Does anyone know what happened to thread starter @alphanguy? He was last seen on January 5th, and his last post on this thread was in September of '21.
When the '70s ended, several people posted lists of their Top 20 favorite #1 singles of the decade. Maybe we should do that. Here's a list of the Top 500 singles of the decade - presumably not all of these hit #1: Billboard's Top 500 Songs of the '80s (SiriusXM, April 5-15, 2019) - 45cat One really interesting thing, looking over that list quickly - there are I think only two songs from the second half of the decade in the Top 20, and none from 1989 until you hit #23 on the list (Phil's "Another Day In Paradise", which had an exceptionally-long for 1988/89 four week run). If it seems like hits from the latter half of the '80s aren't as iconic as those from the first half of the decade, well...they weren't. They didn't sell in the same volumes and they didn't get played as much.
Vanilla Ice has leaned into the joke. In the Adam Sandler movie That's My Boy, where he played a version of himself reduced to working at a snack bar (Todd Bridges is his boss) he says he loses money every time "Ice Ice Baby" is played, because he owes 50% of the royalties to Queen and 60% to Suge Knight.
So here I am saying goodbye to my favorite decade of music: the 80's. I was a 10 year old in 1980 so I'm going to spend all of my teens is this decade and we all know how important our teenage years are in forming our musical tastes. I think I can summarize the decade in 4 sections: 1) The New Wave craze of 82-85, 2) MTV/MuchMusic 3) Hair Metal and 4) Prince. Prince was the one constant for me. I could always turn to his amazing 80's output if I was disenchanted with everything else. Even in 2022, I will often turn to my 80's playlists for the comforting feeling of nostalgia that comes with reliving my teenage years where I'm one of those fortunate individuals who actually loved school and being a teen and all of the music that came along with those rites of passage. Top 20 Singles of the 80's. 1. Hey Ladies - Beastie Boys 2. She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult 3. In a Big Country - Big Country 4. Little Red Corvette - Prince 5. Ashes to Ashes - David Bowie 6. Rebel Yell - Billy Idol 7. Every Little Thing She Does is Magic - The Police 8. Foolin' - Def Leppard 9. Just Like Heaven - The Cure 10. How Soon is Now? - The Smiths 11. One Thing Leads to Another - The Fixx 12. New Year's Day - U2 13. Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes 14. Shock the Monkey - Peter Gabriel 15. It's My Life - Talk Talk 16. Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac 17. Come on Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners 18. Hey Nineteen - Steely Dan 19. Head Over Heels - Tears for Fears 20. Running Up that Hill - Kate Bush Top 20 Albums of the 80's 1. Purple Rain - Prince 2. Around the World in a Day - Prince 3. Appetite for Destruction - GnR 4. Hysteria - Def Leppard 5. 1999 - Prince 6. Thriller - Michael Jackson 7. Sign of the Times - Prince 8. Pyromania - Def Leppard 9. The Hurting - Tears for Fears 10. Dirty Mind - Prince 11. Reach the Beach - The Fixx 12. The Crossing - Big Country 13. Rebel Yell - Billy Idol 14. Songs from the Big Chair - Tears for Fears 15. Let's Dance - David Bowie 16. Bad - Michael Jackson 17. The Colour of Spring - Talk Talk 18. Billy Idol 19. The Joshua Tree - U2 20. Pictures for Pleasure - Charlie Sexton The Billboard Top 100 had great tunes, but for me, the stuff that has stood the test of time was discovered and featured on Music Video Channel programming. This reality will continue into the 90's for me, where radio and video were still doing different things.
the 90s will get by a lot faster. 1990/early 1991 is a continuation of the dozens of 1-2 week #1 singles, but by the mid 90s almost every other #1 is a Physical/Bette Davis Eyes/Endless Love style run if not longer as records began to start breaking this decade
Yeah. Here's a list of Billboard #1 singles of the '80s, for those who want to compile a list of faves: List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of the 1980s - Wikipedia There were 230 #1 singles in the '80s, as opposed to just 139 in the '90s, heavily loaded toward the first two years of the decade. As for who fared the best in the '80s: Artist Number ones Michael Jackson 9 Madonna 7 Whitney Houston 7 Phil Collins 7 George Michael 5 Lionel Richie 5 Daryl Hall & John Oates 5 Stevie Wonder 4 Bon Jovi 4 Prince 4 Artist Weeks at number one Michael Jackson 27 Lionel Richie 21 Paul McCartney 16 George Michael 16 Stevie Wonder 15 Madonna 15 Olivia Newton-John 14 Diana Ross 13 Whitney Houston 13 Phil Collins 13 And the biggest #1s of the decade by weeks topping the charts were: Weeks at number one Song Artist(s) 10 "Physical" Olivia Newton-John 9 "Bette Davis Eyes" Kim Carnes "Endless Love" Diana Ross and Lionel Richie 8 "Every Breath You Take" The Police 7 "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" Joan Jett and the Blackhearts "Ebony and Ivory" Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder "Billie Jean" Michael Jackson 6 "Call Me" Blondie "Lady" Kenny Rogers "Centerfold" The J. Geils Band "Eye of the Tiger" Survivor "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Irene Cara "Say, Say, Say" Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson "Like a Virgin" Madonna Nothing on that list from after '85, maybe '84.
Well, it may be time for you to start swinging by the R&B thread again. I'm about to start 1990 over there. EVERY Billboard #1 rhythm & blues hit discussion thread
That is exactly my response as well. I loved Roam instantly, but only sort of liked Love Shack. But Shack has grown on me over the years, and I now find the lyrics and the way Fred delivers them to be hilarious and frankly inspired.
All right now, now for something to keep y'all busy for the weekend . . . #712 (2d of 1990): "Opposites Attract" by Paula Abdul And The Wild Pair (#1 for 3 weeks - February 10-24, 1990) plus the single release And so Ms. Abdul garners her fourth #1 (fifth if you count the Cash Box-only topper "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me") with this ditty, the video featuring an animated character called "MC Skat Cat," clearly inspired by the scene in the 1945 film Anchors Aweigh where live-action Gene Kelly dances with animated Jerry Mouse from the "Tom & Jerry" duo. This also came in the wake of the success of the combo live-action/animated Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (The Wild Pair were a duo, Bruce DeShazer and Marvin Gunn, who were also heard on her "Forever Your Girl" and that "other" #1 I just mentioned.) Speaking of Cash Box . . . they were the outlier here in only having this at #1 for 2 weeks (February 10-17, 1990), whilst Radio & Records agreed with Billboard about this being at the top three weeks (but not the same three weeks, though - their duration was February 2-16, 1990). In the UK, a few months from this, this record could not get past #2 - blocked by a future #1 as far as our shores were concerned. These three weeks, in the UK another future #1 here was still #1 there.
"Opposites Attract" - I think it's a decent song. Paula Abdul is not a great singer, and her hits are not earth shattering, but I generally find them agreeable.
Opposites Attract was the sixth single from Forever Your Girl, and the fourth to hit No. 1. The only other albums to score four No. 1s to this point are: Saturday Night Fever soundtrack Bad - Michael Jackson (5 No. 1s) Whitney - Whitney Houston Faith - George Michael This was also only the 10th album to score five top 10 hits, following Thriller (7), Born in the USA (7), Can't Slow Down, Control, Whitney, Faith (6), Bad (6), New Jersey and Girl You Know It's True.
I forget about this one entirely. Definitely the weakest of her #1s. Not really awful, just not much to it. A very early guest-rap from a guy who sounds like Will Smith. "The Way That You Love Me" is a much better song, with a nice David Fincher video: It's sorta Paula's "Material Girl". It's a cute video, that's for sure. She's adorable in it. She must have had an insanely high Q score.
Opposites Attract- Paula Abdul This was a huge number 1 here as well. A chipmunk on helium and a “rapping” cat. What is there to like? Next!
This is a case where I love the video much more than the song. I like most of Paula’s hits, but this one really doesn’t do it for me. But the video is fabulous.
I did notice, in the chorus, they seemed to lift a bit off of Sting's "We'll Be Together," don'tcha think? (And I mean musically, not video-wise) . . .
Nice list. I appreciate you including The Fixx. Great underrated band there. Saw them live twice. They always brought it
