APRIL 1992 (continued)
Discoveries:
Speaking of Acid Jazz,
Chaka Khan certainly took some influences from the UK soul scene for her new single:
I don't remember this and much like
Donna Summer I REALLY need to do a deep dive into Chaka's albums at some point. The lead single from her 9th album
The Woman I Am, this went to #68 (UK #49) but was a huge genre hit, going #1 on dance and #2 on R&B.
I forgot to cover this in the March new releases, but this R&B track is GREAT from
Aaron Hall, who was in the original line-up of the group
Guy before leaving to explore a solo career:
This was his debut single, was used in a movie soundtrack and would appear on his debut album. It would peak at #44 (UK #56), but it would give him an R&B #1. This is notable for me because it must have felt VERY fresh at the time - this is one of the earliest songs I can find that shifts from New Jack to smooth groove R&B, or hip-hop soul, or just 'swing' - a slightly slower BPM than New Jack with smoother vocals and hip-hop beats or samples. This is the sort of sound that would dominate the R&B explosion of the mid 90s and is what I most remember from the decade. It would also swallow and fully replace New Jack within the next 12 months.
After appearing in my discoveries in 1991,
JT Taylor follows up "Feel The Need" with another approved bop:
"Feel The Need" was more UK Soul inspired but this is a straight up American R&B track. Ironically, it wouldn't be released in the US, and would peak at #59 in the UK.
More R&B - I've never been their biggest fan, but this might be my favourite Boyz II Men track
Again they were doing nothing in the UK at this point, but this went to #49 in the US as the 4th single from the debut album. It's a very MJ / 70s Motown-inspired ballad which is probably why I like it.
In the UK, acid jazz was picking up but as I didn't really discover the sound until the late 90s when it had already peaked and faded, so there's probably lots of minor tracks to be discovered. This is one such track:
This reached #58.
Yazz would attempt a chart comeback with a really nice soulful dance track:
"One True Woman" would stall at #60 and delay the release of her third album "One To One" which would arrive in 1993. She would continue to have minor hits throuout the 90s but nothing like the success of her late 80s run.
Notable chart entries (US):
April 4
61 — JUMP –•– Kris Kross
69 — EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU –•– Ugly Kid Joe
76 — HIGH –•– The Cure
78 — WILL YOU MARRY ME? –•– Paula Abdul
80 — UNDER THE BRIDGE –•– Red Hot Chili Peppers
89 — PLEASE DON’T GO –•– Boyz II Men
97 — COME & TALK TO ME –•– Jodeci
April 11
27 — LET’S GET ROCKED –•– Def Leppard
75 — BABY GOT BACK –•– Sir Mix-A-Lot
83 — TENNESSEE –•– Arrested Development
92 — JUST TAKE MY HEART –•– Mr. Big
93 — GOODBYE –•– Tevin Campbell
96 — LIFT ME UP –•– Howard Jones
100 — WHY ME BABY? –•– Keith Sweat
April 18
76 — DAMN I WISH I WAS YOUR LOVER –•– Sophie B. Hawkins
85 — NOT THE ONLY ONE –•– Bonnie Raitt
88 — DON’T TALK JUST KISS –•– Right Said Fred
99 — JUST ANOTHER DAY –•– Jon Secada
April 25
46 — IN THE CLOSET –•– Michael Jackson
80 — IF YOU ASKED ME TO –•– Celine Dion
81 — SILENT PRAYER –•– Shanice
83 — I WILL REMEMBER YOU –•– Amy Grant
86 — LOVE YOU ALL MY LIFETIME –•– Chaka Khan
92 — YOUR SONG –•– Rod Stewart
95 — SMELLS LIKE NIRVANA –•– Weird Al Yankovic
98 — THE LIFE OF RILEY –•– Lightning Seed
The Cure might have only had a few crossover smash hits in the US, but for a British alternative act, they did actually hit the Hot 100 quite a few times! 14 in all, which is frankly astonishing. "High" was the lead single from 9th album
Wish, and would peak at #42. The next single would be much bigger.
"Will You Marry Me" was the last single from
Spellbound and would be the last Top 20 hit for
Paula Abdul at #19. It flopped at #73 in the UK. It's a strange single choice to these ears, but I've not listened to the album to see if there was more on offer. I'm looking forward to the 3rd (flop) album in 1995, as I think it was very R&B influenced.
Red Hot Chili Peppers were about to go stratospheric with "Under The Bridge", which was in keeping with the early 90s where rock acts were having huge crossover hits with uncharacteristically understated rock ballads. This has one of the most famous guitar riffs of all time. It was an enormous global hit, going to #2 in the US and has since been certified 6x platinum. As I mentioned previously it wouldn't chart in the UK for another 2 years, and I'm not sure why.
That's a huge entry for
Def Leppard! Despite the big opening, it would 'only' peak at #15 (UK #2), but considering how pop metal has fallen off a cliff by 1992, this is definitely still an outlier of success. They were coming off a huge album in in 1987's
Hysteria and while the new album wouldn't match the diamond (12x platinum) status of that album, it would go 3x platinum, and "Let's Get Rocked" remains one of their signature pop hits.
That "Baby Got Back" proved that there was still a market for novelty hip-hop, and would hit #1 soon. It weirdly stalled in the UK however at #56 - strange because it's well known here!
April sees the arrival of alternative hip-hop collective
Arrested Development, who were about to have a huge 1992.
"Tennessee" is a CLASSIC rap song and one of my favourites from the 90s. It would peak at #6 (UK #18). Interestingly this was massively overshadowed in the UK by second single "People Everyday" which was a huge #2 smash. I always thought the latter was their debut single, and it might have been in the UK, unless Tennessee originally flopped and it was re-released after the success of the second single.
Howard Jones was having hit singles in 1992?
Another classic 1992 anthem was the Jon Secada song
I LOVE this. It went to #5 on both sides of the Atlantic. This must have been a huge radio hit here, as I have strong memories of this.
"In The Closet" was the 3rd single from
Dangerous and was another big hit, peaking at #6 (UK #8), which was still someway off his 80s success but it would get worse from here on in, with the following 6 singles having varying degrees of disappointing success - with some strange outliers. Not a huge fan of this track, in fact I do find a lot of the Dangerous singles (In The Closet, Jam and Who Is It) very similar.
I was tempted to add the
Amy Grant track to my discoveries list, but I don't love it THAT much, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good it is!
It went to #20 and hit #2 on the Adult Radio chart.
So the
Shanice follow up - fantastic voice, but the song is just... THERE?
They shouldn't have followed up with a gloopy ballad. She sounds about 18, and this sounds like an adult radio song. Missed opportunity on every level.
And finally we end with a "this was a hit in the US?" entry - the LIGHTNING SEEDS?
That was the theme song for Junior Prom. It was another constant video for MTV at the time.
; just one more:
). Surprisingly Human touch did much better on airplay (#14) than sales (#27), which is quite poor for the comeback of such a high profile like The Boss, an artist that usuall does better on sales. An anomaly. 
