Welcome back to the second episode of the 1991 Billboard chart season. When we last left you, Madonna’s “Justify My Love” was topping the singles charts and Vanilla Ice’s masterpiece To The Extreme was tops for the albums side.
There are a few new entries that we will focus on, some of them I had heard for the first time while a couple others felt like echoes of the past.
Numbers in brackets designates the position where the single landed on the overall chart for February 1991. The playlist above displays the order of the singles.
Starting at the top, “Justify My Love” fell down to the 31st position as “Gonna Make You Sweat” by C+C Music Factory [1] took the top spot. “Gonna Make You Sweat” was the first single released under the C+C moniker. The name, taken from the creators’ last names Robert Clivilles and David Cole had their single explode with the 1-2 punch of Freedom Williams providing the vocal rapping duties and the criminally under appreciated (and uncredited at the time) Martha Wash delivering the signature “Everybody Dance Now!” that still fills dance floors within moments today as it did back then 35 years ago.
Two new arrivals to the charts were Oleta Adams’ “Get Here”[26] and Gloria Estefan’s “Coming Out Of The Dark”[27], both of which brought me back to the late 90s when those songs were always playing on the radio station WSRS at the restaurant I worked at. There’s nothing like ironically lip synching to Miss Estefan into a broomstick while cleaning a prep kitchen.
Also with the Super Bowl just happening recently, did you know Gloria Estefan has performed at the Halftime Show not once, but TWICE? First in 1992 and in 1991 with Stevie Wonder and *checks and confirms notes* Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
Between “I’ll Do 4 U”[41] and 1992’s single “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”, I was amazed that Father MC didn’t become a much bigger artist. “I’ll Do 4 U” is a sexually charged song lyrically, but somehow it gets lost in the shuffle with an excellent sample of Cheryl Lynn’ “Got To Be Real”. Sadly, both of Father MC’s singles rarely get any recognition when people wax poetic about early 90’s hip hop and I think that needs to be fixed. I’m here 4 U, Father MC!
A couple of covers make their way on the charts as well. Tesla’s live rendition of “Signs”[33] first popped up this month. I guess I like this version fine enough, but I always found the curses felt shoehorned into the song and it really takes me out of enjoying it. On the other hand, Robert Palmer’s took Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me” and “I Want You” and combined them into an Adult Contemporary classic[63].
In what not only was an odd hit, Enigma’s “Sadeness (Part I)[55] ushered in a sub-genre of Gregorian chants meeting new age music with sampled drum beats. It was a runaway success for years. Did we ever find a reason why that was?
Not to be outdone, “This Is Ponderous” by 2NU[56] is an awfully strange spoken word kinda song that bends the listener’s ear with surreal imagery and gives you feelings of deja vu. Hypnotically rhythmic and full of sound effects and vocal characters, it’s quite the experience. I’ve listened to the “song” about a half dozen times and I still cannot tell you if I like it or not.
Once again, almost all the songs that made the Billboard chart this month are made available on most streaming services. The lone exception this month was a song by Guys Next Door called “I’ve Been Waiting For You”[52] which is unavailable everywhere I looked except for YouTube. After doing minimal research (reading the comments), it looks like this song made a splash in the Philippines and other South East Asian countries.
Notable Albums That Did Not Chart
Codeine – Frigid Stars
While, yes, this LP was released in 1990, Frigid Stars got a larger release through Sub Pop Records this month in 1991. Generally regarded as one of the torchbearers of the slow core genre, Frigid Stars is a coldly heavy listen. Fragile movements collide with waves of guitars leaving the listener on uneasy ground grasping for what’s next. The band Cave In took their name from the track of the same name on this record.
Now I need to find every band that named themselves based off of songs. Great. This might take awhile.
imeanttolisten.com 