Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth. In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.
We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 1992, the year I graduated high school, went away to college, and turned 18, in that order. My musical landscape was changing, as I had gotten my first CD player for Christmas in 1991 and my tastes were moving somewhat away from pop music and toward alternative rock thanks in part to Q101, who switched formats during the year. I also spent part of the year in the middle of Indiana, which didn’t always feature the same types of artists that I was exposed to back home in the Chicagoland area. At the same time, Billboard’s was changing as well, with the Hot 100 switched to electronic sales and radio airplay metrics rather than written reports at the end of November in 1991. A whopping 70 of the Hot 100 are familiar to me now, with 50 of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.
#98: Def Leppard – Let’s Get Rocked
iTunes stats: 34 plays
The band’s first release after the death of guitarist Steve Clark, the first single from their first album in over four years hit #15 on the Hot 100 and topped the Album Rock Tracks chart.
#96: Amy Grant – I Will Remember You
iTunes stats: N/A
Peaking at #20, it became the first single from Grant’s ninth studio album to not break the top ten.
#93: En Vogue – Free Your Mind
iTunes stats: N/A
After spending 16 weeks in the Top 40, topping out at #8, the song garnered two Grammy nominations in 1993, for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Music Video, Short Form.
#91: Amy Grant – That’s What Love Is For
iTunes stats: N/A
The only song from Grant’s ninth studio album to be released to both pop and Christian radio, it reached #7 on the Hot 100.
#88: TLC – What About Your Friends
iTunes stats:27 plays
The third single from the group’s debut album, it peaked at #7 on the charts.
#86: The KLF – Justified and Ancient
iTunes stats: 13 plays
Released in late 1991, the song became an international hit, reaching #2 on the US dance chart while stalling out at #11 on the Hot 100.
#85: Mary J. Blige – Real Love
iTunes stats: N/A
The first top ten hit for Blige, it reached #7 as the second single from her debut album.
#84: Boyz II Men – Uhh Ahh
iTunes stats: 12 pays
The first single from the group to not crack the top ten, it peaked at #16.
#82: Firehouse – When I Look into Your Eyes
iTunes stats: 14 plays
The group’s second, and final, top ten hit, it reached #8 in October.
#80: Def Leppard – Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad
iTunes stats: 17 plays
The highest charting single from the band’s fifth studio album, it stalled out at #12 on the Hot 100.
#77: Michael Bolton – Missing You Know
iTunes stats: N/A
Thanks in part to a video featuring Teri Hatcher and a sax solo from Kenny G, it peaked at #12 in March.
#76: Hammer – Addams Groove
iTunes stats: 29 plays
Featured on the soundtrack to The Addams Family, it was the fifth and final top ten hit for the rapper, reaching #7.
#75: Snap! – Rhythm is a Dancer
iTunes stats: 11 plays
The final single from the German troupe to chart in the US, it topped out at #5 and spent 39 weeks on the Hot 100.
#74: Bryan Adams – Thought I’d Died and Gone to Heaven
iTunes stats: N/A
Topping the charts in his native Canada, Adams peaked at #13 in the US with this track from his sixth studio album.
#73: Paula Abdul – Blowing Kisses in the Wind
iTunes stats: N/A
The final top ten hit of Abdul’s career, it spent three weeks stuck at #6, becoming just the second of her singles to enter the top ten and not hit #1.
#72: Ugly Kid Joe – Everything About You
iTunes stats: 25 plays
The band reached #9 with their debut single, which was featured in the Wayne’s World movie.
#71: The Cure – Friday I’m In Love
iTunes stats: 30 plays
The first song played on Q101 after transitioning to alternative rock, it topped the Modern Rock Tracks chart and made it to #18 on the Hot 100.
#70: Bryan Adams – Do I Have to Say the Words?
iTunes stats: N/A
The sixth single from his sixth studio album, it peaked at #11
#69: Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch – Wildside
iTunes stats: N/A
The second single from Mark Wahlberg and company, it borrows heavily from Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side and topped out at #10, the group’s final top ten hit.
#68: Genesis – No Son of Mine
iTunes stats: 1 play
The band’s first single to not enter the top ten since 1984, it peaked at #12 on the Hot 100.
#67: Arrested Development – People Everyday
iTunes stats: 28 plays
The second single from the group’s debut album, it topped the Hot Rap Singles chart while reaching #8 on the Hot 100.
#65: Kris Kross – Warm It Up
iTunes stats: 31 plays
Used as the walkup music by Kris Bryant during his tenure with the Cubs, it topped out at #13.
#64: Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson – Beauty and the Beast
iTunes stats: N/A
Performed by Angela Landsbury in the film of the same name, this version for pop audiences reached #9, the first Disney song to reach the charts in 30 years.
#60: U2 – One
iTunes stats: 21 plays
Peaking at #10, proceeds from the single were donated towards AIDS research.
#59: The Heights – How Do You Talk to an Angel
iTunes stats: 22 plays
The theme song to the FOX television program The Heights, it spent two weeks at #1 in November, and the show was cancelled the following week.
#57: U2 – Mysterious Ways
iTunes stats: 21 plays
The second single from Achtung Baby, it topped the Modern Rock Tracks and Album Rock Tracks charts while hitting #9 on the Hot 100.
#55: Genesis – I Can’t Dance
iTunes stats: 15 plays
Hitting #7, the song earned the band a Grammy nom for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals.
#54: Michael Bolton – When a Man Loves a Woman
iTunes stats: N/A
Originally hitting #1 in 1966 when performed by Percy Sledge, this cover spent a week atop the charts in November of 1991, the final #1 under the old reporting system.
#53: Toad the Wet Sprocket – All I Want
iTunes stats: 27 plays
The first single from the band to chart, it reached #15.
#51: P.M. Dawn – I’d Die Without You
iTunes stats: 28 plays
Featured on the Boomerang soundtrack, it peaked at #3 on the Hot 100.
#50: Hi-Five – She’s Playing Hard to Get
iTunes stats: 10 plays
The lead single from the group’s sophomore effort, it reached #5, becoming their final top ten hit.
