Look, there’s no way of putting a nice bow on this, 1992 was yet another crappy year. Nothing happened! Well, not literally obviously but it was like the UK was waiting for the next big thing to arrive any minute but whatever it was going to be, it hadn’t even done its packing by the end of the year let alone have any sort of ETA. Nothing sums this up more than this fact. The biggest selling album of the year was “Stars” by Simply Red which was also the biggest selling album of the previous year. Where was the influence of the much vaunted grunge rock movement? It was certainly conspicuous by its absence in terms of both the singles and albums charts. The singles market had a disastrous year with sales slumping dramatically. There were only 12 different No 1 songs, the smallest number for thirty years. I guess we should have a look at them….

Chart date (week ending)	Song	Artist(s)
4 January	“Bohemian Rhapsody/These Are the Days of Our Lives“	Queen
11 January
18 January
25 January	“Goodnight Girl“	Wet Wet Wet
1 February
8 February
15 February
22 February	“Stay“	Shakespear’s Sister
29 February
7 March
14 March
21 March
28 March
4 April
11 April
18 April	“Deeply Dippy“	Right Said Fred
25 April
2 May
9 May	“Please Don’t Go“	K.W.S.
16 May
23 May
30 May
6 June
13 June	Abba-esque	Erasure
20 June
27 June
4 July
11 July
18 July	“Ain’t No Doubt“	Jimmy Nail
25 July
1 August
8 August	“Rhythm Is a Dancer“	Snap!
15 August
22 August
29 August
5 September
12 September
19 September	“Ebeneezer Goode“	The Shamen
26 September
3 October
10 October
17 October	“Sleeping Satellite“	Tasmin Archer
24 October
31 October	“End of the Road“	Boyz II Men
7 November
14 November
21 November	“Would I Lie to You?“	Charles & Eddie
28 November
5 December	“I Will Always Love You“	Whitney Houston
12 December
19 December
26 December

Dearie me! Less than half of the twelve were by brand new artists and of that number only two were British. There were at least four big ballads in there (none bigger than Whitney Houston’s), three cover versions and the return of a man who hadn’t had a hit for seven years and he was better known as an actor than a singer! Three of the total of eight British acts in the list had made their name in the 80s whilst the hang over Xmas No 1 from 1991 was by Queen. The only vaguely interesting song on the list was “Ebeneezer Goode” by The Shamen. Even if you didn’t like it, at least it ruffled a few feathers. Of the twelve, I bought none at all although my wife did buy the Wet Wet Wet album with “Goodnight Girl” on it. There wasn’t quite a Bryan Adams event with Shakespear’s Sister coming the closest with an eight week run at the top. Whitney Houston would better that by two weeks but that run was spread over 1992 and 1993. There were some decent singles like…erm…give me a minute…it’ll come to me…Utah Saints? The Wedding Present “Hit Parade” project? There was an awful lot of shite though from the likes of Tetris, Ambassadors of Funk, The Chippendales and WWF Superstars. What the hell was going on?!

The best selling albums weren’t much cop either. Half of the Top 20 were Best Of / Collections with the highest placing studio albums coming from Michael Jackson, Genesis and Right Said Fred with only the latter being released in 1992 itself. The Top 50 reads like a register of rock/pop royalty. Elton John, Diana Ross, Bryan Adams, Queen, U2, Mike Oldfield, Madonna, Tina Turner, ABBA, Cher…Only the likes of REM and The Shamen (again) stand out as even vaguely interesting. Rock music was represented by some already well established names in Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses and Def Leppard. Even Nirvana (oh there’s grunge!) were hardly a new name come the end of 1992 and although their No 20 placing in the best sellers list with “Nevermind” was laudable, where were all the other bands following in their wake? Special mention should go to Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine who did score a No 1 album this year against the odds though it doesn’t appear in the best selling Top 50.

Hits We Missed

This section hasn’t been that busy in reviews of recent years because we haven’t missed any TOTP episodes due to issues surrounding presenters but that all changed again in 1992. I should be clear that the Adrian Rose repeats were not broadcast because he refused to sign the waiver and nothing to do with any unpalatable reasons. I haven’t checked exactly how many shows were missed but it was certainly double figures. Then there were songs that made the charts but somehow never made it onto the show, not even a few seconds in the Breakers. Maybe they could gave fitted a few more in if they hadn’t gone so heavy in all those live by satellite exclusive performances. Anyway, whatever the reason, here’s a few we missed.

Buffy Sainte Marie – The Big Ones Get Away

The name Buffy meant nothing to me in 1992. Not even in terms of vampire slayers as the Joss Whedon TV series* didn’t premiere until five years later. Buffy Sainte Marie certainly didn’t register but my store manager in the Our Price in Manchester knew her and was keen to listen to her first new album for sixteen years on the shop stereo. So it was that I came to hear “The Big Ones Get Away” which sounded like it came from a different time altogether and a million miles away from much of the dross that was populating the charts. No, not from a different time but timeless, shining like a beacon through the grey mists of contemporary trends. So understated yet powerful. Genuinely affecting.

*The original film was out this year but it passed me by.

I said earlier I’d never heard of the name Buffy Sainte Marie until 1992 though I had heard unknowingly one of her songs. She co-wrote the Oscar winning “Up Where We Belong” for An Officer And A Gentleman. Her legacy will be much more than that though. She is also an artist, pacifist and social activist campaigning to highlight the issues affecting the indigenous peoples of the Americas of which she is one having been born in a reserve in Saskatchewan, Canada to Cree parents.

Released: January 1992

Chart peak: No 39

Daisy Chainsaw – Love Your Money

This lot were a riot (or should that be riot grrl?). Forging a reputation for anarchic live gigs with lead singer KatieJane Garside performing in soiled clothes and drinking from a baby’s bottle, these indie rockers gained an unlikely foothold in the actual Top 40 with their “Love Sick Pleasure” EP which featured the track “Love Your Money”. Their USP was Garside’s vocal stylings which ranged from childlike whispering to outright screaming. They hit the spot though on “Love Your Money” which made No 26 in the charts. Perhaps inevitably given Garside’s vocal techniques, the reason we never saw Daisy Chainsaw on TOTP was nothing to do with Adrian Rose nor that they just weren’t asked; they were but had to turn it down due to Garside having a throat infection!

Garside left the band in 1993 becoming a recluse until reappearing in 1999 with Queenadreena.

Released: February 1992

Chart peak: No 26

Jah Wobble’s Invaders Of The Heart – Visions Of You

I just started watching Danny Boyle’s Pistol last night so including this next artist seems appropriate. Jah Wobble’s name is inextricably linked with John Lydon despite him leaving PiL after their first two albums. He formed Invaders Of The Heart in 1982 but it wasn’t until ten years later that they had a bona fide chart hit.

“Visions Of You” featured the vocals Sinéad O’Connor which perfectly suited this blissed out, vibes heavy track that appeared on the “Rising Above The Bedlam” album. This wasn’t the first time the charts had been home to such an Indian influenced song of course. There was The Beatles’ later work and some of George Harrison’s solo material in the 60s and 70s and Monsoon’s “Ever So Lonely” in 1982. It wasn’t the last either with Kula Shaker ploughing that furrow in 1996 with their “K” album and in particular the track “Govinda”. And yet “Visions Of You” seemed like a genuine outlier back in early 1992.

A colleague I worked with at Our Price in Manchester loved this track and it would get a regular airing in the shop stereo which is probably why I know it as I don’t recall hearing it on the radio much.

Released: February 1992

Chart peak: No 35

The Lightning Seeds – Sense

The Lightning Seeds probably get a tougher rap than they deserve. Sure, “Three Lions” has become unlistenable due to it being reactivated every international football tournament that England are in and from “Jollification” onwards it all became a bit formulaic but for me, you can’t doubt that Ian Broudie is one talented guy. Just look at his past history and where he came from. He was a member of Big In Japan with Holly Johnson and Bill Drummond and also in John Peel favourites Original Mirrors. Then he formed Care with ex Wild Swans singer Paul Simpson who came up with one of the best singles of the 80s not to make the Top 40 in “Flaming Sword”. As that decade ended came The Lightning Seeds whose “Pure” single was a highlight of 1989. In between that and the band’s golden period surrounding “Jollification” and “Three Lions” came sophomore album “Sense”.

Remembered mainly for lead single “The Life Of Riley” and its use on Match Of The Day’s Goal Of The Month section, it was also home to title track “Sense”. Released as the album’s second single, this largely forgotten track was co written with the legendary Terry Hall and is a wonderful pop record. Hall recorded his own version of the song in 1994 for his album “Home” and it probably trumps Broudie’s vocals version for me but I can’t put it in a review of 1992!

I bought the single and was delighted to discover that “Flaming Sword” was the B-side! What’s not to love!

Released: May 1992

Chart peak: No 31

Vegas – Possessed

Talking of Terry Hall…Mr Misery (I love Terry but he is quite dour!) was on a roll with collaborations this year. After Ian Broudie came Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. I think there were more than just the two of them in Vegas but all the publicity surrounding the project focussed on them (I think it was a Tears For Fears or OMD type arrangement). The fusion of creative minds generated one album and three singles but the only one to garner even a sniff of chart action was the lead single “Possessed”. This really does come under the title of ‘lost gem’. Literally lost as the album has long since been deleted and has never appeared on streaming services.

In the most recent issue of Classic Pop magazine within an article on Dave Stewart, there is a little box out on Vegas. In it, Stewart texts the head of a music investment firm whilst being interviewed to ask them to investigate making the album available again (fingers crossed!). He also says record company BMG gave them some money to record a making of the album documentary but instead they spent it arseing about in a disused hotel casino in France remaking sections of The Shining. Apparently that footage is in the faults somewhere but I don’t think there is the same clamour for that to be made available as there is for the album!

The single is almost pop perfection with Terry’s downbeat vocals aligning somehow perfectly with an uplifting chorus that speaks of recovery and rejuvenation. There’s a line in there that speaks probably to many of us but certainly to me – “I even like myself again”. A nice trick if you can pull it off.

Released: September 1992

Chart peak: No 32

The Beautiful South – Old Red Eyes Is Back

One of my favourite albums of 1992 was The Beautiful South’s “0898” which contained four great singles including this which was the first to be released. Technically it came out in 1991 (30 Dec) but it was on an Adrian Rose TOTP in the January so I think I’m OK to include it here.

With its clever Sinatra reference in the title, “Old Red Eyes Is Back” was a very literal yet heart wrenching depiction of alcoholism and also a nifty little tune to boot. Despite not making the Top 20, it’s become one of the band’s best remembered tunes I think. Maybe it’s the subject matter that speaks to so many. A sad indictment indeed.

TOTP show featured on: 16 Jan 1992

Chart peak: No 22

https://youtu.be/vt_PIY4gGEA

Primal Scream – Movin’ On Up

This was actually an EP entitled “Dixie-Narco” rather than a regular single release though “Movin’ On Up” was the track that got all the airplay and indeed was the only track on it that came from their seminal “Screamadelica” album. The other tracks on the EP were “Stone My Soul”, a cover of “Carry Me Home” written by Dennis Wilson for the Beach Boys’ “Holland” album (though never included) and “Screamadelica” which had been recorded at the time for its namesake album but which only made it onto the 20th anniversary Limited Collectors Edition.

The opening song on”Screamadelica”, “Movin On Up” was surely destined to always be released as a single (of sorts as it turns out). Who could resist its uplifting, gospel tinged vibe and the sadly departed Denise Johnson‘s vocals? I couldn’t and the EP duly rests in my singles box.

The performance we missed seems fairly restrained for Bobby Gillespie though he does seem to have a case of restless leg in his right one which involuntarily keeps…ahem…movin’ on up.

TOTP show featured on: 6 February 1992

Chart peak: No 11

Everything But The Girl – Love Is Strange

Another EP! Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt have made some great records but the truth is that until the Todd Terry mix of “Missing” went stratospheric, their biggest hits were cover versions. The last time we had seen the couple on TOTP was four years prior to this when their cover of “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” went Top 3. Two albums and no hit singles later, they returned to covers and released an EP of them called…erm…”Covers EP”. The track listing was eclectic rather than obscure featuring “Tougher Than The Rest” by Bruce Springsteen, “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper, “Alison” by Elvis Costello and this one, Mickey and Sylvia’s “Love Is Strange”. Originally released in 1956, its use in the film Dirty Dancing brought it to the attention of a whole new generation. Ben and Tracey’s take on it erred towards sweet and gentle but I didn’t mind that at all. Twee did someone say? How dare you?!

Although this was a stand-alone release in the UK, a whole album was cobbled together for the US. Called “Acoustic” it comprised the “Covers EP”, a version of Tom Waits’ “Downtown Train” (that’s how you cover that song Rod Stewart!) and six acoustic versions of EBTG songs. I seem to recall that their record label rereleased their 1991 album “Worldwide”, which had underperformed commercially, with the “Covers EP” tacked onto it in the wake of its success. I could be wrong though.

https://youtu.be/-fWz2ks_eJY

TOTP show featured on: 27 February 1992

Chart peak: No 13

Kim Wilde – Love Is Holy

Damn! We missed a Kim Wilde episode! Oh…erm….yes, anyway…in 1992, after a total of zero chart hits in the decade so far, Kim Wilde set upon a course of reinventing herself as Belinda Carlisle. OK, it wasn’t quite as literal as that but the resemblance of “Love Is Holy” to something like “Heaven On Earth” can’t be ignored. There was good reason why though. It was written by one Rick Nowels who had written some of Belinda’s previous hits. The plan worked with the single returning Kim to the Top 40 for the first time since 1989.

It was only a temporary reprieve though. The album “Love Is…” was a moderate seller and failed to produce any further hit singles. A final chart hurrah arrived the following year when Kim took a cover of Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You” to No 12 to promote her “Singles Collection 1981-1993” album.

Kim is still a massive live draw and her 2018 album “Here Come The Aliens” charted at No 21, her best position since the aforementioned “Love Is…” thirty years ago.

TOTP show featured on: 7 May 1992

Chart peak: No 16

https://youtu.be/P1Gm-bBnN64

Tori Amos – Crucify

My first impression of Tori Amos was that she was an American Kate Bush. Now that might be seen as a compliment by many but there was much more to Tori than my initial crude assessment. She’s a classically trained pianist with a mezzo-soprano vocal range for a start. A child prodigy, she was admitted to the Peabody Institute, John Hopkins University aged just five. She briefly fronted synth pop band Y Kant Tori Read who failed dismally, the demise of whom inspired Tori to write material for herself. One of them was “Crucify” which would become her second consecutive UK Top 40 hit after “Winter” made No 25 in March. Both were taken from her debut album “Little Earthquakes” which was well received by critics and fans alike.

With a title like “Crucify”, the song was bound to cause some controversy and it was duly banned in the US Bible Belt for being sacrilegious and blasphemous. Conversely, the aforementioned Kate Bush changed the title of her single “Running Up That Hill” from its original name of “A Deal With God” so as to avoid such a reaction in certain territories. Admittedly she was under record company pressure to do so but a difference between her and Amos all the same.

Tori’s performance on TOTP couldn’t have been more different from the ‘91 vintage of female singer songwriter sat at a piano as personified by Beverley Craven. She looks like she can barely keep her bum on the seat and that at any moment she’ll cock a leg onto the piano Little Richard style.

Tori Amos returned in 1994 with a huge hit in “Cornflake Girl” and even bagged a surprise No 1 in 1997 when an Armand van Helden remix of “Professional Widow (It’s Got To Be Big”) topped the charts.

TOTP show featured on: 25 June 1992

Chart peak: No 15

https://youtu.be/gNvAdu3gkb8

Hits That Never Were

The Pale – Dogs With No Tails

Having started life as buskers on Dublin’s Grafton Street, The Pale eventually came to widespread public attention with the release of their major label debut single “Dogs With No Tails”. As I recall, the track was picked up on by Radio 1 breakfast DJ Simon Mayo who gave it substantial airplay on his show. I’m pretty sure that will be where I heard it first. He had a habit of trying to break records that he had stumbled on as well as being responsible for the resurrection of songs like “Donald Where’s Your Troosers”, “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life” and “Kinky Boots” for no discernible reason. He often came across as full of his own importance to me.

“Dogs With No Tails” sounded completely out of sync with the dominant music movements of the time coming on like an Irish Les Négresses Vertes (“Zobi La Mouche” and all that). Maybe that was its appeal. Something to remind us that music didn’t have to be formulaic and homogeneous.

Despite that Mayo endorsement, it just failed to make the Top 40. My wife was one of those who tried to make it a hit and it duly resides in our singles box to this day. Undeterred, the band changed tack, left A&M and released a number of critically well received albums independently. They are still an ongoing entity touring extensively and with their last album being as recent as 2019.

Released: June 1992

Chart peak: No 51

Natural Life – Natural Life

Seemingly now just a footnote in pop history to inform us that this was Shovell from M People’s first band, there was a bit more to this lot than that. They were the only London band to appear on the bill for the two day Cities In The Park mini festival to commemorate the recently deceased legendary producer Martin Hannett in 1991.

More exposure came from Radio 1 who’s listeners voted their debut single “Strange World” as their Record of the Week. Despite not charting, there was enough of a buzz about the band got a second tilt at the Top 40 in the shape of the band’s eponymously titled second single. This was again voted Record of the Week and got decent airplay. I was sure this one would be a hit and I duly bought it. I loved its rock guitar / dance percussion hybrid and memorable lyrics (“Business man you’re 21, said you carry your pen like a soldier’s gun”). Sometimes though airplay doesn’t translate to sales and it fell short once more by just seven places. Had the promised land of the Top 40 been reached, maybe a TOTP appearance would have followed and then who knows what. Sadly, that’s a tale for a parallel universe.

Released: Feb 1992

Chart peak: No 47

XTC – The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead

XTC really are a criminally underrated band. How can the genius of their work correlate to the lack of commercial success they have received. By 1992, they hadn’t had a Top 40 hit for ten years, the last being the incredible “Senses Working Overtime”. Maybe it didn’t matter to Andy Partridge and co by that point. They had a loyal fanbase and had arguably produced some of their best work in the intervening time.

Then, out of the blue, came another chart entry via the wonderful “Disappointed” which made the giddy heights of No 33. I could have gone with that track for the Hits We Missed section as it didn’t warrant a TOTP appearance. However, I’ve gone with the follow up “The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead” as despite missing the Top 40, is probably better known via its association with the film Dumb And Dumber courtesy of the cover of it by Crash Test Dummies in 1995.

It’s a cracking song (oops! Went a bit Wallace And Gromit there or is it Dominic Raab?) which pulls you in right from the deceptively slow intro which then explodes into life via a harmonica riff and keeps you locked in for the next four minutes helter skelter ride. The Crash Test Dummies version is almost identical apart from featuring a female lead vocalist (Ellen Reid) instead of the distinctive bass-baritone of Brad Roberts. Had the Canadian band already got permission from XTC to record it prior to the film coming out or was it specifically recorded for the soundtrack? If the latter, why didn’t the film makers just ask to use the original? The Crash Test Dummies did what XTC couldn’t and took the song into the charts where it peaked at No 30.

I bought the XTC version and the “Disappointed” single which both came from the band’s “Nonsuch” album.

Released: May 1992

Chart peak: No 71

Spinal Tap – The Majesty Of Rock

How many times have I watched This Is Spinal Tap? I’ve lost count but every time I do catch it, I find another little detail of brilliant comedy. And oh please let the rumour that has recently surfaced about a sequel actually happening be true. Back in 1992, the main protagonists of the project had already reconvened but not for a follow up film. No, they had recorded an album – the pun-tastic “Break Like The Wind” – and even did some live dates to promote it. For me, that blurring of the lines between fiction and reality that helped add layers of intertextuality is what’s made the project endure all these years.

The marketing campaign for the album included the brilliant tool of getting the Our Price chain to amend their weekly instore charts to include “Break Like The Wind” going in straight at No 0. Positioned above that weeks No 1 album, it was all too much for one customer I served who came to the counter looking for an explanation as to what on earth had happened to the chart. “But you can’t have position zero” he argued. I tried to explain it was just a promotional joke on behalf of the record company but he wasn’t satisfied with my explanation and wandered off muttering the words “number zero” and “pah”!

The album’s actual chart position was a peak of No 51 and it included two singles – “Bitch School” which was a minor Top 40 hit and this one, “The Majesty Of Rock” which missed the chart altogether. The lyrics are gloriously ridiculous:

To the majesty of rock, the pageantry of roll

The crowing of the cock, the running of the foal

And that’s the majesty of rock, the mystery of roll

The darning if the sock, the scoring of the goal

Lovely stuff. My mate Robin caught the band at the Albert Hall on the tour. Here he is attempting to get some skin off the band…

Released: May 1992

Chart peak: No 61

Tom Cochrane – Life Is A Highway

This was a Top 10 hit in the US which never translated to the UK. I’d never heard of Tom Cochrane before and I never heard anything about him after this track but apparently he was the the leader of Canadian 80s rockers Red Rider. During the Summer of ‘92, my Our Price colleague Knoxy spent a few weeks on holiday in America and when he came back said that he’d heard this song everywhere he went. Based on that, I thoroughly expected it to be huge over here but it just didn’t happen. Maybe it was too formulaic US rock for a a UK population who were enamoured with KWS at that point!

Years later, a version of it by an outfit called Rascal Flatts covered the song and it was used in the soundtrack to the Walt Disney/Pixar animation Cars. See what they did there?

Released: June 1992

Chart peak: No 62

A House – Endless Art

Now I have to admit that I didn’t know of this tune at the time but it definitely is of 1992 vintage. It wasn’t until years later that I discovered it randomly on Spotify (randomly in terms of I wasn’t looking for it anyway. I know the algorithms make pure randomness impossible). Like The Pale earlier, this lot were from Dublin and just like “Dogs With No Tails”, “Endless Art” was not your typical indie rock song. Yes, the idea of a ‘list’ song wasn’t original (think “We Didn’t Start The Fire” by Billy Joel, “Nothing Ever Happens by Del Amitri etc) but the way they executed it made it stand out for me. Maybe it’s just Dave Couse’s Irish accent that brings it to life. The list of artists from various fields and eras is remarkable easy on the ear with a couple of rhyming names placed in close proximity to aid the song’s flow. I think my favourite is “Johann Strauss, Richard Strauss, Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse RIP”. The innovative stop-motion video for the single drew lots of praise but even that wasn’t enough to propel it into the Top 40. They finally creeped in two years later with “Here Come the Good Times (Part 1)” but the band split a couple of years after that.

Their legacy far outstripped their commercial achievements with the Irish Times rock critics voting their “I Am The Greatest” album the third best Irish long player of all time behind only “Loveless” by My Bloody Valentine and “Achtung Baby” by U2. Indeed, some have argued that they were more important than Bono et al.

A House. RIP.

Released: June 1992

Chart peak: No 46

Martin Stephenson And The Daintees – Big Sky New Light

I’d known about Martin Stephenson since the mid 80s when The Daintees (as they just were back then) released “Trouble Town”, a marvellous, uplifting little pop tune on Kitchenware Records. Then came the switch to major label London Records, a repositioning of the band as Martin Stephenson And The Daintees and the “Boat To Bolivia” album which attracted superlative praise from the critics but not much in the way of sales. “Gladsome, Humour & Blue” became their highest charting album in 1988 and then just as I was leaving the bubble of being a student came “Salutation Road” which is just a great album.

Their final album for London was “A Boy’s Heart” and “Big Sky New Light” was the lead single from it. Not my favourite Stephenson tune by any means but in a year that saw Mr Big and Nick Berry very nearly top the charts, I wasn’t going to miss out this little bit of quality to balance the equation. A gently driven yet solid song, it saw Martin enliven it with some shouted vocals and even the odd ‘yeah!’. I bought the single though I have to say it was from the bargain bin.

Martin went onto a prolific solo career beginning with the following year’s “High Bells Ring Thin” album and he has also reactivated the Daintees to re-record all four of their albums on the 30th anniversary of their release.

Released: June 1992

Chart peak: No 71

Pele – Megalomania

Hailing from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire (I once knew a girl from Ellesmere Port – that’s it, that’s the story. Not great is it?) this lot built up a strong live following and were quickly picked up by M&G Records and set to work recording their debut album “Fireworks”. When it finally came out it was a Recommended Release in the Our Price chain and hopes were high that it would accrue some steady sales but ultimately it didn’t really light up the sky. It did however feature three very good singles that received decent airplay but which all failed to chart.

The middle one of those was “Megalomania” which was a bright and breezy pop tune that was perfect for daytime playlists. All the singles were to be fair. Listening back to them now, they’re kind of like a poppier version of Pale Fountains who I loved. Despite being ignored by the UK record buying public, “Megalomania” was a No 1 in South Africa and the band toured with the likes of Del Amitri and The Pogues. A record company dispute caused the band to split but main man Ian Prowse carved out a successful music career forming Amsterdam and striking up a working relationship with Elvis Costello.

Released: February 1992

Chart peak: No 73

Their Season In The Sun

Charles And Eddie

They arrived out of nowhere with a retro sounding yet broad church appealing song that would conquer the charts. Not quite the classic definition one hit wonder of one huge song then nothing – they had three further UK hits though none made it any higher than No 29 – but it was damn close. Certainly Charles And Eddie (terrible name) were never bigger than they were in the Autumn of 1992.

Curtis Stigers

An unlikely pop star, Curtis came from a jazz club background but emerged with the backing of major label Arista as some sort of rock ‘n’ soul artist, Daryl Hall and John Oates style. Amazingly it worked and Curtis racked up two consecutive Top 10 hits in the first half of the year. Suddenly the spell was broken and his biggest hit after that would be a No 28 five years later.

Curtis returned to his jazz roots recording multiple albums for the Concord Jazz label and if his Twitter account is anything to go by, remains a thoroughly decent chap which is all that matters to me.

KWS

The biggest band to come out of Nottingham since Paper Lace. It’s quite an accolade (don’t tell Tindersticks I said it though). Similar to Charles And Eddie, they weren’t quite the one hit wonders people might suspect they are. They actually accrued five UK Top 40 singles including a follow up Top 10 hit but it’s their cover of KC And The Sunshine Band’s “Please Don’t Go” that they will forever be associated with.

This really sounded like lowest common denominator stuff – never mind the quality, feel the sales. They were the soul brother to Undercover’s poppier take on the genre (more of them later). Inevitably, their story ended as all such short lived encounters with fame do – with one of them appearing on the Identity Parade round on Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

The Shamen

It seems a bit unfair to include The Shamen in this section as they existed long before 1992 and for many years after too. This 12 month period though brought them commercial success like no other before or since. A Top 3 album and four Top 10 singles including the controversy raking No 1 “Ebeneezer Goode”. It was a level of profile that they would never reach again. Maybe they took too long (three years) to release their next album “Axis Mutatis” or maybe they were undone by the rise of Britpop? Either way, The Shamen will always have 1992 to remind them how big they once were.

Shanice

Finally the classic one hit wonder! One enormous single and then no further Top 40 entries ever – not under her own name at least. “I Love Your Smile” bounded to No 2 propelled by that infectious ‘de der dup dup der der der’ vocal hook but then nothing. Zip. Nada. Shanice paid the bills by doing backing vocals for the likes of Toni Braxton and Usher whilst also branching out into acting and even reality TV with her show with her husband Flex And Shanice. Flex?!

Tasmin Archer

An intriguing marketing campaign (‘Who is Tasmin Archer?’) helped launch this breakthrough artist into the stratosphere but in reality it was the strength of her debut single “Sleeping Satellite” that achieved success which she couldn’t have conceived of in her wildest dreams. So radio friendly was it that it was surely cooked up in the hit song laboratory. It soared to No 1 and hinted at huge things for Tasmin but those “Great Expectations” were never really fulfilled. Her album went Top 10 and three more singles from it were hits though none bigger than No 16. Even an EP of Elvis Costello covers couldn’t reactivate her career. By the time of her second album in 1996, she’d been mostly forgotten leaving people to ask ‘Who is Tasmin Archer?’ all over again.

Undercover

This lot’s short lived success was almost inexplicable. Lame dance versions of rock/ pop standards fronted by a guy who looked like he’d turned up after his other job as a bingo caller? Come on! Seriously? Two big and one smaller hit was the extent of their success before obscurity beckoned. For a short while though they were Top of the Shop Pops.

Last Words

And it’s done. Another TOTP year reviewed and another stinker. A completely directionless 12 months with the charts full of all sorts of crap. In the non music world, there was another General Election win for The Tories (BOO!) and my beloved Chelsea were still awful and five years away from actually winning anything. Personally, there was a big change for me work wise with an unexpected promotion and move to a different shop which I loved. TOTP itself was still finding its way after the sweeping changes of the ‘year zero’ revamp. For my money, those changes hadn’t worked in that the show wasn’t substantially any better than the complacent dinosaur it had become. The endless ‘exclusives’ were tedious and the four Breakers in under two minutes supremely annoying. By the end of the year, most of the new presenters had gone leaving a hardcore of just Tony Dortie and Mark Franklin. Clearly it wasn’t working for new executive producer Stanley Appel either. And so 1993 beckons. In my head , this year was one of the worst of the whole decade. Please, please let me be wrong…

Disclaimer

I make no claim to the rights of this show and all ownership and contents including logos and graphics belongs totally to the BBC or copyright holder(s).

All opinions on the music and artists featured are my own. Sorry if you don’t agree.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0015nx8/top-of-the-pops-the-story-of-1992