The 10th P&J Singles Poll!

"Follow the Leader" or "It Takes Two."

Missing:

Jane Wieldin, "Rush Hour"
Al B Sure!, "Night and Day"
Pet Shop Boys, "Domino Dancing"
Pixies, "Where is My Mind?"
Sonic Youth, "Teenage Riot"
Johnny Kemp, "Just Got Paid"
New Edition, "If It Isn't Love"

Wow, great year ... and best year for hip-hop singles ever. I'll go with "It Takes Two" ever so slightly over "Don't Believe the Hype" and "Push It."

Yeah, best year for hip-hop since '81 and '82, no? Lots of great new jack swing too – the subgenre's peak.

Voted for "Welcome To the Jungle"/"Mr. Brownstone."

The top 25 I actually came up with that year, apparently:

SINGLES
1. kool moe dee - let's go
2. sweet sensation - take it while it's hot
3. the deele - two occasions
4. vivien vee -heartbeat
5. prince - alphabet street
6. guns n roses - welcome to the jungle
7. tiffany - i saw him standing thre
8. fun fun - baila bolero
9. def leppard - hysteria (the album of which didn't make the '87 list at all!?)
10. l'trimm - cars with the boom
11. hazell dean (i think) - they say it's gonna rain
12. paula abdul - straight up
13. guns n roses - sweet child of mine
14, rob base and d.j. e.z. rock - get on the dance floor
15. britney fox - girlschool
16. debbie gibson - foolish beat EP
17. s-express - the trip/theme from s-express
18. epmd - you gots to chill
19. poison - every rose has its thorn
20. phuture - we are the phuture EP
21. ofra haza- im nin'alu/galbi
22. george michael - faith
23. bruce springsteen - one step up
24. teena marie - work it
25. public enemy - don't believe the hype

oops, those cryptic parenthetical comments can be found here (along with a much longer list)

Probably some of the best (and worst) records of 1988, but not all of them

What the heck, next 25:

26. teena marie - surrealistic pillow
27, jelly bishops - kings of barstool mountain EP
28. halo of flies - garbage rock EP
29. ac/dc - heatseeker
30. jane wiedlin - rush hour
31. dj jazzy jeff and the fresh prince - parents just don't understand
32. honor role - twist/lives of the saints
33. e.u. - da butt
34. hazell dean - wherever i go/who's leaving who
35. epmd - strictly business
36. mr. lee - pump up chicago
37. yaz - the only way is up
38. mekons - ghosts of american astronauts
39. 1st impression - forbidden lover
40. poison - nothin' but a good time
41. spagna - call me
42. kool moe dee - wild wild west
43. public enemy - cold lampin'/night of the living baseheads
44. pet shop boys - what have i done to deserve this
45. westworld - sonic boom boy
46. poison - fallen angel
47, gladys knight - love overboard
48. m/a/r/r/s - pump up the volume
49. sequel - tell him i called/i'm over you
50. incredible thang band - body jackin'

and xgau's list:

EPMD: "Strictly Business" (Fresh)
Roxanne Shanté: "Go On Girl" (Cold Chillin')
Public Enemy: "Don't Believe the Hype" (Def Jam)
Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock: "It Takes Two" (Profile)
Bobby Brown: "Don't Be Cruel" (MCA)
Eric B. & Rakim: "Paid in Full (Seven Minutes of Madness Mix)" (4th & B'way)
Chubb Rock with Hitman Howie Tee: "DJ Innovator" (Select)
Salt-n-Pepa: "Shake Your Thang" (Next Plateau)
De La Soul: "Plug Tunin'"/"Freedom of Speak" (Tommy Boy)
Cheryl "Pepsii" Riley: "Child (The Confrontation Mix)" (Columbia)
Royal House: "Can You Party" (Idlers)
The Jesus and Mary Chain: "Surfin' USA"/"Kill Surf City" (Warner Bros.)
Biz Markie: "Pickin' Boogers" (Cold Chillin')
Michelle Shocked: "Anchorage" (Mercury)
Rick James: "Loosey's Rap" (Reprise)
Tracy Chapman: "Fast Car" (Elektra)
Stetsasonic: "Talkin' All That Jazz" (Tommy Boy)
Tony! Toni! Tone!: "Little Walter" (Wing)
Kid 'n' Play: "Gittin' Funky" (Select)
Biz Markie: "This Is Something for the Radio" (Cold Chillin')
Patti Smith: "People Have the Power" (Arista)
Ice-T: "I'm Your Pusher" (Sire)
Tiffany: "I Saw Him Standing There" (MCA)
Talking Heads: "(Nothing but) Flowers" (Sire)
Guy: "Groove Me" (MCA)

Missing:
Nu Shooz - Should I say Yes?

Follow The Leader easily.

"It Takes Two."

M.I.A.:

Mudhoney: “Touch Me I’m Sick” (Sub Pop 1988)
S-Express: "Theme From S-Express" (Capitol 1988)
Eric B & Rakim: “Paid in Full (Seven Minutes of Madness Remix)” (4th & B’way 1988) (unless this remix is what the P&J voters were talking about)
Royal House: “Can You Party” (Idlers 1988)
Inner City: “Big Fun” (London 1988)
Roxanne Shanté: “Go on Girl” (Cold Chillin' 1988)
Tiffany: "I Saw Him Standing There" (MCA 1988)
Dwight Yoakam: "I Sang Dixie" (Reprise 1988)

Sonic Youth, "Teenage Riot"

Was this really a single? Even if it was, though, I can't imagine that it signified as a single.

Missing:
Nu Shooz - Should I say Yes?

Yes! Yes! Yes! Favourite single of all-time, blah blah blah, etc.

Er, anyway--great yr for singles, though it's only sort of reflected up there (I have a feeling the '89 chart's better, and no I didn't peak). I might actually go for Keith Sweat or the Primitives or Ofra Haza, all of which still contain strong surprise value for me.

hazell dean (i think) - they say it's gonna rain

Chuck, that's not the Will to Power "Say It's Going to Rain," is it? I love that song, but I assume this is different.

Very different, yes.

Will to Power's "Fading Away" is even better. Was that this year or '89? South Florida was Freestyle Capital of the World then, so we heard all this stuff before the vinyl had a chance to dry.

xp It MIGHT be Will To Power, but I don't think I really got into them until a year later. Though I do think, in retrospect, that I prefer their rain forecast to Hi NRG Brit Hazell Dean's (which is still really good, as I recall.) (and I'm pretty sure she's British -- no time to check now though. Guess it's possible she could be German.)

48. m/a/r/r/s - pump up the volume

This seems weird on my list. Though I've obviously never stuck to the literal-release-date rule, I'm pretty sure M/A/R/R/S's record was ubiquitous in 1987, and I also think I liked it more than that #48 implies. (I remember briefly thinking its montage was cold and clinical, though, so maybe that pushed it down the list.) (Is it also possible, though, that there may have been a different song by somebody with the same title? )

onic Youth, "Teenage Riot"
Was this really a single? Even if it was, though, I can't imagine that it signified as a single.

I totally disagree. This is one of the few Sonic Youth songs that signified as a single even if it wasn't one.

Worst thing here: probably a tie between "Wishing Well" and "Man in the Mirror." I admit I liked them both at the time, but they just sound so utterly hopeless now.

"Sign Your Name" is lots better.

Maybe, though I'm not too fond of it either. The one I think I might still like by TTD, weirdly enough, is that first single he did from the follow-up album, the one that was more rock and which had a clock in the video.

I voted for "Shake Your Thang." My first 12-inches were "Da Butt" and "It Takes Two." What a great year to fall in love with records again.

I'm voting for "Push It" which is also the one that I remember liking best in 1988.

No N.W.A.?!!!

I just voted for "Mr. Brownstone", which I now regret because I can't get "It Takes Two" out of my head. Abort!

i was going to write in amazement that chuck and i agreed on one thing becuz i voted for "jungle/brownstone" too, but in total shock read that we agree on two things becuz "teenage riot" is mos def signifying single. if it wasn't released as a 45, i know it was a video in rotation on "120 minutes" or whatever that precursor with kevin seal was called. and a video from an indie rock band at the time might as well have meant single.

Robe Base & D.J. E-Z Rock: "It Takes Two" (Profile)
Eric B. & Rakim: "Follow the Leader" (Uni)
Guns N' Roses: "Welcome to the Jungle"/"Mr. Brownstone" (Geffen)
Salt-n-Pepa: "Push It"/"Tramp" (Next Plateau)

I vote for these.

: (

Why are you sad?

Because it won't let me pick all of them.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

After much deliberation, I've decided that as great as this list is, I'm doing a protest non-vote because NO Me and Kid Sensation at home away from home
In the black benz limo with the cellular phone
Im callin up my posse its time to get rippin
Im freakin each sunroof to keep you suckas trippin
Everybody's lookin if ya jealous turn around
The AMG kip keeps us closa to the ground
We're gettin good grip from the 50 series tires
The Alpine's bumpin but I need the volume higher
Cuz the 808 kick drum makes the girlies get dumb
We're rollin Rainier and the jealous wanna get some
Every time we do this sucka mc's wanna battle
I'm the man they love to hate the J.R. Ewing of Seattle
Picked up the posse on 23rd and Jackson
Headin for the strip yes were lookin for some action
The limos kinda crowded the whole car was leanin back
Maharaji's watchin tv with two girlies on his lap
On Martin Luther King the set looks kinda dead
We need a new street so posse move ahead
We all look kinda swass the crew you can't forget
The mix a lot posse cold rippin up the set, NO CREDIBILITY.

Err, actually I voted for "Follow the Leader".

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

No more polls, JN$OT?

[Not too surprised by the winner here, btw.]

Please don't make me do real work today.

I was going to ask that this morning, too! What happened to the Pazz & Jop poll polls?? They were pretty much the only interesting polls on the board, and now they've stopped? I miss them! Bring 'em back!

Thirded. I'm sure there's a few years we're missing.

dammit why you have this poll while I was out of country and had no internet access

also why people gotta bag on 'wishing well,' such a great weird song

also why such a great year

... and the next year's even better, I think. (I voted for "Crash," but kind of wish I went for "Im Nin-Alu," which I heard recently and loved.)

I suppose someone else could pick up the gauntlet here, but JN$OT started this franchise, and he has a great thing going with it... hope he's just napping or something.