Our survey brings us now to 1992. As I’ve mentioned before, songs started to have much longer runs at #1 once Billboard switched to Nielsen SoundScan, and this is the first full year where we can see the difference; with MJ carrying over, we have a mere 13 songs to choose from, two of which broke the record for longest run at #1 that Elvis set all the way back in 1956, as well as the first rap song by an African-American to reach #1.
By a landslide, Whitney Houston, I Will Always Love You. One of the truly great vocal performances of our day. It helps that the others are all meh at best.
The only ones I could consider voting for are Kriss Kross and Boyz II Men. I went with the Boyz – hey, at least they brought group vocal harmonizing back into vogue.
I voted for Sir Mix-a-Lot, and I can not lie. It was pretty much the big song that showed the world what hip-hop was capable of, its lyrics and video were downright scandalous and still are today, and hip-hop/rap/R&B artists are still imitating it today (I can think of at least three major radio hits about the buttocks this year alone, one of which is the current #1).
Plus, Mix-a-Lot is a a Seattle native and is still active in the Seattle music scene to this day (here he is performing his signature song with the Seattle Symphony), and since Nirvana never made it to #1, at least there’s one PNW musician I can rep for in this survey.
The main improvement over the previous year is that there are less songs. The quality is still below par, but I picked Right said Fred for the novelty value.
Can I take votes away from “I will always Love you”? I HATE that rendition of the song. I can’t sit though it. It is so over sung, it is like a punch in the face. The Dolly Parton version is so much better.
Ehhh. Whitney’s version suffers from a lot of the same problems of over-production that were endemic to '90s soft-pop (and late '80s come to think of it, since “Wind Beneath My Wings” had all the same negative qualities this one does), and the instrumentation is inferior to the simple country rhythm of the original, but I have to say her voice is a lot better than Dolly’s.
I agree. This year was an easy choice. Like it or not, Baby Got Back is a true classic and original song that still doesn’t sound dated. Even people that usually hate hip-hop still like it. I heard a street musician perform it this spring in an acoustic and very downbeat style. It was still catchy and hysterical.
Another shitty year, another halfhearted vote. This time it was for Madonna’s “This Used to Be My Playground”. Almost went with “Baby Got Back”, but I figured - correctly - that that tune would be the far and away winner for this year. I do also like the George Michael (featuring Elton John) live cover of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”, but more for the video. Plus, while it’s perfectly pleasant and all, it is still merely a cover, and not a revelatory one (such as Sinead’s definitive version of “Nothing Compares 2 U”) at that.
