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

*Dayne

"Don't Rush Me" is my favorite Taylor Dayne single.

Because he coded as freestyle fellow traveler, Dino got LOTS of SoFla airplay ("I Like It," "Romeo," "Summer Girls").

crockett's theme is one of the greatest pieces of recorded music in history.

xp

"Who's Johnny"

yeah, I also noted how "Who's Johnny" sounds like second-rate Scritti but with a first-rate vocalist.

Y'all can shoot me, but I'll take David Gilmour's solo in "No More Lonely Nights" -- scrappy, impatient -- over most of his Floyd contributions. It's one of McCartney's best ballads.

Day or night, it's always there

can we talk about how absurd Milli Vanilli were
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhyzGDPwmYU

^^^ their best single!

the ridiculous dance at the "i've been searching high!" part kills me

'Girl I'm Gonna Miss You' still a radio staple this side of the ocean, nowhere near forgotten imo. But then it was a *huge* hit here.

My fav

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbUENJ5FjBk

Xpost dammit

think I have written elsewhere about the unfathomable emotional heft of "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You"

“You Got It All” is the best Jets song. On this subject there can be no debate.

Somebody please do this same list for the Soundscan era (especially 2000-2005). Like, does anybody remember Clay Aiken’s “This Is the Night”? Or Britney’s awful “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” or “Don’t Let Me Be the Last to Know”?

By that time I was completely and totally checked out of pop radio hits.

the Fuel era

no idea where to put this observation, but I last listened to BBC Radio 1 in 2001 when it was played in my office and I HAAAAAAAAATED it, they had Nickelback and Robbie Williams on heavy rotation and Chris Moyles presenting.

I have had Radio 1 on in the car over the last week and it is 100% better, music, shows, presenters, features, everything.

on a big Jets kick this evening thanks to this thread. was familiar with them through an American ex-boyfriend who was a big fan (they never crossed over to the Netherlands), but that was a long time ago. hard to pick a favourite, but I played “Curiosity” five times in a row, so I guess that one (and possibly “Rocket 2 U” for this poll, but there are other contenders - that ex would have a field day)

Let me put in a good word for Sheena Easton’s “The Lover In Me”. Prime L.A./Babyface.

i have never knowingly heard a single song on this list.

part of me once to go through them and see how many i recognize, or which one i recognize first (if any), but i wonder if it would be more interesting to start at 1 or 50 and work backwards.

i feel like the doctor casino of late eighties forgotten hits

"Who's That Girl."

I know about half of these. I had the Sheena Easton song on a year-end Top 10 for whatever year it was; looked it up and it still sounds pretty good. Typically ridiculous video.

I am positive I have heard these songs 20+ times, some a good deal more

3. New Kids On The Block - I'll Be Loving You (Forever)
5. Prince - Batdance
6. Milli Vanilli - Girl I'm Gonna Miss You
17. New Kids On The Block - Cover Girl
19. Jan Hammer - Miami Vice Theme
27. Bangles - In Your Room
35. Paul McCartney - No More Lonely Nights
44. The Pointer Sisters - Neutron Dance

Also, was Samantha Fox really having hits in the USA?

Oh also

31. Madonna - Who's That Girl

Hey Ducky
Let me stick the 7 inch in the computer

I think I'm familiar with four of these (Batdance, Jacob's Ladder, Miami Vice theme, Who's Johnny). The two from film/television I couldn't sing you a note, Who's Johnny I know from the Weird Al parody, and Jacob's Ladder is one of Huey Lewis' all time classics, so this was an easy vote once I got down that far.

Why do I have to share my baby with a monkey?

One of the "Who's..." maybe? "...Johnny" vid is pretty dreamy, "...That Girl" seemed like as big a deal as any Madonna hit when I was a kid. Still mad it's not on Immaculate Collection.

while it is true that pop playlists had more regional variation then than they do these days, it is likely that a good number of these were indeed "fake hits" -- not to say they didn't do well at all, but that they weren't really getting played as much as you'd think from looking at the charts. in sean ross's followup blog on why hits fade, he explains:

But many of the lost hits on this list are songs that never spent a sustained amount of time in “power rotation” at radio in the first place. There’s not as much chance for listeners to remember them, much less fondly. One industry reader astutely commented that many of these songs were lesser titles from major artists "forced up the charts by promotion. [There are] a lot of follow-up cuts and duds by superstars." Many of the "Lost 100" titles were the first single by an act from a new project following a major hit album. Radio considered them disappointments, and didn’t play them in power rotation, but you can’t often tell from the charts.

he names 8 examples, most of which were top 3 hits, including one that topped the hot 100

Great list. Probably could’ve expanded it out to 100 easily.

it's actually a top 65 ranking on the link! 51-65 are:

51. Martika - Toy Soldiers
52. Exposé - Seasons Change
53. Natalie Cole - Pink Cadillac
54. Thompson Twins - King For A Day
55. Tina Turner - Typical Male
56. Sa-Fire - Thinking Of You
57. Richard Marx - Satisfied
58. Kool & The Gang - Misled
59. Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram - Somewhere Out There
60. Taylor Dayne - With Every Beat Of My Heart
61. Billy Ocean - There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)
62. Rod Stewart - My Heart Can't Tell You No
63. Debbie Gibson - Lost In Your Eyes
64. Suzanne Vega - Luka
65. Stevie Nicks - Talk To Me

Somebody please do this same list for the Soundscan era (especially 2000-2005)

he also did an early 90s ('90-'94) list (which i'm thinking of polling next ;P ) that spans the very beginning of the soundscan era. i don't think he's likely to do late '90s/early '00s equivalents yet tho, since classic hits stations are currently extremely '80s-centric and have not really started to go deep on the late '90s or later at all

Did not realize that Consolidated song was a Tina Turner cover

I love that clogged-drain sound in "Rocket 2 U"

Was reminded of this one yesterday while shuffling through an '80s Billboard playlist. Seems like there are a lot of obscure charting singles where, at a glance, I recognize neither the artist nor the song title but then it all comes rushing back once I listen for a few. And it only reached 52 in 1986, I guess?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaELZ5q6Y7M

Oh also it occurred to me that 'Dancing on the Ceiling' fits very snugly among the selections here. Hit number 2 in 1986 and, outside of my iTunes, I'm not sure I've heard it played anywhere since 1986.

I've heard "My Heart Can't Tell Me No," "Talk to Me," and "Seasons Change" in the wild the last couple years, esp that Rod Stewart single.

"Luka"?? Is the implication that there is another Suzanne Vega song that is better known than this? While I clearly remember "My Heart Can't Tell You No" and "Toy Soldiers", I can understand why they might be of limited importance to anyone who wasn't taping songs off the radio in 1988. "Luka" has to be one of the best songs of is genre, though. Beat Phoebe Bridgers at her game 30 years earlier.

"New Girl Now" is the OPO for Honeymoon Suite.xp

I'd guess that 'Tom's Diner' is probably more well-known than 'Luka'.

"Luka"?? Is the implication that there is another Suzanne Vega song that is better known than this?

Tom's Diner!

xp

'Marlene On The Wall' was a marginally bigger hit in the uk

The only reason I've heard of "Tom's Diner" is because it was used to test the mp3 format. Was it an actual hit?

the DNA remix was massive, yes

#5 in the US

Huh. TIL a group called DNA that does not include Arto Lindsay had a hit with a remix of this weird spoken word thing that was bigger than "Luka".

Oh also it occurred to me that 'Dancing on the Ceiling' fits very snugly among the selections here. Hit number 2 in 1986 and, outside of my iTunes, I'm not sure I've heard it played anywhere /since/ 1986.

(at the peak of their success that is)

still hear Dancing On The Ceiling on the radio in the UK, think a lot of the love for it is people being a bit ironic though

one of the worst songs by a major star ever recorded.
― No mean feat. DaBaby (breastcrawl), Friday, July 17, 2020 9:12 AM (thirteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

(at the peak of their success that is)

― No mean feat. DaBaby (breastcrawl)

otm. 1986 is peak New Jersey.

I was in high school during the later 80s and looking at the list swore a handful of these songs were 84. I was shocked Who's Johnny was 86.

Favorites to vote for are:

Who's That Girl
Causing a Commotion
Monkey

Cheese I can't deny:

When the Children Cry
No More Lonely Nights

Weird. I have zero memory of this remix or its video.

"When the Children Cry" has to be the biggest White Lion song, though?

definitely.