Hi Everybody! Back by popular demand is the Top 40 Countdown!!! The last countdown – from 1985 – was classic. Personally, I think this is going to be an outstanding week as well. This week, we are Returning to 1989. At the time of this countdown, I was cut off from pop culture civilization as I was in the middle of Navy boot camp. There are some songs on this countdown that I had heard before boot camp, and there are some that were new to me after boot camp. But, there are also some that had come and gone in the 9 week period that I was away. This should be interesting! Now, let’s get started, and Return to the week ending March 25, 1989, and begin the countdown!
Earlier in the decade, who would have thought that Metallica would have a Top 40 hit on the pop charts? This was Metallica’s first Top 40 hit, and it was the third and final song released from their album …And Justice for All. In a couple of years later the band would release their controversial album Metallica (aka The Black Album). It wasn’t the material that was controversial. The controversy was that they changed their sound, causing them to lose a lot of fans. But, they would gain plenty of new fans. So, I suppose this was the beginning of the end of Metallica’s true heavy metal sound.
This is my favorite song from the second Van Halen album to feature Sammy Hagar – OU812. I didn’t think this album was as good as 5150 (although, it would have been almost impossible to top that one), but OU812 was a pretty solid album. And this song came as advertised – it made me feel good.
Is it bad that I like this “Wild Thing” better than the Trogg’s “Wild Thing”? Tone Lōc’s song was not a remake, and had nothing to do with the Troggs, except for the title.
I could not find this song anywhere on the internet at all. So I linked up to his hit, “Walk On Water”, which also came off of his album, Nothing to Lose.
I wish I could “sail away, sail away, sail away” from this new-agey song. This song was a world wide hit for the Irish singer, Enya. But this song is not for me.
I love Luther! This song was a huge R&B hit. It was nominated for a Grammy for “Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male”.
This is one of those songs that I didn’t remember until I just listened to it again. I hadn’t realized that Sheena Easton lasted this late into the ’80s. But, this was her biggest hit in the U.S. since “Morning Train”, topping out at #2. This song was produced by L.A. Reid and Babyface, who were hitting their stride at this point.
Time for some freestyle from Sweet Sensation, the latin trio from New York! This was off of their debut album, Take It While It’s Hot. Although I was still heavy into rock music at that time, I loved Sweet Sensation.
I loved this nice ballad by Sa-Fire. I bought this cassingle when I got out of boot camp, and went to my Navy schooling in San Diego. It was a perfect song for being very far away from home for the first time.
Two years after the release of the legendary Hysteria album, Def Leppard were still hitting the charts with songs from that album! This was the final single released from that album. I still love it, and it is still one of the kost popular songs they play in concert.
Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m loving this countdown already. What a variety! There was only one stinker for me. We’ll be back to continue the countdown tomorrow.
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, today’s song of the day is not a U2 song, but it is “Orinoco Flow” by the Irish singer, Enya, who also happened to be born on this day in 1961. This song was released on October 3, 1988 off of Enya’s second album, Watermark. It became a hit all over the world reaching number one in several countries, including Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, where it stayed at the top of the UK Singles Chart for three weeks. In the U.S., the song peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1989.
Return to the 80s 