Hits 21 - 1995 (3): Robson & Jerome, The Outhere Brothers, Take That

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to Hits 21, the show that's taking a look back at every single UK #1 hit.You can follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hits21UKYou can email us: [e-mail] 21 DOES NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO ANY MUSIC USED IN THE EPISODES. USAGE OF ALL MUSIC USED IN THIS PODCAST FALLS UNDER SECTION 30(1) OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT 1988.

It's 21 Well, hi there, everyone, Well, hi there, everyone, and welcome back to HITS 21, 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, you can email us at Hits21 Podcast at gmail.com. We're back over on Twitter at Hits21 UK.

Thank you ever so much for waiting while we sorted things out. And for joining us again, we are currently looking back at the year 1995, despite interruptions. This week we'll be covering the period between the first. 14th of May and the 19th of August. We are flying through the summer of 95 in this episode and just in case anyone from Spotify or a record label is listening. Hits 21 does not own the rights to any of the music used in this episode. However, usage of all the music in this podcast falls under section 30 clause one of the copyright act 1988 and if any

of your little bots are listening analyze this for copyright. I stuck my middle finger in the air there which is great. I was wondering what I was. I didn't know if you're just like your palm mouth or something. It could have been anything. I'll smack your little box. Yeah.

Yeah, we were caught in a, basically just to explain, we were caught in a wave of music podcasts who have all been hit with copyright strikes. over very limited use of music. We do not make any money from this podcast. It is not monetized whatsoever. And I don't think that there are people at the labels

actually coming after us after listening to our podcast. I think what's happening is that apparently, according to Pop Pantheon, which is a much bigger podcast than us and is run in America, they seem to think, or they have been in communication with Spotify, that seems to indicate that a lot of record labels

are now just using bot, to find literally any usage of their music on the internet so that they can come down on the real villains which is us three so yeah and I would have got it away with it wasn't for those pesky kids exactly so Andy kick us off this week the UK album charts how are they looking over the summer in 95 yes it is good to be back in the summer of 1995 where are pretty much almost exactly 30 years ago

so this is what was the zeitgeist was of 30 years ago so we start with take that with nobody else their latest at number one for two weeks double platinum that's then kicked off the top spot by paul weller with stanley road which went number one for one week but went quadruple platinum after that it's a compilation of singles titled singles from alison moye that were number one for one week and went single platinum then we've got Pink Floyd of all people with Pulse

which went number one for two weeks and when only gold. Isn't that interesting that a Pink Floyd album was outsold by singles by Alison Moyet? Wouldn't have called that, if I'm honest. Then we've got Michael Jackson with a very strange album which is, disc one is a compilation and then the second disc is a new studio album

and it has the most workshopped title, I think, in the history of music, which is history. but his, in capital, so his, tori, past, present and future, book one by Michael Jackson. Just a horrendously bad title for an album. But I did own that as a kid, and that went number one for one week and went four times platinum, and we'll be coming back to that later in the year, I'm sure. Then we've got Bon Jovi with These Days, which went number one for four weeks and went four times platinum,

and then we finally finish off. with supergrass, with I Should Coco. Doesn't sound like a sentence to me, which went number one for three weeks and went single platinum. So, busy market this time. Not heard that album, not heard that album, no. All right, Andy, thank you for that.

I'm just going to give you some news headlines now from the summer of 95. In Bosnia, 8,000 people are killed in the Srebrenica massacre. It's the first recognized genocide in Europe since World War II. In France, four people are killed. killed in a bomb attack on the Paris Metro.

And in the UK, Prime Minister John Major wins the Tory leader election, as pubs are legally allowed to open on Sunday afternoons for the first time. In America, actor Christopher Reeve is paralysed after falling from a horse. And in the O.J. Simpson trial, a pair of black leather gloves, presumably worn by Nicole Brown's murderer, presented as evidence, but the gloves famously do not fit over Simpson's hands. The films to hit the top of the UK box office during this period were as follows. Street Fighter, Rob Roy, the Brady Bunch movie, Bad Boys, Congo, First Night, Batman Forever, Casper and Waterworld.

And in major pop news, Robbie Williams announces that he will be leaving. Take that. And the Samaritans set up a support line for distraught fans. Oh dear, Ed. How are they coping in America with the loss of Robbie Williams from take that? I'm sure they care very much. Well, in America, I don't think huge tears were wept for Robbie Williams. No.

But what we do have is more lucrative soundtrackery as the original soundtrack for Ghetto Comedy Friday at stakes two whole weeks at number one in the album charts. And as the contemporary number one single was also singing the praises of Friday night, we can infer from this the something or whatever and the blowfish for four straight weeks of borderline

illegal driving with cracked rear view I actually make that five weeks as there's only a week's respite from their aquatic navel gazing in order to have another bloody pink Floyd album the one that Andy mentioned before, Pulse. Now, yeah, while it only went gold over here you've got to look at the fact that it is

it is a live album by Pink Floyd's third most popular lineup and we also have two weeks of bankable bethaging with rather like in the UK MJ's history past present and future a book one so profitable though are soundtracks that even Pocahontas gets her time to shine and surely up there with the rescuers down under in Disney's 90s catalogue in terms of lasting public resonance, that one. Obagora, it's the blowfish again. Too cracked, too rear furious, to keep away from pole position. And then we have a week of dreaming of you by

Selina. Long pause. Before, unique R&B hip-hop hybrid, bone, thugs and harmony, charm the American public for two weeks. Singles are rather less complicated. We've only got three.

Big era for big singles, this. As mentioned before, Montel Jordan is still telling people how to start their weekends after seven bloody weeks before Brian Adams breaches the wall once more with a tribute to boys to men. Have you ever really loved a woman? After five weeks of that, TLC make a splash with waterfalls

aided by a video where they turn into that water monster from the abyss. If you're under 45, please replace that joke with a reference to Terminator 2 and laugh appropriately. Before acknowledging, of course, that for all its eye-popping CGI wibbleys,

it's basically just the first movie with more money, more pretentious momentum-killing monologues, more padding and more family-friendly Arnish stick. In many ways, it predates the modern self-important free our superhero movie. So I just look at it this way.

No T2. well we'd likely have no man of steel and where would we be there I've got to protest I must protest I'm sorry I'm breaking the fourth wall here I'm breaking the fourth wall

that Ed and I had this conversation in person at the weekend about how shocking I find it that he thinks Terminator 1 is better than Terminator 2 is doing this to wind me up and it's worked I'm not happy but lasting positive change

sometimes ends up with facing shock facing surprise facing the different and learning that Terminator is the super film. Anyway, sorry. I'm in the minority there. Just ignore me. I'm an old fool. So yeah, that had some information about music in it. Rob. Thank you both then. Very much for those reports. And we are going to crack on with our first song this week. Our first number one for a while. It's this.

My darling, I've hung good for your touch a long long long time. And time goes by so slowly. I can do so much are you still my need your love? I need your love. Speed your love to me. All right, this is Unchained Melody, double A-side with the White Cliffs of Dover by Robson and Jerome. Released as the lead single from their debut studio album titled Robson and Jerome,

Unchained Melody with the White Cliffs of Dover, is Robson and Jerome's first single 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 Robson and Jerome during our 90s coverage. The songs are both covers. Unchained Melody was originally recorded in 1955 by Todd Duncan, while White Cliffs of Dover was originally recorded by Vera Lynn in 1942. Unchained Melody with the White Cliffs of Dover went straight in at number one as a brand new entry. it stayed at number one for seven weeks across its seven weeks atop the charts it sold 1.6 million copies and beat competition from the following top 10 entries we're going to do it again by manchester united football squad they didn't love city groove by love city groove your loving arms by billy ray martin that

Look in Your Eye by Ali Campbell. Surrender Your Love by Nightcrawlers. Yes, by McCallmont and Butler. Common People by Paul. Oh, my God. I Need Your Loving by Baby D. Scream by Michael and Janet Jackson. This Ain't a Love Song by Bon Jovi.

Reverend Black Grape by Black Grape. Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, kill me by you two. Think of you by Wigfield. Right in the Night by Jam and Spoon. Boom, boom, boom, by the Out Here Brothers. Don't want to forgive me now by Wet, Wet, Wet. Search for the Hero by M-Peeple. A girl like you by Edwin Collins.

Wump, there it is by Clock. This is a call by Foo Fighters and Stillness in Time by Jamiroquai. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Unchained Melody and the White Gliss of Dover, dropped one place to number two. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 104,

25 weeks. The song is currently officially certified three times platinum in the UK as of 2025. Ed, this, go. You mentioned a debut album there. The debut album by Robson and Jerome. Was there there for a second?

I don't care. That's fair. That is entirely fair. I don't want you or anybody else to spend any more time on that. Now, I'm aware. that in our top secret scorey voty boxy thing that I've actually given this a higher score than either of you and I hate it

so that's spoiled that a little bit I was trying to find out what this sounds like to me how it feels because it very much resembles a product I remember reading a book once that had a bunch of commentary on songs by Andy Partridge from XTC and he once described a very popular pop rock band

as pre-chewed food and I'm not going to name that band because I can already feel the distant heat from my Terminator 2 comment but yeah that seems to ring true here because it's just got that sense of this is just something that's been made as easy to swallow as possible

and is relying as much on the memory of originally taking it in as possible. Oh my God, that backing track, I mean, it reminds me of like a particularly low effort Stock Aiken Waterman, like early 90s track, you know, when they're really going off the boil. Like, it is very tears on my pillow, isn't it?

You know, no shade on Kylie, but super shade on that fucking song. Have you ever seen either of you, both of you, the Father Ted episode where they do the Elvis impersonations? Yes Right This sounds Like the backing track

When Dougal's Doing his little Elvis dance Yes It's funny You should mention Father Ted as well Because we've just

Gone past Search for the hero As well Oh God Yeah That's why I chuckle Because all I can think Of is a floating

sheep You know That's it That's that Done And I'm happy I'm happy With that

Transpired In the years That always Makes me happy But yeah Do you know what though Robson and Jerome

I just can think I get no dislike for them whatsoever from this. They don't sing it badly, although somehow, even though it was a duet, they seem to be hiding behind each other's voices. Do you know what I mean? It's like they're trying to make each other go in front, you know, to be human shield for this.

There's not much confidence here, and why would they be? They've been put up to this probably by fucking ITV. You know, it's just no one... Ain't no one got time. for that. I'm sure they've done some good stuff, but um, oh yes, they did the Up series. They did the Up series. So, sorry, vindication. But anyway, yeah, um, I can't hate this. I don't hate it. There's not enough to hate. And my grandma loved it. It's the only single she ever bought.

She actually made me show her how to use her cassette player in order to listen to it. And that was it. This was all the music that she wanted in her, in her frail dotage. And, and, And I want to cast aspersions on my deceased grandma, but that is a bit sad, isn't it? That this is all you want and music at the end. This is what you want to remember about music. You do have to wonder, there are any, what old ages like, that you're making those kind of choices. Like, God, it's, yeah, let's not end up like that. Let's keep doing this podcast and keep it cool.

What if one day, you know, in 50 years' time, you know, TV stars, Zip Blorgon does a cover version of like Pink Pony Club and it's all like karaoke version will we'll be like oh

oh do you remember oh seven million copies and our grandchildren look at us like we've literally ready to die there and then I mean it's kind of already

happened with that duolipa sacrifice cold heart thing it kind of already happened there yeah I don't know anything about modern music. I got my one modern music reference in. Not a million miles from it, yeah.

Well, since this is a cover of a cover, of a cover of a cover in about the 15-bigillionth time that we've covered this song on Hitz 21, I decided to do a little cover version of my own just as a little experiment. So instead of typing a new review for Robson and Jerome,

what I've done is I've brought up my review of Gareth Gates' version of Unchained Melody, replace the nouns in the relevant places, and I'm just going to see how much of it applies. Some of this may not apply to Robson and Jerome. Some of it may just apply to Gareth Gates, but I'm just going to replace the nouns and then see how much of it fits, because fuck, I did not want to waste my time on this. So, yes, this version keeps with the formula, so it's kind of onto a winner, I guess, and hey, this sold a bucket load. Actually, it sold several

bucket loads. It's sold skip loads, but it's very clean. It's polished and professional to the point where it starts to feel false. The backing track sounds like a karaoke instrumental. Actually, the karaoke version sound better than this. This is a bit butlin's unchained melody. And Robson and Jerome's vocals, they're sweet but they're very sterile. The whole track has kind of had any life vacuum suction out of it. You're looking at the bare essentials, but it's all creased and wrapped in plastic. You know the original form is in there somewhere, but what you're looking at is the opposite.

I think it's the sort of right song to go with to launch Robson and Jerome. The facts say it was fine, but meh. So I would just say, just use that review, but instead of the bits where I mention that they've polished the track too much, just replace that with the opposite criticism actually, because neither Robson nor Jerome

sound like they've been handled well on this recording. Like you're saying it, they kind of sound like they're hiding behind each. other. I think they're a bit pitchy, think they're a bit flat. They don't even try to hit the high notes, which means that the big cathartic releases at the end of the song don't hit in the same way. And like, I get it, this is kind of like the equivalent of what we covered years later, that Gavin and Stacey Island's in the stream thing, where it's a scene from a TV show lifted out and put onto a record. So they want to keep that feeling, the familiarity. They want to keep the sense of

comedy and warmth, I guess, and that comes through making Robson and Jerome sound all. ordinary or as ordinary as their TV characters on Soldier Soldier, but nah, fuck that. No, you know, there's this whole like all shucks energy to it all as well, and it really turns me off. You're selling millions of copies and you're still doing the fucking like hands in your pocket, shoulder shrug, cheeky little smile like, oh, how have we ended up here? Kind of routine. I don't know. And also, the White Cliffs of Dover is there. Yep, it's there.

I've acknowledged it. This is rubbish. I'm sorry this is and fucking common people sitting at number two well at least we'll get a chance to cover that somehow

that's a bit of mitigation I was honestly of a mind to just review common people instead until Lizzie said now not in the spirit of the podcast you should review Unchained Melody so there it is I did my best

Andy how about you well you've both kind of covered most of what I wanted to say to be honest I do think it's apt to reuse the notes from Gareth Gates to some extent

because this is horribly this is the second version of this at number one which is Simon Cowell adjacent like this guy is already infecting the charts even in the mid-90s it's just oh horrible but I genuinely think Gareth's version is better like I really do

and I didn't like Gareth's version really but I mean obviously I've got my nostalgia hat on for that can't avoid that but I do think he at least goes for it more here there is just a whiff of genuine embarrassment in this whole thing like it feels like they're mortified to be doing this they're just not natural pop stars at all and i feel embarrassment on their behalf partly because they're just not exactly selling this to me and they make me feel uncomfortable through their performance here but also like it's just genuinely so bad like it's really really bad and for something that was as big a hit as this which i'd never really listened to before because you'd never hear it anymore i this must have something to it, some little ace in the hole that's like, ah, I see why that took off. Um, no, no. We've had lots of songs that were number one for ages on this show that I didn't like, but I get it. They're just not for me. But this is one of the few. I don't

say this about many things, but this is one of the few where I, I don't understand. Like, I genuinely am at a loss. I don't understand how this was so popular. I know the history of it. I know the whole soldier soldier thing. I know the literal. version of how, but in terms of the cultural how, not getting it. Don't understand. Because like, it's awful. Let's just start at that. This is absolutely terrible to listen to. But also, like, this is very squarely pointed at nannas and maybe some of your older mums, but mainly nannas. And that's fair enough, but they're not the ones who are going out into the shops and buying singles. Like, someone else is surely buying that for them because it's all about

I think they did for this. It just seems like a weird anomaly of, like, how do you get that age bracket to dominate the chart for seven weeks? That just doesn't seem like a thing that happens. And why this? Is it literally just because it's these old-timey songs that are, like, older than dust? Like, is it just that?

Because it doesn't seem to have much else going for it. Combine that with the fact that this be fucking common people to number one. You know, one of the default. signing songs of the whole era. But not just that, but plenty of good stuff that you mentioned that, you know, I am quite fond of search for the hero. And, you know, foo fighters, we could have got to talk about them

at a surprisingly early stage there. I mean, come on. I'm just, I'm really baffled at the 1995 British public here for doing this. And it just sets my teeth on edge. Like, we've heard this song so many times. This is the worst version that we've had yet. They really can't do the high notes at all.

and the only thing this has going for it is the unintentional humour in those high notes because they just can't do it and as we're building up to it the first time I listened to this as we're building up to it it's like oh no please don't do it please don't do the high notes and again Gareth does much better

and Gareth couldn't do those notes at all but he did them better than Robinson and Jerome manager yeah talk about Damant Gareth with faint praise but really he can have an extra point or two on our 2002 scoring system because glimy this is what we could have had this is what we did have

no wonder Gareth took off I'm in agreement there I mean I was no fan you know of that even though I was spectating at that point but Gareth Gareth Gates got a good voice it was all right

it was bland but the basic competence was there we made lots of fun at the time about how the material you know in terms of what it is the sort of extra textual side of the material he was being given was not suited to him at all. He was being given Elvis and Righteous Brothers and,

you know, he was being given really old songs to sing. He did Spirit in the Sky as well, you know. But on a musical level, this song does suit Gareth Gates. Like, it's his sort of thing. He's a balladeer, you know. Yeah, it suits him. But it does not suit Robson and Jerome. I don't know what would suit them because they have no character in their voice at all. But yeah, this is, oh this is awful White Cliffs of Dover on the other hand put myself through that as well

and I have to acknowledge my own bias with this because everything to do with White Cliffs of Dover and basically anything by Vera Lynn to be honest I kind of clench up a bit now unfortunately for reasons beyond her which is that all of that music

has kind of fallen under the sole ownership of Reform UK really over the past five or ten years that you know Whitecliffs of Dover is now you know, oh, when Britain was great and thinking about, you know, the channel crossings and stuff like that,

that all that stuff has been commandeered now and it's this horrible, gross form of patriotism, which I hate, and I really felt uncomfortable with the Captain Tom wheel meet again, and I can't help but feel uncomfortable with White Cliffs of Dover here as well, even though it's divorced of all that context. I just, ugh, I feel horrible about all that.

And it's equally awful. I mean, at least goes for it a bit more. It's got a bigger finish. but what are they doing? White Cliffs are Dover in the 90s? They weren't even born when either of these songs came out. The parents might not have been born when White Cliffs of Dover came out.

You know, this is music of their grandparents, not their parents. Just, yeah, absolutely baffling. And in the future, I will be treating this pair of songs in the same way that Lena Healy supposedly treats Jerome Flynn, which is I will refuse to ever be in the room with it. I know, gosh, yes, a mark of how much I just cannot stand it, that a literal, prominent Game of Thrones cast member is on this,

and I can't forgive it and won't forgive it and refuse to forgive it. For my money, the worst main character in Game of Thrones, though. That's my take. I don't like Bron at all, but yeah. Oh, that's a shame. I know he's a bit of a one-trick pony, as it were, but I liked him in that. Maybe because I remembered all this shit, and it was a surprise.

So for people from my generation, it was like, oh, fuck, it's white cliffs of Dover Maybe we think Oh because this is You know This is the 90s It's not as old-fashioned But no this

This song was ancient Even then It was already over 50 years old Even then It's buffling Yeah I mean have either Have either of you ever seen

Soldier Soldier No clips of But nothing much Mainly while we've been doing research For this to be honest I've seen about as much of that As I ever saw of Heartbeat

Yeah And that's another one of my You know Another Grandma Wool staple we called her grandma wool I thought that was her name for years and years but it just turns out it's because she like knitting so talk about

fucking tight yeah it is it's like talk about tight casting no I mean you probably you probably picture my grandma from all of this can't you but anyway yeah just just to say one more thing on this because I got next to fuck all to say about the next song

I think I said it before on an unrelated track there was another cover but if you want to realize as it took me forever to realize that this is actually a good song hidden beneath bland concrete re-recordings please listen to Willie Nelson's version of Stardust it's absolutely lovely it's very tender it's very intimate

it's not grandiose and it sounds like an actual romantic fucking song that someone would sing to someone else so yeah check that out just listen to Willie Nelson full stuff have you yeah no dude Willie Nelson is excellent he's just great all over yeah he is he is he still go in on album nine trillion and eight and spliff eight billion and five but well good on him all right then so the second song up this week is this boom boom no let me say boom boom boom no we're about to say leo oh they said boom boom boom no let me and say leo boom boom boom no we've about to say leo

Now it is, it's the outer world, ready to work the world with the boom, so I hope you can stand the vibration, because we're about to rock the entire nation, all right? Here we go. All right, this is boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, by me I'm going to be able to sell Leo. All right, this is Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, by the Out Here Brothers. released as the fourth single from their debut studio album titled One Polish, Two Biscuits and a Fish Sandwich. Boom Boom Boom is the Out Here Brothers second single to be released in the UK and their second to reach number one. However, as of 2025, it is their last. Boom, boom, boom.

First entered the UK charts at number 15, reaching number one during its fourth week. It stayed at number one for four, four. weeks in its first week atop the charts it sold 62,000 copies beating competition from I'm a Believer by EMF, shy guy by Diana King, shoot me with your love by DREAM, humping around by Bobby Brown and in the summertime by Shaggy and Rayvon. In week two, it's sold 74,000 copies beating competition from All right by Supergrass and Happy by Eminate. In week three, it sold 77,000 copies, beating competition from Kiss from a Rose by Seal. You Do Something to Me by Paul Weller.

And three is family by Dana Dawson, Dana Dawson. And in week four, it sold 65,000 copies beating competition from Try Me Out by Corona. And I'll be there for you by Method Man and Mary J. Blige. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, boom, boom, boom, dropped one place to number two. 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 platinum in the UK As of 20-25

Andy A boom boom boom boom go go I said a boom boom boom boom I let me hear you say not much Because I've not got very little to say about this one Yeah This to me is like pretty much bang on straight down the line average

it's good it's fine it's nice all those words you're taught not to use in secondary school are words that apply to this song basically there's nothing actively offensive about it but it definitely doesn't get me excited

in any particular way I'm tempted to reference that absolutely awful clip of when Margaret Thatcher was on Saturday Superstorm was reviewing songs of the time from the 80s and there was a particular song I don't know what it was, but she went, oh, it has a good rhythm through it.

And that's exactly what I feel about this. That's all of it. It's got a good rhythm to it. Yeah, it's like definitely bouncy and fun. And that call and response hook, yeah, that's pretty dynamite. You can see why that took off. But there's really not much to this. It's style over substance.

And that's absolutely fine because, you know, there's a million and one songs that do exactly the same thing as this, you know, that just have that one hook, good beat behind her, and that's it. And it's not meant to be treated as any more of a hearty meal than just a chocolate biscuit, basically. That's all this is. This is just, you know, a snack in musical terms. And it was never really designed to be discussed 30 years later, you know, trying to pick it apart. There's not much to this, and it's fine. It's just a solid, normal pop hit that I don't object to in any way. One thing I do think about this though that I don't like is that

synth that comes in near the start which seems straight out of like two unlimited I think that it really shocked me though was like oh when this first came in I thought oh this is there this sounds very mid-90s but then we're right back in the early 90s and it dislocated me a little bit I thought

it sounded a bit weirdly out of date considering that this is a mid-90s classic it feels a bit earlier than it is really so yeah but other than that not got really anything to say, except just to pose a question to the group. I think

going from sort of unchained melody, but particularly White Cliffs of Dover, to this, I think might be the most extreme genre shift from one week to the other on the charts that we've yet had on hits 21. I had a look. The main competitor I can think of is that

I can't get you out of my head was knocked off the top spot by because I got high. That's the main one that I can think of. But yeah, I think this might be the most extreme shift that we've ever had to go from, you know, Robson and Jerome covering Vera Lynn to

a clubbop. And I much, much prefer this. Much prefer this. That's a good point. I mean, do you think it actually might have, you know, might have been done a favour by the fact that it came after fucking Robson and Jerome? I mean, is this actually decent?

Or is it just that it came after Robson and Jerome? I'm not sure anymore. I bet there were a lot of people who were like, oh, thank God for that. I've got that off the charts and there will have been before that you know probably the same group of people like oh let's just get that off number one let's just get something to number one even if you're not particularly that huge on it you just want something fresh you know um so i think that might have played into it a little bit that this is the dessert after the very very long a disappointing main course isn't it so yeah i think um what you've both said there actually comes up in my notes in a second so i'll

just kind of go through them and then we can maybe have a you know i can kind of mention it basically almost verbatim what you've said there Andy but like I find this way more bearable than wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle or wiggle wiggle whatever you know and can you believe this is not the last time in the 90s that will be coming to a song that repeats the word boom in its title and that's all it does anyway yeah kind of shocked at how dirty this is I've forgotten that the clean version was only for the radios but I'm almost pleasantly shocked by how dirty it is because I think it reveals the point behind its success which is that I imagine we all thought

it was hilarious for a song about a very very aggressive doggy style sex to finally knock Robson and Jerome off number one I'm sure that there was a bit of a campaign to like this cutesy family friendly thing let's just obliterate it with a song where a guy literally says

your booty is so round but he says it in such a way that like and even has lines like I won't come until it's time like yeah I think there's a deliberate kind of push for this it's a bit of a juvenile reason

but I'll take what I can get you know I think this has more attitude than wiggle wiggle and it has a genuinely resonant hook as well the world has been unsuccessful in its attempts to get this out of its head for 30 years now so that counts for something I think it's a bit scusier and larger

too than wiggle wiggle obviously the clean version was the one that everyone heard but when word gets around that there's a dirty version and that the only way you can hear it is by buying the single well there you go that gets it to number one but we have to remember that I'm comparing this to fucking wiggle wiggle wiggle as much as I prefer it to wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle

wiggle is one of the worst songs we've ever covered on the show this is still plagued with similar issues just to a lesser extent repetitive not by design but by a lack of imagination both of the brothers have incredibly irritating voices I've found I also just have no emotional connection to this because I think even at parties

I feel like this kind of stopped getting played by DJs around the millennium and it's also far too long for what it is even at three minutes 20 seconds but yeah not that close to a pie hole in for me this is probably the heaviest five out of ten I've ever given but hey you know it's it isn't wiggle wiggle and I'm

and it's not untrained melody either the Robson and Jerome Unchained Melody It's not that either So yeah Ed Out here brothers What do we think Basically coming off what you said

Rob this is I think Leaks better than Don't stop wiggle wiggle It's just not as annoying It's not as fundamentally annoying And as well as just You know the surprising cheek

If you'll forgive the play on words Of the lyrics It's like Oh They can actually rap You know, they know how to structure a good catchy commercial rap And they switch up the speeds and they switch up the rhyme schemes It was like, oh, there's just fundamentally

A bit more variety and terrain to this is a piece of pop music I just think it is all round better than Wiggle Wiggle Which is not the way it's round it's supposed to be For novelty follow-ups, is it? It used to be supposed to be the same song but lesser But this is, I think on all three. accounts. A triumph. Well, no, except it's a triumph by comparison to don't stop wiggle-wiggle, had a triumph by comparison to the, I was going to say B and J. No, Robson and Jerome ditties that

preceded it. That's about all I've got to say, really. It's a nice relief. I was privy when I was younger to the unclean version and I was nine at the time and there was a certain novelty to it my brother of course bought this having brought don't stop wiggle wiggle into the house

and it's just very funny watching you know I suppose you had to have been there watching a bunch of nine and ten year old white English kids try and work out what the hell these people are actually talking talking about because none of this was like popular known lingo amongst kids in England at this

point and so there were a lot of misunderstandings about the lyrics I'm not going to name names she was a lovely girl but my friend's younger sister used to think that some of the lyrics were about I'm going to check your boobies up in town I mean you know yes it's always good to you know go and get your breast check just just make sure I don't think that That's quite the Tombrough or feel they were going for here. That's a great campaign in waiting for, you know, for stand-up to councillor to do. That's a great idea. Oh, I'm sure the Los Almanos Uterres would be up for that cash if someone said,

do you want to do a check your boobies up in town campaigns. Like, yes, yes, we've not had a single in a little while. We're a little bit out of the public eye, please. Like that Chuck D's song Encouraging people To go and get colonoscopies I tapped out after two and a half minutes And unfortunately there's three and a half minutes of it

And nothing happens As seems to be quite frequent In this era after that point But I honestly I think this is good I think it's good Good The only thing I wanted to add

Which is interestingly enough Because I hadn't thought about The other boom song of the 90s and it weirdly has another thing in common that Ed mentioned there which is that it also is following up on a song that I think everybody would have assumed was a one hit wonder but then they come back with a surprising even bigger hit that the other thing about that boom song when we get there that has the same sort of trajectory there that's interesting yeah all right then so our third and final number one this week is this

We've gone so far, and we've reached so high, and we've looked each day and night in the eye, We've come a long way. But we're not too sure where we've been. We've had success. We've had good times. But remember this. On this platform night for so long.

Feel I've walked a thousand miles Sometimes stroll and in hand with love Everybody's been there With danger on my mind I would stand on in mind Oh I knew I could make it Once I knew the boundaries I left into the clouds

as long my face in the moonlight just and I realized what a phone light could be just because I looked so high I wouldn't have to see me finding a paradise wasn't easy but still

as they're all going down the other side of this fear never Forget where you're coming from Never pretend that it's all real Someday This will all be someone else's dream This will be someone else's dream

This is Never Forget by Take That Released as the third single From the group's third studio album titled Nobody Else Never Forget is Take That's fifth. 15th single to be released in the UK and their seventh to reach number one and it's not the last time we'll be coming to take that during our 90s coverage. Never forget went straight in at number one as a brand new entry. It stayed at number one for three weeks. In its first week atop the charts it sold 115,000 copies beating competition from in the name of the father

by Black Grape. In week two, it sold 86,000 copies, beating competition from So Good by Boy's Own, I'm Only Sleeping by Sugs, Waterfalls by TLC, and Don't You Want Me by Felix, and in week three, it sold 54,000 copies, beating competition from I Love You Baby by the original and Son of a Gun by FX.

When it was knocked off the top of the charts, never forget, fell three places to number four. It initially left the charts in December 1995, but made a re-entry in 2008. As of 2025, it has spent 19 weeks inside the top 100 and is currently officially certified platinum in the UK. So, Ed, start us off with, well, you can start off our Never Forget section. As everyone knows, I've got a bit of a soft spot for Take That. and yeah this is quite handily my favourite song this week I'll be honest I don't think it's as successful personally as back for good

because while I really like the song I think it's got a bloody nice it's got one of those brilliant sweeping Gary Barlow bridges that goes really effectively into the big chorus it has a very memorable widescreen chorus even though as a friend at uni pointed out it's very much like tracks of my tears

by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles but anyway aside from that slight bit of derivation I think it's really good I think the arrangement and production is well it does perhaps go on a bit

I think it was the bizarrely inspired choice getting the meatloaf bloke in to do it because it's a big sounding song and the bloody gospel choirs and stuff work really well

I'm not entirely sure why about the five and half minute mark it sounds like the orchestra sneezes and then the song starts again yeah yeah go I mean. My issue with this is the vocals, unfortunately, because I would say this. I think it's very nice. They're sharing it around the group, even after the borderline catastrophe of Babe. It's good that they're being a bit democratic, letting the rest of the group shine. But Gary Barlow is very clearly the best vocalist in the group at this point. And even he, I feel barely.

has the strength to carry such an epic arrangement. Unfortunately, I think this would have been served better by somebody another artist with a bit more welly and a bit more presence. It's like almost unfortunately, Gary Barlow has written a song a bit too dynamic and requiring a bit too much dynamic range for his own group or even for himself. And fucking hell, I really like Robbie Williams, but what is he doing on this song?

It's sort of really half-hearted, contrived, nasally interjections towards the end of this song. It sounds like a bit of a mess, like nobody is really asserting themselves enough, and then someone comes in and doesn't know what to do for a while. This is another song where people are kind of hiding behind each other, except there's a bit of passive aggressiveness to it, oddly. Yeah, I like so many things about this track, and I still think it's a good song. I even like that weird fanfare intro If we are talking about the single version

Even though it has fuck all to do with the rest of the song It's very stately and a little bit camp And I like it And then it goes into the choir Which is a cool touch It's very you can't always get what you want By the Stones And it's a similarly big song

But take that just haven't Maybe later on Maybe when they got a bit of grit In their voice In a few years under their belt maybe they would have been able to carry this better but they're just not full-bodied enough for a song like this

which is a shame because it's a good song and it's yeah I like it don't get me wrong it's a good song I'm not quite vaulting it though unfortunately

Andy what about you throughout our journey with take that through the 90s I've not been a fan I've generally been pretty harsh on them I liked back for good much more than everything else really like my fire

was good everything else haven't liked at all and babe was really awful and I've found them quite tedious to talk about even when we got to Back for Good

you know I enjoyed the song but I was a bit sick of talking about take that to be honest this I absolutely love I absolutely love this and I always have and because I

hadn't listened to it for quite a few years and I disliked almost everything to take that I'd done in the 90s this time around I was starting to doubt myself on that and thought, oh, is this going to be no, I'm going to look on this less kindly than I used to and thankfully no, it really brought a specific sense of time and place back to me

where I just really connected with what this song was saying and what the vibe of this song was that it just really resonated with me at a certain time and it starts with a bit of a silly thing but it does have more of a grand overall point to it which is that my main memory of this song was New Year's Day 2010 when I was 17 going on 18 and I just finished watching David Tennant's last episode of Doctor Who

where he regenerated into Matt Smith at the end and I popped on Doctor Who Confidential which really dates this story and they have this bit at the end of the episode where they show his last day of filming he's crying on the set he's hugging people, his fireworks going up for his last scene and then it just fades out and they start playing Never Forget and the entire song, all six minutes of it plays

while they show like 10, 15 seconds or so from every single episode that David Tennant is in order chronologically, they montage the entire era to the tune of this. And that was like the defining TV show of my teenage years and it just, I remember watching at the time and just thinking, yeah, this is like, this really means something to me

and the lyrics are perfect for that. Because, you know, the whole nature of that is that, oh, someone else is taking over. This is Matt Smith's turn. Now it fits perfectly with that sort of happy moving on is okay vibe. And particularly that line, soon this will all be someone else's dream. You know, it just really suits that. Like, this is the end of something, but it's not the end of everything. And we should celebrate and commemorate that.

And it's a sort of bittersweet feeling. And it helped that that time, that first half of 2010 was a very, very, you know, transitionary, transitionary, transitive time of my life where I was finishing college and going to uni, which meant I was moving out the house for the first time, was saying goodbye to a lot of familiar faces and saying hello to a lot of new ones. I was coming to age, I was making my own decisions. I was getting my first job. You know, things were changing. And I think that's a weird time for all sorts of kids, really, because it's one of the very few times in your life where the idea of chapters in life is actually obvious that you know it's happening as it's happening.

Generally, chapters in life, they take you by surprise. You know, they happen and you don't really notice that they're happening, but that sort of 17 going on 18 and going to uni thing, it feels very real. And it just so happened that not only did David Tennant, leave Doctor Whoop, but my other favourite TV show Lost, ended right before that time as well. The film Toy Story 3 came out, which is literally about a kid ending their childhood and going to uni, so that hit very hard as well.

And I think this song really just puts such a nice, hopeful, positive spin on that feeling in life and is just a real source of comfort that, as I say, like, things end and it's okay for them to end because new things will take their place. I love that line in the children's chorus where they say, and we're still so young and we hope for more. It's like, yeah, we're saying goodbye to something, but we're saying hello to a different thing and who knows what that will be and how long it will go on for. So I just really love what this song is doing And I think, you know, it's epic in scope It's really just fantastic musically, to be honest I don't think it's absolutely perfect

I don't like the children's choir I think that's the thing that stops this from being a genuine, you know, credible thing that you could sort of unashamedly love in the way that I think rule the world in particular is like, that's a genuinely fantastic pop song that I would not be at all embarrassed to be seen, you know, screaming my head off singing along too.

Whereas this, the children's choir, I think, to always give it some of that cheesy, tackiness that you want to avoid with this, really. And the only other thing I don't like, I'm really glad that you said it, Ed, that one interjection from Robbie that, hey, we're not invincible. And that incredibly over-the-top accent

just takes me right out. out of it. And you're like, oh, Robbie, what are you doing? You've judged the tone of this all wrong. This is very sincere. This is very wholesome, very nice. What are you doing with your, with your sort of sexy stylings in this? Just really misjudged. And this should have cut that. But generally, I think this justifies its big epic sweep. It justifies its length because it's saying something that I think is actually very profound and that I really connected with. And even now, you know, as I'm older, as I'm sure a lot of people do, you know, you struggle with the idea of things ending and things changing. And I'm saying, and

having a song like this that sort of gets to the idea of it's okay it's happy you should celebrate when things end and you should celebrate the start of something new and that's a that's a nice thing that's a commemorative thing not not a thing of morning i think that's wonderful um and i really i just really love this i think that it's a million miles my favorite take that song of the 90s and one of my favorite of those overall and if it wasn't for that children's choir and robbie's terrible interjections. I think this would be basically perfect. It's sort of their champagne supernova really. And I was around that time that I've just talked about, I was a huge oasis fan. I was going through my oasis era. And I think when I say these words now, that

17, 18 year old self would have, his jaw would have hit the floor to hear me say that this is better than champagne supernova. It's much, much better than champagne supernova. Yeah, this is Fantastic. This is fantastic. Oh, man. I don't want to start doing retrospectives on Take That's 90s era yet. You know, their final number one gets almost nothing out of me because it's just a respectful cover version of a song everyone knows and will therefore get nothing from me notes-wise. So the time for a retrospective will be the most appropriate

when the song we're discussing is so fucking boring that we'll have to fill the time with something else. But damn it, if never forget, doesn't put me in the mood to do a take that 90s retrospective. You know, the new arrangement of the single version, starting with that brass build-up, and then it sounds like a bomb goes off directly underneath the orchestra, and then you get the boys' choir immediately setting the tone, that this is going to be about looking back, doing a big grand overview. So, of course, they get Jim Steinman in for this new arrangement,

and what a coup that was. You know, as an arrangement, this is one of the very few songs in my life from when I was a kid. You know, I thought this sounded huge, and it still sounds pretty huge now. You know, there are a handful of big pop singles out there when I was a kid that sounded massive, epic, important, just like a pill by Pink was one of them. But then when we covered it on hits 21, I was kind of surprised by how slight some of the arrangement was, not the case for Never Forget. This is about as far, you know, take that could get to, like, as about as close as they could get, I think, to like pure bombast, with it still sounding like them. I think it's a shame that Howard Carr, is it Howard or Jason? Howard or Jason

Take the main vocals I think it's Howard Isn't it weird That take that I've got two members Who you could describe as The other one Yeah it can't quite match it

But his kind of foxy Mank accent Is charming Just think he gets a bit buried Under all this And I wish there was a version With Gary singing In the main vocal line instead It's the thing that keeps me

From vaulting it I think The fact that Howard can't Or Jason Haysen Joward They Yeah Like I say, it is weird that they have two members

that you could describe as the other one but that's kind of keeping me from vaulting it but it did get me thinking this song is basically I think take that sort of admitting that they're a bit too big and that there's a bit too much tension for them to remain contained in their current environment you know Robbie's left or about to leave

Gary has other ideas that he wants to explore Mark is kind of maturing and heading towards a solo career as well. They're so fucking popular, but the space that they're operating in is ultimately limited by what they are and what makes them popular. There's too much talent in too smaller space, if you know what I mean? So I think with this, take that, I're acknowledging that they need to change, they need to break out, they need to move on. But then that also kind of got me thinking about, you know, how like the two big boy bands, I think, that we've covered so far in the 90s series, or obviously there's take that, and there's new kids on the block as well.

They're sort of like the earliest examples of what we now immediately recognize as the boy band, at least in a kind of millennial 21st century context. And maybe boy bands of the future can't have three singer songwriters fighting for space because it won't last long before they all want to go out on their own. Like obviously the boy groups and girl groups of the late 90s and early 2000s, which was arguably, I would say, the peak era of all that stuff. They all have members that go off and do solo stuff. but it's normally one that leaves them

before all the remaining members get signed up to other labels in the aftermath. Like, you know, you get the one agitator who's like, but my ideas, my genius ideas, and wants to leave. And then the other three or four just kind of go, oh, well, okay then. And then some labels come in and go,

want to do a single? And they go, um, yeah, sure, whatever. What about some nice reality TV spots for the next 15 years as well? Yes, we'll sort you those out too. great I think that's what I really want to do whereas I feel like we'd take that you know there were two or three members who kind of

wanted to leave and wanted to write their own music and couldn't you know they wanted to release their own singles be their own artists and for various reasons maybe boy bands couldn't British boy bands anyway couldn't be the same after take that and maybe this song explains why it feels a bit too big for its own house like in a good way

I don't want to sound like the biggest wanker in the world so I won't call this progressive boy band but you know what I mean right like this kind of song in a boy band context almost kind of makes the point that like they kind of can't be a boy band in in the modern world because boy bands don't look at never forget and think oh we should do something like that something big grand and expansive get fucking meatloaf's producer in I think a lot of managers kind of look at it as like we'll take that have definitely change things but let's not replicate things let's create a similar environment

but one that they can't bust out of where maybe we'll have one who's a bright spark and then the other three or four a kind of the same personality and just kind of do what they're told it's really really hard like to sustain

you know take that we're living in each other's pockets and they really got sick of each other and I very briefly stayed in the flat of a guy who used to play keyboard for them on tour at this time and he just said that dealing with Robbie Williams on a tour bus in the

mid-90s was tough like very very tough apparently they would get to service stations Robbie would bust out of the door of the coach and run into the nearest set of trees he could find and they would take 45 minutes to an hour

just to try to find him so like I think they were all getting a bit tired of each other a very similar thing obviously happens with the fact that apparently none of the members of One Direction liked each other very much at all, even at the beginning. And by the time they were on their third album or fourth album, they all kind of wanted to kill each other and had to travel in separate buses and separate planes and all this stuff. And again, I think it's because you have Zane in there who wanted to do stuff,

Harry in there who wanted to do stuff and Louis, who all, like, you know, they all wanted to be like, I mean, they all entered the X Factor as solo contestants. And they were put together midway through and so I think maybe there's something in that that like and to be honest kind of thinking about it One Direction are probably the last big boy band to come out of this country there's maybe one I'm kind of forgetting

but groups have kind of faded a bit last sort of ten years you know it's more solo artists doing collaborations if you know what I mean I'm sure there's a boy band I'm forgetting about but it felt like One Direction were kind of the last of their kind they were the last left but there was a final wave that happened all at the same

time. Them and the wanted started at basically exactly the same time. And JLS were only just getting started just before that as well. So I think those three were the last wave. And I think one direction outlasted JLS and the wanted. I think. Yeah. So like maybe

I don't know, maybe there's something in that where like if you kind of bookend it with Britain anyway, if you bookend it with take that and one direction, there's probably a story gets told between the two of them about like what boy bands maybe needed to learn from to last for a lot longer. But then at the end, maybe like, maybe you can't.

Maybe like if you give enough musical talent, you know, if you put enough musical talent into the same space, that, you know, the box that you squeeze them into, it's going to start bursting at the scenes a bit. And I kind of think that that's what never forget is, just to kind of bring it back. I don't know, Ed, you haven't said anything for a while. I don't know if you want to jump in.

I was just thinking about what you said about the progressive boy band thing. Because the only group I can think of that actually did, anything like that, again, would be take that, who did come back round, at least fleetingly, and you get things like the flood, which is huge sounding, and it's very much a careful assemblies to sound as big as possible, that the triumph, now you could argue about this having the more original resident chorus and the more understandable message, but I think the flood has the more purposeful performance. They've all grown into themselves.

It's like, oh, this is Robbie's bit. This is Gary's bit. And it's such a wonderful, it's like a meeting of equals at that point, not just Gary letting the other kids in the studio have a go. Yeah, but it's just, you know, it earns its stature. And it earns it with his imagery as well, which isn't all literal, but it has a sense of grandeur and elementality to it. But also you get stuff like, and it shouldn't work quite as well as it does.

It gets to fly Mankunian way. of their, you know, their comeback album, which is very, it is sort of, it's prog leaning and, you know, well, credit to them, you know, they're never, they, they managed to completely change in many ways in terms of the type of music they did

and the audience they were seeking, or rather the age of the audience they were seeking, should I say, but they still remained incredibly, you know, palatable to all audiences in a lot of ways, whether people liked them or not is another matter or chose to like them. Yeah, they took a surprising amount of risks

for a group that often just seemed so bland and safe and sterile. There's more going on there than I think people give them credit for. Hmm. All right then, so that brings us to the end of our comeback episode in a way. Spotify, thank you very much. Andy, before we go, I just want to check. Robson and Jerome, the Out Here Brothers, and take that, where are you sticking them?

I'll tell you where you can stick rubs in it, Jerome, I'll tell you that. Unchained melody, more like unlistenable shit. So that goes into the pie hole. That was supposed to be more clever, but I just saw the red mess to there. Boom, boom, boom, more like average, average, average. That stays exactly where it is. And never forget, more like never not vaulted. That's, yeah, absolutely soaring into the vault for me.

So I've got one of each this week. I'm, yeah, I'm doing a buffet lunch for you all. So, Ed, Unchained Melody, White Cliffs of Dover, boom, boom, and never forget. Right, small confession, I missed the White Cliffs of Dover. Most of us did, to be honest. You know, for a novelty cover, based on an ITV show, it isn't completely awful,

but by most other human metrics, It is worthless. So, yeah, this is going in the pie hole. As for, um, boom, boom, to paraphrase the tagline to, magisterial cinematic gargoyle cranked to high voltage, they were dead, but they got better. Take that. Yes, I, I stand by what I said about the vocals, but you know what? I think you too might have, not the group, both of you, might have,

have might have actually just made me nudge this into the vault. Oh. Because, because you're right, I wasn't listening to the lyrics with much clarity. I was listening to the performances. I was listening to the dynamic peaks and troughs. But you're right, Andy. For a fucking Barlow lyric, this is actually quite poignant and nicely broad. It doesn't sound like he's just ripping off the sort of thing another genre of musician would do.

the lyrics do suit the stature of the song. Again, I do wish it was performed a little bit better by the group themselves. But do you know what? This is just going to edge it in because I do really like it. And it sticks in the head. And it's stuck in my head since I was a kid. It earns its size. So yeah, do you know what?

It's one of each from me as well. All right then. So for me, Unchained Melody in the White Closer Dover, miserable experience, pie hole. Boom, boom, boom. yep I said before that's not being piehold that's going straight down the middle never forget I can't

quite get over the other one not quite managing to match the song that surrounds him but still very very solid effort for take that but it just it just misses the vault only just so a good pretty a solid week there I think we've climbed

up and up and up with each song that went by not bad for a comeback episode next week we've got a pretty massive episode actually with the three songs that we're discussing and we will see you for it thank you for waiting for about a month while we got our shit together thanks to the

spanner that was thrown in our works but we're back up and running now maybe do us a little favor actually if you could everybody who's listening if you just because we're trying to build up our listener base a little bit again just because we don't know who we've lost having to move the

RSS feed and having to start again so if you could just tell like one person that you know about us just one person you don't have to badger everybody and then just say that we're there and that we're back up at this link rather than the old one that'd be a really massive favor um you don't have to do it but it would be nice if you could uh so yeah we will see you next time thank you for waiting and bye bye bye bye