OCTOBER 1992 (cont)
Notable Chart Entries (US):
October 3
48 — HOW DO YOU TALK TO AN ANGEL –•– The Heights
62 — SOMEONE TO HOLD –•– Trey Lorenz
79 — LAYLA –•– Eric Clapton
85 — DIGGING IN THE DIRT –•– Peter Gabriel
94 — RUMP SHAKER –•– Wreckx-N-Effect
96 — I MISSED THE BUS –•– Kris Kross
October 10
70 — MY NAME IS PRINCE –•– Prince & The New Power Generation
86 — SESAME’S STREET –•– Smart E’s
88 — COULD’VE BEEN ME –•– Billy Ray Cyrus
91 — I’M OVERJOYED –•– Nona Gaye
94 — INSIDE THAT I CRIED –•– Ce Ce Peniston
October 17
13 — EROTICA –•– Madonna
51 — GOOD ENOUGH –•– Bobby Brown
54 — IF I EVER FALL IN LOVE –•– Shai
84 — ALONE WITH YOU –•– Tevin Campbell
88 — HOW DO YOU DO! –•– Roxette
89 — TO LOVE SOMEBODY –•– Michael Bolton
93 — LITTLE MISS CAN’T BE WRONG –•– Spin Doctors
98 — DO YOU EVERYNITE –•– Joe Public
October 24
67 — SAVING FOREVER FOR YOU –•– Shanice
70 — CHAINS AROUND MY HEART –•– Richard Marx
76 — KEEP THE FAITH –•– Bon Jovi
97 — REST IN PEACE –•– Extreme
October 31
71 — DRIVE –•– R.E.M.
74 — I WISH THE PHONE WOULD RING –•– Expose
83 — THE LAST SONG –•– Elton John
89 — JOHNNY HAVE YOU SEEN HER? –•– The Rembrandts
93 — I’M STILL WAITING –•– Jodeci
95 — GROOVIN’ IN THE MIDNIGHT –•– Maxi Priest
97 — ALWAYS TOMORROW –•– Gloria Estefan
The Heights aren't even listed on Wiki as a band and that's because it's apparently a TV show, and this is a track (or the theme?) from it. I'd never heard of this because it was either never released in the UK or completely flopped - I don't even know if the show was broadcast here - and without spoiling too much, it's impact on the Hot 100 in October was pretty impressive, going 48-31-11-6-4, during a pretty stagnant time for the chart. It has an interesting performance in November but let's save that for next month.
Prince releases the second single from
Love Symbol album:
Prince was such an up-and-down success story even at his peak; his albums often alternating from one to the next in terms of popularity and success. After returning to an almost peak mainstream era with
Diamonds & Pearls, his follow up album almost stalled completely when lead single "Sexy MF" only reached #66. This track did much better, but still 'only' peaked at #36 (incidentally both singles went Top 10 in the UK). He was about to have another Top 10 single though, which was significantly help the album out.
That Smarties song charting in the US is a RIOT. I assume most people didn't know what it was about...
That
Nona Gaye track is a nice enough bop
So obscure it's only on Spotify via a random comp. Wiki doesn't confirm where this charted but it went #17 on R&B. Interesting career; she collaborated with
Prince (in the studio and in the bedroom) and featured on a few tracks, later collaborated with
R Kelly which didn't go anywhere, went into acting and was the actress who replaced
Aaliyah in the
Matrix movies after her death.
Ce Ce Peniston's fifth and final single from her debut album:
I don't remember this and it's always a revelation to hear these dance divas doing ballads; I didn't really invest in their albums at the time and hadn't considered that they would venture into other areas of R&B, even though that makes COMPLETE SENSE. This is nice; I find the chorus a bit musical theatre but it's single worthy. The album was saturated at this point though and it reached #94 US and #42 UK.
Madonna opens BIG with the debut and title track from
Erotica, and hardly surprising given that it was coming off
The Immaculate Collection and her #1 hit "This Used To Be My Playground". Where does #13 sit in high debuts from that time
@alla ? It jumped to #3 the following week but then began to slip, showing that her mass appeal was waning slightly, likely due to the furore around her lyrical content. It also reached #3 in the UK, #1 Italy, #1 Greece, and Top 5 in Spain, Australia, NZ, Ireland, Canada, Portugal, Norway and Sweden. It did of course go #1 on US dance.
That
Shai song was something I was familiar with in name as it became such a massive enduring US hit. Surprised to discover it's essentially an acapella song. I think it was on moopy in that headfuck of a thread "songs you didn't know were covers" where I discovered it properly, as I didn't know it was the original to the
Gabrielle-East 17 duet which was huge in the UK.
It was the beginning of the end for the
Roxette era in the US, as their debut single from 4th album
Tourism stalled at #58 and would be the only charting song from that album.
It did better in the UK at #13 and was a HUGE hit in Europe, reaching #2 in Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and their homeland Sweden.
Not content with destroying her career with follow up nonsense ballads on her debut album,
Shanice is given another one for the Beverly Hills 90210 soundtrack
This one is not as bad actually - it's a standard early 90s ballad. Not my thing though. Better stuff is coming from Shanice shortly, but it was too late for her momentum and she never recovered.
Never been the biggest
REM fan, although I do like a couple of songs and love the upcoming Everybody Hurts ballad from signature album
Automatic For The People. I have however over time grown to really love this lead track from the album:
"Drive" reached #28 (#11 UK).
"Always Tomorrow" sounds like a classic
Gloria Estefan ballad, but I don't have much recollection of it.
It did OK in the UK too, reaching #24 as the lead from her
Greatest Hits set, but it stalled at #81 in the US. It didn't seem to matter though as her first singles collection was a huge success, going 4x platinum in the US and 3x platinum in the UK.
for a song that completely flopped in the US (#97) but charted this month in the UK (#44):
) actually had some vocal and songwriting talent...
Madonna, Mariah, Janet, Gaga, Rihanna... Erotica was the only one to debuted in the top 3. You can't deny how bloody hot she was in 1992.
I will.