![]() That was one of only 13 chart-toppers in Britain in 1992 and a creditable nine are included in Yearbook ’92. Licensing issues can work for you occasionally, presuming that’s what has prevented Red Said Fred’s ‘Deeply Dippy’ being included on this compilation. Prince also had two top 10 UK hits in ’92 (‘Sexy MF and ‘My Name Is Prince’), while Madonna had three (‘This Used To Be My Playground’, ‘Erotica’ and ‘Deeper and Deeper’) but their absence is less surprising. ![]() Talking of acts who were big in the 1980s, one disappointment with NOW Yearbook ’92 is that it doesn’t include any of the singles issued in from INXS’s Welcome to Wherever You Are, arguably their best album and a record that was a real highlight of 1992 for this author, although presumably that’s down to the usual pesky licensing restrictions. Meanwhile, The Cure’s ‘Friday I’m In Love’ (CD 3, track 16) is the last single of theirs anyone who’s not a fan can really remember. For example, Kylie Minogue (‘Give Me Just A Little More Time’ is on the first disc) will soon ditch Stock Aitken Waterman, the Pet Shop Boys don’t release any singles under their own name, but do help Boy George who has his last UK top 30 hit with ‘The Crying Game’ (CD 1, track 16) and Duran Duran are nowhere to be seen because they’re holed up recording what will become ‘The ‘Wedding Album’. With the benefit of hindsight we can see that 1992 is a great big pop intersection where 80s pop stars are wondering what they need do to stay relevant, new pop/rock acts are establishing themselves and the dance scene is still thriving. The same disc includes Mr Big’s international hit ‘To Be With You’, Richard Marx’s ‘Hazard’ and Sophie B Hawkins’ exclamatory ‘Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover’. Some big hitters from across the Atlantic make a showing on the second CD including an E-Street Band-free Bruce Springsteen (‘Human Touch’), Bon Jovi (‘Keep The Faith’), and ZZ Top (‘Viva Las Vegas’). U2 had successfully reinvented themselves with 1991’s Achtung Baby and the ‘Perfecto Mix’ version of fourth single ‘Even Better Than The Real Thing’ features on a strong CD 1 which also includes The KLF (‘America: What Time Is Love?’), George Michael (‘Too Funky’), Sade (‘No Ordinary Love’), Electronic (‘Disappointed’) and Annie Lennox (‘Why’). ‘Uh-Huh Oh Yeh!’ was from Paul Weller’s self-title solo debut albumġ992 offers some brilliant one hit wonders like Tasmin Archer’s ‘Sleeping Satellite’, Charles & Eddie’s ‘Would I Lie To You’ and much of CD 3 highlights some superb dance tunes such as SNAP!’s ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’, Utah Saint’s Kate Bush-aided ‘Something Good’, CeCe Peniston’s ‘Finally’, and “Dr” Alban’s ‘It’s My Life’. Crowded House finally crack the UK top 10 with ‘Weather With You’ and the single remix of Tori Amos’s ‘Crucify’ ( Tears For Fears fans should note that this song is co-produced by Ian Stanley and features Chris Hughes on drums!) is at that point in time her biggest hit to date.ġ992 is the year that Simply Red’s Stars outsold every other album in the UK for the second year running and the touching ‘For Your Babies’ is included from that long-player along with the live version of ‘Lady Godiva’s Room’ (an excellent B-side from 1987), one of four tracks included on ‘The Montreux EP’. NOW Yearbook ’92 is a 4CD or 3LP set that steps clear of the Eighties and captures the early part of that decade where, when we look back, we can spot the embryonic beginnings of Britpop ( Suede, Manics) and recall the brilliant rumblings of what became a superb solo career for Paul Weller (‘Uh-Huh Oh Yeh!’). The Now That’s What I Call Music Team are continuing the Yearbook series not by continuing on into the late 1980s nor by delving deeper into the 1970s, but via an excursion into the 1990s! ![]()
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