Originally posted by ShayLaB
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Yeah...I have never found the exact quote but it went something like this:Originally posted by jio
"Aside from Kiss there is nothing on Parade I am particuarly proud of. The temptation is to get straight back into the studio but I am going to wait until I have a great set of songs ready."
I saw him being interviewed between Parade and Sign O The Times.Leave a comment:
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100.SHOCKADELICA - fab.
98.LION OF JUDAH - instantly likeable pop song from average album.
96.(THE PERFECT) 10 - Like this a lot. Had never seen the video before.
94.UNDISPUTED - Don't agree that this is the best track on the album. Surely that goes to the Stafani or Crow duets. I loved the first four Public Enemy albums but I don't think this is particularly memorable.
93. KISS - Way too low. Terrific. "Aside from Kiss there is nothing on Parade I am particuarly proud of."
92.STROLLIN' - Always liked this a lot.Leave a comment:
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VERY nice, not amazing - for me!
Prince has levels of genius - this being the lower level.
Vanity 6 song is good - they looked appalling!
Denise Matthews (Vanity) is now a reformed minister.Leave a comment:
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95.NASTY GIRL (performed by Vanity 6) (1982)
album "VANITY 6"
..."that's right, it's been a long time
since I had a man that did it real good
If you ain't scared, take it out
I'll do it like a real live nasty girl should"...
Despite what the guy in the video link says, this song was actually composed by Prince. Vanity 6 were his protege girl group back in the early '80s. The girls only released one album under that name because a partial line-up change resulted to a name change as well. The parent album charted at #45 on the BB200 and at #6 on R&B, largely on the strength of this particular single which made it to #7 on Hot Black Singles and #1 on Dance/Club Play. And time did treat "Nasty Girl" rather good:both Beyonce and Lil' Kim have performed this on tour, whereas in 2004 a rather by-the-numbers club cover of the song by Inaya Day took it to #9 on the UK Singles Chart
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94.UNDISPUTED (feat. Chuck D.) (1999)
album "RAVE UN2 THE JOY FANTASTIC" (album track)
..."Heavy rotation never made my world go round
Commercialization of the music is what brought it down"...
"Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic" was supposed to be Prince's commercial comeback project. The album covered a variety of genres from R&B to rock and so on, included cameos by Gwen Stefani, Sheryl Crow, Chuck D. and Eve among others but in the end it wasn't meant to be. The album peaked at a mere #18 on BB200 and #145 on the UK albums chart and its biggest hit "Greatest Romance Ever Sold" stalled at #63 on the BB Hot 100. Nevertheless, it was a pretty good album. Several songs just missed out making my list such as the lead single, "Baby Knows", "The Sun, The Moon And Stars", and the title track. Still though, one song from that album does make my Top 100 and this is "Undisputed".I think I can hear the protests as I write this but I just love the energy of this one.
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93.KISS (with The Revolution) (1986)
album "PARADE"
..."Women, not girls, rule my world, I said they rule my world
Act your age, mama, not your shoe size, maybe we could do the twirl
You don't have to watch Dynasty to have an attitude
You just leave it all up to me, my love will be your fool"...
And here is a song that everyone knows. This 1986 classic (from the soundtrack of the Prince movie "Under The Cherry Moon") was #1 on the BB Hot 100 while another Prince composition (The Bangles' "Manic Monday") was at #2. It also made it to #1 on R&B and Dance/Club Play and #6 on the UK Singles Chart. The song originally wasn't even supposed to be sung by Prince. Instead, Prince had composed it for his protege group Mazarati. After they changed the instrumentation of the song however, Prince liked it so much that he took it back and kept it for himself. Wise decision. The song won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo Or A Group, was nominated for Best R&B song and has been covered by everyone from the Glee Cast to Westlife, Nicole Kidman (in the film "Happy Feet") and Julia Roberts (in the film "Pretty Woman"). Weirdly enough, two years later a rather horrid version by Art Of Noise & Tom Jones outpeaked the original in the UK by making it to #5
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92.STROLLIN' (with the New Power Generation) (1991)
from "DIAMONDS AND PEARLS"
..."We could stroll the mezzanine
buy some dirty magazine
laugh behind it while we're eatin' ice-cream"...
Undoubtly one of the least commercial and most beautiful songs in Prince's first album with the New Power Generation. This jazzy ballad has actually a video, filmed as part of the "Diamonds And Pearls Video Collection" music video but I am unable to find it on youtube so we'll have to settle for the audio only. The song resurfaced one year later as part of the UK double a-side single "Sexy MF/Strollin'" which peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart (mainly on the strength of "Sexy MF")
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91.THE GOOD LIFE (with/credited to New Power Generation) (1995)
album "EXODUS"
..."La Dolce Vita" was the knob that turned me on
Marcello Mastroianni Italian Mac comin' on strong
He had all the honies, the kind from the magazines
Small waist, big-right!...biggest one U've ever seen"...
Exodus was the second (essentially) Prince & The New Power Generation album to be released under Prince's own label (NPG) at a time when Warner still had ownership of the releases carrying Prince's name.That is why his name is totally absent from the release. Unlike its predecessor "Goldnigga", this album was released normally in retail shops which resulted in a peak of #11 on the UK Albums Chart. Despite "The Good Life" being the second single released from the album (after "Get Wild"), its catchy R&B sound helped it to become the biggest of the two by charting twice, peaking at #29 on the UK Singles Chart in 1995 and at #15 on the same chart two years later
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(you can click on the song titles to listen to the songs or see the videos)Leave a comment:
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Yeah "Mia Bocca" was in the Top 100 at some point, but it had to leave to give space to some other songs lol. I think it must be within the Top 110 somewhere although I erased the part of the list which didn't make it and I can't really remember.
Can't believe you don't like Madhouse, but no most Madhouse tracks don't have as much pop beat as that oneLeave a comment:
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Jill Jones' Mia Bocca is a fantastic track. Sheila E was good, Carmen Electra wasn't!
Shockadelica stunning - i have it (and How Come) from the B Sides set of The Hits package. How Come.. is good. Lion.. OK.
Are all of Madhouse's tracks like that? Just sounds like a backing track waiting for a vocal - hardly Herb Alpert!
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100.SHOCKADELICA (1987)
from "IF I WAS YOUR GIRLFRIEND" single (b-side)
..."the lights go down, the smell of doom
is again creeping in your lonely room
The bed's on fire, your fate is sealed"...
The story of this one goes something like this: Prince's protege band The Time wanted to name one of their albums "Shockadelica". Prince liked the title and composed this song for them, but The Time refused to include it in their album and as a result Prince recorded it and it ended up as the b-side to "If I Was Your Girlfriend" in 1987. The song would resurface in 1996 on the soundtrack of the Demi Moore film "Striptease". The song is typical Prince, or rather typical Camille (Prince's thin-voice alter-ego). A funky number to open a funky countdown.
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99.ONE NITE ALONE (2002)
album "ONE NITE ALONE" (album track)
..."Do you like it fast? Do you like it slow
I know it's better if we make it up as we go
And oh, by the way, tell me now, what's your name"...
Prince released the voice-and-piano-only "One Nite Alone" exclusively through his NPG Music club in 2002. The album is a little gem in Prince's catalogue, as it is a simple, yet undeniable artistic statement. My favourite track from the album is this one, the title track.
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98.LION OF JUDAH (2007)
album "PLANET EARTH" (album track)
..."looking for the energy to take you there
The places that you wanna go
Knowing if I do, you're fully aware
The press will turn it into a show"...
This album track is the pop/rock gem of the "Planet Earth" album. It's a retro electric-guitar-driven song which, although I didn't think much of the first time I heard it, I love it now. There are more "Planet Earth" cuts further up the countdown
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97.HOW COME U DON'T CALL ME ANYMORE (1982)
from "1999" single (b-side)
..."Sometimes I feel like I'm gonna die
If you don't call me, mama, girl, you gotta try
Down on my knees beggin' you, please, please
Why can't you call me sometime baby"...
Prince had the unusual habit of relegating some of his best songs to b-side status. The bluesy "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore" is probably one of the two most known examples of that (the other one is coming further up the countdown). A totally fantastic ballad, the song took a life of its own, as it later appeared in the 1996 Spike Lee film "Girl 6" and covered by a variety of artists including Stephanie Mills, Roger Cicero and, most notably, Alicia Keys who took her version to #26 on the UK Singles Chart, #59 on the BB Hot 100 and #30 on R&B
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96.(THE PERFECT) 10 (performed/credited to Madhouse) (1987)
album "16"
Madhouse were Prince's jazz side project of 1987.They released two great little albums that year, where all the cuts were interestingly named only as numbers. "(The Perfect) 10" was the lead single of the second Madhouse album and made it to #66 on the R&B charts. It is the first instrumental song on the countdown and the first for which there is a video link.
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(you can click on the song titles to listen to the songs or see the videos)Leave a comment:
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Nice write-ups. Many of the albums listed are decent (like Emancipation, Chaos And Disorder, Crystal Ball, Batman and MPLSoUND), but agreed that none of them are among his finest works.
So I'm stunned no Carmen Electra tracks are factoring on your list
Jill Jones has an AWESOME voice and she's a pretty cool person, I'm one of her Facebook fans and she posts a lot of music that she's into and generally talks to her "friends" on there. She had a US dance hit about two years ago so she's still at it. And she still looks like she's 25 years old even though she is pushing 50.
The third Sheila E album is a snoozer and I loved some of the tracks off "The Glamorous Life" and "In Romance 1700"Leave a comment:
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Yeah I have the same version of "Crystal Ball". Yeap the "Truth" is also my favourite disc in there.Originally posted by ShayLaB
Madhouse were great weren't they?
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I have the 4 CD Crystal Ball album that includes The Truth. I always thought it was a fairly strong album that would have done well as a stand alone release.
Anything by Madhouse going to appear? I used to have the first album but I dropped it and it broke. I can barely even remember what it sounded like now.Leave a comment:
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"So... why do you like Prince?". I think that was one of the most-asked questions I came across in my third-of-a-century lifetime. Well, actually my first encounter with Prince wasn't much of a success. I got the "Lovesexy" tape as a present while at primary school, gave it a listen and recorded stuff from radio over it. After all I was into Madonna, Michael Jackson and Sabrina then.
I actually became a fan in the early '90s. I did like "Thieves In The Temple" and I adored "Gett Off" and "Cream" but it was the sequence of "Sexy M.F." and "My Name Is Prince" in 1992 which made me go out and buy my first Prince album ("Symbol"). And then I bought "Diamonds And Pearls", "Graffiti Bridge", "The Beautiful Experience". I even got into some trouble at late high school for drawing Prince's symbol in one of my books (and everybody misunderstanding what I meant by it lol). But it was easy then. You just had to lent everyone the "Symbol" tape and everyone would be like "wow I had no idea he is that good". That was then.
In 1994 I was a troubled kid looking for work in Athens. I was just walking and saw the "Come" tape in a cd-store. I went in and bought it without a second thought and put it in my walkman right away. I thought it would have "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" in, well it didn't. But still what an album. It was my soundtrack throughout the rest of 1994. And I also bought "The Hits" on vinyl (it just looked better than the box-set cd). But there was a problem: my vinyl-player had just stopped working. It would take ages before I finally listened to that album.
By the late '90s it became progressively more difficult for people to understand why I love Prince. His music became erratic, his releases numerous and subpar. But that was the time for me to dig into his glorious '80s and love him even more. And then came that comeback. First a quality comeback ("The Rainbow Children") and then a commercial comeback ("Musicology"). And the rest is history
So the list is finally completed but it would feel a job half-done without a mention at the albums which didn't make the cut. So let's have a look at the Prince studio albums (or other artists' albums with at least half of their songs composed by Prince) which don't have a song making it into the Top 100:
Jill Jones (performed by Jill Jones) (1987)
Prince composed the debut album for Jill Jones and despite the album being a nice piece of pop/dance music, it was a flop on the charts. I do enjoy this one, however nothing here is strong enough to make my Top 100.
Sheila E. (performed by Sheila E.) (1987)
This was Sheila E.'s third studio album and Prince composed half the songs on this one. Although this is not a bad album per se, it is notably weaker than her debut and as a result it suffered chart wise. It only made it to #56 on the BB200 and #24 on R&B.
The Black Album (1987)
This one was supposed to be released in 1987 after "Sign O' The Times" but instead Prince scrapped its release because he thought it was too weak. However some vinyls had already been pressed, the album leaked and became probably Prince's most notorious bootleg. The album finally got a full release in 1994, as part of Prince's effort of completing his Warner contract fast. It charted at #36 in the UK, #47 in the US and #18 on R&B. Looking at it in retrospect, Prince was right: this was indeed a weak effort but one which had its (many) charms
Batman (1989)
Unlike all the albums above, this one was a huge success making it to #1 on both UK and US albums charts (and #5 on R&B), helped greatly by the success of the movie. "Batdance" remains one of Prince's most successful singles ever, becoming his fourth US #1 hit and making it to #2 in the UK. It was also a #1 hit on the United World Chart. Other hit singles from this album include "Partyman" (#14 UK, #18 US) and his duet with Sheena Easton "The Arms Of Orion" (#27 UK, #36 US). Despite its commercial appeal, this remains the worst 80s Prince album in my book.
Time Waits For No One (performed by Mavis Staples) (1989)
Mavis Staples was releasing albums since the '70s. In the '80s she became Prince's backing vocalist and Prince composed most of this soulful album, which unfortunately was a flop on the charts
Times Squared (performed by Eric Leeds) (1991)
Eric Leeds has a long history of working with Prince mainly as a saxophonist. He was a member of the Family and he performed in Madhouse as well back in the '80s. In 1991 Prince composed this jazz album for him. It's a fantastic instrumental album and I recommend it to everyone, even though none of its tracks makes it in my Top 100. Eric Leeds continued working with Prince in the '00s as well.
Carmen Electra (performed by Carmen Electra) (1993)
Yes, before Carmen Electra became a television and tabloid personality, she dated Prince and the result was this weak rap album which despite floping everywhere, did produce the #33 Club/Dance play "hit" "Everybody Get On Up".
Goldnigga (performed/credited to New Power Generation) (1993)
The New Power Generation was Prince's backing band in the early '90s. He used them in several albums and also as a vehicle for releasing material outside the Warner label (by using their name instead of his own which was owned by Warner at the time). This was the first album credited solely to them. It was never released in the shops, instead you could buy it in Prince concerts, ordering lines etc. The general public didn't miss much though as the album is rather weak
The Voice (performed by Mavis Stapes)(1993)
Prince composed half of this rather charming album which unfortunately didn't bother the charts at all.
1-800-NEW-FUNK (performed by various artists) (1994)
This was basically a promotional album for the artists signed at Prince's NPG records. The album features Prince's duet with Nona Gaye "Love Sign" as well as a new song credited to Madhouse. It made it to #45 on R&B albums.
Chaos And Disorder (1996)
Another album which came out mainly to complete Prince's contract with Warner, this rock album divided fans with some of them loving it, others disliking it. I am in the latter category. The album made it to #14 UK and #26 USA whereas the single "Dinner With Delores" peaked at #33 on the UK Singles Chart.
Emancipation (1996)
And whereas "Chaos And Disorder" was an afterthought for Prince, this triple-album released under his own label was supposed to be Prince's big comeback, an artistic and commercial powerhouse. In the end it was neither, it was just a pretty average album for Prince's standards which was way too long for its own good and included way too many fillers. It peaked at #11 USA & #18 UK launching two UK hit singles: "Betcha By Golly Wow" peaked at #11 and "The Holy River" peaked at #19.
Crystal Ball (1998)
Prince's fans long wanted him to release outtakes from his famous "vault" and Prince gave them what they wanted with this triple-cd collection of outtakes. Well almost... The album is focusing on the '90s whereas most fans were interested much more on the '80s. Still the album contains several gems, none of which made it on my countdown. It peaked at #62 on the BB200. Some versions of the album included an extra fourth-cd of acoustic guitar songs called "The Truth" and even an extra fifth instrumental cd called "Kamasutra"
Xpectation (2003)
This was one of three jazz/instrumental albums Prince released in the early '00s and, together, they were his first such work since his projects with Madhouse in the '80s and Eric Leeds in the early '90s. The instrumentals in this saxophone-based album are deeper and more complex than Prince's '80s jazz work and it is yet another fantastic set from the purple one. It was released through NPG club as a download only.
The Chocolate Invasion (2004)
During 2000-2001 Prince had his own website called NPG Music Club through which members could gain access to exclusive material including brand new songs. Those new songs were released on two online albums also available exclusively through the same website. This was one of them. The music on the album doesn't deviate much from Prince's '90s material and although a generally pleasant album, it doesn't include anything too exceptional tbh. It includes the 2001 single "U Make My Sun Shine", a duet with Angie Stone
The Slaughterhouse (2004)
And this was the second such album. It includes the singles "Peace" and "Daisy Chain"
MPLSound (2009)
Although this was one of the two albums by Prince included in the triple-cd package "LotusFlow3r/Elix3r/MPLSound, the fact that this cd exists in some EU countries (notably France) as a single-disc edition, qualifies it for its own mention. Personally I consider bizarre that this was the one chosen to be released on its own (instead of the much better "LotusFlow3r" or some kind of combination of the two) because as a whole it is rather weak. It doesn't deviate much from Prince's '90s material and, in my opinion, that's a step down from his other '00s stuff.
20Ten (2010)
This is Prince's latest album, the one famously released in the UK through the "Daily Mirror" newspaper. That's how I got it too and it's not a bad album at all. It is an album where Prince provides simple funky 80s-tinched wholly enjoyable songs and it works. No track from this one makes it into my Top 100 but "Sticky Like Glue" did come really close
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So on to the cold chart facts now (we are in UKmix after all). Prince's career so far includes 43 UK Top 40 hits (including features and his work with the New Power Generation), including 16 Top 10s and a single #1 hit ("The Most Beautiful Girl In The World"). He is also the composer of a further 12 Top 40 hits, 6 of which went Top 10 and two made it to #1 (Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" & Sinead O' Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U"). In the USA he had 32 hit singles, including 19 Top 10s and five #1s ("When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy", "Kiss", "Batdance" & "Cream"). He is also the composer of a further 13 Top 40 hits including 8 Top 10s and a #1 (Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U")
On the album charts he had 24 UK Top 40 albums, including 18 Top 10s and five #1s ("Lovesexy", "Batman", "Graffiti Bridge", "Symbol" and "Come"). In the USA he had 23 Top 40 albums, including 14 Top 10s and four #1s ("Purple Rain", "Around The World In A Day", "Batman" and "3121"). He also composed a further 3 Top 40 albums for other artists.
My top 100 includes both hits and album tracks. Around half the songs are from the '80s and around a quarter are from other artists. You'll notice that some of the most famous Prince hits are either low on the countdown or completely absent. That's not because I don't like them, but because I think some of them are overplayed. I'll provide youtube or grooveshark links to all the songs so have a good listen to find out why I love Prince
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Well the list is not compiled yet, but I doubt "Raspberry Berret (or Sorbet)" will make any appearance. Moreover it's certain that neither will "Let's Go Crazy", "Cream" or "Batdance"... lolOriginally posted by NothingFailsawww, so "Raspberry Sorbet" from his Muppets appearance won't show up?Originally posted by jioHey I got a life also (I think) lol. Plus the idea is to make at least one more person interested, not to flood them with Prince's 1000+ songsOriginally posted by ShayLaBOnly 100...c'mon, that's just not trying hard enough.
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awww, so "Raspberry Sorbet" from his Muppets appearance won't show up?Originally posted by jioHey I got a life also (I think) lol. Plus the idea is to make at least one more person interested, not to flood them with Prince's 1000+ songsOriginally posted by ShayLaBOnly 100...c'mon, that's just not trying hard enough.
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Hey I got a life also (I think) lol. Plus the idea is to make at least one more person interested, not to flood them with Prince's 1000+ songsOriginally posted by ShayLaBOnly 100...c'mon, that's just not trying hard enough.Leave a comment:
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It will be Prince both as a performer and as a composer so yeap you will see several songs by the Time etc. However it might take some time until it starts because the survivor I'm doing takes me awfully lots of time lolOriginally posted by NothingFailsLeave a comment:
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Cannot wait, Prince has sooooooo many songs to choose from.
Judging from the pictures, will it be all-Prince, or will acts like The Time, Vanity 6, etc... that Prince pretty much was the mastermind for also appear?Leave a comment:
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Jio's HoF :NOW:WEEKLY PICKS (28/3/2023)
JIO'S HALL OF FAME INDEX
1.PRINCE's Top 100: page 1
Prince's Chart History (now complete) on page 6 (click to access)
2.MADONNA's Top 100: page 7 (click to access)
Madonna's Chart History (now complete) on page 16 (click to access)
3.RANDOM SONG INDUCTIONS: page 19 (click to access)
English-language inductions:
-Part 1:Random Female Songs on page 19 (click to access)
-Part 3:90s R&B Top 10 on page 19 (click to access)
-Part 5:Top 10 Songs from Musicals on page 19 (click to access)
-Part 9:Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) productions Top 10 on page 20 (click to access)
-Part 12:Latin beats in english language Top 10 on page 21 (click to access)
-Part 14:80s R&B Top 10 on page 21 (click to access)
-Part 15:Reggae Top 10 on page 21 (click to access)
Non-English-language inductions
-Part 1:Random Greek Songs on page 19 (click to access)
-Part 2:Arabic Top 10 on page 19 (click to access)
-Part 4:French-language Top 10 on page 19 (click to access)
-Part 6:Top 10 from Cyprus on page 19 (click to access)
-Part 8:Italian Top 10 on page 20 (click to access)
-Part 10:Top 10 Eurovision performances from the '70s on page 20 (click to access)
-Part 11:Spanish-language Top 10 on page 21 (click to access)
-Part 13:Balkanic Romany-influenced Top 10 on page 21 (click to access)
-Part 17:-Romany influences in 90s Greek folk/rock Top 10 on page 22 (click to access)
-Part 19:-Top 10 Eurovision Performances from the '80s on page 22 (click to access)
-Part 23:-Top 10 Eurovision Performances from the '90s on page 23 (click to access)
Artist Focus
-Part 7A:Samantha Fox Top 5 on page 19 (click to access)
-Part 7B:Sabrina Salerno Top 5 on page 19 (click to access)
-Part 16:Whitney Houston Top 10 on page 21 (click to access)
-Part 18:-Kaiti Garbi Top 10 on page 22 (click to access)
-Part 20:-Kylie Minogue Top 10 singles on page 22 (click to access)
-Part 21:-Ofra Haza Top 10 singles on page 23 (click to access)
-Part 22:-Andrew Lloyd Webber Top 10 on page 23 (click to access)
4.BACK TO THE '80s:
-1980 on page 23 (click to access)
-1981 on page 23 (click to access)
-1982 on page 24 (click to access)
Hi-NRG from 1982 on page 24 (click to access)
-1983 on page 25 (click to access)
Hi-NRG from 1983 on page 24 (click to access)
-1984 on page 25 (click to access)
Hi-NRG from 1984 on page 25 (click to access)
-1985 on page 25 (click to access)
Hi-NRG from 1985 on page 25 (click to access)
-1986 on page 25 (click to access)
Hi-NRG from 1986 on page 25 (click to access)
5.BEST OF '90s R&B:
-1990 Top 40 (click to access)
-1991 Top 40 (click to access)
-1992 Top 40 (click to access)
-1993 Top 40 (click to access)
-1994 Top 40 (click to access)
-1995 Top 40 (click to access)
-1996 Top 40 (click to access)
-1997 Top 40 (click to access)
6.Forum Song Contest (my entries):
-Part 1: Idan Raichel Project (Israel) 3 from 1 (click to access)
-Part 2:Khansa Batma (Morocco) 3 from 1 (click to access)
-Part 3:Emilie Simon (France) 3 from 1 (click to access)
-Part 4
igimax (Mexico) 3 from 1 (click to access)
-Part 5:Sweet Connection (Germany) 3 from 1 (click to access)
-Part 6:Cheb Douzi (Morocco) 3 from 1 (click to access)
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