Another music list

I've seen this in a lot of places; what you do is grab the Top 100 pop music songs of the year you graduated high school from this site and do the following:

a) bold the songs you like;
b) strike the ones you hate;
c) underline your favorite(s);
d) and ignore the ones you don't remember/don't care about.

Well, OK, then. Luckily, Sean graduated the same year that I did (1989), so I can just crib the master list from him.

One problem I run into with things like this is that I have an awful memory when it comes to songs and song titles. I don't know how many times someone's mentioned some song to me in casual conversation, to which I have to respond that I haven't a clue, only to later hear that very song and realize that I know it quite well but just never knew its name. So some of the songs I ignore here, I probably know (and likely hate, given that I remember pop music in 1989 mostly succumbing to some kind of inherent desire to demonstrate that Ted Sturgeon was lowballing it when he coined his famous Law). Anyway, the list:

1. Look Away, Chicago (Don't remember it, but I don't recall ever liking a Chicago song, ever.)
2. My Prerogative, Bobby Brown
3. Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Poison (I learned a few weeks ago that Poison is still performing. Jee-bus.)
4. Straight Up, Paula Abdul
5. Miss You Much, Janet Jackson
6. Cold Hearted, Paula Abdul
7. Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler (Treacle. And so was the movie Beaches, which is where I heard this.)
8. Girl You Know Its True, Milli Vanilli (Bwwaaa-haaa-hahahaha!)
9. Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird, Will To Power
10. Giving You The Best That I Got, Anita Baker
11. Right Here Waiting, Richard Marx (Soft spot here. This was the song for the first time I ever asked a girl to dance. Strictly platonic, since she had a boyfriend, but still, a nice memory. Now I wonder whatever happened to her.)
12. Waiting For A Star To Fall, Boy Meets Girl
13. Lost In Your Eyes, Debbie Gibson (If it's the song I'm thinking of, it sucked. And if it wasn't, it probably still sucked.)
14. Don't Wanna Lose You, Gloria Estefan
15. Heaven, Warrant (The final death-throes of the 80s hair bands, right there. Yeesh.)
16. Girl I'm Gonna Miss You, Milli Vanilli
17. The Look, Roxette 18. She Drives Me Crazy, Fine Young Cannibals
19. On Our Own, Bobby Brown
20. Two Hearts, Phil Collins (Not my favorite Phil Collins tune, but OK.)
21. Blame It On The Rain, Milli Vanilli
22. Listen To Your Heart, Roxette
23. I'll Be There For You, Bon Jovi (Just OK, really.)
24. If You Don't Know Me By Now, Simply Red
25. Like A Prayer, Madonna (I still love this song. The stigmata in the video was a bit much, though.)
26. I'll Be Loving You (Forever), New Kids On The Block (Did these guys really happen?! I see they have a few other entries; just assume they're struck through.)
27. How Can I Fall?, Breathe
28. Baby Don't Forget My Number, Milli Vanilli
29. Toy Solider, Martika
30. Forever Your Girl, Paula Abdul
31. The Living Years, Mike and the Mechanics
32. Eternal Flame, The Bangles
33. Wild Thing, Tone Loc
34. When I See You Smile, Bad English
35. If I Could Turn Back Time, Cher
36. Buffalo Stance, Neneh Cherry
37. When I'm With You, Sheriff
38. Don't Rush Me, Taylor Dayne
39. Born To Be My Baby, Bon Jovi
40. Good Thing, Fine Young Cannibals
41. The Lover In Me, Sheena Easton
42. Bust A Move, Young M.C.
43. Once Bitten, Twice Shy, Great White
44. Batdance, Prince (Ewwwwww! God, I hated this thing. And in summer of 1989, you couldn't escape it.)
45. Rock On, Michael Damian
46. Real Love, Jody Watley
47. Love Shack, B-52's (Don't really know why. It just bugs me.)
48. Every Little Step, Bobby Brown
49. Hangin' Tough, New Kids On The Block
50. My Heart Can't Tell You No, Rod Stewart
51. So Alive, Love and Rockets
52. You Got It (The Right Stuff), New Kids On The Block
53. Armageddon It, Def Leppard
54. Satisfied, Richard Marx
55. Express Yourself, Madonna (Whatever happened to Madonna, anyway? The one who did great stuff way back when?)
56. I Like It, Dino
57. Soldier Of Love, Donny Osmond
58. Sowing The Seeds Of Love, Tears For Fears (Wow. I've just now, this second as I'm doing this list, learning that Tears For Fears actually did something after "Shout". Who'da thunk it!)
59. Cherish, Madonna (Actually, I don't remember this one. But I liked everything else Madonna did around then, so here it is.)
60. When The Children Cry, White Lion
61. 18 And Life, Skid Row
62. I Don't Want Your Love, Duran Duran
63. Second Chances, .38 Special
64. The Way You Love Me, Karyn White
65. Funky Cold Medina, Tone Loc
66. In Your Room, Bangles
67. Miss You Like Crazy, Natalie Cole
68. Love Song, Cure
69. Secret Rendezvous, Karyn White
70. Angel Eyes, Jeff Healey Band
71. Patience, Guns N' Roses (Ugh. The Summer of Axl Rose.)
72. Walk On Water, Eddie Money
73. Cover Girl, New Kids On The Block
74. Welcome To The Jungle, Guns N' Roses (Is this the song that's at the end of the movie version of Interview with the Vampire? It worked very well in that context. But I still hate Axl's voice enough that it turns me off every GNR song.)
75. Shower Me With Your Love, Surface
76. Stand, R.E.M.
77. Close My Eyes Forever, Lita Ford (Wow! I haven't thought about Lita Ford in years!)
78. All This Time, Tiffany (Wow! I haven't thought about Tiffany in years!)
79. After All, Cher and Peter Cetera
80. Roni, Bobby Brown
81. Love In An Elevator, Aerosmith
82. Lay Your Hands On Me, Bon Jovi (I liked Bon Jovi at first, then I hated them for a while, and then I started warming to them again.)
83. The Promise, When In Rome
84. What I Am, Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians
85. I Remember Holding You, Boys Club
86. Paradise City, Guns N' Roses
87. I Wanna Have Some Fun, Samantha Fox
88. She Wants To Dance With Me, Rick Astley
89. Dreamin', Vanessa Williams
90. It's No Crime, Babyface
91. Poison, Alice Cooper
92. This Time I Know It's For Real, Donna Summer (I didn't know Donna Summer was still doing anything of note in 1989. I liked "Last Dance" from about ten years before, though.)
93. Smooth Criminal, Michael Jackson
94. Heaven Help Me, Deon Estus
95. Rock Wit'cha, Bobby Brown
96. Thinking Of You, Sa-fire
97. What You Don't Know, Expose
98. Surrender To Me, Ann Wilson and Robin Zander
99. The End Of The Innocence, Don Henley (Well, it's more "meh" than something I really like, but it doesn't make me reach for the radio dial.)
100. Keep On Movin', Soul II Soul

Wow. Thinking back, 1989 really sucked for pop music. The hair-metal bands were pretty much done, while alt-rock and grunge had yet to really fire up. It's a good thing that in 1989 I was pretty much focusing exclusively on classical music. (My discovery of Celtic Music was still a year away -- that was in summer 1990.)

(And say, did anyone ever track down the artists who actually performed the songs that Milli-Vanilli lipsynched? It seems to me that they should have received some credit, if everyone thought M-V was good before the reality was revealed.)