funky's journey through the 90s (again, again)

[funky]

I'm pretty sure that NuColours song was released again in 1993, & reached the dizzy heights of #40. I think I had it taped off the chart countdown & have always had a fondness for it, although it's rather generic.

You're right it did - just checked OCC. I only knew the second album songs because of the Sisters Of Swing compilation (GOD they were amazing) and I lied before - both albums are indeed on Spotify.

I'm always surprised Expose did nothing in the UK. Did they just decide not to promote overseas, or what? I can certainly see them being able to score some middling hits at the least if they'd tried.

It does feel like a strange anomoly considering how much the UK embraced US girl groups, but it's possibly because they started out or were known in the early days for their Freestyle influences, which never really did much in the UK outside of some big artists.

And that M People song, despite not being a huge chart success, was a staple of Long Wave Radio, Atlantic 252 at the time

GOD, Atlantic 252. Sometimes you really TAKE ME BACK

 

[funky]

This deserves a comment, even when everyone knows what I'm gonna say. A song co-produced and co-written by Mariah Carey, the first of quite a few for other artists. You can clearly hear her background vocals too. That was enought to make me buy the album back then It is a great song, but he didn't follow it with anything interesting, and that was pretty much it.

Yeah to be fair that Troy song isn't bad. Quite Babyface-esque. It's weird in hindsight that he didn't take off, given the popularity of this sound at the time, his industry contacts and the fact that he had a pretty big platform to launch from.

Did this also make the Hot 100!? God knows I love 90s r&b like few others, but Jodeci has to be one of the most overrated r&b artists of all time. I mean, they're ok, but that's it. I got their debut album and was unimpressed. The only song I truly love is Come & talk to me, their crossover hit to pop charts. I just dont get the appeal to this group, or the brothers a few years later. Not that they're that bad, but all those r&b #1s, my goodness.

I completely agree. I love 90s R&B, but I just DON'T get Jodeci. They certainly popularised bedroom R&B, but there's two sides to it - the lush, smooth sound of Babyface, Toni etc, and this warbly droney nonsense. K-ci & Jojo were no better.

You know, Prince songs were a big hit or not depending if top 40 radio liked them, that's pretty much it, it was all due to the tyranny of US radio. I can see why this sounds a bit too much for happy flower pop radio, and how 7 was a big hit because it's much more radio friendly. if US radio didn't play your song(s), it was over for you, unless you were an major established artist like Prince that would come up with another single.

Yeah understanding the power of radio in the US has become more apparent again doing this thread. The shady deals that must have been made back in the day to handle the pressure of getting radio support.

 

[funky]

NOVEMBER 1992

#1s

	US​	UK​
Nov-7	Boyz II Men - End Of The Road (13)	Boyz II Men - End Of The Road (2)
Nov-14	The Heights - How Do You Talk To An Angel (1)	Boyz II Men - End Of The Road (3)
Nov-21	The Heights - How Do You Talk To An Angel (2)	Charles & Eddie - Would I Lie To You? (1)
Nov-28	Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (1)	Charles & Eddie - Would I Lie To You? (2)

So Boyz II Men get booted after 13 weeks and plenty of tries by huge, established artists and massive radio hits by a virtually unknown TV show that must have had quite the hardcore following. I'm assuming the sales must have been huge unless radio responded big to a show that was considered a massive flop despite the hype? Someone mentioned it earlier but the show got cancelled while it was topping the charts (LOL) and that led to it fading a lot quicker than most number ones normally do. That all being said, I was shocked to discover that the song really isn't THAT BAD!



The opening riffs pass more than a striking resemblance to Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over", and it does sound more like an establish pop-metal ballad than a cheesy TV cash-in.

Its fate probably made absolutely no difference to its stay at the top however, as there was certainly no doubt that Whitney Houston was going to topple it regardless. Following a comparatively weaker third album and some alarmingly poor single performances overall (it wasn't a total disaster - the album had some major tunes and a #1 but it lacked the depth and blockbuster appeal of both the debut and follow up) Whitney comes back absolutely swinging with the lead single from the absolutely massive movie The Bodyguard, moving 40-12-1 in its first 3 weeks. Those of us old enough can tell the younger moopy contingent that this film was enormous upon release, not just at the box office but in pop culture generally, putting Whitney back on top and proving all those doubters who assumed she had been pushed aside by Mariah and Celine that she wasn't going quietly.

In the UK, Charles & Eddie was the surprise hit that wedged itself into pole position between the monster ballads from Boyz II Men and Whitney, registering an impressive run in the top 5 and finishing the year as an almost million-seller. I mentioned earlier that I was obsessed with this when it was out, probably my first major exposure to 'retro soul', an ode to the crooners of the 70s, a fad which has come and gone and over the decades and is popular again today with acts like Durand Jones, Jalen Ngonda, Sault, Jungle, Leon Bridges and many more. This was a way more accessible, smartly-polished pop anthem that the UK embraced big time and I dinstinctly remember where I was (the IT room at school) when I learnt that it had not beaten Boyz II Men to #1 in time for my birthday (it made it the week after!). Funny the random music memories you have from your youth. It's also a surprise to me that this wasn't as big in their native US, stalling at #13 (although it did hang around for a while for a song that didn't go Top Ten).

Chart Highlights:

Snap!, Mary J Blige ("Real Love") and TLC ("What About Your Friends") are the climbers in the Top Ten this month, but they can't break the increasingly tight Top 5. Apart from the songs above, it's Shai and Wreckx-n-Effect who manage that, the latter being the huge hip-hop anthem "Rump Shaker" which ends up spending an obscene amount of time on the chart, and this would be a recurring theme for novelty rap all decade.

Eric Clapton also has a surprise hit with a live version of Layla, originally recorded 20 years prior by his band Derek & The Dominos, climbing to #12 by the end of the month - a reminder of the power and influence of the MTV Unplugged series in the 90s, which produced some massive selling albums and helped usher in a renewed focus in live musical performances for artists after over a decade of miming on TV being the norm.

Over in the UK, acid jazz and UK R&B takes a huge step forward with the arrival of Jamiroquai...



JayKay made WOKE cool back in 92! It wasn't an immediate arrival - this song peaked at #28, but he'd be back early in the new year with a Top 10 and 3 further singles from an album that would eventually go platinum and start a run of 26 consecutive Top 40 singles over the next 15 years. I didn't care for Jamiroquai in the early years as he was a touch TOO jazzy for my 15 year old tastes. But I slowly warmed to him when the big remixes started coming out and moreseo as my tastes matured. I do remember thinking he was ridiculously COOL though and how sad it was that I would never be that slick Random trivia - despite a good run in the 90s in the US with some high profile TV appearances, five of their albums charting on the BB200 and one of them going platinum, only ONE song has ever hit the Billboard Hot 100; the randomly selected "Alright" from third album Travelling Without Moving which reached the lofty heights of #78 in 1997. He must have had a huge run on the dance charts, because otherwise I have no idea where his stateside crossover success was coming from.

Simply Red round off their massive Stars album with a live EP from the Montreux Jazz Festival, including the wonderful track "Lady Godiva's Room", originally a b-side from the 80s.



I LOVE this song. The EP reached #11.

And just to keep the jazz theme going, Sade returns with her Love Deluxe album, with lead single "No Ordinary Love" in October and quickly followed by "Feel The Pain" in November...



This wasn't released in the US and struggled at #56 in the UK. The album would see 2 more releases in 1993 however before she began her 7 year hiatus from releasing new music. "No Ordinary Love" is covered below in the US releases.

And yet more UK R&B! Soul II Soul's Caron Wheeler releases her second album Beach Of The War Goddess with this lead single, and my favourite solo track of hers:



This only reached #59, but it went #12 on US R&B, probably thanks to its inclusion on the hugely successful Mo' Money movie soundtrack.

We're not moving away from UK Soul just yet - as Annie Lennox releases one of her lesser known singles but undoubtedly one of her most soulful and one of her absolute best. Annie herself has cited on many occasions that it's the best song she wrote and her favourite to sing. With lyrics like Dying is easy / it's living that scares me to death and the way she screams the lines out it's not hard to see why - it's pure pop opera at its best. The definitive version is the MTV Unplugged version which I discovered on the "No More I Love Yous" CD single and has sadly never been released since, but I found it tucked away on YouTube and needs to be heard - its probably the trigger that turned me into a huge Annie Lennox fan back in 1995 and went on to rediscover her and her Eurythmics back catalogue...



This either flopped or wasn't released in the US - they probably moved straight on to "Little Bird" by the time "Walking On Broken Glass" was done with. It managed #26 in the UK which isn't bad for the 4th single, but the biggest hit was yet to come.

Some great dance tracks hanging around this month:



Some great early handbag which feels influenced by the Degrees Of Motion singles. Speaking of which:



This I don't remember at the time and actually Nomad had some really great songs when they shifted from rave and acid to funky and hangbag house



Alison Limerick looks to broaden her appeal with a midtempo R&B number



This is nice enough but doesn't really play to her strengths. It was the 6th and final release from the debut album And Still I Rise and reached #73.

 

[funky]

NOVEMBER 1992 (cont):


Discoveries:

A GOLDEN BUZZER to start us off, as I've been RINSING this all summer since I discovered it this year...



Smooth R&B that is just perfect sunshine music and has more than a nod to 80s funk. This reached #68 on the Hot 100 but went #1 on R&B. He only released 2 albums but had a much more successful career as a producer, and was (trivia) the musical director and keyboardist for Janet's Rhythm Nation tour. Oh and he's Barry White's godson.

I'm also loving this funky swing number from a band I've never heard of:



I had no idea there were so many girl and boy R&B bands in the US and it's kind of interesting which ones cross over internationally and which don't - this debut song was massive in the US (#11; #3 R&B) but didn't chart in the UK and in fact they have no hits in the UK at all - maybe they didn't even have a record deal in Europe. I mean, they're better than Jodeci for a start...

This is RIGHT up my street, a lush R&B track that sounds like a link between 80s Anita Baker and 00's neo soul.



This only hit #69 in the UK. Any fans of adult R&B from the likes of Anita Baker, Natalie Cole and Stephanie Mills would do well to check out her self titled album on Spotify.

Speaking of which, here's another!



Hadn't heard of this lady either - the album is more adult R&B and quiet storm, but this funky little number sounds like early neo-soul to me. Miki Howard has had over a dozen R&B hits in the US across a 30 year career, but this was her only US chart entry at #84.

Notable Chart Entries (US):

November 7

77 — WHO’S GONNA RIDE YOUR WILD HORSES –•– U2
83 — NEVER A TIME –•– Genesis
84 — FAITHFUL –•– Go West
87 — NO ORDINARY LOVE –•– Sade
94 — BABY I’M FOR REAL/NATURAL HIGH –•– After 7
98 — REALLY INTO YOU –•– Around The Way

November 14

40 — I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU –•– Whitney Houston
79 — GANGSTA –•– Bell Biv Devoe
87 — LOVE SHOULDA BROUGHT YOU HOME –•– Toni Braxton
96 — I GOT A THANG 4 YA! –•– Lo-Key?
98 — HERE WE GO AGAIN! –•– Portrait

November 21

56 — WICKED –•– Ice Cube
83 — YESTERDAYS –•– Guns N’ Roses
94 — GAMES –•– Chuckii Booker
95 — LOVE CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS –•– Celine Dion
97 — AIN’T NOBODY LIKE YOU –•– Miki Howard
98 — SOMETHING GOOD –•– Utah Saints

November 28

15 — IN THE STILL OF THE NITE –•– Boyz II Men
77 — IT’S GONNA BE A LOVELY DAY –•– S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M.
94 — I DON’T CARE –•– Shakespear’s Sister
98 — 7 –•– Prince & The New Power Generation
100 — THESE ARE DAYS –•– 10,000 Maniacs

U2's 5th and final single from Achtung Baby reached #35 in the US and #14 in the UK.

"No Ordinary Love" feels like a bigger song than its chart performance suggest, but maybe because its run was spread out over a year's period.



This reached #26 on its initial release in November, but was re-released in the UK in 1993 on the back of its inclusion in the Indecent Proposal movie, peaking at #14 and has since gone silver. It reached #28 in the US where it helped propel the album to 4x platinum, way better than its gold status in the UK. It's fair to say that it stands up as one of Sade's best ever songs and really one of the best songs of the 90s.

After a brief cameo on a Babyface track, let's pause for a second to welcome TONI BRAXTON properly into the thread:



My first real introduction to Toni Braxton was the Secrets album in '96, (yes I knew "Breathe Again" but I just knew the song, not her) so it's easy to forget that our bedroom R&B queen actually started out more a successor to quiet storm queen Anita Baker, and its never more obvious than on this gorgeous pop-soul anthem. I also didn't realise that this was her first solo hit - it's probably the least well known of the album's singles. It reached #33 in both the UK and the US (#4 R&B), but 1993 was going to be a much bigger year for her.

Celine Dion releases the 4th single from her self titled album "Love Can Move Mountains" and it reaches #36 US, #46 UK. She was yet to have her breakout in the UK, but 1993 would also be a much bigger year for Celine.

It's been a while since we had a "this was big in the US?" entry, but... UTAH SAINTS?

Boyz II Men leverage the success of their mammoth hit and probably looking to avoid burning people out by releasing... an acapella track? It sounds odd to me but actually the precedent had already been set with the massive Shai single and given that Boyz II Men were essentially a vocal harmony group, I guess they needed to answer back. It was actually just an interlude and they wouldn't follow up with another album until 1994, which seems crazy after such huge momentum, but as we'll see in a short while, it didn't harm their success any.

Shakespears Sister finally follow up the huge "Stay" with "I Don't Care" but despite being another big hit in the UK (#7) it stalls in the US at #55, and that would be their last entry in America.

And Prince swiftly releases his third single from the Love Symbol album and enters at... #98. I'm not sure if this was just an anomoly (export sales? one radio market jumping the gun maybe?) but so far he's not doing too well with the singles from this album. Something changes over the next couple of months though, because this is about to be a huge hit. Ironically, and just to be awkward, the UK awards him with a measly #27 after two straight Top 10s.



I have to make a special mention for random but funky pop-R&B track "Really Into You" if for no other reason that it opens with the line "Another Oldie But Goodie!" - WAIT, that phrase existed back in 1992?!? DOES MADONNA KNOW?

 

[Sardonicus]

AGOG at Utah Saints reaching the Hot 100. I wouldn't have even thought of it as a song to get a lot of club play over there.

The Sade song is perfection, one of her career best & the video is an all time favourite too. The underwater theme suits its SLINKY QUALITIES so well.

Charles & Eddie really LUCKED OUT getting their hands on a song of the quality of "Would I Lie To You" - their other stuff ranges from dull to crap. A huge radio staple, though, a mega seller & it hung around for ages. A defining record of 1992, but I think its retro style would have been a hit in any era.

Whitney's signature song has never been one of my top favourites by her. Chiefly because it was INESCAPABLE from the word go. It's one of those examples of a genuine phenomenon that transcends the charts & becomes a MUSICAL MOMENT that everybody, regardless of age or musical interests, knows. That doesn't seem to happen anymore as the charts have lost their relevance.

And although Simply Red are, I believe, apart as popular as LEPROSY on Mopsy, I agree that "Lady Godiva's Room" is amongst their best moments, & his vocal on the live performance faultless.

 

[Shirley]

I'm SO PLEASED that someone else loves LADY GODIVA'S ROOM by THEY WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED HERE. I listened to it on the youtube above and it decided to follow it with THE LADY IN RED MAKE IT STOP

'No Ordinary Love' used to be on my BEDROOM TAPE and there's no HIGHER ACCOLADE THAN THAT

 

[funky]

Charles & Eddie really LUCKED OUT getting their hands on a song of the quality of "Would I Lie To You" - their other stuff ranges from dull to crap. A huge radio staple, though, a mega seller & it hung around for ages. A defining record of 1992, but I think its retro style would have been a hit in any era.

I actually really like the first album - well I haven't listened to it in an age but the three singles are great and there's a 4th I love that I can't remember. They were never a one-hit-wonder in the UK but they'll forever be remembered as such, due to the staggering chasm that exists between the success of WILTY and the follow ups.

Whitney's signature song has never been one of my top favourites by her. Chiefly because it was INESCAPABLE from the word go. It's one of those examples of a genuine phenomenon that transcends the charts & becomes a MUSICAL MOMENT that everybody, regardless of age or musical interests, knows. That doesn't seem to happen anymore as the charts have lost their relevance.

Oh, IWALY wouldn't even be in my Whitney Top 50. Funnily enough a few of us were discussing OUR WHIT in the pub the other day and a most people cited this as one of their favourites, which surprised me. I supposed most casual fans just know this song too well. It's an undeniably BIG song and yes musical moment, but it's a pop ballad - it's her "Without You". It's just not what I want from my soul queens. It's like her 3rd best ballad on the album let alone her career, and there's only 6 Whitney songs on there

And although Simply Red are, I believe, apart as popular as LEPROSY on Mopsy, I agree that "Lady Godiva's Room" is amongst their best moments, & his vocal on the live performance faultless.

Probably biased because they were my mum's favourite band growing up and two of my cousins were obsessed with him after seeing him live, but I love Simply Red. I think it's SLICK MICK that puts a lot of people off, or maybe the gloopy ballads that they're best known for, but beyond that they've produced some of the best blue eyed soul that the UK has ever offered up, and that's no MEAN FEAT.

 

[funky]

And the fact that YouTube decided that CHRIS DEFUCKING BURGH was the best follow up to "Lady Godiva's Room" says all that needs to be said around the misconceptions of Simply Red!

 

[funky]

I also neglected to highlight the SOUL SYSTEM release "It's Gonna Be Alright" - it's another Michelle Visage sighting!



Sampling Bill Withers's "Lovely Day" and sounding very much like a PM Dawn production (they were very influential around this time), this went #17 UK, #34 US, and #1 on US Dance. It was their only hit (although obviously both Michelle and founding members C&C Music Factory would have plenty other hits elsewhere). I remember this song being out in the UK but I was today year's old to learn that Michelle was the lead on it.

 

[VoR]

Probably the biggest payday she ever had, given she has a co-writing credit on it and it made its way onto The Bodyguard soundtrack.

 

[Joseph]

What is this about!?

The Heights flopped after a short season (despite the one massive hit) so Aaron Spelling liked Jamie so much he brought him over to 90210 to be a new love interest for Donna. As Ray, he was a bad boy with a good heart at first (and he was allowed to play his music on the show quite a few episodes) but as they went along they made him more and more controlling and finally made him shove Donna down the stairs and cheat on her. They attempted to rehabilitate the character but the fans were having none of that so he was let go from the show.

He released his first album early in the Ray days and scored a decent hit from it. The second album
Came out after he was let go from the show but they did bring him back to do a song from it.

After 90210 he had a hard time landing work because the “Ray” character pretty much wrote him into a corner so he gave up acting after a few small roles post-Ray.

His last album was released in 2002

After all that he because an EMT and Firefighter.

 

[Joseph]

Probably the biggest payday she ever had, given she has a co-writing credit on it and it made its way onto The Bodyguard soundtrack.

Which she will be HAPPY to mention in any interview lol

 

[funky]

That's a VERY BIG PICTURE OF A FIREMAN

 

[Joseph]

That's a VERY BIG PICTURE OF A FIREMAN

That’s former pop star Jamie Walters thank you very much

 

[alla]

The Heights flopped after a short season (despite the one massive hit) so Aaron Spelling liked Jamie so much he brought him over to 90210 to be a new love interest for Donna. As Ray, he was a bad boy with a good heart at first (and he was allowed to play his music on the show quite a few episodes) but as they went along they made him more and more controlling and finally made him shove Donna down the stairs and cheat on her. They attempted to rehabilitate the character but the fans were having none of that so he was let go from the show.

He released his first album early in the Ray days and scored a decent hit from it. The second album
Came out after he was let go from the show but they did bring him back to do a song from it.

After 90210 he had a hard time landing work because the “Ray” character pretty much wrote him into a corner so he gave up acting after a few small roles post-Ray.

His last album was released in 2002

After all that he because an EMT and Firefighter.

His career was over because a fictional character on a tv series!? This world is seriously troubled.

 

[Joseph]

His career was over because a fictional character on a tv series!? This world is seriously troubled.

People just would not separate him from the character (90210 was HUGE back then) so he has mentioned that it hindered him getting roles and people to this day will tell him off to his face. I think it really did a number on him mentally.

 

[Ellie]

People just would not separate him from the character (90210 was HUGE back then) so he has mentioned that it hindered him getting roles and people to this day will tell him off to his face. I think it really did a number on him mentally.

It really was an awful character. Not that it was his fault. Maybe it was to do with his own songs being used in the show that he was performing as both the character and his actual name.

I remember he used to go out with Drew Barrymore too, during her troubled teenage years.

 

[Joseph]

Yeah they were engaged for a hot minute when she was 17

 

[alla]

People just would not separate him from the character (90210 was HUGE back then) so he has mentioned that it hindered him getting roles and people to this day will tell him off to his face. I think it really did a number on him mentally.

Well I don't know why I'm surprised, I just remembered something. Back in the late 80s, during the peak of the telenovelas, the female villain (well, as if anyone gave a shit about male characters in telenovelas) in one of the most popular ones, said she travelled to some country (I want to believe it wasn't Spain, I mean...) and people insulted her in the street and even threw stones at her

 

[funky]

DECEMBER 1992

#1s

	US​	UK​
Dec-5	Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (2)	Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (1)
Dec-12	Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (3)	Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (2)
Dec-19	Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (4)	Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (3)
Dec-26	Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (5)	Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (4)

So yeah. Spoiler alert: next month looks exactly the same.

Chart Highlights:

That Shai song (the original acapella of East 17's "If I Ever") would have easily reached #1 if not for Whitney, spending 3 weeks at #2 until it's overtaken by "Rump Shaker", another monster seller that peaked at #2. Boyz II Men's new one bounced up to #4 while Snap! reach a new peak of #6 on its 20th week, and I'm still having a hard time seeing that sort of dance track crossing over in the US in such a big way.

Madonna's "Erotica" fell quickly after its hot #3 peak, but "Deeper And Deeper" was pushed out in quick succession and had another strong opening, going 38-24-16-13 in December. It would eventually peak at #7, but this was still a comparitively lackluster performance compared to her 80s singles runs. It did however go #1 on dance, her 14th song to do so.

After all the talk of Shanice (or her record label) bombing the opportunity after her smash hit "I Love Your Smile" her 90210 entry "Saving Forever For You" enters the Top 10 at the end of the year. The film collaboration probably helped, but the song really is nothing special (it's okay, better than her last ballad) and the song title is a hot mess. As I mentioned before, she does have a great song in 1993, which was a new discovery.

Over in the UK -

Dannii Minogue releases the second single from her second album Get Into You



So far I'm really liking all of Dannii's releases, many of which I don't remember from the time (including this). Heavily influenced by US house and garage, her songs feel way more polished than most of the pop acts of the time. This only reached #44 and the album looked ready to stall early, but she was about to have a big hit to save it.

Lisa Stansfield moves on from her smash hit second album Real Love and gets a feature on the blockbuster The Bodyguard OST with this absolute gem:



I'm a huge Lisa fan if it wasn't already obvious, and this is probably my favourite track of hers. Shame it only features in the film for about ten seconds because with a better moment this could have been a massive hit. It still reached #10 in the UK, her 5th Top Ten and 10th consecutive Top 40 hit. It doesn't appear to have been released as a single at all in the US - it didn't even chart on Dance or R&B, which was unusual for her.

1992 being known for questionable dance remixes of classic pop and rock songs, I have a real soft spot for this one:



I also love the Simple Minds original. Other big dance tracks at the end of 1992:






UK electronic music was one of the most exciting and innovative genres at this time, with Massive Attack, The Prodigy, Orbital and UNKLE all making waves and the likes of The Chemical Brothers and Aphex Twin starting to break out. In the midst of this came one of the most important and influentiual dance albums of all time: Leftism by Leftfield, and this song scraping into the charts in December:



This only reached #59 but they would have more hits in 1993. Leftism is one of the most enduring albums from the 90s and ranks alongside Blue Lines, Dummy and Fat Of The Land as the cornerstone of UK electronica.

 

[funky]

DECEMBER 1992 (cont)



Discoveries:

Martha Wash is very well known as a session singer, featured vocalist and woefully exploited artist (she successfully sued both Black Box and C&C Music Factory until they acknowledged her voice on their songs) but I did not know she had her own self-titled solo album in late 1992. I recommend it to EVERYONE! Wall-to-wall vocal house music with gospel and soul influences, it's a bunch of great dance songs lifted higher by that undeniable voice. This first single was released this month:



This reached #49 in the UK and #1 on US Dance. The album would have two more successful singles in 1993, one of which scraped into the Hot 100 so more on that later, and it would give her her only solo Top 40 hit in the UK, despite a bunch of huge hit singles with Black Box, C&C Music Factory and, of course, The Weather Girls.

Notable Chart Entries (US):

December 5

38 — DEEPER AND DEEPER –•– Madonna
63 — GIVE IT UP, TURN IT LOOSE –•– En Vogue
77 — EVERYTHING’S GONNA BE ALRIGHT –•– Father M.C.
96 — QUALITY TIME –•– Hi-Five

December 12

74 — HEAL THE WORLD –•– Michael Jackson
85 — PLEASURE –•– Soup Dragons
86 — STAND UP (KICK LOVE INTO MOTION) –•– Def Leppard
87 — SHAMROCKS AND SHENANIGANS –•– House Of Pain
88 — THE RIGHT KIND OF LOVE –•– Jeremy Jordan
95 — REVOLUTION –•– Arrested Development

December 19

53 — MR. WENDAL –•– Arrested Development
54 — A WHOLE NEW WORLD –•– Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle
63 — REMINISCE –•– Mary J. Blige
75 — I GOT A MAN –•– Positive K
80 — STEAM –•– Peter Gabriel
86 — DON’T WALK AWAY –•– Jade
95 — FOREVER IN LOVE –•– Kenny G

December 26

88 — UNDERSTAND THIS GROOVE –•– Sound Factory
91 — IRRESISTIBLE –•– Cathy Dennis
92 — LOVE’S TAKEN OVER –•– Chante Moore
93 — NO MISTAKES –•– Patty Smyth
97 — CRAZY LOVE –•– Ce Ce Peniston

En Vogue go 4 singles deep with "Give It Up Turn It Loose", another bonafide BOP which continued their domination into 1993. This went #15 US, #22 UK. We'd get a 5th single in the new year.



Michael Jackson gives us his 6th release from Dangerous, the relentlessly gloopy "Heal The World" which is possibly the most skippable track in his entire discography. The US was tiring at this point, awarding it a #27 peak, but Europe really does love a soppy pop ballad, and this reached #2 in the UK and went Top 5 across Europe. Amazingly, there was another single to come in the US, and THREE more in Europe.

Jeremy Jordan looks to be one of those "What If" moments, as according to a couple of articles he was destined for big things - his debut single "The Right Kind Of Love" landed a spot on the massive 90210 album and helped this song go Top 15 in early '93.



He had the looks and the track, while on the wrong side of cheesy, had the right sort of production and execution that could have made him a big star. But the follow up song stalled and he never came back. Interesting how the US always embraced cute white men doing R&B if they were in a group, but the solo stars always struggled. Well, until Justin Timberlake I guess. And Robin Thicke

Mary J Blige struggled with her 3rd single "Reminisce" as this only peaked at #57 - right off the back of her Top 10 smash "Real Love". It did however give her the biggest hit to date in the UK at #33.



It's worth remembering that despite her well known influence on R&B in the 90s, her singles success on both sides of the pond was, for the most part, quite middling throughout the 90s. She'd have to wait almost a decade to really cross over.

Jade follow up their debut hit "I Wanna Love You" with "Don't Walk Away" - their biggest hit and crucially, one of the biggest AND best R&B songs of the entire decade:



I remember this coming out and thinking it sounded NOTHING like anything I'd heard before. Even though the vocals and the melodies were very similar to their TLC and SWV counterparts, this beat was HARD. It didn't hurt that the song itself was catchy as fuck. This went to #4 in the US and #7 in the UK: gold and silver respectively. It was a massive anthem for most of 1993, still on heavy rotation through the summer. They looked destined for big things but, unlike their counterparts, they couldn't maintain the success and were only gifted 2 albums and a handful of semi-hits. The 90s was full of R&B girl groups with two-albums-and-done careers, but some of them gave us so many great songs along the way you can't be mad about it. They will start coming thick and fast over the next couple of years.

Cathy Dennis's "Irresistable" is an interesting track. After sounding quite fresh and cool on her first album, this feels like a digression; someone desperate for a hit.



It's not bad, it's just very safe, and has more than a passing resemblance to Amy Grant's "Baby Baby". Was there an obvious attempt to turn Cathy into the next American girl next door? It didn't work - this didn't chart in the US and she wouldn't again. It managed #24 in the UK.

Chante Moore is someone I discovered on the Waiting To Exhale soundtrack in 1995, and she's had 2 maybe 3 songs that people might recognise, but I was surprised to discover that she's had quite a long career - ten albums and is still recording to this day. One of the songs that people might know includes this debut track, which barely troubled the chart at #86 US and #54 UK, but it did reach #13 on US R&B:



I LOVE this song - I discovered it maybe twenty years ago during my neo-soul obsession. I'm not sure I would have realised that it was actually from 1992. Very Sade influenced, she definitely has a more adult-R&B sound, although she did go more commercial in the 00s (like everyone else) and she would continue to have success on the R&B charts for many years.

 

[Joseph]

I was OBSESSED with Jeremy Jordan

 

[funky]

Genuinely hadn't heard of him until doing this

 

[Joseph]

Genuinely hadn't heard of him until doing this

Well this was his only hit song but he promoted it on any show that would have him

 

[Ellie]

Genuinely hadn't heard of him until doing this

I have absolutely no memory of him either. Initially I thought it was Jeremy Jackson from Baywatch, but he’s someone else entirely.

 

[Sardonicus]

Jade were my favourite band aged 10. The second album had some great tunes, but was let down by a glut of gloopy slow jams.

 

[Joseph]

I have absolutely no memory of him either. Initially I thought it was Jeremy Jackson from Baywatch, but he’s someone else entirely.

Yeah and if you google Jeremy Jordan now all you get is the Broadway star and not the one hit wonder singer. He can’t win lol

 

[alla]

I was OBSESSED with Jeremy Jordan

Who wasn't? He did some promo here and he spent more time fucking girls than doing interviews, I know that for a fact.

Well this was his only hit song but he promoted it on any show that would have him

His second single was a big hit too! It went almost top 10 on airplay, I really like both of them.

 

[Joseph]

I had to look it up. I totally forgot his follow up

 

[alla]

Sorry I'm a bit behind

I'm also loving this funky swing number from a band I've never heard of:



I had no idea there were so many girl and boy R&B bands in the US and it's kind of interesting which ones cross over internationally and which don't - this debut song was massive in the US (#11; #3 R&B) but didn't chart in the UK and in fact they have no hits in the UK at all - maybe they didn't even have a record deal in Europe. I mean, they're better than Jodeci for a start...

I loved Here we go again so much, I got the album back then but I don't remember anything else, so probably nothing exciting. They're basically one hit wonder, but a few years later they got some airplay with a cover of a very famous song. Chartwise, it didn't do much.

This is RIGHT up my street, a lush R&B track that sounds like a link between 80s Anita Baker and 00's neo soul.



This only hit #69 in the UK. Any fans of adult R&B from the likes of Anita Baker, Natalie Cole and Stephanie Mills would do well to check out her self titled album on Spotify.

Totally up my street too, how didn't I know this!? A keeper, I'll definitely play the album, thanks.

Speaking of which, here's another!



Hadn't heard of this lady either - the album is more adult R&B and quiet storm, but this funky little number sounds like early neo-soul to me. Miki Howard has had over a dozen R&B hits in the US across a 30 year career, but this was her only US chart entry at #84.

Oh I had this cassette! Haven't played her music in decades, totally forgot about her. I don't think I have any of her songs in my playlists; time to change that. God, I enjoyed so much early 90s r&b, a friend of mine said my music taste was very racist, because I would play anything by any r&b artist over anything else, no matter what. I would use another word, but what she meant, that was very accurate.

Notable Chart Entries (US):

November 7

83 — NEVER A TIME –•– Genesis

Never been a massive fan, they're pretty much before my time and well, they're men. But this is the only Genesis album I have, and we have to give them credit for managing 5 top 40 hits from one album in USA, that's quite impressive. Some of them are really good. And Phil Collins was coming from another 5 hit singles from his previous album a couple of years before, what a char run he had. It didn't last long, what he released from this point was more of the same, and radio weren't having it, with some exception.

Celine Dion releases the 4th single from her self titled album "Love Can Move Mountains" and it reaches #36 US, #46 UK. She was yet to have her breakout in the UK, but 1993 would also be a much bigger year for Celine.

I have the 7" but no idea how. The amount of shit I got those years is quite something, my goodness. (NOT SORRY).

I have to make a special mention for random but funky pop-R&B track "Really Into You" if for no other reason that it opens with the line "Another Oldie But Goodie!" - WAIT, that phrase existed back in 1992?!? DOES MADONNA KNOW?

Ha! I discovered this just a few years ago, checking old charts. Generic r&b song that of course I enjoy. This thread is helping me a lot to rescue forgotten songs and adding them to my ipod.

 

[alla]

In december 1992, there was a song that was #1 literally everywhere: I will always love you. Can you imagine a song that, out of nowhere, replaced Whitney at #1 in one of the more relevant charts? A song that didn't chart anywhere else, didn't make ANY Billboard chart at all. Yes, we're talking about one of the biggest scandals in music chart history, the biggest case of rigging the charts, with some consequences.

Coming next...

 

[Joseph]

In december 1992, there was a song that was #1 literally everywhere: I will always love you. Can you imagine a song that, out of nowhere, replaced Whitney at #1 in one of the more relevant charts? A song that didn't chart anywhere else, didn't make ANY Billboard chart at all. Yes, we're talking about one of the biggest scandals in music chart history, the biggest case of rigging the charts, with some consequences.

Coming next...

 

[alla]

Cashbox was a music magazine, actually older than Billboard; originally publishing since early 40s. Cashbox published record charts, and it was one of the more relevant ones (along Billboard and at some point Record World). During the 50s and 60s it was the direct competitor to Billboard, but it started to lose relevance for some reasons, long story. Anyway, in December 1992 something really strange happened in their main singles chart (like the Hot 100). I will always love you was #1, for 2 or 3 weeks already, but a mysterious song that had been climbing for 5 months, replaced it at #1 for one week. Whitney regained the #1 spot the very next week, and stayed there some more, btw. What the hell just happened?

So which one was that powerful song that managed to dethrone no less than I will always love you at its peak? It was a song that didn't enter Billboard's Hot 100 at all. In fact, it didn't make ANY Billboard chart or in the local station charts Yes, it sounds fishy, but maybe it's such an amazing song that it would make total sense that somehow overcame one of the biggest hits of the 90s.

Well, the song in question is this one:



Wayne Newton, a Las Vegas singer, went to #1 with this timeless and emotional "The letter".





You can imagine the accusations of chart fixing, and even when nothing could be proved, this was the last straw for an already not very relevant magazine, which disappeared a few years later.

 

[Sardonicus]

What was the reasoning behind chart fixing for such an obscure song & singer? I could understand if it was an up & coming star that was being promoted, or even someone like Marge as there'd have been so much money invested in the project.

 

[alla]

What was the reasoning behind chart fixing for such an obscure song & singer? I could understand if it was an up & coming star that was being promoted, or even someone like Marge as there'd have been so much money invested in the project.

That's the million dollar question, the whole thing is so crazy. This is chart fixing at its best, and I'm here for this, love a good rigging scandal In the Soundscan era there is no way this song was a hit there and it didn't get a single mention on Billboard. Forget about replacing Whitney at number one The rest of the chart is pretty similar, the same songs except this one. But why? And not that they tried to hide it, with the song climbing for months and months. To be honest, I had to do a reasearch because I thought the whole thing was fake and never happened, but there are enough references, it did happen. Surely in a pre-internet era they thought they could get away with it, I don't know.

 

[Joseph]

Ok that’s wild

 

[AGinAg (37)]

Just looked up Ar Wayne on Wiki. He's been going since the 1960s without ever really breaking through. Most of his life since the 1980s has been full of financial and legal problems.

He's still alive.

 

[AGinAg (37)]

Are there any other notable payola scandals for specific songs?

 

[alla]

Are there any other notable payola scandals for specific songs?

There was a big one in the late 50s, I remember reading about it some time ago, with DJs getting payed to play certain records, but I don't remember if it affected any song in particular. I think things like that are more common than we can even imagine.

 

[AGinAg (37)]

I just rarely hear a song that I have no understanding whatsoever why it's a hit, even if it's not for me. For me, it was just giving songs a nudge

Ar Wayne's story is wild though.