My Favourite 45s of the Year: 1990 Quiz

Answer: Sinead O'Connor

This song is the first in this quiz because it was released in early January and went on to dominate the year! Prince wrote and recorded a demo of "Nothing Compares 2 U" in 1984, but it didn't draw much attention. However Sinead O'Connor picked it up and recorded it on her second album, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got".

Her version of this classic "break-up" song is remarkable for the intense emotion apparent in the vocals, although some critics were not impressed by the strings-dependent orchestration. And then of course there was the video with its close-up format: it's very moving when it gets to the sequence with O'Connor shedding apparently real tears. It was a huge, world-wide hit, getting to number one on both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart after selling over a million copies in both countries.

It was ranked at number 165 in the 2004 "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, and at number 184 in the 2021 list. The video for the song won three "Moonman" awards at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year.

Answer: Prince

"Thieves in the Temple" was added by Prince to the 1990 album "Graffiti Bridge" at the last minute. It's a good chunk of rock/funk: the instrumentation is excellent, with syncopated drum machines and great bass. Prince's vocals are multi-tracked and there's enough going on to make it worth repeated listening. It's not one of Prince's greatest tracks, but it's good.
It went to number seven on the UK Singles Chart and to number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: EMF

One of my wife's favourite songs, "Unbelievable" by EMF has an awful lot going for it with its multitude of crossover styles - blues and flamenco over Madchester rave, shouted samples and hip hop? It went to number three in the UK Singles Chart and to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Surprisingly, the band was still recording and touring in 2022.

Answer: Madonna

A slight slump in Madonna's record sales at the end of the 1980s saw her record label approach producer Shep Pettibone with a request for a new dance-oriented song. Pettibone obliged, supplying Madonna with a track for which she wrote the lyrics. She'd been out clubbing and had seen dancers voguing at The Sound Factory - and lo and behold, "Vogue" was recorded and went on to sell millions. The video wasn't bad either!
It went to number one on both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was ranked at number 139 in the 2021 "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
One wonders, of course, at the influence that the spirit of the previous year's single "Deep in Vogue" by Malcolm McLaren might have had on Madonna's opus.

Answer: Happy Mondays

In 1971 South African musician John Kongos had a UK Top Ten hit with "He's Gonna Step on You Again", and in 1990 the Manchester ("Madchester") band Happy Mondays issued their single "Step On" as a cover version. The cover has some sampled guitar from the original, but lacks its fullness. The best bit is Shaun Ryder's "you're twisting my melon, man".
It went to number five in the UK Singles Chart and to number 57 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: Beats International

After the Housemartins split up in 1988 bass guitarist Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) formed a new band, Beats International. Their first single release was a bass-heavy remake of the 1983 hit by the SOS Band, "Just Be Good to Me". The remake relies heavily on the bass line from "The Guns of Brixton" by the Clash (obviously a Good Thing!) with other samples thrown in; vocals were added by Lindy Layton and David John-Baptiste: "this is jam hot"! It went to number one in the UK Singles Chart; in the US it got to number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and to number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Chart.

Answer: New Order

In 1990 the FIFA World Cup tournament was held in Italy. It had become traditional for the Home Nation teams that qualified for this event to record a record to encourage home support, but with very few exceptions these were uniformly awful. But in 1990 the Football Association Press Officer was a great fan of Joy Division, and he contacted Tony Wilson, the head of New Order's label Factory Records, suggesting that the band record a World Cup track for the England team. On the day of the recording only six England players turned up, and John Barnes was selected to do the rap section in the middle of the song.

The result was an excellent record, full of life and vigour. In later years many people have considered it to be the best-ever football song, superior to the 1996 "Three Lions" (aka "Football's Coming Home") by David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and the Lightning Seeds. It went to number one in the UK Singles Chart; it didn't chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart, but perhaps surprisingly it got to number ten on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Chart.

Answer: Betty Boo

Alison Clarkson, aka Betty Boo, had a brief chart career in the early 1990s with "Doin' the Doo" being her first solo hit. Basing her look on that of cartoon heroine Betty Boop, she brought some fun and quite a bit of musical ability to the hip-hop scene. Sadly her career as an artist tanked when in a concert in Australia she was revealed to be lip-synching rather than singing live.

However since then she's made a bit of a comeback as a song writer, with acts like Girls Aloud, Dannii Minogue and Sophie Ellis-Bextor recording her songs. "Doin' the Doo" went to number seven in the UK Singles Chart; in the US it got to number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and to number one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Chart.

Answer: Deee-Lite

"Groove Is in the Heart" by Deee-Lite is just an amazing dance record. It's based upon a whole range of samples, the most prominent being the riff taken from Herbie Hancock's track "Bring Down the Birds" and the drumming from Vernon Burch's "Get Up".

The legendary Bootsy Collins provides guest vocals, and the rap is by Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest. Put it all together and it's a whole collage of music with rap, hip-hop, funk and psychedelic influences - and basically it's a lot of fun! It went to number two in the UK Singles Chart and to number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

It was ranked at number 233 in the 2021 "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Answer: MC Hammer

"U Can't Touch This" by the oddly be-trousered MC Hammer only really hits the spot because of the wonderful riff from "Super Freak" by Rick James. This led James to file a lawsuit for copyright infringement, which was settled out of court with Hammer agreeing to co-credit James as a songwriter so that the latter would benefit from millions of dollars in royalties. MC Hammer's only real additions to the song were the lyrics "you can't touch this" and "Stop! Hammer time!" which became pop culture catchphrases. It went to number three in the UK Singles Chart and to number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The video for the song won two awards at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards.