The Next TOP SONG of 1988 - 1. Heartbreak Beat - Psychedelic Furs (1 Viewer)

[northern exposure]

I flagged that when I read it this morning, but I didn't have time to check whether the Thompson Twins had a DIFFERENT guy named Richard Thompson. 

I’m a big Crowded House fan, so I was pretty sure it was The Richard Thompson on the track. But, I did Google “The Thompson Twins” to make sure there wasn’t Another Richard Thompson in the band.

 

[krista4]

I’m a big Crowded House fan, so I was pretty sure it was The Richard Thompson on the track. But, I did Google “The Thompson Twins” to make sure there wasn’t Another Richard Thompson in the band.

Just listening to the track - which by the way I don't believe I'd heard before and really enjoyed - you could tell it was THE Richard Thompson.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

Neil Finn is an amazing song writer. One of my favorite musical quotes was by his older brother Tim Finn, who in the early days of Split Enz

Love Split Enz 

 

[Bracie Smathers]

By the way, I think scorchy had "End Of The Line" in his countdown. 

Don't DO THAT.

I already screwed up and had a redo so I assumed you were right and double and triple checked Scorchy's  list.  He had one Wilbury tune.

#29 - Traveling Wilburys - Handle with Care

End of the Line was one of the few that fell through the cracks of Scorchy's list to me but I have one more Wilbury tune that I love.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

Richard Thompson is not from the Thompson Twins (in fact nobody in the band has the last name Thompson). Richard Thompson was in Fairport Convention

LOL, I don't know why I saw Richard THOMPSON and automatically thought THOMPSON Twins.

There wasn't even a dude named RICHARD in the Thompson Twins.

The Thompson Twins were named after a couple of fictional characters from a Belgian cartoonist (Hergé) who created a strip called The Adventures of Tintin.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

30.   Where The Streets Have No Name  - U2

Out of any 'sound' of the 80s I think the delay of the repeating guitar arpeggio used by The Edge is the quintessential 'sound'. 

Joshua Tree was THEE album when I became a DJ and still in super-heavy rotation.

 Bono wrote the lyrics in response to the notion that it is possible to identify a person's religion and income based on the street on which they lived, particularly in Belfast. During the band's difficulties recording the song, producer Brian Eno considered erasing the song's tapes to have them start from scratch.

 

[Dennis Castro]

30.   Where The Streets Have No Name  - U2

Out of any 'sound' of the 80s I think the delay of the repeating guitar arpeggio used by The Edge is the quintessential 'sound'. 

Joshua Tree was THEE album when I became a DJ and still in super-heavy rotation.

 Bono wrote the lyrics in response to the notion that it is possible to identify a person's religion and income based on the street on which they lived, particularly in Belfast. During the band's difficulties recording the song, producer Brian Eno considered erasing the song's tapes to have them start from scratch.

How in the heck did this not make the top 100? Different criteria I guess?

 

[Pip's Invitation]

30.   Where The Streets Have No Name  - U2

Out of any 'sound' of the 80s I think the delay of the repeating guitar arpeggio used by The Edge is the quintessential 'sound'. 

Joshua Tree was THEE album when I became a DJ and still in super-heavy rotation.

 Bono wrote the lyrics in response to the notion that it is possible to identify a person's religion and income based on the street on which they lived, particularly in Belfast. During the band's difficulties recording the song, producer Brian Eno considered erasing the song's tapes to have them start from scratch.

This is one of my favorite songs of all time. I’ll expound more when it comes up in JML’s U2 countdown.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

How in the heck did this not make the top 100? Different criteria I guess?

It first appeared in 1987, which makes it ineligible for 1988 by Tim’s criteria. Bracie uses different criteria.

 

[rockaction]

Don't DO THAT.

I already screwed up and had a redo so I assumed you were right and double and triple checked Scorchy's  list.  He had one Wilbury tune.

#29 - Traveling Wilburys - Handle with Care

End of the Line was one of the few that fell through the cracks of Scorchy's list to me but I have one more Wilbury tune that I love.

So sorry. I think I went down a Wilburys rabbit hole and saw "End Of The Line" during the last countdown. Many apologies. 

 

[Doug B]

Out of any 'sound' of the 80s I think the delay of the repeating guitar arpeggio used by The Edge is the quintessential 'sound'.

I always think he was nodding to David Gilmour's work on The Wall with that opening. I do agree about the iconicity of The Edge's tone on this track.

 

[rockaction]

It first appeared in 1987, which makes it ineligible for 1988 by Tim’s criteria. Bracie uses different criteria.

Did scorchy use Tim's criteria? I think you're in a time warp otherwise. 

 

[scorchy]

Did scorchy use Tim's criteria? I think you're in a time warp otherwise. 

I was somewhere in between as far as criteria. Tim was initial release. Mine was single release (if there was a single).

 

[Bracie Smathers]

29.  Rattled - The traveling Wilburys

Last Night -

have one more Wilbury tune that I love.

Make that  TWO more for another two-fer

I can't say how much this album was anticipated at the radio station, literally by everyone since everyone was a huge fan of at least one if not all of the members of the group.  I was a the biggest Beatlemaniac at the station and easily the biggest Roy Orbison fan and probably the biggest ELO/Jeff Lynn fan.

I loved the album, and this was probably my favorite because of the patented Orbison grooooowwwlll, lol.  I was the only one  who could do it of anyone I knew at the time.  Also, Orbison was the key vocalist on Last Night.  Both favs.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Did scorchy use Tim's criteria? I think you're in a time warp otherwise. 

I’m doing the time warp again!

I don’t remember what scorchy’s criteria were.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

28.  Let It Roll - Little Feat 

Love Little Feat and really enjoyed this album.  Hadn't heard this in a long time.

 

[northern exposure]

30.   Where The Streets Have No Name  - U2

Out of any 'sound' of the 80s I think the delay of the repeating guitar arpeggio used by The Edge is the quintessential 'sound'. 

Joshua Tree was THEE album when I became a DJ and still in super-heavy rotation.

 Bono wrote the lyrics in response to the notion that it is possible to identify a person's religion and income based on the street on which they lived, particularly in Belfast. During the band's difficulties recording the song, producer Brian Eno considered erasing the song's tapes to have them start from scratch.

I don’t think I had a real appreciation for The Edge’s guitar work until I saw the documentary “It Might Get Loud” with Jack White, Jimmy Page and The Edge.  If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it!

 

[northern exposure]

I’m doing the time warp again!

I don’t remember what scorchy’s criteria were.

It's just a jump to the left
And then a step to the right….

 

[Bracie Smathers]

27.  Dude Looks Like A Lady - Aerosmith 

The song, unintentionally inspired by Mötley Crüe originally started out as "Cruisin' for a Lady".

Steve Tyler came up with the idea of the song while at a bar and mistaking Mötley Crüe's lead singer Vince Neil for a woman with long blonde hair. Tyler's bandmates made fun of him, joking about how the “dude looked like a lady.”

 

[rockaction]

I don’t think I had a real appreciation for The Edge’s guitar work until I saw the documentary “It Might Get Loud” with Jack White, Jimmy Page and The Edge

I've only seen clips of this, but what I've seen, I love. Jack's homemade, one-string guitar with pickup that he plays with bottle (IIRC) is the bomb. 

 

[Bracie Smathers]

26.  Charlotte Anne - Julian Cope 

Released19 September 1988

The song was Cope's only chart-topping single on any U.S. chart, reaching number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the United States for one week in early 1989.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

25.  Totally Nude - Talking Heads

I wrote a screen play which opens with this song playing in the background.

I LOVE this song!  It makes me so happy every time I hear it.

The lyrics are so fun.

---------------------------------

A polka party For Bob and Martha

I'm absolutely free

Living in the trees

The birdies and the bees 'Cause I'm a nature boy

Think what you like

This is really where it's at

Open up, open up, open the door

We don't need clothes and we don't need money

----------------------------------

Add in the way they weave in the use of the pedal steel guitar, such a happy bouncy tune.

 

[Anarchy99]

I was big into Julian Cope back in the day. Wore out my copies of World Shut Your Mouth - Saint Julian - My Nation Underground.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

I was big into Julian Cope back in the day. Wore out my copies of World Shut Your Mouth - Saint Julian - My Nation Underground.

I never met the man so maybe others in the industry can confirm what I heard about St. Julian from our station's GM who met him and thought he was a chode. 

FWIW the general manager of our radio station was the coolest guy I ever met.  He used to play pro-ball with the Minnesota Twins till he got his face smashed by a fastball.  He blew into town with a super model gf and took over the town with his charm.

I liked Julian Cope but every time I hear his songs, I recall how much our GM personally disliked him.

 

[Anarchy99]

I never met the man so maybe others in the industry can confirm what I heard about St. Julian from our station's GM who met him and thought he was a chode. 

FWIW the general manager of our radio station was the coolest guy I ever met.  He used to play pro-ball with the Minnesota Twins till he got his face smashed by a fastball.  He blew into town with a super model gf and took over the town with his charm.

I liked Julian Cope but every time I hear his songs, I recall how much our GM personally disliked him.

I had not heard any commentary or feedback on his personality or demeanor. I suppose there are plenty of Richards in the industry. All I remember is Spacehopper was the favorite song of a GF I had in college. I heard that song a lot (which was a good thing).

 

[scorchy]

I never met the man so maybe others in the industry can confirm what I heard about St. Julian from our station's GM who met him and thought he was a chode. 

I liked Julian Cope but every time I hear his songs, I recall how much our GM personally disliked him.

No first-hand knowledge or anything, but here's what i wrote in the post-punk thread:

Apparently, Julian Cope is a total d-bag.  Fellow Liverpudlian and pre-Teardrop Explodes bandmate Ian McCulloch famously hates him, and if you ever read NME or Q magazine, so does pretty much everyone else that ever worked with him.  I'm sure his massive LSD use and GG Allin self-mutilation schtick didn't help.

 

[Osaurus]

No first-hand knowledge or anything, but here's what i wrote in the post-punk thread:

Apparently, Julian Cope is a total d-bag.  Fellow Liverpudlian and pre-Teardrop Explodes bandmate Ian McCulloch famously hates him, and if you ever read NME or Q magazine, so does pretty much everyone else that ever worked with him.  I'm sure his massive LSD use and GG Allin self-mutilation schtick didn't help.

That’s really saying something. 

 

[Bracie Smathers]

24.  Tunnel of Love  - Bruce Springsteen 

The song is a metaphor, using a fairground funhouse ride as a metaphor for marriage.  The song notes that it is all too easy for two people to lose each other on the "funhouse ride" of marriage.

Engineer Toby Scott was sent to an amusement park in Point Pleasant, New Jersey to record sounds of a family riding a roller coaster.  

 

[Pip's Invitation]

24.  Tunnel of Love  - Bruce Springsteen 

The song is a metaphor, using a fairground funhouse ride as a metaphor for marriage.  The song notes that it is all too easy for two people to lose each other on the "funhouse ride" of marriage.

Engineer Toby Scott was sent to an amusement park in Point Pleasant, New Jersey to record sounds of a family riding a roller coaster.  

Not a Bruce fan but I’ve always loved this one.

 

[Sullie]

Not a Bruce fan but I’ve always loved this one.

Ditto - I cannot switch the station fast enough when a Springsteen song comes on the radio but, for whatever reason, I absolutely love this song.

 

[Gr00vus]

24.  Tunnel of Love  - Bruce Springsteen 

The song is a metaphor, using a fairground funhouse ride as a metaphor for marriage.  The song notes that it is all too easy for two people to lose each other on the "funhouse ride" of marriage.

Engineer Toby Scott was sent to an amusement park in Point Pleasant, New Jersey to record sounds of a family riding a roller coaster.  

Not a Springsteen fan. This is absolutely my favorite song of his and is in my regular listening rotation. Probably because it's not very traditionally Springsteeny.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Not a Springsteen fan. This is absolutely my favorite song of his and is in my regular listening rotation. Probably because it's not very traditionally Springsteeny.

Yep. All the usual cliches he does, both in writing and in singing, aren’t present here. 

 

[Bracie Smathers]

23.  So Emotional - Whitney Houston 

Her 6th consecutive number one hit.

That voice.  That face. That personality.  Whitney, sigh.  I think every guy had a mad crush when they first heard her.

Scientific proof, consider Stephen Hawking made a trip to America to visit Kevin Coster just to ask about her.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Don't DO THAT.

I already screwed up and had a redo so I assumed you were right and double and triple checked Scorchy's  list.  He had one Wilbury tune.

#29 - Traveling Wilburys - Handle with Care

End of the Line was one of the few that fell through the cracks of Scorchy's list to me but I have one more Wilbury tune that I love.

I forgot what comedian it was but someone said the traveling Wilburys were so ugly they were the only band where the roadies got laid first

 

[Dan Lambskin]

23.  So Emotional - Whitney Houston 

Her 6th consecutive number one hit.

That voice.  That face. That personality.  Whitney, sigh.  I think every guy had a mad crush when they first heard her.

Scientific proof, consider Stephen Hawking made a trip to America to visit Kevin Coster just to ask about her.

I was never a fan back then (I was a bit younger and I probably became more aware of her because of The Bodyguard [I swear to god I think my mom went and saw that in the theater once a week during its run]) but as I’ve gotten older I agree she had an incredible voice and energy about her, at least until she got hooked on all the dope

 

[Bracie Smathers]

22.  Like The Weather - 10,000 Maniacs 

Alluring vocals of Natalie Merchant are intoxicating.

 

[Sullie]

I was never a fan back then (I was a bit younger and I probably became more aware of her because of The Bodyguard [I swear to god I think my mom went and saw that in the theater once a week during its run]) but as I’ve gotten older I agree she had an incredible voice and energy about her, at least until she got hooked on all the dope up with Bobby Brown!

I'm not going to use the worn out cliché "fixed that for you" - I'm just inserting my opinion here.  I was never a fan of her music either but my wife is though and so I've listened to a lot of her songs over the years since we met.  I have to admit, even though I'm not a fan of her songs, the woman was incredibly talented.  She had a beautiful voice, she was an amazing talent but unfortunately Bobby Brown happened errr I mean drugs and alcohol ruined her life.  Such a waste. 

 

[Bracie Smathers]

21.  Always With Me, Always With You - Joe Satriani

I played this a ton.

A trance inducing melody that received a nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Performance at the 1989 Grammy Awards, while the album (Surfing with the Alien) was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance 

According to The Rolling Stone Album Guide, the record "put Satriani on the map. Beautifully played and well-paced, it manages to capture all the icy fire of fusion jazz without losing any of the visceral power of rock & roll".

 

[Bracie Smathers]

20.  Cherry Bomb - John Mellencamp 

Off of the album, The Lonesome Jubilee. "Cherry Bomb" is a nostalgic song that reflects on Mellencamp's teenage years hanging out at the Last Exit Teen Club.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

19.  Get Up -  R.E.M.

The song was written by Michael Stipe about Mike Mills. Mills always seemed to sleep late during their recording sessions for Green. This was Stipe's call for Mills to get up and work. However, Mills did not find this out until a concert in the late 1990s, when Stipe introduced the song as being about him.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

I'm a HUGE fan of Phil Spector's Christmas album so I much prefer the original Darline Love version but this one is a good tribute IMHO.  

R.I.P. Ronnie.

My favorite from Phil Spector's Christmas album.

Sleigh Ride

I remember Paul Shaffer going on-and-on about how Christmas wasn't Christmas without Phil Spector's Christmas album and that once he got stuck up in snowstorm in Canada and had to stay in a hotel but somehow, he went out and bought a copy of the album and it made his Christmas.  

 

[DocHolliday]

20.  Cherry Bomb - John Mellencamp 

Off of the album, The Lonesome Jubilee. "Cherry Bomb" is a nostalgic song that reflects on Mellencamp's teenage years hanging out at the Last Exit Teen Club.

I have become a big fan of Mellencamp in the last few years and Cherry Bomb is one of my favorite tunes.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

18.  Sign Your Name -  Sananda Maitreya (formerly known as Terence Trent D'Arby)

Hadn't heard this in such a long time and love it.

D'Arby/Maitreya is interesting.  Before becoming a singer, he was a gold-glove boxer winning a lightweight championship.  He was born Terence Trent Howard in Manhattan in 1962, picked up his stage name of D'Arby and later in 2001 changed it again to Maitreya.  

This song got a ton of airplay on KBCO in Boulder while I was attending CU.  I really like it.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

18.  Sign Your Name -  Sananda Maitreya (formerly known as Terence Trent D'Arby)

Hadn't heard this in such a long time and love it.

D'Arby/Maitreya is interesting.  Before becoming a singer, he was a gold-glove boxer winning a lightweight championship.  He was born Terence Trent Howard in Manhattan in 1962, picked up his stage name of D'Arby and later in 2001 changed it again to Maitreya.  

This song got a ton of airplay on KBCO in Boulder while I was attending CU.  I really like it.

When this album came out, I thought he was gonna be a massive star with a long career. Instead, this was both the beginning and the end from a pop culture standpoint.

 

[wikkidpissah]

When this album came out, I thought he was gonna be a massive star with a long career. Instead, this was both the beginning and the end from a pop culture standpoint.

yeah, damn shame. but he had a pretension no A&R guy has been able to handle yet - to be big in Europe

 

[Bracie Smathers]

he had a pretension no A&R guy has been able to handle

He's interesting and he was pretentious, but he knew he was.

In an interview, D'Arby expressed a high opinion of his first album, claiming that it was the most important album since the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper. After the comments leaked to US media outlets, he stated that most of what he said was exaggerated, but that it is sometimes necessary to "hit people over the head" to get their attention.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

He's interesting and he was pretentious, but he knew he was.

In an interview, D'Arby expressed a high opinion of his first album, claiming that it was the most important album since the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper. After the comments leaked to US media outlets, he stated that most of what he said was exaggerated, but that it is sometimes necessary to "hit people over the head" to get their attention.

The Beatles are like religion to some folks, so there are those who were offended by what D’Arby said to the same degree as some people in the 60s were offended by what Lennon said about the Beatles and Jesus.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

17.  Mary's Prayer - Danny Wilson

Another song I LOVE and used to play a lot.

The song has been described as "an extended Catholic metaphor", although Clark has not denied any intended religious significance in his composition: "There is a lot of religious imagery in the song but that is really just a device to relate past present and future"..."It is basically just a simple love song. In fact I like to think of it as being like a country and western song".

You might know this tune from THIS movie.

One of my all-time favorite songs and makes my top-fifty 35 tunes of the 80s.  

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

17.  Mary's Prayer - Danny Wilson

Another song I LOVE and used to play a lot.

The song has been described as "an extended Catholic metaphor", although Clark has not denied any intended religious significance in his composition: "There is a lot of religious imagery in the song but that is really just a device to relate past present and future"..."It is basically just a simple love song. In fact I like to think of it as being like a country and western song".

You might know this tune from THIS movie.

One of my all-time favorite songs and makes my top-fifty 35 tunes of the 80s.  

Great song. Great video. 

 

[whoknew]

17.  Mary's Prayer - Danny Wilson

Another song I LOVE and used to play a lot.

The song has been described as "an extended Catholic metaphor", although Clark has not denied any intended religious significance in his composition: "There is a lot of religious imagery in the song but that is really just a device to relate past present and future"..."It is basically just a simple love song. In fact I like to think of it as being like a country and western song".

You might know this tune from THIS movie.

One of my all-time favorite songs and makes my top-fifty 35 tunes of the 80s.  

Always loved this song. Great choice.