countless hit songs of the past have barely been heard from since the time when they first made waves all those years ago. whether reliant on short-lived gimmick/novelty or simply casualty to the shifting tides of public taste, a good many of the tunes we heard as kids, for better and worse, failed to show the staying power of a "don't stop believin'". here are 50 such songs -- once hits, now mere echoes -- from the years 1985-1989. what's your fav? do you personally remember these songs?
(the ranking comes from a recent calculation by sean ross, whose name you might recognize if you've pored over old music industry trade journals or read books about the formatted radio business. it's nothing super fancy or precise, but essentially the bigger a hit was back in the day (as reflected by the year-end charts at the time) and the less play it gets on the radio today, the higher it appears on the ranking.)
personally: there are many i'm not sure if i've heard. even among those that i know i've heard at least once, there are several that i can't recall anything about. that said, there's also a lot of fun stuff here. yeah, "batdance" was never built to last, but man, i wish a song that weird could become a hit these days.
Poll Results
Option | Votes |
44. The Pointer Sisters - Neutron Dance | 10 |
27. Bangles - In Your Room | 9 |
5. Prince - Batdance | 7 |
48. Robbie Nevil - C'Est La Vie | 4 |
39. El DeBarge - Who's Johnny | 4 |
13. Arcadia - Election Day | 3 |
19. Jan Hammer - Miami Vice Theme | 3 |
15. Samantha Fox - Naughty Girls (Need Love Too) | 3 |
37. George Michael - Monkey | 3 |
41. The Jets - Rocket 2 U | 3 |
10. Cyndi Lauper - Change Of Heart | 2 |
35. Paul McCartney - No More Lonely Nights | 2 |
45. Madonna - Causing A Commotion | 2 |
50. Sting - We'll Be Together | 1 |
29. Regina - Baby Love | 1 |
30. Breathe - How Can I Fall? | 1 |
31. Madonna - Who's That Girl | 1 |
47. Huey Lewis & The News - Jacob's Ladder | 1 |
32. Carl Anderson & Gloria Loring - Friends And Lovers | 1 |
33. Herb Alpert - Diamonds | 1 |
34. Milli Vanilli - Baby Don't Forget My Number | 1 |
38. Samantha Fox - I Wanna Have Some Fun | 1 |
42. Duran Duran - I Don't Want Your Love | 1 |
26. Taylor Dayne - Don't Rush Me | 1 |
7. Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat | 1 |
16. Daryl Hall & John Oates - Everything Your Heart Desires | 1 |
6. Milli Vanilli - Girl I'm Gonna Miss You | 1 |
20. The Jets - Cross My Broken Heart | 1 |
40. Chicago - Look Away | 0 |
9. Dino - I Like It | 0 |
8. Tiffany - All This Time | 0 |
43. Rick Astley - She Wants To Dance With Me | 0 |
25. Paul McCartney - Spies Like Us | 0 |
46. Debbie Gibson - Shake Your Love | 0 |
4. Tiffany - Could've Been | 0 |
3. New Kids On The Block - I'll Be Loving You (Forever) | 0 |
49. Survivor - Is This Love | 0 |
11. Chicago - I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love | 0 |
12. Boys Club - I Remember Holding You | 0 |
24. Huey Lewis & The News - Perfect World | 0 |
23. Billy Idol - To Be A Lover | 0 |
28. Peter Cetera - One Good Woman | 0 |
22. Kool & The Gang - Victory | 0 |
21. White Lion - When The Children Cry | 0 |
18. Steve Winwood - Don't You Know What The Night Can Do? | 0 |
17. New Kids On The Block - Cover Girl | 0 |
14. Donny Osmond - Soldier Of Love | 0 |
36. Daryl Hall - Dreamtime | 0 |
1. Sheena Easton - The Lover In Me | 0 |
2. Europe - Carrie | 0 |