DECEMBER 1991
#1s
| US | UK |
| Dec-7 | Michael Jackson - Black Or White (1) | George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (1) |
| Dec-14 | Michael Jackson - Black Or White (2) | George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (2) |
| Dec-21 | Michael Jackson - Black Or White (3) | Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are The Days Of Our Lives (1) |
| Dec-28 | (xmas) | Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are The Days Of Our Lives (2) |
Michael Jackson gets his eleventh (and penultimate) #1 in the US - he hit #1 for 2 weeks with in the UK in November before being toppled by
George & Elton. He'd manage 7 weeks in the US, keeping
Boyz II Men at #2 with "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" for almost the entirety of that run. That song went platinum but didn't even chart in the UK at all - again, they were virtually unheard of pre-"End Of The Road". By next Christmas, Boyz II Men's success overseas will look entirely different. Songs climbing in December include
Color Me Badd's All 4 Love (#3 by Christmas and
Mariah Carey's "Can't Let Go" (#6) with "Finally" by
Ce Ce Peniston climbing to #8. George & Elton take a slower route to success in the US with a relatively cool new entry at #72 at the start of the month.. the song will see better success in 1992.
Over in the UK, we continue to get better versions of
Salt n Pepa tracks:
This is a big glow up on the album track, and very similar in style to the mammoth smash "Let's Talk About Sex". Not sure if this is the version that made it to US radio, but it went to #47, and managed #15 in the UK.
After spending the 80s establishing himself as one of the Godfathers of House,
Frankie Knuckles finally released an album of original material in 1991. It included his house standard "The Whistle Song", but this is the highlight:
This hit #67 in the UK and #10 on US dance, but he was seeing much greater success as a producer and remixer, and would continue to do so his entire career.
Speaking of legendary DJs...
Another piano house classic, although you can hear the movement now shifting more to US influences than its italo roots. This would help it endure through the 90s as eurodance takes over.
And a couple more dance songs from this month to finish us off...
Discoveries:
Vanessa Williams, it turns out, is more than just a famous ballad. Most people in the UK would consider her a one hit wonder (does anyone really remember that Pocahontas song?) as nothing came close to "Save The Best For Last" in sales. But in the US the album
The Comfort Zone produced 5 hit singles, including this title track:
Love this. There's other good tracks still to come from Vanessa, with 13 Top 100 hits so I'm looking forward to digging deeper.
Anyone know who this is?
Never heard of them (it appears to be a duo with the guy as the lead), but this is a gorgeous
Babyface-style smooth groove. In fact a quick check and yes this is indeed a
Babyface/LA Reid production. Success was so short lived that I can't find where this song peaked, but it was not a major hit. Still a wonderful deep cut find though.
I didn't cover it last month as there was so much to cover, but
Jody Watley is another US singer that I haven't delved into deeply enough (I know our
@Ellie is a fan). I keep discovering deep cuts by her, and this track is great:
It peaked at #61 in the US and didn't chart in the UK, and with this being the lead single from her third album
Affairs Of The Heart, her star was certainly fading. She would manage a Top 20 hit in 1992 from the same album (her last) but overall she has released 9 solo albums and I keep meaning to go further with her discography. There is a 1994 track coming up which I discovered in lockdown which is amazing...
And in keeping with the theme, this also popped up last month from
Karyn White...
Her last big hit in the US, this would peak at #12 (#65 UK) and it's a real bop - the production is very
Janet, but with a bigger vocal.
...and another one! This time it's the boys' turn:
This is a great example of New Jack morphing into hip-hop soul - still swing, but with a slightly smoother sound. I didn't think these songs were being produced as early as 1991, so it's interesting to hear the gradual shift. This went to #17 (UK #83) and a US R&B #1.
Notable Chart Entries (US):
December 7
40 — SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT –•– Nirvana
65 — THE UNFORGIVEN –•– Metallica
72 — DON’T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME –•– George Michael & Elton John
84 — ADDAMS GROOVE –•– Hammer
86 — THE COMFORT ZONE –•– Vanessa Williams
88 — DIAMOND AND PEARLS –•– Prince & The N.P.G.
97 — IN PARADISE –•– Laissez Faire
December 14
83 — ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT –•– Tone-Loc
88 — UHH AHH –•– Boyz II Men
90 — EVERYBODY MOVE –•– Cathy Dennis
92 — INSATIABLE –•– Prince & The N.P.G.
93 — RIGHT DOWN TO IT –•– Damian Dame
100 — MOVE ANY MOUNTAIN –•– The Shamen
December 21
67 — I’M TOO SEXY –•– Right Said Fred
82 — TO BE WITH YOU –•– Mr. Big
86 — EVERY ROAD LEADS BACK TO YOU –•– Bette Midler
87 — THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER TONIGHT –•– Bryan Adams
93 — GIVE IT AWAY –•– Red Hot Chili Peppers
95 — LIVE AND LET DIE –•– Guns N’ Roses
An important week there with the debut of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", formally ushering in the era of grunge and, more broadly, 90s alternative rock music, considering how much influence that one song is about to have on the industry. Being consumed by dance and R&B at the time I don't have much memory of this song coming out, and it no doubt took a few months to really take hold, and indeed nobody knew at the time how important it would become. But to fans of guitar music this must have been a gamechanger. Interesting that
Metallica follow them into a high debut, as it's really the combination of their hard rock, alongside acts like
Nirvana and
Pearl Jam, that would devour 80s pop metal and soft rock and change the landscape in very short order. An exciting, transformational time for music.
It's slightly ironic that after the chat about the new chart methodology changeover in November will lead to more R&B and country filling the charts, that it's rock making the biggest dent on the charts in December. Alongside the above songs,
RHCP return with "Give It Away" from their upcoming 5th album
Blood Sugar Sex Magik. With some moderate success in the UK and the US rock charts in the late 80s, the group had moved from EMI to Warner Bros and were able to get themselves their first US hit, with this peaking at #73 in early 1992. But they were probably not prepared for what was about to happen next, with a follow up single becoming an enourmous success and taking the album and it's subsequent singles to 7x platinum and numerous awards. For whatever reason (and I can't remember) the album didn't do much at all in the UK... until 1993, when a delayed campaign and some re-released singles gave them similar success.
To round off the rock theme,
Mr Big and
Guns n Roses also debut big singles right before Christmas, with the former becoming one of the biggest hits of 1992.
Speaking of songs that would define 1992,
Right Said Fred are another act you don't expect to do well in the US, but this one is less of a surprise because we all know this was a huge, uniquitous global smash. For some reason I thought it was a #1 in the UK but it was held off of course by Bryan Adams; it does however hit number one in the US (and Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Austria).
Not sure what the deal is with "Instatiable" being released from
Prince's
Diamonds & Pearls album, given that the title track and third single was already storming up the charts on the heels of the former #1 "Creep". It was never released outside the US, and might have been a limited run? Nevertheless it was bound to chart, given that Prince was on a major return to form with the album.
Unexpected Hot 100 act of the month:
The Shamen!
Decided to include this little known minor hit which I don't know and don't care for, but it's high camp freestyle and will find an audience here
Laissez Faire · Hands Off · Song · 2009
open.spotify.com
They're not on Wiki so I have no idea how successful this was - I'm guessing it was more of a club hit.
Tracie had quite a few r&b hits from this album, most of them were moderate pop hits too. She then disappear only to make a brief comeback a decade later.
it’s a couple of years off yet (1994] but a highlight for me. 
that song is an absolute career highlight. Although - it’s not the version that I’m referring to. This is a gorgeous deep house moment no doubt, but there’s another remix that is clearly influenced by M’Shell Ndegeocello that falls into this unique corner of alternative R&B in around 1993/1994 that eventually gave us the Bedtime Stories album. I’m looking forward to covering that sound very soon.
It took me ages to find it.
And poor CeCe *****ton (as I saw her name in some forum