The History of Pop Music – 1992

Featured song:

Guns N’ Roses – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

This is a series of articles looking at pop music from 1955 when in my opinion proper pop music began up to 1999 when they stopped making it. One article for each year.

I am only going to select one featured song for each article, which makes it hard. I am going to try and select a different artist for each year.

For many people, and I include myself, you tend to still like the tunes you heard during childhood, which your parents often played. So rather than just pick the top 10 hits of each year, I shall let you know what they were, but also the tunes of that year not necessarily in the top 10 or so, what were in my view classics. I also add a couple of events in history for that year, it helps bring back memories, and hopefully happy ones.

Not everyone will like my choices of course, and you may remember some from each particular year that you feel should have been included, so do please post a link to the song.

So, on we go with memories from 1992: (Thank you Wiki)

This year was about:

General Election, various happenings in the royal family, riots, more IRA bombings and lots of unemployment. Pretty shite year really.

What was I doing: My previous manager from TML (Channel Tunnel builders) asked me to join him at Eurotunnel. I did and spent 14 happy years there. Met HM the Queen again at a ceremony to commemorate the opening. Most working days spent in France. Tried learning the language but gave up after just 11 years, it was a foreign language to me.

TV programmes included:

The Parliamentary Channel, operated by is launched. Heartbeat started, featuring Nick Berry from Eastenders. Sky Sports outbid everyone to get the football TV rights. Last episode of Wogan. Eldorado started on the beeb, dire stuff. The first episode of Absolutely Fabulous was aired, a superb comedy. The first new edition of University Challenge in five years presented by Jeremy Paxman (To this day my record number of correct answers in one programme is 3).

Events:

Prime Minister – John Major (Conservative)

18 January – John Major announces that the general election will be held on 9 April.

29 January – The Department of Health reveals that AIDS cases among heterosexuals increased by 50% between 1990 and 1991.

6 February – The Queen commemorates her Ruby Jubilee.

9 March – Buckingham Palace announces that Duke and Duchess of York are to separate after six years of marriage.

11 April – Publication of The Sun newspaper’s iconic front-page headline ‘It’s The Sun Wot Won It’, as the tabloid newspaper claims it won the general election for the Conservatives with its anti-Kinnock front-page headline on election day.

27 April – Betty Boothroyd, 62-year-old Labour MP for West Bromwich West in the West Midlands, is elected as Speaker of the House of Commons, the first woman to hold the position. Our last really good Speaker.

22 May – Twenty-two “Maastricht Rebels” vote against the government on the second reading of the European Communities (Amendment) Bill.

7 June – A controversial new biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, Diana: Her True Story, written by Andrew Morton, is published, revealing that she has made five suicide attempts following her discovery that The Prince of Wales had resumed an affair with his previous girlfriend Mrs Parker-Bowles shortly after Prince William’s birth in 1982.

30 June – Margaret Thatcher enters the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher.

9 July – Riots break out in Ordsall, Greater Manchester.

16 July – Riots break out in Hartcliffe, Bristol, following the deaths of two local men who died when the stolen police motorcycle they were riding was hit by a police car.

22 July – Riots break out in Blackburn, Burnley and Huddersfield.

26 July – Riots break out in the Peckham and Southwark districts of South London.

16 September – “Black Wednesday” sees the government suspending the UK’s membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism following a wave of speculation against the Pound.

17 September – There is more bad news for the economy as unemployment is at a five-year high of 2,845,508, and experts warn that it will soon hit 3,000,000 for the first time since early 1987.

30 October – IRA terrorists force a taxi driver to drive to Downing Street at gunpoint and once there they detonate a bomb, but there are no injuries.

11 November – The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.

20 November – Windsor Castle is damaged in a fire.

23 November – Ford unveils the new Mondeo, which succeeds the long-running Sierra and goes on sale in March 1993.

24 November – The Queen describes this year as an Annus Horribilis (horrible year) due to various scandals damaging the image of the Royal Family, as well as the Windsor Castle fire.

6 December – Four people are injured by IRA bombs in Oxford Street, London.

The Top 10 Singles with a You Tube hyperlink on the title:

Top Tip: Right-click and open in new tab

Top Hits of 1992
1	Whitney Houston	I Will Always Love You
2	Snap	Rhythm Is A Dancer
3	Charles & Eddie	Would I Lie To You
4	Shakespear’s Sister	Stay
5	KWS	Please Don’t Go
6	Erasure	Abba-esque (EP)
7	Jimmy Nail	Ain’t No Doubt
8	Michael Jackson	Heal The World
9	Boyz II Men	End Of The Road
10	Wet Wet Wet	Goodnight Girl

The featured song is an all-time classic, originally of course from Bob Dylan, but I thought this version from Guns n’ Roses is nice. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” is a song by Bob Dylan, written for the soundtrack of the 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Released as a single two months after the film’s release, it became a worldwide hit, reaching the Top 10 in several countries. The song became one of Dylan’s most popular and most covered post-1960s compositions. This version is from their performance at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992.

More writings on this song here: – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

In my view the best songs of the year, after the featured track are:

Stay by Shakespear’s Sister made my top 3 as did Jimmy Nail with Ain’t No Doubt. Always liked his acting in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and his title role in Spender. Good voice as well.

Queen – These Are The Days Of Our Lives – Freddy looks really ill. At these times they only recorded when he felt up to it.

The Temptations / Just My Imagination & My Girl (TV Live) – as good as ever.

Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart – I defy you not to tap your toes.

Nick Berry – Heartbeat – Rather cheesy, but any Buddy Holly song is good to me.

Annie Lennox – Why – Super song by probably the best female vocalist.

Annie Lennox – Walking on Broken Glass – another great tune.

Madness – It Must Be Love

Elton John – The One

Bon Jovi – Keep The Faith

Just 9 songs for 1992 in my favourites list, another very shite year in general on the music scene, so few good ones in these days.

Hat tips to:

http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/ these give the top 100 selling charts for each year