Man, I think I found my least favorite year in music. Well, 1989. Where do I begin? This has to be the lamest year in pop music to date. Seriously, a huge, and I mean HUGE, chunk of it were songs that were generic, dated, and boring songs from a bunch of no names who I have absolutely no clue how they got popular. This was also the year that unleashed some absolutely horrid "musicians" on to us such as Richard Marx, Paula Abdul, and worst of all, the lip syncing monsters known as Milli Vanilli. This year's number one song was a Chicago song. Yeah, it was THAT bad. Even with all that, however, I am one who likes to at least try to find the silver lining in things, and even in what I consider to be the crappiest year for music, I was still able to find ten songs from that year that I liked, so that's what we're counting down this time. Without any more delay, let's begin this countdown of the Top 10 Best Hit Songs Of 1989.
10) Song: If I Could Turn Back Time
Artist: Cher
Position: 35
I admit that I think Cher is a good singer, but I'm just not very in to her at all. She just isn't my style. That said, there are exactly two Cher songs that I like. Believe is one, and this is definitely the other. The rocking sound, the emotion behind Cher's Kermit The Frog-like voice, and all the elements of it I just happen to enjoy a lot. Consider this my not-so-guilty pleasure.
9) Song: My Prerogative
Artist: Bobby Brown
Position: 2
Hey, look, it's a song from 1989's year-end top 10 that didn't suck. Being the bad boy of the late 80s and early 90s, Bobby delivers a fun and energetic track where he states that his main goal is to just dance and have fun. Well, both of us have achieved that goal, Mr. Brown. I don't think I need to further explain why I like this song so much.
8) Song: Love In An Elevator
Artist: Aerosmith
Position: 81
I think it's no secret that Love In An Elevator is a purely rocking track. Steven Tyler's awesome vocals, the rocking instrumentation, and really, what other word can I use to describe this song than rocking. It just, well, rocks. So why is it so low on this? Well, my parents have Sirius XM in their car, they love the 80s music station, and I can't tell you how many times I've heard this song, so it's worn out on me quite a bit as you can imagine. Not enough to be on this list, thankfully.
7) Song: Love Shack
Artist: The B-52's
Position: 47
I dare you to find a reason not to love this song. The funky instrumentation, the female lead's vocals culminating greatly with the effeminate sounding male's vocals, and the fact that this song just makes me wish there was a place called the Love Shack and makes me want to go to it, try not to love this song. I bet you'll fail every time.
6) Song: Wild Thing
Artist: Tone Loc
Position: 33
It's no secret that rock and rap can work together when used correctly, and this is better than anything Nu-Metal could ever offer. Take notes, Limp Bizkit.
5) Song: I'll Be There For You
Artist: Bon Jovi
Position: 23
Hair Metal has no shortage of greats, and Bon Jovi is no exception. One thing I've loved about their ballads is how much emotion is thrown in to their performance and production, and it definitely shows here. While they've arguably had better ballads such as Never Say Goodbye and Always, we got a great one from this year. Plus, Jon Bon Jovi saying that he'll be there for you no matter what situation you're in and whether or not you're in a relationship is nothing but admirable.
4) Song: You Got It (The Right Stuff)
Artist: New Kids On The Block
Position: 52
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If there's one thing I enjoy, it's when a song is just really cheesy and upbeat, and in the late 80s to early 90s, nobody was cheesier than NKOTB. They had three other singles chart in this year (Cover Girl, I'll Be Loving You (Forever), & Hangin' Tough), but the reason I chose You Got It (The Right Stuff) is it just the cheesiest, most upbeat and most of all memorable song of all the songs that they had chart in 1989. Plus, there's kind of some sentiment behind it because it was the second ever New Kids song I heard, the first being Step By Step. So I approve.
3) Song: Bust A Move
Artist: Young MC
Position: 42
If you say this song doesn't wanna make you do what the title suggests, you are lying through your teeth. Seriously, if disco died in the early 80s, then this track came along posthumously. Young MC provides some solid rhymes with an overall funky production behind him and it's just a really fun dance track that I can get down to.
2) Song: Smooth Criminal
Artist: Michael Jackson
Position: 93
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFvENQBc-F8
Of course a Michael Jackson song would appear on this list. I still really question how this song ended up so low, though. Really music listening public of 1989? You wanted to hear the boring Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley over THIS AWESOME TUNE?!?!?!?!? Anyways, I don't know if I'll be in the minority when I say this, but I actually prefer this to the Alien Ant Farm cover. Don't get me wrong, they're both great, but I prefer how much more swagger Jackson injects in to this song rather than AAF pumping it up like it's on steroids. This song is to me as Funky Town is to Todd In The Shadows. The original is just that much better. So who kept MJ off the top spot? You're about to find out.
1) Song: Welcome To The Jungle
Artist: Guns 'N Roses
Position: 74
Of all the bands that came out of the hard rock genre, none of them are more quintessential in my eyes than Guns 'N Roses. Seriously, almost every single song they put out just absolutely rocks, and of all the songs to come out in 1989, none of them rocked harder than Welcome To The Jungle. Everything about this song just works perfectly, from Axl Rose's energetic vocals, the rocking instrumentation, the bongo breakdown towards the end to give the song a real feeling to the listener to make it seem like they're actually in the jungle, and just about everything else. I can't think of a better song to come out of the year, and it's definitely the best. Stay awesome, G'NR.
What about Poison and Straight Up?
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