# Best #1 single of the year retrospective: 1992 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276 "2014-11-01T16:40:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/41 "2014-11-03T00:44:24Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Was he perhaps covering [Jonathan Coulton’s arrangement?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCWaN_Tc5wo) OK, you’ve convinced me. None of these are songs I’ve listened to or even referenced non-ironically, but this one gets my vote. As an aside, I recalled Madonna’s Playground as being more poignant than it was. It’s listenable, but kind of “meh” compared to some of her previous #1 hits. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/42 "2014-11-03T12:18:58Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I was just about to do the same. > > I decided to go ahead and vote for How Do You Talk to An Angel. I actually kind of liked that song when it was current. And, I will confess, I liked “_The Heights_” TV show, and was horribly disappointed when it was cancelled. I think that was the beginning of FOX canceling good shows before they could find their stride. About the same time, they canceled another excellent show called “Tribeca” after only a few episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/43 "2014-11-03T12:38:31Z")
I had to think about this year. A lot of these songs are still get a lot of airplay today. I went with Whitney, not because I like the song, but because of how big of a hit it actually was that year. Paul Gilbert (Racer X, Mr. Big) has always been one of my influences but “To Be with You” is not a favorite of mine. I partied in Cancun that Spring Break as “I’m too Sexy” became a hit. You heard it everywhere and repetitively. As a musician, I think “End of the Road” is a great song. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/44 "2014-11-03T12:59:45Z")
Out of that lot, I have to go with George and Elton. I _ **loathe** _ “I Will Always Love You.” It’s an irredeemable piece of dreck no matter who sings it! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/45 "2014-11-03T13:14:38Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > I went with Whitney, not because I like the song, but because of how big of a hit it actually was that year. (speaking to myself)…must…not…Godwinize…thread… ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/46 "2014-11-03T13:58:50Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > As a musician, I think “End of the Road” is a great song. Yeah, quality ballads in 6/8 time are cool. It’s why I don’t hold a grudge against the Stones for failing to credit Robert Johnson when they covered his song “Love In Vain” – by changing it to slow 6/8 (plus inserting that e-minor chord), they really changed its feel. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/47 "2014-11-03T14:32:30Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > Don’t forget, we live in a world where “Achy Breaky Heart” and “My Humps” exist. I don’t know “My Humps” but I can ignore "Achy Breaky"if it’s on the sound system in the grocery story. One thing that sets the Whitney version of “I Will Always Love You” apart is that it’s got that earsplitting thing going that is _impossible_ to block out. Also, Dave Barry considered “Achy Breaky” when he was doing his ‘worst songs ever’ columns and book, and still concluded that “MacArthur Park” was the worst, a conclusion I fully agreed with at the time. (“I Will Always Love You” came along later.) ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/48 "2014-11-03T16:22:43Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > (speaking to myself)…must…not…Godwinize…thread… You know who else voted for Whitney Houston? > [@Smapti](#): > > 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). “Baby Got Back” wins because, if I’m reading this correctly, Sir Mix-a-Lot introduced the world to the unique power of hip-hop to… have songs about the “double jug”? Anyway, I’m too sexy for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/49 "2014-11-03T17:02:09Z")
“Baby Got Back” makes me laugh like a loon when I hear it today. (In fact, I once saw one of those televised compilation albums on TV. It was all songs about butts.) I also like Right Said Fred, which also made me giggle back in the day, but they couldn’t unseat “my anaconda don’t want none unless it’s got buns, hon”. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/50 "2014-11-03T17:05:21Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > Don’t forget, we live in a world where “Achy Breaky Heart” and “My Humps” exist. Jesus H. Christ, I hate “My Humps”. What the hell is wrong with the world where a woman refers to her “lady lumps” in a song, and no one tells her that’s just stupid? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/51 "2014-11-03T19:09:40Z")
When a girl walks in with an itty-bitty waist and a round thing in my face, I get…really happy to hear _Baby Got Back_. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/52 "2014-11-03T22:53:25Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Also, Dave Barry considered “Achy Breaky” when he was doing his ‘worst songs ever’ columns and book, and still concluded that “MacArthur Park” was the worst, a conclusion I fully agreed with at the time. (“I Will Always Love You” came along later.) He did mention that “Achy Breaky” was the most unpopular among people his son’s age (i.e. me) because we had actually heard it and we hadn’t heard “McArthur Park.” Now granted, “McArthur Park” did get a _ **twenty-goddamn-minute** _ disco remake, but Billy Ray Cyrus inflicted his daughter upon us so I still say his song was the worst. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/53 "2014-11-03T23:29:31Z")
Well, seeing as how some dismal years are coming up ahead, I might as well decide to go for fun and not taking oneself too seriously this year. In which case it’s between being so sexy it hurts and what all you fellows can’t deny. Given that it’s clearly going to be a runaway landslide in favor of a record that will be the Undisputed Anthem of Ass well into our grandchildren’s lifetimes, I feel comfortable in giving some props to Fred, and saying “Right” right back. > [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > Jesus H. Christ, I hate “My Humps”. What the hell is wrong with the world where a woman refers to her “lady lumps” in a song, and no one tells her that’s just stupid? Her \*lovely \*lady lumps, mind you. There’s a whole damn lot of stupid out in the world. You almost need to shovel it out of your sidewalk to get out in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276/54 "2014-11-04T03:29:57Z")
I can’t vote for Elton or Whitney, even if I liked the 1992 versions of these songs, because they weren’t new songs. I feel like my vote is for the performance and the writing. As much as I still love Baby Got Back every time I hear it, I think End of the Road defines the new jack swing ballad and represents its era. It’s also a really good song. Especially compared to the rest of this nonsense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1992/703276.md?page=2)