101 Best Songs of 1988:#1 – Guns n’ Roses – Sweet Child o’ Mine (1 Viewer)

[Uruk-Hai]

I know Sugar Shack all too well. My father and stepmother had a compilation called Real Rock that they played endlessly, and that was on it. We kids used to make fun of it; my stepsister could not get through it without cracking up.

Good Lord, it was worse than I thought. "Real Rock" and that mess was on it?

 

[Ghost Rider]

When have I ever done that?

I don't like him. Not one of his songs. Zero (well, maybe the one where he starts out whistling, but he screwed that one up, too). I don't like his faux-poetic pretentious lyrics, his singing, the way he treated the musicians he worked with. I can forgive #######ry if I like the music, because I'm a hypocrite and can bury my head in the sand with the best of them. Not with this dude. 

To each their own. I first heard Allentown when I was 8, which quickly became one of my favorite songs (and still is), and I've been a big fan of Mr. Joel since.  

 

[scorchy]

#25 - Morrissey - Every Day is Like Sunday

The second single - and second entry in the countdown from the Moz's debut record.  To me, it's just beautifully done - "How I dearly wish I was not here" perfectly expressed my angst at feeling stuck in my backwards-### small town - a feeling that I now know is universal but that felt uniquely personal as a 15-year old.  

I was sort-of friends with maybe a half-dozen kids at my high school that were into Morrissey/The Smiths.  We all called it "progressive" music at the time.  Not sure why - I guess we didn't know that "prog" had already been claimed and no Rush fans were using the term (no Yes or ELP fans among my classmates, AFAIK).  The progressive kids though were only into the dancier stuff - Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, Camoflauge - and had no interest in bands like Pixies or, god forbid, Jane's Addiction. They were already wearing all black - I didn't give up my outward jock trappings till college.

I worked on the yearbook with a couple of them and we always commandeered the stereo.  One of the progressive girls had put on The Queen is Dead when a "popular" girl who was transitioning to a more "alternative" look stuck her head in the room and said "You all are listening to Morrissey!"  I replied, "It's actually the Smiths" and she responded "Oh, well it sounds just like Morrissey."  The rest of us laughed and exchanged those snarky looks like Sara Gilbert and Todd Louiso in High Fidelity. Man we were jerks - such a 80s/90s thing to guard the music you love against interlopers instead of being happy when the rest of the world caught on... Can still picture the interaction today - funny how some things from decades ago can remain vivid.

Every Day is Like Sunday

 

[scorchy]

...but he best song from either is on Green, IMO, and I will be curious to see if it gets featured here  Looks like it was not a single, but it is near the end of Side 1 (but not at the very end).  Throwing out the hint so as not to say it in case it is featured, as I do not like name-checking songs that will still be featured. 

World Leader Pretend?

 

[scorchy]

Anyone remember NRBQ? They opened for them. 

NRBQ just played at my favorite spot in Baltimore (Ottobar) last month.  I had seen the name a million times over the years but had still never heard them and was kind of shocked they were the kind of band that would play a dirty punk club.  Watching some of their videos now.

 

[Ghost Rider]

World Leader Pretend?

 

Incredible song, easily one of their 5-10 best songs ever. 

 

[scorchy]

"Stand" and "Shiny Happy People" can burn in musical Hell, however, along with "Seasons In The Sun", "Sugar Shack", "If" by Bread, and Billy Joel's entire recorded output.

Was trying to come up with a We Didn't Start the Fire joke but my coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

 

[scorchy]

 

Incredible song, easily one of their 5-10 best songs ever. 

I think (?) I wrote upthread that it was my favorite song on Green.  But you're the first person I've ever met that agrees.  I'm not all alone after all!

 

[scorchy]

When have I ever done that?

I don't like him. Not one of his songs. Zero (well, maybe the one where he starts out whistling, but he screwed that one up, too). I don't like his faux-poetic pretentious lyrics, his singing, the way he treated the musicians he worked with. I can forgive #######ry if I like the music, because I'm a hypocrite and can bury my head in the sand with the best of them. Not with this dude. 

I'll always have a soft-spot for Billy Joel.  Pretty much no concerts ever came to the eastern shore of MD.  My first was the Statler Brothers with Crystal Gayle (with my grandmother) at the Wicomico Civic Center, followed up by The Beach Boys several years later.  

Soon after I got my driver's license, Billy Joel announced a show at the Capital Center outside DC.  I didn't even really like him, but it was a chance for a brief escape out of the sticks.  Shockingly, my girlfriend's parents plus two of my friends' parents agreed that they go too.  So four of us piled into my 1978 Pontiac Phoenix and made the drive to the big city - or at least the suburbs of the big city - and had a blast.  I still have a threadbare Storm Front t-shirt to show for it.

 

[bigbottom]

#25 - Morrissey - Every Day is Like Sunday

The second single - and second entry in the countdown from the Moz's debut record.  To me, it's just beautifully done - "How I dearly wish I was not here" perfectly expressed my angst at feeling stuck in my backwards-### small town - a feeling that I now know is universal but that felt uniquely personal as a 15-year old.  

I was sort-of friends with maybe a half-dozen kids at my high school that were into Morrissey/The Smiths.  We all called it "progressive" music at the time.  Not sure why - I guess we didn't know that "prog" had already been claimed and no Rush fans weren't using the term (no Yes or ELP fans among my classmates, AFAIK).  The progressive kids though were only into the dancier stuff - Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, Camoflauge - and had no interest in bands like Pixies or, god forbid, Jane's Addiction. They were already wearing all black - I didn't give up my outward jock trappings till college.

I worked on the yearbook with a couple of them and we always commandeered the stereo.  One of the progressive girls had put on The Queen is Dead when a "popular" girl who was transitioning to a more "alternative" look stuck her head in the room and said "You all are listening to Morrissey!"  I replied, "It's actually the Smiths" and she responded "Oh, well it sounds just like Morrissey."  The rest of us laughed and exchanged those snarky looks like Sara Gilbert and Todd Louiso in High Fidelity. Man we were jerks - such a 80s/90s thing to guard the music you love against interlopers instead of being happy when the rest of the world caught on... Can still picture the interaction today - funny how some things from decades ago can remain vivid.

Every Day is Like Sunday

I love this post so hard. 

 

[Pip's Invitation]

#25 - Morrissey - Every Day is Like Sunday

When I feel like parodying Morrissey's whiny voice, this is my go-to. 

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

I know nobody cares, but I love “Stand.”  Such a catchy song, I’d consider it one of my favorites by REM.

I do agree with the consensus that “Shiny Happy People” is garbage.

 

[HellToupee]

such a 80s/90s thing to guard the music you love against interlopers instead of being happy when the rest of the worldcaught on.

I can assure you this happened with 70s/80s teens   

 

[scorchy]

I do agree with the consensus...

First time ever?  

 

[Willy]

such a 80s/90s thing to guard the music you love against interlopers instead of being happy when the rest of the worldcaught on.

I can assure you this happened with 70s/80s teens   

I often wondered why that was the case.  For me, I think its because some of the people who end up raving about a band are the same ones who have proven they have no musical taste whatsoever.  I recall a friend of mine who once liked Milli Vanilli got into Pearl Jam after Jeremy was in heavy rotation on MTV and I thought oh well, I guess shouldn't like those guys anymore.  lol so stupid.  

 

[Dr. Octopus]

To each their own. I first heard Allentown when I was 8, which quickly became one of my favorite songs (and still is), and I've been a big fan of Mr. Joel since.  

I was raised on Long Island so I was contractually obligated to like him. Then I spent the second half (+) of my life in New Jersey where I had the same obligations for Bruce.

 

[Osaurus]

NRBQ had a hugh cult following here in CT. I bet the people in WI. were not into that 

Spot on

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I was raised on Long Island so I was contractually obligated to like him. Then I spent the second half (+) of my life in New Jersey where I had the same obligations for Bruce.

I've lived in NJ since I was 18 and have felt no obligations to Bruce or Bon Jovi. 

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I've lived in NJ since I was 18 and have felt no obligations to Bruce or Bon Jovi. 

It was kind of tongue in cheek. I do like Bruce. I’m not a Bon Jovi fan at all - although it was cool to see him join the Wallflowers recently for their encore.

 

[scorchy]

#24 - Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot

From the turnabout is fair play department, I was on the other side of a coolness arbiter at a Gainesville record shop in 1990, as described in my post-punk thread:

In late 1988, [Spin and Rolling Stone] listed Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation in their annual top 5, sending me on a mission to find a record from a band that I had never even heard of.  I had no luck in my hometown, but on a school field trip to Annapolis that January, I dipped into a record store and bingo.  The whole two-hour bus ride home, I was almost bursting with anticipation, and then... I freaking hated it.  Just did not get it at all.  And I loved noisy stuff like JaMC and the first Pixies record, but this was just... screechy and atonal and awful.

Several years later, I heard a song I thought I recognized playing at the Schoolkids Records in Gainesville.  This was long before the Shazam app, so I had to sheepishly walk up to the counter dude and ask what it was, only to get a condescending "It's Teenage Riot by Sonic Youth."  And I really liked it, but had long ago traded in my first copy of "Daydream Nation," so ended up needing to buy it again.

Rolling Stone ranked Teenage Riot at #157 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (the first on this countdown to be included).  I like Teenage Riot a lot and wish Sonic Youth had infused more of their stuff with melody  - but then I guess they wouldn't be Sonic Youth.  If it was up to me to pick a noisy indie song from 1988 as one of the greatest in history, I would have gone in a different direction, as will be revealed later in the week.

Bummer that the official video cut out Kim Gordon talking over the guitar intro: Miss me, don't dismiss me.

Teenage Riot

 

[krista4]

This thread has great music but even better stories.   it!

 

[Pip's Invitation]

but this was just... screechy and atonal and awful.

That was my first impression of SY -- but that was when they were opening for Neil Young. Neil's audience didn't care for them in the slightest, so they played as noisily and inaccessibly as possible. I saw them again many years later on a bill with The Flaming Lips and Ween, and they were much better. Never saw fit to dig deeply into their records.

One of the most random things someone said to me at an event during my Lost Years: "I ####ed Thurston while Kim watched."

 

[Ghost Rider]

It was kind of tongue in cheek. I do like Bruce. I’m not a Bon Jovi fan at all - although it was cool to see him join the Wallflowers recently for their encore.

Some people are weird about that, though, like you are supposed to automatically support an artist from your area who "makes it."  I get the occasional "What, you don't like Nelly? But he is from St Louis!!" from people, and then I have to remind that as much variety in music as I like, rap is not a part of it.  I cannot name a single song by Nelly, and have zero interest in hearing any. 

 

[J R]

Some people are weird about that, though, like you are supposed to automatically support an artist from your area who "makes it."  I get the occasional "What, you don't like Nelly? But he is from St Louis!!" from people, and then I have to remind that as much variety in music as I like, rap is not a part of it.  I cannot name a single song by Nelly, and have zero interest in hearing any. 

The same must be true of Nelly.

 

[rockaction]

"Teenage Riot" is a fantastic song by a fantastic band. Sonic Youth has CT connections. 

"What you don't like Sonic Youth? They're partially from CT!"

Okay, okay. Great band. 

I happen to love the song "Sugar Shack," too. 

Nothing but sunshine and rainbows in this world. 

I'm gonna make a lotta money
Smoke a lotta hash 
Get me a million honeys
Throw me a splendid bash 

In my sugar shack...

Okay, I changed the lyrics a bit. Sounds better to have sugar mommies while you smoke weed. Anyway, it's got an infectious beat and meter. 

 

[rockaction]

.

 

[scorchy]

#23 - Terence Trent D'Arby - Wishing Well

Terence Trent D'Arby seemingly attended the same school of humility as the Gallagher brothers, claiming upon the release of his debut record in late 1987 that it was "the most important album since Sgt. Pepper's."  I didn't really appreciate Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent Darby at the time - I liked a few songs but it wasn't really in my wheelhouse.  I was browsing through the used vinyl bins quite a while back, found one of the thousands of copies still floating around, and figured that for $5, I should see what he and the critics were going on about.  It's honestly one hell of an album.

Wishing Well was the second of four singles from Introducing the Hardline... to chart in the U.S., hitting #1 in the spring of '88 on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts.  Sign Your Name also made the top 10 on both several months later.   D'Arby (who later changed his name to Sananda Maitreya) never had another Top 40 hit on any U.S. chart, though did manage five more in the UK in the early/mid 90s.  

I love the way he slides into the frame to start singing at :07 mark of the video.

Wishing Well

 

[scorchy]

I happen to love the song "Sugar Shack," too. 

Nothing but sunshine and rainbows in this world. 

I'm gonna make a lotta money
Smoke a lotta hash 
Get me a million honeys
Throw me a splendid bash 

In my sugar shack...

Okay, I changed the lyrics a bit. Sounds better to have sugar mommies while you smoke weed. Anyway, it's got an infectious beat and meter. 

I had never heard Sugar Shack before.  All I can say is oof.

Top 5 songs with "Sugar" in the title that aren't by the Rolling Stones.  Go!

1. Sugar on My Tongue by Talking Heads

2.  Sugar Kane by Sonic Youth

3. Sugar Magnolia by The Grateful Dead

4. Sugar Walls by Sheena Easton

5. Sugar High by Coyote Shivers 

 

[Osaurus]

Love me some Sonic Youth. Saw them at Red Rocks in the early 90s with Mudhoney and Primus. Some drunk girl behind me was yelling “play Drunken Butterfly” too many times to count. The reward for enduring this was seeing the contents of her purse fly everywhere and people laughing at her. She abruptly left and missed Primus. To this day, I can’t hear Drunken Butterfly without thinking of her. 

 

[El Floppo]

#25 - Morrissey - Every Day is Like Sunday

The second single - and second entry in the countdown from the Moz's debut record.  To me, it's just beautifully done - "How I dearly wish I was not here" perfectly expressed my angst at feeling stuck in my backwards-### small town - a feeling that I now know is universal but that felt uniquely personal as a 15-year old.  

I was sort-of friends with maybe a half-dozen kids at my high school that were into Morrissey/The Smiths.  We all called it "progressive" music at the time.  Not sure why - I guess we didn't know that "prog" had already been claimed and no Rush fans were using the term (no Yes or ELP fans among my classmates, AFAIK).  The progressive kids though were only into the dancier stuff - Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, Camoflauge - and had no interest in bands like Pixies or, god forbid, Jane's Addiction. They were already wearing all black - I didn't give up my outward jock trappings till college.

I worked on the yearbook with a couple of them and we always commandeered the stereo.  One of the progressive girls had put on The Queen is Dead when a "popular" girl who was transitioning to a more "alternative" look stuck her head in the room and said "You all are listening to Morrissey!"  I replied, "It's actually the Smiths" and she responded "Oh, well it sounds just like Morrissey."  The rest of us laughed and exchanged those snarky looks like Sara Gilbert and Todd Louiso in High Fidelity. Man we were jerks - such a 80s/90s thing to guard the music you love against interlopers instead of being happy when the rest of the world caught on... Can still picture the interaction today - funny how some things from decades ago can remain vivid.

Every Day is Like Sunday

who?

 

[El Floppo]

I bought the Sister LP knowing I wanted to buy a Sonic Youth album because I didn't have any yet, it was the most recent and I dug the cover art. knocked me on my ### straight off. think I wore the needle out listening to that over and over, Teenage Riot- probably their best tune, even though I took Schizophrenia in that other draft.

 

[scorchy]

Some drunk girl behind me was yelling “play Drunken Butterfly” too many times to count. The reward for enduring this was seeing the contents of her purse fly everywhere and people laughing at her. She abruptly left and missed Primus. To this day, I can’t hear Drunken Butterfly without thinking of her. 

The song requestors used to be the worst until camera phones were invented.  

I was at the first show of a two-night Mountain Goats stand and this ultra-dork in the back kept yelling out "Play [obscure song from one of their first EPs that pretty much no one except the biggest Mountain Goats fan would ever know]."  At the start of the encore, dude yells it out again.  To paraphrase John Darnielle's response:

You know, encores are usually for everyone's favorites, but how about this... I don't even remember how to play [obscure song name], but tomorrow we'll figure out.  And at tomorrow night's show, we'll play it just for you.  If you don't have tickets already, just leave your name at the merch booth and we'll put you on the guest list

The next night, the dude was back, and they played his song.  Another reason to adore the Mountain Goats.

 

[El Floppo]

The song requestors used to be the worst until camera phones were invented.  

I was at the first show of a two-night Mountain Goats stand and this ultra-dork in the back kept yelling out "Play [obscure song from one of their first EPs that pretty much no one except the biggest Mountain Goats fan would ever know]."  At the start of the encore, dude yells it out again.  To paraphrase John Darnielle's response:

You know, encores are usually for everyone's favorites, but how about this... I don't even remember how to play [obscure song name], but tomorrow we'll figure out.  And at tomorrow night's show, we'll play it just for you.  If you don't have tickets already, just leave your name at the merch booth and we'll put you on the guest list

The next night, the dude was back, and they played his song.  Another reason to adore the Mountain Goats.

that's fantastic.

 

[ProstheticRGK]

The song requestors used to be the worst until camera phones were invented.  

I was at the first show of a two-night Mountain Goats stand and this ultra-dork in the back kept yelling out "Play [obscure song from one of their first EPs that pretty much no one except the biggest Mountain Goats fan would ever know]."  At the start of the encore, dude yells it out again.  To paraphrase John Darnielle's response:

You know, encores are usually for everyone's favorites, but how about this... I don't even remember how to play [obscure song name], but tomorrow we'll figure out.  And at tomorrow night's show, we'll play it just for you.  If you don't have tickets already, just leave your name at the merch booth and we'll put you on the guest list

The next night, the dude was back, and they played his song.  Another reason to adore the Mountain Goats.

I have no idea wtf the Mountain Goats are, but I love them, now.

 

[scorchy]

I have no idea wtf the Mountain Goats are, but I love them, now.

Mountain Goats have a huge cult following and so many albums that they can seem inaccessible.  Definitely an acquired taste.  I would recommend The Sunset Tree or Tallahassee as a starting point if you're at all interested in checking them out.  The music can be scary dark yet amazingly uplifting at the same time - standing with 500 other weirdos singing along to every word of No Children* is like a mass group therapy session that I've seen end with tears of joy and hugging strangers.  So yeah, it's cultish.  Here's the video for their most famous song:

This Year
 

*Sample lyrics -

I am drowning
There is no sign of land
You are coming down with me
Hand in unlovable hand

 

[ProstheticRGK]

Mountain Goats have a huge cult following and so many albums that they can seem inaccessible.  Definitely an acquired taste.  I would recommend The Sunset Tree or Tallahassee as a starting point if you're at all interested in checking them out.  The music can be scary dark yet amazingly uplifting at the same time - standing with 500 other weirdos singing along to every word of No Children* is like a mass group therapy session that I've seen end with tears of joy and hugging strangers.  So yeah, it's cultish.  Here's the video for their most famous song:

This Year
 

*Sample lyrics -

I am drowning
There is no sign of land
You are coming down with me
Hand in unlovable hand

I dig that. Thanks, scorchy!

 

[Bogart]

I had never heard Sugar Shack before.  All I can say is oof.

Top 5 songs with "Sugar" in the title that aren't by the Rolling Stones.  Go!

5. Sugar High by Coyote Shivers 

My dear girlfriend had never seen Empire Records (she was like 7 when it came out), and upon learning this, we sat down immediately and watched. While the streaming version changed some of the songs (wtf?), the lovely rooftop version of Sugar High remains. It was her favorite part of the movie by far. That led to a rabbit hole search of more Shivers, which leads to very very little. A couple of other versions of Sugar High and about an album and a half of interesting demos.

 

[scorchy]

My dear girlfriend had never seen Empire Records (she was like 7 when it came out), and upon learning this, we sat down immediately and watched. While the streaming version changed some of the songs (wtf?), the lovely rooftop version of Sugar High remains. It was her favorite part of the movie by far. That led to a rabbit hole search of more Shivers, which leads to very very little. A couple of other versions of Sugar High and about an album and a half of interesting demos.

I don't know why I love Empire Records so much but it always puts me in a better mood.  Renee Zellweger sounds like she's shredding her vocal chords on Sugar High, which somehow makes the song even better.

 

[Bogart]

I don't know why I love Empire Records so much but it always puts me in a better mood.  Renee Zellweger sounds like she's shredding her vocal chords on Sugar High, which somehow makes the song even better.

It is one of my favorite movies, probably watch it about once a year, and my favorite part always changes. Fun trivia fact, during filming, Coyote Shivers was married to Bebe Buell, Liv Tyler's mom. So he was Liv's stepdad at the time, something they didn't share until the film was well into production.

 

[scorchy]

#22 - When in Rome - The Promise

I looked over a bunch of internet lists of one-hit wonders (including the one put together by our beloved Tim) and couldn't believe that The Promise was practically ignored.  For me, it's such a perfect pop song - one that sounds just as fresh today as it did in 1988.  When in Rome obviously caught lightning in a bottle though because the rest of the album is absolutely terrible.  I think I owned it for a week before selling it back and never hearing anything else from it again.

The single reached #11 on the Hot 100 in early 1989.  Sturgill Simpson did a really nice cover back in 2014, and When in Rome recorded a new version with the Prague Symphony Orchestra last year.  Somehow though, The Promise is now forever associated with the last scene of Napoleon Dynamite, where it really seems to capture the sweetness of the moment.  That feels really weird to write...

The Promise

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I think I'd argue that The Promise is a Top 10 song from ALL the 80's. At least top 20.

 

[krista4]

#23 - Terence Trent D'Arby - Wishing Well

Terence Trent D'Arby seemingly attended the same school of humility as the Gallagher brothers, claiming upon the release of his debut record in late 1987 that it was "the most important album since Sgt. Pepper's."  I didn't really appreciate Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent Darby at the time - I liked a few songs but it wasn't really in my wheelhouse.  I was browsing through the used vinyl bins quite a while back, found one of the thousands of copies still floating around, and figured that for $5, I should see what he and the critics were going on about.  It's honestly one hell of an album.

Wishing Well was the second of four singles from Introducing the Hardline... to chart in the U.S., hitting #1 in the spring of '88 on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts.  Sign Your Name also made the top 10 on both several months later.   D'Arby (who later changed his name to Sananda Maitreya) never had another Top 40 hit on any U.S. chart, though did manage five more in the UK in the early/mid 90s.  

I love the way he slides into the frame to start singing at :07 mark of the video.

Wishing Well

This is a record I wore the hell out of at the time.  He was/is definitely a bit crazy, but supremely talented (and easy on the eyes).

 

[wikkidpissah]

This is a record I wore the hell out of at the time.  He was/is definitely a bit crazy, but supremely talented (and easy on the eyes).

same here - the Hardline & Bobby Brown's Don't Be Cruel

not coincidently, it was also the highest, most self-indulgent year of my life. my Reagan miracle -

 

[El Floppo]

#22 - When in Rome - The Promise

I looked over a bunch of internet lists of one-hit wonders (including the one put together by our beloved Tim) and couldn't believe that The Promise was practically ignored.  For me, it's such a perfect pop song - one that sounds just as fresh today as it did in 1988.  When in Rome obviously caught lightning in a bottle though because the rest of the album is absolutely terrible.  I think I owned it for a week before selling it back and never hearing anything else from it again.

The single reached #11 on the Hot 100 in early 1989.  Sturgill Simpson did a really nice cover back in 2014, and When in Rome recorded a new version with the Prague Symphony Orchestra last year.  Somehow though, The Promise is now forever associated with the last scene of Napoleon Dynamite, where it really seems to capture the sweetness of the moment.  That feels really weird to write...

The Promise

always liked the tune... always assumed it was late Midge Ure or Ultravox.

and seeing the video for the first time... lol, that singer. they have the look of a band where a couple of talented balding unpopular kids decided to get the popular kid with the long hair on board so they could pull the girls into shows. forget that the guy can't hold stay in pitch and makes el floppo want to punch him the face.... girls will dig his hair and baritone.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

#22 - When in Rome - The Promise

I looked over a bunch of internet lists of one-hit wonders (including the one put together by our beloved Tim) and couldn't believe that The Promise was practically ignored.  For me, it's such a perfect pop song - one that sounds just as fresh today as it did in 1988.  When in Rome obviously caught lightning in a bottle though because the rest of the album is absolutely terrible.  I think I owned it for a week before selling it back and never hearing anything else from it again.

The single reached #11 on the Hot 100 in early 1989.  Sturgill Simpson did a really nice cover back in 2014, and When in Rome recorded a new version with the Prague Symphony Orchestra last year.  Somehow though, The Promise is now forever associated with the last scene of Napoleon Dynamite, where it really seems to capture the sweetness of the moment.  That feels really weird to write...

The Promise

I remember the chorus, but until now I had no idea what the name of this song and band were. 

 

[DocHolliday]

I remember the chorus, but until now I had no idea what the name of this song and band were. 

I forgot about this song.  It was pretty dang popular though in the late 80s.  

 

[Brony]

#22 - When in Rome - The Promise

I looked over a bunch of internet lists of one-hit wonders (including the one put together by our beloved Tim) and couldn't believe that The Promise was practically ignored.  For me, it's such a perfect pop song - one that sounds just as fresh today as it did in 1988.  When in Rome obviously caught lightning in a bottle though because the rest of the album is absolutely terrible.  I think I owned it for a week before selling it back and never hearing anything else from it again.

The single reached #11 on the Hot 100 in early 1989.  Sturgill Simpson did a really nice cover back in 2014, and When in Rome recorded a new version with the Prague Symphony Orchestra last year.  Somehow though, The Promise is now forever associated with the last scene of Napoleon Dynamite, where it really seems to capture the sweetness of the moment.  That feels really weird to write...

The Promise

There's not many movies where I can name the closing scene song by memory (In the City - Warriors; Always Look on the Bright Side;  Run - Varsity Blues for some bizarre reason), but I love how that song fits into the movie.  

Great song, though I often get confused which is the name of the band and which is the song. 

 

[Andy Dufresne]

There's not many movies where I can name the closing scene song by memory (In the City - Warriors; Always Look on the Bright Side;  Run - Varsity Blues for some bizarre reason), but I love how that song fits into the movie.  

Great song, though I often get confused which is the name of the band and which is the song. 

You can remember it this way...the words "When In Rome" are never sung in the song.

I sing the hell out of this song in the car. It's right in my voice's wheelhouse. 

 

[El Floppo]

little known fact.

when in rome's lead singer auditioned for a role in Godfather 3, but Sofia Coppola beat him out through nepotism and hfps*

*hair flips per second

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

always liked the tune... always assumed it was late Midge Ure or Ultravox.

Thems fighting words.

As for this song. Nice song. Released 5 years too late. Some great songs get released in the wrong era and miss their time in the limelight. This just snuck in, but its an early 80s sound.