# Best #1 Modern/Alternative Rock Song of the Year: 1988 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 30, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040 "2014-10-30T18:41:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/1 "2014-10-30T18:41:53Z")
Obviously, inspired by the many #1 single of the year retrospective threads. Discussed this in the latest one, so I’m going ahead with it. They apparently didn’t start keeping charts until September of '88, so this one’s pretty sparse. I’ll try to get the '89 poll up pretty quick. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/2 "2014-10-30T19:56:14Z")
R.E.M. pretty much stands out here. I love 80s U2, but \*Desire \*is far from their best. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/3 "2014-10-30T21:51:35Z")
“Orange Crush” kicks ass; “Desire” is so-so; “Peek-a-boo” sucks ass. I haven’t heard of the other two. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/4 "2014-10-30T21:54:59Z")
Thanks for doing this, woodstockybird. I went with Siouxie, mainly by process of elimination. I live and die for R.E.M. (up to half of _New Adventures in Hi-Fi_), but I never liked Orange Crush. I’ve annoyed my wife by imitating the Psychedelic Furs’ singer’s accent and vocal style. I never knew they had a hit of any kind post-Love My Way/Pretty in Pink. (U2 is so edgy! Not.) ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/5 "2014-10-30T22:01:36Z")
Well, U2 is technically Edge-y, if you’re a fan of obvious puns. This first list is really just for historical sake - I questioned even including it with only five choices available. But I went with “Orange Crush” as well. Wish they’d had charts for the whole year - I bet there’s some Morrissey or The Godfathers or Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr. or The Pogues or Voice of the Beehive or something more interesting that would have made it to #1 that year. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/6 "2014-10-30T22:10:03Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Well, U2 is technically Edge-y, if you’re a fan of obvious puns. 🙂 (Not obvious enough for me to notice as I typed it!) ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/7 "2014-10-30T22:17:06Z")
I went with U2’s Desire. Wow, only 5 songs, missed a lot of cool stuff from 1981\* to 1988, but still at least the powers that be finally woke up. (\*Actually, you could make a case for modern rock going back to 1974, maybe even earlier). ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/8 "2014-10-30T22:18:55Z")
Siouxsie, for me. At this time, I’m not sure U2 is actually alternative, considering that they already have #1 hits on the pop charts. Oh well, I don’t make the rules, probably for very good reasons. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/9 "2014-10-30T23:45:16Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > They apparently didn’t start keeping charts until September of '88, so this one’s pretty sparse. I’ll try to get the '89 poll up pretty quick. Damn. Because I wonder if The Church’s (my favorite band) [“Under the Milky Way”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6jhpaX7fNQ) would have charted at #1… ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/10 "2014-10-30T23:58:24Z")
Went with U2 for this poll and “Desire” off of “Rattle and Hum”. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/11 "2014-10-31T00:53:26Z")
Didn’t recognize the Big Audio Dynamite or Psychedelic Furs songs, even after listening to them. But I did really like _All That Money Wants_, and didn’t really like any of the songs I knew, so Psychedelic Furs it is. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/12 "2014-10-31T03:51:06Z")
Huge R.E.M. fan so I went with “Orange Crush” but that’s not nearly the best song from _Green_. Same with Big Audio Dynamite. _Tighten Up Vol. 88_ is a good album but “Just Play Music” isn’t the best song on that record. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/13 "2014-10-31T07:37:03Z")
Went with “Peak a Boo” since it’s such a daring song. I strongly considered “Desire”, but then I remembered that awful remix with the newscaster sound bites. It got as much airplay at the time as the original version, which sours it in my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/14 "2014-10-31T09:25:20Z")
**Siouxsie & The Banshees** - _Peek-A-Boo_ A quirky little song with discreet, nice touches of recording wizardry. ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/15 "2014-10-31T15:22:59Z")
I went with Siouxsie Sioux. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/16 "2014-10-31T16:01:18Z")
Voted for **Siouxsie**. I saw them live around this time, '89 I think, and they were mindblowingly amazing, to this day still one of my top 5 acts I’ve ever seen (out of several hundred.) ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/17 "2014-10-31T16:21:51Z")
I like all the other bands on this list better than I like U2, but of the specific songs listed here, Desire is the song I like the most. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1988/703040/18 "2014-10-31T22:21:18Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Voted for **Siouxsie**. I saw them live around this time, '89 I think, and they were mindblowingly amazing, to this day still one of my top 5 acts I’ve ever seen (out of several hundred.) Yes, they and the Siouxsie/Budgie side project The Creatures were amazing. What bewilders me when it comes to them is that when I play them for people younger than I who I think would enjoy them, they’re usually not impressed. I don’t know what it is about tastes that changed about Siouxsie.