The Great British Music Week-end took place on 18-20 January. It was a promotional event at Wembley Arena, arranged by Jonathan King in conjunction with that year's BPI awards, and aired between the news bulletins on Radio 1. The line-up was: Ozzy Osbourne, Thunder, Magnum, David Coverdale, the Quireboys, the Little Angels (Sunday's rock night); Northside, MC Tunes, James, the Farm, Northside, 808 State, Beats International, Happy Mondays (Friday's baggy night); Ride, Carter USM (replacing the late drop-outs The Las), Jesus Jones, New Model Army, Billy Bragg, Wedding Present, the Cure (Saturday's indie-dance night). The event was a soaraway success, but a quality line-up could not be found for 1992, and the idea has not been floated since.

If only we could say the same about bombing raids over Iraq. By now, Gulf War II was eleven days old, and the public was beginning to lose interest. By flicking between the UK's terrestrial channels, it was possible to watch coverage at any hour, except for 11.30am and 3pm, and Radio 4's Scud FM service filled those gaps, and the other hours between 9am and 11pm. ITV covered the night hours with a relay of CNN's coverage. while the BBC suspended shows like 'Allo 'Allo and, er, Neighbours. Get in while you can, Auntie, the show won't be with you forever!

Both the BBC and ITN confirmed that they would be scaling down the wall-to-wall television coverage, not least when one expert said that the coalition forces were unprepared for Iraq's low-tech strategy, and the defence correspondent said the precise opposite, with neither man backing up his claims with anything approximating evidence. Ed the Duck was put on standby to vacate the broom cupboard in BBC2 for his regular nest on BBC1. Sadly, Mr. the Duck would take Andi Peters with him, goodness knows they don't want his sort on BBC2. On the press stands, the Sun and Star were flag-waving jingoists, the former calling for President Sadaam to be hung long and slow. The Mirror was more measured in its support, and Robert Fisk in the Independent caused controversy by revealing the ill-preparation of the troops in Saudi Arabia.

The story in week 2 was of the attacks each evening - in British prime-time, no less - as Iraqi missiles headed to Israel and Saudi targets. The opposition launched anti-Scud missiles, ensuring that a game of Missile Command played out on the world's television sets. Prisoners of war were captured on both sides - the Iraqis appeared under-nourished, and UK aircrew were paraded on Iraqi television. Iraq began to pump oil into the Gulf, and her aircraft all buggered off to Iran, or were hidden underneath the bed. And the Yankees worried about their pet terrorist bogeyman, Abu Nidal, oblivious to the offence they would cause by settling troops in Saudi Arabia.

While the world's attention was distracted, troops loyal to the USSR cracked down on independence protesters in Vilnius, Lithuania. Thirteen people were killed, another three in a subsequent operation in Riga, and two visiting Swedish trade unionists were shot in Tallin(n). The public reaction showed that Lithuania had more in common with Latvia and Estonia than with Russia. The Estonians were unhappy about the Soviet army raiding their country in search of draft-dodgers. Deposed Lithuanian prime minister Kazimiera Prunskiene left for the west, seeking political asylum. Though quickly forgotten in the west, these killings quickly fell into folk memory in the Baltic republics, and are still used as an example of the unreasonable power wielded by the Russians. Anyone who lumps the Baltics in as former USSR will, at best, be met with polite hostility.

In other news: Serbia and Croatia began talks to prevent the use of force as Croatia and Slovenia stirred towards their independence. Sports: the fourth round of the FA Cup saw Cambridge (III) march into the last 16 for the second season in a row. Crewe (III) also won their fourth tie, while Millwall (I) lost 4:3 to Sheffield Wednesday (II). Upset of the round saw Shrewsbury (III) beat Wimbledon (I).

The debut at 73 for Dina Carroll, this time as the vocalist on Quartz's It's too late. Johnny Panic and the bible of dreams was new at 70 for, er, Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams. Who? Exactly. The Milltown Brothers made 69 with Which way should I jump?, and dubious rapper Badman charted at 67 with Magic style. Former Blackbox singer Lalah Hathaway made 64 with Baby don't cry, no relation to the INXS hit from the following year. Tear down the walls from No Sweat entered at 61: this was not the boyband from a 1997 CBBC production, because the band was North and South and the series No Sweat. No, this was a gently-rocking Irish group that released four singles during 1990-91, none peaking higher than this. We perhaps remember them best for the previous October's Heart and soul.

Shades of Rhythm were new at 60 with Homicide / Exorcist, and the Railway Children made 59 with Every beat of the heart. UB40 was mining singles deeply from its Labour of Love II album: Homely girl had made number 6 in late 1989, and Kingston town had gone to 4 in April 1990. Three other singles had settled around number 40, and their version of The way you do the things you do wasn't looking much more promising, in at 58. Jimmy Barnes and INXS rose 7 to 56 with Good times, already top 40 in Scotland; Yankee metalheads Slaughter were new at 55 with Fly to the angels. It's their second and larger hit.

New at 49 was Dinosaur Jr with The wagon. J Mascis and his band were the real pioneers of grunge, very nearly bringing the relaxed slacker rock to public attention two weeks into the Gulf War II. This was the group's first top 40 hit, they wouldn't hit the top 20 until two singles and two years later. We can safely ignore the Cobainite revisionists, Nirvana was only able to chart at number 90 this week, behind the flop single from Tanita Tikaram's flop second album, but still ahead of the Manic Street Preachers' first brush with fame.

New entry at 48 for Living Colour with Love rears its ugly head, and in at 45 came Chris Isaak performing Blue Ho el. Birdland's final hit, Everybody needs somebody, entered at 44. The glam revival group centred around brothers Robert and Lee Vincent, toured their peroxide-blond asses off in 1989 and 90, and had been rewarded by a number 32 hit a year earlier. The group's eponymous album would arrive two weeks hence, by which time the fans were beginning to turn to other tightly-trousered smooth-chested hunks with guitars larger than their willies. Birdland was broken up by management diktat under dubious circumstances, and an attempted return in 1993 lasted a matter of weeks.

More dance anthems: D-Shake put My heart the beat in at 42, and Smalltown boy was new at 41. This was a slight remix of the Bronski Beat classic from seven years earlier, was released to promote a Jimmy Somerville singles collection, and given the completely cynical nature of the project was rightly left as a very minor hit. Speaking of which, Mariargh Cantsing was on the third release from her eponymous debut album, and Someday rose seven places to 38. It's the highest position it'll reach, and though the screecher's first single, Vision of love, had made the top ten during the previous summer, second single Love takes time had also failed to trouble the chart, peaking at 37. She shows all the makings of a one-hit wonder.

In at 36 came one of the more dubious records of the moment, the Mixmasters' Night Fever megamix. It's a Jive Bunny-style medley of songs from the movie, and was as bad as it sounds. Mark Summers climbed just one place to 35 with Summers magic, but the song was appearing in the top 20 in Scotland, suggesting there's climb left in it yet.

New at 33 came Scarborough's finest band, the Little Angels. The group was centred around singer and songwriter Toby Jepson, guitarist Bruce Dickinson (who added the middle name "John" to avoid confusion with the Iron Maiden frontman) and his brother Jimmy (keyboards). They'd been gigging in and around Yorkshire since 1984, and were eventually picked up by Polydor records in 1988. Two stopgap eps were followed by the first major-label album proper, 1989's Don't Pray For Me. The singles Do you wanna riot and Don't pray for me turned up in the bubblers chart during 1989.

Their breakthrough came during 1990 - Kicking up dust made number 46 at the start of the year, Radical your lover hit 34 in May, and She's a little angel made 21 in August. By this point, the group had refined their sound as an unusual mixture of hard rock guitars and blasting horns - The Big Bad Horns, a trio of saxophone, trombone, and trumpet appeared on most of the band's work. The effect was a blues-rock feel, quite different from the retro-glam that was in fashion at the time. Hopes were high for the second major-label album, Spitfire, which received rave reviews from the rock press, and the typical snub from the cooler-than-thou fools in the inkies. Number 33 was a poor first-week performance for the first single. History hasn't been too kind to the group's second album, and we much prefer the band's other work. From the first album we present Radical your lover, a representative sample of the band's output.

In at 32 came the Source, with You've got the love. Readers with long memories will recall that we featured this song a year ago, on one of its three (count 'em!) subsequent re-issues. A slow climb for Kenny Thomas's Outstanding, up just two places to 31. Every place between 30 and 21 was occupied by a record falling down the chart: not until number 20 do we reach Oleta Adams's Get here, up 7 places. New at 19 comes Praise's Only you, Ralph Tresvant's Sensitivity rises one place to its peak of 18, and Vanilla Ice's second single is new at 17. Play that funky music was a cover of a song by Wild Cherry, and was the follow-up to the smash hit Ice ice baby; his old song was still charting at number 26.

Up three to 15 went A Tribe Called Quest's Can I kick it? The sample-heavy rapping group had narrowly missed the top 40 in August 1990 when Bonita Applebum stalled at 47; their hit was a funky mix of sounds, albeit one that didn't quite hang together. After this first flush of success, they didn't return to the top 40 until summer 1996, and must surely join the ranks of one-hit wonders. New at number 14 went Nomad featuring MC Mikee Freedom with (I wanna give you) devotion. Out of the top ten went Travolta and Newton-John (10-23), Medley and Warnes (8-16), Robert Palmer (9-13), and Off-Shore (7-12) - none of the six vocalists on these tracks would return to the top 10 again. A new entry - but not the highest! - for Kylie Minogue, What do I have to do? was the eleventh single she'd released in three years. Eight of her previous releases had made the top two, but there was a feeling that the diminuative Australian was becoming a bit too predictable, and this tune was criticised as Kylie-by-numbers.

Down five to 10 went C&C Music Factory, and the highest new entry at 9 goes to EMF's I believe. The band made rock-techno sound, and was seen as the slightly uncouth country bumpkin to Jesus Jones's city slickers. The group was formed in Cinderford in 1989, was signed to Parlophone after just four gigs, and burst onto the public consciousness at the 1990 Smash Hits Poll-Winners' Party, where they gave a raucous performance of their first single Unbelievable, one that finished with the group smashing their instruments. Host Phillip Schofield later said that the group had lifted their equipment during rehearsals, telegraphing their intentions. Unbelievable went on to peak at number 3, and the follow-up single was aided as much by appearances on Saturday morning television as by the group's innate talent. This was their problem. Jesus Jones was cool: EMF was the sort of thing your slightly embarrassing little sister listened to.

Up eight to 8 for Soho's Hippy chick, two girls sampling the Smiths' How soon is now and very much one-hit wonders. Rick Astley climbed seven to 7 with Cry for help. He had had the biggest-selling single of 1987, and Never gonna give you up was the first of seven smash hits in an eighteen month period. During this time, Astley had a seemingly total ubiquity, popping up on every television programme, every radio show, everything under the sun. Four top three hits came from his first album, their release compressed into just six months; his ever-so-similar second album had three top ten hits, though none threatening the domination he'd enjoyed a year earlier. Astley was a protogé of Pete Waterman, but left the PWL hit factory after these two albums, implying that he had been held back by their marketing campaign.

Cry for help was his big comeback single, showing the soulful side that - in retrospect - had been trying hard to get out from Waterman's disco production. The gospel choir was tutored by André Crouch, who had previously worked with Madonna on Like a prayer. It was the only post-SAW hit for Astley; follow-up single Move right out will just fail to trouble the top 50, a 1993 album will give him one further week in the top 40 with Hopelessly. Astley issued a solo album in 2001, and a covers album in 2005, the latter briefly graced the top 30.

Enigma's former number one dipped three to 6, Seal dropped a place to 5, and Two in a Room's Wiggle it advanced two to 4. The Simpsons climbed 8 to 3 with Do the Bart, man, and after just one week at number one, Queen's Innuendo was knocked off. Taking its place at the summit was the KLF's 3am eternal. Regular readers will recall the last act of Drummond and Cauty's band, and one of the first. In between came the great commercial success. What time is love was a brainless house track featuring vocal garbage from Riccardo da Force, so it was certain to crack the top ten in early autumn 1990. 3am eternal was no great progression, though did at least feature a decently wailing female vocal. Drummond and Cauty were - quite deliberately - not showing the full picture to listeners, ensuring that they would have a huge audience as a stupid house band, only to fool them with more intelligent dance music when their album comes out. It was a genius masterplan, we're still impressed by it now, but the song wasn't a brilliant number one. On the other hand, it's as modern as anything else in the top seven, and it's infinitely better than Two in a Room.

One final piece of conflict news: a poster in south London, adversising a newspaper's coverage of the GULF WAR, found the first two letters spray-painted out, and before them, the single letter K.

| Permanent link