In this series I will be looking back at each year on the charts between 1986 and 1996 and asking the question "When did the Eighties actually end?" The background to this is a research project that focuses on the proliferation of Greatest Hits albums in the early 1990s. The assumption is that the shift from vinyl to CD, the influence of Baby Boomers and the value offered by compilation albums, reframed the way people thought about Pop.
Introduction
Nineteen Eighty-Nine sees a return to a more "grown-up" Adult-Orientated Soft-Rock sound, after the pre-teen Pop party of 1988. As the decade concluded, there seemed to be an air of sentimentality and nostalgia, with slow-tempo numbers from Marc Almond, The Bangles and Simple Minds topping the charts. Stock Aitken Waterman continued to dominate; however, this was augmented by the proliferation of sample-based Dance music: Black Box, Technotronic and Lil Louis etc.
There was also an increased polarisation between Single and Album Charts. Nineteen Eighty-Nine sees the release of some heavy-weight albums in the Rock idiom by future classic artists: Madonna, Phil Collins, Guns 'n' Roses etc. Although these produced big hits, they were hardly cutting-edge. Indeed, those Rock artists scoring big often did so with over-the-top production and anthemic choruses: Cher, Belinda Carlisle, Alice Cooper, Tina Turner etc. In addition to this, we see the end of the (Eighties) 'Imperial Phase' for a number of key artists: Eurythmics, Tears for Fears, Simple Minds, Tina Turner and Queen. All deliver big-selling albums in 1989; however, they also conclude a consistent run of chart success with original material. As we shall go on to explore, their Greatest Hits collections in subsequent years canonise this period with an effective full-stop at the end of the decade.
More forward-looking is the advancement of House music, which can a be felt in significant album releases by Soul II Soul, Neneh Cherry and Lisa Stansfield. There is an increased acceptance of both sample-based Dance and the “sound system” as a valid musical collective. Likewise, the space opened-up by SAW for more pre-teen orientated Pop bears fruits with acts like London Boys and Jive Bunny. Easy to overlook at this juncture is the success of both Gloria Estefan and Erasure: both extremely successful in straddling the gap between Singles and Album Charts across the turn of the decade. Arguably, however, some of the most interesting Pop of 1989 takes place outside of the Top 10, with the growing influence of Alternative Rock and the emergence of the Modern Rock chart in the US. Tellingly, it is cross-over hits by British bands The Cure ("Lovesong") and Depeche Mode ("Personal Jesus") that initially make a bigger mark in the US than they do at home.
Album Charts
Nineteen Eighty-Nine is not a big year for Greatest Hits albums. Rather it is a big year for the final original albums by artists that would go on to be anthologised in the deluge of Greatest Hits albums in the 1990s. While seventeen compilations albums make the Top 10, only two scrape into the end of year Top 30: Roy Orbison’s The Legendary Roy Orbison (#26) and Chris de Burgh’s Spark to a Flame (#27). Bubbling under the Top 30 we have two further compilation albums from Clannad (#31) and Rod Stewart (#33). However, in the Top 30 itself, compilation albums make up just under 7% of releases. For the most part the Top 30 seems divided into two camps: established adult-orientated/rock artists and a new-wave of pre-teen and teen Pop (typified by Stock Aitken Waterman) and Dance acts.
In the category of Adult Orientated Rock, 1989 sees a series of albums that go on to become career-defining classics: specifically Madonna's Like a Prayer; Phil Collins' But Seriously; Chris Rea's Road to Hell; Guns 'n' Roses Appetite for Destruction; and Enya's Watermark. Other big releases for artists whose careers will be forever synonymous with the 1980s include Tina Turner, Queen, Tears for Fears, Simple Minds, and Eurythmics. This is a high-water mark for these artists whose 'classic output' was arguably now behind them:
Simply Red’s A New Flame (#2);
Phil Collins’ But Seriously (#3);
Fine Young Cannibals’ Raw and the Cooked (#7);
Tina Turner’s Foreign Affair (#8);
Madonna’s Like a Prayer (#9);
Chris Rea’s The Road to Hell (#12);
Deacon Blue’s When The World Knows Your Name (#13);
Guns n’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction (#15);
Simple Minds’ Street Fighting Years (#16);
Queen’s The Miracle (#17);
Erasure’s Wild! (#18)
Eurythmics We Too Are One (#20);
Tears for Fears’ The Seeds of Love (#21);
Enya’s Watermark (#24);
Transvision Vamp’s Velveteen (#25);
Tanita Tikarum’s Ancient Heart (#28);
Wet Wet Wet’s Holding Back The River (#29)
Prince’s Batman Soundtrack (#30).
Passing whims on the chart include Transvision Vamp and Fine Young Cannibals. Likewise, although Deacon Blue and Tanita Tikarum would repeat their success with follow-up releases in 90/91 from a 21st Century perspective, their mark on the culture is arguably diminished by occurring at this liminal moment of transition. Notable, however, is the rise of Simple Red, who would dominate radio and Album Charts in 1991/92 with the Stars album. Likewise, Erasure: their prominence having been eclipsed in 1988 by Stock Aitken Waterman. However, by 1989 their Imperial Phase was well underway: bookended by the albums Wild (1989) and Chorus (1991). Between the end of 1988 and the beginning of 1993, Erasure had 7 top five singles including a number one E.P with "Abba-esque": few acts straddled the gap between the Eighties and Nineties so successfully and inconspicuously.
In the category of pre-teen Pop, there remained a strong presence from both Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue, with the latter's second album coming in at number six on the End of Year Chart. But there is clearly a shift away from Pop to a more House-orientated Dance sound: Soul II Soul, Bobby Brown, London Boys, Neneh Cherry and Lisa
Stansfield.
Jason Donovan’s Ten Good Reason’s (#1);
Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine’s Anything for You (#2);
Gloria Estefan’s Cuts Both Ways (#3);
Kylie Minogue’s Enjoy Yourself (#6);
Soul II Soul’s Club Classics Vol. One (#10);
Bobby Brown’s Don’t Be Cruel (#11);
Jive Bunny and Mastermixers’ The Album (#14);
London Boys’ Twelve Commandments of Dance (#19);
Neneh Cherry’s Raw Like Sushi (#22);
Lisa Stansfield Affection (#23).
Notable in particular is Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine’s Anything for You (#2) and her solo debut Cuts Both Ways (#3). This is the first time since Adam and the Ants in 1981 that an act has had two albums in the End of Year Top 10. Like Erasure, the legacy of Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine is often overlooked because it exists in this twilight period. Less auspicious (but more hastily forgotten) is the success of novelty pop act Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers' The Album (#14): a set which produced three sample-based number ones singles in the second-half of the year: "Swing the Mood";"That's What I Like" and "Let's Party". Stylistically the recordings recalled the Rock 'n' Roll sound of the 1950s, while simultaneously adhering to the sample-based Dance production code pioneered by Big Audio Dynamite, Trevor Horn, Brain Eno and Coldcut.
Singles Chart
Although the Singles Charts in 1989 is still very much dominated by the sound of Stock Aitken Waterman, unlike 1988, this is concentrated on a smaller repertoire of artists. Kylie Minogue having slipped from poll position on the chart, with Neighbours’ co-star Jason Donovan drawing level. On the End of Year Top 50 they each have two placings, plus one as a duet:
Jason Donovan "Too Many Broken Hearts" (#4)
Kylie Minogue "Hand on Your Heart" (#10)
Kylie Minogue "Wouldn't Change a Thing" (#21)
Jason Donovan "Sealed with a Kiss" *(#29)
Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan "Especially for You” (#32)
Further hits for the two include Donovan's “Every Day” (#2) and “When You Come Back To Me” (#2) and Minogue's “Never Too Late” (#4). Two additional artists directed directly at the pre-teen market also make the Top 10: Big Fun with “I Just Can’t Shake The Feeling” (#8) plus a cover of the Jacksons “Blame It On The Boogie” (#4); and Sonia with “You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You” (#1) and “Listen To Your Heart” (#10). In addition to these four artists, the SAW production team are also involved in three charity singles:
The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey” (#1)
Band Aid II "Do They Know It's Christmas?” (#1)
Bananarama & Lananeeneenoonoo “Help!” (#3)
More interesting, however, are their collaborations with two established artists: Cliff Richard and Donna Summer. For Richard this was a one off pairing for the single “Just Don’t Have the Heart” (#3). However, with Donna Summer, they produced a whole album Another Place Another Time, which delivered two singles that returned her to the Top 10 for the first time since 1979: “This Time I Know It’s For Real” (#3) and “I Don’t Wanna Get Hurt” (#7). Summer's Disco heritage (and also the attention which SAW reputedly lavished on the recording sessions) can perhaps account for the shift towards a more soulful, less Hi-NRG sound in their production work for other artists in 1989.
Nineteen Eighty Nine delivered nineteen Top 20 singles for Stock Aitken Waterman; however, the year did not belong to them in the way that 1988 did. Arguably, they were no longer at the cutting-edge of Pop production. Certainly, their style had evolved into to a warmer, more traditional sound. On Jason Donovan's album Ten Good Reasons, for example, is characterised by the Soft-Rock affectations of “Every Day” and “When You Come Back To Me”. Kylie Minogue's Enjoy Yourself veers in the opposite direction: to a more a more Disco-orientated Seventies sound, redolent of Donna Summer's work with Giorgio Moroder; and also the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever (“More Than a Woman”/“If I Can’t Have You” etc). This nostalgic style is evident in the pastiche sounds of four notable SAW-produced cover versions: “Blame It On The Boogie” (Big Fun), “Help” (Bananarama), “Sealed With A Kiss”(Jason Donovan) and Samantha Fox’s ignominious reworking of Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Wanna be With You”.
The Best Selling Single of 1989, however, is not a SAW production but “Ride on Time”: a House track produced by Italian production team Black Box. Comprising Daniele Davoli, Valerio Semplici, and Mirko Limoni, the Black Box trio reached number 9 in the UK the previous year (under the soubriquet Starlight) with "Numero Uno": a track which sampled James Brown, Quartz, and Rose Royce. Commensurately cut-and-paste, the original version of "Ride on Time" featured a sample from Loleatta Holloway’s 1980 US Dance hit ”Love Sensation”. However, for the 1989 single-release, the vocals were re-recorded by studio-singer Heather Small (later of M-People). The focal point of the band (used for cover-art and promotional performances) was French fashion model Katrin Quinol, leading to considerable confusion as to who and what Black Box were. This ambiguity was mirrored in the providence of vocals on Milli Vanilli's number two hit "Girl You Know It's True": in the aftermath of the 1990 Grammy win it transpired that the vocals were not those of Fab Morvana and Rob Pilatus, but studio singers John Davis, Brad Howell and Charles Shaw. While the former duo were used for visual performance, their singing had been substituted by (former Boney M producer) Frank Farian in post-production.
The shift away from traditional modes of composition and authorship is reflected in the success of a number of other sample-based Dance acts infiltrating the singles chart: Technotronic, Rebel MC, Lil Louis, London Boys etc. In this direction, the most significant success is that of Soul II Soul, who hit number one with "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)”, which went on to become the fifth best-selling single of the year. The British musical “collective” won two Grammy’s and ushered in a new understanding the “Sound System” as key concept for how Pop is made in the collaboration between DJ’s, engineers and musicians.
At the other extreme, the hits of Jive Bunny (a novelty act devised by Les Hemstock for the DJ-only Mastermix service) also reframed the way mainstream audiences consumed Pop: decoupling authenticity from the ritual pleasure of consuming the familiar. The cultural appropriations of their three sample-based, “megamix” style number one singles barely hiding in plain sight:
"Swing the Mood” used: Glenn Miller's "In the Mood”; Bill Haley and His Comets' "Rock Around the Clock”; Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti”; Everly Brothers' "Wake Up, Little Susie”.
"That's What I Like” used: The Ventures’ “Theme from Hawaii Five-O”; Chubby Checker "Let's Twist Again” and “The Twist”; Chris Montez’s "Let's Dance”; The Surfaris' “Wipeout”; Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Great Balls of Fire”; Chuck Berry’s "Johnny B. Goode”; Little Richard’s "Good Golly Miss Molly”; Eddie Cochran’s "Summertime Blues”; Bill Haley and the Comets’ "Razzle Dazzle”; Dion and the Belmonts’ ”Runaround Sue” and The Big Bopper’s "Chantilly Lace”
"Let's Party" used "March of the Mods”; Del Shannon's “Runaway”; The Wrens' "Come Back My Love”; Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday”; Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody”; and Gary Glitter's "Another Rock 'N' Roll Christmas”.
The success of these three singles could perhaps be predicted on a number of things. Firstly the expansion of the Pop market to embrace the pre-teen audience by Stock Aitken Waterman in the period 1987 to 1988. This was manifest in the use of the cartoon rabbit as the act’s focal point. Secondly, the infiltration (and routine acceptance of) sample-based Dance music during this period: particularly when it contained elements of wit and novelty e.g S-Express’s “Theme from S-Express” and The Timelords' "Doctorin' the Tardis”. Thirdly, Jive Bunny thrived on the the cross-over between playground chatter (between the proto-Millennial, pre-teen audience) and dinner table discussion with parents (and grandparents) about the providence of the records. For these Generation Y consumers, the impressionistic fragments of anachronistic Pop history built upon the way in which Stock Aitken Waterman’s productions for Bananarama, Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue recycled the vernacular of Pop heritage. Jive Bunny were just a much slicker and, arguably, cruder proposition.
Sitting alongside this Brave New World of sample-based nostalgia and uncomplicated sentimentalism, was a number of saccharine offerings from traditional acts:
The Bangles "Eternal Flame” (#3)
Marc Almond featuring Gene Pitney"Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart” (#6)
Michael Ball "Love Changes Everything” (#14)
Mike + the Mechanics "The Living Years” (#18)
Natalie Cole "Miss You Like Crazy” (#20)
Linda Ronstadt featuring Aaron Neville "Don't Know Much" (#23)
Simple Minds "Belfast Child" (#26)
Richard Marx "Right Here Waiting” (#30)
Sam Brown “Stop!" (36)
Simply Red "If You Don't Know Me by Now" (#38)
Living in a Box "Room in Your Heart" (#45)
Phil Collins "Another Day in Paradise” (#46)
The Beautiful South "Song for Whoever” (#47)
The Bangles, Marc Almond, Phil Collins, Simple Minds all stand-out for delivering big hits with tracks that are uncharacteristically mawkish. Within the Rock idiom it would seem that the upbeat Pop sounds of 1988 had been replaced with something altogether more maudlin. Those tracks that do take a more upbeat tack veer very much towards a layered Adult-Orientated Soft-Rock sound (redolent of Bon Jovi's 1986 album Slippery When Wet), with big production and anthem-style choruses.
Madonna "Like a Prayer” (#11)
Alice Cooper "Poison" (#40)
Tina Turner "The Best” (#41)
Cher "If I Could Turn Back Time” (#43)
Belinda Carlisle "Leave a Light On” (#50)
Noteworthy in this direction for being more subtle is Roy Orbison’s posthumous hit “You Got It” (#33) recorded with the Travelling Willburys (Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty), which reached number three. This is a sound around which a number of other notably hits cohere. These include: Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” (#28); the Travelling Wilbury’s “Handle With Care” (#21); Stevie Nicks' "Rooms on Fire" (#16) and Cyndi Lauper’s cover of Orbison’s “I Drove All Night” (#7). Other notable hits in the Rock genre include:
Fine Young Cannibals’ "She Drives Me Crazy” (#5);
Duran Duran’s "All She Wants Is” (#9):
Roachford’s "Cuddly Toy” (#4):
Michael Jackson’s "Leave Me Alone” (#2);
Texas’s "I Don't Want a Lover” (#8);
Guns N' Roses’ "Paradise City” (#6) "Sweet Child o' Mine” (#6), and “Patience" (#10);
Transvision Vamp "Baby I Don't Care” (#3);
U2 with B.B. King "When Love Comes to Town” (#6);
Fine Young Cannibals’ "Good Thing” (#7);
The Cure’s “Lullaby" (#5);
Morrissey’s "Interesting Drug” (#9);
Midnight Oil’s "Beds Are Burning” (#6);
Queen’s "I Want It All” (3) and “Breakthru" (#7);
Roxette's "The Look” (#7);
Prince’s “Batdance" (#2);
Tears for Fears’ "Sowing the Seeds of Love” (#5);
Billy Joel’s "We Didn't Start the Fire” (#7);
Chris Rea’s "The Road to Hell (Part 2)” (#10);
Iron Maiden’s "Infinite Dreams (Live)” (#6);
Stone Roses’ "Fools Gold"/"What the World is Waiting For” (#8);
Tina Turner’s "I Don't Wanna Lose You” (#8);
However, the Rock sound of 1989 is very fractured: from the fairlight-heavy Funk-rock of Duran Duran, to the staccato Art-rock stylisations of The Cure. Like 1988, the extremities of the Top 10 are marked by Iron Maiden and Morrisey; however, the coherent sound of the Album Chart is less in evidence. More nuanced and indicative of the direction of Rock in the 1990s, was the sound of US Modern Rock/Alternative Radio: both a refuge for post-Punk artists and a showcase for bands that would go on to define the Grunge sound of Nevermind.
Conclusion
This division between Adult Orientated Rock and Dance music in 1989 is significant because it marks a polarisation that would arguably characterise Pop for much of the ensuing decade: giving rise to the mainstream proliferation of Grunge and Brit Pop on one timeline and Garage and Rap on another. Likewise, audiences were to become more segregated, not just in terms of genre, but also in terms of age. In the 1990s the cross-over between teen Pop and older audiences would become much less routine. In short, the reciprocal pollination that categorised the sonic template of the 1980s was coming to an end. Acts that did not fit into a discrete box found it difficult to get a purchase in a media landscape that was increasingly sophisticated in targeting niche markets and defined communities of consumers. In particular, this applied to artists defined by the more experimental DIY aesthetic of post-Punk: an Indie sensibility that would re-emerge some years later in the UK under the umbrella-term Brit Pop.
The Modern Rock Chart
As a sort of coda to this research it is interesting to note that in parallel to the activity on the UK charts, the US saw the emergence of a Modern Rock Chart, published by Billboard from the end of 1988. This was a significant taste-maker in 1989: featuring the Top 40 songs played on Alternative radio stations in the US. Albums and tracks enjoying heavy radio play in America (and cross-over success on the UK) included:
The Cure's Disintegration (#3) featuring "Love Song" and "Lullaby";
Lou Reed's New York (#14) featuring "Romeo Had Juliette","Dirty Blvd."and"Busload of Faith";
Ian McCulloch's Candleland (#18) featuring "Proud to Fall" "Faith and Healing";
Kate Bush's The Sensual World (#2) featuring "The Sensual World" and "Love and Anger",
Julian Cope's My Nation Underground (#42) featuring "5 O'clock World" and "China Doll";
Elvis Costello's Spike (#5) featuring "Veronica"and "This Town";
Public Image Ltd's Nine (#36) featuring "Disappointed" and "Sand Castles in the Snow";
Pixies' Doolittle (#8) featuring "Monkey Gone To Heaven" and "Here Comes Your Man";
R.E.M.'s Green (#27) featuring "Stand", "Pop Song 89" and "Orange Crush";.
Depeche Mode's 101 (#5) featuring "Everything Counts" + "Personal Jesus" from forthcoming 1990 Violator (#2);
B-52’s Cosmic Thing (#75 - #9 in 1990) featuring "Shake That Cosmic Thing", "Channel Z" and "Love Shack";
The Cult's Sonic Temple (#3) featuring "Fire Woman", "Edie (Ciao Baby)" and "Sun King"
Waterboys Fisherman's Blues (#13) featuring "Fisherman's Blues" and "A Bang On The Ear";
10,000 Maniacs' Blind Man's Zoo (#18) featuring "Trouble Me" and "Eat For Two";
The Jesus & Mary Chain's Automatic (#11) featuring "Blue From A Gun" and "Head On";
New Order's Technique (#1) featuring "Round and Round" and "Run 2";
Deborah Harry's Def, Dumb and Blonde (#12) featuring "I Want That Man", "Kiss It Better" and "Brite Side";
Big Audio Dynamite Megatop Pheomix (#27) featuring "James Brown" and "Contact";
Ramones' Drain Drain (#75) featuring "Pet Semetary", "I Believe in Miracles" and "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)";
David Byrne Rei Mo Mo (#51) featuring "Dirty Old Town".
For some this also translated into cross-over success in the US mainstream chart: notably The Cure and B52s with "Lovesong" and "Love Shack". Indeed, many of these artists would go on to become more significant in the subsequent decade (REM, Depeche Mode, Pixies) both for their new recordings but also the way in which their work would sit within the emerging canon of Pop and Rock recordings. Lou Reed, Kate Bush, The Ramones, Debbie Harry, New Order may not have been in the full pomp of their Imperial Phases in 1989; however, the quality of these late-Eighties recordings arguably contributed as much to the way in which the decade is remembered and mythologised as the anything in the actual End of Year Top 40.
The Modern Rock Chart, subsequently known as the Alternative Chart, was effectively the corner into which serious Pop had painted itself by the end of the decade. Guitar-based music looked increasingly anachronistic against the rapid evolution of House, Jive Bunny and Stock Aitken and Waterman. Not until The B52's released "Love Shack" in March 1990 did the genre produce a sound that appealed to children: a symbolic rejoinder to the playground Punk of Adam and the Ants at the beginning of the decade. Though it would be nearly two years before the release of Nirvana's Nevermind, US Alternative Radio would provide a safe-house for both the Class of '77 and '91: arguably the need for its existence marking the end of a decade which began in chaos and experimentation.
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