Number Two Hits, 1984-1986

I haven't seen any complaints so I may as well keep on going. My vote here will go to either "Easy Lover", "Material Girl", "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", or one of the Princes, though I've long thought that "You Belong to the City" is the finest Eagles solo song.

If Frey had x'd the sax solo I'd agree.

not as great as the last cohort. One of these:

Robert Palmer - I Didn't Mean to Turn You On
Tina Turner - Typical Male
Prince - Raspberry Beret
Philip Bailey & Phil Collins - Easy Lover
Prince - Purple Rain

might unironically vote for the giddy rush of "Party All the Time"

which makes me want to do what it says on the tin

not a lot here really jumping out at me, a lot of perfectly good songs i've never loved. voted for "99 Luftballons."

Prince (Raspberry Beret) vs Prince (Manic Monday)

raspberry beret over manic monday, we don't need another hero, easy lover, lover boy, dancing in the dark, girls just wanna have fun

huh so none of the other bitusa singles even managed #2, i'm trying to think of another case of an artist being so omnipresent on the charts and radio for a period but not making the top (or even near it much in this case). ccr's the only other one that comes to mind.

i feel guilty about voting for prince on two of these in a row, but this was prince's time obviously, and, come on, "raspberry beret."

plenty of great also-rans including robert palmer, the bangles, philip & phil, bruce, cyndi, nena, that other prince song and, well, yeah, maybe even "you belong to the city."

we need Don 'n' Glenn to give us their takes on the competition

btw Frey's two #2 hits in '85 were way bigger than any Henley solo hit. "The Boys of Summer" peaked at #4 in late '84/early '85.

Backstreet Boys strike me as a good example of a band who were omnipresent but never had a #1 hit on the charts, and, actually, only had 3 top five hits ("I Want It That Way" was not one of them. It peaked at #6)

yeah that's like the remark about NSync in the Beyonce (I think?) thread: in the late nineties the only way to buy singles was on CD.

Everybody Have Fun Tonight is irritating....memorable chorus but weak everything else

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4GtOdJtgL8

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

Nena - 99 Luftballons

Best one-hit wonder ever.

Darn, no Husker Du or Jesus & Mary Chain...i.e., my attention was mostly elsewhere at the time, at least until '86, but 1. "Raspberry Beret," 2. "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," 3. "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" (honestly--love it), and 4. "When the Going Gets Tough,the Tough Get Going."

Raspberry Beret over Bruce.

'Raspberry Beret, Typical Male (dont want to say underrated Tina but..essentially yes), You Belong To The City, Manic Monday, Easy Lover. Voted Raspberry Beret as its just the best song here.

"Typical Male" is the biggest of her hits I never hear on the radio.

has to be 'raspberry beret' which is in my top 20 songs ever. lauper a close second.

Raspberry when pushed is maybe top 10 for me. Typical Male is burned into my mind from my parents copy of the 91 best of

DID YOU KNOW:

Gloria Loring is the mother of Robin Thicke?

Robert Palmer - I Didn't Mean to Turn You On
Glass Tiger - Don't Forget Me When You're Gone
Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone
Bangles - Manic Monday
Prince - Raspberry Beret
Philip Bailey & Phil Collins - Easy Lover
Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me

Philip & Phil stuck out first, but then I saw "Raspberry Beret" and voted for that. Lots of other good ones that don't get much critical respect: Kenny Loggins, Glass Tiger, Billy Ocean, Robert Palmer. And while the 2 Kool & The Gang's aren't great they at least sounded good on the radio back in those days.

that jt era of kool & the gang is probably underrated, they were scoring crossover hits at a time it was difficult for r&b to score crossover hits, comparable to now except radio and mtv were far more racist. at the same time will admit i got sick as fuck of hearing 'cherish' on the radio. those damn seagulls.

BTW, "All I Need" is the worst of these. Has to be one of the worst hit songs ever.

one of the songs prince wrote

"Manic Monday"

damn, missed it otherwise i would have voted "99 Luftballons."

"Misled" the only track from this period I love

Raspberry Beret is going to crush this, and for good reason.

"Misled"" is great. So is "Fresh", "Too Hot", "Get Down On It". Some others I've missed from the JT era. "Celebration" got overplayed at every party, etc., but when I hear it on the radio today it sounds good.

some serious awfulness on the list - Survivor and Kenny Loggins to name two - reminding me why i barely listened to commercial radio in the mid-80s. i always liked Dancing in the Dark so that over Raspberry Beret and 99 Luftballons.

"ROCK in the USA" is a bit like the Jesus & Mary Chain's "In A Hole"

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

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

Poor Tina Turner.