1992: The year of big-butt anthems, achy-breaky hearts, and Madonna’s Sex book. The year that Boyz II Men and Whitney Houston shattered chart records, while U2 and TLC confronted the AIDS crisis head-on. The year that introduced us to grunge, G-funk, and… Right Said Fred. In this podcast, journalist Jason Lamphier (Entertainment Weekly) looks back at the major hits, one-hit wonders, shocking headlines, and irresistible scandals that shaped what might be the wildest, weirdest, most controversial 12 months in music history.
Featuring interviews with music video directors, MTV bigwigs, obsessive superfans, and the artists themselves, Where Were You in '92? poses the question: What was it about 1992 that made it so groundbreaking, so bonkers, and so absolutely fabulous? New episodes drop every week beginning Nov. 16.
After Queen singer Freddie Mercury’s death in the fall of 1991, musicians confronted the AIDS crisis head-on. The band’s remaining members and a star-studded lineup celebrated the frontman’s legacy at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in spring 1992. Hip-hop trio Salt-N-Pepa reworked their single “Let’s Talk About Sex” into “Let’s Talk About AIDS” for an ABC special. R&B newcomers TLC appeared on talk shows with condoms emblazoned on their flashy attire. Meanwhile, the compilation album Red Hot + Dance—featuring three exclusive tracks from George Michael—set out to raise awareness about safe sex and LGBTQ rights and raise funds for AIDS charities.
Also in 1992: U2 released their anthemic ballad “One,“ partly inspired by HIV-positive artist and activist David Wojnarowicz; Madonna called for frank discussions about queerness and desire with her controversial photo book Sex and groundbreaking album Erotica; and Elton John launched the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which would become one of the largest HIV-related funders in the world.
But as a 1992 New York Times article declared, tackling AIDS was a “creative and ethical minefield” for pop stars. In this episode, we look at the various ways they navigated it.
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10 Feb 2023
Bonus Episode: Tori Amos Revisits ‘Little Earthquakes’ (The Full Interview)
This week, we take a brief pit stop in our crazy ride through 1992 for something extra special: an intimate chat with Tori Amos, whose groundbreaking debut solo album, Little Earthquakes, paired pianos and guitars — and shook the music world to its core.
In an expanded interview from episode 5, the singer-songwriter discusses the uphill battle she faced to get the record made, the lasting impact of her very personal tracks “Silent All These Years” and “Me and a Gun,” how being a woman in the music industry has changed, and her work as the first spokesperson for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).
Be sure to tune in next week for our final episode, which explores how in 1992 musicians like George Michael, Madonna, Elton John, Queen, U2, and TLC confronted the AIDS crisis head-on.
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4 Feb 2023
Arrested Development: Hip-hop’s Lost Poets
A feel-good alternative to hard-edged gangsta rap, Arrested Development burst out of Atlanta bearing messages of peace, love, and unity. After their critically acclaimed 1992 debut album, 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of…, won them a Grammy for Best New Artist, they were poised to become the next big thing in hip-hop. But if their success was massive and immediate, it was also fleeting. Their second album flopped and the band broke up in 1995, just as a fresh strain of hip-hop, G-funk, became the prevailing sound of the genre.
In this episode, we examine how Arrested Development’s style and values were a celebrated musical change of pace, but how they quickly fell out of step with the trends that would dominate hip-hop for the rest of the decade. Plus, frontman Speech joins us to discuss their breakout, single, “Tennessee”; the deeply personal real-life events that inspired it; and why the group was more influential than many listeners realize.
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27 Jan 2023
Vanessa Williams’ "Save the Best for Last": The Moon and June Song
Vanessa Williams’ hit ballad “Save the Best for Last” spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, became her signature song, and remains an adult-contemporary staple. But it was also a redemptive turning point for Williams, the first Black Miss America, whose reputation had been tarnished in 1984 when she gave up her title after Penthouse published nude photos of her from her past without her permission.
In this episode, we explore how the singer-actress overcame betrayal, bigotry, and public ridicule to stage one of the most memorable comebacks in entertainment history. With special guest Vanessa Williams.
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19 Jan 2023
Nirvana vs. Guns N' Roses: Overboard and Self-Assured
In part 2 of the extraordinary tale of hair metal taking its last, glorious gasp as grunge and alternative swept America, we delve into the simmering tension between Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain. Their infamous feud reached a boiling point at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, but what were the events that led to that nasty, now-mythic showdown between two of rock’s most iconic frontmen?
We'll also examine how Nirvana’s grunge touchstone Nevermind transformed MTV and top 40 radio, the complicated legacy of GN’R’s nine-minute power-ballad opus “November Rain,” and why Axl ended up ditching women for dolphins. Plus, former Nirvana manager Danny Goldberg joins us to share his side of the story.
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12 Jan 2023
“November Rain”: Requiem for a Hair Band
Guns N’ Roses’ 1992 hit “November Rain” was more than just an epic, nine-minute power ballad for the ages. It was a swan song for the band—and for all the hair bands who’d been dominating MTV and rock radio. As Nirvana’s grunge anthem “Smells Like Teen Spirit” burst onto the scene and birthed an icon, GN'R—who’d been one of the most popular acts in the world—began to unravel and lose the glow of the spotlight.
In the next two episodes, we’ll chronicle the making of “November Rain” and its wildly expensive video as well as the events that led to the group’s demise—from the drug abuse to the lavish spending to singer Axl Rose’s theatrics on stage and off. We’ll also explore the tension between Rose and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, whose infamous feud reached a fever pitch at the now-legendary 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.
This is the extraordinary tale of heavy metal taking its last, glorious gasp as grunge and alternative swept America. With special guest Andy Morahan, director of the “November Rain” video.
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4 Jan 2023
The Year of Scandal, Part 2: Sinéad O’Connor Takes on the Pope
After scoring a No. 1 smash with her version of the Prince song “Nothing Compares 2 U” and winning Video of the Year at MTV’s VMAs, Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor became an international sensation. While her look—a shaved head and dazzling, doe-like eyes—was arresting, her vocals were next-level.
But she never wanted to be a pop star. She had a punk sensibility, railing against sexism and exploitation and refusing to let label execs control her. In October 1992, O’Connor concluded her performance on Saturday Night Live by ripping up a photo of Pope John Paul II to protest the Catholic Church concealing acts of child abuse. The incident sparked intense backlash, with radio stations refusing to play her music and audiences boycotting her. One single gesture torpedoed her career.
In this episode, we examine the events leading up to the SNL scandal, its damaging consequences, O’Connor’s complicated relationship with fame, and how many of her critics realized years later that she was right all along.
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28 Dec 2022
Bonus Booty: A Juicy Chat With Sir Mix-a-Lot About "Baby Got Back"
This week, we take a brief pit stop in our crazy ride through 1992 for something extra juicy: an unfiltered, free-flowing chat with rapper-producer Sir Mix-a-Lot, the man behind the most famous pop song about behinds ever made.
In an expanded interview from our first episode, we chat about the origins of his hit No. 1 single “Baby Got Back,” the on-set drama during the making of its music video, and why Mix thinks the track helped spark the body positivity movement and change representation of Black women in the media. Plus, he reveals his least favorite use of the song in popular culture, explains why Nicki Minaj personifies “Baby Got Back,” and offers some advice to Lizzo.
Be sure to tune in Wednesday, January 4, when we return to our regularly scheduled 1992 programming. In that episode, we’ll tell the story of Sinéad O’Connor and her scandalous 1992 performance on Saturday Night Live, during which she ripped up a photo of the Pope and told audiences to “fight the real enemy.”
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21 Dec 2022
Bound for Mu Mu Land: When Tammy Wynette Met the KLF
With their unauthorized sampling, outrageous PR stunts, and signature ice cream van, the KLF set out to blow up the music industry. Pairing electric guitars with house beats, rapping with new age lyricism, and rave culture with the art world, the mysterious U.K. duo of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty were all about breaking rules and getting away with it.
They reached their crazy sonic peak when they teamed up with country icon Tammy Wynette for the 1992 dance-pop hit “Justified & Ancient,” which became an unlikely global smash. Their response to their newfound fame? Just as fans thought they’d arrived at the fictitious Mu Mu land at the center of the song, the group abandoned music altogether and vanished, deleting their entire catalog.
In this episode, we explore the KLF’s wild rise and fall, from their doomed road trip to meet ABBA, to their infamous BRIT Awards performance in which Drummond took a machine gun and fired blanks into the audience, to their mind-boggling decision to film themselves burning their earnings—a shocking one million pounds.
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14 Dec 2022
Before MeToo, "Me and a Gun": Tori Amos’ 'Little Earthquakes'
With her groundbreaking 1992 debut album, Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos paired pianos with guitars and shook the music world to its core. The record's most poignant and painful moment was the a cappella track “Me and a Gun,” a chilling account of the artist's sexual assault. Long before the MeToo movement, Amos was a hero and crusader who spoke truth to power, not only with her songwriting but with her work as the first spokesperson for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the largest nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization in the U.S.
In this episode, we explore one of the most soul-baring, innovative releases of the ’90s—and the uphill battle its creator faced to get it made. With special guest Tori Amos.
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7 Dec 2022
The Year of Scandal, Part 1: Ice-T and Body Count’s “Cop Killer”
Rapper Ice-T faced major backlash after he and his heavy-metal side project Body Count released their dark, menacing track “Cop Killer.” They’d been performing the song for a year before it appeared on their 1992 debut album, but the record landed in stores just weeks before four police officers were acquitted in the trial for the beating of Black motorist Rodney King and riots over the verdict erupted in the streets of Los Angeles.
Police organizations accused “Cop Killer” of inciting violence across the country, and it became an ideal target for right-wing politicians, including President Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle, who aimed to strike down anything that challenged “family values.” With the FBI, the IRS, and the NRA on his back, Ice-T suddenly found himself at the center of a debate over the limits of freedom of speech.
In this episode, we explore the origins of “Cop Killer,” the outrage it sparked in 1992, and how Ice-T and his label reacted to the fallout. With special guests Ice-T and Body Count guitarist Ernie C.
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30 Nov 2022
The Man and the Mullet: Billy Ray Cyrus’ Party in the Back
With his steamy good looks and painted-on jeans, muscley, mulletted country newcomer Billy Ray Cyrus came out of nowhere with a hit that catapulted him to superstardom. But he and his butt also became the butt of many, many jokes. Still, if his 1992 crossover smash, “Achy Breaky Heart,” is widely regarded as one of the cheesiest songs of all time, its music video transformed line dancing into a global sensation, and turned legions of top 40 listeners on to a genre they’d previously dismissed.
In this episode, we delve into Cyrus’ complicated legacy, the lasting influence of his notorious hairstyle, and how he had the last laugh when he returned to the pop charts nearly three decades later to break records and once again flip the world of country upside down.
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23 Nov 2022
Damn, I Wish I Was Your Constant Craving: The Year of the Lesbian Anthem
Sophie B. Hawkins dominated the airwaves with her 1992 debut single, “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover,” a song with homoerotic overtones that were rare in mainstream pop at the time. If they went unnoticed by many listeners, she fought nearly every step of the way to express her progressive views and maintain her independence at her label, and struggled to find her place in the LGBTQ community.
Meanwhile, k.d. lang’s 1992 hit “Constant Craving” and her album Ingenue ushered her out of Nashville and into the Top 40 spotlight. After she came out, picketers protested her Grammy nominations, but her star quickly rose, with Vanity Fair tapping her for one of its most memorable, provocative covers and cementing her status as a sex symbol and a queer icon.
In this episode, we explore how the two artists navigated the music industry and their sexual orientations as they were thrust into the public eye. With special guest Sophie B. Hawkins.
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16 Nov 2022
“Baby Got Back”: The Story Behind the Behind
“Oh… my… God, Becky. Look. At. Her. Butt.” It may be one of the most unforgettable opening lines of a song in the history of popular music. Say those words and they instantly conjure images of rump-shaking models, a pair of very annoying Valley girls, Cosmopolitan magazine, Jane Fonda, Ross and Rachel’s baby on Friends, Shrek, high school dances, bar mitzvahs, keggers, karaoke parties, and wedding receptions. The impact of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” was massive, its legacy undeniable. The song was big, thick, and juicy then, and it will forever be big, thick, and juicy.
This week, we talk to the director of the “Baby Got Back” music video, the MTV exec who initially refused to air it, Mix himself, and the iconic, big-bootied model at the center of it all.
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9 Nov 2022
Introducing: Where Were You in '92?
1992: The year of big-butt anthems, achy-breaky hearts, and Madonna’s Sex book. The year that Boyz II Men and Whitney Houston shattered chart records, while U2 and TLC confronted the AIDS crisis head-on. The year that introduced us to grunge, G-funk, and… Right Said Fred. In this podcast, journalist Jason Lamphier (Entertainment Weekly) looks back at the major hits, one-hit wonders, shocking headlines, and irresistible scandals that shaped what might be the wildest, weirdest, most controversial 12 months in music history.
Featuring interviews with music video directors, MTV bigwigs, obsessive superfans, and the artists themselves, Where Were You in '92? poses the question: What was it about 1992 that made it so groundbreaking, so bonkers, and so absolutely fabulous? New episodes drop every week beginning Nov. 16.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
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