| rdfs:comment | - Todd: At the end of every year, Billboard Magazine publishes their annual list of that year's Top 100 songs. They've been doing this since 1959, and...I went ahead and went through them all. [Grabs stack of Top 100 lists and plops the stack onto the keyboard] Now, I love these lists. I love going through every year and getting a real accurate snapshot of the popular music of yesteryear; what is was really like, checking out the true classics and the well-remembered period markers and the forgotten gems and, of course, the outright crap. And since I know what pays the bills, you can guess which one of those we'll be talking about today. So let's take a nice, close look at the Top 100 songs of... [Rustles through pile and pulls out list from...] 1987.
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| abstract | - Todd: At the end of every year, Billboard Magazine publishes their annual list of that year's Top 100 songs. They've been doing this since 1959, and...I went ahead and went through them all. [Grabs stack of Top 100 lists and plops the stack onto the keyboard] Now, I love these lists. I love going through every year and getting a real accurate snapshot of the popular music of yesteryear; what is was really like, checking out the true classics and the well-remembered period markers and the forgotten gems and, of course, the outright crap. And since I know what pays the bills, you can guess which one of those we'll be talking about today. So let's take a nice, close look at the Top 100 songs of... [Rustles through pile and pulls out list from...] 1987. Video montage beginning with and set against Wang Chung - "Everybody Have Fun Tonight." Video clips that follow include Bon Jovi - "Living on a Prayer"; Tiffany - "I Think We're Alone Now"; The Bangles - "Walk Like an Egyptian"; U2 - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"; Whitney Houston - "I Wanna Dance with Somebody"; Heart - "Alone"; Beastie Boys - "Fight for Your Right"; Whitesnake - "Here I Go Again"; Madonna - "Open Your Heart"; George Michael - "I Want Your Sex"; Janet Jackson - "Control"; Billy Idol - "Mony Mony"; Duran Duran - "Notorious"; Huey Lewis and the News - "Hip to Be Square"; and Kim Wilde - "You Keep Me Hangin' On" Todd (VO): 1987. What the fuck is going on? Jack Hues: Everybody have fun tonight Todd (VO): Well, I'll tell you, not a whole lot. This was not a good year for the pop charts if this list is any indication. Sure, there were a few classic '80s hits in there, but for the most part, this list is just crap. Anyone who thinks the '80s is nothing but DayGlo fashions and new wave hairdos, all I can tell you is expect a lot less Flock of Seagulls and a lot more Richard Marx. It was hard for me to find ten songs distinct enough to be even worth hating. Whatever shock and energy that'd been provided by MTV and New Wave at the beginning of the decade, is at this point starting to devolve into a big gloopy mess of synthed cheese. And that's a trend that's going to continue as we move into the utter horror that is the early '90s. Todd: How bad is this list? Here's all you need to know — the [brief clip of the UK video of "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" by..] Cutting Crew have two songs in the Top 100. And meanwhile I wasn't expecting to see any, like, Sonic Youth or anything, but I don't think it's that far out of line for me to ask to see a little something from contemporaneous bands like [quick shots of the year's releases by...] R.E.M., the Cure, New Order, or freaking Aerosmith! Seriously, Sting... is too left-of-the-dial for 1987. That's how bad it was. But you know what? This is the year I picked, and we're gonna power through it. So don't disturb this groove, don't dream it's over, we're counting down... Michael: ...and the whole world has to answer right now Just to tell you once again who's bad
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