FEATURE:
Would I Lie To You?
The Popular Music of 1992
___________
I am still pretty keen to do…
IN THIS PHOTO: Rage Against the Machine in 1992
as many current features as possible. By that, I will react to what is happening now and try to put as much ‘relevant’ content online. I am still doing Spotlight: a feature that investigates an artist that is worth keeping an eye out for. It is important to do that but, whilst we are in lockdown, I am revisiting classic albums and taking a trip through various periods of time. As part of my Lockdown Playlist series, I am combining the biggest U.K. hits from particular years; each playlist joins four years of top tunes together. I have already sort of covered 1992 already but, when I was putting together the Lockdown Playlist that included 1992, I was blown away by the range and brilliance of the music! I am not going to make this a feature about which year of music is best – I am fond of 1989 and 1994 -, but I have been casting my ears towards the familiar sounds of 1992. When the year started, I was eight, so I was just about to leave for middle school, and just the right age to absorb what was playing on radio and music T.V. I love the music that has been put out the last few years, but isolate 1992 and compare it with the last few years of music. Scenes come and go, but there has been a rapid shift in terms of tastes and sounds.
Maybe there was something bubbling through the industry in 1992; an energy and sense of momentum left over from the years 1988-1990 which, to me, were among the most impressive and significant when it comes to Pop and Hip-Hop. I am going to source from a Billboard article that makes a case for 1992 being the strongest year for music in the ‘90s. The closing words are useful to keep in mind:
“Nostalgia is a dirty business, often rewiring the past with false assumptions about its conditions without recognizing that interesting things are happening regardless of the year or location you're in. We get ups, we get downs, and 1992 was no different”.
Indeed, there were many downs and average moments in 1992. Commercial Pop was raging and, inevitably, that brings with it tracks that are sugar-sweet or plain awful. No one year is flawless and lacking in criminal releases – 1992 was no exception. Everyone has as an opinion as to the worst of 1992, and I accept that there were some dodgy and cringe-worthy songs that we need to bury. Whilst some have claimed Madonna’s This Use to Be My Playground s among the worst of 1992, I think the song is very moving – I think some people don’t like Madonna unless she is full of energy and putting out bubbly Pop. I digress, of course.
Billboard gave a great summary of all the biggest artists and movements away from the more traditional and conventional Pop music:
“Grunge had broken and famously displaced the Aqua Net-scented glam rock of the previous decade, and while “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” a song from 1991, was just beginning to take off, 1992 naturally brought the imitators and weirdos. Stone Temple Pilots' first album, Core, foretold grunge's undoing, both in attitude and sound. Bob Mould's first record with Sugar, Copper Blue, introduced the world to the sound of "alternative," a genre that would bring us Fastball, Better Than Ezra, Marcy Playground... too much. It was just too much. NOFX's White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean gave us snide pop-punk light on politics and heavy on carefree beer consumption -- hardly novel, but they totally didn't care! And we were still two years away from Green Day’s “Longview.”
Much like Nirvana's Nevermind the year before, Rage Against the Machine's self-titled debut in 1992 gave jocks a brutal soundtrack with lyrics meant to be heard that they would ignore (an angle of which "Weird Al" Yankovic mocked with his '92 record Off the Deep End). Not so much with House Of Pain's self-titled debut. Sir Mix-A-Lot let us know what he thinks about big butts, a sentiment which hasn't gone anywhere in the interim. Garth Brooks channeled Michael Jackson's "Black and White" (released the year previous) with his cover for The Chase.
It wasn't all bad though! Beastie Boys' dropped Check Your Head, an album that would be inescapable for the rest of the decade. Same for Dr. Dre and The Chronic, and R.E.M. and Automatic for the People. Less so for the not-as-good but equally notable Dead Serious from Das EFX.
We received The Jesus and Mary Chain's best record, Honey's Dead, and were introduced to their sonic and titular cousins The Stone Roses on that band's record Turns Into Stone. In fact, the year was big on introductions. We also met a young woman named PJ Harvey, who released her debut Dry. We met a ginger who called himself Aphex Twin. Across the ocean from Richard D. James was a bald-headed, punk-leaning producer named Moby, who put out his self-titled record. Heads shook to Stereo MC's still-weird, still-memorable hit single "Connected," from the album of the same name.
1992 was a brilliant year for Grunge and Alternative Rock, in addition to some pretty fine Hip-Hop. I think some years have been very much all about a particular genre or style, yet 1992 could accommodate Pop and Rap without any problem. Although Billboard have talked about the good and bad of 1992, I want to revisit the charts because, as I found when compiling a recent Lockdown Playlist, there was some wonderfully uplifting music coming out.
Earlier this week, I shared the song, The Best Things in Life Are Free from Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson. The song was from the film, Mo’ Money, and it sort of encapsulates the spirit of the year. Although there was some bad Pop and Alternative Rock following in Nirvana’s wake, there was ample gold to compensate. It is the clash of the best albums of 1992 with the most-popular tracks of 1992 that amazes me. In terms of albums, R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People and Beastie Boys’ Check Your Head were among the very best. Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and Sonic Youth’s Dirty suggested it was a case of American dominance. If the introduction of Britpop would soon level the playing field, 1992 is synonymous with some huge U.S. releases. 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of... by Arrested Development is one of the best albums of the 1990s, whilst Rage Against the Machine’s eponymous debut and Tori Amos’ Little Earthquakes were blowing people away. Prince’s Love Symbol and En Vogue’s Funky Divas gave us plenty of sweat, sass and style. In a year where k.d. lang gave us Ingénue, Generation Terrorists from Manic Street Preachers showed just how exceptional and diverse 1992 was! Joining the Manics in the British fight was PJ Harvey; she released the mesmeric Dry, whilst Annie Lennox’s Diva remains one of her best work – containing, as it does, the hits, Why and Walking on Broken Glass. Aphex Twin’s genius Selected Ambient Works 85–92, and the Morrissey’s Your Arsenal meant the British best could sit alongside the best of American.
Whilst the best albums of 1992 suggest something more serious, look at the British charts and that is counterbalanced. I was drinking in artists like Rage Against the Machine but, as that was a little bit charged and intense for my young ears, I was being steered more to the charts. We Got a Love Thang by CeCe Peniston and The Prodigy’s Everybody in the Place hit the charts in January; Shakespears Sister’s Stay and Michael Jackson’s Remember the Time were here in February; in the same month, Ride and The Jesus and Mary Chain were releasing big singles alongside the best names in Pop. Whilst some dismiss Shanice’s I Love Your Smile, it is an infectious track that brought plenty of cheer and delight. Guns N' Roses’ November Rain and U2’s One peaked in the charts in March – two of the best tracks of the 1990s -, whilst Nirvana’s Come as You Are and CeCe Peniston’s Finally meant two of March’s biggest singles were worlds apart! April was a little bit slower when it comes to the memorable singles, but May brought us Michael Jackson, En Vogue, Kriss Kross, and The Cure. June’s big tracks included Something Good from Utah Saints and Too Funky by George Michael. One can look at the list here to see the songs I am omitting, but I think some of the most interesting and formative tracks rode high in the charts from July 1992.
Maybe it is unique to me, but I was a big fan of Jimmy Nail’s Ain’t No Doubt. Madonna’s This Used to Be My Playground still stirs me; Snap!’s Rhythm Is a Dancer is club classic, and The Best Things in Life Are Free by Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson was a huge hit in August – I am aware I have skipped over Billy Ray Cyrus in order to get to Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson! Annie Lennox stood tall in August, but I love the Dance tracks that were being put out in 1992. Ebeneezer Goode by The Shamen is an absolute classic, and I Love Dr. Albarn’s It’s My Life. Outside of Dance, I was falling for songs like Iron Lion Zion from Bob Marley and the Wailers and Sleeping Satellite from Tasmin Archer – one of the underrated pearls of the entire decade! Boyz II Men brought us End of the Road, whilst Prince and The New Power Generation’s My Name Is Prince was a big hit. The fact Madonna’s Erotica and Arrested Development’s People Everyday were huge chart successes a few weeks apart shows that, in 1992, single buyers were not going to be restricted! I really love Charles & Eddie’s Would I Lie to You?, and Temptation (Brothers in Rhythm Remix) by Heaven 17 is one of the essential tracks of 1992. Whilst 1991 and 1993 are just as crammed with all manner of gems, I feel there is something especially brilliant about 1992. It was just at the edge of the golden age of Hip-Hop (some say it ended in 1992), and we were not quite at the Britpop stage. Dance music was transforming and growing. I am not heading down a nostalgic road, but I want to investigate certain years and show what was going on in terms of the best albums and singles. I am writing about Top of the Pops 1989 and the fact that BBC Four has been showing certain editions. It makes me wonder why years like 1992 are not shown more – if at all. It is clear that 1992 was…
A stunning year for music.