Wow, the weeks seem to be flying by! It’s time to wrap up another week of top-40 songs. If you missed the previous songs, you can check out songs 40-31, 30-21, and 20-11.

This is a pretty good Top-10. There is a variety of ballads, dance songs, and rockers. So, let’s Return to the week ending March 28, 1987, and listen to the Top-10 songs this week.

10. “I Knew You Were Waiting For Me” by Aretha Franklin & George Michael

I was never a George Michael fan or an Aretha Franklin fan. But, I like the two of them together on this song. This song would eventually top the charts for 2 weeks.

9. “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House

So far, this top 10 is looking good. I like this song a lot. “Don’t Dream It’s Over” was nominated for Best Group Video, and Best Direction at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, and earned Crowded House a Best New Artist award.

8. “The Final Countdown” by Europe

The keyboard riff for this song made “The Final Countdown” one of the most instantly recognizable songs of the ’80s. I still like this song a lot. However, this is another one of those instances where the band is mainly known for one song even though they have so many other great ones. Hell, there are even better songs on The Final Countdown album itself such as “Rock the Night“, “Carrie“, and “Cherokee“. But, that doesn’t take anything away from this classic.

7. “Come Go With Me” by Exposé

Freestyle time! Often imitated, but never duplicated, Exposé burned the trail for freestyle girl groups. The Cover Girls, Sweet Sensation, and even Destiny’s Child owe a bit of thanks to Exposé.
“Come Go with Me” was the first single released from Exposé’s smash debut album, Exposure. It would eventually peak at #5, and remain in the Top 40 for 12 weeks.

6. “Somewhere Out There” by Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram

A great duet. I’ve still never seen An American Tail, for which this song was written. But, I feel like I have since this was on MTV all the time when it came out. I do still like this song though.

5. “Mandolin Rain” by Bruce Hornsby & The Range

The only good thing about this Bruce Hornsby song is that it isn’t “Mandolin Rain”. Oh, wait. Aaarrrrgh!!!!

4. “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” by Genesis

Radio and MTV had a knack for playing Genesis and Phil Collins songs over and over so much until we all got sick of them, and then they still kept playing them. Invisible Touch is an incredible and classic album. Every song on it was great, including this one. But, radio and MTV ruined it, and I got sick of it.
Years removed, I can finally listen to this song again, and enjoy it. Only in small doses though.

3. “Let’s Wait Awhile” by Janet Jackson

“Let’s Wait Awhile” was the fifth single released from Janet Jackson’s classic album, Control. This is a nice ballad.

2. “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship

This smash hit is the second song in the top 10 to be featured on a movie soundtrack. It was the theme for the Andrew McCarthy/Kim Cattrall movie, Mannequin. “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” would be a #1 hit, which made Grace Slick the oldest female artist to have a number one single in the United States (only to be broken in 1999 by Cher for her song “Believe”).

1. “Lean On Me” by Club Nouveau

And the #1 song this week is Club Nouveau’s cover of the Bill Withers 1972 hit, “Lean On Me“. I don’t mind this song because I don’t hear it too often. This version won a Grammy award in 1987 for Bill Withers, as the writer, for Best R&B Song. A couple of years after this, Club Nouveau’s version was featured in the Morgan Freeman movie, Lean On Me.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s Top-40. We’ll be back next week for a new week of Top-40 music. I can’t seem to find my Delorean. As soon as I find it, I’ll figure out what coordinates to set for next week’s countdown. In the meantime, Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

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