NME Top Singles of 1997

[Darkness_Fish]

Blimey, I'm not sure if this is the last dregs of Britpop fighting back, or just a dull old slog through a grey swamp of TV ad-friendly cack.

1. The Verve – Bitter Sweet Symphony


2. Blur – Song 2


3. The Verve – The Drugs Don’t Work


4. Embrace – All You Good Good People


5. Primal Scream – Kowalski


6. Radiohead – Paranoid Android


7. The Blueboy – Remember Me


8. Spiritualized – Electricity


9. Massive Attack – Risingson


10. The Chemical Brothers – Block Rockin’ Beats

[Darkness_Fish]

Longlist:

11. Daft Punk – Da Funk
12. Echo And The Bunnyman – Nothing Lasts Forever
13. Arab Strap – The Girls Of Summer E.P.
14. Mogwai – New Paths To Helicon
15. Pavement – Stereo
16. Cornershop – Brimful Of Asha
17. Teenage Fanclub – Ain’t That Enough
18. Daft Punk – Around The World
19. The Beta Band – Champion Versions EP
20. Goldie Featuring Krs-One - Digital
21. Embrace – Fireworks EP
22. Belle & Sebastian – The Lazy Line Painter Jane
23. Blur – Beetlebum
24. DJ Shadow – High Noon
25. The Chemical Brothers – The Private Psychedlic Reel
26. Black Grape – Get Higher
27. Primal Scream – Star
28. Six By Seven – European Me
29. Oasis – D’you Know What I Mean
30. Lo-Fidelelity Allstars – Kool Rock Bass
31. Bentley Rhythm Ace – Bentley’s Gonna Sort You Out
32. Roni Size – Brown Paper Bag
33. Wu-Tang Clan – Triumph
34. Aphex Twin – Come To Daddy
35. Belle And Sebastian – 3.. 6.. 9.. Seconds Of Light
36. The Charlatans – North Country Boy
37. The Wannadies – Hit
38. Add N To X – King Wasp
39. Beck – Deadweight
40. Fatboy Slim – Everybody Needs
41. Pulp – Help The Aged
42. Orbital – Satan
43. Missy ‘ Misdemeanoe’ Elliott – The Rain
44. Eels – Novocain For The Soul
45. Death In Vegas – Rocco
46. Dinosaur Jr – Take A Run At The Sun
47. Travis – All I Wanna Do Is Rock
48. Kirk Lake – Five Finger Discount
49. Nick Cave – Into My Arms
50. Supergrass – Late In The Day

[Polishgirl]

I went Symphony, Song 2 and Android.

Of the long list, Eels stands out.

[naughty boy]

Just 'Kowalski' from the ten.

[The Modernist]

It's a poor selection. I went for Song 2, Remember Me and Block Rockin' Beats...but they are decent rather than great.

[Darkness_Fish]

Brimful of Asha, Satan, and Come to Daddy are the quality from the longlist. From the 10, I guess "Remember Me" is ok, and (faint praise be damned) "Song 2" is probably Blur's finest moment.

[naughty boy]

'Brimful of Asha' is torture.

[naughty boy]

from the long list:

11. Daft Punk – Da Funk
15. Pavement – Stereo
22. Belle & Sebastian – The Lazy Line Painter Jane
23. Blur – Beetlebum
25. The Chemical Brothers – The Private Psychedelic Reel
31. Bentley Rhythm Ace – Bentley’s Gonna Sort You Out
39. Beck – Deadweight
44. Eels – Novocain For The Soul

possibly the B&S, Chem Bros and Eels best-ever tracks, actually

[harvey k-tel]

Only 8 acts not from the UK! And none in the top 10.

[Ranking Ted]

Pisspoor year. Embrace and the Verve, FFS. I've gone for the same 3 as G with the same caveats. The long list is equally poor. However, these are salvageable:

11. Daft Punk – Da Funk
15. Pavement – Stereo
17. Teenage Fanclub – Ain’t That Enough
18. Daft Punk – Around The World
19. The Beta Band – Champion Versions EP
23. Blur – Beetlebum
25. The Chemical Brothers – The Private Psychedlic Reel
39. Beck – Deadweight
41. Pulp – Help The Aged
50. Supergrass – Late In The Day

But really, this is a mix of the asthmatic last wheeze of a coked out Britpop, turgid neuvo-prog 'anthems' and the simultaneous plot loss implosion of hip hop and alt.rock. Rotten.

[toomanyhatz]

Not that it's a very good list on the whole - things had gotten rather dire by then for the most part - but my favorites outside of Cornershop and maybe Cave at a stretch, are in the ten. I went for the Verve ("Drugs," don't really much care for the other one), Blur, and Radiohead. Yeah, that's right. Bite me.

[sloopjohnc]

From the list, Blur and Block Rockin' Beats.

Cornershop and Missy Elliott.

[ChrisB]

I rather like Eels. Jolly good song. I also bought the Embrace album on the strength of half liking the single. It was, of course, a bag of shite.

[Dayodead]

Massive Attack / Radiohead / Chemical Brothers

"Decent" stuff from the long list:
Arab Strap – The Girls Of Summer E.P.
Pavement – Stereo
Belle & Sebastian – The Lazy Line Painter Jane
Blur – Beetlebum
DJ Shadow – High Noon
Wu-Tang Clan – Triumph
Aphex Twin – Come To Daddy
Belle And Sebastian – 3.. 6.. 9.. Seconds Of Light
Pulp – Help The Aged
Orbital – Satan
Missy ‘ Misdemeanoe’ Elliott – The Rain
Dinosaur Jr – Take A Run At The Sun
Nick Cave – Into My Arms
Supergrass – Late In The Day
 
My Top 20 of 1997:
1. Bjork- Joga
2. Yo la Tengo- Sugarcube
3. Belle and Sebastian- Like Dylan in the movies
4. Stereolab * Nurse with Wound- Simple Headphone Mind
5. Movietone- Sun Drawing
6. Tricky- Makes me wanna die
7. Aphex Twin- Come to Daddy
8.  Pram- The Last Astronaut
9.  REM- Electrolite
10.  Massive attack- Risingson
11. Pulp- Help the aged
12. Bjork- Bachelorette  
13. Radiohead- Karma Police    
14. David Bowie- I'm afraid of Americans
15. Flying Saucer Attack - Coming Home
16.  Portishead- All mine
17. The Chemical Brothers- Block rockin' beats
18.  Tindersticks- Rented Rooms
19.  The American Analog Set- Magnificent Seventies
20.  Superchunk- Watery Hands

[Canis lupus]

Great single (still is), should've been on list:

[Canis lupus]

... that was the kiddies version.
Shortened edition for Grown Ups:

[Neige]

I went (...) Song 2 and Android.

Of the long list, Eels stands out.

From the long list, I'd also mention Beta Band, Belle and Sebastian, Nick Cave.... and Beetlebum.

Apart from that, there's hardly anything I really like (or remember). What a shite period...

[Rayge]

By far the best track of the year, and one of the singles of the 90s (would have used it in the cup if I entered) is lurking in the late 40s.
I hope that the fact that no one else has mentioned it means you haven't heard it, although I fear that its perfect 1960s pop joy will be lost on many...



There's two or three others in the long list that are all right, but most of it is basically tosh.

[naughty boy]

By far the best track of the year, and one of the singles of the 90s (would have used it in the cup if I entered) is lurking in the late 40s.
I hope that the fact that no one else has mentioned it means you haven't heard it, although I fear that its perfect 1960s pop joy will be lost on many...

Runner-up, Mississippi Tech Battle Of The Bands 1988

[driftin]

I'm not ashamed to say I like most of the electronic music on this list as those are the tunes that dragged me through secondary school. “Come to Daddy“ and “Risingson” are the highlights of course but hearing “Block Rockin' Beats” for the first time the other day in that PlayStation Classic advert hit me right in the nostalgia core.



Don't really care about the rock and pop in this list at all.