Remember that musical smell I mentioned coming from the northwest corner of the US? Well, it first hit the chart the final week in 1991, and would truly explode in 1992. Coined “grunge” (even though most of the bands HATE that term), the new blend of heavy metal and punk music was pioneered by Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and several others, all from the Seattle area. Nirvana‘s first hit, “Smells Like Teen Spirit“, climbed to #20 in late January, and although it didn’t yet have a deep influence on my chart, its presence was felt throughout the year. 1992 also marked the return of Def Leppard, and if you thought 1987’s “Hysteria” had been huge…well on TKR new album “Adrenalize” produced SEVEN#1 TKR hits (four of them the following year) including Da Leps biggest song EVER on TKR, “Let’s Get Rocked“, which spent SIX weeks at #1 and ended up the #1 song of the year. Three movies would also have a huge impact on the TKR chart this year with multiple chart entries – the insanely funny Whoopi Goldberg comedy “Sister Act“, Disney’s musical bomb “Newsies” and the Pauly Shore/Sean Astin/Brenden Fraser comedy “Encino Man” – the latter two produced at least one #1 hit (“Encino Man” produced THREE – “You’re Invited (But Your Friend Can’t Come)” by Vince Neil; “Treaty” by Yothu Yindi; and “Feed The Monkey” by Infectious Grooves…and make it four if you count the aforementioned “Let’s Get Rocked” which was in the film but not on the soundtrack). Queen returned to the top of the chart, not once but twice – first with their classic hit “Bohemian Rhapsody“, featured in the film “Wayne’s World” – it also returned to the top ten nationally thanks to the film – and then shortly after the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury with “The Show Must Go On”. Richard Marx gave everyone the exasperating mystery of “Hazard“, the legendary Petula Clark returned to the TKR chart for the first time since “Natural Love” in 1982 with her #1 smash “Oxygen” (which didn’t even dent the Hot 100, what a crime), which spent two weeks at the top. BJ Thomas was on the charts for the first time since the mid-80s with “Midnight Minute“, Madonna had a summertime smash with “This Used To Be My Playground” from the film “A League Of Our Own“, which she co-starred in, and a pair of brothers from the UK calling them Right Said Fred set the whole world on fire in the early part of the year with their novelty smash “I’m Too Sexy” which went #1 on both TKR and Billboard, and in a number of countries around the world as well, And New Kids On The Block had run its course for the moment; “If You Go Away” would be their final chart hit…at least, until 2008, FIFTEEN YEARS LATER…but times were changing again…as the 1993 survey year began in December 1992, I changed the look of my chart, expanded it to 40 positions plus ten ‘recurrents’ (which I never used after the first week), and officially renamed it “The Kirkham Report” …and Kim and I were now exchanging visits – I went to Boston in July, and she was coming to Lancaster in January…and I was determined to make a MAJOR change in my life in the near future…just as the music world was continuing to evolve into the crazy musical decade that the 1990s became…3
JANUARY 4 1992
JANUARY 11 1992
JANUARY 18 1992
JANUARY 25 1992
FEBRUARY 1 1992
FEBRUARY 8 1992
FEBRUARY 15 1992
FEBRUARY 22 1992
FEBRUARY 29 1992
MARCH 7 1992
MARCH 14 1992
MARCH 21 1992
MARCH 28 1992
APRIL 4 1992
APRIL 11 1992
APRIL 18 1992
APRIL 25 1992
MAY 2 1992
MAY 9 1992
MAY 16 1992
MAY 23 1992
MAY 30 1992
JUNE 6 1992
JUNE 13 1992
JUNE 20 1992
JUNE 27 1992
JULY 4 1992
JULY 11 1992
JULY 18 1992
JULY 25 1992
AUGUST 1 1992
AUGUST 8 1992
AUGUST 15 1992
AUGUST 22 1992
AUGUST 29 1992
SEPTEMBER 5 1992
SEPTEMBER 12 1992
SEPTEMBER 19 1992
SEPTEMBER 26 1992
OCTOBER 3 1992
OCTOBER 10 1992
OCTOBER 17 1992
OCTOBER 24 1992
OCTOBER 31 1992
NOVEMBER 7 1992
NOVEMBER 14 1992
NOVEMBER 21 1992
NOVEMBER 28 1992
DECEMBER 5 1992
DECEMBER 12 1992
DECEMBER 19 1992
DECEMBER 26 1992
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