Number One Adult Contemporary Songs - 1987

I Might--Wilco

^^voted for this

george harrison vs the jets for me

I was about to get right in with a firm vote for George Harrison - Got My Mind Set On You but then I saw Starship - Nothing Can Stop Us Now (attn: Dan Perry) and Swing Out Sister - Breakout. Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.

actually i dont really like that jets song that much its just local nostalgia

I posted Corinne Drewery's mug because she is irresistible to everyone except aero.

wait why attention dan perry

Mine:

Breakout
In Too Deep
I Just Can't Stop Loving You
The Finer Things

does he like starship
because
noooooooooooo

iirc Dan and I have had lengthy discussions about how musch that song rules

actually i dont really like that jets song that much its just local nostalgia

― Princess Nancy (jjjusten), Thursday, November 10, 2011 3:04 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

Yeah - I think that's why I like Breakout. Well not for local nostalgia but just nostalgia in general. So it's down to Starship v. George Harrison for me.

He does!!!!

oh look over there its the smoldering memories of my childhood

the mandolin rain will put it out

The Mandolin Range must be where the Mandolin Rain falls. Not sure where that is but it's not Spain. Regardless, fuck Bruce Hornsby in the ear.

Voted Harrison.

Impossible -- his mullet covers both of them

http://cdn2.mog.com/amg/pic200/drp000/p015/p01530x86ql.jpg

Bill Haley and Jennifer Warnes - (I've Had) The Time of My Life

Bill Medley? Bill Haley was the guy who invented rock & roll ;-)

and Bill Medley killed it with this one. Full circle!

this whole list is like ahhh memories - for you guys songs on the radio in the bloom of youth, for me the soundtrack to an awkward date w/hot yuppie who had no taste in music

I Wanna Dance With Somebody is amazing, so that

"Always" is the worst ballad ever sung and recorded.

"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" ain't far behind.

yeah i can get behind that

can't help voting for swing out sister. that song was so hip!

second choice would be "i wanna dance with somebody" though.

Surprised no one's mentioned Madonna or MJ.

not their best work.

agreed but "I can't stop loving you" is great to sing in the shower

and sheryl crow got her start as the female singer on that in mj's touring band.

I like that Swing Out Sister track a lot and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" is classic

I even like "Back in the High Life" which makes me a bit yuppie too

What a fetid, steaming pile. This was still a point when mainstream music was inescapable if you watched TV, movies, went to the mall or hadn't gotten your drivers license. I like the future much better.

I didn't even see I wanna dance with somebody.

"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" ain't far behind.

― lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, November 10, 2011 3:23 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah i can get behind that

― Princess Nancy (jjjusten), Thursday, November 10, 2011 3:24 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

oh lord what's wrong with you people?!

she looks like karen o a little

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcqc5oHhDZE

I like the future much better.

you had to wear shades

that Smokey Robinson song isn't bad but there was always something robotic about "got my mind set on you" that bugged me at the time

But it's gonna take money
a whole lotta spending money

krishna did not approve

Were these titles translated from English to Japanese and back again?

"You Got It All," followed by Michael Jackson.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody b/w In Too Deep

How the fuck aren't Fleetwood Mac on this horrible list?

I mean, they were killing it in '87

I heard "Breakout" on the radio in a Buenos Aires cab last week!

Voted Swing Out Sister, happy to put the rest through the chipper myself.

Most of these I either don't know, or would happily never hear again as long as I live. In 1987 I bought the Madonna single and the Swing Out Sister single (except I thought that was 1986?). I've gone for La Isla Bonita.

The Jets, though this was harder than I'd've thought. Fond childhood memories of the Starship, Hornsby and Madonna songs.

Smokey and Billy Ocean are the only ones I can't actually remember now.

voted "La Isla Bonita" over Whitney, MJ & Smokey. This was the time to remember, 'cos it did not last forever.

You bastards, 'Little Lies' was number one on this rotten chart for four weeks.

"I Wanna Dance With Somebody". But I might have considered "Little Lies" if it had been an option.

okay so first ppl are shitting on my karaoke duet of choice with my lovely wife, and THEN people are shitting on a frankly hilarious and awesome 80s cheese ballad of awesomeness? gtfo

jjj surely you must have heard about the Kyl3 and Dan lip synch routine to "Sara" that won us first place at a talent show on a Boy Scout camping weekend; FB was there

actually I love way too many of these songs, it's frightening

I love other Jets songs more but I'm probably voting them

love 'breakout', 'you've got it all', and the winwoods but i have a real soft spot for 'in too deep' and it is by far the most adult contemporary thing here (or anywhere possibly). shoutout to 'moonlighting' and billy vera as always.

britney spears was supposed to have a cover of 'you've got it all' on her first album but it got cut during the interim between 'hit me baby' blowing up on the box and the album actually getting released months later.

Why is that the charts are so loaded with crap? My faith in the record-buying public falls to ever-sinking new lows.

Same as it ever was. Ever looked at the top sellers in, say, 1963?

or 2011?

suspecterrain what is yr fave adult contemporary year of the 80s?

only thing close is i've had the time of my life but i'll be the first to admit my objectivity goes straight out the window when we're talking about dirty dancing

― call all destroyer, Thursday, November 10, 2011 8:14 PM (36 minutes ago) Bookmark

I love everything about this post.

― Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Thursday, November 10, 2011 8:52 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

laura will tell you i can go on basically forever about how good dirty dancing is

yall seen crazy stupid love yet?

No, good?

x-post OMG this needs to be discussed. Big time.

:D next time we hang out

Totally gonna hold you to that.

ou bastards, 'Little Lies' was number one on this rotten chart for four weeks.

I'm....embarrassed I omitted this four-week #1. That's what happens when you cut and paste without checking. Mods...?

If "Little Lies" were on this list it would siphon the "Breakout" and Whitney love.

little lies would be high up my list for sure, that song kicks ass

You know what kicks ass? This 12-inch version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sak9vvGRF7A

Good song, but I think "Mystified" was that album's greatest (would vote for it over my #1 here).

no peter cetera or richard marx? those dudes were huge around 87-88

Richard Marx was gravy the following year.

I gave it to Starship narrowly over the Jets.

Reading this list has completely killed the Feist-is-the-new-adult-contemporary argument for me. Now I'm reminded what adult contemporary actually was.

I really liked that Nitsuh Abebe piece which I assume DL is referencing to above, but I'm still not sure whether "adult contemporary" is a genre (which Feist and Wilco can fit themselves into) or simply a chart/radio designation. Always pretty much thought the latter, in which case, no. Have a look at today's Billboard AC charts. Lotsa Adele, pop country and even "Fuckin' Perfect" (!), but no Feist or Wilco there at all.

I liked Nitsuh's article too but I'm not sure the genre fits. Wilco/Feist as "NPR Muzak" or the modern equivalent of CSN/Carole King I can buy but adult contemporary doesn't mean what the piece implies it means.

What insulted readers who weren't reading him closely was thinking that Wilco was tainted by associations with Starship and Whitney.

I know he feels misunderstood on that point but "meh" isn't exactly flattering. Nor is it an accurate description of most of the tracks here. Starship is actively annoying (or actively great if that's your kind of thing) - not "inoffensively pleasant". The lack of older examples - there's one: Sting - makes it hard to grasp exactly who he's comparing Wilco to.

Maybe I'm getting too pernickety about genre but "NPR muzak" makes sense to me in way the AC comparison doesn't.

I think the main problem with the piece was that if you took "adult contemporary" out of it, it wouldn't be saying much. The term is loaded in such a way that is bound to piss some people off. An article that simply stated that artists like Feist and Wilco make quieter and more friendly music than what they're rooted in would be too uncontroversial to even mention. As for identifying a certain trend, he's pretty much right on, but I still don't think it's "adult contemporary."

"Always" is a gigantic guilty pleasure for me. One of those things I heard going to school in the car with my mom when I was five (y'know, about 10 yrs before developing any critical faculties with regards to pop) and sought out in the post-Napster era ("what the hell was that song"? - didn't remember any lyrics but identified it by browsing through the "top songs" clips on the Adult Contemporary page at AllMusic). Still, there's plenty of other late-80s schmaltz I remember hating even as a child, so I guess something stuck. It is a rather gorgeous chord progression, especially if string syrup doesn't bother you deep down. And the lyrics are gag-worthy, but whatev.

Richard Marx for instance was always horrific

Feist and Wilco aren't popular enough to be Adult Contemporary. You won't hear "I Might" on afternoon radio.

Voting "Got My Mind Set on You." Absolutely loved that song when I was six, and it further convinced myself of the Beatles' songwriting genius. Ha! Little did I know it was a COVER!! The Beatles were so rich they could produce two completely different music videos for the same song.

Nabisco full of shit in that article, especially:

One great sign about new independent rock bands, over the past few years, has been a noticeable uptick in the number whose names are vulgar jokes, or deliberately inappropriate—in other words, mission statements that tasteful professionalism and the approval of sober-minded adults are not among their interests—and who play music that’s abrasive or adventurous enough to match.

I don't remember a time when that hasn't been the case (since I was a teenager anyway). Maybe I haven't been paying attention. I also think holding it up as a hopeful sign is just embarrassing.

S.O.S. vs. Starship for me... tough choices as usual.

nah who am I kidding, Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Voting Now!

Hmm, thought this would have made the list:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN1mfwY7gsQ

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Lay down the law
shout out for more
Breakout and shout
Day in day out
Breakout!

Swing Out Sister - Breakout
Swing Out Sister - Breakout
Swing Out Sister - Breakout
Swing Out Sister - Breakout
Swing Out Sister - Breakout

And also, yes, BASIA!

It turns out that I've heard all of these songs, but I had to listen to them again on Youtube to remember some of them. Shades of junior high slow-dances. I'm voting for the Jets, which is not what I would have thought at first glance.

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

Respectable!

i missed Genesis - In Too Deep

what is yr fave adult contemporary year of the 80s?

― balls, Friday, November 11, 2011 2:07 AM

The charts are loaded with crap and the general populace enjoy primarily the most pedestrian choices within music, film and literature. Modern society, so focused on celebrity and other things trivial, has little accommodation for nuance. That the "Adult Contemporary" category itself exists is a testament to the "sheep" mentality and the inability for folks-in-general to attend to their cultural advancement..

A preliminary review of 80's AC suggests that i'd be unlikely to find anything better than Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper. However, the larger issue is that record companies, or worse, peoples taste, define what qualifies for entry into this illustrious musical category.

And people stink.

We appreciate these sparkling insights.

Hey guys, let's get loaded and attend to our cultural advancement! But don't bring a friend because people stink.

been sunny all day, but I suspect it terrain sooner er later

I would have ended up voting for 'Breakout' by Swing Out Sister. It's just a good pop song with a great horn lick. There's no way on God's green Earth they could have come out with a better song, and lo and behold they didn't.

"Twilight World" comes very close.

I rank this blah year.

I love "Break Out" so much. the type of song that reminds me fondly of my childhood. I just randomly heard it at a Wawa two years ago and fell back in love with it.

Meanwhile, "Got My Mind Set On You" sounds like it was written for the sheer purpose of Weird Al's parody

oh fuck, "You Got It All" might just be my favorite. this song has never gotten old to me. I made my KJ friend sing it for me one night at karaoke night.

that Billy Joel song is dire and seems tailor made for graduation ceremonies, which is the only place I've ever heard it in the wild.

Same!