, oh, let's get people to really get to know the Fresh

Prince and really, really like him. Nah, not buying into any of that, to be honest. But like I say, it's just totally not made for me. And like, this is fine. There's nothing wrong with it, really. It's just like, there's just an overall naffness to it that I can't quite look past. It's just It's a really weird little thing this to be honest and actually this is one of two songs Obviously the second one's gonna be the next one this week that I

Remember someone singing out our karaoke league that me and Rob went to yeah, and it just doesn't work in 2020 Well, 2023 it would have been it doesn't work in 2020. Well, 2023 it would have been. It doesn't work in the 2020s. Not at all. No, it sounds exactly like the crap outdated thing that it is in the 2020s. So it doesn't pass that litmus test, unfortunately. But it's very 1993. It has its lane so it can stay in that lane. Yeah. Yeah. That karaoke performance that you're talking about there were a couple of done by the same guy who was on our team yes and i will say you know nothing to do with him he put everything into it and he definitely knows his audience but it's definitely performed

as an ironic thing that's the thing that guy nothing is there because he was often great it went down to song choice and i just think this song it's just it's just gone it's over it's over I don't think you can really do this even as an ironic thing it's just like it's just gone it's like doing Lady in Red which someone else did actually yeah a nice version again but yeah song choice yeah what you mean just a little word on the Fresh Prince, actually, of Bel-Air. I've seen, I think there were five seasons of it or six in the end. They did about 120, 130 episodes, something like that. I could be wrong. Maybe it went on for seven seasons.

I've definitely seen all of the first season, definitely. And I've seen odds and sods and bits and pieces of the rest of it just sort of over the years because it was always on after the Simpsons on BBC 2 yeah in the sort of like late 90s nearly 2000s but um I will say that as much as it's definitely a little bit 80s still. Like for the first season it kind of feels a bit like it's still a bit 80s. It's still kind of, I mean I think one of the writers moved over from Family Ties. And so like it is still occasionally wedded to this idea that like everything must be resolved in 20 to 25 minutes and you often get like, you know how sometimes on American comedies where like a dance routine is enough to make the audience like split their sides

Isn't that silly? There's a lot of that in it as well but I will say that when it comes to the episodes which are a bit more serious and a bit more political and it feels like the writers have decided to say something with this episode, those are quite good and actually some of them are fantastic and it is very comfortable very early on with ending episodes in very uncomfortable places and just cut into black, not trying to resolve it or round it off with a joke. Like they actually end in quite dark places because Andy I know you've not really seen much about it but like do you know the basic concept beyond the theme tune?

I know that he was born and raised in Philadelphia that's all I know. West Philadelphia. Born and raised. And then when he gets out of the cab and like so he gets sent to live with his family in a very, very, very, very wealthy part of Bel-Air. Like, the joke is that their neighbors are the Reagans, like, they're that rich, they have a massive house. And there's this, and his cousin Carlton, who's played by Alfonso Rubiro, another one who again becomes very famous because of a dance routine in the show, but anyway, is that they are so rich that they experience racism, but Carlton hasn't really felt it in the same way.

You know, he's gone to all the best schools. He's always been very welcomed by white peers and things like that. Very early on, there's that episode where him and Will driving in a car that is not theirs. It's like the member of a golf club or something. And they're looking after this really fancy car. And so police officers, they see two black guys driving a fancy car and they get pulled over and then they get arrested and they go to prison very briefly and they get bailed out and the episode kind of resolves with them, or you know, a big misunderstanding kind of

thing. But then like, Carlton has that moment, it's like the fourth episode and he's like, he turns to his dad, Uncle Phil, who has kind of, he's very rich, but he's kind of self-made rich and so he was poor, He did experience racism as a kid. And so Carlton's like dad those police officers They were just they were just doing their job Right, like that was all they were doing. Surely. It was just you know, just a mistake They were just honest guys like, you know making a mistake and then uncle Phil just says yeah, I asked myself the same question,

the same question the first time I ever got stopped. And Carlton just has like the whole his whole world collapses around him, this very secure and safe world that he's grown up in. And then he experiences racism. And it's he's just left there on his own on the couch like, oh, my God. Yeah, and the credits just come up. Yeah, I was judged by the color of my skin. And for a comedy, and then yeah, the credits just,

that's it. The credits just roll and it's like, and that's like the fourth episode, the fifth, it's very early on. And whenever it does an episode like that, there's usually about one or two a season. I think everybody knows about, Papa's got a brand new excuse, which very probably the most famous scene from the show where

Will's father briefly shows up and then disappears again there's the one where Carlton it will gets will get shot doesn't he yes at one point and then Carlton tries to take revenge by getting a gun himself and there's the episode where Will tries to join that black sorority at college but they won't take Carlton because he's not black enough. And there are all these serious episodes littered throughout that really try to say something. It feels like, you know, like how The Golden Girls is quite similar actually in the sense that like, you know, it's otherwise a really standard kind of 80s comedy, admittedly with a subversive kind of premise, but then every now and again

there will be a serious episode, a topic episode where they discuss around a subject and they have, you know, it's all very solemn in tone and I feel like in the 90s, I feel like some comedies actually got a bit uncomfortable with that, especially Friends, for which politics does not exist. Politics does not exist in Friends, as much as I love it. But yeah, I think that Will Smith, I think he definitely, and the writers, they definitely had things to say. But a lot of it is still very like he's still the fresh Prince persona by the time he ends the show He's very much kind of I am Will Smith. I am a serious, you know, I want to make films like the Pursuit of Happiness Instead of films like Independence Day. I like the Pursuit of Happiness. I'm literally the only person I have ever met who did.

I'm not saying it's definitely not a bad movie at all It's just that like, you know, Will had definitely moved on from the kind of fun I have ever met who did. I'm not saying, definitely not a bad movie at all. It's just that like, you know, Will had definitely moved on from the kind of fun, you know, party guy. Although around that same time, he was doing songs like Switch. He wanted to have his cake and eat it too,

and eat it free, just be everything at once. It didn't quite work. But, but no, I mean, one thing I will say for the show is that, no, I, to be honest, I have very little experience of eighties American sitcoms. I mean, they didn't really ship over that often anyway. Nineties American sitcoms, a fair bit of experience. But so I can't really compare what Fresh Prince feels like compared to, as you say, family ties or, you know, etc. Showing my extensive knowledge there.

But I do recall me and a friend only a few years back watching the pilot again to see, it's like, was this actually any good? It was always on in between two shows we wanted to watch. So I liked Star Trek as well. So it was in between The Simpsons and Star Trek and so it had a nice little spot there. And I remember it was like, oh, I was quite, I enjoyed it. I don't remember how funny it was, but the pilot was surprisingly sharp. There were a few like laugh out loud bits. And one thing I will say is the comic timing is great and the cast is excellent actually. It's a really good ensemble cast and you know, oh god, what's his name?

He plays Uncle Phil. It's fantastic. Actually, he's really good. Oh, he died semi recently. It's quite a lot of range because he can, you know, he has a nice, he's a good character actually because he can be quite sort of pompous. But when he gets serious, it really is, really has got a lot of gravitas to it. Yeah. James Avery. That's right. He was good. But it was, you know, I think it was an entertaining show at the least,

although it might be a bit sort of gurning and over the top by modern standards, as you say, a lot of dance stuff. I mean, I do remember an episode before this turns into the fucking Bel Air podcast with one person who has never seen an episode at all. But for some reason, it was an episode that always seemed to be on and I had it accidentally recorded on a video, so I watched it several times and I remember finding it hilarious. It's the one where they trick... Erm... God, what's the name of the... What's the name of the butler?

Ch... Erm... Geoff... Geoffrey. Geoffrey. Geoffrey. Geoffrey. Yeah. And you will know him because he played the chap behind the bar in the cafe in Remembrance of the Daleks. Really? Yeah that's him. Yeah Joseph Marcel. Yeah he's an English actor. It's amazing that in our 90s incarnation of Hits 21, we've managed to mention Remembrance of the Daleks twice so far. It's a good show. That's remarkable. We'll mention it again. But yeah, it was basically Carlton and Will trick him into thinking he's won the lottery.

And because he's always been this very proper sort of servile, that's been his life, it's been his identity. He goes nuts, it all goes to his head and he basically flips everyone off, insults everybody with the exception of Ashley, the youngest daughter who he actually quite likes and just basically tells them all to go fuck themselves. And yeah, it turns out it was a prank, he loses his job and basically Will and Carlton have to go and chase after him in a cafe. But they basically get him back by humiliating him somewhere else. But I always remember that episode being a ball. But anyway, Bel Air Memories will be back next week.

So onto the third track and final track this week. Which is this. I need you so much but I don't think you really need me me Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, Okay, this is Relight My Fire by Take That featuring Lulu. Released as the third single from the group's second studio album titled Everything Changes, Relight My Fire is Take That's ninth single overall to be released in the UK and their second to reach number one. It's not the last time we'll be coming to take that during our 90s coverage, but it is Lulu's first and last number one. The single is a cover of the song originally recorded by Dan Hartman in 1979 which was not released in the UK.

Read Like My Fire went straight in at number one as a brand new entry. It stayed at number 1 for 2 weeks. In its first week atop the charts it sold 90,000 copies beating competition from I'd Do Anything For Love by Meat Loaf which got to number 8 and Stay by Eternal which climbed to number 10, and in week 2 it sold 58,000 copies, beating competition from Hallowed Be Thy Name by Iron Maiden, which got to number 9. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Relight My Fire dropped 1 place to number 2. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 104. 14 weeks! The song is currently officially certified silver in the UK as of 2025 but pre-cantor we're getting close to

that deadline and we'll stop finishing these segments with that suffix eventually. So Andy, relight my fire. Last week I talked about how basically my problem with it was that I just I really didn't think it was good songwriting, pray, I thought it showed quite a lot of kind of early band tropes, like sort of schoolboy eras and this is much better, I think much better and it is a little bit of a condemnation of where Take That are right now really because it's like they're still starting out still need to figure things out Gary Barlow needs to finesse his songwriting a little bit they should

probably just do some covers you know there are there are songs out there that are better for them that already exist than what they could create really and it does kind of show that actually there's no shame in doing some covers when you're first starting out like it's something that old bands used to do in the 60s and 70s it came back around again in the late 90s and you can sort of see why because it helps you to kind of form a bit of an identity and just kind of go out on the circuit and do some songs and perform them and see how you perform and see how you come together as a group and what your sound is without having to actually write the bloody songs and I think it does kind of show that

it's not always a bad thing, to be honest, because this is actually quite good and it really suits Take That. Ironically, though, it does inherit the thing that I had the biggest problem with in Prey, despite this being a cover, which is that weird thing in the chorus where the second line is much, much longer than the first, because that was my big problem with Prey, which is that all I do each night is pray and then hoping that I'll be a part of you again someday and it just keeps going. Where is this? It's like, relight my fire. Nice simple first line. Your love is my only desire. There's too many syllables in that second line. It's weird that they've

been drawn to that again despite not writing this one. But that's one of my only issues with it really. I do think it's still pretty just like straight down the line playing. I don't think it's like the best thing in the world but it has a lovely sound to it. They've definitely embraced the cheesy pop which is what they needed to do really and it's got much better percussion, much better synths behind it this time. It still feels like The Gary Show, if I'm honest. I'm not picking out any individual voices that are not Gary Barlow, really. And I'm sure that this one has more for the others to do. In fact, I know that it has more for the others to do,

because I remember the video from the time, but it still feels like The Gary Show to some extent. Apart from Lulu, of course course and whoever had that idea because Lulu that's a bit of a left field choice and whoever's idea that was really good idea really good because like she's got that kind of raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. I'm going to refer to our karaoke league again because someone did this once where there was a guy on stage who was doing the take that element which is like the first two minutes of the song all on his own and he hadn't said that this was a duet and the woman who was going to do Luli's part was just sat off stage and then when it got to that part she just suddenly got up up, walked onto the stage and did the WAAAAAAA and it really, really works.

Like, in any setting. Like, I'm sure it would really blow the house off live as well. So it really works as a duet and as a sort of feature spot for Lulu and she's a really good choice for it. Such a random choice to be honest because she's way past her point of relevance. You know, I chiefly know her for Shout and for one of the very worst Bond themes. Like one of the very worst Bond themes. He has a powerful weapon! Down there with another way to die and all time high and die another day.

Like it's those bottom four. Those are the, yes. If you want to get rid of someone the man with the golden gun We'll get it done She really tries disgusting lines in that as well he comes just before the kill Christ oh Anyway, oh my god. I never got that There's a lot of it in there. There's a lot of Innuendo, there's a lot of smuts in there too. So anyway, that's terrible

And I'm not the biggest fan of shout because it kind of feels like someone's battering my eardrums to be honest But she really works in this because this is a big kind of club Thing as much as you know much as a club stomper as a boy band song can ever be And she really works in it the real like my fire hook really works You can hear that there's at least more than one of them Even though you don't really know who any individual identities other than Gary and this is a big improvement from last week I don't think it's particularly anything special. I'm not gonna vault it and I do think like it's still Doesn't come to life for me in the way that it should I start to think 90s take that I just not gonna pop for me

If I'm honest, but this is definitely better than pray last week. Let's hope this keeps up. Yeah, Ed How we feeling on take that and Lulu? I mean, it doesn't really add anything to the original this. I mean, the song and the format as a duet is more or less identical. To be quite honest, there's something about this it has a different character because it's just been smoothed a little bit it's been anglicized in a way it's been 90s eyes it's far far less sexual and a lot more camp and it's got a friendliness about it.

It's really sort of bright and fresh. And it's not ashamed of its disco trappings. It's even got the boo boo boo boo boo, which you know, this time maybe the fuck was doing that. What English bands were doing that in 1993? Even Jamila Carter was trying to be bloody Stevie Wonder at the time. But yeah, it's... I like it. It's kind of... I was trying to describe why this has its own charm aside from the original to me.

It's kind of... It's fun and friendly in a kind of Mormon talent show kind of way. It doesn't understand sex. It's having fun and it's got the symbolism of sex. It's kind of hanging in different places because it's seen it somewhere. But everybody's having fun even though they don't know what's going on and it just adds to its sort of slightly squeaky shiny charm and a bit like they've just got this really fresh sound to them in terms of it's very clean but it's very tuneful and neat as well. I'm really not selling this am I? But unfortunately it is very very similar to the original not tremendous

amount of risks being taken except from in the rhythm department a lot of the differences might well be slightly accidental and that's really all I've got on this Mormon fun. It's always funny reading Lulu's Wikipedia page to sort of like explain like how much of a massive comeback this was because you've got you know life and career you've got early chart hits, television series, Eurovision Song Contest, post-Eurovision, James Bond theme. And then it gets to the 80s and it just says, Other Ventures. And then by sort of like the late 80s, she had lent her voice to the title character

in the animated series Nelly the Elephant on ITV. That, really? I didn't know that. Wow. Yes, yeah. Lulu and her manager of 25 years parted company. So I think you could probably understand why if things were dipping slightly. But then she recorded a comeback album called Independence and she recorded a comeback single called Independence which just missed the top 10 in 1993. So she's a little bit of a focus again and then I think Real Like My Fire gives us such a big like wham back into the charts that then it's her next section on Wikipedia is return to prominence and touring and Commonwealth

games and so like you know it was like a big Lulu revival people were ready for her again you know, I think they were they I I can remember the 90s enough to Not recall anything about Lulu beyond this like I it wasn't like share and believe I somewhat doubts The reliable narrator of this, to be honest. Like, was there a really big comeback for Lulu? I don't remember one.

In a British sense, for a certain generation, I think, people did want to book her again for events and things. And it seems like it was a good decision to leave that manager in 1989 and get on with you know a different manager and do gigs like this. But yes anyway about the song um I will say it's been really nice to discover during our 90s coverage that the speed up the cover version because we're in the future now thing it turned out it was always the thing because yeah this is basically the original but louder and slightly faster, and yet it runs on longer. I don't know how that happens.

But anyway, I think this song has great bones, because the original track's that pretty fun kind of almost flamenco-inspired disco track, and it knows when to hold and when to fold with regards to how much of the original it allows through the gate into this faster 90s version. I think it knows to beef up the backbeat, some of the synthetic elements and maybe lean a bit more into the house and techno side of things while still retaining the disco roots. I think vocally Gary Barlow actually does quite a stand-up job of making this track his own in a way. It takes another round of singles and a couple more years for him to get out of the kind of mature choir boy thing. But I think it works here because I can feel a little bit of blue-eyed soul in his vocals and in the piano as well.

Because it feels like in the mix they've obscured the four other boys, they've put them far enough back in the mix and they've recorded them in such a way that it feels like it's trying to race bend a little bit, you know, like Blue Eyed Soul groups did once upon a time where, you know, if you were listening to the radio, you would have to be told that everyone in the group was white. I know that there's that feeling obviously very deliberately with Buddy Holly in the crickets where, you know you know the Crickets there was a bit of a shock at the time that and with the righteous brothers as well that they were white and I feel like there's a little bit of blue-eyed soul influence coming through in the way that the other four boys are employed

in the song and I think you get Gary as quite a resonant contrast to that. Helps my point a little bit that Gary Barlow literally has blue eyes. And then just like the original, when you think it could just be moving towards being on its last legs, in comes a brand new section and it feels like a big shot in the arm. It's like an added value bonus chorus thing. When really it's just a massive bridge. Lulu does quite well. And when all six of them

have to keep going back and forth, they build up quite good chemistry quite quickly, and for a song that ticks over four minutes, I think it does quite a good job of keeping itself refreshed. Quite refreshed. One last mention has to go to Mark in the video who is pulling that look off. You know, like that look. Even if someone in the YouTube comments said he's doing his best twink hitting the bar for the first time impression. He's rocking that outfit and that was the poster and what is it baddies junkies baddie powder or something that it says on that shirt?

I still don't really know what it means, but I want to know what it means. Damn it. You ready for some rock and roll? All right, then. So, Andy, Mr. Vane, boom, shake the room, relight my fire. How are we feeling? It may be because he may be called Mr. Raider, he may be called Mr.

Wrong, he may be called Mr. Vane, but he's not called Mr. Vault, and he's certainly not called Mr. Piehole. Er... We'll call him Mr. Middle. Yes. Erm... As for Boom Boom, it didn't shake my room, in either a positive or negative sense. My room remained stable with a strong foundation, so it's staying in the middle. Erm... And as for relight my fire, well it didn't quite light a fire but neither was it a damp squib so that's staying in the middle

as well, all in the middle for me this week. So Ed, culture beat DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and take that and lulu. Well Mr Raider searches bountifully for that lost Ark but just misses the lost vault. At least they don't get their faces melted like those other Germans though. For Will Smith, tribe called quest meme, tick. Gravelly gangster voice, tick. Crisscross adjacent nonsense, tick tick tick tick. Oh nothing happened. And finally, for relight my fire, a lot of fun, but the fire is more reheated than ignited. So it doesn't quite go anywhere. Although I had quite a lot of fun this week.

I've got to say, you guys had quite a lot of fun. By the way, I have actually got some volts coming up at some point in the bloody nineties. I'm not that depressed, just in case you're worried. So for me, it is a Mr. Vault. It is a Mr. Vault, so Culture Beat's going in. Will Smith, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Fresh Prince, whatever, that's not. That's staying in the middle.

Unexploded. And the final track this week, Take That and Lulu, yeah, I think so. Oh! Yeah, I think, yeah, I'll vault that. I'm quite pleased with that. So two vaults for me this week.

So, yeah, happy week for me. Good two solid weeks there. I'm pleased. Alright then, so, we will see you next time bye bye for now bye bye Party to peace There's creepy black-eyed, weird zombie Keep it a secret now, please There's zippy, cuddly and there's sweet pea And all the party to peace

The party to peace