1997 – my year in music
What could be more ridiculous than trying to rank the thousands of singles and albums you’ve bought and heard over a lifetime? Here we go …
I did actually rank my singles and albums in December 1997, but I did it again in December 2024 to see how things changed.
| Top albums of 1997 | ||
| 1 | Salad | Ice Cream |
| 2 | Radiohead | OK Computer |
| 3 | Kenickie | At The Club |
| 4 | Blur | Blur |
| 5 | My Life Story | The Golden Mile |
| 6 | Bis | The New Transistor Heroes |
| 7 | Supergrass | In It For the Money |
| 8 | Ben Folds Five | Whatever and Ever Amen |
| 9 | Pizzicato Five | Happy End Of The World |
| 10 | Spacemaid | Supercool |
| 11 | Broadcast | Work And Non Work |
| 12 | Sleeper | Pleased To Meet You |
| 13 | Divine Comedy | A Short Album About Love |
| 14 | Frank and Walters | Grand Parade |
| 15 | Gorky's Zygotic Mynci | Barafundle |
| 16 | Echobelly | Lustra |
| 17 | Carter USM | A World Without Dave |
| 18 | Stereolab | Dots And Loops |
| 19 | Genesis | Calling All Stations |
| 20 | Lance Gambit Trio | Cocktail 2000 |
| 21 | Cornershop | When I Was Born For The 7th Time |
| 22 | Prodigy | The Fat Of The Land |
| 23 | A | How Ace Are Buildings |
| 24 | Mansun | Attack Of The Grey Lantern |
| 25 | Williams Fairey Brass Band | Acid Brass [Blast First] |
| 26 | Jean-Michel Jarre | Oxygene 7-13 |
| 27 | No Doubt | Tragic Kingdom |
| 28 | Marillion | This Strange Engine |
| 29 | Oasis | Be Here Now |
The albums I played to death:
| These aren’t necessarily the same as my favourite albums now, but the ones I remember buying on release and playing over and over and over again. | ||
| 10/02/97 | Blur | Blur |
| 10/02/97 | Divine Comedy | A Short Album About Love |
| 10/03/97 | My Life Story | The Golden Mile |
| 18/03/97 | Ben Folds Five | Whatever and Ever Amen |
| 07/04/97 | Bis | The New Transistor Heroes |
| 15/04/97 | Various Artists | Austin Powers Original Sound Track |
| 21/04/97 | Supergrass | In It For the Money |
| 12/05/97 | Kenickie | At The Club |
| 21/05/97 | Radiohead | OK Computer |
| 21/06/97 | Pizzicato Five | Happy End Of The World |
| 25/08/97 | Salad | Ice Cream |
| 07/10/97 | Various Artists | Lounge-A-Palooza |
| Original chart - top albums of 1997 | ||
| 1 | Radiohead | OK Computer |
| 2 | Blur | Blur |
| 3 | Kenickie | At The Club |
| 4 | Supergrass | In It For The Money |
| 5 | Ben Folds Five | Whatever and Ever Amen |
| 6 | Republica | Republica |
| 7 | Salad | Ice Cream |
| 8 | Bis | The New Transistor Heroes |
| 9 | Broadcast | Work And Non Work |
| 10 | Gorky's Zygotic Mynci | Barafundle |
| 11 | Stereolab | Dots And Loops |
| 12 | Prodigy | The Fat Of The Land |
| 13 | Cornershop | When I Was Born For The 7th Time |
| 14 | My Life Story | The Golden Mile |
| 15 | No Doubt | Tragic Kingdom |
| 16 | Carter USM | A World Without Dave |
| 17 | Divine Comedy | A Short Album About Love |
| 18 | Pizzicato 5 | Happy End Of The World |
| 19 | Mansun | Attack Of The Grey Lantern |
| 20 | Sleeper | Pleased To Meet You |
| 21 | Oasis | Be Here Now |
| Top tracks of 1997 | ||
| 1 | Pizzicato Five | It's A Beautiful Day |
| 2 | Catch | Bingo |
| 3 | Spacemaid | Baby Come On |
| 4 | Blur | Beetlebum |
| 5 | Earl Brutus | The SAS And The Glam That Goes With It |
| 6 | Texas | Say What You Want |
| 7 | Frank and Walters | How Can I Exist |
| 8 | Natalie Imbruglia | Torn |
| 9 | Salad | Namedrops |
| 10 | My Life Story | Strumpet |
| 11 | Lightning Seeds | Sugar Coated Iceberg |
| 12 | Supergrass | Richard III |
| 13 | Radiohead | Paranoid Android |
| 14 | Super Furry Animals | Demons |
| 15 | Teenage Fanclub | I Don't Want Control Of You |
| 16 | Kent | If You Were Here |
| 17 | Salad | Yeah Yeah |
| 18 | Wannadies | Hit |
| 19 | Chumbawamba | Tubthumping |
| 20 | Rialto | Monday Morning 5:19 |
| 21 | My Life Story | The King of Kissingdom |
| 22 | Seahorses | Blinded By The Sun |
| 23 | Kenickie | Punka |
| 24 | Salad | Terrible Day |
| 25 | Dandy Warhols | Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth |
| 26 | Kenickie | Come Out 2Nite |
| 27 | Supergrass | Sun Hits The Sky |
| 28 | Ocean Colour Scene | Hundred Mile High City |
| 29 | Frank and Walters | Colours |
| 30 | Asian Dub Foundation | Naxalite |
| 31 | Blur | M O R |
| 32 | My Life Story | Mr. Boyd |
| 33 | Echobelly | The World Is Flat |
| 34 | Edwyn Collins | The Magic Piper (Of Love) |
| 35 | Divine Comedy | Everybody Knows (Except You) |
| 36 | Ming Tea | BBC |
| 37 | Ben Folds Five | One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces |
| 38 | Eels | Novocaine For The Soul |
| 39 | Blur | On Your Own |
| 40 | Steve and Eydie | Black Hole Sun |
| 41 | Susanna Hoffs | The Look Of Love |
| 42 | Lightning Seeds | S.F. Sorrow is Born |
| 43 | Echo and the Bunnymen | Nothing Lasts Forever |
| 44 | Blur | Look Inside America |
| 45 | Pizzicato Five | Mon Amour Tokyo |
| 46 | Blur | Death Of A Party |
| 47 | Kenickie | Millionaire Sweeper |
| 48 | Radiohead | Airbag |
| 49 | Broadcast | The Book Lovers |
| 50 | Salad | Written By A Man |
| 51 | Placebo | Nancy Boy |
| 52 | My Life Story | Duchess |
| 53 | Supergrass | Late In The Day |
| 54 | Echobelly | Here Comes The Big Rush |
| 55 | Blur | Song 2 |
| 56 | Kenickie | Robot Song |
| 57 | Salad | Wanna Be Free |
| 58 | Radiohead | Karma Police |
| 59 | Mike Flowers Pops | Call Me |
| 60 | Blur | Theme From Retro |
| 61 | Lightning Seeds | This Power |
| 62 | Pat Boone | Enter Sandman |
| 63 | Salad | A Size More Woman Than Her |
| 64 | A | Number One |
| 65 | Lightning Seeds | You Showed Me |
| 66 | Lance Gambit Trio | Return Of The Mac |
| 67 | Sleeper | Romeo Me |
| 68 | Sleater-Kinney | Dig Me Out |
| 69 | Devlins | Waiting |
| 70 | Stereophonics | Local Boy in The Photograph |
| 71 | Sleeper | She's A Good Girl |
| 72 | Grandaddy | AM180 |
| 73 | Blur | You're So Great |
| 74 | Ben Folds Five | Brick |
| 75 | Chumbawamba | Amnesia |
| 76 | that dog. | Minneapolis |
| 77 | Bis | Starbright Boy |
| 78 | A | Foghorn |
| 79 | Super Furry Animals | Play It Cool |
| 80 | 18 Wheeler | Stay |
| 81 | Bis | Skinny Tie Sensurround |
| 82 | Levellers | What A Beautiful Day |
| 83 | James | She's A Star |
| 84 | Bentley Rhythm Ace | Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out |
| 85 | Bran Van 3000 | Drinking In LA |
| 86 | Ben Folds Five | Battle of Who Could Care Less |
| 87 | Placebo | Bigmouth Strikes Again |
| 88 | Bis | Monstarr |
| 89 | Harvey Danger | Flagpole Sitta |
| 90 | Chateau Neuf Spelemannslag | Hopparen |
| 91 | Bob Hund | Ett Fall Och En Losning |
| 92 | Feeder | High |
| 93 | Daft Punk | Around The World |
| 94 | Groove Armada | At The River |
| 95 | Belle and Sebastian | Lazy Line Painter Jane |
| 96 | Verve | Bitter Sweet Symphony |
| 97 | Stereophonics | Traffic |
| 98 | Smash Mouth | Walkin' On The Sun |
| Original chart - top tracks of 1997 | ||
| 1 | Blur | Beetlebum |
| 2 | Radiohead | Paranoid Android |
| 3 | Seahorses | Blinded By The Sun |
| 4 | Kenickie | In Your Car |
| 5 | Blur | Song 2 |
| 6 | Wannadies | Hit |
| 7 | Lightning Seeds | Sugar Coated Iceberg |
| 8 | Depeche Mode | Useless |
| 9 | Candyskins | Feed It |
| 10 | Smash Mouth | Walkin' On The Sun |
| 11 | Aqua | Barbie Girl |
| 12 | Super Furry Animals | Demons |
| 13 | Pizzicato 5 | Mon Amour Tokyo |
| 14 | Foil | Reviver Gene |
| 15 | Cornershop | Brimful of Asha |
| 16 | Ocean Colour Scene | Hundred Mile High City |
| 17 | Supergrass | Richard III |
| 18 | Sleeper | Romeo Me |
| 19 | Jocasta | Go |
| 20 | Kylie Mingoue | Did It Again |
| 21 | No Doubt | Don't Speak |
| 22 | Natalie Imbruglia | Torn |
| 23 | Chumbawumba | Tubthumping |
| 24 | Asian Dub Foundation | Naxalite |
| 25 | Earl Brutus | The SAS And The Glam That Goes With It |
| My favourite cover versions of 1997 | ||
| 1 | My Life Story | Mr. Boyd |
| 2 | Steve and Eydie | Black Hole Sun |
| 3 | Susanna Hoffs | The Look Of Love |
| 4 | Lightning Seeds | S.F. Sorrow is Born |
| 5 | My Life Story | Duchess |
| 6 | Mike Flowers Pops | Call Me |
| 7 | Pat Boone | Enter Sandman |
| 8 | Lance Gambit Trio | Return Of The Mac |
| 9 | Placebo | Bigmouth Strikes Again |
Wednesday 31 December 1997, 63 views
Next post: 1998 – my year in music Previous post: 1996 – my year in music
Blog index
- Josef Lada – A Fight In A Tavern (1943)
- ChatGPT not quite as indie as me
- Tjernobyl Dödar – Titta Bort
- The bands I’ve seen the most
- Got any grapes?
- Love Is All – The Beatles song that never was
- Dagelijkse Misère – new self-titled album
- As far as melon scratchers go, this is a honey doodle
- Like Father, Like Son
- Awst – Afallon
- Swearing in Welsh
- It’s the little details that count
- The Popes Of Chillitown – Crashmat
- Blur – Modern Life Is Rubbish
- Ceefax – bringing rugger news to Orcney in 1972
- Frogpond – Talk To Me
- Catch – Bingo
- Is this a piece of your brain?
- Worker & Parasite – The Silent Majority
- Wunderhorse – Girl Behind The Glass
- dEUS – Must Have Been New
- Rogue Jones – Triongl Dyfed
- Parrot steals reporter’s earphone live on air
- Whatever happened to …?
- Vero – Heather
- Best of Twitter – September
- Thousand Yard Stare – Espirit du Corps
- Adwaith – Eto (live at Maes B)
- Jesus Jones: master criminals
- Snow Coats – Anyway
- Salad – Plank
- Sink – Drainpipe Jane
- Looks legit
- Iskaa and the Red Cars – Desire
- The cost of electric living
- Okay, this made me laugh
- Beabadoobee – Here’s Where The Story Ends
- The Tudors, Football Manager and 25% for moving a chair
- Three wishes
- Is this burning an eternal flame?
- New Gorillaz, New Beck
- On the scoresheet at last
- The Otford Solar System
- Steve Davis’s Spitting Image Puppet
- The Machiguenga Experiment
- 2015 – my year in music
- 2014 – my year in music
- 2013 – my year in music
- The amazing paper drop …
- 2012 – my year in music
- Barcelona v Getafe
- Greensted church
- 2011 – my year in music
- My day out at Nene Park
- 2010 – my year in music
- XFM’s “greatest” 100 songs ever
- 2009 – my year in music
- The most played songs of the noughties …
- 2008 – my year in music
- RIP Nick Sanderson
- 2007 – my year in music
- 2006 – my year in music
- Sultans of Ping FC – 2006 interview
- 2005 – my year in music
- The Others – 2005 interview
- 2004 – my year in music
- 2003 – my year in music
- 2002 – my year in music
- 2001 – my year in music
- 2000 – my year in music
- 1999 – my year in music
- Abdoujaparov – 1999 interview
- 1998 – my year in music
- 1997 – my year in music
- 1996 – my year in music
- Frank and Walters – 1996 interview
- 1995 – my year in music
- 1994 – my year in music
- 1993 – my year in music
- 1992 – my year in music
- 1991 – my year in music
- 1990 – my year in music
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