FEBRUARY 1992
#1s
| US | UK |
| Feb-1 | George & Elton - Don't Let The Sun... (1) | Wet Wet Wet - Goodnight Girl (2) |
| Feb-8 | Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy (1) | Wet Wet Wet - Goodnight Girl (3) |
| Feb-15 | Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy (2) | Wet Wet Wet - Goodnight Girl (4) |
| Feb-22 | Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy (3) | Shakespear's Sister - Stay (1) |
| Feb-29 | Mr Big - To Be With You (1) | Shakespear's Sister - Stay (2) |
February sees the US having a big love-in with
Right Said Fred, and I'm really having a hard time understanding America's love affair with a homoerotic British band singing a novelty song, but there we go.
Mr Big ascends to the top with their only #1, which was also a smash globally. In the UK we're still in the midst of a the big ballads era, although we did rectify it by celebrating that wonderful
Shakespear's Sister song. I'm not sure it needed to stay there for EIGHT fucking weeks however. America did like it too - it went to #4 there, and it went gold in both markets.
Shanice's "I Love Your Smile" peaks at #2, while
Prince spends the whole month in the Top 5, peaking at #3. While "Cream" hit #1 it bounced in and out of the chart fairly quickly, while the title track deceptively crosses over in a different way by spending a long time in the chart. "Cream" has been cerfitied gold but nothing for D&P, and I think there's something not quite right there.
Atlantic Starr's new single feels like a real anomoly and I wonder if anyone can shed any light why it did so well in the US:
This R&B band had a decent run in the 80s following in the footsteps of the likes of
SOS Band,
Kool & The Gang and
Ashford & Simpson, releasing radio friendly funk and big soul ballads - "Always" from 1987 in particular was a crossover hit and massive in the UK. But after that they disappeared.. until they returned with a nice bop "Love Crazy" that I covered a few months ago. But it doesn't really explain why this new song opened big (#35) at the start of the month and then soared up to the chart, spending over 2 months in the top 10 and peaking at #3. Following this they would release one more album without much success and then they'd be done. The song itself? A bit BORING if I'm honest! Just a strange chart anomoly. "Love Crazy" was a GREAT find though...
Over in the UK,
Texas release "Alone With You", the third single from 2nd album
Mothers Heaven. It's a great song and might be the track that saved their career. After the success of their debut Top 10 hit "I Don't Want A Lover" in 1989, every subsequent single missed the Top 40. Not sure why the label persisted, but this went to #32, and was followed by a non-album cover song of an Al Green song that went Top 20. That probably saved them and landed them a third album, with improved success. It wasn't until the 4th album however when things would really change for them.
The Brand New Heavies follow up their debut "hit" in 1991 ("Never Stop" reached #43) with a re-release of the previously uncharting "Dream Come True"
Seriously why does this debut album get so overlooked? Everyone knows
Brother Sister, but the self titled debut has SO many gems. It also kick started the commercial explosion of acid jazz which was about to hit UK charts in a big way for the next several years.
Alison Limerick releases her biggest hit to date:
This outperformed the original release of "Where Love Lives" (but was probably boosted by that songs enduring popularity). WLL would do better in a 1996 re-release. This would also go Top 10 on the Billboard dance charts.
Adeva releases the third single from her second album and it's yet another bop:
Amazing really that she had ELEVEN charting singles from her first two albums! Even though none of them went Top 10. But any excuse to show that iconic album cover!
Discoveries:
Time for a GOLDEN BUZZER DISCOVERY!
I'm not sure what we're calling this category of pop music (pop-soul maybe?) but more of it, please. It already sounds a bit dated in 1992, and was the sort of big vocal power pop that was big in the second half of the 80s, but god bless Kathy Troccoli for bringing me this uplifting anthem - I have listened to it a LOT in the last few weeks, HONKING along to it while driving. My initial take was that it was the sort of thing you could imagine
Taylor Dane foghorning to - and after a bit of digging I found out that, not only did Kathy provide backing vocals for some of Taylor's hits, but this song was actually pitched to Taylor before going to Kathy. Oh and apparently it was penned by Diane Warren!
She's so obscure chart wise that she doesn't even have a proper discography on Wiki (despite actually releasing over 20 albums!) because this was her only hit. But I found this information on a website called Forgotten Songs...
“Everything Changes” entered Billboard’s Hot 100 at a decent #73 for the week ending February 21, 1992 (chart). It slowly made its way up the chart, peaking at #14 in its tenth week (chart). In all, it was on the Hot 100 for 20 weeks. The long (for its time) run was enough for “Everything Changes” to rank at #79 in Billboard’s Year End Hot 100 for 1992 (chart).
Other charts were just as good (or better) to “Everything Changes” as well. It peaked at #15 on the Hot Dance Singles Sales chart on May 15 (chart), for example, but its best performance was on the Adult Contemporary chart, where it peaked at #6 (chart) in the midst of a 24-week run.
A hip-hop act I was not that familiar with but have heard mentioned over the years is
Black Sheep, and this pops up this month:
Two reasons
Black Sheep have crossed my path by name only before: one, they're affiliated with the Native Tongues collective with
ATCQ,
De La Soul,
Queen Latifah,
Fugees, and so on. Two, because they are very highly regarded in early hip-hop. Despite being a bit familiar to my ears, I clearly stepped over this as a possible favourite many times over the years - with over 50m streams on Spotify (big for a rap song from 1991) and FILLED with references that have been used by other rap acts since - maybe
@old spice or
@alla could confirm whether the "engine engine number 9... pick it up pick it up" in this song, which has been used SO OFTEN over the years, is possibly the ORIGINAL incarnation of it...?
Anyway this is clearly a 10/10 track and has gone straight into my hip-hop classics playlist.
Notable Chart Entries (US):
February 1
39 — MASTERPIECE –•– Atlantic Starr
69 — YOU SHOWED ME –•– Salt ‘N Pepa
70 — JUSTIFIED AND ANCIENT –•– The KLF Featuring Tammy Wynette
72 — WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKENHEARTED –•– Paul Young
74 — THINKIN’ BACK –•– Color Me Badd
78 — I CAN’T DANCE –•– Genesis
80 — AGAIN TONIGHT –•– John Mellencamp
87 — WE GOT A LOVE THANG –•– Ce Ce Peniston
92 — SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST –•– Vanessa Williams
February 8
81 — TEARS IN HEAVEN –•– Eric Clapton
92 — EVERYTHING’S GONNA BE ALRIGHT –•– Naughty By Nature
97 — RIGHT NOW –•– Van Halen
February 15
78 — HAZARD –•– Richard Marx
83 — I NEED MONEY –•– Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch
88 — BABY HOLD ON TO ME –•– Gerald Levert
91 — MAMA, I’M COMING HOME –•– Ozzy Osbourne
96 — THE PHUNCKY FEEL ONE / HOW I COULD JUST KILL A MAN –•– Cypress Hill
February 22
54 — IF YOU GO AWAY –•– NKOTB
73 — EVERYTHING CHANGES –•– Kathy Troccoli
74 — MAKE IT HAPPEN –•– Mariah Carey
85 — ROMEO & JULIET –•– Stacy Earl
97 — KISSING THE WIND –•– Nia Peeples
98 — AIN’T 2 PROUD 2 BEG –•– TLC
99 — JUICE (KNOW THE LEGDE) –•– Eric B. & Rakim
February 29
70 — CHURCH OF YOUR HEART –•– Roxette
87 — CARIBBEAN BLUE –•– Enya
94 — THE CHOICE IS YOURS –•– Blacksheep
95 — YOU THINK YOU KNOW HER –•– Cause & Effect
96 — DON’T LOSE THE MAGIC –•– Shawn Christopher
A busy month as the industry recovers from the January downtime... interesting to see
Vanessa Williams at the back at that big slew of new releases at the start of the month - by the end of it she would have overtaken nearly all of them and I'm pretty sure ends up outselling the lot. This was a huge global smash - #1 in the US and #3 in the UK, and became her signature tune. I have to say I'm not really a fan (I don't hate it) - it's not "One Moment In Time" levels of GLOOP, but it's a bit too poppy for me. I'm happy though to be discovering lesser known hits by her along the way.
Interesting that "Insane In The Brain" wasn't
Cypress Hill's first hit - in fact that song wasn't even from the first album, but the second. This debut double-A single goes to #77 in the US and #1 on US rap, but their only chart indent until "Insane" releases in 1993.
New Kids On The Block (now
NKOTB) embrace the backlash era with their 'comeback' single "If You Go Away", as they attempt to continue a massively successful career despite the fact that the US has turned against them and already labelled them passe. And while it would be easy to mock, the song actually ISN'T THAT BAD.
70s Philly-soul vocals backed by a soaring pop-rock production, they are clearly determined to prove they can sing and on that note they succeed. The song is a hit, but not by their standards and shows the damage may not be reversable. This peaks at #16 (UK #9) and it would be the last time they would trouble the Top 20. Just four and a bit years into their global takeover, the run is over. The album - suitably and cleverly entitled "Face The Music" - wouldn't actually release until 1994, and it ended up a relative flop.
Nia Peeples releases another hit and I know
@alla has been outspoke about this lady I still don't have much time for this song either... but the next one - well let's see.
"Church Of Your Heart" is the 5th and final single from
Roxette, and they're still doing well here, if not at the same level as previous years. This would peak at #36 in the US (#21 UK).
That
Shawn Christopher track is a CLASSIC and I didn't know it was a hit in the US but it makes sense, it's classic US house:
This has been remixed ENDLESSLY over the years - the original is the best. It peaked at #71 (UK #30). It also went to #1 on US dance (UK dance #4).
my love of this song is ridiculous but as a country kid that grew up listening to Tammy, this was wild to see her on MTV and on the radio with a song like this
Please explain why you'd wish to puncture my already-maimed heart by snubbing them from 1991's top tens. Despite your cruelty, I thank you for introducing me to the Driza Bone, Sounds of Blackness, and K-Klass tunes. And I will readily admit that I LOVE a sexy list - I hope you won't mind if I show you mine given how you've got yours on permanent display up there!
s.
