Thursday, December 9, 2021

TBT to December 11, 1987

 Hello again, it's Thursday and you know what that means. It's time where I throw things back to a particular year between 1980 and 2010. "Wait, what are you talking about?" you may ask. Well, I decided to make this a weekly feature of this blog. This week, I rolled a set of dice that I had lying around, and long story short, it came up to the year 1987. For this particular week, I'll be using the top 40 chart from Radio & Records magazine, and as an added bonus, I'll add some of my thoughts on each song that charted. So, without further ado, here we go.

40. Say You Will by Foreigner. As I recall, the video featured two attractive women at a restaurant. I thought at the time it was two girls I used to know from Orlando that I wanted to know better but couldn't because I moved from there to Podunkville (St. Pauls), NC a few years beforehand, and this was WELL before social media or email. That meant I was SOL as far as keeping in touch...DAMMIT.

39. I Do You by The Jets. Don't have too much to say other than the Jets were a family group from Minneapolis of Tongan descent, and that they had no affiliation with the New York or Winnepeg Jets; the original ones who relocated to Arizona and may be relocated again soon.

38. Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac. This was the last chart hit off their CD, "Tango In The Night."

37. Motortown by Kane Gang. 

36. The Power Of Love by Laura Branigan. Celine Dion made this song massively popular in 1994. In fact, this was the second song performed by Branigan that would later be a bigger hit for another artist. Which song was it and who sang it? I'll reveal it at the end of this entry.

35. Tunnel Of Love by Bruce Springsteen. A rather underrated song.

34. Honestly by Stryper. The evangelical delegation makes a rare pop appearance. Wildly popular in Podunkville 🙄

33. Just Like Heaven by The Cure. As a teenager living in Podunkville, I had zero clue about emo music or how fringe popular it was. Let alone Robert Smith. My parents watched TNN or westerns, not MTV.

32. Don't Shed A Tear by Paul Carrack. The biggest solo hit from the former Squeeze and Mike + the Mechanics frontman.

31. I Live For Your Love by Natalie Cole. RIP Ms. Cole

30. True Faith by New Order. Loved this song. I didn't understand the two guys slapping the piss out of each other during the video though...

29. The One I Love by R.E.M. Didn't know it at the time, but that's Kate Pierson of the B-52s singing harmony on the chorus.

28. I Want To Be Your Man by Roger. A classic slow jam.

27. That's What Love Is All About by Michael Bolton. I thought his maiden chart hit was his remake of the Otis Redding classic, "Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay," but it was this one instead.

26. Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen. This artist isn't to be confused with Eric Cartman from South Park.

25. Crazy by Icehouse. Could very well be relatable today if you listen to the song.

24. (I've Had) The Time Of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. This broke the seal on the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack. On a somewhat related note, I used to know a woman with nearly the same name.

23. Animal by Def Leppard. Debut track from one of my favorite albums, "Hysteria."

22. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man by Prince. Trust me on this, the full-length version (that wasn't played on radio) was much better than the radio edit, which was great in its own right.

21. Seasons Change by Expose´. A group I had a major crush on growing up, mainly because they were based in Miami.

20. Could've Been by Tiffany. Remember the rivalry that wasn't between her and Debbie Gibson? No?Okay then.

19. There's The Girl by Heart. As a teenage boy in evangelical NC, I really enjoyed the video for this song (which by the way, differs slightly than the album version).

18. Hazy Shade Of Winter by The Bangles. Another one of my all-time favorites. This remake of a Simon & Garfunkel hit from 1966 was featured in the movie "Less Than Zero", which included a young Robert Downey, Jr. 

17. Should've Known Better by Richard Marx. 

16. We'll Be Together by Sting. This song was featured in an MTV promo that Sting was hosting one weekend in 1987. I also thought that Sting also lent his voice for a "Salon Selectives" commercial jingle around the same time. But apparently not.

15. Candle In The Wind by Elton John. An in-concert version of his 1973 single, recorded at Sydney's famed Opera House.

14. Cherry Bomb by John Mellecamp. One of the first videos if memory serves me correct to feature an interracial couple.

13. (Dude) Looks Like A Lady by Aerosmith. This single told us that Aerosmith was indeed back.

12. Tell It To My Heart by Taylor Dayne. And thus began Shadoe Stevens' creepy fixation with Miss Dayne.

11. Need You Tonight by INXS. Debut track from their monster album "Kick." Also, the video also contained the track "Mediate," which featured members of the band holding placards like Bob Dylan years before.

10. The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson.

  9. Catch Me I'm Falling by Pretty Poison. Philadelphia is the type of town you don't associate with having a dance-pop scene, but they did and Pretty Poison was based out of there.

  8. Heaven Is A Place On Earth by Belinda Carlisle. I crushed on Belinda hard when the video came out, but when she started kissing that guy I was turned off and a little disappointed.

  7. Valerie by Steve Winwood. I have a cousin named Valerie in NC. She gave me chicken pox over my 11th birthday.

  6. Don't You Want Me By Jody Watley. Jody will always be underrated to me.

  5. Shake Your Love by Debbie Gibson. Before Taylor Swift shook it off, Debbie couldn't shake her beau's love. The 80s were a weird time, y'all.

  4. Got My Mind Set On You by George Harrison. 

  3. So Emotional by Whitney Houston.

  2. Is This Love by Whitesnake. RIP Tawny Kitaen.

  1. Faith by George Michael. 












By the way, the other song that Laura Branigan had that was a bigger hit for a different artist was none other than "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" by Michael Bolton.

More to come...


CT

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