Tag / Flea

by jim

Fifty Years Of Music – 1989

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 1989, the year I finished my freshman year of high school and started my sophomore year.  Z95 and B96 continued to be the hit stations in Chicago and provided the majority of the soundtrack of that year.  At 68 songs, we are nearing 70% of the Hot 100 that remain familiar to me today, with 44 of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#99 Don Henley – The End of the Innocence
iTunes stats: N/A

The Eagles drummer and sometimes singer reached #8 with the title track from his third solo album.

#93 Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal
iTunes stats: N/A

The sixth top-ten single from Jackson’s Bad album, this track peaked at #7.

#91 Alice Cooper – Poison
iTunes stats: 18 plays

Hitting #7, it was Cooper’s fist top ten hit in a dozen years.

#88 Rick Astley – She Wants to Dance with Me
iTunes stats: N/A

The lead single from Astley’s sophomore effort, it became his fourth consecutive top ten hit, peaking at #6.

#87 Samantha Fox – I Wanna Have Some Fun
iTunes stats: 24 plays

Reaching #8, the title track for the former Page 3 model was her third, and final, US top ten hit.

#86 Guns N’ Roses – Paradise City
iTunes stats: 14 plays

Ranked by VH1 as the 21st greatest metal song of all time, the final single from the group’s debut album rose to #5 on the Hot 100.

#84: Edie Brickell & New Bohemians – What I Am
iTunes stats: 15 plays

The group’s only Top 40 hit, it reached #7.

#82: Bon Jovi – Lay Your Hands on Me
iTunes stats: 11 plays

The fourth and final top ten hit from New Jersey, it peaked #7.

#81: Aerosmith – Love in an Elevator
iTunes stats: 18 plays

The band reached #5 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart with their lead single from Pump, their tenth studio album.

#77: Lita Ford & Ozzy Osbourne – Close My Eyes Forever
iTunes stats: 25 plays

The highest-charting solo single for both Ford and Osbourne, it peaked at #8.

#76: REM – Stand
iTunes stats: 33 plays

The future theme song of the Chris Elliot vehicle Get a Life, the song hit #6, giving the band their second top ten hit.

#74: Guns N’ Roses – Welcome to the Jungle
iTunes stats: 17 plays

Named the second greatest metal song by VH1 in 2008, it peaked at #7 on the Hot 100.

#71: Guns N’ Roses – Patience
iTunes stats: 26 plays

Reaching #4, the song is thought to be about the troubled relationship between singer Axl Rose and his ex-wife.

#68: The Cure – Lovesong
iTunes stats: N/A

The group’s only top ten hit on the Hot 100, it rose to #2 In October of 1989.

#66: Bangles – In Your Room
iTunes stats: 19 plays

The lead single from the band’s third album, it peaked at #5 in January of 1989.

#65: Tone Loc – Funky Cold Medina
iTunes stats: 20 plays

The second and final Top 40 hit for the rapper and producer, it reached #3 and became just the second ever platinum-certified rap single.

#61: Skid Row – 18 and Life
iTunes stats: 8 plays

The band’s biggest hit, it reached #4 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the Album Rock Tracks chart.

#60: White Lion – When the Children Cry
iTunes stats: 18 plays

Written by the group’s lead singer about his childhood with a single mother, it made it to #3 on the Hot 100.

#59: Madonna – Cherish
iTunes stats: N/A

Peaking at #2, it gave Madonna the record for the most consecutive top-five singles with 16.

#58: Tears For Fears – Sowing the Seeds of Love
iTunes stats: N/A

The lead single from the group’s third studio album, it reached #2, becoming their fourth and final top ten hit.

#57: Donny Osmond – Soldier of Love
iTunes stats: N/A

Originally unreleased in the US since Osmond didn’t have a record deal, it eventually topped out at #2, becoming Osmond’s sixth and last top ten hit.

#55: Madonna – Express Yourself
iTunes stats: 17 plays

Accompanied by a music video directed by David Fincher, it peaked at #2.

#54: Richard Marx – Satisfied
iTunes stats: N/A

The lead single from his second album, it became the second of three consecutive #1 singles for Marx.

#53: Def Leppard – Armageddon It
iTunes stats: 29 plays

The sixth single released off of Hysteria, it went to #3, becoming the band’s third top ten hit.

#52: New Kids on the Block – You Got It (The Right Stuff)
iTunes stats: N/A

Peaking at #3 in March, it was the second single released from the group’s second album.

#51: Love and Rockets – So Alive
iTunes stats: 16 plays

Easily the band’s biggest US hit, it reached #3 on the Hot 100 and spent five weeks at #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

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by admin

Yet Another Mix Tape Monday – Volume 1

33 years ago, during my sophomore year of high school, I put together the first of what would eventually become a nearly 20 volume collection of mix tapes, containing my favorite songs that I had gathered either from the radio, a cassette tape, or (eventually) CD.  Today, we revisit those mix tapes for the fourth time and see how, or if, the soundtrack of my youth still resonates in today’s digital world and how much has changed over the past 3 years.

Bon Jovi should have been my first concert.  Their fourth studio album, New Jersey, was released in September of 1988 with a supporting tour starting soon after.  My sister, a big Bon Jovi fan, had convinced my mom to get us tickets, either to the March 24, 1989, show at the Rosemont Horizon or later that summer, August 4, at Alpine Valley.  I remember watching my mom make the phone call to get to tickets and then… nothing.

No tickets ever came in the mail and the show went on without us.  Now, it is entirely possible that this was an early introduction of the ineptitude of Ticketmaster, but knowing what I know now, more likely it was a sham.  A fake phone call or a real phone call made but a credit card that had no chance of the transaction going through.  We were not in the position to just shrug if something we ordered and paid for just didn’t show up and, to my recollection, there was no fuss made about the missing tickets.

Four years later, Bon Jovi, who placed three tracks on this first volume of hits that I started in 1989 during my sophomore year of high school, became both my second and third concerts.  This turned into one of the more disjointed volumes in the collection, with the hits of the day combined with older tracks, a morning zoo radio bit, and an album track thrown in for good measure.

Side A

Warrant – Heaven
iTunes stats: 16 plays, most recently on 11/27/2021

The biggest hit from Warrant, which I most likely originally recorded from Z95, peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts.  It has added a mere three plays over the last three years, the most recent coming more than a year ago.

Young MC – Bust A Move
iTunes stats: 33 plays, most recently on 9/1/2022

One of the first tunes I bought on cassingle, this one hit wonder, which featured Flea on bass, won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance in 1990.  It had another impressive increase, gaining seven plays since 2019.

New Kids Got Run Over By A Reindeer

Thanks to YouTube, I am finally able to confirm that this parody song that I originally heard on the Welch & Woody morning show on Z95 actually existed.  I have yet to add it to my collection.

Bon Jovi – You Give Love A Bad Name
iTunes stats: 16 plays, most recently on 2/15/2022

Originally written by Desmond Child for Bonnie Tyler, the song was rewritten and became the first single from Bon Jovi’s third album in 1986.  After a big jump between 2015 and 2019, it has been heard only twice in the three years since.

B-52s – Love Shack
iTunes stats: 18 plays, most recently on 10/5/2022

I’m still hoping to acquire the album version of the song on MP3, which I had originally taped off the radio.   In spite of that, I’ve managed to add five listens over the last three years.

Paula Abdul – The Way That You Love Me
iTunes stats: 14 plays, most recently on 5/18/2021

After stalling out on the Billboard charts on its original release in 1988, the song, along with a video by future Academy Award nominee David Fincher, was re-released the following year, making it up to #3.  Despite having not heard the song for the past year and a half, it nearly doubled its plays in these past three years.

Richard Marx – Right Here Waiting
iTunes stats: 14 plays, most recently on 3/16/2022

The #1 hit, the third consecutive for Marx, was the second single from his second album.  After a big showing between 2015 and 2019, it has slowed down, with only four new plays in the three years since.

Side B

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