A whole bunch of suck, so “Little Lies” squeaks past “Land of Confusion.” But none of the songs really deserve a vote.
I think the undisputed masterpiece is “Hip to be Square”, a song so catchy, most people probably don’t listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it’s not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it’s also a personal statement about the band itself.
I assure you, that assertion is disputed.
Wow. I don’t know what happened in 1986 for me because none of the songs from that year’s list really did much for me. But 1987 is a different story: several songs I remember liking including some by some of my favorite all time groups. But as much as I liked Genesis and Huey Lewis back then and as much as I liked “C’est La Vie” by Robbie Nevil and “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” by Wang Chung, I had to go with Bananarama’s “I Heard a Rumour”. One that I still like listening to, probably the most of any song on the list.
Went with Wang Chung over the Georgia Satellites. Two fun songs in a mediocre year, top-40-wise, one that I remember for albums like Mellencamp’s Lonesome Jubilee rather than for any hit songs.
Took me a minute to bring “Don’t Dream It’s Over” back into the memory banks, but the words “Hey now, hey now” finally slipped through the time warp from 1987. A nice enough song, but if I’ve known it and have that much trouble recalling it, it obviously didn’t leave enough of an impression on me to vote for it.
I’ll confess that the only Bananarama song I’ve heard was their cover of the Shocking Blue’s 1969 hit, “Venus.” It made a couple of friends and I wonder whether some record company’s execs’ daughters had sweet-talked their daddies into helping them cut a record and getting it played. So I expect I wouldn’t be all that high on any of their other songs.
My initial reply was a bit terse due to lack of time so here are a few more comments.
I voted for Don’t Dream It’s Over because it’s a beautifully crafted song that’s held up really well (as a well-crafted song should). Without a doubt one of the stand-out tunes of the late 80s in my view.
If it hadn’t been here, I’d have voted for Land of Confusion or Luka. I loved the former at the time. I remember that I had asked my mom to get it for meas a birthday present but she messed up and I got Invisible Touch instead :(. As for the latter I didn’t like it when I first heard it. I had the feeling that it was one of those songs for grown-ups (read: all serious and not fun). Turns out I was right without really understanding why. Now, I think it’s a fine song though Marlene on the Wall is the one Suzanne Vega I’d keep. Fleetwood Mac’s Little Lies is pretty good, too.
Wang Chung’s Everybody Have Fun Tonight is doing well but I had to check it on youtube to hear what it was. It’s familiar but I’m pretty sure that I haven’t heard it since 1987. Typical mid / late 80s pop - I’m a bit surprised it’s doing this well as it strikes me as rather bland. As a matter of fact, I just had to read the lyrics before posting to remember it and I had just seen it yesterday :o.
Duran Duran - Notorious. One of my first musical disappointments. I was a fan around the time of the Union of the Snake single. IIRC Notorious was their first song after a 2-3 years hiatus (an eternity for a 10 year-old) and I hated it instantly. Time hasn’t improved my opinion. They were trying something new (good for them) but this is barely a song.
T’Pau were quite big for a couple of years. I think that China in your Hand was a bigger hit. At least, it’s the one song that sprang to my mind when I saw them on the list.
Like Cyndi Lauper, Samantha Fox was also presented as Madonna’s rival but for reasons that had nothing to do with music. That’s all there is to say about her, really.
Heart and Soul was one of the best songs of the decade, IMO.
Hate to admit it, but *‘I Want Your Sex’ *is a catchy damn tune.
I hated it when first released. I think it may be because my girlfriend at the time would rather sleep with him than me. She did not realize at the time that he would have preferred me to her. Irony.
Just recently watched Eli Stone on HULU. The 1st episode featured that song.
And it got my toes tapping.
And as I was singing it myself, I realize it was not I Want Your Sex, but Faith that I was thinking of. Yeah! I Want Your Sex sucked!
Gonna vote for the Crowded house song.