A POLL Bizarre ~~~ It's the ILM 80's R&B TRACKS POLL ~~~ RESULTS THREAD!!!

Welcome to the results of the 1980's R&B tracks poll!
33 people voted for 911 tracks.

Thanks to everyone who voted!

This is what came before:
- Nominations thread
- Voting/campagining thread

whoa it's all happening

249 (TIE). Chic - 26

World's Famous Supreme Team - Hey DJ
184 points, 3 votes

250 is a good number

Bold prediction: Prince vote-splitting splinters his chances of even making the top 10.

I bet most ballots have at least 2 or 3 prince tracks on them

"hey dj" :)))

prince is literally over 10% of my ballot. i figured it was useless to penalize him for being as brilliant as he was even tho i would have liked to fit more artists on my ballot.

the vote-splitting phenom may indeed end up impacting his chances for a top slot tho, which i wouldn't mind. i like when non-obvious tunes threaten for the top on these polls.

I think, despite playing like I'd limit him to the same amount I allotted Stevie in the '70s poll, it was impossible. I think he ended up getting at least a dozen slots, with the side projects.

Even though Prince is one of my 3 favourite artists of all time, I limited him (as well as MJ and Madonna) to just one slot in my ballot. Everyone here already knows all his 80s tunes, and I'm hoping the poll will highlight some lesser known but equally awesome tunes.

I'd be fine if it accurately reflected the greatest tracks from 80s r&b (or close enough)

Anyway, won't there be Youtube links for the tracks in the countdown?

This poll is already off to a great start... At the exact moment I posted the first two results I had a visitor. Let me try that again, now with cover images and Youtube links:

https://img.discogs.com/SFZwhpw6cWYWMbAQZvFwKM1rADI=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2342920-1278320980.jpeg.jpg
249 (TIE). Chic - 26
https://youtu.be/n_Yeu2E87b8
184 points, 3 votes

https://img.discogs.com/53fzihYiMZG3KEl_Jl5P3_azXJ0=/fit-in/592x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-77667-1218132823.jpeg.jpg
249 (TIE). World's Famous Supreme Team - Hey! D.J.
https://youtu.be/Lq1RCMROWDo
184 points, 3 votes

Ahhh, much better.

https://img.discogs.com/pc5s1BehHXTLaoU979TkOIbAm8s=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-591339-1360344724-7320.jpeg.jpg
248. Kashif - I Just Gotta Have You (Lover Turn Me On)
185 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/zSOUNeiTkiE

great start

https://img.discogs.com/c1OAbo2JtqaK8Xv5424GEvjgCZs=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-326111-1266041214.jpeg.jpg
247. Guy - I Like
185 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/671GfElFygI

omg "i like" way too low

jesus christ this poll really was a bloodbath

i am not as familiar with kashif as i should be, glad this poll will fix that somewhat :)

every song is going to be perfect i guess

https://img.discogs.com/aFtmzcMvGKxqm7mPED6vY6hnA2Y=/fit-in/600x593/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1799553-1244127968.jpeg.jpg
246. Sheena Easton - Sugar Walls
189 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/4LS_9nM4bm0

https://img.discogs.com/UDray5-8VTy_Gc0aUIfCrm8Eprg=/fit-in/590x592/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-116802-1219439282.jpeg.jpg
245. Cameo - Single Life
191 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/oRsmpQRbeuM

https://img.discogs.com/lMQ4RGz5E561M7g1X8Vh2ZGZ0r4=/fit-in/599x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-213249-1287608953.jpeg.jpg
244. Diana Ross - Chain Reaction
194 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/UaYHRx9-v2M

https://img.discogs.com/HigRoYrmv-1lbmTG77-OzKdKIpw=/fit-in/350x366/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-307601-1110046845.jpg.jpg
243. Sly Fox - Let's Go All the Way
194 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/bQiGqGMT8i4

ahahaha yesssss

i don't think i even noticed that one in the nominations

1980s 12" record sleeves were fantastic eh

god dammit why didn't I vote in this

https://img.discogs.com/n7o_jYClqsgwUf5zjqUWJAWx6iI=/fit-in/594x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-815894-1356791630-6586.jpeg.jpg
241 (TIE). Imagination - Changes
196 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/wKIjfNIx6LA

https://img.discogs.com/sT5IkuOovDYIMD8-V9QIhGhVc_8=/fit-in/600x610/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-891311-1169806684.jpeg.jpg
241 (TIE). Terence Trent d'Arby - If You Let Me Stay
196 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/hMhEzd9Bsb4

xpost It was a grueling series of decisions to make. You spared yourself some tears.

I do love the Sly Fox track but I have a hard time hearing it as R&B.

https://img.discogs.com/KuYmTTxyY0_JdjcDEsw79mOKXzA=/fit-in/500x492/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-118780-1269874937.jpeg.jpg
240. Stacey Q - Two of Hearts
197 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/lfBdGT4dn4E

2 hearts that beat as one

I don't ultimately think I made room for Stacey Q. Cut 'Shy Girl' in the final culling, iirc. Worthy, though.

"Changes" is, like, my fifth favourite Imagination tune, but it's still perfect, like all the singles from their first two albums. I expect several of them to place yet, "Just an Illusion" might even be a top 10 contender.

https://img.discogs.com/KWuLTQim68WxLWdyQOFfndhVsDY=/fit-in/600x604/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-255893-1295454676.jpeg.jpg
239. Donna Summer - This Time I Know It's for Real
197 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/sJsXrYO9znQ

https://img.discogs.com/cNIitauAEwad5yqiWfhdYVArvlc=/fit-in/600x603/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-80291-1293670282.jpeg.jpg
238. Kurtis Blow - The Breaks
198 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/5ZDUEilS5M4

Rap was, alongside house, the other major genre I had to excise from my ballot so I could trim it down to 100. Though I guess the extended mix of "The Breaks" in particular is pretty close to funk, what with all the extra jamming towards the end.

I voted for "Let's Go All the Way". I always loved it. Saw the video for the first time today, they look as goofy as I imagined.

https://img.discogs.com/yWoh8uMylRgnX4_xSbnVyVAtN24=/fit-in/600x606/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-9086644-1474553864-4869.jpeg.jpg
237. Aretha Franklin - Get It Right
199 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/SsnQXghCpFg

26, Two of Hearts and Sugar Walls all TOO LOW!!

https://img.discogs.com/bZm6ju5JUUHCYY94oZn8Qot0kzU=/fit-in/483x487/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2175411-1268395027.jpeg.jpg
236. Sharon Redd - Beat the Street
200 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/3fW0cf_YcBc

If You Let Me Stay = too low!

https://img.discogs.com/cuzu7zHe4Yx7v5Whv63es8agkhw=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-739107-1469614827-5803.jpeg.jpg
235. Jeffrey Osborne - Stay With Me Tonight
201 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/wCWYZHYIPyE

"get it right" is totally perfect, one of my favorite things luther vandross has ever written

oh and "stay with me tonight" is wayyyyy too low. ac classic

Wtf, I was expecting "Beat the Street" to be in the top 40!? One of the ten best boogie tunes, IMO. Love the evocative tone of Redd's voice, there's something transcendent about it.

i forgot to vote for 'just the two of us' :(

https://img.discogs.com/0TUd8cLNNOza5yGdc0_myC9676M=/fit-in/600x609/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2275598-1429283920-8842.jpeg.jpg
234. Marvin Gaye - Praise
202 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/A0AgZ0mPRjI

"Let's Go All The Way" is one that, as I was nominated it, I paused for a sec to consider whether or not it was properly R&B. I'm glad that four others appeared to agree.

I didn't nom "The Breaks," but it seemed legit enough (even though we discussed early on that we weren't doing rap) that I voted for it.

was nominated

https://img.discogs.com/Hv1FGiA-mxbPZjeQqlLfCY07eYw=/fit-in/600x582/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1694346-1379745906-9668.jpeg.jpg
232 (TIE). Princess - Say I'm Your Number One
202 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/aRK49e1Avmc

https://img.discogs.com/k_JtKWcD1fSb05hs2APD8HcqqEw=/fit-in/509x510/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-5775227-1402318679-5464.jpeg.jpg
232 (TIE). Tracie Spencer - Symptoms of True Love
202 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/iM4JU1CPL7A

https://img.discogs.com/Bp_Ml2xHOLpj9IwPHkK18cJlza4=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1177431-1453029109-8044.jpeg.jpg
231. Bobby Brown - Every Little Step
202 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/P0FKzPfsxA4

Voted for both of them. The Tracie Spencer because of the campaigning thread, Princess is the best thing SAW ever did, just ahead of Mandy Smith's I Just Can't Wait and Mel & Kim's Respectable

Yeah, I also thought "Beat The Street" would be much higher. Such a key track at the time.

(argh! just noticed that, while I nominated "Let's Go All The Way," I actually forgot to vote for it! thanks to the five of you who picked up my slack!)

"every little step" was my highest ranking babyface/reid track, everything they do well done so sweetly and lightly

https://img.discogs.com/zcgGt3T4CBa8Mjq5MuVdkZFcRQQ=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-3218584-1451215706-8356.jpeg.jpg
230. Bobby Womack - If You Think You're Lonely Now
203 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/bRXnRwm-njM

Wtf at "Every Little Step" placing that low?!

wtf at "if you think you're lonely now" placing this low

a lot of my ballot getting cleared out early lol

https://img.discogs.com/NsdJ8TzP7DTGTiwnMmZ8Sq5URl0=/fit-in/600x602/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7141064-1434740522-9094.jpeg.jpg
229. Womack & Womack - Love Wars
205 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/hmda4Ccyz3Q

i love this song so much

Woah, figured that would be top 50 at least.

https://img.discogs.com/aGTN8e2shp4od_HYwy71uWVmcFY=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2555200-1291160844.jpeg.jpg
228. Billy Ocean - Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)
206 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/9f16Fw_K45s

https://img.discogs.com/HclCSa4XOGz_OFKlX-NAlFBMVoE=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-767726-1242817673.jpeg.jpg
227. Whispers - Keep On Lovin' Me
208 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/d6aRvVTSC0I

'Symptoms of True Love' was #4 on my ballot. It's a tragedy that it placed so low, but if its appearance here elevates the profile of that gargantuan track, I'll take it.

Also voted for 'The Breaks'. Feel like Sugar Hill joints were often more a melange of subgenres than straight-up rap.

operation hell on earth, never forget

LOVE WARS an amazing album, all of it.

Kashif too low

https://img.discogs.com/sMorPx5DxZI4LaGHqSKS9sICvgo=/fit-in/600x606/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1495331-1249547981.jpeg.jpg
226. Irene Cara - Flashdance... What a Feeling
208 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/ILWSp0m9G2U

https://img.discogs.com/CA6p4JPbSzinzrwgZFWSxBKjuXE=/fit-in/600x599/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-3430475-1338979687-3199.jpeg.jpg
225. Michael Jackson - Baby Be Mine
209 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/uaV4SSLaTs8

Wish more MJ followed this template...

'BABY BE MINE' TOO LOW! But I was worried about vote splitting wrt that album so I'm glad it's here at all (we probably should've just collectively agreed to give 'the complete '80s works of Prince' and 'the entire Thriller album except 'The Girl is Mine'' the top two spots and worked from there).

Old Lunch otm

https://img.discogs.com/l8NMO3qG6J4bk-4NfLDClmwIBQs=/fit-in/447x444/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-3851307-1346868752-8360.jpeg.jpg
224. Michael Jackson - Thriller
214 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/sOnqjkJTMaA

https://img.discogs.com/9nqaLbvNVioa-70gUbyspic17t8=/fit-in/600x607/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1214249-1201215699.jpeg.jpg
223. George Michael - Careless Whisper
215 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/izGwDsrQ1eQ

Sorry, wrong link:
https://youtu.be/ui_CNb4FUtQ

https://img.discogs.com/MGrUrx3DceMIkh99RtxJN_8D2ts=/fit-in/600x598/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2975070-1454211584-4056.jpeg.jpg
222. Teddy Pendergrass - Love T.K.O.
216 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/rV9VuPkIIv4

Teddy Pendergrass' beard was something else

Always feel like Thriller the song us way underrated

I don't dislike "Thriller," but I always kind of felt it existed mostly to soundtrack the video.

i guess it's appropriate that "love tko" placed this close to "love wars" since they're both womack & womack tunes but still TOO LOW

https://img.discogs.com/DkU6RpUMGsEBV2bNK3E-81WF_uI=/fit-in/600x597/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1725802-1356529275-4514.jpeg.jpg
221. Ray Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters
216 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/Fe93CLbHjxQ

much as busting makes me feel good, too high

crazy low

if this means the six or seven other worthwhile RP Jr. songs outranked it, it's good

Last one for today:

https://img.discogs.com/66FajELmAJt95A-CfAccvoaaAEU=/fit-in/600x580/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7975687-1452769408-6443.jpeg.jpg
220. Michael Jackson - Another Part of Me
217 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/8vwHQNQ88cM

is Teddy's arm in a sling?

wow Princess is way way too low but then i didn't vote so mustn't complain. looking forward to the rest of this.

I'm fairly pleased by the results so far, especially the modest placements of tunes that weren't R&B as I knew it (white suburban teen listening to a "black music" radio station in the wee hours). Six voters ranking "Ghostbusters" as their 64th favorite R&B tune of the 80s (on average), however, calls for reeducation camps.

Lol

if this means the six or seven other worthwhile RP Jr. songs outranked it, it's good

I'm still upset that I didn't nominate Raydio's There's More Than One Way To Love a Woman for the 70s poll. I thought it came out in 80. That's his Stairway To Heaven.

I love 'Ghostbusters' for what it is, but it was never gonna make my ballot.

I wasn’t on the poster, I wasn’t in the trailer. I'm not surprised.

Shit, forgot to nominate Boz Scaggs. Judging by the 70's poll you savages don't care but I felt it needed to be mentioned. JOJO DIG THOSE SPINNING LIGHTS!

https://img.discogs.com/ViOzHxdM6vZwPaqeRFzoqoY5yS0=/fit-in/500x500/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-540570-1139377216.jpeg.jpg
219. George Michael - A Different Corner
217 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/IPWHkK-_a_A

https://img.discogs.com/dR85TWSZy7c4bdHms8Fb159Q02k=/fit-in/600x601/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-527423-1401814331-3918.jpeg.jpg
217 (TIE). Bobby Brown - On Our Own
218 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/DaIZvCDWAcQ

https://img.discogs.com/ZJ3Pak5jioaqQf2HoNZJClyVZpM=/fit-in/500x500/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-56385-1116402563.jpg.jpg
217 (TIE). Jocelyn Brown - Somebody Else's Guy
218 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/MdC2jPPxAwk

https://img.discogs.com/X92imyXqZcWcANWCOtdMGNH9oW8=/fit-in/600x587/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-8435252-1461535496-2701.jpeg.jpg
216. Madonna - Crazy for You
220 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/Zn5OJGucveg

I voted for "Let's Go All the Way". I always loved it. Saw the video for the first time today, they look as goofy as I imagined.

Also voted for it, also loved it, had only seen them once before (on Top of the Pops about 30 years ago), also saw the video for the first time at the weekend....they looked *much* goofier than I imagined

i know nothing about imagination and "changes" is quite something. will def be looking out for more of them.

i do find "thriller" the song underrated myself. i mostly experienced it separately from the video as a young'n and upon finally seeing the video didn't really understand what all the fuss was about (other than that it obviously cost a lot).

i do not consider "ghostbusters" good by any measure. i mean it was cute to see it pop up in the noms but that's about it.

please feel free to throw rotten veggies at me for saying this but i do hope the results are not too overrun by dubious fits recorded by white appreciator-appropriators

like it's good/cool to acknowledge that a lot of music in supposedly different formats of the commercial sector basically were indistinguishable from what r&b's innovators were producing. but to reward it over the people who basically had little choice but to innovate in order to be competitive in the marketplace? :\

anyway time to sleep, will be looking forward to more!

https://img.discogs.com/PLyX8OSMZMFVIfjk5eOysYX6htY=/fit-in/483x480/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-6275441-1416492321-2926.jpeg.jpg
215. Klymaxx - The Men All Pause
221 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/34QVPwRLRKU

Excellent!

"Somebody Else's Guy" is another one I would've expected to place in the top 40! Such a good tune with great lyrics, inspired performance by Brown, awesome sonics... No wonder George Michael sampled that synth riff on "Too Funky".

https://img.discogs.com/EzSycN4jeHlGDTQtfIwIESQY4VE=/fit-in/600x595/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1130732-1194531090.jpeg.jpg
213 (TIE). Hot Chocolate - It Started With a Kiss
221 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/L3pf7o-9OOk

https://img.discogs.com/0uQK2QCWiCp7b58wM2xjujnH7co=/fit-in/600x590/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-98014-1380276194-3823.jpeg.jpg
213 (TIE). Shannon - Give Me Tonight
221 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/6sKeV9VvoYg

"Somebody Else's Guy" is great, but I've exceeded some sort of maximum listening count, so it no longer does anything for me at all.

Because Let The Music Play and Give Me Tonight are basically the same song and that song is one of the greatest dance songs ever made I had to vote for them very high and right next to each other in my ballot, glad this one made it too

https://img.discogs.com/WhoLkh_O9fQGw5qiEkFKQDtglEQ=/fit-in/485x479/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-618368-1242942853.jpeg.jpg
212. Odyssey - (Joy) Know It
222 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/QEqE25Rk61E

https://img.discogs.com/_dvg1PRiHAgFo7DuBdZm61z33ec=/fit-in/600x525/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1151900-1269179985.jpeg.jpg
210 (TIE). Neneh Cherry - Manchild
222 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/OJ9VBMBS3qE

https://img.discogs.com/yoHawjaidVKv2tsQ6kzUz2_1rmg=/fit-in/533x539/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-5182365-1435072304-8012.jpeg.jpg
210 (TIE). Odyssey - Inside Out
222 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/LIXK6u2bHTg

https://img.discogs.com/OnPdzCpXpzwWn0GcTWj2BnULPYw=/fit-in/568x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-254506-1174199071.jpeg.jpg
209. Hall and Oates - Out of Touch
223 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/D00M2KZH1J0

Give Me Tonight and Let the Music Play were the only songs played on Miami stations between 1983 and 1984.

can you blame them

https://img.discogs.com/Wpt6buA28OrxxGnBK5Y5tJ5Xs-8=/fit-in/320x326/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-3104672-1388673255-9213.jpeg.jpg
208. Unlimited Touch - I Hear Music in the Streets
223 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/4beQrxHJI4o

Awesome!

https://img.discogs.com/CgsLuO4NgsPYZ35sToOueSllD6Y=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1427118-1218812869.jpeg.jpg
207. Patrice Rushen - Feels So Real (Won't Let Go)
224 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/j4flWcvUBl4

"Manchild" – the dawn of trip hop.

https://img.discogs.com/e26tIYruTaOBZa54urZwoevmXdk=/fit-in/600x608/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-8217632-1457339884-2418.jpeg.jpg
206. Tom Browne - Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)
224 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/tBWHTVMnut4

https://img.discogs.com/I1EmBLUHGXgKYTHFeGoLap9co_s=/fit-in/600x591/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1902861-1482748981-6017.jpeg.jpg
205. Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do (Without You)
225 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/dcNniKqfXIc

https://img.discogs.com/5mp6Eqgq_JlEtO3hXFmERRrlb_8=/fit-in/600x615/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1173554-1331232539.jpeg.jpg
204. Stephanie Mills - Never Knew Love Like This Before
225 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/FLbC0dRIjX0

https://img.discogs.com/gd4cDwUwojbpChUmHAyfVNDAxWs=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-100027-1261921143.jpeg.jpg
203. Chic - Rebels Are We
226 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/lF4GLd7_LGY

I hope we'll see more Stephanie Mills.

I love this Chic tune – Rodgers' solo!

https://img.discogs.com/7-ptYwwN4Hv2kMyKmK5zIa3ksmQ=/fit-in/600x602/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-416298-1329837764.jpeg.jpg
202. Kool & the Gang - Celebration
226 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/3GwjfUFyY6M

uh

https://img.discogs.com/qEflx6Xi4m3dJ-rpJJxrkfm0L1s=/fit-in/600x586/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-569891-1440257536-3821.jpeg.jpg
201. Prince - I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
227 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/N2bTQXwGusQ

When this thing is all done, can someone please upload a downloadable folder somewhere with all the songs?

Wow, if even the fifth best single from SOTT made it this high, I guess half of the top 40 will be Prince tunes? I hope not, cos that would be boring.

Very possibly. I honestly thought about leaving him off my ballot altogether or only giving him a single vote but I think I ultimately gave him almost 10% of my votes.

I would've felt unclean if I denied 'Batdance' its due, y'know?

Batdance is cool shit, but it has little to do with R&B.

https://img.discogs.com/lKBNubg0quQ04i2bwj0VBfyvSHI=/fit-in/471x480/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-4819723-1376505979-7765.jpeg.jpg
200. D-Train - Keep On
228 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/6IqS3U2GUos

Okay, maybe the "Vicki Vale" section has, but that always felt like Prince tacked a whole different song in the middle of an awesome house track (and later reworked it into "Electric Chair"). Thankfully the remix single does the right thing and separates into two different tracks.

I love "Keep On"!

never heard the Larry Levan mix of "Changes" till this thread

Cool, didn't expect this one to place too! Pretty much all of D-Train's singles (except for that one cover song) follow the formula they came upon with "You're the One for Me", but what a great formula it is!

I was joking about 'Batdance' btw. I don't think any songs that directly reference summer blockbusters made it onto my list.

While I naturally hope that most of the stuff I voted for makes an appearance, I think it's super cool that so much stuff I've never heard or heard of has shown up. So many rad tracks to explore!

never heard the Larry Levan mix of "Changes" till this thread

― sexualing healing (crüt), Tuesday, May 9, 2017

CHAN-GEEESSSS!

lol @ "Celebration" placing so low

I love songs that are such a part of the firmament that it's easy to forget that someone still had to write and record them. Kool & the Gang might as well have written "Happy Birthday."

https://img.discogs.com/mE5uaY7aORUgkjL-WKCmh-4NGmM=/fit-in/600x603/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-423210-1128382857.jpeg.jpg
199. Sheila E. - The Belle of St. Mark
230 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/d43sBOWYOc0

My favorite song on that album.

https://img.discogs.com/CZKjHOLScs7qDpY6vafrK_0mS-g=/fit-in/500x500/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-206644-1139511552.jpeg.jpg
198. Dennis Edwards feat. Siedah Garrett - Don't Look Any Further
231 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/CH3rx8LhrQo

I love songs that are such a part of the firmament that it's easy to forget that someone still had to write and record them. Kool & the Gang might as well have written "Happy Birthday."

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, May 9, 2017 9:02 AM (twenty-nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I was just thinking this yesterday upon hearing one of the songs on my ballot. There was a time when this thing didn't exist, and then someone actually made this happen. And then it became this thing which is difficult to imagine never having existed. Creation, it's a trip, man.

https://img.discogs.com/szqnpGjeR9-97i9wJThX3SG7Kao=/fit-in/542x542/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1415541-1219538116.jpeg.jpg
197. Anita Baker - Caught Up in the Rapture
232 points, 5 votes, 1 number one
https://youtu.be/wYYDaDPmqBs

Rapture is one of the greatest debuts in history.

A lot of people are weirdly dismissive of Anita but I'm very fond of her. I hope to see several appearances in these results!

I voted for "Same Old Love."

https://img.discogs.com/sbEyrPrPcAtuExVVtVR7xti2-HQ=/fit-in/600x586/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-4057498-1464389904-6231.jpeg.jpg
196. Prince - Adore
235 points, 3 votes

https://img.discogs.com/BBr7xdgsqwFEbQEeVsvidAyEEQk=/fit-in/586x607/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1397569-1270807106.jpeg.jpg
195. James Ingram & Michael McDonald - Yah Mo B There
235 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/rBo2Kn8iBxA

who is weirdly dismissive of anita

i'm making an enemies list

Greil Marcus. And me probably. Her vocal mannerisms grate on me. Voted for Sweet Love in spite of that I think.

Greil Marcus' dismissal of Baker offended me so much that I didn't read him for years.

Marcus: I think Anita Baker is ridiculous. Any time you hear somebody bringing back this kind of genteel, effete black music--the same number the Pointer Sisters pulled in the early '70s when they gave concerts with "Black Tie Recommended" printed on the tickets--it's an incident in class politics that has nothing to do with music.

who the hell are you to dictate what music black listeners should appreciate at their appropriate income level?

lol that's gross greil

https://img.discogs.com/sCfP7O3eAUeVraLQrYtZZ7DAFGY=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-109994-1365878706-2791.jpeg.jpg
194. Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation
237 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/OAwaNWGLM0c

Yes, that's precisely what I'm talking about. This weird, seemingly anti-racist but actually very essentially racist notion that black artists who skew towards a smoother, adult contemporary, or more middle-class sound are somehow lacking authenticity. Because don't they know their place? Corinne Bailey-Rae is a more recent example of someone who's been unfairly criticized on those grounds.

Y'all act like Greil Marcus is never gross.

to be fair to Greil that comment he made 30 years ago. Also, he's a gentleman.

(So just out of curiosity...are we planning on doing a '90s R&B poll after this? Because I really need to get a jump start on that ballot, if so.)

https://img.discogs.com/LgbOaGFueJl_9TP9tHb0SoDi3k0=/fit-in/600x611/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-50075-1416862001-8129.jpeg.jpg
193. Peech Boys - Don't Make Me Wait
239 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/yK5V7czvpXE

Adult contemporary is terrible. Not because of politics or class but because aesthetics. A lot of r'n'b dabbles in it and I find a lot of it fascinating and even great but it does make it hard for me.

Not to derail the conversation or thread, but A/C isn't a genre – it's a marketing decision made by radio.

The songs that were locked out of the top 200 are just astonishing. I am absolutely flabbergasted at the songs "Out of Touch" bested.

i am here to celebrate the peech boys

xxp It's definitely a genre. Pop music played as if the 50's never happened and with Broadway as the main reference point.

https://img.discogs.com/arvvbtLg1gif7O2ewZLGJyCI2wA=/fit-in/599x595/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1439832-1248557286.jpeg.jpg
192. The Joubert Singers - Stand on the Word
240 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/KL49mz2IQs4

Rapture is a fabulous album, but hardly her debut. Her first album as a solo artist was 1983's The Songstress.

Xp

I don't know. Eric Weisbard makes a http://pitchfork.com/features/paper-trail/9550-top-40-democracy/">solid case for distinguishing genre from format.

export

xpost

"Stand on the Word" would almost be enough to get be back into church.

i.e. hot squiggly synths that you feel in your taint would be enough to get me back into church

"Stand on the Word" should be in the top 20, wtf is it doing so low?! Shame on you, ILX, I would've expected everyone to include it in their ballots.

I didn't have time to vote in this, but Adore is way too low. Prince was obv the victim of much splitting and his tracks will still prob dominate the top end of the poll, but Adore is his purest genre exercise in 80s R&B--such ear candy

Agreed about Stand on the Word, I guess you can blame the too low-ness of those tracks squarely on me

https://img.discogs.com/s93urCWN_JyLOBnPpyNlUHMFaIM=/fit-in/400x401/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-153650-1307538024.jpeg.jpg
191. LeVert - Casanova
240 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/Obxx6xHKme8

Yeah, I can't even with "Adore" being as low as it is.

Tho it is probably his most prominent deep cut, as it were.

I'd never heard of "Stand on the Word" before

I voted for 5 of the 10 tracks from 191-200, so this is quite the hot streak. Only voted for one Prince song, not sure it will place at all.

"casanova" too low, i'm gonna say

https://img.discogs.com/ROOEmOMe1KBoJ8dZf0ohEDEu2FQ=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-145775-1288992289.jpeg.jpg
190. Janet Jackson - Come Back to Me
243 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/-5ecZWwO_hQ

Kinda bizarre that ranks above "Rhythm Nation," no?

https://img.discogs.com/X6kW1jgiEtZ6uBvyfCiz6NRXAKk=/fit-in/600x592/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2186697-1471194694-1758.png.jpg
189. Paula Abdul - Straight Up
243 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/El1kgCqD7Xk

sexualing healing (crüt) at 6:57 9 May 17

I'd never heard of "Stand on the Word" before

Okay, wow! I'm not saying everyone should've known it, but it *is* one of the cornerstones of 80s dance music, specifically of Larry Levan and the Paradise Garage scene. So much so that it's been mistakenly attributed as having been remixed by him, even though he had nothing to do with it beyond playing it in his sets.

Kinda bizarre that ranks above "Rhythm Nation," no?

― insidious assymetrical weapons (Eric H.), Tuesday, May 9, 2017 11:02 AM (eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

No way! One of my absolute favorite '80s R&B ballads. So lush!

Can't front on any Janet, though. She's probably just behind Prince as my favorite R&B performer of the made-up decade that spans the early-to-mid '80s through the early-to-mid '90s.

"Rhythm Nation" is Janet's "Thriller" in that it feels more like a big production number than an actual song.

That makes sense -- it explains why they're title tracks.

xxp Absolutely. I actually ended up voting for neither, but admittedly they're both amazing.

https://img.discogs.com/06i0VJd7eRrGMKGAh1WIgrShSyc=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-160534-1326957336.jpeg.jpg
188. Nick Straker Band - A Little Bit of Jazz
244 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/yb5osClXQHY

For awhile, I called that my favorite Prelude single of all. I think that's no longer the case, but it's still an amazing boogie.

surprised at how low some of these are placing ;_;

also surprised "a little bit of jazz" has placed above so many of these (altho i love it + voted for it!)

https://img.discogs.com/xOkggRJOAh1V7CdivfsxLKi2kRs=/fit-in/551x557/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-535155-1314832924.jpeg.jpg
187. Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me
246 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/7YvAYIJSSZY

Let's be real: there's well over 300 legitimately great '80s R&B songs. Some very worthy choices were inevitably going to get the shaft. There truly is no justice in the world.

That's cool, though I do prefer DJ Bobo's version.

jesus

this isn't even a song, let alone R&B

x+x+ post

"a little bit of jazz" and all the other great prelude tracks of 80-83 were so ubiquitous in nyc, i've always wondered if madonna has copped to their influence, she would have heard them in clubs and just walking down the street. if you listen to "gonna get over you" by france joli in that context, it really does predict madonna's early singles (to my ears)

Weren't most of Madonna's early singles produced by Jellybean Benitez, who was definitely part of that NYC scene? That might explain the similarity.

Mark Kamins, producer of "Everybody," would have been around too.

"somebody's watching me" definitely should not be higher than a lot of these other classics, but i will rep for it!

coincidentally I finished Tim Lawrence's wearying but essential Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor, 1980-1983 last week.

Were there any '90s artists from the 'Berry Gordy's relatives have to eat, too' subgenre (a la Rockwell and LMFAO)?

https://img.discogs.com/DGYSoJxIYCneL9mKIgg1FHEaWkw=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2232187-1433366436-7229.jpeg.jpg
186. The Jones Girls - Nights Over Egypt
247 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/pzxwZ6wjDAM

Too low!

An amazing song, that one is, so smooth and evocative! And the Tom Moulton mix is even better (but that one wasn't done in the '80s).

coincidentally I finished Tim Lawrence's wearying but essential Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor, 1980-1983 last week.

wearying is right, I'm mean I'm totally obsessed with that scene, was around then and went to many of the clubs mention etc but jesus this book wore me out. more of a data dump than a book!

https://img.discogs.com/VmlRBr3iP9SCydELh--I2HxDqWs=/fit-in/600x613/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-8681722-1466512054-5062.jpeg.jpg
185. Babyface - It's No Crime
249 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/lECDTb2G1hY

I fucking love the beat on this thing. Reminds me of Duran Duran's "I Don't Want Your Love."

yessss love this song

"Stand on the Word" should be in the top 20, wtf is it doing so low?! Shame on you, ILX, I would've expected everyone to include it in their ballots.

― Tuomas, Tuesday, 9 May 2017 15:46 (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

right, lots of things I voted for turning up so obv TOO LOW but this SotW not being top 20 is a shock to me

https://img.discogs.com/ejNbvjl8pjj-Htm0-AM1IFWITs4=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-347649-1278108627.jpeg.jpg
184. K.C. & the Sunshine Band - Give It Up
249 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/IeqtAB1WgEw

Oh. I guess I neglected to vote for 'Give It Up'? Really should have.

... mmm-yeeeeaaaahhh no.

I forgot to vote for it. It's the only KC-sung single I love. Lots of airplay in freestyle-dominated Miami.

https://img.discogs.com/dHieYcexXcVTQfVW0xvqE-_HQtc=/fit-in/500x463/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2174984-1384028679-8065.jpeg.jpg
183. Teena Marie - Lovergirl
251 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/1fyWgjhe_Zg

... mmm-yeeeeaaaahhh no.

Yeah, that one didn't ultimately have the moxie to make my final cut.

I think I would've been more inclined to throw 'Square Biz' a vote over 'Lovergirl' but, alas, my ballot wound up Teena-free.

i don't know a lot of teena's music but among what i know "square biz" is the only one i actually like

https://img.discogs.com/zqMhmR2yRlgYR4QqTtgVmErm-nk=/fit-in/431x426/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1853224-1247932162.jpeg.jpg
181. Alexander O'Neal - If You Were Here Tonight
253 points, 3 votes
https://youtu.be/TIsOQR3NBCQ

too fucking low omg

https://img.discogs.com/J5YH9OFV6mbENaGvnsp33R4Q9qo=/fit-in/600x604/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-5725752-1457459095-9940.jpeg.jpg
180. Jermaine Jackson - Let's Get Serious
253 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/my-Q2UzdxHE

Teena Marie is an acquired taste, especially her self-produced ballads after 1983.

I can't decide which is lovelier: If You Were Tonight or Sunshine

the former but not by much

given what this poll seems to be yielding now i'm gonna go ahead and guess "sunshine" will not make it at all

https://img.discogs.com/QMSygzNC2OvHGdCk3Mc4bBkod_w=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-348643-1390663088-1627.jpeg.jpg
179. Pointer Sisters - Jump (For My Love)
253 points, 7 votes
https://youtu.be/uyTVyCp7xrw

an awesome happy fun jam that i think i voted for

still kinda unthinkable to see it above some of these others tho ;_;

Coulda voted for that, but got the latent "more pop than R&B" voice in my ear

r&b radio often was quite poppy around that time and the pointers straddled that then-narrow gulf w/ ease

everyone should be way more into teena marie than they are

I love Teena, but loathe "Lovergirl."

Ah shot I honestly thought It's No Crime would be right up there, I could listen to it on a loop, never fails to cheer me up

*Ah shit obv. Nights Over Egypt is just aural chocolate too

I love Teena, but loathe "Lovergirl."

― insidious assymetrical weapons (Eric H.), Tuesday, May 9, 2017 11:22 AM (eighteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

couldn't even begin to understand this chain of reasoning

"I need your lovin," "square biz," "behind the groove" ... there are tons of Teena jams that are on another sonic planet from "Lovergirl."

I'm also partial to 'Ooh La La La'.

i'm impartial to that one

ppl were dogging lovergirl in the other thread for sounding briefly like the intro to a tv newscast but i think it's one of her great fake prince jams

i should've nominated "lips to find you," not that anyone else would've voted for it

https://img.discogs.com/hZIJ_j1e5x6tEPEo0PY3bkOij90=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-224118-1366706677-1541.jpeg.jpg
178. Timex Social Club - Rumors
255 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/ADwVvT7-5_0

Good one! Also, possibly the first time I ever heard the word "gay" used That Way.

I never warmed to this song (prefer Club Nouveau's second single) but I don't mind – and I love the art.

Wow, I'd actually never heard this one before, but a what a great tune!

https://img.discogs.com/2H62Dt2Y_KlJ5LrplZxIo6xZ8MI=/fit-in/587x589/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-64024-1172662179.jpeg.jpg
177. Joe Smooth - Promised Land
256 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/V09x2y9MHbA

Incredible tune, there's not much better than deep gospel house! It wasn't in my ballot tho, 'cos I had to cut off all house music to trim it to 100. But if we'll ever do an '80s electronic music poll, I promise to rank it high.

I played my copy of "Promised Land" to a friend last year, without telling her what I was putting on. As soon as the bassline kicked in, she burst into tears.

I wasn't sure whether soulful house was going to mesh with my notions of what constitutes 80s R&B, but in the context of my full long list, it meshed just fine.

https://img.discogs.com/oXiK-9oGHytr3lR9NlYI9t3qAOU=/fit-in/600x592/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1172848-1198148725.jpeg.jpg
176. RAH Band - Clouds Across the Moon
258 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/RVVgOnN_BaM

https://img.discogs.com/P-YvKUuzgxmuvJ0Z7oY1mrm8KqQ=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-61353-1264523609.jpeg.jpg
175. Colonel Abrams - Trapped
259 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/tSNWeXGZMcU

"Lovergirl" is sick wtf

"Rumors" is great but "Why You Treat Me So Bad" is superior in every way

https://img.discogs.com/QMrpOd50EIMPreF8c-b5EQHRXWE=/fit-in/600x603/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-479121-1250376022.jpeg.jpg
174. Michael Jackson - Beat It
259 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/oRdxUFDoQe0

fuckin love "Trapped"

"Rumors" is great but "Why You Treat Me So Bad" is superior in every way

― PJD PDJ DPJ (DJP), Tuesday, May 9, 2017

my man

https://img.discogs.com/j2ZgZScNbLF2lgq2vUP7m6w3zW0=/fit-in/600x608/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1048695-1271505436.jpeg.jpg
173. Tina Turner - What's Love Got to Do With It
260 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/oGpFcHTxjZs

^^^^ Tina Turner is a goddess

I voted for Typical Male but this song is inexorable.

I am mad that my first reaction was "Consolidated is neither R&B nor 80s"

https://img.discogs.com/QhKtNHIT46yX3uUvRNp_7mUr2PQ=/fit-in/336x343/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1080063-1321037853.jpeg.jpg
171 (TIE). Pointer Sisters - He's So Shy
261 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/4CIKNOiajU4

https://img.discogs.com/lXm9svXIWPHjalI-MqVKK45R1Qs=/fit-in/550x550/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-204680-1128608550.jpeg.jpg
171 (TIE). Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
261 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/eH3giaIzONA

ahhh "He's So Shy" -- one of my songs influenced by "What a Fool Believes."

Clouds Across the Moon is such a gorgeous oddity

https://img.discogs.com/RGue-rMJsz6bpdN9TvwmMP0cQh4=/fit-in/600x607/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1554931-1228046317.jpeg.jpg
170. Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror
269 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/PivWY9wn5ps

Clouds Across the Moon is such a gorgeous oddity

― i know kore-eda (or something)

Yeah, Clouds Across the Moon is so great. It's such an incredibly sad story and vocal performance. I was playing it obsessively this time last year.

I played my copy of "Promised Land" to a friend last year, without telling her what I was putting on. As soon as the bassline kicked in, she burst into tears.

^^I did the same when Derrick May dropped it at Bugged Out around 15 years ago

"promised land" is perfect. i cut it of course

"i wanna dance with somebody" being this low is encouraging

Clouds Across the Moon is an incredible tune; airy, sad, pretty, groovy, all in one otherworldly melange. The album it's from is pretty great too, though obviously nothing on it else can quite touch Clouds...

https://img.discogs.com/0js78n22cqgbNXYxJk4t-qnx0TI=/fit-in/594x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-5805920-1403177905-5732.jpeg.jpg
169. Fonda Rae - Touch Me (All Night Long) aka Tuch Me
269 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/-a4LaNhtePk

too low

i'm on a plane, someone link to the dance scene from nightmare 2

I can't decide whether I like this version as much as Cathy Dennis'.

PJD PDJ DPJ (DJP) at 12:29 10 May 17

I am mad that my first reaction was "Consolidated is neither R&B nor 80s"

There's a Grace Jones cover version of that Consolidated tune that could possibly fit the '90s version of this poll.

Wow, Fonda Rae too! Looks like half of my ballot is placing in this stretch of the list. I guess it's better than not placing at all, but I still hope the top 100 won't be all dominated by big name artists.

i ranked big name artists highly because their music is better

https://img.discogs.com/lPrYDhxJWf5yyMLvQOyAE7GJ8gg=/fit-in/583x587/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-879650-1295187245.jpeg.jpg
168. Mel & Kim - Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)
275 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/14b-BASNVdI

Really? What a weird argument. Of course I think, say, Prince is better in general than the Joubert Singers, or Jones Girls, or the RAH Band, or Fonda Rae, because he's released more great songs than any of them. But the individual tunes in this poll by those artists are still just as good as anything Prince did.

(xmessage)

all I'm saying is the Gap Band is awesome and I've never heard of the Joubert Singers

gettt freshhhhh at the weeeekend

Brad, are you on plane wi-fi??

Racing through a lot of titles I half-expected to place in the top 40 (Pointers, Tina, MJ, Whitney).

Find it rather odd that in some parts of the world hi-NRG is considered R&B.

https://img.discogs.com/8o92Q87FAulsBFNhyzNMHHCXznw=/fit-in/594x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-4441325-1364965349-1002.jpeg.jpg
167. Indeep - Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life
276 points, 7 votes
https://youtu.be/GtfZbj4J71A

Fun tune and it's funny to play when you're DJing, but kinda too noveltyish in the long run. It certainly shouldn't have ranked higher than some of the stuff right below it.

MEL. AND. KIM. That song is massive and just amazing.

i'm on a plane, someone link to the dance scene from nightmare 2

― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Tuesday, May 9, 2017 4:58 PM (twenty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Fuuuuuuuuuck, how did I fail to realize that's what that song was?

https://img.discogs.com/y5dPt_abuCYEhVj-JKQF1-Q3Dq8=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-194021-1335400289.jpeg.jpg
166. Prince - Baby I'm a Star
280 points, 4 votes

i'm on a plane, someone link to the dance scene from nightmare 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkSO7FOtYaY

Fucking hell, I love this decade.

https://img.discogs.com/8Auh3_vk2allExhdsuB83vGQqVU=/fit-in/600x579/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1333059-1488717897-4028.jpeg.jpg
165. Company B - Fascinated
280 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/-b-6ksMdkrU

hard for me to hear "Fascinated," as great as this is, as R&B.

It would make the top ten if not five of my freestyle list though

https://img.discogs.com/aGd-FTyHsQwclwxpAB7vvKs9Prc=/fit-in/589x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-251854-1158565392.jpeg.jpg
164. Fatback Band - I Found Lovin'
281 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/Xu-gYmOyRi4

https://img.discogs.com/Yof_mNVQpwh7YjPnFLlRuE4e0Ps=/fit-in/599x599/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1522520-1272245814.jpeg.jpg
163. Prince - I Would Die 4 U
281 points, 6 votes, 1 number one

My #1. WTF people?

https://img.discogs.com/V41g-g7UCY78TzBq6GbLmMrvkIg=/fit-in/588x640/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7444749-1492349973-8418.jpeg.jpg
162. Gwen Guthrie - Seventh Heaven
282 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/UMpACxYoPEM

I ended up cutting "I Would Die 4 U" from my ballot, but I still voted for 6 Prince songs.

https://img.discogs.com/-pOyVvdByTP75fqTWDLEmNruYL8=/fit-in/600x601/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-235302-1305255413.jpeg.jpg
161. Loose Joints - Is It All Over My Face?
283 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/a2vdI5I7VvY

I didn't vote for this because of some arbitrary inclusion criteria I made up but obv it's classic

The Levan mix of Seventh Heaven (dunno if I've heard the original) is amazing

It passed my criteria and I voted for it.

https://img.discogs.com/AMx4tZO75KXt1Nurz5JZCUvrtrY=/fit-in/600x593/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1146661-1407288111-8007.jpeg.jpg
160. Janet Jackson - The Pleasure Principle
283 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/Q-gu1KETjVY

The only Janet song I voted for, although I suppressed my enthusiasm.

"Seventh Heaven" is transcendent, like when you're on your bike and it feels like flight

https://img.discogs.com/l--KzGJ0Hp5aooh9q4FeKLJNvbc=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1999071-1420280724-8404.jpeg.jpg
159. Pebbles - Mercedes Boy
285 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/lQS0t5Hdc6M

^ thumbs up

https://img.discogs.com/1JYr3ymV0qNSW_tF-hbIcD9rSy8=/fit-in/599x608/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1051549-1278884949.jpeg.jpg
158. Prince - 17 Days (The Rain Will Come Down, Then U Will Have 2 Choose. If U Believe, Look 2 The Dawn and U Shall Never Lose.)
286 points, 4 votes

"Mercedes Boy" has an electrogroove that many acts should've copied.

https://img.discogs.com/5Ftodxp9IJHlhXHS9KzI41pyC5w=/fit-in/598x596/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-672046-1193567220.jpeg.jpg
157. Funky 4 Plus 1 - That's the Joint
291 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/SVxk9PW62Vk

https://img.discogs.com/Q2u8BtmFAiUrfxo-N4hctSRyAZg=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-421100-1285013939.jpeg.jpg
156. Rebbie Jackson - Centipede
292 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/a8SdzwoIcwo

Funky 4 + 1 introduced by Debby Harry at 11:00 in this video

"to my mannequin friends"

I always thought "Mercedes Boy" was much better than "Girlfriend".

https://img.discogs.com/JLCna2GwodfVpIa-pNHrmYQZ8gE=/fit-in/600x597/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-3416335-1331326937.jpeg.jpg
155. Isley Brothers - Between the Sheets
292 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/glhdcJ7K3XM

I always thought "Mercedes Boy" was much better than "Girlfriend".

― LeRooLeRoo, Tuesday, May 9, 2017

you are correct. "Girlfriend" is generic.

Were it not for Prince and Michael Jackson, "Mercedes Boy" would've been my #1 vote.

Tell me what you wanna do wit me

A ton from the stretch since I last checked in were on my ballot. Torn between saying "Good job, ILM!" and "Oh god, what the hell is going to end up in the top 50?"

xp Cruising's all you have to do.

Do you wanna ride?

https://img.discogs.com/KRPDrPtQ7tArlWBtVrnokVkxZY0=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-686482-1240699601.jpeg.jpg
153 (TIE). George Michael - Father Figure
294 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/m_9hfHvQSNo

https://img.discogs.com/6nJNDteF2zDHvMJZ_LwmDzbk-C8=/fit-in/591x595/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2204312-1458407719-4537.jpeg.jpg
153 (TIE). Pointer Sisters - Dare Me
294 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/3IprBx1OlBk

"Dare Me" is the Pointer's best '80s single after "Automatic." Fact.

I regret not voting for "Between The Sheets". As deserving a sex-anthem as "Sexual Healing".

I agree and I voted for both (x-post)

Also <3 "Father Figure".

I'm shocked that 'Centipede' actually made it! And so high! There may be a video of seven-year-old me doing an amazing improvised dance routine to the song, because I had amazing taste even then.

Fighting words:

Rescue Me, by A Taste of Honey is a better tune than That's the Joint, by Funky 4 + 1, from which it samples.

what about Madonna's "Rescue Me"

Well, I voted for both. Ultimately it comes down to Doug Wimbush>Janice Marie Johnson. The Sugarhill house band played it better. It's a more exciting record.

https://img.discogs.com/YSbWN3OAV13lgNcRMEuPTVvNTuQ=/fit-in/490x490/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1429168-1380298581-8036.jpeg.jpg
152. Whispers - Rock Steady
295 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/rPJz3syNbtE

lol so many of the ones i voted for are placing right around here. not sure if this bodes well for the rest of my votes.

"rock steady" is classic :)

This last section has wiped out a load of my ballot. Dare Me was in my top 5, I get an adrenaline rush every time I listen to it. Voted Between The Sheets too but mainly for the second half where it gets all ominous. The Soul Clap re edit a few years ago that dragged that section right out was pure fire

And some days 17 Days is my favourite Prince track

https://img.discogs.com/sbEyrPrPcAtuExVVtVR7xti2-HQ=/fit-in/600x586/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-4057498-1464389904-6231.jpeg.jpg
151. Prince - Sign O' the Times
296 points, 7 votes

https://img.discogs.com/r1zbxIkZccTbhr8_vmR2cPrNOMY=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1441599-1370971933-5225.jpeg.jpg
150. Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue
299 points, 7 votes
https://youtu.be/IuwxZSIS__4

Voted Between The Sheets too but mainly for the second half where it gets all ominous. The Soul Clap re edit a few years ago that dragged that section right out was pure fire

yes same here. haven't heard that edit clearly i need to

erm there should be a comma in there somewhere

there should be sleep somewhere in my day

https://img.discogs.com/3m4D7H7uMmpW06EY-gHD087O_As=/fit-in/597x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1284863-1354380888-1102.jpeg.jpg
149. Gregory Abbott - Shake You Down
300 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/Uc8wmLul3uw

i guess i've loved gregory abbott's "shake you down" for most of my life without ever knowing who it was or what it was called

― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Tuesday, April 25, 2017 7:41 PM (two weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

https://img.discogs.com/rDhFm0mW2JOJStchOa4m5irfVQg=/fit-in/600x590/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-4149917-1493476273-6082.jpeg.jpg
148. C-Bank - One More Shot
302 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/Bl-fgWfdjRo

My second-favorite new discovery from the nominations thread!

Man this list doesn't stop for sleep

Like the best Quiet Storm format station, 'round the clock groove, either on the move or keepin' it smooth

LOL, that's the magic of automation. I probably spent less than an hour at my PC yesterday, while the results kept posting all by themselves.

By the way, I won't be able to post any results from tomorrow until Sunday because of a small trip abroad, so I'm going to finish today at #101 and resume Monday.

Controversy: 'Sign O' the Times' is way too high. Shouldn't be here at all, imo. Easily my least favorite prime era Prince single.

I used to love "Shake You Down," and while I still like it "Caravan of Love" exists.

xp - Madness. I have the first few beats of SotT as my ringtone. Such a brilliant song.

https://img.discogs.com/R1Rltw2IsoOOJP0_ohGnAlZhlyw=/fit-in/593x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1812597-1305305329.jpeg.jpg
147. Freeez - I.O.U.
304 points, 7 votes
https://youtu.be/WZ-1DYwaxrE

AND SOMETIMES YYYYY

https://img.discogs.com/YY1k8KyP3lVjGA8lTN1OI83f6FE=/fit-in/600x599/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1587863-1436885390-9149.jpeg.jpg
146. Rick James - Give It to Me Baby
305 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/1dNIQVYGXbM

Favourite find so far: Imagination - Changes
Too low: Rhythm Nation. Not a just a big production number, but a way of life
Surprise: Beat It at #174. Nobody else surprised by this? Guess everyone voted for Billie Jean instead. I know I did.
Digression: Nina Simone's cover version of Sign O' The Times is really worth a listen, but doesn't fit here as was recorded in the 90s.

https://img.discogs.com/wsXHzi5pWG30Qv65HjUMn1mXxXc=/fit-in/600x604/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-187393-1401538977-5168.jpeg.jpg
145. S.O.S. Band - Take Your Time (Do It Right)
305 points, 7 votes
https://youtu.be/lz1y2k4jDQw

https://img.discogs.com/PyAw64hbDaXeDwveIj2VU4f57Q4=/fit-in/550x552/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-6555881-1421911133-5832.jpeg.jpg
144. Philip Bailey & Phil Collins - Easy Lover
306 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/JkRKT6T0QLg

I don't like Nina Simone's vocal delivery in 'Sign o' the Times', but I let out a chuckle at "We'll call him Nate if it's a boy / We'll call her Nina when it's a girl".

Whoa, 'Take Your Time' wound up much lower than expected! A stone-cold classic!

https://img.discogs.com/QXlJaxNOJuCp77uvkKqkBnfTY1Q=/fit-in/599x591/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-4910210-1440474094-3064.jpeg.jpg
143. George Clinton - Atomic Dog
307 points, 8 votes
https://youtu.be/9NxyuM9Xctk

Yeah, "Sign o the Times" is the maybe the only Prince track I'd be fine with missing the countdown entirely/

https://img.discogs.com/WHFZ51DyrmPDQImUxXfoHv6WCEs=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-474607-1343642416-7749.jpeg.jpg
142. Central Line - Walking Into Sunshine
309 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/YWHj2SWGR0Y

https://img.discogs.com/BASygja88gFyBaur-Eg_ufN4wMI=/fit-in/590x590/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-5372164-1393082538-8425.jpeg.jpg
141. The Jets - You Got It All
310 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/sByNZekTwCI

huh "Walking Into Sunshine" is 2nd-tier Garage imo

I didn't include any Jets on my ballot but I listened to 'You Got It All' yesterday and regretted the omission.

huh "Walking Into Sunshine" is 2nd-tier Garage imo

fair enough, it is repetitive, but that bright & shiny synth riff is eternal and influential

https://img.discogs.com/50UvEPVKYhVrfdcup6Gsym7jZng=/fit-in/600x592/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-230329-1217735149.jpeg.jpg
139 (TIE). Madonna - Like a Prayer
310 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/79fzeNUqQbQ

https://img.discogs.com/5BNV-Y-1CF2bO7MKVpuTsb3nQ_4=/fit-in/599x605/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-208745-1259733768.jpeg.jpg
139 (TIE). Sheila E. - A Love Bizarre
310 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/56gpwl6cohc

lol "you got it all" makes me cry. was in my top 20

https://img.discogs.com/ETqwJ9PsJAH1Ep6wIYl97FKsgQc=/fit-in/600x596/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2505574-1304184932.jpeg.jpg
138. Irene Cara - Fame
311 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/o2jh7N7Fldk

ew

Yeah, I feel like there will be more than a few songs that coast into the final results on the strength of 'hey, I remember that song!' votes.

https://img.discogs.com/Rcly8ciHJ3YIbA_M_nPogn-2WHg=/fit-in/599x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-916257-1193650549.jpeg.jpg
137. Shalamar - A Night to Remember
312 points, 7 votes, 1 number one
https://youtu.be/Qwvf2ilsogo

https://img.discogs.com/y3pZ-VO4F-_wKmSTaU0PdNvpnwk=/fit-in/600x596/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-201182-1233335367.jpeg.jpg
136. David Bowie - Let's Dance
313 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/N4d7Wp9kKjA

Take Your Time (Do It Right) is way too low. That was top 10 for me.

what, 'fame' is great

https://img.discogs.com/dQPUjYcwNV2U5x3fz-OV65mo7W4=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2570996-1390821841-1819.jpeg.jpg
135. Odyssey - Use It Up and Wear It Out
314 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/-QrE6DsxXDA

Maura OTM

https://img.discogs.com/B2Qxsg5PEukpRDvL5SDNmxp6Tao=/fit-in/599x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-3203801-1320350473.jpeg.jpg
134. Deniece Williams - Let's Hear It for the Boy
316 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/gI7YHZVc7mM

This song is charming (I didn't vote for it), but I have friends who recoil from it.

https://img.discogs.com/JmiOGe68dR3ZwEQHr9y6lgbMLAs=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2097779-1263850833.jpeg.jpg
133. Change - Paradise
319 points, 6 votes, 1 number one
https://youtu.be/ZoYxwucci2Q

I was stuck between "Paradise" vs "Miracles" vs "The GLow of Love."

A great place to be stuck.

Kind of a lot of nimby-pimby pop in the last spate tbh, but they're also songs I love so shrug.gif

https://img.discogs.com/WveivYRILvp3HgJwEB6vd_JefTg=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-347626-1266513037.jpeg.jpg
132. Herbie Hancock - Rockit
319 points, 7 votes
https://youtu.be/GHhD4PD75zY

Had to vote for Paradise *and* Glow of Love. Heard both of them out at the Liverpool disco festivalue at the weekend and they still slay

yeah i voted for both of those but agonized over their placement. i fucking love change

A Lover's Holiday and Searching were painful cuts too

the first Change album is a top 50 all time keeper in the Soto canon.

David Bowie's awful, wooden and unfunky attempt at R&B depressed me for a little while, but all the following 4 entries are stone gold classics, so yay! (Though maybe "Rockit" is a bit out of place in this poll?) Especially "Use It Up and Wear It Out"; like I said in the nomimation thread, it's an incredible and unique song in the disco canon, musically and lyrically.

But still, I'll never understand why some folks would vote for that Bowie song in a poll like this? It's just so... stiff, and unconvincing. It doesn't really sound like he wants to dance at all!

https://img.discogs.com/Et2G5Rfj9ywwHAEoHf03T9nN4Y8=/fit-in/576x595/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-91279-1216028027.jpeg.jpg
131. Jane Child - Don't Wanna Fall in Love
322 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/zWd__w5UWVc

spring '90 this one, no?

There will always be people who just vote for Bowie in everything. "Let's Dance" in an 80s R&B poll isn't among the more objectionable manifestations of this phenomenon afaic

Tho I prefer some of his Labyrinth songs tbh

"Underground"?

spring '90 this one, no?

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, May 10, 2017 8:11 AM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

single, yes. album came out in '89. i voted for it anyway

xp "As The World Falls Down" is pretty slinky iirc

The Jane Child album was released in late '89, fwiw.

I honestly think 'Don't Wanna Fall In Love' is maybe among the five best pop singles released in my lifetime. It feels like a bit of a stretch to call it R&B, so I couldn't put it at the top of my ballot, but it was very close.

The first half of 1990 was the epitome of radio pop music for me, so I'm cool making some allowances

young Eric blasting the cassingle of "I'll Be Your Everything"

Jane Child, who introduced the nose ring to young Lord Sotosyn

xpost Young Old Lunch right there beside him! I shoplifted some amazing cassingles that year.

I shoplifted "No Myth"!

I swiped a bath bead from Pier 1

is that what you did on Sunday?

https://img.discogs.com/qJ5Ppt6Men-1iPMS5pSjUOKEUeI=/fit-in/600x595/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-865095-1170053111.jpeg.jpg
130. Womack & Womack - Baby I'm Scared of You
323 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/NAG-Ec4b-zw

eternal jam

xp danced to "Mercedes Boy"

I'l say it again: who needs Shoot Out the Lights when Love Wars exists?

that Levan comp released in 2006 was a key gateway for me

Yeah, I was already familiar with a lot of those tracks, but the comp helped crystallize the Levan aesthetic for me: http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/larry-levan-journey-into-paradise-the-larry-levan-story

https://img.discogs.com/369EPikntpr6dt_UQnIt3GgZMTU=/fit-in/477x461/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1609441-1434885801-7237.jpeg.jpg
129. The System - Don't Disturb This Groove
324 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/0wqUDylYcnY

such a perfect summer electrogroove. Don't disturb it.

TOO LOW

Voted for two System tracks off the first album, nearly went for a third. They are bang on the mark with everything I love from 1983.

https://img.discogs.com/0ZWvjwCwgjcJGAds8-dasSId-8w=/fit-in/600x597/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1305903-1412168503-6442.jpeg.jpg
128. Fonda Rae - Over Like a Fat Rat
325 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/gQSFlZ2oXCA

Hey, I think a mistake was made. The ranking for 'Don't Disturb This Groove' has three digits, which is probably two more digits than it should have. You might want to reassess your methodology, thx!

Like, I can't even think of 128 songs from all of the songs recorded in the '80s that I prefer to 'Don't Disturb This Groove'. What is this world even.

https://img.discogs.com/WN8SRJL6jJfx-gKHe0zehV9CAEs=/fit-in/500x500/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-986464-1180986301.jpeg.jpg
127. Kid Creole & The Coconuts - Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy
325 points, 7 votes
https://youtu.be/fLf6MIdE1BE

I can't think of many lines as vicious as "Cause if I was in your blood, then you wouldn't be so ugly."

I'd have to double check, but I'm pretty sure I cut all of the Kid Creole from my final ballot (one track might have survived). Which was painful, because it's fantastic, but it just doesn't scan as R&B to me, for the most part.

https://img.discogs.com/d9bAq0yzM1Kq-_wZE7ZYnKHp200=/fit-in/550x550/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-51293-1132047552.jpeg.jpg
126. Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force - I Wonder if I Take You Home
325 points, 8 votes
https://youtu.be/UJLhG8YKbII

I once did a karaoke version of "Annie..." Kick ass too.

https://img.discogs.com/UObY5eW-Z4vbp3aiJT6ElO1FzMM=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1121957-1385313887-7783.jpeg.jpg
125. Lipps, Inc. - Funkytown
327 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/xF77Y1JLScc

well i talk about it talk about it talk about it talk about it

how is "Don't Disturb This Groove" not in the top 50

ditto "Funkytown", "I Wonder If I Take You Home" (aka the BEST Lisa Lisa song) and "Let's Hear It For The Boy"

https://img.discogs.com/0Cd6mmkKlY9MpmY6IChI5zUQruQ=/fit-in/599x602/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-328809-1237003367.jpeg.jpg
124. Prince - Pop Life
327 points, 6 votes, 1 number one

Yeah, 'Let's Hear It For The Boy' is another that I'm shocked to see so low. I don't even know, man.

'Pop Life' though! I'm happy to see any Prince pop up anywhere it pops up, as I figured most of his stuff got vote split into oblivion.

Didn't realize there was such love for "Don't Disturb This Groove." Was a blind spot for me until now.

("Let the Beat Hit 'Em" is the best Lisa Lisa for me. Can't wait to vote for it in the '90s R&B poll.)

https://img.discogs.com/plJZxE_2hGMk9DBYQ7zZaAd8Lak=/fit-in/600x588/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-595134-1376909647-1107.jpeg.jpg
123. Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster (Jammin')
329 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/V4n27JuJhXc

https://img.discogs.com/ZfTZXjGYuhOTDFvuJUT1zsU4Eac=/fit-in/550x550/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-61355-1149019861.jpeg.jpg
121 (TIE). Scritti Politti - Absolute
330 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/_38gaboSr60

Huh. 'Jammin'' is a surprise. Not among the late-period Stevie I voted for but worthy.

"Absolute" is absolute.

https://img.discogs.com/l4uRScCpXDudzIDw7uMRRITEigk=/fit-in/540x540/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-102756-1324649716.jpeg.jpg
121 (TIE). Kid Creole & The Coconuts - Stool Pigeon
330 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/C3xU0fnjUcg

Look, I love a lot of these songs but ... how much more corny and further away from, like, René & Angela is this going to get?

https://img.discogs.com/20vQ4iP6bDNdEZTTvN2wFMpPk_8=/fit-in/600x604/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7979080-1452818830-2275.jpeg.jpg
120. Carly Simon - Why
332 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/9z951iR1bM8

Does that count?

Thanks!

xxxposts Cosign. Although I do find myself suddenly wishing I'd bit the bullet and voted for 'Mister Softee' (which is arguably at least much more R&B than 'Stool Pigeon', plus it's amazing).

Look, I love a lot of these songs but ... how much more corny and further away from, like, René & Angela is this going to get?

― insidious assymetrical weapons (Eric H.), Wednesday, May 10, 2017 10:56 AM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

eh?

HUH. I totally missed that Carly Simon song in the nominations, I guess, because I considered nominating it myself. I really don't like her for the most part, but that song has a dece groove, at least. BUT...wtf is it doing that high in the results, people.

it's a great chic org track

https://img.discogs.com/EjYb6A2dc7vEXUGMgDxI0x4lByY=/fit-in/539x527/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-579080-1361659235-5444.jpeg.jpg
119. Mary Jane Girls - In My House
332 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/0jhf0NeyRfE

i mean i didn't vote for it but

"in my house" however, whew, what a song

I voted for all three of the big Kid Creole hits. Tropical Gangsters is one of the most underrated albums ever.

I'm surprised Absolute is so low. It was my number four. One of the best produced songs I know.

https://img.discogs.com/hLjqZqLFFimWOeOCkIt-a0JHXU4=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7690671-1446822344-3754.jpeg.jpg
118. Prince - Dirty Mind
334 points, 6 votes

i excised all scritti from my ballot on a whim of "i feel weird prioritizing them in this particular poll"

hope "perfect way" will do good anyway

xp OK, can't argue that one, tho I did end up cutting it.

https://img.discogs.com/gSgtoPA3aQogVfoBX66Xs-KxbRs=/fit-in/600x605/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7804614-1449135525-4441.jpeg.jpg
117. Midnight Star - Freak-a-Zoid
340 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/5wJWuaPR0Lo

HOW IS THIS NOT IN THE TOP 50

dammit I should have voted

my fav midnight star song

https://img.discogs.com/3uYSBV94-SvPAia9ZHZNbT3V6VY=/fit-in/576x566/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-40702-1208017160.jpeg.jpg
116. The Time - Jungle Love
340 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/N2FPQvwhSDY

I'll be your freak-a-zoid, come on and wind me up!

Incredible tune, this one and Warp 9 were the only electro I think I voted, cos they feel more R&B than, say, "Rockit".

xmessage

Oh no, actually I also voted for Planet Patrol, the most trad R&B of electro acts.

https://img.discogs.com/JpcC8u6ohb1lnDI_eVmmg1rbn5o=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-397038-1378933121-5864.jpeg.jpg
115. Jermaine Stewart - We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off
341 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/HWZisnZ-RGE

lol i love this song and forgot to vote for it

https://img.discogs.com/0EFrb2kXy-0hRVt_8PKkGKzaw70=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2266977-1316158890.jpeg.jpg
114. Odyssey - Going Back to My Roots
348 points, 7 votes
https://youtu.be/99p35Dk8EV4

https://img.discogs.com/3n9Vbg5Q74wYYkvwYWbgsxxYt6I=/fit-in/600x592/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-569874-1336854563-6268.jpeg.jpg
113. Prince - Mountains
349 points, 5 votes

one of the two prince songs i voted for. was in my top five

https://img.discogs.com/d-ItwLisBRD72-IjeRAbJF_hObM=/fit-in/400x402/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1549546-1227652928.jpeg.jpg
112. Lakeside - Fantastic Voyage
349 points, 7 votes
https://youtu.be/-1YjmXSyHa8

Hell of a cover on that single.

On the days 17 Days isn't my favourite Prince song Mountains is. Love the video too

https://img.discogs.com/TCVPPJ96skY6MODs6z7zHUWqkM0=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-517436-1294420643.jpeg.jpg
111. Coati Mundi - Que Pasa/Me No Pop I
350 points, 5 votes
https://youtu.be/6bqtKEiKZQQ

The main reason why Parade is my favorite Prince album is because from Kiss onwards it is 100% fire, on a level I don't think he sustained on any other release. (Before anyone goes there, the first half of the album is on par with the overall level of his imperial time period; everything on the second half is on another planet altogether at a level he hits on other releases with selected songs but doesn't maintain for the entire side.)

https://img.discogs.com/SneF5EYGF05QYKtfVjIlA36Qquk=/fit-in/582x581/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-83690-1194974465.jpeg.jpg
110. Yarbrough and Peoples - Don't Stop the Music
350 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/9tbS73I1N-I

OMG YES @ THE LAST TWO, except that they're both clearly top ten, wtf. Amazing amazing amazing songs.

Parade is also my favorite Prince album. Because it is inarguably the best.

iiiiii just wanna rock you
alllll night long

"Fantastic Voyage" and "Don't Stop the Music" are the first tunes in the rollout that I'm really upset aren't in the top 100. Utter classics of real black radio.

https://img.discogs.com/7LDyMXLPciiAFqqLB97_HnhMzrM=/fit-in/600x594/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-145771-1375487227-2974.jpeg.jpg
109. Janet Jackson - What Have You Done for Me Lately
350 points, 9 votes
https://youtu.be/r9uizdKZAGE

damn that's low for that song. i assume there's a ton of janet to go tho

https://img.discogs.com/hYlyg7R3JCuWz4KbXsMBbNvvS78=/fit-in/600x594/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-440142-1374767987-2667.jpeg.jpg
108. Newcleus - Jam on It
354 points, 4 votes
https://youtu.be/zEmg5GaAHbk

https://img.discogs.com/tUYlPUu0nW2HYdB7X_xI9zqGX0o=/fit-in/600x586/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2350480-1493846965-8734.jpeg.jpg
107. Bobby Brown - My Prerogative
360 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/5cDLZqe735k

The problem here is that there are about 200 songs that should reasonably be in the top 50

https://img.discogs.com/jArE0o2_8aOZFrzWpYnHISbUh3g=/fit-in/600x515/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2270803-1273573835.jpeg.jpg
106. Brenda Russell - Piano in the Dark
361 points, 6 votes
https://youtu.be/H7u5GtSIC5k