Hits 21 - 1995 (2): Take That, Oasis, Livin' Joy

Episode Date: July 11, 2025

Hello everyone! Welcome back to Hits 21: The 90s.At the roundtable this week it's Rob, Ed, and Andy!This week - Take That show signs that growing up is giving up, Oasis have finally landed (at 450hz, mind you), and Livin' Joy provide a slice of enduring Ibiza dance goodness.Email: [e-mail]: @Hits21UK

Hits 21 It's 20. 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 please do, Hits21podcaster at gmail.com is the email, at Hits21UK is the Twitter profile, thank you so much for joining us again, we are currently looking back at the year 1995 and this week we'll be covering the period between the 2nd of April and the 13th of May. It is a hits 21 first in this episode this is the first time I have ever recorded an episode while lying sitting in bed. The room where I normally record is just too damn warm and the second desk that I normally use

in our bedroom which is my partner's dressing table that's got stuff on it so I figured why not just sit in bed and do it that sounds great. I've done one from bed in the past yeah you always remember that one that you do from bed for some reason well hopefully people never forget this episode and it's time to press on with it and Andy how are the UK album charts looking Spring 95 time? We start this period with the Boo Radleys taken over from Celine Dion at number one which is surely a sentence you could only say in the mid 90s. The Boo Radleys with Wake Up which went to number one for one week and went

just gold. That was then toppled by Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits that's a re-entry at number one from earlier in the year, went number one for one week and went double platinum, and then Wet Wet Wet with their latest Picture This went number one for three weeks and went triple platinum. But that's it, it's a relatively quiet period and I can confidently say I would not have bought any of those albums. Boo Radley's, Bruce Springsteen and wet wet wet. Eh, eh, not for me, thank you. In football, Blackburn Rovers win the Premier League title, which is their first top division title for 81 years. Everton win the FA Cup after beating Manchester United 1-0

in the final at Wembley Stadium. And Ajax win the European Cup after defeating AC Milan 1-0 in the final at the Ernst-Happel Stadium in Vienna. Telephone area codes in the UK are changed in order to expand capacity in the landline network. This period of change is referred to as Phone Day. And in tragic news in America, 168 people are killed in the Oklahoma City bombing, which was perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. The films to hit the top of the UK box office during this period were as follows Dumb and Dumber, Legends of the

Fall and Muriel's Wedding, Norway's Secret Garden when the Eurovision Song Contest with their song Nocturne, although one of the band's members is Irish which I think makes it like four in a row or five in a row in the 90s with an Irish member in the group at least. And former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page narrowly escapes being stabbed in Michigan after a fan rushes the stage with a knife. Ed, people in Michigan were buying records around this point, but what about the rest of the country as well how are things in the States? US number one singles for 8th of April to the 13th of May 1995 after Take a Bow by Madonna you know stops it's this is how we do it. It's Friday night

By Montel Jordan for seven weeks, so Yeah, that's well, that's the singles folks and onto the US number one albums to park firmly beats down the world for a total of four weeks before taking a pummeling from the Lion King soundtrack. However, this doesn't leave much of a scar as it doesn't timber to take its tim on the top. Being there for just one week before having its pride punctured by Led Zeppelin's physical Rafiki. Okay, that's a lie. I just wanted to fit in one more because there's really not much to say about the albums this time.

Look, I offer value from a certain standpoint. Finally, for one week, it's some policeman chucking action as live Steal A Week At The Top with Throwing Copper. I do realize I get hung up on puns sometimes, so please let me know if you need me to move faster. Rob? Thank you both very much for those reports.

We are going to move on now to the first of three songs this week. And the first of those is this. I guess now it's time for me to give up I feel it's time Got a picture of pure emotion Gone ahead of shattered dreams Gotta leave it, gotta leave it all behind now Whatever I said, whatever I did, I didn't mean it I just want you back for good Want you back, want you I just want you back for good I want you back, I want you back, I want you back for good

Whenever I'm wrong, just tell me the song and I'll sing it You'll be right and understood I want you back, I want you back, I want you back for good Unaware but underlined Alright, this is Back 4 Good by Take That. Released as the second single from the group's third studio album titled Nobody Else, Back 4 Good is Take That's 14th single overall to be released in the UK, and their 6th to reach number 1, and it isn't the last time we'll be coming to take that during our 90s coverage. Back 4 Good went straight in at number 1 as a brand

new entry and it stayed at number 1 for 4 weeks. In its first week atop the charts it sold 346,000 copies beating competition from Baby Baby by Corona and Not Over Yet by Grace. In week 2 it sold 185,000 copies, beating competition from If You Love Me by Brownstone and Strange Currencies by REM. In week 3 it sold 140,000 copies, beating competition from Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman? by Brian Adams, Chains by Tina Arena, and I Need You by Deuce, and in Week 4 it sold 85,000 copies, beating competition from Key to My Life by Boyzone, If You Only Let Me In by Eminate, and Best in Me by Let Loose.

When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Back 4 Good dropped 1 place to number 2. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for 18 weeks, the song is currently officially certified 2x platinum in the UK as of 2025., you can kick us off with Take That. This is one of those weeks where I remember all of this stuff very, very well. This just sounds kind of grown up, certainly, doesn't it? Which is alarming because it's on the same album as Shot So Shot that we've discussed before which sounds kind of like some young people trying to find their identity and thoroughly failing. But this sort of indicates what is perhaps to come, certainly post-Renaissance revival with Take That.

And first thing, straight up, really nice Gary vocal this. It plays into his weepier aspects, his sort of slightly sodden romantic leanings which is far far far more appropriate than the R&B impression he was trying to do previously. It's a completely different style. It's led by acoustic guitar and orchestra which is a very 90s sounding ballad but in a very classic sense. This is very much a used in the soundtrack to a romantic comedy sound of kind of ballad. I was a hundred percent sure this was actually used in Love Actually but actually I don't think it is. It's just the kind of song that could be.

But that's no, that is not a criticism at all because this is such a solid piece of songwriting even with its slightly weird turns of phrase which are at best very memorable a fist of pure emotion it's a little awkward but it's memorable and then there's that line in the middle eight that's I only recently learnt that it's not will never be uncommon again which I was like what the fuck and I just discovered today it's never be uncovered again, which means in many ways even less I mean, what is he saying will never be uncovered again? I mean is it was the house cold? Is that why they're leaving?

Are they were they hiding something from the authorities in which case he seems to be doing it again. So run run fast but yeah Enough of the slight little needles at the lyrics because on the whole this is just a really classic, really solid breakup ballad. It's made for karaoke, it's made for singing along with, but it's not overly simplistic. It's grand, it's got stature to it. It is maybe a trifle too long, but what I really do appreciate in the outro of this one, which we haven't had in a lot of recent offerings, is Gary is actually trying to mix it up. There are some improvisations here,

which I wouldn't normally associate with him. He's very accomplished, but usually quite rigid. But they really work. They do help, you know, protract the song more bearably. For instance, at one point he kind of he starts actually doing a call and response with the backing vocals and then he starts singing with the backing vocals as well. And I think the backing vocals are another success on this because it's not just the big sort of sweeping upwards lift of the chord sequence, it's not just the nice skyscraping, almost slightly over, you know, overwhelmed

vocal line, which in many ways come back to that kind of leap with things like...... It's very effective, just a little octave leap. It works a treat in a chorus to bring people's attention in. But behind that they've got little bits of like, you know, polyrhythmic vocal stuff going on that do slightly change between the choruses and I think it's just a nice little bit of added value but really this is just a big bright and pretty timeless ballad really because for all of their charm they've not really been a group we could have we can have considered timeless so far

they're very they've been very entrenched in some unfortunate early nineties tropes, particularly in the production and arrangement department, but this is a bit of an evergreen. And sadly, while they wouldn't be around for too much longer in their first iteration, it does kind of, as I mentioned, indicate where they're going to go next.

They're going to lean a little bit more into their, a little bit more into the sort of rockier side, into the anthem side as opposed to the R&B and Philly soul side. And it suits them. It suits them, these big soft rock ballads. It really does. I really like this song. I think it is really solid. I still enjoy listening to it. It feels far more genuine, I think, because they're not trying to contrive themselves into something cooler than they are.

In its sweet and relatable, slight patheticness. I think it really, really works. And I'm always reminded of the scene in Spaced, where it is almost quite earnest, isn't it? It's not meant as a joke that Tim gets his boombox out, because he doesn't know what else to say, out of the top of a tank and plays this at full volume to try and win back his old landlady and it works because it's that kind of song. Anyway, enough of

my waffle, I just think it's a pretty much nearly total success this one. Yeah, we are gonna have a good week this week. Well, I am anyway, you know, what a great collection of singles we have got this week. You know, it is happening more and more as well where we're getting further into the 90s and I'm trying to imagine these songs in the 80s and I can't really do it. You know, especially we know with this new sounds, new mastering and production styles, new ways of playing and standing on stage. Like, you know, it's all here in these three songs this week. And this starts us off, you know, this might be my favorite this week. One of Gary Barlow's absolute best, I think. I love how this begins with a line about giving up.

I've always liked that. Like one of those, you know, those videos on YouTube you get where it's like song expert interest was quickly lost. And then the song ends after 20 seconds it's like I guess now it's time for me to give up and then the song would just end. At this point I know we have a dedicated LGBT fan base who listens to the show and at this point I really have to reference the Drag Race charity song that they do in an episode called Can I Get an Amen which very memorably starts with Coco Montrese who's's a queen on that season, very earnestly

saying straight down the camera, as the very first line of the song, I lost all hope today, and the song goes from there. It's a very beloved moment, and it's that kind of energy. But in terms of the story that Back for Good is telling, it's in a constant state of denial. It's like it's not ready to get to the other four stages yet. The song even ends with the insistence that she still comes back indicating that the protagonist is still stewing, not moving on, living in that heartbreak and wallowing a bit. He's wallowing so deep that he doesn't even remember what went wrong or why things went bad. Doesn't even care if he's right or wrong

in this situation. He just wants everything to go back to how it was before. But it's, I think it's aware of the ridiculousness and of the unfulfillment in the situation. You know, Gary kind of operates as a first and third person narrator here where he embodies the confusion and the yearning of the protagonist but also becomes kind of omniscient in a way turning to us and looking at us as if to say this is one small part of a bigger story that carries on after the song has ended a story that's kind of out of our heroes control and yeah a fist of pure emotion is a great line for better or

worse in terms of the arrangement I think it sounds very pretty and very fully realized. Lots of very lovely huggable textures around, those kind of lovely billowing acoustic guitars that open it up, the accompanying pianos, the way the rest of the lads are mixed into the background and then yeah when the second chorus comes in and you get that little backing melody, the whenever I'm wrong and you get that little backing melody the whenever You know just kind of going on in the back, you know, I've always had a bit of a weird reaction to the final bridge Though because even though take that

Growing up here. They still have to get the together forever couple it in but then it wins me back over Instantly with that slow down and speed up into the final chorus. That's a cracking idea. The dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun. That's a great way to announce that you're coming to the end of the song. I've gone on about it loads on this podcast but I like my pop songs to have ideas, fresh ideas, withholding ideas, you know, until the end, later stages, employing them when they work best. It's like the song suddenly stops, thinks about giving up and collapsing in the rain in the music video, but then it gets back on its feet and it, you know, it's marvelous. It's great.

I think in hindsight this is probably the beginning of the end because there's so much talent in this group, but Gary is still kind of center stage and all the other lads could be kind of any backing singers in the world really. It's always been the Gary show but they're all growing up a bit now and I think some of them are less happy with that arrangement, we'll find that out in six to seven months time. There is also a sense with the lyrics that it's almost a bit too desperate, a bit too pathetic like, come on Gary, get a grip, you know, just kind of move on, you're doing yourself no favours here. I've always liked it as well, I've always liked the observation from Tom Ewing from Freaky Trigger where he says, he points out that once a boy band matures it kind of has

to end. Like, you know, once boy bands grow up, it's like, what is there? And you kind of have to, in take that's case, wait nine years and come back as a different kind of group. Kind of using this as a little bit of a basis to try and pick up from where they left off. They've got one more number one with Robbie on it, which we'll cover. And, you know, that's the end of the original iteration of the group. But you know what a great song this is. I have always had a bit of a soft spot for this over the years. It was on Man and My Partners, we were checking out our

wedding venue a couple of days ago and it was playing in the back while we were like organizing a few meetings and stuff and I thought like For a wedding venue, maybe a song like this isn't the most appropriate But then I thought like it is still romantic, isn't it? Like, you know, even though it's about Somebody kind of refusing to accept a breakup it is it is soft and romantic and gentle and yeah So, you know, I think it's always had a very lovely atmosphere one of Bahalo's best vocally and in terms of his arrangement as well so yeah no I'm definitely definitely always been a fan of this. Andy how we feeling on Back 4 Good? It might not be Back 4

Amazing but it is Back 4 Good yeah I had to open with that one. This is interesting for me really because I do definitely think this is undoubtedly better than with the exception of Real Like My Fire, this is better than anything else that we've had from Take That so far. And those who listen to the show every week may remember that I've kind of openly been on Ten Talks for 1995 with Take That

because everything they've done so far, again with the exception of Reolette My Fire, has deeply underwhelmed me and I felt like they're just completely vacuous and that the naivetees of a young songwriter are extremely obvious, especially in Babe, that was just awful and I feel like if I listen to that again now I might score that even lower than I did last time, it was just awful. And I feel like if I listen to that again now, I might score that even lower than I did last time. It was really bad. Yep. And I think there's a few factors that lead to this.

The first of which is that they're growing up and I think they sense a need to have some real authenticity and say some real things and do some proper songs rather than just like stuff that's made for either swaying your shoulders or gyrating your hips too. Like there has to be some real authenticity here. Similar to what a lot of other boy bands have done actually, Backstreet Boys sort of went through that, One Direction certainly went through that.

There comes a point where you kind of have to blossom and have real things to say because the tweens are growing up with you. You know, the 10 year olds are turning into 12 year olds into 14 year olds. They kind of expect a bit more juice. So there's that, there's just a natural progression of the boy band life cycle really but also this is I'm not surprised that you're talking about how you feel like this must have been in love actually because it is quite a clear response to love is all around this I

think it's definitely there love is all around that you could easily see it take the place of that in both Forwarding to the Funeral and in Love actually it's definitely using the archetype that love is all around set but this is better than Love is all around I think I will say though that you know we've had three boy bands singles that have been very earnest like full-on ballads recently and I really definitely prefer this to Love Is All Around however I do prefer Stay Another Day to this actually I think it's a bit better Stay Another Day and so E17 come out in top of the three of them but there are things I

really really like about this I do think this is the first song and I include Real Like My Fire in this this is the first song where I feel like I've got to know any of them in any way at all and the only one I've got to know is Gary of course because we're still Gary and the pips here like that's that's all we've ever really had apart from babe again but there definitely is a sense of substance to this and a sense of real song craft and a sense of proper balladry that I haven't heard in previous Take That Songs up to this point you can imagine that he sat down and listened to Billy Joel that he sat down and listened to some of the better

Michael Jackson ballads that he sat down and listened to stuff of other eras that has cut through, you know, old soul music and things like that. So how do I translate that to a 90s boy band landscape? And it creates something here that, yes, is very similar to Love Is All Around, but it has an identity and has real heart to it and I think that goes a hell of a long way. On a musical level, this is just so much better as well than all of their previous singles up to this point. It's actually got a proper hook to it that sustains itself for more than one line. They finally, finally got out of that habit of stating the hook in the first line of the chorus and then just

loads of words for the rest of the chorus. Like, everything changes was the obvious one with that. It's like, everything changes but you. That's the hook and then it's, but it's a thousand miles, but it's a thousand miles, and then it's loads more words. It finally feels like they've structured a proper chorus that isn't just a refrain, it's a full chorus that you can sing along the whole thing to. Have your hands in the air, sing the whole thing.

I think they've realised the point of sing the whole thing elevates the whole song much more than having that one killer hook. There are things I don't like about it though I actually really disagree with Rob about the little slowdown into the chorus at the end because I don't think it does it one way or the other I think either do that or don't I think it's a strange effect the way they just slightly turn down the tempo and then instantly turn it back up again. It just feels like the records kind of skipped a bit and I'm not a huge fan of that to be honest I thought that was a bit odd and yeah I don't know how I would have improved

I'm not sure whether I would have done it or not but this kind of halfway house kind of straight back into it thing that they did. I didn't like that. I also definitely think this needed more voices than Gary, like more obviously. They're a band and I definitely understand at this point that this is surely directly leading, certainly to Robbie Leaven but to the breakup in general is that. He's like, for those who've seen Glee, he's like Blaine from the Warblers where it's just Blaine sings all the songs and all the other Warblers just kind of toe tap behind him and they're all supposed to be excellent singers who are in this Glee club but you only ever hear one of them

sing and it's all got that effect at this point it's becoming a bit of a running joke to take that and I also fall into the camp that I know you've both sort of slightly touched on this but I also fall into the camp that, I know you've both sort of slightly touched on this, but I do fall into the camp that thinks that the lyrics are a little bit toxic, a little bit overly forgiving of men who have done wrong. I think if someone came to me trying to make up with me after a breakup and didn't even know what they did,

they would be like, whoa, okay, off you go. How are we supposed to rebuild this relationship? You don't even reckon that he's done anything wrong yet. Of course, we don't know what he did and that changes the substance of it. I do quite like the idea. Don't know if this is a particularly popular idea, but I do like the idea that maybe he didn't do anything and actually he's the protagonist here and his ex has really really gaslit him and thrown him under the bus. Maybe he didn't do anything wrong, maybe he was the perfect

partner and he's just been left bereft by this. But that again shows a huge bias towards the man and I do think there's a sense of oh fellas we just can't get it right can we? We don't know what we're doing wrong. There's a bit of that to this which I don't think is helpful for either men or women so I have to slightly call that out And but on the whole this is a huge improvement I'm thinking of their next number one Which I think is just in a completely different universe of good to all of their stuff so far included in this that I always Listen to that and think where did that come from and I can't wait to come to that But no, this is definitely definitely easily the best song that they've had up to this

point. I just think it's close to greatness, close to greatness, but I can identify exactly what is holding it back from greatness. So I can't let it off with that. But yeah, this is really good. Okay. I guess now it's time for song number two this week, which is this. Some might say that sunshine follows thunder Go and tell it to the man who cannot shine For some might say that we should never ponder I'm lost and I'm lost today Cause they all sway all the time Some might say we will find a brighter day

Some might say we will find a brighter day Yeah, cause I've been standing at this place In need of education in the rain Yet made no decorations Call my reputation once again Oasis is sixth single overall to be released in the UK and their first to reach number one, and it's not the last time we'll be coming to the Brothers Gallagher during our 90s coverage. Some might say went straight in at number one as a brand new entry, and it stayed at number one for one week! In its first and only week atop the charts it sold

138,000 copies, beating competition from The Changing Man by Paul Weller and Army of Me by Bjork, and I have to say at number 12 that Buddy Holly by Weezer is there at number 12, just missing out on the top 10. When it was knocked off the top of the chart, some might say dropped one place to number two. It initially left the charts in October 1995, but made re-entries in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2025. As of 2025, it has spent 84 weeks inside the top 100, and the song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK. Andy, some might say it's great, some might say it's not, but what do you think? Well some might say it's very fortuitous timing. It does slightly date the episode, but...

Very. It's erm, at the time, I mean we might as well just blow the illusion, erm, that this is the exact moment in time for future listeners that the Oasis reunion tour is happening and literally we are days away. Tomorrow is the first Heat and Park show, we've got five or six dates there and you should see the mania. Look, Oasis and Manchester are now conjoined, they're the same effing thing evidently. Sorry, carry on, carry on. For those who live away from Manchester, those who haven't seen any pictures or anything like that Manchester is

currently it is truly genuinely no exaggeration it's like the Olympics are in town but like it's that level of hype for Oasis it's like there's a World Cup on or something that Manchester's hosted banners down the lampposts everywhere you look there's full merch tents in st. Peter's square like nowhere near where the shows are there's just merch tents popping up like around Manchester for the shows there's like food markets around that have got oasis themes playing the music out of the little trucks it's it's absolutely crazy what's happening at the moment i've never seen anything like it for any band and you know this is coming from me who comes from the

city of the Beatles and boy does Liverpool know how to make a constant fuss of the Beatles but I've never seen anything like this and so it feels like a really good moment for us to talk about Oasis because of course we've had them plenty of times in the noughties but as they themselves are very keen to acknowledge with their set list the noughties but as they themselves are very keen to acknowledge with their setlist the noughties was not their vintage era at all that their star was in decline pretty consistently all the way through the noughties and here we have a different oasis so i in my late teens went

through a phase of being really really into Asus and this was one of my absolute favorites and this era as with everyone definitely maybe in What's the Story of Mourning and Glory these were this was the juice these were the really really good ones and it's been interesting for me to come to one of these on this video and rather than something off Don't Believe the Truth or Heathen Chemistry or something which are just kind of you know diminishing returns at that point really. And this one, it's interesting to me because my love for Oasis that I had for a brief period

when I was 16 has gone completely. And for every individual album and song within that, it's also gone completely. There are some that I admire, some that I think, yeah that's quite good, but I wouldn't really choose to listen to it. The vast majority I've thrown out completely and thought yeah that's not for me, that's not my kind of music anymore. It's something that I have thoroughly grown out of, but this one, this is the only one that I can think of with Oasis that actually I still genuinely really like and do choose to listen to sometimes. It's the only one. A bit of context before that. I had a really interesting conversation this week and it started actually from a comment

that was made about how Oasis are the ultimate straight band as opposed to an LGBT band. You know, they are the ultimate straight band. And that's not me being nasty or throwing shade or kind of, you know, looking down on straight people or anything like that. But I do think they exist in a extremely heterosexual space. You don't see many gay fans of Oasis or queer fans or trans fans. You know, you just don't really see that. That's really quite unusual. If I may just break in, the way I think it was actually phrased was they are the least homosexual band, which is almost slightly different by implication. Perhaps slightly different, but you know, I think if you were to survey the people going

to those shows in Heaton Park and across the country, it would be a very, very low proportion of, I mean, you might get some gay women or bi people, but I think gay men? Very low numbers go into those shows. And it's interesting to me because right at the time I came out was right when my huge, huge burning love for Oasis period started and was the period where I actually went to see Oasis. I saw them the first time. And that coincided right after I came out. And then I sort of went through this period of shame

because my coming out didn't go very well at all. And as I became more comfortable with it and came into myself a bit more over like the next year or two, my love for Oasis declined at a commensurate rate. Something which I've never noticed before. And I thought about this and thought, wow, that really lines up with the idea that maybe I became obsessed with Oasis in an effort to appear more straight essentially and my love for this song in particular at that time also lines up with it because I

think this is the most anthemic, the most kind of, you can imagine you're in that dark stadium crowd surrounded by other friendly straight men, all having a good time singing along to this. You feel part of something listening to this song, I think. It really feels like it has that aspirational quality where you want to be in that stadium hearing this. And I thought, did I only ever like Oasis to try and desperately try and be straight and

Other people who have spoken to about this have said yeah the tracks for them as well went through the exact same thing at the exact same time and I think There's something to this that I'd love to explore in the future this idea that certain bands Can kind of try and lure you back into the closet not out of any kind of malice or not there's nothing like there's anything corrosive or toxic about the music Oasis are putting out but I've just found that fascinating to think about that I really think that follows for me and it might differ of other people too when we go through our Oasis phase which so many people do in our teenage years for anyone listening

think about how that might attract with how you were discovering your identity and discovering yourself. Really interesting work to be done. But anyway, with this one, like I say, the reason why it stuck around is because it does have that big anthemic quality that I think it has more than any other Aesir song. Like the big anthem that's really stuck around for them is Don't Look Back in Anger, but I don't think that's anywhere near as good as this to be honest. I think Don't Look Back In Anger is essentially them just trying to be the Beatles and like that's what they do in so many songs but particularly in that one. In this one it really feels like there's a sense of them as musicians and a sense of them kind of reaching their peak and reaching the peak of what their music is able to express because there's certain

reaching the peak of what their music is able to express because there's certain musical choices in this that are just, ooh, they are really lovely, like they really are accessing something here that's beyond the kind of standard rock and roll thing that they often do. That particular chord change, on the second line before, sorry, the very last line before the post-chorus, the we will find a brighter day, where it changes to a completely different chord and kind of leads into a different key as you go into the post-chorus. It just feels like you're kind of taking a step into adventure. It's just a really nice, uplifting chord. I think this is easily Liam's best vocal that we've ever covered on Hits 21, for sure,

and probably one of my favorite vocals that he's done a song full stop That he's really just like very resonant on this And seems to have a much more warm open sound to his voice in this than he does in Almost any other song I can remember from him It's I think it's probably the one and only Oasis song that I have left that I think does actually feel like a genuinely I think it's probably the one and only Oasis song that I have left that I think does actually feel like a genuinely aspirational warm hug that you're getting from someone else who may not be like you but makes you feel better. And I think a lot of Oasis music wasn't actually making me feel better over the years. It was helping me to cover myself in shame as someone who was not Oasis' target market. But this song, I think, is sort of for everyone. And that's the kindest thing I can say about it because I do really, really like this.

And I think it has a universal quality to it. That in these times where everyone's going crazy on the Oasis bandwagon, this is something that cuts through. This is something where I do understand with this song. I don't understand anymore with a lot of others, but with this, yeah, this is pretty great Yeah, just say just before we start on well before I start on some might say I want to maybe put forward the argument

Yeah, you know that obviously the battle the Britpop was a thing and we'll be covering that soon But for me this episode feels like it starts a little chart battle that will Continue on for another few months months and I feel like defines the period a bit more from sort of early 95 to early 96 where I think the real kind of chart battle is between Oasis and Take That because we see them come up against each other here where one of them knocks the other off number one and obviously narratively that's not as exciting as Oasis versus Blur but the sort of proper rock music versus boy band thing they've got going on, it's definitely present.

Never Forget is the last number one before the Battle of Britpop, because Oasis could have gone to number one there. How Deep Is Your Love knocks off Don't Look Back in Anger as well. It feels like there's another kind of sub-competition going on there, and the thing that Oasis stand for and the thing that Take That stand for, you know, they're very distinct. I feel like you don't really get things like that in pop anymore where two artists stand for very different things and they rep... you know, I feel like the charts aren't as fragmented by scenes and demographics anymore. It feels more general and more broad. People are broadly interested in basically everything that's around at the moment and it's rare these days that you will have two songs that oppose each

other ideologically in terms of class all these other things it's rare that you get things weighed up like that anymore it tends to be less extra curricular but we'll get to that a little bit more as the number ones come and go over the next 12 months on the show. We've had Oasis on the show a few times, only during our 2000s coverage though, so far, and I think each time I've been kind of lukewarm or kind of positive, you know? It's a shame we've not had the chance to cover any of the singles they released before, some might say, because I actually think that all their best work was done just about around or just before 95. But I think they're still in a really good spot here, you know, over the years I've finally

kind of worked out the issue I have with the Waiters and why I've never been able to fall in love with them. Or at least I think so anyway, you know, I think it's because there tends to be just vibes where the emotions should be. Where you were saying there, Andy, about them being, and where we've, you know, come to this point about them being the least homosexual band ever, and I think it's because they're a little afraid of uncovering any part of themselves that might be real or genuine or vulnerable or scary. You know think ed you know you said that oasis songs tend to just be about people gathering around something which i think is a great way to describe

what their songs are like but when you scratch below the surface of their songs a lot of their songs after 95 it's still just vibes you keep scratching and it's just vibes vibes vibes vibes it's like they want to it's like noel and and Liam want to be cool and they expect the songs to just come because they're cool and coolness creates music and that sort of thing you only tend to you know the underpinning stuff in their songs there's no there's very rarely actual subject matter there's not there's very rarely an emotional hook it's normally you know an emotional hook. The emotional hook is normally just like, aren't we having a good time? Aren't we cool? It isn't music

about putting your hands up in the air and nothing else sort of thing. I only tend to uncover abstractions that don't really form images in my mind when it comes to Oasis lyrics, and that gets so much worse in the 2000s but for now I actually think that some might say they largely avoid all of those problems. They still appear every now and again but some might say really works for me because I think that more than occasionally between 93 and 95 Oasis actually had something to say and they weren't afraid to say it with a bit of a snarl. You know, the guitars are tuned up a quarter step on this and at 450 hertz as if to just f*** with something,

make the album sound like more of a vacuum cleaner than it already does. And I see that as more of a feature rather than a bug, you know, the noise that comes out of this band, which is basically shoegaze layering but with the smell of pints and cigarettes. It's kind of refreshing for its time. And then you get Liam Gallagher's voice. Oh my god. Whenever you think of him, or whatever you think of him as a person at this time, Liam Gallagher's voice rips through pop like a knife. It's like 60s Dylan but with an even bigger chip on his shoulder about something. You want to hear him say different words if only so you can feel like you're hearing

them for the first time again. He is totally singular in the 90s and he was such a great front man. I think his best vocal performance is still Live Forever. I still think that just that maybe you know just going straight in like that. that feels like something new is happening and they've carried it through to some might say. But I think why some might say really works for me is that I actually get a sense of story from this. It's a broad story, but the story is there. I think it's about a struggle, a fight. It's weirdly sentimental. It is about people gathering around something, but it's

about them gathering around a cause. There's hope in there. Underneath the rainy train stations and sinks full of dirty dishes, you know, there's this enduring feeling that, you know, we will find a brighter day. And the way he says it, the way he molds those words in his mouth, it's like he is singing with his heart, which is something that I don't think, I think Liam Gallagher stops doing pretty definitively around sort of 1997. But whatever the problem is, you know, in the song that is overflowing gently, which is a lovely turn of phrase. Whenever that comes up, I'm always like, overflowing gently. That is like, a problem is rising. It's not immediate, but you can see it

you can sense it something's uncomfortable there is a problem and we'll need to deal with it but not right now because it's all elementary and will ultimately be solved I don't like it when the Gallagher's are shoved into anything involving city my football team because it's like the club's media team are allergic to doing anything without them. They even got Nol to design some god-awful fourth shirt for the club last season, this hideous, like tequila sunrise, but with grey paint thrown. It's horrible, really, really disgusting shirt. But with City in the 90s, when we were in the second and third tier of English football,

while United were going for Premier League titles and going to FA Cup finals and all this stuff, you know, and we were about to get relegated into the second and third tiers of English football, there was this flag. There was a flag at Main Road and it just read, some might say we will find a brighter day. It was just white lettering on a sky blue flag. And I think that's it really, this hope against massive odds. You know, I think there is genuine vulnerability in this, a quiet voice in the darkness that's still strong. It goes on way too long on the

album. I think it needs a tighter structure to be the most effective that it could be. And yeah, the Gallagher's remain arseholes who are mostly afraid of their own feelings, which I will go into a little bit more when we cover them next. But something was going on here and I think that the country could sense it and I think it was fine that the country sensed it. Whatever happens afterwards and however the music press and the music industry reacted to them, I'm not gonna put that at their door just yet. I think that the reaction to What's the Story? Morning Glory is a much bigger problem than What's the Story? Morning Glory itself because What's the Story? Morning Glory was mostly written around the same time as Definitely Maybe and I think that a

lot of the baggage that gets attached to What's the Story doesn't really apply to Definitely Maybe, they were all mostly written around the same time and Noel Gallagher himself has said that it was only be here now that he started writing in response to What's the Story Morning Glory which we'll get into a bit more when that comes down the line but yeah some might say it's a great it's great single great lead single that leap that because i've been standing at the step that that's great that that is a really good jump into something like a good solid post chorus and they never quite find that energy again especially with the songs that we've covered um on in the 2000s but yeah this is really solid so ed Yeah, this is really solid. So Ed, I say and Andy say, great, but what do you say? Well, definitely, maybe. Unfortunately, I am going to be a bit cooler on this one, to

be honest. I mean, it is very hard for me living in Salford, which, you know, while it is technically a separate city from Manchester it's easy to forget that because they're pretty much just smudged together as one big entity it's like the slightly ashamed but slightly older conjoined twin to Manchester that's like, yeah, yeah. But yeah, you can't extricate yourself from the media junket, this foaming, you know, ridiculous hysteria surrounding the group, which they can't possibly have earned, you know?

I mean, regardless of how good you think they are, this is mad, this is bonkers. Yeah. I mean, you're talking about all of the merchandise stands popping up everywhere. It's not just that. It's like the posters and hoardings like some, you know, Communist Party rally outside the library at St. Peter's Square. And all of these merch stands have popped up in the exact

place, which is usually the area for you know, the assigned protest area, the little box they get put into in St Peter's Square. So one day you'll have a, you know, Palestine liberation march, then you'll have the trans rights thing. And now it's Oasis and posters of fucking Liam Gallagher advertising advertising Berghaus and Opposite is like fucking Cursed pointing her arm out What the fuck what the fuck is this it's it's I've never quite understood it But even some of the most sensible homegrown man people I know The conversations about six months ago all went the same sort of way where they'd start by saying oh you were you were you Were you a fan of Oasis then and I'm like, ah, I'll be honest. I was a bit more of a

Blur kid and I can't expect them to just get like a shit about And start gutting me because it'll be like I've never heard them mention it before And it's it and and a lot of them would just be like, yeah, you know They're quite like him back in the day my wife and I've never heard them mention it before and a lot of them would just feel like, yeah, you know, I quite liked them back in the day. My wife and I have got tickets twice. And it's like, okay. So that's, we just thought, is the kids go to university or we see them twice in a week from a mile away. But yeah, Rob, you said vibes where emotions should be.

And I was like that, yeah, I think maybe that gets to the point of why I don't, maybe I can't crack them very much, they are a little too evasive, they're a little too putting up a front. And I always find that annoying, I think, because I'm someone who very naively always expects a degree of honesty and admires earnestness in music, even when it's clumsy, because in some ways,

I find that a little bit braver than this sort of cock waggling halfway house that Oasis often present. I mean, I think the ultimate sad expression is the dichotomy of Oasis and what they want to say is all around the world, which apparently, I don't know if this is apocryphal, was the first full song that Noel Gallagher ever wrote. Yes, that is true. But he said he was waiting for it to get the, you know, all of the production and resources in place to give it the hugeness that it needs,

by which he means just loads of overdubs and too long, and then repeat it again at the end of the album. But it's one of those songs that's like reaching back to that late sixties idea of unity and all you need is love, but it can't bring itself to say it because it might sound a bit hippie-ish and a bit touchy-feely.

And yes, probably a little bit homosexual, which they can't bring themselves to do. So it's technically about fucking nothing. It's just like, everybody over there, get together, but not too fucking close. I've got sunglasses on, you can't see my eyes. So as far as you're concerned, I've never cried. And it's like, what are you, what is this?

I mean, I might be paraphrasing there, but only slightly. I never got them in the first place, to be honest. I was probably a little bit too young when Definitely Maybe came out, and they weren't massive actually at that point They were having some top 10 singles But they weren't like one of the biggest things going with the debut album and I was only like eight Blur, maybe it was just my own that seemed to grab a lot more attention at least initially

Maybe because they've been around slightly longer. I'm not sure. But I mean, I certainly was more drawn to things like girls and boys and, you know, the big physio aspect. I mean, they're a pretty disingenuous group in their own unique way. Blur is not necessarily a bad thing. I don't think all music should be expected to be a literal expression. But I think there was a lot of variety and tonal texture to their stuff. All of their singles seemed to sound a bit different and as like a young eight, nine year old pop kid I think I found that more appealing.

I didn't actually listen to the whole of Definitely Maybe until I was in my twenties and it was very much from a more mature mindset where it was like, right, well, let's come back and analyze this and see what all the fuss was about. I think it was a recommendation from like the Mojo collection of something because of course it fucking was. But I came back to it and it's one of those things that I was never into like rock and anything punkier

or things like that as a kid. It's something I grew into. And so I think I, you know, and I appreciated it. And I loved the sound of that debut. You know, you're saying, Rob, it's like a, you know, shoe gaze kind of thing, but they never quite matched it. I'm not sure anyone has that they've got this sort of,

this thick raw to it. It's not actually that loud, but it just has density and presence and air movement to it And I think the thing that makes that debut work even in its weaker moments is that swagger? It's that sort of Hubristic sense of confidence because it is all fucking bragging You know, but they pull it off and I think yeah, you're right to point out that no matter what you say about it initially Liam Gallagher was refreshing as a voice and Liam Gallagher I think sounded exactly like he was aiming to sound

because he said previously and this might be retrofitting it a bit in interviews that I was going for somewhere between John Lydon and John Lennon and I'm like yeah actually you stand in the middle of those two, that's Liam Gallagher and I'm like well they obviously sound exactly like they're intending to and the first album sounds magnificent. If you're wanting a big sort of swaggering fuck you rock and roll thing, I mean it's not the best songs in the world, there's some good stuff on there, but yeah it's a great experience that first album and I'll stand by it as like a solid record even though Shaker Maker is a big pile of wank in my opinion. But outside that, we'll go past that. This track does sound a lot like something off the debut,

which isn't true of most of Morning Glory to be fair. All that was written about the same time. It does have a little bit more, you know, it's more multi-colored than the debut in its own way. And I think that while I agree with you, Rob, in general, that they don't Touch on anything more resonant and vulnerable at any point which I would like there is a little bit more of that on the second Album with like up, you know, it's never regarded as a great track of theirs, but I always appreciate that they did cast no shadow Because that's a lovely, you know resonant little statement as he walked away he cast no

shadow. That's... I really, really like that. There's a lot of sadness to that and a lot that can be inferred from it and I appreciate that as just as a broad but successful bit of poetry in my opinion. But this track, I like the ingredients. It's a well-written song. written song, but it's five and a half fucking minutes long and I'm fine if I'm not in the mood for their particular mid-tempo swagger, it drags for me. It's sort of like I have to be in that mood and mind space, but unfortunately nowadays it feels like I'm less and less in that mood or mind space because I need to there is a particular kind of Hysteria crossed with you know affected blasphemy that I can't quite Stand in anymore, but I'm circling around you see this is why I need notes people but

This track some might say, it does have a lot of the elements of the debut. It's got the kind of my sweet Lord via T-Rex guitar line, and it's got like a fairly perfunctory guitar solo in that style. It's got a lot of the vocal ticks and themes from that. It's got the reappearance of the shine, which is one of their most parodied inflections,

let's be honest. The problem is it doesn't sound as good as the debut production-wise, in my opinion. It's so similar, this song, in its stylistic terrain, but it's thinner and treblia, and that is fine on the rest of the album where they're going for poppier stuff like like Wonderwall or particularly Baki Nanga which I still really like I know that's not a popular

thing but I think that's a really solid pop tune and I understand why that and Wonderwall have endured I think they're both really good pop songs but this does feel a bit like this wasn't, didn't quite make the cut for the debut. And as I say, I find that I'm increasingly losing the grasp of that early twenties head space where I was determined to try and enjoy Oasis, which I had failed to do in my younger years

and now fail to do again. And unfortunately the massive foaming parade surrounding all of this is making me feel more and more alienated from what the point of all of this is. I think it's a decent song, but I can't touch that reservoir of resonance that's either through nostalgia or an attachment to that particular groove or feeling.

I don't quite understand this, but hey, people love it. It means a lot to a lot of people and I'm fine with that. But I just ask this, please, when I am going with a friend of mine who isn't a big fan of Oasis either, and I think part of the reason they escaped to Wales was to get away from Oasis, go for a pizza in the Arndale, Manchester's ever-charming Arndale.

Please don't play Oasis every third song. As if we all want to hear that and we're all instantly gonna get pumped. This is what we did, we went to Pizza Lux. It was, it was every other song. It's like, but they've only got like ten songs that people know and so we're gonna be hearing them before we have a tiramisu. So, yeah, look, I don't get it. Manchester's beginning to scare me with this now. Maybe

they'd be proud of that. One of the things I've always really loved about living in Manchester is how much the city wears its heart on its sleeve and when it's into something, gets really into something and there's a real sense of community and you know what might be termed as the slogans go is we do things differently here. It is actually true you do feel like you're living a bit of a bubble in Manchester that has its own values and its own shared heritage and love and things and that's one of the things that I love about living here but what's happening with Oasis at the moment is beyond anything I've ever seen

for not just any band but I think for any like media it's beyond anything I've ever seen the way Manchester has become Oasis City particularly this last week or so and I felt alienated walking around town yesterday I was like this is just crazy I feel like I've joined a cult it's really absolutely wild and I'm sure there's just like loads of commercial horses propelling it. But it does feel like I was in the office and someone asked me, are you going to see Oasis? And I said no. And then I hesitated before I followed up on that and said,

oh, I don't really want to. Because I thought, I felt genuinely a little bit like, is that a safe thing to say around people right now that I don't like Oasis? It's got to absolutely extreme levels and it doesn't scare me, you know, it's all very well-meaning but I think it has made me reflect on, you know, I would have fully gone with that at the time that I was into Oasis which was just before they split up and in that intervening period loads of people are like ready to welcome that part of their lives home and get right back into it and are so so excited by it. I'm just like oh

no I've moved on from that completely and it has made me sort of reflect on how very much I've changed in those intervening 16 years and other people may not have changed so much and that's absolutely great for them you know that's fine for But yeah, it really has made me reflect on how completely out of sync I am with how everyone's come rushing back to Oasis. And I've just not. And I cannot emphasise enough that if you're just interested in culture, you're interested in how things are in cities. Come to Manchester right now and see what it is like with Oasis.

It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. I don't think it'll ever be surpassed for something in the UK like this. It's extraordinary. So it's like living in our own North Korea theme park except the great exalted leader is fucking Liam Gallagher somehow. But it's everything as well.

They've covered the trams with Oasis adverts. Every billboard you see has got some Oasis tie into it So the clothes are all things that Liam Gallagher might wear And stuff like that, everything is tied into We are the land of Oasis and that's it I hope it wears off soon, I will just say that I really hope that they stop this as soon as the shows are over Because I've had enough. Yeah every storm passes. I get the feeling that when we

come to Don't Look Back in Anger that we may need to just carve out an entire episode for that song alone because I feel like we've all got lots to say about Oasis that we're kind of holding off on slightly because that's the bigger deal or maybe for all around the world. But I feel like Oasis are not the... it's not the last time we're going to have a long discussion about them. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that because I feel like I haven't quite let loose on how I feel about Oasis. I feel like there's more appropriate times and I wonder if we've maybe felt the same. I think as well once we get to Don't Look Back in Anger, we will at least be post-Reunion tour. You know we will be able at least it's UK like you know we will be able to look

at it and go oh that's gone that was fun I suppose bit weird but hey glad for everybody I guess so the third and final song this week is this Love, life and laughter is all I believe My savior is pure now because my lonely heart would bleed I never learned how to hold love and stay strong to love Now I close my eyes now and I'm dreaming right where I belong Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Okay, this is Dreamer by Living Joy. Released as the lead single from the group's debut studio album titled Don't Stop Movin', Dreamer is Living Joy's first single to be released in the UK and their first to reach number 1. However, as of 2025, it is their last. Dreamer first entered the UK charts in September 1994, at number 18, reaching number 1 during its 12th week. It stayed at number 1 for… one week! In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 71,000 copies beating

competition from Waglione by Perez Prado, Scatman by Scatman John and Lenny by Supergrass. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Dreamer dropped one place to number two. By the time it was done on the charts that have been inside the top 104, 32 weeks, the song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK as of 2025, Ed, Living Joy, how we feeling? Yeah, I had no idea that this act was called Living Joy, what a bloody stupid name. And to be honest, I was just treating this as standard as a kind of exercise. I go through my playlist, you know, which has all of the number ones of the 90s on it and I just go for an order. And I was just like, living joy.

And I had sort of Tony DeBart impressions going on. And it was like, oh, it was just one of those pleasant enough kind of dance trifles that passes by. And then after a few seconds, the boom, boom, boom, boom, boom came on and I was like, oh yeah. And I was like, I just started buzzing and to be quite honest I kept buzzing through the duration of the song and then I played it again and

I still had a blast with it. This, I really, really like this. This is one of my favourite dance pop tunes we've covered so far. And I think it's not only the fact that it's got a nicely rounded arrangement that it doesn't tie itself to an era because it's not only the fact that it's got a nicely rounded arrangement, that it doesn't tie itself to an era because it's deliberately artificial and it's sort of cheap and angular in places. And that doesn't really age. And that's probably why that kind of mid 90s

sort of balleric sound has actually endured in a lot of ways. But also where a lot of the early 90s Euro pop and dance pop stuff we've had has somebody trying to do like a you know oh we've got a soul singer to do this and it sounds a little stiff and a little like someone doing an impression of another singer or has been told to do something the vocalistist on this, I mean, they're not like an amazing singer or anything, but it goes for passion over precision. And this very much sounds like someone

who's just going with the flow and filling every single bit of air with words. And it's sort of double-tracked, but it's slightly sloppily done. But it just adds to this sense of urgency that it's almost like somebody toasting or something or doing it live over the top it's got loads of energy and I really bloody like this I forgot how much I enjoyed this track I think this is a bit of a 90s dance pop evergreen and I think that's all I've

got to say it's really strange for me this have you ever had something that you feel like only you can hear in a song and I'm really interested to find out now whether you two Can hear it as well because I've done some googling and I've got nothing on this I so I like this. I think it's I think it's very fun thing is a good toe-tapper I don't think it's anything particularly special. I think it's just a nice mid 90s You know in the style of Gina G or wigfield, you know, it's just it's just a nice mid 90s you know in the style of Gina G or Wigfield you know it's just it's just a nice dance floor track from the mid 90s it's it's my least favorite of the week but that's just because it's been very good week but yeah it's fun it's boppy it's very

easy to sing along to it and that singer does have a lot of energy so big plus points all around, really. I'm just going to kind of skat over this, talk about the one big problem I've always had with this. I usually am a big fan of songs that have an element of it that's just a little tiny bit not in tune. I always really liked the start of Don't Call Me Baby that's got that bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum that bum bum bum bum bum bum that's not quite in tune. I love that bit in Starships by Nicki Minaj that breakdown that's like in a completely different key and completely atonal to listen to I think that's nice and confronting but I don't like in this that

not all of the song but certainly all of the choruses the vocals are out of tune they're in a different key like just slightly up like sort of somewhere between quarter tone and semitone it's only a little bit but it is all of the choruses all the way through all the choruses. Oh it's an imprecise vocal. As I say I was always like it is scrappy. I think it's more than imprecise it's like it's been it's had like that pal videotape effect done to it but like it's like it's like someone's accidentally pitch shifted the vocals up and not the rest of the song. Interesting.

And her vocals are completely out, well not completely out, but they are out of tune for the whole song. And every single time I've heard this, like ever since I was a kid, I just like cannot un-hear it. Like, just, just quantize that, just snap it and you've got a great song here. But I have a real problem with that, and genuinely, like, can you two hear that? Because everywhere I've looked, nobody seems to notice this. Nobody's ever criticized it.

Do you two know what I mean? I know what you mean, but I can't say it bothered me, really. How about you, Ed? Yeah, as I implied, I mean, I think it's overtaken by the energy. And I mean, it's such an instant and unfussy sounding vocal, I don't really mind. But I think I'd never noticed that it was so systematically kind of sharp, as it were. You were to take the whole thing down by just like half a semitone, it would snap and it would all be... It's not like a few notes are out, she's in tune with herself. Just the whole thing

The whole vocal is not in tune with the instrumental The thing is that I get why that would really Like put you off and be a hurdle because I have that with certain songs and other people can't hear it either It's so strange. I mean, did you know did anyone else notice? Was it just me? I mean, maybe she isn't it's just the effect as on my ears in in last week's I mean it was a bollocks song anyway but love can build a bridge Cher sounded flat for the entire song yeah you were saying Cher was flat to you yeah oh right so it's not just me she was just flat I think she was just genuinely flat but in this I feel like something's gone wrong with the edits or something like that it's just I don't know I don't know what it

is but it really like detracts from my ability to enjoy the whole song really I can understand it But I just thought as I say it doesn't it doesn't probably faze me as much. I don't pick up I've got to say really haven't said that you know it is it is really fun and Just very straight down the line easy like straight through at number one banger like No question if I'd heard this and someone had said do you reckon this gets number one in the 90s? I'd be like oh yeah surely, surely this gets number one.

I think this is great, I feel like if you drop this into the early 2010s completely unchanged you would still get a hit out of it, I think you know all those Ibiza inspired dance tracks from the period of optimistic pop that we all say, recession pop or whatever, they all sound like this in one way or another. You know, which I guess this kind of took its lead from Robin S a little bit as well, but you know, that the syncopated synth stabs, the deep but trebly bass hits, the doodlydoodoo, you know, the kind of rhythm section that makes you want to wave your arms around, you

know, this is bliss in many ways. And that's before you get to Janice Robinson, the vocalist, who I think whenever she comes in, I think, you know, she refreshes it with new ideas, new ways to go. You know, obviously you get the you fight the dream. But then you get that rap delivery there. They rely rather lonely, but dreaming that that's you. That's that's terrific fun.

I think. It feels like this is something new for you every time you kind of turn round. It feels like it tees one up for a handbag house to knock out the park as well a few years down the line. What I find sort of mad about this though is that this wasn't a hit in Italy and barely a hit in America, which is where Living Joy were from, but it seemed to come to us and we took it in with open arms. You know, we were in a good mood during the spring of 95, clearly.

I don't think this is life-changing or anything, but when this came on in the car the other week, when I was listening through to the 95 number ones ahead of time, I was like, oh, I remember this fairly well, you know, this should be fun to listen to. Then by the time I pulled into Tesco or something near my house and I was just sitting in the car, just not getting out. Ignition was off and I just needed to get out and do my shopping. I was like, no, no, I'm going to sit with, I'm going to sit with this until the end. I do enjoy this a lot. Just on Janice Robinson, actually, she released a solo version of this in 2005. Matt Helders of the Arctic Monkeys remixed this for a late night tale series in 2011,

which used like more live drum tracking and some 8-bit style keyboard instrumentation. And then apparently in 2018, which I think was the last season or at least the second to last season of the X Factor, Janice turned up, she auditioned, she sang Dreamer and made it to the live finals. She got all the way through, she finished in 9th place in X Factor 2018. And good for her, but then I started thinking, should professional singers with number one singles get to audition on the X Factor? I feel like she's already got her foot in the door. Or is that something they added in later? It is, because they always made a point on the voice of that happening so I think

X-Factor was responding to that so one of the winners of the voice is one of Hearsay. Kevin from Hearsay won the voice and one of the three girls from Cleopatra was a finalist on the first series of The Voice as well so I think the X-Factor was responding to that. Not sorry not Hearsay from Liberty X not Hearsay Liberty X. Yeah, yeah. But still the number one artist won the voice, yeah. It's like that Simpsons bit with the child disqualified found to be Paul Simon.

So, before we go, we're just going to check. So for me, I'm going to get mine out of the way. It is a triple vault week for me this week. Back for good, some might say Dreamer, they're all going in. Yeah, I think I've actually looked back. It's my it's the first time I've vaulted every single song in an episode. I think since we covered 2003 So we're really going back on the show No, like absolute stone-cold classics in my life But all good enough to just be on the cusp of the vault and slip in. I think we've had a really strong week this week. So Andy, take that oasis and live

in joy. How are we feeling? I don't need to hope that Back 4 Good will come back for good because it's not going anywhere. It's staying where it is. It was close to the vault, I'm not going to lie, it was close but I had enough problems with it that I thought it would be overly generous. As for some might say, some might say that it will find the vault today. Yeah, that's going in the vault. And as for living joy, well, it's not going to be live in vault. Live in the vault. That's not going to happen.

It's going to stay where it is. That was just torturous. To sum up, some might say is in the vault the other two are not but it has been a very Strong week the strongest week we've had for quite a while I think yeah and Ed back for good some might say and dreamer seems minor kind of inverse of yours, sir Andy because I'm a contrarian douchebag evidently and It seems that take that and the vault will never be uncommon again So, um, yeah, that's that's going in the vault because I really really like it after all of this time

some might say I'm not putting this anywhere. It isn't bad. I think there's a lot of good elements to it. I don't enjoy it that much But I am Going to put the 90s music industry and the surrounding media hysteria around Oasis and apparently remains around Oasis in the bin and Manchester I'm talking to all of you. I'm warning you take down the fucking Oasis merch advertising hoardings from st. Peter's Square or you will be suffocating in that pie hole between Timmy Mallet's butt cheeks.

That's a warning. Now, can I vault the new fast automatic daffodils instead? Is that an option? Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Unfortunately, the charts dictate that that's not the case for you unfortunately but hey maybe we'll do an honorary vault in one day we can stick em in we can sneak em in at the end when we do our 90s review show we'll sneak em in and maybe no one will notice yeah i think the highest charting single was about number 79 unfortunately but justice for the new fads anyway and

would you like a potato because I'm served Volta Raleigh today and this piece of high-energy dance pop deliciousness is joining Barlow and company in the vault yeah it was you, I have mixed feelings about Oasis. But it was a good crop this week. A couple of absolute diamonds I think. Some proper Maris Pipers. It was a good mashup. Hey! So that is it for this week's episode. When we come back we'll be continuing our journey through the summer of 1995 and

we will see you for it! See you then! Bye bye now! Bye bye! Bye!