Sunday 12 June 2022

Top 30 in 1992 Reviewed: Week 24

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 30 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

Obviously some of the records will be the same as last week so therefore the review will be the same for these. I've indicated which ones are new so you can skip the others if you read last weeks post.

Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.

So this is the top 30 from this week in 1992 with my verdict on each record:


I've changed my mind about this record. There is now an overlap between what's appearing in these Top 30s and the Top 40 I reviewed for my best year search series. In that I decided it was OK but now it's been upgraded to good. My issue with The Beautiful South is that whilst the lyrics are humorous the music's always sounded a bit old fashioned for my liking. This record repeatedly contains the line "This is the woman you laid" but for years I had no idea what the words she was singing was. That kind of made the humorous lyrics redundant . But importantly listening to it again I'm finding myself enjoying it and that's what's important.

Verdict - Good


In 1990 Craig McLachlan was on Neighbours, Home & Away and singing at the same time on UK screens. By 1992 he was long gone from Neighbours and I'm sure he was gone from Home & Away too, but he was still singing just about. Not sure if many people noticed he was still singing though, I certainly didn't. Sounds like I wasn't missing out though.

Verdict - Rubbish


After 3 years away from the Top 40, Curiosity Killed the Cat were back with a shortened name and their final Top 40 hit to date. It seems a few 80s acts were having low charting and long forgotten 90s hits around this time, but this one made number 3. It's not for me though.

Verdict - Rubbish


Ce Ce Penitston is known for one song but despite this she managed to score 3 Top 10 hits. This is the 3rd of them and it's a move away from dance music. It was written by Steve "Silk" Hurley, but this just suggests to me he should stick to dance music as this is pretty bland.

Verdict - Rubbish


I'm not much of a film person. The number of films I have on DVD is a single figure number. One movie I do own is Wayne's World and I previously owned it on VHS which basically shows how much I like it. On that basis I like this record.

Verdict - Good


In the early days of the internet a site about rave music was named after this tune. It would have clips of old rave tunes but they had the first few second of this tune on them first. When I think of old skool rave the year 1992 is the first that springs to mind so it's a bit odd having a tune from 1992 called "Back To The Old School". The rave scene had been going for a few years by this point though. What we have here is an at the time modern rave record with influences of 80s acid house in it and it works pretty well.

Verdict - Good


When it comes to Inner City it's all about "Good Life" and to a lesser extent "Big Fun". Both decent records but for me it's all about this record. In the 80s the technology was new and producers were experimenting with their sounds, by the 90s the technology had improved and the producers got better. That's reflected in this record.

Verdict - Good


My memory of Annie Lennon in 1992/93 was "Why" followed by "Walking On Broken Glass" followed by "Little Bird". But she also had a couple of Top 40 hits that completely passed me by, the first of which was this record. I think it's a combination of the fact it only reached 23 and that it's not very memorable.

Verdict - Rubbish


This is a bit different to the rockier numbers she'd been doing prior to this. It has more of a Caribbean sound to it. My first thought is maybe the songwriters have changed but no it's Terry Britten, Graham Lyle who wrote several of her previous hits. It's not bad but does sound a little odd.

Verdict - OK


After they spent a long time at number one with "Stay" Shakespear's Sister followed up with this. I do remember this annoying me at the time, but as it's long forgotten I don't think I've heard it for 30 years. Listening to it now reminds me of how I found it irritating, here's hoping I won't hear it for another 30 years at least.

Verdict - Rubbish


The 3rd and final Top 40 hit to date for Oceanic. What becomes apparent by this point is that Oceanic have their own sound, you can tell it was the same people who did "Insanity" but at the same time the tunes aren't just clones of each other.

Verdict - Good


Summer has arrived. This takes me back to a UK holiday I went on in 1992. When I saw the video it looked like it could almost be the coastal town I went to but I later discovered it was Camden, a place I've since been to many times. I also heard this before I heard the Stevie Wonder original. As far as Incognito hits go I'd say this ones the best.

Verdict - Good


This was the first Top 40 hit of the 90s for Cyndi Lauper who surprisingly had more Top 40 hits in the 90s than the 80s. It's a cover of a song from a French musical but with English lyrics added to it by Tim Rice. The fact it's from a musical probably explains why it's rather boring.

Verdict - Rubbish


When it comes to early 90s Manic Street Preachers this is probably their best record. It's easy to say the guitaring on this makes the record, but it's more than that. I'd say the rest of it is done so well that it allows the guitar to stand out on it.

Verdict - Good


Our monthly record from The Wedding Present in 1992. I used to associate The Wedding Present with Madchester because of the name and the haircuts and that it all came under the indie music banner. This record is the nearest they got to a Madchester sounding record that I've heard. That doesn't mean it's any good though.

Verdict - Rubbish


I loved this record at the time and still do now. The odd thing is that this was before the scene split into happy hardcore and jungle and this sounds like it's gearing towards what would become jungle yet Slipmatt of SL2 would become one of the pioneers of happy hardcore. The only downside is that after "On A Ragga Tip 97" came out which was faster, it makes this record sound a bit slow.

Verdict - Good


This was the first Top 40 hit from the "Funky Divas" album which I own. It was their 2nd Top 40 hit overall with their debut "Hold On" coming 2 years prior. My memory of this record at the time is that it was out a similar time to "Don't You Worry Bout A Thing" by Incognito. When I first properly got into R&B, En Vogue were one of the first groups I bought albums of

Verdict - Good


Ask someone to name a Faith No More record and I doubt you'd have many people naming this record, but it was their 2nd highest charting hit. Mike Patton's singing style had changed compared to their previous 2 Top 40 hits to the point that it sounds like it's someone completely different singing. It's a more aggressive tone but this goes better with the music.

Verdict - Good


I always feel this record should have been earlier than 1992 for some reason. When I think what else was going on around the time of this record though it makes perfect sense for it to be 1992. It's always been on of those records I've found to be ok but nothing more.

Verdict - OK


This was the first single to be taken from the album of the same name. Even though it sounds like a typical Elton John record, it somehow sounds catchier than most. Maybe I've just heard it too many times in my life. It's a decent enough record but hasn't quite got enough about it for me to truly like it.

Verdict - OK


In an era where I have more music available to listen to on the internet but less time to listen to it, I find myself listening to the shortened version of songs most of the time. Not with this one though, I'm more inclined to listen to a longer live version. It's a pretty basic song really but Guns n Roses take it to another level.

Verdict - Good


Although this wasn't their debut hit, this was really the beginning of Take That becoming more or less the biggest pop act of the early 90s. Their debut "Do What You Like" never charted at all, then "Promises" only made 38, the next single "Once You've Tasted Love" didn't make the Top 40 and then came this. This was also their first single not to be written by Gary Barlow as it was a cover of the Tavares record. 

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the Top 40 debut for Ugly Kid Joe. They were a pretty cool band to like at the time as I recall, but very quickly they became uncool. I guess it's hard to tell if they're trying to carry on the legacy of hair metal or fit into the grunge movement. One record I do recall being out at a similar time is "Lithium" by Nirvana and without really knowing the ins and outs I considered them both similar in style. I did consider this to be the better record out of the two.

Verdict - Good


I did like this record at the time. It was the theme music to the TV series of the same name which starred Nick Berry which had just began at a similar time on a Friday night. Unfortunately from the 2nd series it was on a Sunday night and has therefore since reminded me that I have school in the morning. If I'd carried on watching it once I joined the world of work then it would probably remind me of that similar dread of having work in the morning too.

Verdict - Rubbish


I remember this on Top of the Pops with the chanting of "Utah Saints". It was their 2nd Top 40 hit and highest charting single to date. When the awful 2008 version was released I was quick to point towards this, the much better version.

Verdict - Good


My memory of this record is going on holiday around this time to the same place I went when the other big Richard Marx hit "Right Here Waiting" was in the charts. I like the record at the time without paying too much attention to the lyrics. Aside from the mystery behind the story I think it also highlights how judgmental some rural communities can be.

Verdict - Good


This was George Michael's last hit before his legal battle with Sony. I can't remember what I thought about this record at the time, I just remember it existing. Given the circumstances around this single being released though it does sound a bit like he's put out any old crap.

Verdict - Rubbish


I remember how I find out who made this record. Somebody told me they'd just bought the Kris Kross record and I thought they were talking about Christopher Cross of "Arthurs Theme" fame. Then they played it and I realised it was a completely different act. In theory 2 squeaky voiced kids rapping should be terrible, but this one isn't. The actual tune helps a lot, but they rap it well too.

Verdict - Good


This was the first version of "Please Don't Go" that I heard. The original is by KC & the Sunshine Band, but it's basically a clone of a cover done the same year by Italian act Double You. I do like it, but the other tune "Game Boy" is better. Whilst "Please Don't Go" is a commercial dance record, "Game Boy" is very much a rave record.

Verdict - Good / Good


Erasure had 16 Top 40 hits to their name prior to this record. I like all 16 of those records, but then came this. It's an EP full of Abba covers with the main track being "Take A Chance On Me" that features a rap from MC Kinky. I don't like any of them.

Verdict - Rubbish

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 17.5/30, or 58%. After last weeks Top 10 didn't have a bad record we have 3 rubbish new entries in there this week, but the overall score has only gone down 1 point.
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