Every Billboard Modern Rock/Alternative #1 Single (Part 1: The 1980s)

I'll Be You
An excellent piece of songwriting from Paul Westerberg and a deserved minor hit for them. Of course, the 'Mats deserved to have plenty of major hits during their golden period through the mid-'80s when Westerberg was just on fire writing one melodic, clever rock song after another. I know some think this was the beginning of the end for them and they were "selling out" or whatever, but I judge based on song quality and this is a great song to my ears. Hooky, loose, genuine.

I'm not sharing this week's top ten because the new songs in it will all be going to #1 in time and we'll get a chance to discuss them.

 

"I'll Be You" is a great Replacements' song. I wouldn't say they were "selling out" or anything but Don't Tell A Soul is one of my least favorite 'Mats' albums. However, the highs (like this song and "Achin' To Be") were great classic Replacements' cuts. Glad they at least got a #1 song on some Billboard chart. They certainly deserved so much better. Truly one of the 80s best bands.

 

Hey, I actually knew this song in my old life, too!

Maybe it's because it's very early, but I got The Replacements momentarily confused with the guys who did the Friends theme. I'll go sit in the corner now...

 

Love it. Still!
Tim was my favorite album of 1985, I loved Pleased To Meet Me a couple years later & then I was eventually disappointed with Don't Tell a Soul as well. Since it has really grown on me (as has All Shook Up), but it wasn't as rocking as I wanted back in the day. Of course, I am over 50 now & have chilled out to a point that I prefer melody over aggression.

 

Decent song; saw The Replacements open up for Tom Petty in the summer of '89 and for years thought they were one of the worst bands I'd ever seen. They didn't seem to want to be there and Paul Westerberg kept yelling at the spotlight guy to get the light out of his eyes. I didn't realize till much later that being surly (and possibly drunk) was part of their schtick. Recently discovered a soundboard of that night and it's not as bad as I remember but still not one of my favorite bands....

 

this was their only billboard hit. the best us band maybe ever.

the mats were the first band where i thought that if they didn't get rich then something has changed drastically in rock, and it's not good. that has proven true.

 

Very good song. I love that sort of "Twist and Shout" style crescendo towards the end. Drum sound a little annoying, but hey, for 1988 it was actually pretty organic sounding. This was the first song by the replacements I remember hearing on the radio and it was played a lot in my world -- but not until the early nineties and the rise of mainstream alternative rock. Had the Replacements been a couple years younger, they would have hit it big, I think.

Later when I discovered the earlier stuff, this one didn't sound quite as good compared to their heights. Love Their mid-eighties stuff to bits.

 

The Replacement - I'll Be You

Westerberg still had a bit of the "Bryan Adams rasp" in his voice at this point. The song construction is interesting in that it's hooky, but the main chorus hook is barely played/sung. Twice, maybe? And with that, only at the end of lines. I applaud their move in arranging the song that way. The quality of the song sells itself without drilling a single line into your skull. I mean, the title line doesn't come in until over 2 minutes in! Bold move. I really like the noisy parts right after that first chorus. The whole song points ahead, but these two parts really point to what popular alternative music would be like in a few years (walls of guitars and discordant high notes). So yeah, end of the decade and these guys are looking ahead. Fun track, great sound.

 

I agree this this. They were ahead of the zeitgeist. Their sound and songs were perfect for '94/'95 but they were coming out ten years too early and the mainstream didn't catch on. But I think that's part of why they are so beloved by their fans. They were trailblazers rather than being part of the crowd.

 

That's exactly why I missed them the first time around. '80s for me were more about learning about older music, because I didn't like the then-current pop music, wasn't aware of the "underground", and as mentioned earlier I was studying my (rear) off. It wasn't until the end of the decade that I was out of college, could breathe a little bit, and be a little more adventurous in my music explorations. It probably isn't an accident that I like '90s music a lot more than '80s.

I did get into the Replacements later, via my wife, who WAS into '80s music at the time.

 

The Replacements seemed to have a way of sabotaging any kind of success. They just did things their way and I'm not sure they wanted to be bigger than they were. For instance, when Hootenanny came out people were expecting a Punk album but the first song "Hootenanny" was more of a Blues song where the band switched instruments, which was done ironically.

 

I got into the Replacements first with Tim, but the record I bought next was Let It Be and with that The Replacements were a favorite band. Until Don't Tell A Soul, which sounded like a sellout album to my young ears and still does today, despite some excellent songs ('Talent Show', 'Anywhere's Better Than Here', and yes 'I'll Be You'). The very conventional music video for 'I'll Be You' didn't help either.

That said, I recently read Bob Mehr's excellent Trouble Boys and that encouraged me to come around a but on the last two Replacements records–even though they were making more conventional records they were doing it on their own terms, and they are interesting as documents of a band realizing that they do need to grow up a bit.

 

Sorry I’m late to the party.

“”Peek-a-boo” is an amazing single. One of my favorites. The sound is incredible - the backward tape loops, the varying vocal tracks - a masterpiece.

 

R.E.M. – Orange Crush (#1)
It is repetitive but there’s a cold, gray mood over this song that I like – from the chord changes to the sad moaning and limp jangle. It’s not one of my favorites from them and I doubt it’s one of their best singles but then again “The One I Love” is somewhat repetitive as well but that one is revered on a higher level. These songs are having their 30th anniversaries this year but it doesn’t feel that long ago. This got plenty of radio play deep into the 90's unlike "Stand".

Agreed that R.E.M. would have been on the charts constantly in the 80’s – they’re usually considered the top or top 5 for 80's college rock.

Julian Cope – Charlotte Anne (#1)
Again, I agree with what Parachute Woman thought. This has a decent chorus hook and I like the turn into the 90’s lightly distorted jangle that was in so much early alt rock/college rock. I think it could have been better at 4 minutes but it’s slightly above average. I’m also not familiar with any of his work or the stuff from The Teardrop Explodes.

Marc Almond - Tears Run Rings
A nice song but it seems more 80’s than 90’s. The vocal and vocal melody is good but the backing’s a little generic. Kind of your typical drum machine beat, light electric piano sounding synth, straightforward bass. It’s alright and I do like the horn or synth-horn break.

The Pursuit of Happiness – Cigarette Dangle
At first I thought this was kind of plain rock but the added chorus sounds like something different altogether – a bit like a Todd Rundgren chorus with a Warrant hard rock sound on the rest of it. Not too bad.

Cowboy Junkies – Sweet Jane
After the Vevo commercial for a current Ariana Grande song, I watched this though I’m not familiar with Cowboy Junkies much except for hearing them once in a blue moon. I always liked the song and this is alright but maybe it’s a little too laid back for me or maybe I expected something different.

R.E.M. – Stand (#1)
I thought this was a little annoying originally but nothing too bad. I can see how some would call it too commercial but I don’t care about that aspect and don’t hold that type of thing against anyone. I also remember it from the TV show – I guess someone said it was with Chris Elliot. Definitely a pretty major chorus hook – to the point where it overshadows the more mediocre verse totally in memory. Looking back at this period with more nostalgia in mind, it’s pretty good jangle rock with a pop feel.

 

Alternative to what?

Billboard's Top 10 (from Hot 100) for the 11 March 1989 week

01. Lost In Your Eyes - Debbie Gibson
02. The Living Years - Mike & the Mechanics
03. You Got It (the Right Stuff) - New Kids On the Block
04. Roni - Bobby Brown
05. Paradise City - Guns 'n' Roses
06. Surrender To Me - Ann Wilson & Robin Zander
07. Girl You Know It's True - Milli Vanilli
08. The Lover In Me - Sheena Easton
09. My Heart Can't Tell You No - Rod Stewart
10. Straight Up - Paula Abdul

 

Thank you for sharing this! It really puts things into context. Pretty amazing, actually.

Next up:

10. "Veronica" by Elvis Costello


#1 for 2 weeks beginning March 18, 1989


"Veronica" is a single from Elvis Costello's 1989 album Spike, co-written by Costello with Paul McCartney. The song "Veronica" was co-produced by T-Bone Burnett and Kevin Killen, and features Paul McCartney on his iconic Höfner bass. In 2004, Entertainment Weekly voted it one of Costello's top ten greatest tunes.[1]

The song focuses on an older woman who has experienced severe memory loss. Costello's inspiration for this song was his grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer's. When talking about the song on a VH1 interview, Costello reminisced about his grandmother having "terrifying moments of lucidity" and how this was the inspiration for "Veronica". In his 2015 autobiography, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, Costello wrote of his collaboration with McCartney, "I'd brought an early version of "Veronica" that you would have recognized […] All the words I'd already written were about my paternal grandmother, Molly, or more formally, Mabel Josephine Jackson. In fact, her Catholic confirmation name, Veronica, provided the very title of the song".[2]

"Veronica" was also Costello's highest-charting Top 40 hit in the United States, peaking at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, No. 1 on its Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, and No. 10 on its Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Music Video
"Veronica" and its accompanying video depicts an aged woman, probably nearing the end of her life in a retirement home, engaging in detached reminiscences from her life from young girl to young womanhood (played by Zoe Carides). The video for "Veronica" featured Costello delivering a spoken-word monologue to the camera, and occasionally singing the song softly over the original vocal track from the recording. The video, co-directed by John Hillcoat and Evan English, earned an MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video.[3]

 

Veronica
I've never been a huge Costello fan, but I respect him and I do really love 'Veronica.' The melody is very strong (not sure how much McCartney had to do with that) and I really appreciate the fact that Costello wrote a pop song about a subject so often ignored. Older people in general aren't really often covered in pop songs (the music of the young, I suppose) and the fact that it is about Alzheimer's is powerful and daring. I really must tip my hat to Costello on this one. It's just a very strong piece of songwriting all around and the music video is great as well. This is unfortunately something that touches the lives of many but we never seem to want to talk about it. Costello wrote about it but not in morose or melodramatic way at all. Honest and focused on the individual, his own grandmother. A deserved hit--his biggest in the U.S.--and one I have never tired of hearing.

 

I am a big EC fan, though I didn't get into him until the late nineties and then it was mainly the first five or so albums. This song in my opinion by far the best of the McCartney/McManus collaborations, though they are all good and they do make a nice little playlist together.

Great melody. My own belief is that the (quite amazing) middle 8 is probably the McCartney bit, but it's an incredibly well-crafted, seamless song with one of the best melodies either one of them ever wrote.

 

Elvis Costello - Veronica

The vocal melody is incredibly strong on this song. I enjoy this era of collaborations between Costello & McCartney. You can tell right from the start how much care was put into the whole song. It's not just a chorus, but every part is well-constructed. It's great hearing Paul's bass in the song too, esp. when he has more room to move around. It's a really sad song, but with happy music. When this came out I didn't love it, but I thought it was enjoyable enough. I like it a whole lot more now, esp. since I'm much more familiar with Elvis Costello's music, and McCartney's for that matter. I definitely didn't like the Beatles back in '89 (in 1989 I was obsessed with Iron Maiden and Anthrax...still am!). I wish the snare drum was a little quieter in the mix, but that's my only complaint.

 

Great tune! Had no idea this song had anything to do with Alzheimer's, but I guess it's all there in the opening verse.

For a decidedly less-bouncy take on the subject, Crowded House's "Silent House" (Neil Finn co-wrote it with the Dixie Chicks, who did their own version--it was one of their grandmothers whose affliction inspired the song):

 

Veronica has long been one of my favorite EC songs....

 

"Veronica"
I was a big EC fan in the 80s, much more than I am now. This is a great pop song, and I will have to spin Spike soon, an album I liked but definitely did not love. Likely the last EC record I really liked, too. I was much more interested in EC's collaboration with Dirty Dozen Brass Band on Spike than will McCartney whom I would have not considered to have any cool in his middle aged boy.

 

Dirty Bldv., I bought the album, and I like Lou Reed, but don't love him. I sold it several years ago and haven't really missed it, but listening to the songs off the album posted here does make me want to listen to it again.

The Replacement is a band that I probably should like more, but to me they are a little better than OK. Not sure why they never grabbed me. I don't turn them off when they come on, but I don't look for them either. I have their album Pleased to Meet Me.

Elvis Costello is the one artist that I really just don't like, and everyone who knows my music taste is surprised I don't like him. I think I just don't care for his voice at all. Veronica is an important topic that isn't covered and I respect him for that. I'm sure he is a nice person and would be interesting to talk to.

 

Veronica was a good tune, it reminded me a lot of the Kinks.

 

"Veronica" - another song I love.

I heard the song at the time and liked it then, but not enough to seek it down. I really didn't get into Elvis Costello until 1999 (via his set at Woodstock '99), and then even more a couple years later with When I Was Cruel CD.