Retro Spotlight – 1992 – Part 1

It has been two weeks now since I offered my first retro spotlight post of 1986.  Due to the positive feedback, the retro spotlight will become a regular feature of this blog.  I already have several requests for different years to be featured and I will get around to all of them.  This week I wanted to shine the spotlight on the year 1992.  This year alone could bring a weeks worth of posts with the amount of music I have.  I am going to bring you two parts with a post today and a post tomorrow.

As I began looking through my collection for music from 1992, the sheer number of recordings was a bit overwhelming.  I started part 1 with a clip from the Anchormen’s 1992 recording, In Concert.  David Hill was the lead vocalist at the time of the recording for “Behold The King”.

One cannot talk about 1992 and miss what many herald as one of the greatest Southern Gospel music albums ever recorded.  I am talking about Gold City’s Pillars Of Faith.  Every song on this recording is worth providing a clip but I decided to choose “If God Be For Us”.

The Greenes were also riding high during this era.  Amy Lambert was the group’s soprano during this time and 1992 saw the release of two albums by the Greenes.  Safe In Christ was the mainline release but the group also released and album titled Mountain Heritage.  The Greenes took a Phil Spector song made popular by the trio of Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt and sang it as a gospel song.  With it being Valentine’s day I thought it would be fitting to use “To Know Him Is To Love Him”.

The Hoppers were also coming to the fore front during this time period.  Mention My Name was the group’s release in 1992.  The title track along with “Milk & Honey” were both #1 hits from that recording.  A clip of “Milk & Honey” has been provided.

The Kingdom Heirs were already known for being Dollywood’s quartet.  Just as now, during the winter months the group toured.  In 1992 the group released Extraordinary.  The vocal line-up during this time period was Rick Strickland (Tenor), Clayton Inman (Lead), Steve French (Baritone) and Eric Bennett (Bass).  Listen to “I Can See Heaven”.

A group that ended up winning horizon group at the Singing News fan awards during this era had one of my favorite albums of 1992.  One Step Forward by the Mullins took that classic country sound similar to the Hinsons and brought it up to date (for 1992) to create a unique sound.  “This Shelter’s Strong” is the clip provided.

The mother/daughters trio, the Ruppes, didn’t make a name for themselves in the industry until later in the decade with “Under His Wings”.  The truth is the group actually released their first recording as far back as 1975.  In 1992 the group released an album titled Until He Comes which featured a great ballad titled “Thorns Crowned The Rose”.

Don’t fret if you think I am missing anything from 1992 because I will be posting part 2 tomorrow.  The final recording for part 1 comes from the Singing Americans.  This was the final configuration of the group before they disbanded for good a couple of years later.  1992 saw the release of On Stage.  The song “I’ll Not Turn Back” was more recently recorded by the Kingsmen.  Here is the Singing Americans version.