Okay 1992...just stop already...this week was INSANE. We got a brand new number one which we will get to in a moment, wild shifts in the top ten and up and down the chart which kind of characterises what 1992 has been like even if a lot of the music on the chart this year has been dull and kind of limp then there's the long list of new entries which means this blog entry is going to run long...just a warning.
Anyway let's start with the top ten because as I said before we have a new number one and to the surprise of nobody, it's "Hazard" by Richard Marx, yeah it got there because it finally got the edge on sales and tipped "Save the Best for Last" by Vanessa Williams back to number two as its starting to weaken.
Unfortunately this might open the way for "Please Don't Go" by K.W.S which jumped from number six to number three this week. Can we not let this shit go to number one, please? Ughh. Whatever the case it pushed past "Jump" by Kriss Kross down one to number four.
Then we get to one of the biggest gainers of the week and the gain that caught me off guard, "Sexy MF" by Prince and the New Power Generation up twenty places to number five, I get it but it does feel like it's here on Prince's name alone, the song doesn't do anything for me.
All of that pushed "Too Funky" by George Michael back two to number six and "Cry" by Lisa Edwards slipped two places to number seven.
Making it's return to the top ten this week is "As Ugly as they Wanna Be" by Ugly Kid Joe rising from eleven to eight...sigh...it unfortunately pushed "Heaven Knows" by Rick Price back one spot to number nine.
Completing the top ten and spending it's first week inside the top ten is "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover" by Sophie B. Hawkins up two spots to number ten. I am fine with that! The song is pretty solid.
Gains
So I already mentioned "Sexy MF" by Prince and the New Power Generation jumping twenty places to hit number five but the big gains didn't stop there because Madonna's miserable "This Used to be My Playground" rocketed up from 50 to 13 which is an incredibly bad sign.
In mixed news, "I'll Be There" by Mariah Carey jumped six places to 24 but the Teen Queens cover of "I Can't Help Myself" also climbed from 42 to 28...another incredibly shitty sign.
Our gains continue to be a disaster because "Workaholic" by 2 Unlimited jumped nine places to 37.
Losers
So we have a long list of losers (thanks to the ten new entries mostly) here beginning with "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam which has never really had a solid footing on the chart to begin with as it tumbled from 36 to 48 while "Djapana (Sunset Dreaming)" by Yothu Yindi plunged from 38 to 47.
Voice of the Beehive's "Perfect Place" plunged off it's debut down eleven to 42. while "Love is Holy" by Kim Wilde slumped from 29 to 41.
XTC's "The Disappointed" slipped six places to 38 while "Living in England" by The Screaming Jets plunged from 21 to 36...ouch. "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica took a nine place hit to 35 (this song is safe on the year end thankfully)
Unsurprisingly "Heaven Sent" by INXS fell hard from 16 to 31 mostly because it's definitely not INXS's best song.
"The One" by Elton John skidded from 17 to 25 this week...bit disappointing...I still like the song.
Finally "Take it From Me" by Girlfriend slipped out of the top ten down nine to 19 while "Clunk (EP)" by Frente slumped seven places to 14
New Entries
There are ten new entries so in the interests of trying to keep this short, I'm going to keep each song review pretty short.
50. “My Lovin’ (You’ve Never Gonna Get It)” by En Vogue.
We start our look at the new entries with this song from
American R’n’B girl group En Vogue, it comes from their album called “Funky
Divas” and samples James Brown’s “The Payback” with the guitar sample forming a
large part of the melody as En Vogue deliver a sassy performance telling a douchebag
that he can try as hard as he likes but he isn’t going to be getting love from
any of these girls. It’s definitely a heck of a lot better than some of the
other junk on the chart…I don’t mind this.
49. “Four Seasons in One Day” by Crowded House
The latest single from “Woodface” and unlike the previous
singles from the album, this song sounds darker and more ominously eery song
than their previous singles like “It’s Only Natural” and “Weather With You”, it
was also originally intended for that Finn Brothers project with the lyrics
reflecting on Melbourne’s changeable weather and how you can have four seasons
in one day in the city and reflective the many moods of the band as they were
in the process of writing “Woodface”. It’s good but not quite my favourite song
from the album. Can we get ”Whispers and Moans” as a single please?
46. “Everything’s Alright” by John Farnham, Kate Ceberano
and Jon Stevens
This is a collaboration I wasn’t expecting, Noiseworks
frontman Jon Stevens teaming up with Kate Ceberano and crooner John Farnham for
a version of “Everything’s Alright” from the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber
penned musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Ceberano singing the part of Mary Magdalene
while Stevens bringing the rock fire power and Farnham sounding shockingly good
here, throw in the choir and we have a rock opera that works really damn well…yeah
I like this a lot…check this out!
44. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” by Guns ‘n’ Roses
This week’s cover version (as has been standard thus far in
1992) comes from Guns ‘n’ Roses who have recorded a cover of Bob Dylan’s 1973
classic “Knockin’ on a Heaven’s Door” which they originally recorded in 1990
for the movie soundtrack of Days of Thunder with a slightly modified version
added to their 1991 album called “Use Your Illusion II” and is the second
single from the album and well, it’s okay. Yeah, Axel Rose sounds about as
exactly as you would expect here although I will say there’s a part of me that feels
like he is vocally overdoing it but again the guitars and drums sound great
here, it’s an interesting cover, check it out.
43. “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg” by TLC
Another American all girl R’n’B act this time, it’s a debut single
from a trio calling themselves TLC with this being the debut single from their
debut album called “Ooooohhh” and well…this is something special especially
with the way the song uses all sorts of sampling and the TLC members killing it
with their charisma suggesting that they aren’t too shameless to beg for
attention…uhh, TLC, I don’t think you shamelessly need to beg for attention
here because yeah, I love this! Catchy, insanely memorable and a load of fun! Awesome
stuff.
40. “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane.
And here we have Canadian country rock artist Tom Cochrane
with his first charting song on the Aria charts and while I don’t want to call
this bad per se because it is catchy and you will find yourself singing along
with it however the lyrics are just corny and Cochrane’s delivery just makes me
want to turn the sound down so I guess it’s just meh.
33. ‘Girl’s Life” by Girlfriend
Here’s the third girl group with a new song on the chart
this week with Girlfriend seeking to follow up “Take It From Me” with a pop/rap song about living a girls life
and make keep the boys anticipating them, it’s the sort of flowery girl power
song you’d expect, I’m not sure it’s quite as instantly catchy as “Take It From
Me” was but Robyn Loau and her bandmates certainly deliver the song with plenty
of enthusiasm, may as well make the most of what Girlfriend have offered up
here.
32. “Warm It Up” by Kriss Kross
Kriss Kross striking while the iron is hot makes sense here,
they’ve had a massive number one hit around the world so why not follow it up
with their new single and well it definitely sounds eerily similar to “Jump”
but hot damn this duo can rap, their flows are really quite incredible, I kind
of enjoyed this a lot but Kriss Kross are going to want to change it up a
little soon because there’s only so long I can tolerate “Jump” sound alikes.
26. “Rhythm is a Dancer” by Snap
Just what 1992 needs more of…Eurodance…this time it comes
from a German group Snap who had a number 13 hit in 1990 with “The Power”, a
song that is actually a lot better than you’d remember It so that’s why it’s a
shame that “Rhythm is a dancer” falls flat? I don’t know, it just lacks that
edge that made “The Power” a really fantastic song, it may well be the vocal
delivery that doesn’t quite work here especially when the lyrics mention “rhythm
being a passion. Ehh, this doesn’t work all that well for me. Next!
11. “Jam” by Michael Jackson
A song written for the movie “Space Jam” and wow…could they
have buried Michael Jackson further back in the mix here at all? Why would you
bury the guy whose charisma can elevate a middling song to something great? I
don’t get it because “Jam” really is at best a middling song and not helped by
some really strange production decisions…I’ll pass, thanks.
That was our week, a long one at that but for the best...I'm giving that to "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" by TLC with honourable mention going to "Everything 's Alright" by John Farnham, Kate Ceberano and Jon Stevens.
As for the worst, nothing too atrocious here but "Jam" by Michael Jackson is getting it for some really weird production decisions with honourable mention going to "Rhythm is a Dancer" by Snap.
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