Best tunes of 1992

The year 1992 marked a pretty big turning point for me. It was the year I finished out my last few months of high school, graduated in the fall, and realized that I was going to have a take a year off before heading to university. Money was the big issue there. The thought was that I would work and try to save up the money for tuition. The problem, as I came to learn very early, was finding work in a small town in Southern Ontario recovering from a recession.

I spent most of the year, especially after June, sleeping in my parents’ basement, pounding the pavement with a resumé in hand at which no one wanted to look. I finally managed a job late in the fall in a convenience store but as luck would have it, the manager was fired six weeks into my time there and the new boss brought in brand new staff.

Yup. I didn’t have a lot of money to go out or to buy music. Pretty depressing. I survived but that year definitely left an indelible mark.

I wasn’t really paying much attention to news in the outside world but lots was going on. The socialist federal republic of Yugoslavia began to split up with the independence of Slovenia and Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Salvadoran civil year came to an end after 12 years of bloodshed, Jeffrey Dahmer went to prison, and Bush and Yeltsin officially declared the Cold War as over. It was the last year in which two Olympic Games were held, Albertville, France hosting the winter edition and Barcelona, Spain presenting it in the summer. The Freddie Mercury tribute concert raised millions of dollars for AIDS research, there were six days of LA riots following the acquittal of four policemen accused of the murder of Rodney King, Sinéad O’Connor ripped up a photo of the pope on Saturday Night Live, Bill Clinton defeated George Bush in the presidential election, and Charles and Diana formally announced their separation. The world lost Sam Kinison (comedian), Benny Hill (comedian), Denholm Elliott (actor), Peyo (Smurfs creator), Hal Roach (director/producer), and Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates) but gained Freddie Highmore (actor), John Boyega (actor), Jonas Valančiūnas and Bismack Biyombo (former Toronto Raptors), Sky Ferreira (singer), and Frances Bean Cobain (famous daughter).

As for music, I was listening to a lot of it, whatever I could beg or borrow from friends, listen to on the radio, or catch on the music video stations on the television. This here list is a culmination of my favourite tunes from 1992. Enjoy.

#30 Shakespears Sister “Stay” (from Hormonally yours)

#29 Happyhead “Fabulous” (from Give happyhead)

#28 The Stairs “Weed bus” (from Mexican R’n’B)

#27 Moose “Little bird (Are you happy in your cage?)” (from …XYZ)

#26 Dada “Dizz knee land” (from Puzzle)

#25 Cracker “Teen angst (What the world needs now)” (from Cracker)

#24 The Lemonheads “It’s a shame about Ray” (from It’s a shame about Ray)

#23 L7 “Pretend we’re dead” (from Bricks are heavy)

#22 James “Ring the bells” (from Seven)

#21 Sugar “Helpless” (from Copper blue)

#20 R.E.M. “Sweetness follows” (from Automatic for the people)

#19 New Fast Automatic Daffodils “Stockholm” (from Body exit mind)