Where Were You in '92?

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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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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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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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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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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