Timeslip moment again...
We've been booted out by Jean-Claude Van Damme into the strange, transitional world of 1994 - the year of the IRA ceasefire, Rwandan genocide, the Channel Tunnel, Fred and Rose West, the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, ordination of women priests, Pulp Fiction, the final end of the Cold War and the culmination of the Charles vs Diana one, Silvio Berlusconi, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sunday trading, Ace of Base, the age of homosexual consent reduced to 18 in the UK, the so-called "Sharongate" saga in EastEnders, President Clinton, President Nelson Mandela, Schindler's List, peace in Angola, O.J. Simpson, the arrival of Tony Blair, Russian invasion of Chechnya, Mrs. Doubtfire, the "cash for questions" affair, and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; the births of Tom Daley, Amazon, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Halsey and the National Lottery; and the year that Telly Savalas, Burt Lancaster, John Curry, Dan Hartman, Henry Mancini, Stephen Milligan MP, Cesar Romero, Peter Cushing, Derek Jarman, Dennis Potter, Harry Nilsson, Jackie Kennedy, Doris Speed, Fanny Cradock and Labour leader John Smith all died.
In the news headlines in September '94? The sinking of car ferry MS Estonia with the deaths of 852 people on board, the rape and murder of Danish tour guide Louise Jensen by British squaddies in Cyprus, the Iraq disarmament crisis, the end of the broadcasting ban on spokesmen for the IRA (Sinn Féin) and other paramilitary groups, and the seaside town of Whitby hosted its inaugural Goth Weekend. In the ascendant were Jean-Bertrand Aristide (restored to power in Haiti after US military intervention), and Lidl (which opened its first stores in Britain), but we waved a fond farewell to telly stalwart and all-round entertainer Roy Castle. In our cinemas were The Mask, Colour of Night and The Hudsucker Proxy. On telly: Top of the Pops 2, The X-Files, University Challenge with Jeremy Paxman.
And in our charts this week twenty-five years ago? Saturday Night by Whigfield had finally knocked Wet Wet Wet's Love Is All Around off the top of the chart after fifteen weeks; also present and correct were Bon Jovi, Princess Kylie, Boyz II Men, REM, Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey [aaaargh!], M-Beat feat General Levy [nope; me neither] and one of my favourite songs ever, Seven Seconds by Youssou N'dour and Neneh Cherry...
...and this one!
I'm jigging around at my desk as we speak.
A quarter of a century later.
All a very long time ago , so much going on
ReplyDeleteThis track still stands it ground very well well against the tied of dross in the charts now.
And yes I know there was a lot of dross then too
It would be interesting to see whether any song in the Top Ten today would be called a "classic" in twenty-five years time... I doubt it. Jx
DeleteI liked 1994 as I recall. My last full year of being a teenager...
ReplyDeleteAs for 1994 "classics", Rhythm of the Night surely is one. Although, there was an awful lot of daylight in the video for it to be "of the Night", I thought.
I was waaaaay away from being a teenager in 1994, but hey ho. It was a good year for me too, I believe. It's a bit difficult to remember exactly what I was up to, however, being a quarter of a century ago... Jx
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