tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1989

[falcongrrl]

This is that meme that's going around. You go to musicoutfitters.com and put the year of your high school graduation into their search engine, then click on the first result that comes back for the top 100 songs for that year.

Then, according to the original meme, you do a bunch of formatting that my poor feeble brain can't handle. Songs I used to like, used to hate, like now, hate now, can't remember. Eh, it's too much. So I'm just going to list here the "songs from 1989 I wouldn't mind hearing again tonight." Yes, some of them are pretty terrible, but nostalgia is a powerful thing.



17. The Look, Roxette - What in the world can make a brown-eyed girl turn blue? I'm a sucker for songs that mention my eye color.

18. She Drives Me Crazy, Fine Young Cannibals - Like no one else. And I can't help myself.

24. If You Don't Know Me By Now, Simply Red - This singer's voice has grown on me, and I like him a lot more now than I did when I was in high school. I wonder if the whole CD would hold up.

25. Like A Prayer, Madonna - I would rather hear this than the stuff she's doing now. :-) Madonna back when Madonna was...less plastic? A little bit?

28. Baby Don't Forget My Number, Milli Vanilli - Buh-buh-buh-buh-baby. Maybe stuttering helps with the lip-syncing?

32. Eternal Flame, The Bangles - Say my name, sun shines through the rain; my whole life, so lonely, then you come and ease the pain. I don't want to lose this feeling... (Yes, I know, it's corny. But there's something about it. Maybe it's the plaintive sound of her voice.)

36. Buffalo Stance, Neneh Cherry - Always, always, I thought the name of this song was Buffalo's Dance. Not that it makes a whole lot of sense either way.

42. Bust A Move, Young M.C. - Come sit next to me, you fine fella. :-D

43. Once Bitten, Twice Shy, Great White - My, my, my. Wow, these lyrics are so misogynistic...but the song's catchy? I don't want to like it, but at the same time, I wouldn't mind hearing it again. "You didn't know that rock-n-roll burned. So you bought a candle and you lived and you learned." This captures something of that time period for me. :-D

47. Love Shack, B-52's - I only sing this with beetiger.

51. So Alive, Love and Rockets - I don't know what color your eyes are, baby, but your hair is long and brown...

58. Sowing The Seeds Of Love, Tears For Fears

61. 18 And Life, Skid Row - See, you thought I had taste with the classy Tears for Fears song? Sadly, no. Poor Ricky. Nicky?

62. I Don't Want Your Love, Duran Duran - No one understands the love I have for Duran Duran. Except for maybe my friend Lisa, who hung out with me when we were both 13.

68. Love Song, Cure - Still love this song unapologetically.

76. Stand, R.E.M. - This one too.

81. Love In An Elevator, Aerosmith - Okay, I'm a bit apologetic over this one.

83. This Promise, When In Rome - I like this one, if it's the one I think it is. (I'm sorry, but I'm just thinking of the right words to say. I know they don't sound the way I planned them to be...)

84. What I Am, Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians - I hated this song when it came out, and then a few years later I loved it. Go figure.

86. Paradise City, Guns N' Roses - Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.

99. The End Of The Innocence, Don Henley - Happily-ever-after fails. But lay your head back on the ground, and we'll listen to this song for a while, and remember...

Comments

[otter3.livejournal.com]

Oh, 1996. Even your good songs were really bad. Just be glad, 96, that you're not 1978.

1. Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix), Los Del Rio

65. Children, Robert Miles
66. Theme From Mission: Impossible, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen
68. Just A Girl, No Doubt
94. Beautiful Life, Ace Of Base
98. Macarena, Los Del Rio
99. Macarena, Los Del Rio
100. Macarena, Los Del Rio
Infinity. Macarena, Los Del Rio

Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

Edit: Okay, okay.
12. Missing, Everything But The Girl
30. One Of Us, Joan Osborne - if no one's looking

There are other tolerable ones there, but stuff I want to hear? Um, no.

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

*laugh*

What about 1978 could have been better worse more memorable than the Macarena? :-D

And I didn't realize you were that much younger than me.

[shaterri.livejournal.com]

Far too many for 1986 for me to list in a reply. :-) '89 isn't *too* terrible a year from the looks of it... stuff I'd have to add:

4. Straight Up / 5. Miss You Much -- both rock-solid, if straightforward, dance numbers. I especially like the video remix of Miss You Much. 'Is that the end? No.'

33. Wild Thing / 65. Funky Cold Medina -- okay, maybe a little apologetically. :-) They're sexist and a little homophobic , but just goofy enough to get a ride from me. Plus, it's hard to argue with that beat!

70. Angel Eyes -- I'd much rather "See The Light" or "Confidence Man", but I love Jeff Healey's guitar so much that I'm happy to listen to this still.

And looking at the Pazz and Jop list from 1989 (http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres89.php) shows just how much the top 100 missed. Three all-time great albums just in the top 10 (3 Feet High And Rising, Straight Outta Compton and Spike), and not a single track from them on this list... and then you go down a little bit and you get Full Moon Fever, Paul's Boutique, Oranges and Lemons, The Sensual World, Lyle Lovett and His Large Band... man. Good music. :-)

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

I was kind of torn with the Tone Loc ones...yeah, the beat's good, and he raps well...but I also found Tone Loc himself pretty skeevy, for some reason, and I do now too. So the fact that he's performing about himself having sex? Big turnoff.

"Straight Up" was a good song, though I might've picked "Cold Hearted" over it for Paula Abdul, not sure. Not sure about "Miss You Much," was that Janet Jackson? I couldn't remember it well.

And yeah, there are other Jeff Healey songs I like better than Angel Eyes. I like his voice and guitar, but that specific song drags a little for me.

And I'm glad to know there were so many good albums in my year. :-)

[shaterri.livejournal.com]

"Miss You Much" is Janet Jackson, yep. One of the "Rhythm Nation" tracks; I prefer the title track to it, but it wasn't on the list. And Tone Loc was pretty skeevy, and it's a strike against the music, but not a fatal one at least for me... and I do very definitely know what you mean about "Angel Eyes", but it still (narrowly) makes that cut for me.

[playfuleye.livejournal.com]

I like most of the songs on your list! Mmm, Duran, Duran...
I got Linkin Park, J-LO, and Usher :(

Good ones in my year include songs from No Doubt, John Mayer, Pink, and Alanis Morisette's "Hands Clean" which I liked for the line of "oh, this could get messy, but I don't seem to mind"

[lazarusrat.livejournal.com]

Don't ever apologize for liking The Cure. ZOMG ♥

Anyway... God what an awful year 1995 was. :D

4. Kiss From A Rose, Seal - This is not one of my favorite Seal songs, but overplayed Seal is still pretty good.
14. Run-Around, Blues Traveler - Just can't go wrong with Blues Traveler
18. Boombastic/In The Summertime, Shaggy - Mistah rooo-ooo-manteek. Total guilty pleasure. :D
19. Total Eclipse Of The Heart, Nicki French - Obviously, the original is preferred, but I'll still sing along with this one.
22. Hold My Hand, Hootie and The Blowfish - Totally jakebe's fault.
35. In The House Of Stone And Light, Martin Page - I kinda wish I hadn't sold this CD.
41. December, Collective Soul - Again, there is better Collective Soul, but still.
44. I'm The Only One, Melissa Etheridge - Fuck yeah.
55. Roll To Me, Del Amitri - The video completely creeps me out, but the song is so much fun.
58. I Wish, Skee-lo - I, too, wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat and a '64 Impala. Skee-lo understands me in ways no one else does.
78. No More "I Love You's", Annie Lennox - Annie Lennox makes me feel funny.
85. Good, Better Than Ezra - I really should've gotten some BTE back in the day.
87. Turn The Beat Around, Gloria Estefan - I wouldn't want my membership card to be revoked or anything.
89. 1st Of Tha Month, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - I always liked trying to sing along with Bone Thugs.
93. Cotton Eye Joe, Rednex - Weeeee!
95. I'll Stand By You, Pretenders - Such a great song.
99. Misery, Soul Asylum - I get these guys and Goo Goo Dolls mixed up a lot.

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

I like your pics here. :-)

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

picks, rather

[illuviel.livejournal.com]

I am amused that my list(1988)can Rickroll yours and everybody else's.

There are a few I still enjoy from mine, but modern internet meme me is having quite an amused moment with this.

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

I wondered which year when I saw Rick Astley on my list. Umm...congratulations? :-D