1988 Countdown: #41-50 Roundup
A few years back, I discovered gold in my garage: three videotapes containing the 1988 year-end countdown on MTV. Since then, I’ve been working my way through the top 100 videos of that year, plus the commercials, the VJ breaks, and the cool animated snippets. The sixth batch of videos (not exactly “the sixth hour,” because the animated barking-dog break at the top of the hour came before the Belinda Carlisle clip):
#41: Belinda Carlisle, “Heaven Is a Place on Earth”
#42: Daryl Hall John Oates, “Everything Your Heart Desires”
#43: Information Society, “What’s on Your Mind (Pure Energy)”
#44: Terence Trent D’Arby, “Wishing Well”
#45: Phil Collins, “A Groovy Kind of Love”
#46: Eddie Money, “Walk on Water”
#47: Robert Plant, “Tall Cool One”
#49: Duran Duran, “I Don’t Want Your Love”
#50: Sting, “Be Still My Beating Heart”
Bonus video not actually on the countdown: Guns N’ Roses, “Paradise City.”
Ad time: Commercial Break #21, Commercial Break #22, Commercial Break #23, Commercial Break #24.
And the countdown’s previous hours: #51 to #60, #61 to #70, #71 to #80, #81 to #90, and #91 to #100.
posted 18 January 2012 in 1988 and tagged roundups. 3 comments
January 19th, 2012 at 6:02 am
That’s probably the baggiest, randomest 10 of the 100 so far, and even though I like many of the artists/songs in question, I must say it’s not a list of all-time highlights. At the very least, except for the first-rate “Faith” (which should’ve been higher) and maybe “Groovy” none of these has lingered as a radio gold standard. (I do love “Tall Cool One,” but when’s the last time you heard that at the supermarket or even at a bar?)
January 19th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
You do have to remember, for one, that “Faith” was a late ’87 holdover, and as a result, would end up at a lower spot.
And at this point we’re still mostly beneath the really big ones. (“Beds Are Burning” coming in at #69 was an anomaly; it was still a bit of a grower at the time before it would make any All Time lists on the channel.) The top 40 will have a lot more MTV long-runners; believe it.
January 20th, 2012 at 12:27 am
I did “Tall Cool One” at a karaoke bar last year, and despite the large gulf between my skills and Mr. Plant’s, it held up well.