Acclaimed Music Top 40 Songs from 1989 poll

41 James - Sit Down, 42 Julee Cruise - Falling, 43 Aerosmith - Janie's Got a Gun, 44 Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl, 45 De La Soul - Buddy 46 Neneh Cherry - Manchild, 47 Lisa Stansfield - All Around the World, 48 Love & Rockets - So Alive, 49 Adeva - Respect, 50 Beastie Boys - Shake Your Rump, 51 Lou Reed - Dirty Blvd, 52 The Replacements - I'll Be You, 53 Madonna - Express Yourself, 54 De La Soul - Say No Go and 55 The B-52's - Roam.

I turned 10 this year and was paying attention to music pretty intensely so this list is interesting to me. I think the only songs on it that I knew in 1989 were:

1 95 Public Enemy - Fight the Power
3 252 Madonna - Like a Prayer
7 502 Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
8 529 Neil Young - Rockin' in the Free World
12 745 Soul II Soul - Back to Life
16 922 The B-52's - Love Shack (HATED this)
18 984 Faith No More - Epic
21 1104 Tom Petty - Free Fallin'
23 1213 Young M.C. - Bust a Move
25 1333 Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy
26 1355 Chris Isaak - Wicked Game
35 2029 Tone-Loc - Funky Cold Medina

this is tough, "Like A Prayer" and "Me Myself & I" and "Love Shack" are all pretty tempting

the most undeservingly ranked song on this list being called "Fools Gold" is too perfect

I think I would have voted "Epic" then and might still do so.

12 745 Soul II Soul - Back to Life
28 1554 Inner City - Good Life
3 252 Madonna - Like a Prayer
1 95 Public Enemy - Fight the Power
34 1988 Digital Underground - Doowutchyalike
23 1213 Young M.C. - Bust a Move
17 952 Soul II Soul - Keep On Movin'
6 421 De La Soul - Me Myself and I
20 1048 Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies
19 1011 Biz Markie - Just a Friend

1. "Eye Know," 2. "Good Life," 3. "Keep On Movin'," 4. "Monkey Gone to Heaven."

hearing my dad sing "Back to Life" around the house all the time is pretty much my first musical memory

aww

that and "if i were a rich man" from fiddler on the roof haha

My. God.

Definitely went "Epic." Rock crits drool over "Angel Dust" but when "The Real Thing" came out, it was immediately one of my favorite albums. As important as it was at the time, it was even more important to me personally.

One of the funniest things I ever heard was their response when the PETA types went after them for the floppity-floppitty fish towards the end of the video.

"Don't we eat them?"

'Like A Prayer'

no Roam is bullshit and makes this poll super-tough

um

Rockin in the Free World
Here Comes Your Man
Free Fallin
Wicked Game
Back to Life
About a Girl
Just a Friend
Epic
Personal Jesus...wtf how did Personal Jesus finally come in ninth?!!

oops i voted "like a prayer" when i should have voted "wicked game" :\

oh yeah and apparently I forgot Fight the Power wtf

Shit. This is tough. 89 was the year my tastes moved beyond metal and hardcore into accepting pop and indie. I could easiy vote for about 10 of these. Like A Prayer & Wicked Game are about the best pop songs outside of Prince in the last 30 years. Fools Gold & Pacific State were my entry points to dance music. Not to mention Depeche Mode. Fuck. Too hard.

Personal Jesus.

just barely ahead of "Head On" though.

I like-to-love 80% of these but it's got to be "Chime", "Good Life" or "Can't Be Sure".

That's a lot of Stone Roses songs.

why isn't this going into the 90s?

there was some good music in the 90s

view "Roam" as an early nineties single imo

Fight the Power - yeah boyee obv
Fools Gold - wow throw enough shit at a wall and occasionally you get a picasso
Like a Prayer - obv
Monkey Gone to Heaven - bit snooz
Debaser - last best thing they did
Me Myself and I - classic
Personal Jesus - oh stop whining
Rockin' in the Free World - cheers neil we get it
I Wanna Be Adored - throw enough shit at a wall and occasionally you get a kinkade
Pacific State - don't mess classic
About a Girl - god knows
Back to Life - yeah this is the good stuff
Head Like a Hole - lol goth
Chime - can't fuck with orbital
She Bangs the Drums - look basically these are fucking shit
Keep On Movin' - i lost a couple, this is prob better than back to life
Epic - epic
Just a Friend - cant fuck with the biz
Hey Ladies - yeah ok
Free Fallin' - good work from a dude who's mostly a tool
French Kiss - hell yes
Bust a Move - lol glee
Blue Thunder - i dunno
She Drives Me Crazy - quality but far from their best
Wicked Game - hi i am the best song ever
Here Comes Your Man - yeah cheers you like lou reed
Good Life - unfuckingfuckwithable
Pictures of You - fuck off
Lullaby - fuck off you fat goth wanker
I Am the Resurrection - no you're not
Love Song - what again?
Made of Stone - what an iconic and fresh record this nah i got nothing
Doowutchyalike - yeah ok
Funky Cold Medina - sheena was a man iirc
Eye Know - hell yes
Head On - joke's over guys it's not 1985 any more
Can't Be Sure - i love ikea
Hey - still feel this tbh
The Sun Rising - ok, it's no 'hello'

voting for chris motherfucking isaak obv

like a prayer vs i wanna be adored vs wicked game vs eye know vs hey

"French Kiss" just over "Just a Friend," and now I wish I'd voted "Just a Friend." That year it wold have been "Keep on Movin'" and "Fight the Power" and "Like a Prayer."

ok there's no way i don't vote for like a prayer but those other four are also so great

i wanna be adored is the only stone roses song i like so i'm still allowed to say fuck this list for having so many stone roses songs

(xp)

That's a lot of Stone Roses songs.

and a lot of Cure songs and a lot of Pixies songs (but I don't have a problem with the latter)

NV otm but I like Ikea, where else am I going to buy those little bags of Swedish cinnamon rolls which are maybe not very good but hit me right in the wistful nostalgia gland, just like the Sundays

i think i wd like the Sundays more if they were Emma Bunton if you know what i mean

i like the white meatball sauce and those little sharp crispbreads btw

the hazelnut cake thing is the best

Fight The Power.

i want cake now

nostalgia is gash btw

why isn't this going into the 90s?

just going to take a break, will come back with another set of albums from another decade. will either go up to the 90's or go back one decade to the 70's next round.

no Roam is bullshit and makes this poll super-tough

― flag posts in the dust (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, January 24, 2013 5:45 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

If 'Roam' had been an option I would have undoubtedly voted for it without hesitation!

being the anomaly of ILM:

1 "Lullaby"
2 "I Am the Resurrection"
3 "Bust a Move"
4 "Head On"
5 "Debaser"
6 "Wicked Game"
7 "Love Song"

out of the next 15 it would either be "Roam" or "So Alive."

will either go up to the 90's or go back one decade to the 70's next round.

― Bee OK

When you come to a fork in the road, always head in the direction of the Partridge Family.

somehow I didn't see Good Life and Eye Know which made voting for Keep On Movin' a lot easier.

I like the Stone Roses as much as the next guys, but five songs on this list? Jesus.

Voted for Debaser, but kinda feeling Chris Isaak remorse now.

I can't vote in this, holy shit

1 95 Public Enemy - Fight the Power
3 252 Madonna - Like a Prayer
6 421 De La Soul - Me Myself and I
8 529 Neil Young - Rockin' in the Free World
17 952 Soul II Soul - Keep On Movin'
21 1104 Tom Petty - Free Fallin'
23 1213 Young M.C. - Bust a Move
36 2042 De La Soul - Eye Know

Beyond these, this list seems more stuffed with mediocrity than any so far.

Top 10:

Monkey Gone to Heaven
She Bangs the Drums
Back to Life
Wicked Game
Lovesong
About a Girl
Fight the Power
Hey
Rockin' in the Free World
Eye Know

I like or love most of the list, but voted Digital Underground because they're not getting enough love itt.

Voted Chime bcz I think I trust other people to vote for Good Life, but I may regret this gamble.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I was 16 and Bleach was my favorite album.

I went back to check on the chart performance of Soul II Soul's two songs here. I'd figured "Keep On Movin" was the bigger hit in the UK and "Back To Life" was the bigger hit in the US, but it turns out the latter was a bigger hit on both sides. What REALLY surprised me is that the former even charted in the US because I can't remember ever hearing on the radio back then, and rarely ever since.

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