1992 in British music

This is a summary of 1992 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

ummary

1992 was a bleak time for the UK Singles Chart, with sales at a very low level. Due to several long chart runs, only 12 singles topped the chart this year (not counting the Queen single, which was a holdover from Christmas 1991), the lowest number since 1962, which also saw 12. In addition, none of them only lasted a week - all lasted at least two, the first time this had happened since 1971.

The year saw the start of the ABBA revival, though, with Erasure grabbing the top spot for five weeks in June with their Abba-esque EP, which featured covers of ABBA songs. This was followed by ABBA tribute band Björn Again releasing "Erasure-ish" in October, which featured covers of Erasure songs. This reached number 25. ABBA's "" album reached #1 for a week in September.

September also saw The Shamen attract controversy with the rave song "Ebeneezer Goode", which, though apparently a song about a fictional character, contained many jokey allusions to the drug Ecstasy, including the chorus "Eezer Goode, Eezer Goode, he's Ebeneezer Goode" (which sounded like "E's are good, E's are good", 'E' being a slang term for Ecstasy). The controversy ensured the song reached number 1 and stayed there for four weeks.

The biggest selling single of the year, and also the only one to sell over a million, was Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You", taken from the film "The Bodyguard". Originally charting in November, the song hit number 1 later that month, and stayed there until February next year.

The Wedding Present shared the record with Elvis Presley for most UK Top 30 hits in a year (12), by releasing limited edition, 10,000 only 7" singles every month from January to December, out of this they achieved their first (and only) ever top ten single, "Come Play With Me" in May of that year.

In the field of classical music, British composer John Palmer won the City of Lucerne Cultural Prize for Music. New classical works by British composers included the "Flute Concerto" by William Mathias and the "String Quartet No. 1" by Mathias's former pupil John Pickard.

Charts

ingles

Top 10 albums

*Michael Jackson's album 'Dangerous' first reached the top spot in November 1991.

Music awards

BRIT Awards

The 1992 BRIT Awards winners were:

*Best British producer: Peter Gabriel
*Best International Solo Artist: Prince
*Best soundtrack: "Wayne's World"
*British album: Annie Lennox: "Diva"
*British breakthrough act: Tasmin Archer
*British female solo artist – Annie Lennox
*British group: The KLF & Simply Red
*British male solo artist: Mick Hucknall
*British single: Take That - "Could It Be Magic"
*British video: Shakespear's Sister - "Stay"
*International breakthrough act: Nirvana
*International group: R.E.M.
*Outstanding contribution: Rod Stewart

Mercury Music Prize

The 1992 Mercury Music Prize was awarded to Primal Scream - "Screamadelica.

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/ BBC Radio 1's Chart Show]
* [http://www.theofficialcharts.com/ The Official United Kingdom Charts Company]