Catching up on some recent number ones:
"Baby Baby" Amy Grant - My Rank: 4; LittleShade's Rank: 6
"I Don't Wanna Cry" Mariah Carey - Me: 5; LittleShade: "a 3 or a 4"
"Rush Rush" Paula Abdul - Me: 3; LittleShade: 5
"Unbelievable" EMF - Me: 10; LittleShade: 8
As a shock to none of you, I am sure, LittleShade, my 10-year-old fifth grader, had even stronger feelings regarding “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You." She gives it "a one or a two."
My two high school best friends and I saw Bryan Adams' Waking Up the Neighbors concert when it eventually came around to Milwaukee in Fall 1992. Future-TNO-column-subject Mr. Big was the opener. Good concert! This song was played, of course, but Adams' other number one to date, "Heaven," was not. I did not miss it, as I recall, as his up tempo songs were definitely the best in concert. This song is not good. I give “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" a 3.
Good day, TNOCS commenters! I am not just a vessel through which you all get the number one rankings of my 10-year-old daughter, LittleShade. Yes, back in TNO column’s virtual late 70s, I listened to every Billboard Hot 100 #1 song and ranked my Then-Current Top 20 Favorite Songs That Ever Hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. When each Top 20 song gets its unique TNO column, I will reveal where it ranks in my individual top 20.
Tom wrote above that “Unbelievable fed into some weird hunger that American kids like me were feeling around that time. I was 11 when Unbelievable reached #1, and I loved it.” I was 15 when “Unbelievable” hit number one, and I could not agree more. I also loved it. As was common at the time, one of my friends owned the “Schubert Dip” album, and I dubbed it from that CD to a blank cassette tape so we could listen to it on my cassette boombox while playing tennis at the park near my house. I remember liking the whole album quite a bit, actually. I am not sure how well the rest of the album holds up now, but whenever I catch “Unbelievable” on SiriusXM’s PopRocks station I definitely turn it up. It still sounds full of that same energy today as it did back then. No doubt about it, “Unbelievable” by EMF is a 10 and ranks #15 on my list of Top 20 Billboard #1 songs. Here is the list:
20. “Livin’ on a Prayer” - Bon Jovi (Hit #1 in 1987)
19. “Need You Tonight” - INXS (1988)
18. “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” - Tears for Fears (1985)
17. ? (2009)
16. "Here I Go Again" - Whitesnake (1987)
15. “Unbelievable” - EMF (1991)
14. “Africa” - Toto (1983)
13. ? (2012)
12. "Call Me" - Blondie (1980)
11. ? (2007); 10. ? (2008)
9. “Take On Me” - A-ha (1985)
8. "Time After Time" - Cyndi Lauper (1984)
7. ? (2000)
6. “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” - Starship (1987)
5. “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” - Belinda Carlisle (1987)
4. ? (1971); 3. ? (2016)
2. “Lost in Emotion” - Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam (1987)
1. ? (2000)
Catching up with the past several #1's:
"Coming Out of the Dark" Gloria Estefan - My Rank: 2; LittleShade's Rank: 4
"I've Been Thinking About You" Londonbeat - Me: 6; LittleShade: 4
"You're in Love" Wilson Phillips - Me: 5; LittleShade: 5
"Baby Baby" Amy Grant - Me: 4; LittleShade: Not Yet Ranked**
"Joyride" Roxette - Me: 9; LittleShade: 8
"I Like the Way (The Kissing Game)" Hi-Five - Me: 4; LittleShade: "a 4 or a 5"
"I Don't Wanna Cry" Mariah Carey - Me: 5; LittleShade: Not Yet Ranked
**LittleShade said she has not been able to rank "Baby Baby" because whenever she thinks about it "Santa Tell Me" by Ariana Grande pops into her head. Out of curiosity, were any similarities between the songs brought up in its comments section?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlR0MkrRklg
Early ranking alert! While listening to "More Than Words," LittleShade, my 10-year-old 5th grader, kept looking at the time on the YouTube video hoping the song was almost over. She, um, did not like it. LittleShade gives "More Than Words" a "1 or a 2."
Pretty good song! The harmonies and simplicity of the arrangement hold up well over the years, and, fortunately, it did not get completely overplayed where I lived. I give "More Than Words" a 6.
Listening to it again this morning, my current top 5 songs on the "Joyride" album:
5. Knockin' On Every Door
4. Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)
3. Church Of Your Heart
2. (Do You Get) Excited?
1 (...and by a pretty big margin). Things Will Never Be The Same
Hey! Here's a video someone created in which, for part of it, they tried to sync up some old Roxette concert footage of Marie singing to the studio version of "Things Will Never Be the Same":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XBiamKC4zU
Former TheShadeMySweetLoveBrings favorite song and favorite album alert! Before "Joyride" came out, my "Look Sharp" cassette was by far the album I listened to the most in my then-young life. Then came "Joyride." The album, which I was happy to own in the new-for-me CD formant, I immediately loved. While "Look Sharp" was great, front to back, "Joyride" was so much better. It got more spins back then than I could count. And, for a some time, the "Joyride" was also my favorite song. While maybe it hasn't aged quite as well to these ears as some of the other songs on the "Joyride" album, or as well amongst Roxette's number ones as "Listen to Your Heart," it is still great. I give "Joyride" a 9.
Catching up with the past several number ones:
"Love Will Never Do (Without You)" Janet Jackson - My Rank: 9; LittleShade's Rank: 7
"The First Time" Surface - My Rank: 3; LittleShade: 3
"Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" C+C Music Factory - My Rank: 6; LittleShade: 5
"All the Man That I Need" Whitney Houston - My Rank: 2; LittleShade: 5
"Someday" Mariah Carey - My Rank: 9; LittleShade: "a 6 or a 7"
LittleShade, my 10-year-old fifth grade daughter... yeah, she does not agree. "This is horrible." "How did this get to number one?" She gives "One More Try" a 1.
I must say, having not heard "One More Try" in decades, it sounds way better to these 2021 ears than I thought it would. Tom is right that, although on the one hand it sounds purely 1991, on the other hand it does have an "oddly out-of-time quality." It is hard to get all the way past Timmy's voice and lyrics to say I like "One More Try," but I truly do admire the music and production choices he made given how little it cost him to record this song.
I give "One More Try" a 4.
Jumping in quickly to add that the non-video version of "Someday," which was on her s/t album and is the version played on the radio where I lived, is at least 50% better (Note: love the guitar solo!) than that crappy-ish video-version edit in the main article above. It is the version of "Someday" that I choose to rank, and I give it a 9.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeyI1Kc5-44
Actually, as a change from our normal practice, we listened to "Justify My Love" on Amazon Prime Music instead of through YouTube -- you can imagine why...
At breakfast this morning LittleShade, my 10-year-old fifth grader, said "Madonna had so many good number ones, but this song is so bad." She gives "Justify My Love" a "one or a two."
Agreed, blu_cheez. There's a weird mix of genres in "More." It made for an interesting one-time listen, but I do not think I will be coming back for... "More"
And here are my overall top 10 favorite songs released (in one way or another) in 1990:
10. Ball and Chain - Social Distortion
9. Torn - Toad the Wet Sprocket
8. Can’t Be Sure - The Sundays
7. The Emperor’s New Clothes - Sinéad O'Connor
6. Gone Gone Gone - Trip Shakespeare
5. Late - Trip Shakespeare
4. World Falls - Indigo Girls
3. Don’t Hold Back Your Love - Hall and Oates
2. Hammer and a Nail - Indigo Girls
1. Obscurity Knocks - Trash Can Sinatras
Here’s “Hammer and a Nail”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTI2GGNFR_U
LittleShade also gave a 1 to 10 ranking to each #1 from 1990. These 9 songs got a rank of at least a 6 from her:
Vogue - Madonna - Her Rank: 6
Step By Step - New Kids on the Block: 6
Black Cat - Janet Jackson: 6.5 (“a 6 or a 7”)
Blaze of Glory - Jon Bon Jovi: 6.5
It Must Have Been Love - Roxette: 7
I'm Your Baby Tonight - Whitney Houston: 7
Escapade - Janet Jackson: 8
Hold On - Wilson Phillips: 8
Opposites Attract - Paula Abdul & The Wild Pair: 8
My ranked list of top 10 1990 #1’s:
10. Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice - My Rank: 6
9. Black Cat - Janet Jackson: 6
8. Escapade - Janet Jackson: 6
7. Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinéad O'Connor: 6
6. (Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection - Nelson: 6
5. I'm Your Baby Tonight - Whitney Houston: 7
4. Hold On - Wilson Phillips: 7
3. Opposites Attract - Paula Abdul & The Wild Pair: 7
2. Blaze of Glory - Jon Bon Jovi: 10
1. If Wishes Came True - Sweet Sensation: 10
In no surprise to any of you, I am sure, LittleShade, my 10-year-old fifth grader, gives "Because I Love You" a 1. It joins recent male-ballad-sung "I'll Be Your Everything," "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," "Right Here Waiting," and "Hold On to the Nights" in the LittleShade "1 Club."
Hi Everyone. I actually liked "Because I Love You" back when it was first out in 1990... but it has not held up well over the years. It's just a little too slow and boring for my current tastes. I give "Because I Love You" a 2.
That is interesting, rollerboobie. On a similar note, this past weekend, while we the two of us were listening to an album that LittleShade also loves by my favorite band over breakfast, she asked me who my favorite artist was before them. Going back to my musical tastes in the early 1990s, I said "Rush." She then asked if I still had any music by them, and I said I still have some of their CDs. To my surprise, she asked if we could listen to it. (Note: Mrs. Shade was on a long run during this time, so otherwise none of this would have been possible, haha.) So, I put on my favorite Rush album, "Counterparts," thinking we would just listen to the first song, "Animate," and that would be enough for her (I did not think she would care for Geddy Lee's voice). To my surprise yet again, we made it through the whole album, and LittleShade actually liked it!
Catching up on our rankings for the past several number ones:
"If Wishes Came True" Sweet Sensation - My rank: 10; LittleShade's rank: 3.5 "a 3 or a 4"
"Blaze Of Glory" Jon Bon Jovi - Me: 10; LittleShade: 6.5
"Release Me" Wilson Phillips - Me: 3; LittleShade: 3
"(Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection" Nelson - Me: 6; LittleShade: 5
"Close To You" Maxi Priest - Me: 5; LittleShade: 5
"Praying for Time" George Michael - Me: 3; LittleShade: 3.5
"I Don't Have the Heart" James Ingram - Me: 4; LittleShade: 5
"Black Cat" Janet Jackson - Me: 6; LittleShade: 6.5
"Ice Ice Baby" Vanilla Ice - Me: 6; LittleShade: 1.5
LittleShade, my 10-year-old fifth grade daughter, however, does not agree with either of us. In what my guess is a foreshadowing of the type of grades she will be giving most of the rap and rap-adjacent number ones that will be gracing her ears in the forthcoming virtual years, LittleShade gives "Ice Ice Baby" "a one or a two." Per LittleShade: "It's not as bad as some of those really bad ballads, so I can't give it a regular one." ...So 1.5 it is.
I'm with Tom on this one. Great use of the "Under Pressure" sample here. The underlying beat and melody combined with the rapped verses and whisper-sung chorus remain pretty catchy all these years later. I give "Ice Ice Baby" a 6.
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