The other day my friend mentioned that the movie The Bodyguard is 20 years old. The late Whitney Houston's voice from this period remains one of the best. I immediately associate The Bodyguard soundtrack with Madonna's Erotica, since I bought both CDs on the same shopping trip while living in the suburbs of New York City. The more I dwelled on that year, the more relevance it had musically for me. So much transpired that year; I started DJing, went to my first gay club and bought my first CD player.
In 1992, I entered a Catholic university with a music collection that sorely differed from the other boys. My joke at the time was that every boy had Pearl Jam's Ten and every girl had Billy Joel's Greatest Hits. Grunge was becoming increasingly mainstream. I had a radio show on campus that played alternative, but not the predictable material that seeped into Top 40 radio or MTV. I'd spin anything from Meryn Cadell's "The Sweater" to They Might Be Giants and Transvision Vamp, yet manage to sneak in club music alongside my '80s jams. I quickly became sick of U2, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and even airplay darlings like Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. R.E.M. redeemed itself with Automatic for the People.
While overseas that spring, I bought Annie Lennox's Diva on cassette since it would not be out in the United States for weeks. My Walkman's batteries died, so I studied the lyrics to anticipate hearing "Why" playing on the radio. This album ranks among my favorites of all time. "Cold," "Money Can't Buy It" and "Little Bird" are featured in Demi Moore's film Striptease. Later in 1992, Lennox's contribution to Bram Stoker's Dracula—"Love Song for a Vampire"—marks one of her finest moments in songwriting. During this trip, I remember being moved while watching The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on TV. Lennox, David Bowie, George Michael, Lisa Stansfield and Seal stole the show.
On June 25, although underaged, I went to my first gay club when The Roxy hosted Deee-Lite's release party for the sophomore outing Infinity Within. Deee-Lite did not have another pop hit, but this album has great club tracks like "Heart Be Still" and "Electric Shock." Others that I overplayed despite being considered commercial disappointments were Roxette's Tourism, INXS's Welcome to Wherever You Are and Cathy Dennis' Into the Skyline.
When reading Deee-Lite's fan-club newsletters, I was awestruck by RuPaul's look and mistakenly thinking that her name was pronounced "Are You Paul." RuPaul released the crossover single "Supermodel (You Better Work)" and her future co-host Michelle Visage was onto her second band S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. with the breakout "It's Gonna Be a Lovely Day" in 1992. Unfortunately, Visage's group would never come out with a proper album.
Sinead O'Connor and Madonna competed in attracting headlines. (The likes of Lady Gaga studied this tactic well.) While on Saturday Night Live promoting her standards album Am I Not Your Girl, O'Connor infamously ripped up a photo of the Pope John Paul II in reaction to the Church covering up sex-abuse scandals overseas, an issue that would not be publicized stateside for years to come. Sadly, this overshadowed the beauty in her music and led to a severe backlash.
Madonna scored a chart-topper with the ballad "This Used to Be My Playground" from the women's baseball movie A League of Their Own. She then went into media-blitz mode by issuing the coffee-table book Sex, the Basic Instinct knock-off Body of Evidence and the scorching hot dance-oriented album Erotica.
Mary J. Blige made a splash with "Real Love" from the Sean Combs-produced debut What's the 411. Blige, Toni Braxton and TLC would be overlooked for nominations for the Best New Artist Grammy. Arrested Development ultimately would win this award for the class of '92.
There were many artists who defied genres that broke into the Top 40. I still cherish some of these underdogs like Tasmin Archer, Sophie B. Hawkins, Shakespears Sister, Stereo MC's and Sunscreem.
In a day when videos got more focus than reality programming on MTV and VH-1, the year's most stylish videos were "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses and "Too Funky" by George Michael.
Certified 17 times platinum, The Bodyguard overshadowed all other soundtracks. PM Dawn melted my heart with "I'd Die without You" from the movie Boomerang. The set also had Braxton singing "Love Shoulda Brought You Home" when Anita Baker was unable to record it. One of the highlights of Batman Returns outside Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman costume was "Face to Face," by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
When I saw The Crying Game, I chuckled when an illusionist performed "I Only Want to Be with You." This track was made famous by Dusty Springfield and later redone by many like Lennox's former outfit The Tourists, The Flirts and Samantha Fox. The new material on soundtrack was produced flawlessly by Pet Shop Boys. Boy George made a comeback with the cover of the title track.
Wedding receptions and office parties still relish camp classics from 20 years ago like "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred and "Baby Got Back" by Sir-Mix-a-Lot. The year also had definitive prom songs with "These Are the Days" by 10,000 Maniacs, "Save the Best for Last" by Vanessa Williams and, of course, Houston's iconic "I Will Always Love You."
