Year: 1987 Notable Tracks: “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)”, “Didn’t We Almost Have it All”, “So Emotional”, “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”, “Love Will Save The Day”, “I Know Him So Well” Album MVP: “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” Why I Loved It: If she hadn’t become already, this album established Houston … Read More
Year: 1989 Notable Tracks: “I Won’t Back Down”, “Runnin’ Down a Dream”, “Free Fallin”, “A Face in the Crows”, “Yer So Bad” Album MVP: “I Won’t Back Down” Why I Love It: It doesn’t get more heartland U.S.A than Tom Petty and that’s very evident on this album, as was the case on several works … Read More
Year Released: 1985 Notable Songs: “Burning Heart”, “Living In America”, “Heart’s on Fire”, “No Easy Way Out” Album MVP: ALL FOUR OF THEM! Why I Loved It: This certainly wasn’t the best of the Rocky movies, but the soundtrack for Rocky IV kicked major ass. The unconquerable essence that is Rocky Balboa is perfectly epitomized with Survivor’s “Burning Heart”—one … Read More
Year Released: 1988 Notable Songs: “Knocked Out”, “The Way That You Love Me”, “Straight Up”, “Forever Your Girl”, “Cold Hearted”, “Opposites Attract” Album MVP: “Straight Up” Why I Loved It: A younger generation will mostly remember Abdul as the quirky and quite possibly occasionally comatose judge alongside Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson on American Idol. It’s a shame, because … Read More
Year Released: 1987 Notable Songs: “Don’t Mean Nothing”, “Should’ve Known Better”, “Have Mercy”, “Endless Summer Nights”, “Hold On To The Nights” Album MVP: “Hold On To The Nights” Why I Loved It: Few artists of the era were better at selecting perfectly assembled mainstream pop radio tracks than Marx. Haters have and always will refer to Marx music … Read More
Year Released: 1984 Notable Songs: “Hard Times”, “Rock Box”, Sucker M.C.’s”, “It’s Like That” Album MVP: “It’s Like That” Why I Loved It: I feel like Run DMC is perhaps rap music’s biggest crowning achievement of all-time. From their start with this debut studio album lasting until this very day they’re still unmistakably an influence for rap artists everywhere, … Read More
Year Released: 1981 Notable Songs: “Who Can It Be Now”, “Down Under”, “Be Good Johnny”, “Underground” Album MVP: “Who Can It Be Now” Why I Loved It: If this was literally just a two track album I’d still be raving about it. That’s how much I enjoyed “Who Can it Be Now” and “Down Under” … Read More
Year Released: 1982 Notable Songs: “Truly”, “You Are”, “My Love” Album MVP: “Truly” Why I Loved It: There’s a lot I loved about Lionel Richie in the 80’s and perhaps my favorite was his very conscious decision to focus exclusively on tender ballads and shimmery mid-tempo pop. Of course, ballads became a staple of Richie’s … Read More
Year Released: 1987 Notable Songs: “Rebel Without a Pause”, “Bring The Noise”, “Don’t Believe The Hype”, “Night of the Living Baseheads”, “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos” Album MVP: “Black Steel in the Hour of Choas” Why I Loved It: If Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back isn’t … Read More
Year Released: 1981 Notable Songs: “Urgent”, “Waiting For a Girl Like You”, “Juke Box Hero”, “Break It Up”, “Luanne” Album MVP: “Waiting For a Girl Like You” Why I Loved It: To use a wrestling term – REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Styx, and Kansas were locked in fatal four-way to decide the early-to-mid 80’s commercial rock … Read More
