top 50 forgotten/"lost" US hits of the late '80s

I think that Regina song may be MIA on all streaming services. That's sort of the definition of "lost" these days.

(re: “Electric Avenue” – I also see now that I tl;dr’d the thread title, and missed the “late ‘80s” bit. sorry, dyl)

I know “everything your heart desire” extremely well because H&O were my favorite band when I was 5. My mom took me to see em on that tour.

Chicago - Look Away ...of course, I totally know this song.

I'm happy for you.

I'm really happy for you.

Thanks, N! That's good to hear.

Cyndi Lauper - Change Of Heart (never heard this, but it's a jam)

It is a jam... and yet somehow it just makes me want to hear "Straight Up," by Paul Abdul (so I'm switching to that).

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat

Oh shit... I haven't thought of this song in ages. Now THIS is a jam!

It feels very obviously inspired by "Careless Whisper" (the Wham! ballad).

Arcadia - Election Day

This one sort of sounds like a ripoff of "When Doves Cry." Great chorus, though (I do dimly remember it).

I'm not much of a "Big '80s" fan - partly b/c I've heard all the usual hits a zillion times - but I listen to a song like this, and I "get it."

Boys Club - I Remember Holding You (boy, Careless Whisper sure made an impact, didn't it?)

Haha, just noticed this comment by Josh - re: a different song ("I Remember Holding You") than the Debbie Gibson one I was referring to. This one is, indeed, even more of a slavish copy.

Dino - I Like It

These lyrics are hilarious, this is almost a parody

^Listening to this particular 1989 hit, you realize the '80s ended just in time.

yeah i could see how that could be a downer sandwiched between the prince hit "1999" (about nuclear apocalypse) and the u2 "sunday bloody sunday" (about a massacre).

:D

Also, I thought that was the only Samantha Fox song anyone knew.

top of my head Sam Fox jams: Touch Me (I Want Your Body), Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Please Me), Naughty Girls (Need Love Too) and (Hurt Me! Hurt Me!) But The Pants Stay On

checking her discography, she does also have several singles without parentheticals, but another four with 'em

She also covered "I Only Wanna Be with You."

I think I remember that one. Apparently, "Touch Me" was #1 in Canada, although "Naughty Girls" was her highest charting hit in the US.

Not the Hootie & the Blowfish song.

It was the follow up single to "I Wanna Have Some Fun". Total generic SAW.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Oh, we're supposed to vote on these(?) That's rough, lol

are we voting best or most forgotten

(I went with "Neutron Dance" - one more track that of course I know well, and which is pretty hard to beat overall.)

when I was in middle school science we were learning about like space and stuff and I was having trouble memorizing everything and one of the things was that neutron stars were dense

so my mom actually tried to help me with a mneumonic device by telling me to think of the Pointer Sisters song .."neutron dense"

I love my mother

Around the same time as "Neutron Dance" the Pointer Sisters had a hit with "Automatic," which I thought was them singing "Automan," about the contemporaneous (83? 84?) TV show.

"Automatic" was several months before, to be clear.

I loved hearing the Pointer Sisters on the radio as a kid. i think "Jump for my Love", "Neutron Dance", "I'm So Excited" were shit my toddler ass liked to boogie to

I'm sure I've heard many of these songs but based on titles alone 'We'll Be Together' is the only one I recognize.

I'm sorry

when I was in middle school science we were learning about like space and stuff and I was having trouble memorizing everything and one of the things was that neutron stars were dense

so my mom actually tried to help me with a mneumonic device by telling me to think of the Pointer Sisters song .."neutron dense"

i love this story thank you for sharing

Neutron Dance narrowly pipping Jan Hammer for me. I must say, though, while there are some obscurities here, from this poster’s UK perspective several of these are anything but forgotten.

the organ trills on “we’ll be together” are hideous

well, "organ." It sounds like a Casio preset.

I like We'll Be Together.

iirc the video had not just Sting video acting, but a Rhythm Nation like dance breakdown.

Ha, it's actually worse than I remembered it being.

I know and love a lot of these songs. Voted Change of Heart. Baby Love is gr8; C'est La Vie is gr8 as well.

Spies Like Us, Who's Johnny*, and of course Batdance were from movies, which explains a bit about why they appeared and then mostly vanished: they made little sense once the

Who's That Girl, Neutron Dance, Shake Your Love, and Causing a Commotion were all very big and am surprised that they've faded from pop fans' memories.

* = Short Circuit, in case you don't know

I just listened to a re-recorded version of "We'll Be Together" from some best-of and it was super terrible, so I went back to the ...Nothing Like The Sun version and it's very similar but the slight differences are enough for me to be like "yes, this is a jam".

Basically, the backing vocal arrangement makes this entire song for me.

Spies Like Us, Who's Johnny*, and of course Batdance were from movies, which explains a bit about why they appeared and then mostly vanished: they made little sense once the

Who's That Girl, Neutron Dance, Shake Your Love, and Causing a Commotion were all very big and am surprised that they've faded from pop fans' memories.

You do remember that "Who's That Girl", "Neutron Dance", and "Causing a Commotion" were ALSO soundtrack songs, right?

I feel like this belongs in this thread (I bought the 12" when it came out lol):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_A8Xe9M0NY

xp LOL (I think "Neutron Dance" had even been released a few years earlier, but only became huge after appearing on the "BHC" soundtrack?)

T/S: Steve Winwood, "Don't You Know What The Night Can Do?" vs. Genesis "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" vs. Eric Clapton's 1987 version of "After Midnight."

Only the third was created specifically for a beer commercial but in my memory these three songs share a beer-commercial vibe.

I saw that Michelob commercial as a kid and immediately thought drinking beer would be that amazing.

It's not

I think you mean "drinking Michelob would be that amazing."

True. When i drink St Bernardus ABT 12 i leave the planet

Only the third was created specifically for a beer commercial but in my memory these three songs share a beer-commercial vibe.

The other two songs were also used in Michelob ads, though.

Hah, I knew it.

And DJP, thanks for the expansion on the movie songs - I should have recalled the filmic origins of at least "Who's That Girl" but it evaded my mind.

Though there is still, I think, a useful distinction between "created for a movie" vs. "used in a movie."

"Who's Johnny" will always be remembered by its middle-school parody version: "'Who farted?' she said / Then turned, and walked away..."

Though there is still, I think, a useful distinction between "created for a movie" vs. "used in a movie."

Sure, but the only songs in your list that weren't created specifically for a movie were "Neutron Dance" and "Shake Your Love", and "Neutron Dance" didn't become a hit until it was included on a movie soundtrack, so I'm not sure it's as big a distinction as one might think it should be.