1992 was not only a banner year for movies, it was also a banner year for movie music – more than the Academy Award category for Best Song could adequately capture with only five nominations. They were:
“Beautiful Maria of My Soul” from The Mambo Kings – Music by Robert Kraft; Lyrics by Arne Glimcher
“Friend Like Me” from Aladdin – Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Howard Ashman (posthumous nomination)
“I Have Nothing” from The Bodyguard – Music by David Foster; Lyrics by Linda Thompson
“Run to You” from The Bodyguard – Music by Jud Friedman; Lyrics by Allan Rich
“A Whole New World” from Aladdin – Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Tim Rice)
That’s all – five songs covering three movies from the year. What else could have been nominated? Below is one idea:
“End of the Road” was written by the can’t-miss trio of Babyface, Antonio L.A. Reid and Daryl Simmons for the Eddie Murphy summer vehicle Boomerang. While the film itself underwhelmed at the box office, the Boyz II Men song proved to be a phenomenon, spending a then-record-breaking thirteen weeks over the summer of 1992 at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. While Whitney Houston would overtake them a few months later, Boyz II Men would have the last laugh. In 1994, they would match Houston’s record with “I’ll Make Love to You,” which spent fourteen weeks at number one, and then reclaim the record with their Mariah Carey collaboration “One Sweet Day,” which spent sixteen weeks at number one from 1995 to 1996.
The song helped elevate Boyz II Men as a major artist, and would win other accolades as well. It was not only the number one single of 1992 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 1992, but was by Billboard as the sixth most successful song of the 1990s. And it own two Grammy Awards, for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best R&B Song.
In other words, this was a major song to come from a movie that year. Whither its Oscar nomination?
This is part of an ongoing series in which I look back at some of the forgotten movie music of 1992.
