Flashback: May 23, 1987

Hello, everyone. I had started this particular post about a week ago when I was going to complain about our (Florida's) governor's latest controversial policy regarding climate change. But I didn't want to put that kind of negative energy out in the Universe; heck there already is when you consider him, the buffoon who's on trial in New York this week, Squealon Muskrat, and some pissant who got busted for opioid possession (among other things) and will likely be put away for a while next week, I wanted to write about something positive. So, I decided to pull a (broken) Matt Hardy and delete that topic for writing and go with my old reliable: a 1980s flashback, when life sure seemed much simpler, and I (and most of us Gen-X'ers) were seemingly happier.

This week, we're going back to 1987, when the Edmonton Oilers were facing off against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup Final, Al Unser won his fourth Indy 500 title in a huge upset (not really), the Golden Gate Bridge turned 50 years old, President Ronald Reagan hadn't yet told Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall," and yours truly hadn't started wearing eyeglasses yet; that would come in October. As for the Top 40 that week? Well, here's what Billboard Magazine ranked the pop chart for that week:

40. Serious by Donna Allen. I think I've mentioned this on one of my social media channels before, whether Facebook or Twitter (no Squealon, I REFUSE to call it what you renamed it to), but Allen was a member of the Swashbucklers (Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleaders) LONG before the Bucs were good, or when they decided to have guys join the squad and wave pom-poms, yuck.

39. Alone by Heart. This song debuted in the top 40 that week, it would go on to (by my data) be the highest rated song of 1987. I may have to give a refresher on how I come up with said data sometime in the future, although I've said it in the past, on this very blog even.

38. What's Going On? by Cyndi Lauper. What's going on? Lauper is still doing Cosentyx commercials, that's what.

37. Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship. I think this incarnation of Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship gets a bad rap because of "We Built This City" when I think this was their best song from that era.

36. Jammin' Me by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. I'm thinking of people who I should tell to get back, like Tom said in this song. Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Marc Zuckerburg, Steve Harvey (he's everywhere), LeBron James, I could go on and on...

35. Sign O' The Times by Prince. Pretty powerful song once you listen to the lyrics, which maybe I should have done more often when I was younger.

34. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) by Aretha Franklin & George Michael. I'm hoping she'll be waiting for me in the very near future. In a related story, I may be delusional.

33. Don't Disturb This Groove by The System. I remember first hearing a snippet of this song on a TV commercial for a local radio station in Wilmington, NC. No, I couldn't get that particular station; Lumberton was too far for their signal.

32. Get That Love by The Thompson Twins

31. The Finer Things by Steve Winwood. I like the finer things too, like Calabash style seafood complete with clams and hush puppies, pulled pork BBQ, Cheerwine. By the way, there's a sugar-free version of Cheerwine that allegedly can be found here in Tampa Bay. I need to do some investigating.

30. Lessons In Love by Level 42. I don't quite remember what was on the previous 41 levels, and I'm not sure if Avicii's hit from 2011 covered that. I do know that I'm nowhere near the level I need to face the final boss. Wait, what the hell am I talking about? Anyway, on with the countdown.

29. Fascinated by Company B. I remember this song not when it came out, but during a talent show at Hoke High where two girls did a dance routine to this song. One was a red head named Cyndi and the other was named Angela.

28. I Wanna Dance With Somebody Who Loves Me by Whitney Houston. Second week in the top 40 for the song who would be runner-up to "Alone" as my song of the year, although neither would be Billboard's #1 song of 1987, which was "Walk Like An Egyptian" by the Bangles. Yes, I'm using this as an excuse to display Susanna Hoffs iconic glare:

27. The Right Thing by Simply Red

26. Heartbreak Beat by Psychedelic Furs. I think "Love My Way" was a better song from them, but that's just me.

25. Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House. I'm not, also, go back to what I said for #34.

24. Songbird by Kenny G. I seem to remember hearing about two decades ago that the number of instrumentals in the Top 40 were decreasing rapidly. In fact, other than Zombie Nation's "Kernkraft 400" and Darude's "Sandstorm" I can't think of any instrumentals this millennium that have had any impact.

23. You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon. Visions of Chevy Chase hijacking the music video, proving that he was rather unlikeable back then as well.

22. Just To See Her by Smokey Robinson. When this song was released, I was thinking about a couple of girls from elementary school in Orlando I wanted to see again. They're both married now, and I only got to see one of them.

21. Day In Day Out by David Bowie. Talk about a coincidence, this was the song that just played on my Spotify.

20. Se La by Lionel Richie

19. Meet Me Halfway by Kenny Loggins. In a lifetime, I always reached for the tuner button on my radio when this song came on.

18. If She Would Have Been Faithful by Chicago. Fortunately, that's something that I haven't had issues with...yet.

17. Diamonds by Herb Alpert. Remember what I wrote down for #22? Well, I imagined that one of those said girls was Janet Jackson in the video for this song.

16. In Too Deep by Genesis.  Another thing that I haven't had difficulty with over the course of my life, being too deeply involved with someone...yet.

15. Head To Toe by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam. I recall that certain radio stations (G105 in particular) would add in a random sound drop in the extended pause toward the end of the song. If I was a radio DJ, and this song played on my airshift, I might throw in Dave Mishkin's "SCCOOOORRRRRREE!" for the aforementioned pause. 

14. Wanted Dead Or Alive by Bon Jovi. Right now, I'll settle for just being wanted.

13. Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You by Glenn Medeiros. Uhhh...

12. I Know What I Like by Huey Lewis & The News. Redheads, Bucs football, the Stanley Cup playoffs, etc.

11. Right On Track by The Breakfast Club

10. Talk Dirty To Me by Poison. Can't say that I've had a woman talk dirty to me, yet.

  9. La Isla Bonita by Madonna. I don't know about you, but I liked her better in her Like A Virgin era better than her True Blue era, probably because one girl I had a crush on back then kinda looked like her.

  8. Always by Atlantic Starr. Always...someone told me that and I'm going to hold her to it.

  7. Big Love by Fleetwood Mac

  6. Heat Of The Night by Bryan Adams. NBC missed an opportunity in my opinion. The next year, they would premiere the TV show "Heat of the Night" based off the 1960s movie with Sidney Portier. They could have used this song for that show, but either NBC didn't contact Adams or the record company. Either way, a lot of hoops would have had to have been jumped through to make that happen that at the time my then-14-year-old brain had no clue about.  

  5. (I Just) Died In Your Arms by Cutting Crew

  4. You Keep Me Hangin' On by Kim Wilde

  3. The Lady In Red by Chris Deburgh. Don't care for the song, but the premise of it? Another story.

  2. Looking For A New Love by Jody Watley

and the #1 song this date 37 years ago was...

  1. With Or Without You by U2

Kinda mailed in the last few songs because as I'm typing this, it's nearing 2am here in Florida. So, until next time (maybe this weekend). Take care!

BonyScribe