Sorry about being a day late.
Before we finish our 1989 business, let's go back to September 5, 1981.
Diana Ross and Lionel Richie were on top with "Endless Love." The remainder of the sTop Ten included "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, "Urgent," "Queen of Hearts," and "Jessie's Girl."...First newcomer we come across is at #20, "Feels So Right," the first pop hit by country band Alabama. Nice little mood-setting ballad...At #21 we find Ray Parker Jr.'s final hit with Raydio, an indistinct track about being reminded of a past love by "That Old Song."...Teen singer Stacy Lattisaw cracked the Top 40 for a second time with this week's #26, a cover of The Moments' 1970 heartbreak hit "Love on a Two-Way Street."...The #35 spot is held down by Brit Robbie Patton, who sounds somewhat like Rick Springfield on the okay pop-rocker "Don't Give it Up."...And Texas rockers Point Blank made their only pop impression by peaking at #39 with a midtempo bit of advice to a woman named "Nicole."...But this week, the 80s spotlight shines down upon...
34 - "It's Now or Never," John Schneider
Based on the 1898 Italian song "O Sole Mio," this was originally a #1 hit for Elvis in 1960. Twenty-one years later, who should bring it back to the charts but Bo Duke, scourge of Hazzard County Sherriff Rosco P. Coltrane. Schneider's hardly The King, but he does okay, and although he never hit the pop Top 40 again, he would have a decent country career, picking up four #1s. Yee-haw.
And now, wrapping up '89.
20 - "Cherish," Madonna
19 - "One," The Bee Gees
18 - "I Like It," Dino
17 - "Once Bitten, Twice Shy," Great White
16 - "Sacred Emotion," Donny Osmond
The second half opens with Madonna, whose string of hits continued with this sprightly, retroish pop ode to true love. Very good, and much better than that Association song. I never liked those guys, in case you haven't heard.
The eighties had been a rough decade for The Brothers Gibb. After dominating the latter half of the 70s, they'd only had two U.S. Top 40s, and neither had gotten higher than #24. But just as the decade was coming to a close, they scored an out-of-nowhere Top Ten with a light bit of danceable, romantic synthpop. It's a decent song, Barry's in fine voice, and I'm happy they managed a bit of a renaissance. But honestly, I prefer their 1987 U.K. #1 "You Win Again." I'm still puzzled as to why that didn't catch on on this side of the Atlantic.
Next is the first Top 40 hit by singer/DJ Dean Esposito. Not much interesting about it, just standard 1989 dance-pop. It was a Top Ten, though, so good for him, I guess.
Then it's Great White, who were on the less-glam side of hair metal (no makeup or heavy hairspray). Their only hit was this cover of a 1975 U.K. hit by Ian Hunter, a tale of debauchery on the road. It's a decent song, but unfortunately, it's been overshadowed by the 2003 concert they played at a Rhode Island nightclub that ended in a fire that killed 100 people. And yes, I do blame the band, at least partially. Was it that important to have pyro for a small club show? Honestly, I don't think anyone would have asked for their money back if they hadn't had any. My feeling is that they wanted it so they could feel like they were still the arena-fillers they used to be. Maybe I'm being harsh, but the least I can say is, it turned out to be a tragically terrible idea.
This section is closed out by none other than Donald Clark Osmond, who earlier in the year had scored his first pop hit in thirteen years with the dance trifle "Soldier of Love." His follow-up was this meh ballad about the strength of his love. I do have to say, however, that I like it better than "Soldier of Love." That was awful.
15 - "On Our Own," Bobby Brown
14 - "Keep On Movin'," Soul II Soul
13 - "18 and Life," Skid Row
12 - "Girl, I'm Gonna Miss You," Milli Vanilli
11 - "If I Could Turn Back Time," Cher
This group is led off by Bobby Brown's theme song to the sequel to the 1984 smash film Ghostbusters. I haven't seen it, and Brown's rapped plot summary doesn't make me anxious to do so anytime soon. Definitely not one of his better efforts. They probably should have brought back Ray Parker Jr. to infringe on another copyright.
Next are the British dance collective Soul II Soul with their first American hit, an insistent groover about keeping a postive attitude and going forward. Their second hit, "Back to Life," was bigger, but I like this one much better. It's just simpler and more soulful to me.
Then it's the first pop hit by hair band Skid Row, formed in New Jersey and fronted by Canadian Sebastian Bach. It's a cautionary power ballad about a teenage alcoholic who ends up accidentally shooting and killing one of his friends. For what it is, it's pretty good.
And now, the tale of Milli Vanilli. They were introduced to the world as Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan, two German singers discovered by producer Frank Farian. Debuting in late 1988, they put together an impressive string of five U.S. Top Fives, including three #1s, the second of which being this mediocre pop ballad. Their success resulted in them winning the 1990 Best New Artist Grammy. But even during their run, there were suspicions that Pilatus and Morvan weren't the actual singers on their records, and in late 1990, it was revealed that the d"uo were just a front for other singers their producer didn't think were as marketable. What followed were lawsuits, a rescinding of the Grammy, an unsuccessful album sung by the duo under the name "Rob and Fab," and tragically, Pilatus' 1998 overdose death. One of the sadder and more bizarre tales from the music biz.
Rounding out this quintet is the biggest hit of Cher's late-80s power ballad comeback, an okay Diane Warren-penned song of regret most memorable for its video, which featured her performing clad in a much-too-see-through on a battleship, in front of hundreds of sailors and, most disturbingly, her 12-year-old son. No, I'm not going back to YouTube it. I saw more than enough of it back then.
Kick the Top Ten, G.
10 - "Friends," Jody Watley with Eric B. and Rakim
Watley's fifth Top Ten was this nice little dance number about deceptive allies, greatly enhanced by the countributions of a groundbreaking hip-hop duo. Still, when it comes to songs about this topic in this genre, I prefer TLC's "What About Your Friends."
9 - "The End of the Innocence," Don Henley
The ex-Eagle's last Top Ten was this bitter ballad, featuring co-writer Bruce Hornsby on piano, about the corruption of values and ethics in the era of Reagan (referred to as "this tired old man that we elected king.") Many people thought those were great days, but clearly, those two didn't. I wasn't a fan myself, either.
8 - "Shower Me with Your Love," Surface
The second pop hit by these New York R&Bers, who were co-founded by ex-Isley Brothers guitarist David Townsend, is a simple, gooey ballad. And no dirty jokes, please.
7 - "Secret Rendezvous," Karyn White
This soul divas third hit on her own was about a clandestine meeting with a lover that she expects will last quite a while and will be quite pleasant for both parties. Above average for its genre, and White is a much better rapper than the chick from Seduction.
6 - "Heaven," Warrant
These Hollywood metallers, fronted by an Ohio native born John Kennedy Oswald who later adopted the moniker Jani Lane, had their biggest hit with this well-remembered power ballad about how the right woman makes the struggles of life worthwhile. Didn't like it at the time, but nostalgia had given it a bit of a shine. Unfortunately, Lane died of alcohol poisioning just last year at age 47.
5 - "Angel Eyes," The Jeff Healey Band
This Toronto trio was fronted by Healey, who was blinded by cancer at the age of 1 but became a guitar virtuoso via the unorthodox technique of playing the instrument sitting down with it flat on his lap. The group's only American hit was this tender "how did you fall for a shlub like me" ballad written by singer-songwriter John Hiatt. Nowadays, the band is best remembered for being the entertainment at the bar in the Patrick Swayze film Road House. Sadly, Healey too is dead, felled by cancer in 2008.
4 - "Don't Wanna Lose You," Gloria Estefan
The first single credited to Estefan alone was this nondescript ballad elevated by her pleading performance. She's another one of those singers who's much better than most of the material she sings.
3 - "Hangin' Tough," New Kids on the Block
The Boston boy band's second #1 was this cheeseball of a fake hip-hop track on which the kids claim "We're rough!" No, you weren't. And that's why the tweens of 1989 loved you, the way the tweens of the day love One Direction. You put them in a trance with your funky song.
2 - "Right Here Waiting," Richard Marx
Terrible, maudlin shit by the Marxster. By this time, he had become just awful. Fingernails on a chalkboard to me. Coincidentally (or not), this was his most successful period.
And at #1 23 years ago sat the one and only...
1 - "Cold Hearted," Paula Abdul
After spending most of the decade as a Los Angeles Lakers cheerleader and then one of the hottest choreographers in Hollywood, Abdul launched a singing career with the album Forever Your Girl. The record didn't catch on immediately, but when it did, it became a multi-platinum monster that produced four chart-topping singles, the third of which was this strutting bit of advice to a woman that her man is a lying Lothario who's no good for her. "All the world's a candy store, he's been trick-or-treatin'," Abdul warns. Not a bad little dance-pop trifle. It's between this and "Straight Up" for the title of my favorite from the future "crazy judge" on American Idol.
No more NotCaseys (or NotShadoes, as the case may be). And there was only one LDD: A man (who turned out to be AT40 staffer Rob Durkee, using a different last name so as not to reveal any conflicts-of-interest), dedicated Dionne Warwick's "I'll Never Love This Way Again" to his late father, and all other fathers.
As for my thoughts on Shadoe Stevens, well, his style is much more flashy than Casey's (coining silly metaphors for the chart and doing stuff like referring to his listeners as "muchachos."). I found it jarring after all these weeks of the mighty Case, but I imagine that for its time, it worked. And he grew on me a bit by the end.
Next week: we flip the odometer to 1990.
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