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

#40 - Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine

The first single off New Jersey, Bad Medicine raced straight to #1 on the Hot 100 in the fall of '88.  Despite actively disliking Bon Jovi back then, I remember thinking that the song was actually pretty good.  33 years later, Bad Medicine was originally a lot farther back in this list, but after re-listening several times, I kept pushing it up the chart.  Aside from the bad Springsteen-esque spoken word part ("We're not done... c'mon .... one more time") it holds up really well.  All the haters should give it another chance before changing the station.  Plus, who can argue with Sam Kinison doing his thing at the start of the video.

Bad Medicine
It SHOULD have been done at that point - it drags on unnecessarily. Other than that, it's a great song.

And New Jersey is a great album. My favorite track is Blood on Blood.

 
#41 - LL Cool J - Going Back to Cali

The Less Than Zero soundtrack almost had three songs in the countdown, but The Bangles cover of Hazy Shade of Winter was released late in '87 - pretty sure it would have made my top 10.  That leaves Going Back to Cali as the first of two.  Oddly enough, it never seemed to get much love in the hip-hop community but managed to hit #31 on the pop charts.  It somehow seemed way bigger.

Going Back to Cali
Bikini, small

heels, tall  

She said she liked the ocean …

 
#39 - U2 - Desire

Speeding things up a bit to disassociate from Bon Jovi in the thread title...

In the U2 thread, I talked about Rattle and Hum being the first CD I ever bought, seeing the movie on opening night, yada yada yada.  I still enjoy it, but more as a whole than as individual songs (especially the studio ones).  Two singles  from the album were released in '88, and I just can't show much love for Angel of Harlem.  As for Desire. my gb @bigbottom summed things up pretty well:

Was Desire overplayed?  Sure. Is it a good song?  I think the answer is a clear yes. But is it a good U2 song?  That’s where I waffle. I am fully aware that I’m not as open to bands evolving their sound as I should be, but this tune (and several others) just never felt like a U2 song to me. I could hear The Stones doing Desire and I wouldn’t bat an eye.


Obviously lots of folks disagreed.  Desire hit #3 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Modern Rock and Mainstream rock charts.

Desire

ETA: my best friend is notorious for getting song lyrics wrong.  He though Bono was singing "Desiiiiiiign the Earth."  Like it was a Deist anthem or something.  There will be an even goofier one later.

 
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#39 - U2 - Desire

Speeding things up a bit to disassociate from Bon Jovi in the thread title...

In the U2 thread, I talked about Rattle and Hum being the first CD I ever bought, seeing the movie on opening night, yada yada yada.  I still enjoy it, but more as a whole than as individual songs (especially the studio ones).  Two singles  from the album were released in '88, and I just can't show much love for Angel of Harlem.  As for Desire. my gb @bigbottom summed things up pretty well:

Obviously lots of folks disagreed.  Desire hit #3 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Modern Rock and Mainstream rock charts.

Desire
Huh.  I liked the bluesy U2 stuff.  Maybe because it didn't sound like U2.  I was a massive early fan of U2, then got U2'd out really quick. I am sure a lot of that had to do with me loving anything edgy, and underground, and mocking anything mainstream. I now despise that music fan.  

 
Sticks head in thread at mention of Desire . . . taps out and goes back to U2 thread. Already spent enough energy on Rattle and Hum.

 
I was in the U2 thread and deferred to the experts, but in here I'll just say I like "Desire" 

Well she's a promise in the year of election

I hope that's right. That's off the top of my head. Memorable track, I think, if that is true. 

 
What's the deal, Rattle and Hum not a liked by the fans?

What do they think of Zooropa?
Not really. It was typical message board disagreement -- liked by some and not by others. I just deferred to their sort of passion and expertise in that thread. They were going really in-depth and it wasn't my place, really. No big deal, just pulled up a seat, read the go-round, and turned on two albums by U2 from the aughts to give another listen. Good stuff. I'm no U2 fanatic, either. At all. I find them way overblown, even in their original, pre-arena days. But they can write a song, and All That You Can't Leave Behind and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb are actually quite good, in my estimation. 

 
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How in depth can you go?  It’s a song. You either like it or don’t. I like it quite a bit and never considered whether it sounds “like a U2 song.”  That’s kind of an alien concept to me considering I’m a Prince fan. 

 
Huh.  I liked the bluesy U2 stuff.  Maybe because it didn't sound like U2.  I was a massive early fan of U2, then got U2'd out really quick. I am sure a lot of that had to do with me loving anything edgy, and underground, and mocking anything mainstream. I now despise that music fan.  
I like Achtung Baby, so for me, it's probably less about them evolving and more about them seeming inauthentic.  Totally agree about mocking the mainstream - I was regrettably in that cult for good bit.

 
#38 - REM - Orange Crush

Green was released on Election Day 1988 to really strong reviews.  It continued REM's journey to a more mainstream sound and gained them a ton more fans, going double platinum in the process.  I loved it at the time and still do - but it also started the trend of REM having at least one song per album that I actively dislike.  Not Orange Crush though - especially love the opening drums.  Orange Crush was the only single released in '88, and like U2's Desire, hit #1 on both the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock Charts (Pop Song '89, Stand, and Turn You Inside Out were the other singles).  My favorite song on the record is World Leader Pretend, and I probably should have found a spot for it here.

Orange Crush

 
#38 - REM - Orange Crush

Green was released on Election Day 1988 to really strong reviews.  It continued REM's journey to a more mainstream sound and gained them a ton more fans, going double platinum in the process.  I loved it at the time and still do - but it also started the trend of REM having at least one song per album that I actively dislike.  Not Orange Crush though - especially love the opening drums.  Orange Crush was the only single released in '88, and like U2's Desire, hit #1 on both the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock Charts (Pop Song '89, Stand, and Turn You Inside Out were the other singles).  My favorite song on the record is World Leader Pretend, and I probably should have found a spot for it here.

Orange Crush
Enjoyable, innocuous tune. Kind of annoying how Stipe sings "ohhrange", but that's a personal pet peeve. 

 
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#38 - REM - Orange Crush

Green was released on Election Day 1988 to really strong reviews.  It continued REM's journey to a more mainstream sound and gained them a ton more fans, going double platinum in the process.  I loved it at the time and still do - but it also started the trend of REM having at least one song per album that I actively dislike.  Not Orange Crush though - especially love the opening drums.  Orange Crush was the only single released in '88, and like U2's Desire, hit #1 on both the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock Charts (Pop Song '89, Stand, and Turn You Inside Out were the other singles).  My favorite song on the record is World Leader Pretend, and I probably should have found a spot for it here.

Orange Crush
Great song

 
#38 - REM - Orange Crush

Green was released on Election Day 1988 to really strong reviews.  It continued REM's journey to a more mainstream sound and gained them a ton more fans, going double platinum in the process.  I loved it at the time and still do - but it also started the trend of REM having at least one song per album that I actively dislike.  Not Orange Crush though - especially love the opening drums.  Orange Crush was the only single released in '88, and like U2's Desire, hit #1 on both the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock Charts (Pop Song '89, Stand, and Turn You Inside Out were the other singles).  My favorite song on the record is World Leader Pretend, and I probably should have found a spot for it here.

Orange Crush
The album that steered them away from college radio.  Orange crush has the great edgy sound that still holds up today.  Can’t believe Stand is on here also, it can permanently go away.

 
The album that steered them away from college radio.  Orange crush has the great edgy sound that still holds up today.  Can’t believe Stand is on here also, it can permanently go away.
If I ever do a countdown for 1989, I can guarantee you that Stand won't be included.

 
Fellow olds

Does anybody else remember seeing REM play So. Central Rain on American Bandstand, in like 1984?

They weren't much more than a curiosity to ~7th grade me, this little guy yelping out "I'M SORRY.. I'M SORRY.." over music I probably wasn't ready for, but it always stuck with me, that was my first exposure to what you'd call alternative rock.

So it turned out I was more of a metal kid, but some years later Orange Crush was the first song by them that I loved

 
#37 - Bobby Brown - My Prerogative

Another Teddy Riley/New Jack Swing jam to get things kickin' on a mid-week afternoon.  My Prerogative was the second single from the soon-to-be Mr. Whitney Houston's album Don't Be Cruel and hit #1 on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts.  Apparently, it's Bobby Brown's response to all the flak he got for leaving New Edition and negative reports about his bad-boy lifestyle.  Playing the video right now, it still makes me wanna get up dance (badly). So, so good.

My Prerogative

 
#37 - Bobby Brown - My Prerogative

Another Teddy Riley/New Jack Swing jam to get things kickin' on a mid-week afternoon.  My Prerogative was the second single from the soon-to-be Mr. Whitney Houston's album Don't Be Cruel and hit #1 on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts.  Apparently, it's Bobby Brown's response to all the flak he got for leaving New Edition and negative reports about his bad-boy lifestyle.  Playing the video right now, it still makes me wanna get up dance (badly). So, so good.

My Prerogative


13 year old me, whose main genre of music taste at the time was "soundtracks", wanted nothing more than to be cool enough to tell someone "Yo Teddy, kick it like this"

 
#37 - Bobby Brown - My Prerogative

Another Teddy Riley/New Jack Swing jam to get things kickin' on a mid-week afternoon.  My Prerogative was the second single from the soon-to-be Mr. Whitney Houston's album Don't Be Cruel and hit #1 on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts.  Apparently, it's Bobby Brown's response to all the flak he got for leaving New Edition and negative reports about his bad-boy lifestyle.  Playing the video right now, it still makes me wanna get up dance (badly). So, so good.

My Prerogative
my #1

 
wikkidpissah said:
So much marching powder, bud. So. damn. much. 

No judgment nor snark. Been there. But how did those horns sound good through all of that? Those sort of compressed synth horns made me want to claw eyeballs when I was in the throes. 

 
Oh yeah, rock's brother, who was four years older then he, thought this was a pretty fine anthem to have as a college freshman or sophomore. Lots of Chess King™ in his world back then. Tons. 

He had aviators and wore out Loggins's "Danger Zone" the year or two before. Top Gun!

Lest you think he was a complete you-know-what, he wound up a really, really solid guy, who is raising (has raised, now) an extended family and is head of his teachers' union (I'll never get the placement on that apostrophe correct) and is a totally reasonable guy for that position, especially given that he's right between San Diego and L.A., and you wouldn't want to know the politics of those particular unions. 

Just a level-headed family man at this point. 

His prerogative, though. 

 
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So much marching powder, bud. So. damn. much. 

No judgment nor snark. Been there. But how did those horns sound good through all of that? Those sort of compressed synth horns made me want to claw eyeballs when I was in the throes. 
 that was the era of my last howl. i had dumped my Mary down in Sacto after 2 yrs of tussling with her loadidity, had rented a huge house on the river w the greatest wing man a fella ever had (WSOP champ Tree Straus called me & Vito the best psych players of our generation), discovered Jager, coke whores & prop-betting Real Life and pretty much didnt sleep from fall 88- to summer 89. Made 70K for myself and six figs for my pals on a Ky Derby future bet (we stormbet big odds on Sunday Silence at six locales simultaneously so they couldnt lower the number on us) and there were months after that where nobody shook my hand without a gratitude bindle in it). NO idea what was happening in any other world than the one fronta my face, so everydamthang was My Perogative and no one's horn was more compressed than yours truly.

 
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scorchy said:
#37 - Bobby Brown - My Prerogative

Another Teddy Riley/New Jack Swing jam to get things kickin' on a mid-week afternoon.  My Prerogative was the second single from the soon-to-be Mr. Whitney Houston's album Don't Be Cruel and hit #1 on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts.  Apparently, it's Bobby Brown's response to all the flak he got for leaving New Edition and negative reports about his bad-boy lifestyle.  Playing the video right now, it still makes me wanna get up dance (badly). So, so good.

My Prerogative
Top 10 for me for sure. God this song kicked. 

I have a New Jack Swing playlist, and anytime I've played it at the bar, it has crushed. Make a 60 year old Russian divorcee shake her rump. 

Orange Crush also a good song, and the Karaoke video with the Asian kids in cowboy hats I really liked. 

 
I was a Merry-Go-Round guy myself.
Mötley Crüe debut album spotlight? 

Naw, I remember the store. Leather sweater lapels are the bizzomb. Actually, leather sweater lapels are like using E-40s "izzaster" type language in 2021. My God. Glass houses. 

 
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This thread has gotten powdery. I was a mogul guy myself. Densely packed and baked in the sun. 

 
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scorchy said:
#37 - Bobby Brown - My Prerogative

Another Teddy Riley/New Jack Swing jam to get things kickin' on a mid-week afternoon.  My Prerogative was the second single from the soon-to-be Mr. Whitney Houston's album Don't Be Cruel and hit #1 on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts.  Apparently, it's Bobby Brown's response to all the flak he got for leaving New Edition and negative reports about his bad-boy lifestyle.  Playing the video right now, it still makes me wanna get up dance (badly). So, so good.

My Prerogative
Equally beloved by 16-year old me and soon-to-be 50 year old me. I believe the youths would say that this song slaps. 

 
#36 - INXS - New Sensation

Kick, released in October 1987, was absolutely massive, and deservedly so.  Unlike most pop records, from start to finish, there wasn't a track I ever felt the need to skip (even Mediate had it's charms).  Kick spawned a Billboard #1 (Need You Tonight) in late '87 and three more top 10 hits in 1988.  New Sensation was the third single, peaking at #3 on the Hot 100. Perfect dance-rock.

New Sensation

 
FairWarning said:
The album that steered them away from college radio.  Orange crush has the great edgy sound that still holds up today.  Can’t believe Stand is on here also, it can permanently go away.
Was always a CD I popped in when driving.  Stand is not good but the rest of the songs are still delightful.  

 
I saw Public Image Ltd. open for INXS in high school, and I was too 'cool' for INXS, which was a shame, Cayce they were a great pop band. 

 
Kick is one of my favorite 80s albums by anyone. I can't say that New Sensation was one of my favorites, but that probably says more about how strong the entire record is.  Every song is a winner. 

 
So much marching powder, bud. So. damn. much. 

No judgment nor snark. Been there. But how did those horns sound good through all of that? Those sort of compressed synth horns made me want to claw eyeballs when I was in the throes. 
I hate standard '80s production as much as anyone. But the hook on this was so monumental that none of that mattered. 

 
I hate standard '80s production as much as anyone. But the hook on this was so monumental that none of that mattered. 
I know you're a veteran of the party wars, too, but horns that sound that artificial do not sound good when one is using cocaine. It almost ruins Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Not only is it because it sounds bad when the listener is high, but I think the producers and engineers were also high because MBDTF sounds bad sober. But much worse on cocaine. That's all I was saying about Bobby Brown. #### sounds bad on coke. He must have been in another world hearing those horns when cutting the track.  

 
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