Stories about and inspired by UK Top 40 hits from 1975 to 1999

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Archive

1975-1979 | 1980-1984 | 1985-1989 | 1990-1994 | 1995-1999

Artist

Song

Janet Jackson & Luther Vandross

The Best Things In Life Are Free

Janet Jackson and Luther Vandross, ‘The Best Things In Life Are Free’: The long road to success
Janet Jackson

That’s The Way Love Goes

Janet Jackson, ‘That’s The Way Love Goes’: The Queen of Pop
Jimmy Nail

Ain’t No Doubt

Jimmy Nail, ‘Ain’t No Doubt’: Jimmy Nail’s Multiverse of Madness
Kaoma

Lambada

Kaoma, ‘Lambada’: Fraud, hubris, and two bad movies
Kate Bush

Cloudbusting

Kate Bush, ‘Cloudbusting’: Nazis, UFOs and sex cults
Kris Kross

Jump

Kris Kross, ‘Jump’: The avoidable tragedy of Kris Kross
Kylie Minogue

Give Me Just A Little More Time

Kylie Minogue, ‘Give Me Just A Little More Time’: Who owns Kylie?
Leftfield, Lydon

Open Up

Leftfield, Open Up: Johnny Rotten vs John Lydon
M People

Don’t Look Any Further

M People, ‘Don’t Look Any Further’: The wonderful world of Siedah Garrett
Madonna

Erotica

Madonna, ‘Erotica’: A song about power
Come On You Reds

Manchester United, ‘Come On You Reds’: How Man U became pop icons
Marc Almond

The Days of Pearly Spencer

Marc Almond, ‘The Days of Pearly Spencer’: The war against boring guitar guys
Mariah Carey

Hero

Mariah Carey, ‘Hero’: Mariah and the Mafia
Meat Loaf

I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)

Meat Loaf, ‘I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)’: What happened to Meat Loaf’s money?
Melanie C

Northern Star

Melanie C, ‘Northern Star’: The plain one at the back
Mr Blobby

Mr Blobby

Mr Blobby, ‘Mr Blobby’: The monsters of Saturday night
New Order

Regret

New Order, ‘Regret’: The fight for New Order’s name
Nirvana

Heart-Shaped Box

Nirvana, ‘Heart-Shaped Box’: Grunge gets real
Nirvana

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Nirvana, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’: One day, it changed
Opus III

It’s A Fine Day

Opus III, ‘It’s A Fine Day’: The Wonderful of Edward Barton
Paul McCartney

Hope Of Deliverance

Paul McCartney, ‘Hope Of Deliverance’: Pop’s biggest conspiracy theory
Paul Weller

Sunflower

Paul Weller, ‘Sunflower’: An old name pushes Britpop in a new direction
Pearl Jam

Daughter

Pearl Jam, ‘Daughter’: Eddie Vedder and life after Kurt
Pet Shop Boys

Go West

Pet Shop Boys, ‘Go West’: The queer utopia of Go West
Prince

My Name Is Prince

Prince, ‘My Name Is Prince’: A rose by any other name
R.E.M.

Everybody Hurts

R.E.M., ‘Everybody Hurts’: Songs of faith and doubt
Radiohead

Creep

Radiohead,’Creep’: The skeleton in Thom’s closet
Rage Against The Machine

Killing In The Name

Rage Against The Machine, ‘Killing In The Name’: What are you rebelling against?
Ride

Leave Them All Behind

Ride, ‘Leave Them All Behind’: The death of indie music
Robin S

Show Me Love

Robin S, ‘Show Me Love’: The Harper Lee of House Music
Sade

No Ordinary Love

Sade,’No Ordinary Love’: The golden age of Sexy Date Movies
Seal

Kiss From A Rose

Seal, ‘Kiss From A Rose’: Grey, grave or something else?
Shaggy

Oh Carolina

Shaggy, ‘Oh Carolina’: The Reggae-naissance begins
Shakespears Sister

Stay

Shakespears Sister, ‘Stay’: B-Movies hit the Top 40
Shampoo

Trouble

Shampoo, ‘Trouble’: Who was the third member of Shampoo?
SL2

On A Ragga Tip

SL2 ‘On A Ragga Tip’: From Windrush to the charts
Snoop Doggy Dogg

Gin & Juice

Snoop Doggy Dogg, ‘Gin & Juice’: When Snoop terrified Britain
Snow

Informer

Snow, ‘Informer’: The white rapper backlash
Sonia

Better The Devil You Know

Sonia, ‘Better The Devil You Know’: Eurovision 1993, live from “a cowshed in Ireland”
Soul Asylum

Runaway Train

Soul Asylum, ‘Runaway Train’: Did Runaway Train help find any missing kids?

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