Pop music on the cusp of summer—30 years ago
June 30, 2019 6:35 PM Subscribe
The top ten singles in Canada† on June 30, 1989 were [1] Forever Your Girl, Paula Abdul [2] Rock On, Michael Damian [3] Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler [4] Buffalo Stance, Neneh Cherry [5] Soldier of Love, Donny Osmond [6] The Look, Roxette [7] Like a Prayer, Madonna [8] Pop Singer, John Cougar Mellencamp [9] Good Thing, Fine Young Cannibals [10] Funky Cold Medina, Tone Loc
Meanwhile in the US (Billboard), Milli Vanilli rises to #1 for the first time with Baby Don't Forget My Number.
† I had hoped to include some Canadian late-80s pop but then went with the 30-year theme. (Source) Popular made-in-Canada tunes from this period include Frozen Ghost's Dream Come True, Tom Cochrane & Red Rider's Good Times, and The Jeff Healey Band's Angel Eyes (the song I would take to a desert island from all these).
Meanwhile in the US (Billboard), Milli Vanilli rises to #1 for the first time with Baby Don't Forget My Number.
† I had hoped to include some Canadian late-80s pop but then went with the 30-year theme. (Source) Popular made-in-Canada tunes from this period include Frozen Ghost's Dream Come True, Tom Cochrane & Red Rider's Good Times, and The Jeff Healey Band's Angel Eyes (the song I would take to a desert island from all these).
It can't have been 30 years ago, because that was the year I graduated from high school.
Oh.
posted by Foosnark at 6:51 PM on June 30, 2019 [16 favorites]
Oh.
posted by Foosnark at 6:51 PM on June 30, 2019 [16 favorites]
I don't think I'd ever seen the video for Baby Don't Forget My Number. It really is spectacularly ridiculous.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:55 PM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:55 PM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
The most Canadian thing about the Angel Eyes video is the fact that it’s blocked in the US.
I remember all of these (because I was thirteen and nobody knows pop music like a 13 year old who listens to the radio six hours a day!)... and of them I’d take Good Thing and Buffalo Stance with no shame, and then The Look and Like A Prayer are pure guilty pleasures.
This article from Rookie sheds considerable light on Buffalo Stance. Which is good, because for the next week, “No money man can win my love/it’s sweetness that I’m thinking of” is going to be ricocheting through my mind.
posted by verbminx at 7:54 PM on June 30, 2019 [17 favorites]
I remember all of these (because I was thirteen and nobody knows pop music like a 13 year old who listens to the radio six hours a day!)... and of them I’d take Good Thing and Buffalo Stance with no shame, and then The Look and Like A Prayer are pure guilty pleasures.
This article from Rookie sheds considerable light on Buffalo Stance. Which is good, because for the next week, “No money man can win my love/it’s sweetness that I’m thinking of” is going to be ricocheting through my mind.
posted by verbminx at 7:54 PM on June 30, 2019 [17 favorites]
2001-ish, and I join a group of university friends go to see Jeff Healey playing what is otherwise a pretty corporate restaurant that I would associate more with dudes in suits getting drinks after work than live music (the Bier Markt on The Esplanade in Toronto if you're local/curious).
Healey is specifically playing blues covers all night long. And the young women I'm with decide that they will, in unison, scream out a request to "PLAY ANGEL EYES!" between every single song.
Finally, Healey leans into the mic and says "I'm not fuckin' playing fuckin' Angel fuckin' Eyes."
RIP Jeff
posted by thecjm at 8:01 PM on June 30, 2019 [12 favorites]
Healey is specifically playing blues covers all night long. And the young women I'm with decide that they will, in unison, scream out a request to "PLAY ANGEL EYES!" between every single song.
Finally, Healey leans into the mic and says "I'm not fuckin' playing fuckin' Angel fuckin' Eyes."
RIP Jeff
posted by thecjm at 8:01 PM on June 30, 2019 [12 favorites]
Thanks for including some Cancon on the list, but for true cusp of summer in the 80s -you really need patio lanterns
posted by peppermind at 8:01 PM on June 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by peppermind at 8:01 PM on June 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
If you're interested in more Cancon - MLB pitcher and the pride of Port Dover, John Axford, has put together a Canada Day playlist and shared it on Spotify
posted by thecjm at 8:03 PM on June 30, 2019
posted by thecjm at 8:03 PM on June 30, 2019
Ok, so this was the year after I was born. I'm up to The Look and don't recognize any of them yet, so I'm guessing not a great year in Canadian music, but I'll keep listening.
posted by Canageek at 8:07 PM on June 30, 2019
posted by Canageek at 8:07 PM on June 30, 2019
I loved Buffalo Stance back when it came out and I'm impressed at how well it holds up. As opposed to Milli Vanilli and Donny Osmond, hoo boy.
posted by MillMan at 8:12 PM on June 30, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by MillMan at 8:12 PM on June 30, 2019 [9 favorites]
I turned 10 in the summer of '89 and the only one on this list I don't recognize is the Donnie Osmond track. At the time, my fav was probably a Good Thing (I had the tape and FYC are part of my newly rebuilt record collection). But looking back now, Buffalo Stance is the best song out of all of these.
posted by thecjm at 8:12 PM on June 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by thecjm at 8:12 PM on June 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
I was ten. I was at summer camp and I cried easily. We didn’t hear much of the radio there, but when we did, we inevitably got “Wind Beneath My Wings.” I would have to keep a tight grip on what the camp counselors called “the waterworks.”
posted by Countess Elena at 8:14 PM on June 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 8:14 PM on June 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
Ah, I knew the very next song, and actually enjoy Like a Prayer.
Also: Damn, the aesthetic of The Look is very cool. I want some of those cloths.
posted by Canageek at 8:18 PM on June 30, 2019
Also: Damn, the aesthetic of The Look is very cool. I want some of those cloths.
posted by Canageek at 8:18 PM on June 30, 2019
+1 on the Patio Lanterns as the all-time #1 Canadian summer tune, but it came out around 1986 right?
Goes to check with wikipedia…
Yeah, there ya go, released in June, 1986. Heard it many a time on the Syracuse KIX-FM station that summer. I used to see this local Kingston band many a time playing the bars at that time. My friends and I thought they were a bunch of local townies that would never go anywhere, but the cover charge was always low, or nonexistent. The Tragically Hip. Shows what I know.
Also this day 30 years ago in Canada: the iconic $1 bill (the one with the queen) was discontinued.
posted by morspin at 8:18 PM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
Goes to check with wikipedia…
Yeah, there ya go, released in June, 1986. Heard it many a time on the Syracuse KIX-FM station that summer. I used to see this local Kingston band many a time playing the bars at that time. My friends and I thought they were a bunch of local townies that would never go anywhere, but the cover charge was always low, or nonexistent. The Tragically Hip. Shows what I know.
Also this day 30 years ago in Canada: the iconic $1 bill (the one with the queen) was discontinued.
posted by morspin at 8:18 PM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was ten this summer, and not only do I remember nine of these songs, I can still sing eight of them! (Ooh, accidental countdown!) At the time, Neneh Cherry was definitely my favorite, though I did also enjoy Donny Osmond’s very musical-theater voice. Now my heart belongs to John Hiatt and Angel Eyes.
posted by epj at 8:34 PM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by epj at 8:34 PM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was a sophomore in college, and my new roommate came out. He played Wind Beneath My Wings in the living room, on repeat, for two months.
For a small town person like myself, it was quite an educational year.
posted by cowcowgrasstree at 8:40 PM on June 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
For a small town person like myself, it was quite an educational year.
posted by cowcowgrasstree at 8:40 PM on June 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
Where's Robin Sparkles?
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:56 PM on June 30, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:56 PM on June 30, 2019 [8 favorites]
I can't find the exact top 10 from that date for Quebec, but it would have included:
Nathalie Simard, Lui; René Simard, Catherine (Nathalie and René Simard were sister and brother. René had been a child sensation with L'Oiseau; Nathalie had been the host of children shows in the 1980s); Roch Voisine, Hélène; Francis Cabrel, Sarbacane
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 9:14 PM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
Nathalie Simard, Lui; René Simard, Catherine (Nathalie and René Simard were sister and brother. René had been a child sensation with L'Oiseau; Nathalie had been the host of children shows in the 1980s); Roch Voisine, Hélène; Francis Cabrel, Sarbacane
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 9:14 PM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
Summer of 89 -- only one song immediately rockets to mind and that's Fight The Power. I'm sure other stuff was happening, but that's where I was. Starting in Toronto, June sometime, where I was lucky enough to see Public Enemy pretty much premiere the song live. And then that movie came out ... and it was everywhere.
posted by philip-random at 9:32 PM on June 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 9:32 PM on June 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
Buffalo Stance is such a good song. I killed the cassingle at summer camp (I was 13 in 89) and my best friend at home actually sent me a new copy
On the other hand, I remember the first time o ever saw the video for Roxette’s “The Look” and thinking, “this is totally a joke, right?”
posted by thivaia at 10:03 PM on June 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
On the other hand, I remember the first time o ever saw the video for Roxette’s “The Look” and thinking, “this is totally a joke, right?”
posted by thivaia at 10:03 PM on June 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
this means that for 30 years I've thought it was "Funky Called Medina", like Medusa, only funky.
posted by jb at 10:05 PM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by jb at 10:05 PM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
CanCon of that era has to include Dream Warriors
posted by Rumple at 10:49 PM on June 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Rumple at 10:49 PM on June 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
Forever Your Girl is a J A M. Perfect pop song
posted by wemayfreeze at 3:03 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by wemayfreeze at 3:03 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
The most Canadian thing about the Angel Eyes video is the fact that it’s blocked in the US.
Try this.
posted by pracowity at 3:38 AM on July 1, 2019
Try this.
posted by pracowity at 3:38 AM on July 1, 2019
That song was actually called “Buffalo Stance??”
I was a kid when it was on the radio and as a grownup I just figured it was a case of misheard lyrics because who is writing a pop song about buffalo. Thanks for the article, verbmix, that clears up a lot.
posted by AV at 4:19 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was a kid when it was on the radio and as a grownup I just figured it was a case of misheard lyrics because who is writing a pop song about buffalo. Thanks for the article, verbmix, that clears up a lot.
posted by AV at 4:19 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I loved Buffalo Stance back when it came out and I'm impressed at how well it holds up. As opposed to Milli Vanilli and Donny Osmond, hoo boy.
I'd contend that, on production strength, Milli Vanilli's Girl You Know It's True is, if not quite on a par with Buffalo Stance, in the same league; the drum/synth programming, the raps and the minor-key melodies certainly put it up there with, say, late-80s La'Face at their sharpest. The rest of MV's (or rather the anonymous German pop production team's) output is middling at best, though.
posted by acb at 5:44 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'd contend that, on production strength, Milli Vanilli's Girl You Know It's True is, if not quite on a par with Buffalo Stance, in the same league; the drum/synth programming, the raps and the minor-key melodies certainly put it up there with, say, late-80s La'Face at their sharpest. The rest of MV's (or rather the anonymous German pop production team's) output is middling at best, though.
posted by acb at 5:44 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Pop music peaked in 1988-89 and it’s been all downhill since then.
posted by Servo5678 at 5:48 AM on July 1, 2019
posted by Servo5678 at 5:48 AM on July 1, 2019
The funny part about this list of 30 year old music is that I feel like it is all too new. The really good music is 35 years old.
posted by srboisvert at 5:51 AM on July 1, 2019
posted by srboisvert at 5:51 AM on July 1, 2019
Some really good albums came out in 1989:
Indigo Girls by Indigo Girls
Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt
Flying Cowboys by Rickie Lee Jones
The Sensual World by Kate Bush
Steady On by Shawn Colvin
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:52 AM on July 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
Indigo Girls by Indigo Girls
Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt
Flying Cowboys by Rickie Lee Jones
The Sensual World by Kate Bush
Steady On by Shawn Colvin
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:52 AM on July 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
I can't think of this era of Donny Osmond's career without thinking about the Beastie Boys.
posted by pxe2000 at 6:24 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by pxe2000 at 6:24 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
You can't bring up a topic like Canadian late-80s pop without including Robin Sparkles!
posted by kimota at 6:48 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by kimota at 6:48 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Previously, It Came From Canada. My favorite is Polar Bear Express by the Rainvilles.
posted by anthill at 6:59 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by anthill at 6:59 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
They were playing Buffalo Stance in Starbucks about a month ago and it made me happy, even when I wondered how many of the baristas had even been born when it came out.
posted by mogget at 8:07 AM on July 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by mogget at 8:07 AM on July 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
I was still in my crib when Buffalo Stance was on the charts, but it is a certifiable Tune. Check out Neneh Cherry's powerful energy, performing pregnant on Top of the Pops.
posted by Gordafarin at 8:31 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Gordafarin at 8:31 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Pop music peaked in 1988-89 and it’s been all downhill since then.
I'd have a much easier time agreeing with this if we were talking about the likes of Pop Will Eat Itself, Stone Roses, Ciccone Youth, Pixies, Talk Talk, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Tracy Chapman, Waterboys, Eric B + Rakim, Pet Shop Boys, The Cure, Chris Isaak, Depeche Mode, De La Soul, 808 State, Cold Cut, Janet Jackson, The KLF ...
Hell, ctrl/f doesn't even find any Prince.
And if it's Canada you only wish to discuss, well that is a problem. I was a radio DJ in Canada in 1989 and let's just say, our worst enemy was Can-Con and its regulations. The worst music we had to play was always Canadian. Grim times and exhibit-A in my ongoing argument that bureaucrats should never be allowed to regulate culture.
That said, we did get Rockin The Free World from Neil Young.
posted by philip-random at 8:44 AM on July 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'd have a much easier time agreeing with this if we were talking about the likes of Pop Will Eat Itself, Stone Roses, Ciccone Youth, Pixies, Talk Talk, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Tracy Chapman, Waterboys, Eric B + Rakim, Pet Shop Boys, The Cure, Chris Isaak, Depeche Mode, De La Soul, 808 State, Cold Cut, Janet Jackson, The KLF ...
Hell, ctrl/f doesn't even find any Prince.
And if it's Canada you only wish to discuss, well that is a problem. I was a radio DJ in Canada in 1989 and let's just say, our worst enemy was Can-Con and its regulations. The worst music we had to play was always Canadian. Grim times and exhibit-A in my ongoing argument that bureaucrats should never be allowed to regulate culture.
That said, we did get Rockin The Free World from Neil Young.
posted by philip-random at 8:44 AM on July 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Pop music peaked in 1988-89 and it’s been all downhill since then.
I'd say by 1988 pop music was already pretty far down the hill. I was in High School at this time and thought the state of popular music couldn't get much worse. But I agree it's only gotten staggeringly worse since then mostly.
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:10 AM on July 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'd say by 1988 pop music was already pretty far down the hill. I was in High School at this time and thought the state of popular music couldn't get much worse. But I agree it's only gotten staggeringly worse since then mostly.
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:10 AM on July 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Ugh. I know for some those songs might be nostalgic, but all I can feel when I see that list is how oppressive and conformist the culture was back then. I'm sure it only seems that the desiccated corpse of top 40 pop music is worse now, but if you didn't smell it in 1989, I don't know what to tell you.
The songs that aren't grating post-new wave garbage pop are singers safely staying in their rut. Bette Midler covers a cover of a cover of a cover, perhaps recording one of the safest hits ever. By comparison, Whitney Houston was positively experimental.
It all culminates in Milli Vanilli, shilling positively the shallowest version of what could be called pop. (but not music) Anyone who was surprised that models can't sing should turn in their sentience card. There were plenty of other groups around in 1989 that consisted of an image combined with music churned out by some faceless industry machine.
If you have positive memories of the music of 1989, I apologize for my tone, but It still looks pretty bleak to me.
Neneh Cherry and maybe Tone Loc, (but maybe not that song) are the only standouts on that list.
posted by BYiro at 9:22 AM on July 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
The songs that aren't grating post-new wave garbage pop are singers safely staying in their rut. Bette Midler covers a cover of a cover of a cover, perhaps recording one of the safest hits ever. By comparison, Whitney Houston was positively experimental.
It all culminates in Milli Vanilli, shilling positively the shallowest version of what could be called pop. (but not music) Anyone who was surprised that models can't sing should turn in their sentience card. There were plenty of other groups around in 1989 that consisted of an image combined with music churned out by some faceless industry machine.
If you have positive memories of the music of 1989, I apologize for my tone, but It still looks pretty bleak to me.
Neneh Cherry and maybe Tone Loc, (but maybe not that song) are the only standouts on that list.
posted by BYiro at 9:22 AM on July 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
If you have positive memories of the music of 1989, I apologize for my tone, but It still looks pretty bleak to me.
Agree. I think 1989 was actually the low point of the 20th century in terms of popular music and style. I've specifically cited that year as the worst in previous conversations.
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:44 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Agree. I think 1989 was actually the low point of the 20th century in terms of popular music and style. I've specifically cited that year as the worst in previous conversations.
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:44 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Neneh Cherry did much better work than Buffalo Stance, it just got sadly overlooked. Like her duet with Matt Johnson.
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:19 AM on July 1, 2019
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:19 AM on July 1, 2019
1989 is widely considered to be a peak year for golden-age hip-hop. De La Soul, Kool G Rap and Polo, Queen Latifah, the D.O.C., and Gang Starr all released classic debut albums, and one of the biggest songs of the summer was 'Fight the Power.'
posted by box at 12:02 PM on July 1, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by box at 12:02 PM on July 1, 2019 [8 favorites]
My parents had that Roxette album; it was pretty much 7-8 year old me's first pop album.
Never seen the video for "The Look" before. Hella vaporwave.
posted by corvine at 1:15 PM on July 1, 2019
Never seen the video for "The Look" before. Hella vaporwave.
posted by corvine at 1:15 PM on July 1, 2019
1989 is widely considered to be a peak year for golden-age hip-hop. De La Soul, Kool G Rap and Polo, Queen Latifah, the D.O.C., and Gang Starr all released classic debut albums, and one of the biggest songs of the summer was 'Fight the Power.'
Yeah. And a lot of good stuff was brewing in underground heavy music with Nirvana, Melvins, and Soundgarden, etc. but we're taking about pop aka "MTV" music here. Rap was not mainstream pop garbage yet.
posted by Liquidwolf at 7:20 PM on July 1, 2019
Neneh Cherry played at Glastonbury last weekend, and after I watched the set on BBC I spent an entire day going down a Neneh Cherry rabbit hole. I had no idea how much music she has put out. I might be have a new obsession for the next three months. The Cherry Thing is great!
posted by maggiemaggie at 7:41 PM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by maggiemaggie at 7:41 PM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
This was around the time I really started getting into music (age 10). Good memories!
posted by k8t at 8:41 PM on July 1, 2019
posted by k8t at 8:41 PM on July 1, 2019
I have a friend who was a roadie for Frozen Ghost during that era. His stories are pretty much what you'd expect...
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:06 AM on July 2, 2019
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:06 AM on July 2, 2019
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