Snap!, 2 Unlimited and EMF - names you might have thought had been consigned to the bargain bins of history. But no. Sit through a Coronation Street ad break right now, and you'll be forgiven for thinking you've flipped over to a televised version of Dave Pearce's Dance Anthems, circa 1992.
Things began innocuously enough over the summer when Britvic Drench blanket-bombed commercial breaks with a Thunderbirds puppet dancing to Snap!'s 1992 hit Rhythm Is a Dancer, and resulted in the song spending several weeks back in the charts. In the past month, however, the early-90s revival has gathered pace: Argos has wheeled out MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This (1990), monks are bouncing to House of Pain's Jump Around (1992) for Mars, and, in a double whammy from Müller yoghurts, 2 Unlimited's No Limit (1993) and EMF's Unbelievable (1990) have both been slapped over old footage of couples dancing.
These songs each fire a message at the emotional memory of a generation who first enjoyed the tracks 16 to 17 years ago - and now have a disposable income. But as Argos and MC Hammer attempt to convince viewers that their no-frills packaging policy is a boon in this lean festive period, you wonder whether this music is designed to connect on a subconscious level. If we danced our way through the last recession and it turned out all right in the end, things might not seem so gloomy in 2008 and a few Argos gift sets, yoghurts or chocolate bars are hardly going to break the bank, are they?
