Via Sheila:
A.) Go to musicoutfitters.com
B.) Enter the year you graduated from high school in the search function and get the list of 100 most popular songs of that year
C.) Bold the songs you like, strike through the ones you hate and underline your favorite. Do nothing to the ones you don't remember (or don't care about).
Ed. Note ... 1986 was a bit after the metal peak that I can claim to appreciate more fully. I remember a lot of dance crap that led me to build an album collection, as well as clear the social calendar for the late nite radio metal show on weekends. As a result ... a lot of the tunes either never made my radar (Baltimora?) or I could live with or without. My criteria is based on how I treated the radio dial if and when any of the songs came on ... bold for "crank it up," strike for "change the station," fave for "I think I need to learn that song."
1. That's What Friends Are For, Dionne Warwick, Elton John, and Gladys Knight
2. Say You, Say Me, Lionel Richie
3. I Miss You, Klymaxx
4. On My Own , Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald
5. Broken Wings, Mr. Mister
6. How Will I Know, Whitney Houston7. Party All The Time, Eddie Murphy
8. Burning Heart, Survivor
9. Kyrie, Mr. Mister10. Addicted To Love, Robert Palmer
11. Greatest Love Of All, Whitney Houston
12. Secret Lovers, Atlantic Starr
13. Friends And Lovers, Carl Anderson and Gloria Loring
14. Glory Of Love, Peter Cetera
15. West End Girls, Pet Shop Boys
16. There'll Be Sad Songs, Billy Ocean
17. Alive And Kicking, Simple Minds
18. Never, Heart
19. Kiss, Prince and The Revolution
20. Higher Love, Steve Winwood
21. Stuck With You, Huey Lewis and The News
22. Holding Back The Years, Simply Red23. Sledgehammer, Peter Gabriel
24. Sara, Starship
25. Human, Human League
26. I Can't Wait, Nu Shooz
27. Take My Breath Away, Berlin28. Rock Me Amadeus, Falco
29. Papa Don't Preach, Madonna
30. You Give Love A Bad Name, Bon Jovi31. When The Going Gets Tough, Billy Ocean
32. When I Think Of You, Janet Jackson
33. These Dreams, Heart
34. Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone), Glass Tiger
35. Live To Tell, Madonna
36. Mad About You, Belinda Carlisle
37. Something About You, Level 4238. Venus, Bananarama
39. Dancing On The Ceiling, Lionel Richie
40. Conga, Miami Sound Machine
41. True Colors, Cyndi Lauper
42. Danger Zone, Kenny Loggins
43. What Have You Done For Me Lately, Janet Jackson
44. No One Is To Blame, Howard Jones
45. Let's Go All The Way, Sly Fox
46. I Didn't Mean To Turn You On, Robert Palmer
47. Words Get In The Way, Miami Sound Machine
48. Manic Monday, Bangles
49. Walk Of Life, Dire Straits
50. Amanda, Boston
51. Two Of Hearts, Stacey Q
52. Crush On You, Jets
53. If You Leave, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
54. Invisible Touch, Genesis
55. The Sweetest Taboo, Sade
56. What You Need, INXS
57. Talk To Me, Stevie Nicks
58. Nasty, Janet Jackson
59. Take Me Home Tonight, Eddie Money
60. We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off, Jermaine Stewart
61. All Cried Out, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam With Full Force
62. Your Love, Outfield
63. I'm Your Man, Wham!
64. Perfect Way, Scritti Politti
65. Living In America, James Brown66. R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A., John Cougar Mellencamp
67. Who's Johnny, El Debarge
68. Word Up, Cameo
69. Why Can't This Be Love, Van Halen
70. Silent Running, Mike and The Mechanics
71. Typical Male, Tina Turner
72. Small Town, John Cougar Mellencamp
73. Tarzan Boy, Baltimora
74. All I Need Is A Miracle, Mike and The Mechanics
75. Sweet Freedom, Michael McDonald
76. True Blue, Madonna
77. Rumors, Timex Social Club
78. Life In A Northern Town, Dream Academy
79. Bad Boy, Miami Sound Machine80. Sleeping Bag, ZZ Top
81. Tonight She Comes, Cars
82. Love Touch, Rod Stewart
83. A Love Bizarre, Sheila E.
84. Throwing It All Away, Genesis
85. Baby Love, Regina
86. Election Day, Arcadia
87. Nikita, Elton John
88. Take Me Home, Phil Collins
89. Walk This Way, Run-D.M.C.
90. Sweet Love, Anita Baker
91. Your Wildest Dreams, Moody Blues
92. Spies Like Us, Paul McCartney
93. Object Of My Desire, Starpoint
94. Dreamtime, Daryl Hall
95. Tender Love, Force M.D.'s
96. King For A Day, Thompson Twins
97. Love Will Conquer All, Lionel Richie
98. A Different Corner, George Michael
99. I'll Be Over You, Toto
100. Go Home, Stevie Wonder
Obviously, I had to cheat a bit on the favorite out of this list. I absolutely loved the Outfield: catchy, yet wonderful songwriting and decent instrumentation. But "Tonight She Comes" by The Cars was one of the first songs I learned the solo to by ear. For a while there, every solo I played sounded just like some part of that solo mixed with a dose of Eddie Van Halen for good measure (ed. note ... good?). Amazingly, the record execs never came calling.
As anyone who remembers 1986 with a more vivid memory will know, however, David Lee Roth's "Yankee Rose" represents the high water mark for the year.
8 Comments
wow. i just did that and some utterly horrible crap was on the charts when i graduated. there was not a single song i could bold. how sad is that.
Fantastic. In keeping with my grand tradition, I did not plug in the actual year of my graduation (constantly falsified), but I did plug in a year, 1972, and got an amazing result. Way over half of the titles listed I consider classics, or at least greats of the subgenre involved. To wit:
1. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Roberta Flack
2. Alone Again (Naturally), Gilbert O'Sullivan
3. American Pie, Don McLean
4. Without You, Nilsson
5. Candy Man, Sammy Davis Jr.
6. I Gotcha, Joe Tex
7. Lean On Me, Bill Withers
11. Let's Stay Together, Al Green
12. Brandy (You're A Fine Girl), Looking Glass
13. Oh Girl, Chi-Lites
14. Nice To Be With You, Gallery
15. My Ding-A-Ling, Chuck Berry
17. Heart Of Gold, Neil Young
18. Betcha By Golly, Wow, Stylistics
19. I'll Take You There, Staple Singers
21. The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Robert John
23. Slippin' Into Darkness, War
24. Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress), Hollies
27. Song Sung Blue, Neil Diamond
28. A Horse With No Name, America
28. Popcorn, Hot Butter
29. Everybody Plays The Fool, Main Ingredient
30. Precious And Few, Climax
31. Last Night I Didn't Get To Sleep At All, 5th Dimension
32. Nights In White Satin, Moody Blues
34. Too Late To Turn Back Now, Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose
35. Back Stabbers, O'Jays
39. Day Atter Day, Badfinger
40. Rocket Man, Elton John
41. Rockin' Robin, Michael Jackson
44. Morning Has Broken, Cat Stevens
45. The City Of New Orleans, Arlo Guthrie
46. Garden Party, Rick Nelson
47. I Can See Clearly Now, Johnny Nash
48. Burning Love, Elvis Presley
49. Clean Up Woman, Betty Wright
50. Hold Your Head Up, Argent
51. Jungle Fever, Chakachas
52. Everything I Own, Bread
56. Bang A Gong (Get It On), T. Rex
57. Mother And Child Reunion, Paul Simon
58. Where Is The Love, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
60. Layla, Derek and The Dominos
62. The Way Of Love, Cher
65. Hurting Each Other, Carpenters
69. You Don't Mess Around With Jim, Jim Croce
70. Hot Rod Lincoln, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
73. Anticipation, Carly Simon
74. Never Been To Spain, Three Dog Night
75. Kiss An Angel Good Morning, Charlie Pride
76. School's Out, Alice Cooper
77. Saturday In The Park, Chicago
86. Taxi, Harry Chapin
90. Day By Day, Godspell Soundtrack
91. Roundabout, Yes
92. Doctor My Eyes, Jackson Browne
93. I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing, New Seekers
94. Vincent / Castles In The Air, Don Mclean
97. I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing, Hillside Singers
99. Good Foot, Pt. 1, James Brown
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... 59 out of 100!! I usually dislike 80-90% of anything.
And "Puppy Love" by Donny Osmond? Couldn't go there.
And looks like '86 wasn't too bad either, in retrospect. I agree on the noteworthiness of the below (at least on significance; I don't own/revere them all).
14. Glory Of Love, Peter Cetera
15. West End Girls, Pet Shop Boys
22. Holding Back The Years, Simply Red
23. Sledgehammer, Peter Gabriel
25. Human, Human League
28. Rock Me Amadeus, Falco (only since it inspired the parody "Rockin' Jerry Lewis")
33. These Dreams, Heart
35. Live To Tell, Madonna
41. True Colors, Cyndi Lauper
43. What Have You Done For Me Lately, Janet Jackson
44. No One Is To Blame, Howard Jones
46. I Didn't Mean To Turn You On, Robert Palmer
48. Manic Monday, Bangles
50. Amanda, Boston
55. The Sweetest Taboo, Sade
56. What You Need, INXS
59. Take Me Home Tonight, Eddie Money
65. Living In America, James Brown
70. Silent Running, Mike and The Mechanics
74. All I Need Is A Miracle (same)
83. A Love Bizarre, Sheila E.
89. Walk This Way, Run-D.M.C.
90. Sweet Love, Anita Baker
91. Your Wildest Dreams, Moody Blues
HEY, WHAT IS THIS SHIT? It only goes back to 1960!
MORE THAN YOU WANTED TO KNOW:
Songs I consider palatable on all the lists between '60 and '95:
1960 7
1961 8
1962 11
1963 7
1964 14
1965 16
1966 21
1967 15
1968 22
1969 19
1970 21
1971 23
1972 33
1973 23
1974 23
1975 16
1976 16
1977 16
1978 13
1979 8
1980 10
1981 12
1982 6
1983 11
1984 13
1985 16
1986 24
1987 12
1988 7
1989 10
1990 6
1991 6
1992 8
1993 5
1994 5
1995 7
Dude, what gives with 1979? I checked and came back with 49 songs that met my own approval. It might have been 50, but I couldn't hum a few bars of "Shine a Little Love" by ELO. Help me out there, Uly.
One nice little obscure pick from that list: "Music Box Dancer" ... as nifty an instrumental as there ever was. Perhaps not surprising for my own taste, I barely found any song that I would have crossed through from that year. Granted, I grew up on WNLA's (Indianola, MS's 99 watt powerhouse!) offering of top 40, with a crossover mix of country and avocado rock. I did draw the line at Charlie Daniels ... I hafta admit that much.
I guess that dip (and others) in the stats would be a function of the fact that these lists involve "hits" by some sales definition, and no other sort of music or sales channel. For myself, the method wouldn't track undercurrents popular with me that I was big on in particular years. For example, I may have been really big on Peter, Paul and Mary in '79, and their sales peak for most people was 10-12 years earlier. And in the 80's I began to buy significant amounts of New Age, but that wouldn't show up at all. Limits of the method.
But to answer your question, I don't see a lot of stuff on that list that's stylistically objectionable (in the way that this year's mostly-rap-and-faux-Seattle playlist would be to me). I just didn't consider much of it weighty in importance, like such perrenial examples of mine:
Stylistically significant -
"Walk This Way" - RunDMC
"Jamie's Crying" - VH
"Macarthur Park" - Richard Harris
"Where Is It Written?" - Barbara Streisand
Personally significant -
"Johnny B. Goode" - Chuck Berry
"I'm Ready" - Muddy Waters
"Swannee River Boogie" - Albert Ammons
"Route 66" - Van Morrison
Again, few real klinkers but few life-changers as well.