Welcome back to this week’s countdown! If you still need to see what the previous songs were, you can check out songs 40-31, and 30-21. I would also like to point out that T.G. Monahan and I started a new Return to the ’80s series called, Return to 1989. This will be a monthly series, going through all the news events, movies, and music from 30 years ago. So, if you’d like to Return to the glory days of 1989, you can check out our inaugural episode about January 1989.
Now, let’s Return to the week ending February 11, 1989, and continue this week’s countdown.
And don’t forget, you can click on the song title to listen to/watch the video on YouTube, and you can click on the album cover to get the song from Amazon.
We’ll start off today’s songs with a little synth-pop action. There is no mistaking that this is an 80s song. Erasure had some awesome hits in the U.S. in the late 80s. And they were even bigger in the U.K., as they had 24 straight Top 40 hits there. And by 2009, 34 of their 37 chart-eligible singles and EPs had made the UK Top 40, with 17 climbing into the Top 10. They are still very active, and are constantly releasing new albums. The latest was 2018’s World Beyond.
This was the fourth single released from Taylor Dayne’s awesome debut album, Tell It to My Heart. This joins a list of songs about not rushing, such as this, “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off”, and “Keep Your Hands to Yourself”.
2 years after the release of the legendary Hysteria album, Def Leppard was still dominating the charts. This was the sixth single released off of the album, and had landed at #3.
This is one of those songs that did not look familiar to me at all. But once I heard the chorus, it all came back to me. This is a cute, fun R&B song. It would peak at #13 on this chart, and it was a #1 hit on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In a decade full of incredible duets, this was one of my favorites. It doesn’t hurt that it is Ann Wilson from Heart and Robin Zander from Cheap Trick that are singing it. Also, it was written by Richard Marx, who knows his way around a power ballad. This was featured on the soundtrack to the 1988 film Tequila Sunrise starring Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell.
The second boy band entry on today’s list. I hate to admit it, but this song is kind of catchy. And the New Kids are local to me, so I won’t trash them. You can’t argue with their success. But, I’d rather watch an episode of Blue Bloods, starring Donnie, instead. They have been touring in recent years, and it sounds like they have been very successful tours. If anybody is willing to admit that they have seen them, please let me know how they are singing these songs. I don’t know if it would be cool and fun, or just weird.
This was the lead single from Karyn White’s debut, self-titled album. Even though I was definitely more into rock in these days, I still liked Karyn White a lot for some reason. This song was written and produced by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Daryl Simmons, and it was the first of four Top 10 singles from Karyn White.
80s CRUSH ALERT!!!! This would be Debbie’s biggest hit, staying at the top of the charts for 3 straight weeks. This was the first single released from her Electric Youth album, ensuring that there would be no sophomore slump. And this was the third song on today’s list for the teen crowd.
This was the debut single for Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. This was the beginning of the end of the ’80s. It could have easily blended in with the ’90s and the singer/songwriters from that period.
That wraps up today’s songs. I’d love to hear what you think so far. We will wrap up the top 10 songs of the week, on Friday.
Welcome to a new podcast series called, Return to 1989. Inspired by T.G Monahan’s Dreamin’ in ’89, we decided to take a look back and see what happened 30 years ago. Todd “T.G.” Monahan Return to 1989 to go over news events, movie releases, and album releases. This month, we Return to January. If you have anything you would like us to discuss, or if you had any personal stories or milestones from this year, please let us know. You can either comment below, or email us at Returntothe80s@gmail.com.
– Jan 8 “42nd Street” closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 3,486 performances and “Starlight Express” closes at Gershwin Theater NYC after 761 performances
– Jan 9 “Pat Sajak Show” premieres on CBS
The Pat Sajak Show is an American late-night television talk show which aired on CBS from January 9, 1989 to April 13, 1990.
– Jan 10 LA Kings center Wayne Gretzky becomes NHL’s all-time leading scorer in combined regular season & playoff points; 4 assists in 5-4 home win over Edmonton brings his total to 2,011, 1 more than Gordie Howe.
– Jan 13 “Ryan’s Hope” ends 13½ year run on ABC-TV
– Jan 20 George H. W. Bush inaugurated as 41st US President, Dan Quayle becomes 44th Vice President
– Jan 22 Super Bowl XXIII, Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, FL: San Francisco 49ers beat Cincinnati Bengals, 20-16; MVP: Jerry Rice, SF, WR
– Jan 28 46th Golden Globes: “Rain Man”, Dustin Hoffman, & Jodie Foster win
Movies
January 13
Gleaming the Cube
DeepStar Six
The January Man
January 27
No Retreat, No Surrender 2
Parents
Physical Evidence
Three Fugitives
Music
January 9 A Show of Hands – Rush
January 10 New York – Lou Reed
January 23 Oh Yes I Can – David Crosby
Lōc-ed After Dark – Tone Lōc
January 24 Electric Youth – Debbie Gibson
Skid Row – Skid Row
January 25 After the War – Gary Moore
January 30 Fabulous Disaster – Exodus
Technique – New Order
January 31 Life Is…Too Short – Too Short
Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich – Warrant
If you’d like to contact Todd, and/or order the book, he can be reached in the following places:
Here is another Remember That Song submission from another faithful member of the Return to the ’80s gang – bierpumpe from https://bierpumpe.wordpress.com/
Can you name the artist and song:
And I’m lookin’ in the mirror all the time
Wondering what she don’t see in me, I’ve been funny
I’ve been cool with the lines
Ain’t that the way love supposed to be
Last Song: “Foolish Beat” by Debbie Gibson from Out of the Blue (1987)
Happy birthday to Debbie Gibson who turned 46 yesterday, and is exactly 2 days older than me! Oh shit. Seeing that in print makes me realize that 50 is quickly approaching! Ugh!
There was a place where all you could do was wish on a four-leaf clover
In honor of Debbie Gibson’s birthday today, I am reposting this article which was originally published on January 28, 2011. Previously, there was only a preview of the “Snake Charmer” song. Now the full version is available, so I updated it.
Growing up, some of my favorite bands were AC/DC, Def Leppard, Journey, Kiss, Quiet Riot, Van Halen, Ozzy, and Judas Priest. So naturally, the first concert I ever went to was….Debbie Gibson!! Ah yes, the Out of the Blue tour!
Debbie Gibson may have been a teen-queen, but unlike the teen queens of today, she actually had talent.
Her debut album, Out Of The Blue was a huge success. Four singles from the album reached the top 5 of the Billboard charts: Only in My Dreams”, “Shake Your Love”, “Out Of The Blue”, and the # 1 hit “Foolish Beat”. “Foolish Beat” set a record for Gibson, making her (at 17) the youngest artist ever to write, produce, and perform a Billboard # 1 single, as entered in the 1988 Guinness Book of World Records, and she remains the youngest female artist to write, record, and perform a #1 single to date.
There was no sophomore slump for Ms. Gibson. The Electric Youth album spent five weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart. The first single released, “Lost in Your Eyes”, was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, which gave Debbie another achievement with both the Electric Youth album and the single “Lost In Your Eyes” simultaneously at #1. She shared ASCAP Songwriter of the Year Award 1989 with Bruce Springsteen. She had other hits on the Electric Youth album, but not as big: Electric Youth (#11), No More Rhyme (#17) and We Could Be Together (#71).
However, just like Tiffany, Debbie’s popularity dwindled at the dawn of the dreaded ’90s. In 1995, she released the very underrated album Think With Your Heart. In the meantime, Gibson has starred in some Broadway shows, such as Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast, Gypsy, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Grease.
Like Tiffany, Debbie posed in Playboy, and has also appeared in some reality/competition shows over recent years. In January 2006, she joined the cast of Skating with Celebrities on Fox Television, partnered with former Canadian World Champion figure skater Kurt Browning. She was voted out in the third episode. On January 6, 2008 Gibson appeared on Deal or No Deal along with Corey Feldman as part of an ’80s special.
“Mega Python vs. Gatoroid” is not Debbie Gibson’s first foray into cheesy sci-fi movies. She co-starred with actor Lorenzo Lamas in “Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus” which was released on May 19, 2009 (and is also airing again earlier tomorrow at 5:00pm Eastern).
10. Only In My Dreams
The one that started it all. You could tell that Debbie Gibson would become a star. She was cute and had a very good voice. This video is from the tour where I saw her:
9. Out of the Blue
Another very good song from her debut album. It was a welcom change after hearing so much of “Only In My Dreams” and “Shake Your Love”.
8. Should’ve Been the One/We Could Be Together
These are pretty good songs from the Electric Youth album. They both have a similar sound, but they are both good.
Again, I saw her do this in the concert I was at. Wow, it feels like yesterday!
7. Didn’t Have The Heart
Great ballad from the Think With Your Heartalbum. This is a very emotional sad song.
6. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?
Debbie did an outstanding job on this remake on her Think With Your Heartalbum. I think this is one of the better versions.
5. Electric Youth
The first dance song off of the album of the same name. Very awesome upbeat song.
4. Naked
This song came out around the same time that she appeared in Playboy. The song isn’t about Playboy, or posing naked though. It is a very good adult contemporary song. I can listen to this over and over.
3. Can’t Do It Alone
My favorite song from Think With Your Heart. You can tell that Debbie put a lot of feeling into this.
2. Snake Charmer (From the Motion Picture “Mega Python vs. Gatoroid”)
This song was just released, and I can’t get enough of it! It is a great upbeat song with an Indian sound to it:
1. Lost In Your Eyes
By far, this is Debbie Gibson’s best song. It stands the test of time.
Hi Everybody! Welcome back to this week’s countdown! If you missed the first 10 songs, you can go ahead and check them out. Today we have quite the variety of music we come to expect from the mid-to-late ’80s. Let’s just jump right into it today, and Return to the week ending May 21, 1988, and continue the countdown.
What a great way to kick things off! Lita Ford just flat out rocks! This would be Lita’s signature hit. Before this song, I was unaware of The Runaways, so I had no idea that she was such a pioneer for women in rock, along with Joan Jett. Lita’s still rockin’ it today. Her 2012 album, Living Like a Runaway is awesome.
Being a rock fan, this is one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs. This was the fifth single released from the Bad album, and would go on to be a number 1 hit. Jackson scored Eddie Van Halen for “Beat It” from the Thriller album. This time, he got Billy Idol’s guitarist Steve Stevens to play on this song. So good!
I love when Paul Carrack sings with Mike + The Mechanics and I love his solo hit, “Don’t Shed a Tear“. I didn’t remember this song until I heard the chorus. This is a pretty good one.
Wow, Prince’s handlers must be slacking off. Last year when I started these countdowns, it was almost impossible to find a Prince video. He’s still not on YouTube, but it is way easier to find his videos now.
I’m not really a post-Revolution Prince fan. I do like his music if I’m in the mood for it. Right now, I’m not in the mood for it.
Taylor Dayne’s follow-up single to her hit “Tell It to My Heart” was a success. This is another high energy freestyle song, just like it’s predecessor. “Prove Your Love” would peak at #7 on the Hot 100.
This is a typical Bruce Hornsby song. I do tolerate this one a little more than “The Way It Is” and “Mandolin Rain“. But, this is another song that I really need to be in the mood for in order to make it through the song. I made it to around a minute today.
Some of the younger crowd may know this song pretty well. Mariah Carey made this song a big hit in 1998. But, this song was originally done 10 years earlier by Brenda K. Starr. Mariah Carey actually sang backup on this original version. It would be Brenda K. Starr’s only top 20 hit. Mariah Carey did her version as a tribute to Starr because Starr had helped jump-start Carey’s career by handing a demo tape to CBS Records executive Tommy Mottola, who then signed Carey to her first recording contract.
This song often gets overlooked by radio. This was a good song in the middle of one of Cher’s many comebacks. This song was produced by David Geffen and written by Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child and Richie Sambora
This song is from Times Two’s 1988 debut album,X2. It would be their only hit song. It peaked at #20 on the Hot 100. This same year, Times Two was Debbie Gibson’s opening act for her Out of the Blue tour.
That wraps up today’s list of songs. It was kind of a mixed bag for me today. I hope you enjoyed it. We will be back tomorrow with some awesome songs. As always, please let me know what you think of the countdown so far, and if you have any memories from 1988 that you’d like to share..
Welcome back to this week’s countdown! If you still need to see what the previous songs were, you can check out songs 40-31, and 30-21. I would also like to point out that T.G. Monahan and I started a new Return to the ’80s series called, Return to 1989. This will be a monthly series, going through all the news events, movies, and music from 30 years ago. So, if you’d like to Return to the glory days of 1989, you can check out our inaugural episode about January 1989.
, we decided to take a look back and see what happened 30 years ago. Todd “T.G.” Monahan Return to 1989 to go over news events, movie releases, and album releases. This month, we Return to January. If you have anything you would like us to discuss, or if you had any personal stories or milestones from this year, please let us know. You can either comment below, or email us at 
” by Debbie Gibson from the album 
(1987)
Last Song: “Foolish Beat” by Debbie Gibson from Out of the Blue (1987)
