Pop Top 40: Hot 100 week ending 10/10/87

Better than you may remember -- definitely better than I remember!

[this week, last week, title, artist, weeks on chart, peak-to-date]
1 2 HERE I GO AGAIN –•– Whitesnake – 15 (1) — Undeniable. David Coverdale is one of the great voices of ’80s metal. Avoid the awful “US remix,” drenched in synths, and stick with the original album version. [Also: the most glorious hair in all of hair metal. Do I want to be the Tawny Kitaen (RIP) to 1987 Coverdale? You bet your ass I do.]
2 3 LOST IN EMOTION –•– Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam – 11 (2) — 1985’s Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force was, by and large, freestyle magic, the sound of Nuyorican NYC, mixing dance music and pop with hip-hop, fronted Puerto Rican babydiva Lisa Lisa. “I Wonder If I Take You Home” and “Can You Feel the Beat” are all-time freestyle classics, credit largely due to Full Force. So then why did 1987’s Spanish Fly, with all of the same folks involved, fall so flat? I suspect it’s because their goal was to go for a full-on pop chart assault, which to be fair was a success. They ruled late summer/early fall ‘87 with a pair of #1s, “Head to Toe” and this, which would hit the top the following week. “Lost” is painfully limp pop, barely even dance-pop, and it makes me sad.
3 5 CARRIE –•– Europe – 11 (3) — These hunks of Swedish cheese are of course much more well-known for the title track from The Final Countdown, but in the US, the album’s third single was actually their biggest smash, a schmaltzy, blowsy power ballad. Lead singer Joey Tempest doesn’t so much sing as he belts like he’s on a Broadway stage without a microphone, playing to the cheap seats. [That’s not an insult. Also: that glorious hair!]
4 4 I HEARD A RUMOUR –•– Bananarama – 13 (4) — The. Best. Stock/Aitken/Waterman. Single. Ever. The production on this throbs and percolates like the greatest Giorgio Moroder work, and the record just oozes joy.
5 6 U GOT THE LOOK –•– Prince – 11 (5) — As I said when TSJ honored Prince upon his death in 2016, “Well, when Sheena Easton says “Let’s get 2 rammin’,” what else is there to do?” One of his greatest singles ever.
6 1 DIDN’T WE ALMOST HAVE IT ALL –•– Whitney Houston – 11 (1) — Whitney did good ballads and great ballads and bad ballads, and this falls into the last category, a slice of AC bullshit that was beneath her, even though she occasionally had a predilection for it. In this case, blame co-writer and producer Michael Masser, who can’t not do this shit. And weep for the fact that the album’s second single was originally slated to be her lovely cover of the Isleys’ “For the Love of You,” produced by Narada Michael Walden like his work on “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” at half-speed, and featuring perfect, unobtrusive sax work from Arista labelmate Kenny G. (That said, “For the Love” would’ve undoubtedly a) been a huge R&B smash b) broken her streak of pop #1s. And since Clive Davis was going hard pop with the Whitney album, there’s your answer.)
7 7 WHO WILL YOU RUN TO –•– Heart – 9 (7) — After the mondo success of 1985’s self-titled comeback — #1 album, four top 10 singles including the #1 “These Dreams” — 1987’s Bad Animals was more of the same from Heart, only with somewhat diminishing returns, the album “only” hitting #2 and spinning off a pair of top 10s. But one of those was the forever “Alone,” and its followup, here at its peak, is agreeably crunchy and rockin’, especially considering it came from Diane Warren’s pen. Their next single, the marvelous “There’s the Girl,” peaked at #12 and is my personal Heart favorite.
8 16 BAD –•– Michael Jackson – 4 (8) — All sharp elbows and hard angles, this is what I think about when I think about Bad, and I love it. Michael was attempting to be more “adult” (see also “Dirty Diana,” or better yet don’t) on this album, and largely succeeded — but at a cost. He was much, for lack of a better word, cuddlier on Thriller, and that mattered to plenty of music fans. So while I consider Bad close to an equal of Thriller, I can see why it didn’t have the same impact. That said, thanks to many factors (coughcoughpayolacoughcough), it still spun off 5 #1 singles, and that’s not too damn shabby.
9 9 PAPER IN FIRE –•– John Cougar Mellencamp – 9 (9) — So Imperial was JCM in ’87, he cranked out two top 10 singles from an album that would today be considered straight up Americana. The predominant instrument on “Paper in Fire” is a fiddle, for chrissake! He was firing on all cylinders at the time, and this song, like much of its parent album The Lonesome Jubilee (3x platinum! His last multi-platinum record in the US), is fairly impeccable.
10 11 CASANOVA –•– Levert – 9 (10) — The first, and sadly only, time that mainstream pop audiences met Gerald Levert and his buddies, “Casanova” (on its way to #5 pop) was the second of five R&B #1s and 12 top 10s overall for this killer trio. And while of course their main attraction was Gerald’s voice — which I’ll argue is even better than that of his father, the O’Jays’ Eddie Levert — don’t forget that their songs were, by and large, bangin’. And with G in the driver’s seat, they could pull off sexy balladry and club jams with equal ease. “Casanova” is still a classic, and still sounds great on the radio, crisp and clean ’80s R&B at its finest.

11 14 CAUSING A COMMOTION –•– Madonna – 5 (11) — So here we have, in the top 11, the decade’s three biggest superstars: Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna. And two weeks later, we’d get something quite incredible, as for the only time in the decade — or ever — they’d occupy the entire top 3: 

That’s always struck me as one of the great unsung chart weeks of the ’80s, frankly. As for the single itself, it’s one of Madonna’s finest #2 singles (of which she’s had six, in addition to her 12 #1s!), and also one of her best second singles. As Alfred and I have discussed more than once, her second singles were often better than most artists’ first singles from albums — and not only is this a great single, it wallops all over its predecessor, the all too slight “Who’s That Girl.” Whereas she wrote and produced that #1 with Patrick Leonard, “Commotion” bears the imprimatur of her old pal Stephen Bray, and sounds like it: play this back-to-back with Breakfast Club’s “Right on Track” and tell me you disagree. There’s an urgency and a punch here that “Girl” sorely lacks.
12 15 LET ME BE THE ONE –•– Expose – 9 (12) — Commercially speaking, Expose were the queens of freestyle. Their debut album Exposure spawned four top 10 pop singles across 1987 — and their sole chart-topper was the fourth, the ballad “Seasons Change.” This, on its way to a #7 peak, was the third single from the album, following a pair of #5s, and Lewis Martinee’s production on it is absolutely masterful. There’s a reason Pet Shop Boys had him produce “Domino Dancing,” folks. Pretty much every uptempo — and even midtempo, like this one — Expose single jams, and this is no exception. Perfect freestyle pop.
13 13 JUMP START –•– Natalie Cole – 12 (13) — Until 1987, Cole’s last top 40 pop hit dated back to 1980, and her last visit to the top 20 was a full decade in her rear view mirror. So for 1987’s comeback bid Everlasting, she hooked up with the Calloway brothers, ex of Midnight Star, who’d written machine-funk hits for the likes of Klymaxx, Teddy Pendergrass, and Levert (#10 above); the Calloways would go on to have their own hit as Calloway three years later with “I Wanna Be Rich.” And it worked! Not only did Cole earn a trio of R&B top 10s from the album (including this one, which made it to #2), but for the first time ever, she earned as many pop hits from one album, with a pair of #13s including this, and her #5 cover of Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac.” I like this one quite a bit, as it features some tough production and a well-matched vocal from Cole: she clearly knew what was on the line here, and went all the way for it.
14 10 ONE HEARTBEAT –•– Smokey Robinson – 13 (10) — Unpleasant adult contemporary ooze from a guy who, for all his brilliance, has never known better.
15 21 I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW –•– Tiffany – 7 (15) — I’ve never cared for Tommy James and the Shondells, except for “Crimson & Clover.” Most of their catalog has been improved upon by its covers, including this one — but just because this mall-trash cover is better than the original doesn’t actually mean it’s any good.
16 19 LITTLE LIES –•– Fleetwood Mac – 7 (16) — The sad truth is that, on Tango in the Night, Stevie Nicks’ contributions are largely crap. Blame the cocaine. But you know whose are great? Christine McVie’s. And of the four US top 20 hits off the album, one was Lindsey’s, one was Stevie’s, but two — this and “Everywhere” — were Christine’s, and “Little Lies” was the album’s biggest hit overall, climbing to #4. Lindsey does a superb job arranging his and Stevie’s backing vocals to best complement Christine’s lead, but none of it matters if not for McVie’s superlative song. [The single best track on Tango is McVie’s deep cut “Isn’t It Midnight.”]
17 24 MONY MONY –•– Billy Idol – 6 (17) — Oh, fuck off, Billy. You’re smarter, if not better, than this. At least I thought you were.
18 26 BREAKOUT –•– Swing Out Sister – 9 (18) — Peak, ace Sophisti-Pop, even if personally I’ll take follow-up single “Twilight World” over this one. [And about Sophisti-Pop, I recently had this to say:]

19 23 YOU ARE THE GIRL –•– The Cars – 7 (19) — This was the era of AOR titans going down dubious roads (#7, #22, etc.), and the Cars were no exception. “You Are the Girl” is limp soft pop with none of the spark nor energy of their earlier work.
20 8 WHEN SMOKEY SINGS –•– ABC – 15 (5) — Yeah, it sparkles, sure, fine, but that doesn’t mean I wanna hear this, nowhere near The Lexicon of Love — and ironic that Smokey himself is in this same countdown, not making anyone excited except perhaps his accountants.

21 30 IT’S A SIN –•– Pet Shop Boys – 6 (21) — Of course the throbbing, pulsating first single from the Pets’ sophomore album went straight to #1 in the UK — but delightfully, it also ascended all the way to #9 in the US. (Its follow-up, the classic Dusty Springfield duet “What Have I Done To Deserve This,” would do even better, making it all the way to #2.) Actually saw Neil and Chris go full-on Imperial Phase, which makes sense, as they were without question the most exciting, thrilling pop act of the back half of the ’80s. There are some truly great singles in this chart, like “U Got the Look” and “Fake,” all-time classics both of them. But absolutely fucking nothing in this top 40 can touch “It’s A Sin.” Nothing.
22 29 IN MY DREAMS –•– REO Speedwagon – 13 (22) — One of the last gasps of Illinois’s other, non-Styx late ’70s/early ’80s AOR titans, 1987’s Life As We Know It saw Kevin Cronin and company working with song doctors like Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, the latter of whom co-wrote this steaming pile of studio wussiness with Cronin, akin to their contemporaries Heart and Starship. With even lesser results, which you didn’t think was possible.
23 12 I JUST CAN’T STOP LOVING YOU –•– Michael Jackson & Siedah Garrett – 10 (1) — Just as he did with Thriller, MJ released a duet ballad as the first single from Bad. Unlike with “The Girl Is Mine,” which got stuck at #2, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” hit #1. But really, Jackson could’ve released a cover of John Cage’s “4’33″” as the album’s first single and it would’ve hit #1, so hungry was the public for anything from him — this was Thriller’s follow-up! I’m a “Just Can’t Stop” defender: I think the song itself, written solely by Jackson, is lovely, and both his and Garrett’s vocals are just perfect for the recording. It’s sweet, tender, and explodes (politely) into a great chorus.
24 35 WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME –•– U2 – 5 (24) — “I think we’re bein’ shut down!” I am utterly incapable of hearing this song without saying that, uttered by Bono during the song’s brilliant, real-time-L.A.-traffic-nightmare video. My favorite of The Joshua Tree‘s singles, this hit #13 on the heels of back-to-back #1s which catapulted them to global superstardom, from which they’ve never recovered. Oh, and look who’s next door…
25 20 LA BAMBA –•– Los Lobos – 16 (1) — …it’s the opening act from the Fall ’87 US leg of the Joshua Tree tour! Said concert, in Indianapolis, was my first-ever secular show, to which a plane mishap made Los Lobos, hot off the heels of their incredibly fluky #1 Richie Valens cover, late. So U2 came on in disguise as a country band and played a mini-set (four songs, I think?), including Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” I remember nothing of Los Lobos’s performance.
26 18 WIPE OUT –•– Fat Boys & Beach Boys – 14 (12) — No. Just no. Never.
27 17 TOUCH OF GREY –•– Grateful Dead – 12 (9) — Words cannot properly express my loathing of the Grateful Dead. I hated this then, I hate it now. Were they fine musicians? Undoubtedly. Did they ever create anything I want to hear? Not really, except maybe “Truckin’.”
28 36 DON’T MAKE ME WAIT FOR LOVE –•– Kenny G – 7 (28) — Here’s a fun fact: you likely think that “Songbird” was Kenny G’s first pop top 40 single, because everyone thinks it was his first pop top 40 single. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t even the first single from his breakout album, 1986’s Duotones — it was the album’s third single. After working with Kashif on his second and third albums (1983’s G Force and 1985’s Gravity) and getting some R&B traction with them as what we now know as Smooth Jazz was starting to really grow commercially, Kenny G collaborated with Narada Michael Walden and his buddy Preston Glass on Duotones, and that was the magic he apparently needed. Its first single was this original, sung by Tower of Power’s Lenny Williams, which made it to both the pop and R&B top 20 and all the way to #2 AC. It’s a lovely little composition well sung by Williams and played even better by G; I especially like his vamping over the song’s final minute-plus. The follow-up was a cover of the 1969 Jr. Walker & the All-Stars smash “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love),” which was another top 20 R&B record but didn’t chart anywhere else. Only then was “Songbird” unleashed on the world; it hit #4 pop and #3 AC, Duotones was eventually certified 5x platinum, and the rest, as they say, is history for the former member of the Jeff Lorber Fusion, the Seattleite with the big frizzy hair and gorgeous soprano sax tone. [I just read his memoir Life in the Key of G, and if you’ve any interest in him, I highly recommend it. An easy, yet insightful read, especially about his music-making process.]
29 34 SOMETHING REAL (INSIDE ME/INSIDE YOU) –•– Mr. Mister – 8 (29) — This practically sounds like Wang Chung with Richard Page on vocals, which is definitely an improvement over Mr. Mister.
30 40 BRILLIANT DISGUISE –•– Bruce Springsteen – 2 (30) — After becoming the biggest name in North American rock & roll with 1984’s Born in the U.S.A., what does the Boss do? He releases a box set covering a decade of live performances with the E Street Band, and then goes quiet for a bit, returning with a solo, downbeat, divorce album: not only had his marriage collapsed, he’d decided to break up the (E Street) band. So what we got on Tunnel of Love is a dozen songs, written solely by Springsteen and largely played solely by him, too. It would’ve been shocking if the album had been a commercial dud, and it wasn’t, with this lead single making it to #5; a further two singles hit the top 15. Max Weinberg’s drumbeat gives this a slightly ’50s feel, in spite of the mid-’80s production gloss — not that there’s anything wrong with gloss. The song is one of the Boss’s finest, a brutal breakup ballad played at midtempo; for my money, Tunnel is his best album, too.

31 22 CAN’T WE TRY –•– Dan Hill & Vonda Shepard – 19 (6) — Almost a decade prior to her brief brush with fame due to Ally McBeal, Shepard was on a dire duet with Mr. “Sometimes When We Touch.” Sometimes people get what they truly deserve.
32 27 FAKE –•– Alexander O’Neal – 12 (25) — I’ve said for years, decades actually, that O’Neal’s Hearsay is the finest R&B album of the 1980s not recorded by Prince. Instead, it was recorded by the Time’s original lead singer in concert with two former members, Jimmy “Jam” Harris and Terry Lewis. This is state-of-the-fucking-art R&B made by three men who knew just what they were doing. Jam & Lewis took the lessons they learned making Control and trumped it here, working with the finest singer they’d ever work with. “Fake” is perfection.
33 32 VICTIM OF LOVE –•– Bryan Adams – 8 (32) — His saddest ’80s single — emotionally, not critically. It’s a genuine downer, so perversely, I love it; it’s my favorite of his, besides the Tina Turner duet “It’s Only Love.” And knowing now what would come after, goddamn I wish this had killed his career.
34 38 I’VE BEEN IN LOVE BEFORE –•– Cutting Crew – 6 (34) — Sure, this British dorks weren’t very good, but I’ll take this #9-bound, weirdly strummy number over their overbaked #1 — to say nothing of “One for the Mockingbird.” (Really, please, say nothing of it.) A #2 AC record! The bridge is kinda pretty, even with that oddly misplaced guitar solo.
35 54 (I’VE HAD) THE TIME OF MY LIFE –•– Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes – 3 (35) — At the time I despised this and the entire Dirty Dancing phenomenon. I still think the film is insipid, and don’t like anything else on its soundtrack, but I’ve softened a bit on its lead single. This not only went to #1 but won both the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Original Song — and one of its co-writers was Franke Previte, he of early ’80s three-hit wonders Franke & the Knockouts, best known for their 1981 #10 hit “Sweetheart,” much beloved by, well, me. I’ve never been a fan of Medley’s voice, whether with the Righteous Brothers or solo, but I’m a big Jennifer Warnes stan, so I’ll never begrudge her a #1 single. (Of which she’s had two, both duets with older men from huge films. Weird.)
36 42 HOLIDAY –•– The Other Ones – 11 (36) — This sounds like an ad agency’s idea of what “the kids” were listening to in 1987.
37 31 ONLY IN MY DREAMS –•– Debbie Gibson – 23 (4) — Sure, it’s a bit thin, but all pure pop should be this ebullient. Sung like only a teenager can sing it, and you’d better believe that that’s a compliment.
38 25 DOING IT ALL FOR MY BABY –•– Huey Lewis & The News – 13 (6) — If this is all you’re doing for her, Huey, I don’t think it even matters how big your cock is — she’s not sticking around.
39 43 NOTORIOUS –•– Loverboy – 8 (39) — One notch away from its #38 peak, Loverboy’s ninth and final top 40 single desperately wants to have it both ways, opening with waves of synthesizers, but also mixing in a harmonica for that “barroom” affectation. It’s also absurdly fast: 157bpm! Sadly for them, it’s the sound of a band past their prime who’ve run out of things to say, or ways to say them. But hey, in only 23 years they’d be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame!
40 56 HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH –•– Belinda Carlisle – 3 (40) — Undeniable.

[Originally written in 2017.]