Sunday, 24 July 2022

Top 30 in 1992 Reviewed: Week 30

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:


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


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


Yes that's right, Kris Kross did have another Top 40 hit. In fact they had 2 more but the other one didn't make the Top 30 so it won't be featuring in these posts. I may have said this when reviewing "Jump2 but despite the fact they were squeaky voiced kids they were really good at rapping. Like it's predecessor it's written and produced by Jermaine Dupri. Is it as good as "Jump"? I would say not quite, but it's decent.

Verdict - Good


We're now into the post-Stock, Aitken & Waterman era of Jason Donovan which is basically the beginning of the end of his Top 40 career. This was originally intended to be a Halo James record but was given to Jason Donovan following the breakup of the group. If this was an attempt at Jason Donovan doing something more credible then it hasn't really succeeded. It almost could have been penned by Stock, Aitken & Waterman.

Verdict - Rubbish


We've now reached the time of the Olympics in Barcelona. I'm not really an Olympics fan truth be told, even when it was in London I only watched dribs and drabs. I was into the Barcelona Olympics though, I guess being school holidays and the right time zone helped. As a result this record has a bit of sentimental value to it.

Verdict - Good


This cover of the Ray Charles record meant that Joe Cocker had more Top 40 hits in the 90s than he did in the 60s and he wasn't finished yet. I've never been able to get into Ray Charles music including this record truth be told. This basically sounds like a karaoke version.

Verdict - Rubbish


One of many Morrissey hits that I have no recollection of. The title suggests this is quite a humourous record, but its sung in such a boring way that it's difficult to get any enjoyment out of it.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the Top 40 debut for Sunscreem who were a dance music act who played instruments. I don't remember this at the time, the first version I knowingly heard was Paul Elstak in 1995 which was one of my favourites in the early days of me getting into rave. Whilst the vocals are essentially the same, the backing is understandably more mellow on this original version and different to Paul Elstak. Putting the comparisons to one side though, the live instruments do make it sound a bit different to your average dance record at the time and in a good way. 

Verdict - Good


It had been just over a year since Bryan Adams began his 16 week reign at the top of the charts and he was still releasing singles from the same album "Waking Up The Neighbours" with this being single number 5. This sounds like his attempt at making a Def Leppard record. As I'm not keen on Def Leppard as a general rule I'm not keen on this either.

Verdict - Rubbish


This was the penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Siouxsie and the Banshees who made their Top 40 debut back in 1978. It was on the soundtrack to the film "Batman Returns", a film I watched at the time and hated. Maybe that's why I just can't take to this song. I'm just reminded of the horrors of watching that film.

Verdict - Rubbish


I'm a big fan of Motown in the 60s and 70s, but not so much Motown in the 90s. The problem with this record is that technology has allowed this record to be produced much better than it would have in the 60s. In doing that though it loses it's charm. If this was made in the 60s I'd probably have liked it, but as it wasn't it doesn't quite get there.

Verdict - OK


I remember this record being a bit odd at the time, but after hearing it for the first time in 30 years I'm thinking what the fuck was that. On one hand it sounds a little bit like "Toofunky" by George Michael but at the same time it sounds a bit like they're trying to make a Prince record. It certainly has a funkier sound than your average Wet Wet Wet record but it doesn't work in my opinion.

Verdict - Rubbish


I remember mentioning when I first launched this blog that Nirvana were a band I listened to when I was younger because everyone else was, but was never really into their music. We weren't quite at that point yet because I remember liking this one without the influence of anybody else. I didn't see it as groundbreaking or anything else like that, just another decent rock record. 

Verdict - Good


The 5th and final Top 40 hit from the "Stars" album which was the biggest selling album in the UK for both 1991 and 1992. As a side note I'm actually surprised "Wonderland" wasn't a single because that's pretty well known. This record therefore did pretty well to get into the Top 40 considering many people would have already had the album. 

Verdict - Good


After being the vocalist on a couple of Quartz hits the previous year this was the solo debut of Dina Carroll. It follows the same soul-dance formula of the Quartz records. If I was at a 90s night and this record came on I would no doubt enjoy it. For listening to at home though I think this will be the last time I'll be doing that.

Verdict - OK


The Top 40 debut for Sophie B Hawkins. I think that all her records that I know have aged really well. I'm pretty certain I did like this at the time, but after listening to it just now I find myself wanting to listen to it again. 

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


I once an old rave compilation and this was on it. I was somewhat surprised to see U2 on a rave compilation but then remembered this being more of a dance record. This is because it's been remixed by Paul Oakenfold. This result is a better record than the original so I guess you can technically say this is even better than the real thing.

Verdict - Good


I heard this song long before it became a single and what I remember most about it is the irritated backing noises in the verses. It's a shame because it has a pretty decent chorus, but I just can't bring myself to like it because the noises annoy me so much.

Verdict - OK


When I was doing my best year series of posts where I listened to the Top 40 for the first week of July in each year, I picked this as the worst record from the 1992 Top 40 I listened to. I remember watching it on Top of the Pops and wanting to throw the TV out the window.

Verdict - Rubbish


I remember getting somewhat confused by this record at the time. To my knowledge Was (Not Was) were a male group but here was a female I'd never seen before singing it. The female in question is Kim Basinger who simply provided vocals and wasn't a member of the group. It was originally recorded in 1983 with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals and his vocals appear on this version too. This remix was done by Steve "Silk" Hurley. It took a while for me to get into this but it grew on me eventually. 

Verdict - 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


For years I thought this was a 60s record that had been re-released. Turns out this was recorded by Roy Orbison in 1987 and not released until 1992. In hindsight this would have been well ahead of it's time if it was a 60s record. 

Verdict - Good


This was the single that preceded "Ebeneezer Goode" which has a title similar to LSD. Maybe this was intentional, the lyrics do sound drug related so maybe this was them testing the water before coming out with the more blatant "E's are good". I've never paid attention to the lyrics truth be told, I just like the tune.

Verdict - Good


One of the toytown techno records from this era. It didn't start out that way though. The version played at raves was called "Feel the Heat" which was a normal rave track. The trumpton sample has simply been added to it for this single version. I prefer it without the sample but I don't think it really ruins the tune.

Verdict - Good


This is the beginning of the post "The Immaculate Collection" era of Madonna. This has a more mature sound than her previous efforts but that means this is basically granny music. It's from the film "A League Of Their Own" which was set in World War II so it was perhaps the intention to make a tune that sounds old fashioned. The song is rubbish though and so is the film.

Verdict - Rubbish


The first of this double a-side is pretty well known but I don't remember it charting at the time. The "MF" in the title stands for motherfucker so presumably it didn't get much radio play at the time. I'm hearing "Strollin'" for the first time, it's not ringing any bells. This was part of the double a-side because it was more radio friendly, but it's not very good.

Verdict - Good / Rubbish


Seeing the kids singing this on Top of the Pops at the time gave me hope that I wouldn't have to wait until I was an adult to become a pop singer. Those kids weren't pop singers though, they were just there for show as the vocals were sampled from the kids TV show. One of the men behind this record is Luna C who started the legendary Kniteforce records afterwards and was one of the people making hardcore breaks in the 21st century when hardcore itself had gone a bit rubbish. 

Verdict - Good


In my college days I bought an old rave compilation from Cash Converters and put it on in the common room. Several people in the common room weren't into rave and weren't familiar with most of the tunes. I was there saying they were missing out, this was good stuff. Then this tune came on which everyone did know, but I had to concede that this one was shit. Think that was the only one we all agreed on.

Verdict - Rubbish


When an actor, or someone famous for something other than music releases a record you generally expect it to be a novelty record. Jimmy Nail is an actor but whilst this record has a bit of humour to it, I wouldn't call it a novelty record. The fact I quite like it too may have something to do with that.

Verdict - Good

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 18.5/30, or 62%. We seem to have been hovering around this level for a while.
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