Compilation Album Review: "Summer '89"

Compilation: Summer '89
Released: 1988 – BMG Arista/Ariola
Number of tracks: 18
Number one singles: None
Top ten singles: 9
Best track: "Wild Wild West" by The Escape Club
Hidden gem: "Sexy Girl" by Sabrina

This is the compilation I have spent the most on so far! I paid $20.50 for it on eBay, and believe me, I'd seen copies on sale for a LOT more. I'm not sure why I spent so much – it's not like there are any tracks on it I HAD to have – but it looks like a true time capsule item to me. Look at that artwork! That's Australia in the late '80s, innit. This came out at the tail end of 1988 and is called simply Summer '89. Although this is the southern hemisphere so it should be Summer '88/'89 if'n ya wanna be technical about it.

It kicks off with, what else, FARNSEY. In 1988 FARNSEY sat astride the Australian music scene like a...a...big stridey thing. There was no escape from his powerhouse mullet and resplendent vocals (sorry, I'm partial to a bit of adjective swap). That tortured metaphor about the honey and the bee is the only naff part of "Two Strong Hearts", otherwise it's a solid Oz Rok™ tune®. As is Noiseworks' "Touch", heard on commercials for insurance for over two decades, and "If I Could" by 1927, their biggest hit and a fine example of pop-rock they continued into the '90s, but unfortunately not as many people were paying attention.

If you want regular Rok™, there's Bon Jovi, Poison and Guns N' Roses here. But remember, it's only recommended in small doses. You have been warned! Oddly enough it's Poison, with "Fallen Angel", that's the most tolerable of these three.

Yazz was another guilty '80s pleasure. Accept to imitators for the acid-house sound – looking at you, Collette. I reckon you'd need a good dose of helium to sing this, though. Sabrina Salerno's breasts also feature here with "Sexy Girl" – as an example of '80s Italian pop, it's not half bad, although it appears whoever wrote the song forgot to write an ending.

Oh man, that novelty Kylie Mole song, "So Excellent", is on here. For now, just this once, I'll allow it – since Kylie Mole was massive in '88. You want a time capsule of Australia at this time, you can't really leave it out. Seriously, I was 10 at the time and everyone was quoting that chick. Would you believe that the lyrics for this song are nowhere to be found online? However, there is no doubt that the term "go spack" is among them. Ace!

Y'know, I really hated "I Want Your Love" by Transvision Vamp when I first heard it, but I don't mind it now. I guess, as a little kid, I didn't 'get' it. And? The comp closes with "Oh Yeah" by Yello, a song from 1985, but I guess it got a re-release and charted in 1988, reaching the top ten. It seems to fit in quite nicely here.

Rating: 7/10

Compilation Album Review: "Smash Hits '93"

Compilation: Smash Hits '93
Released: 1993 – Columbia
Number of tracks: 19
Number one singles: 3 — "Mr. Vain" by Culture Beat, "All That She Wants" by Ace Of Base", "You Don't Treat Me No Good" by Sonia Dada
Other top ten singles: 12
Best track: "Ebeneezer Goode" by The Shamen
Hidden gem: None, because I've heard them all.

Five months ago, I got The Best Of 100% Hits 93 and here's the Smash Hits equivalent (hey guys, '93' should have an apostrophe). I'm not going to compare the two, but it's obvious this comp is geared towards a pop-loving teen-idol audience, hence the inclusion of Jeremy Jordan, Dannii, Toni Pearen and a couple of other sad tossers. But from a chart performance point of view, 15 of the 19 songs here hit the top ten. Even "Stone Cold" by Jimmy Barnes which I have no memory of how it sounds.

Essential tracks on here are the opener "Mr. Vain", "Ebeneezer Goode" of course and 2 Unlimited's "No Limit", an ace techno anthem if ever there was one. I also liked, and still do, "Jump Around" by House Of Pain which deserved a higher chart peak than number 15. It has outlasted most of the other songs on here in terms of its presence in popular culture, so that reflects rather well on House Of Pain and their 'fine malt lyrics' [sic], I guess.

I also rather enjoy the world music/chillout tune "Sweet Lullaby" by Deep Forest and its Solomon Island native's vocals. Did they pay that person, I wonder?

I had forgotten that Terence Trent D'Arby (who has gone by the name Sananda Maitreya since 2001) reached number 9 with "She Kissed Me". I'd forgotten about this song, but it's really rather good. And even though it's cheesy with some rather naff lyrics, "Rump Shaker" by Wreckx-N-Effect is a guilty pleasure as well – but I wish it had more bass to it. It's a booty tune, dammit!

Rating: 7/10

Compilation Album Review: "1990 All The Rage"

Compilation: 1990 All The Rage
Released: 1990 – EMI
Number of tracks: 15
Number one singles: None
Top ten singles: 3
Best track: "The Power" by Snap!
Hidden gem: "Got To Get" by Leila K with Rob N' Raz (although I'd heard bits of it on the Megabass album, I hadn't heard the song in full)

Here's a compilation I have no recollection of when it came out – it sure wasn't an attention-grabber with its minimalist artwork and only three top ten singles on it. It's not bad though – there's a fair bit of stuff that's worth a repeat listen, notably Snap!'s barnstorming first single which put a new slant on dance music and proved themselves serious contenders in their genre, mostly down to the rapping talents of one Durron Maurice "Turbo B" Butler.

The highest-charting single on here is left till second-last, but it's a good'un. "Heart In Danger" by Southern Sons was a song that didn't grown on me till decades later, and it holds up well. Speaking of Oz Rok™, we have 1927. I actually think "Tell Me A Story", the lead single from their second album, is a better song than their biggest hit "If I Could" which somehow epitomizes late '80s pop-rock. And guess what, it is. It only charted at number 17 and the album's follow-up singles pretty much sank without trace, so this really is an under-appreciated song.

The rest of the stuff on here didn't really trouble the upper reaches of the charts, but who cares? You've got Black Box's third single "Everybody Everybody" which didn't do as well as their first two, and Electronic's "Getting Away With It" which only got to number 40 despite featuring that dude from Pet Shop Boys and possibly some dude from New Order. It pretty much sounds like a Pet Shop Boys single and they seemed to do well on the Australian charts, so what gives?

The aforementioned Leila K (pre-drugs) actually serves up a good house number and there's also The Chimes doing a U2 cover which ain't bad. The opening song "Show No Mercy" by Mark Williams is also pretty good – it got to number 8, one place higher than in his native New Zealand.

If you have good memories of the music of early 1990 – and I do – then you could do worse than giving this a spin.

Rating: 6/10

Compilation Album Review: "Smash Hits '95"

Compilation: Smash Hits '95
Released: 1995 – Columbia / Sony Music Australia
Number of tracks: 20
Number one singles: 1 – "Back For Good" by Take That
Other top ten singles: 8
Best track: "(He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River" by TISM
Hidden gem: "Trick With A Knife" by Strawpeople

With a rather smart bowling-themed art conceit, Smash Hits '95 has the best opening track of every compilation I've heard (except Let's Do It 2), with a hit single by TISM – one of my favourite bands of all time. I wasn't a regular reader of Smash Hits magazine in 1995, but my sister was buying it and I'd occasionally read some of hers. I'm not sure if they ever covered TISM in their pages, but I'd like to think TISM's iconoclastic attitude appealed to Smash Hits' writers. So: does the rest of the comp live up to its brilliant opening selection?

Well, your response will vary according to your opinion of pop music in 1995. As per Smash Hits comps, there's plenty of dance tracks on offer. Dance, techno and rap offerings from Tokyo Ghetto Pussy, The Outhere Brothers and Corona keep up the energy level, then there's mid-tier offerings from Ini Kamoze, Interactive and Newton which are okay. And finally, some slow tempo tunes like "Put Yourself In My Place" by Kylie Minogue and the effortlessly cool "Evidence" by Faith No More.

There are two songs on here I'd never heard before which are really rather ace – "Fall" by Single Gun Theory and the Strawpeople track I've chosen as the hidden gem, because it's easily the third-best track on here. So if TISM was best, what was second best? Well, the Smash Hits gang have made the smart decision to end this comp with The Steppers' "Alice, Who The F..k Is Alice?" It's the clean (censored) version, but I don't really care; those bleeps are probably more hilarious than the version where you hear the swearing. Awesome. Any compilation that starts with "I'm on the drug that killed River Phoenix!" and ends with "Alice!...who the fuck is Alice!" will always stay in my good books.

Strike!

Rating: 7/10

Compilation Album Review: "100% Hits Volume 4"

Got a new compilation CD today in the post, $3.50 on eBay. Bargain! Let's get into it:

Compilation: 100% Hits, Volume 4
Released: 1992 – Warner Music Australia
Number of tracks: 18
Number one singles: 3 – "To Be With You" by Mr. Big, "Under The Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Marvellous!" by The 12th Man
Other top ten singles: 7
Best track: "One" by U2
Hidden gem: "Dream Alone" by Killing Time

For me, this is the point where it became obvious the 100% Hits series was here to stay. While previous comps Let's Do It had had two volumes and Hits Of '89 had spawned three, 100% Hits, in reaching a fourth volume, had now established itself as a lengthy series. Personally I liked the quirky names they used to come up with for compilations prior to 1991, and the inclusion of the year in the title — each with its own cover art conceit. From here on out, there would be no more of that.

Not that that had any bearing on the quality of the music therein. Boasting ten singles that made the Australian top 10, including three number 1s, there was a lot of good stuff on here. Although it starts out with the execrable Teen Queens hit, the likes of Vic Reeves, Voice Of The Beehive and Oceanic's ace rave anthem "Insanity" show that pop was on a high in 1992. Speaking of anthems, The Clouds' "Anthem", my favourite song of theirs, is also here towards the back. And speaking of high, The Cure's "High" is here too — a song that debuted at number 5 and plummeted out of the chart.

U2's "One" — my favourite song of theirs, too — is also kinda pushed back towards the end, while the extremely naff 4th Melissa single "Skin To Skin" is right up the front. As is "Dream Alone" by Killing Time, a hard rock band that somehow disappeared very quickly. I just looked it up and apparently this song reached number 23, which was news to me as I followed the charts very closely in 1992 and had no recollection of this song at all.

Concrete Blonde is also here. I reckon they've got a lot to answer for, for depressing us to buggery with that awful song "Joey" back in 1990. The comp finishes with The 12th Man and his MCG-related antics (anyone know why compilations tend to put novelty singles as the final track?). I'll always be perplexed as to why there was never a video made for this song, despite the fact that in the very lyrics, he says "You can see me on the TV". No we can't, mate. If you ever release a follow-up to this, make a bloody video! Learn from Weird Al: if you've got a comedy single, the video is probably more funny than the song on its own.


Rating: 7/10