Worst year for music?

[stuartmmcfc]

I’ve just watched TOTP from 1988 and what a load of crap it was.
I was a trendy young thing in those days (!)but I didn’t remember any of the songs, they were all dull, dreary dirges and when they had the chart run down it consisted of songs by artists which weren’t the ones we remember them for.
Has there been a worse year?

[S100HP]

stuartmmcfc said:

I’ve just watched TOTP from 1988 and what a load of crap it was.
I was a trendy young thing in those days (!)but I didn’t remember any of the songs, they were all dull, dreary dirges and when they had the chart run down it consisted of songs by artists which weren’t the ones we remember them for.
Has there been a worse year?

Hold on there sonny. TOTP on BBC4 on a Thursday and Friday night is the highlight of my TV week. I love watching them back. Some great songs, some forgotten gems and a bit of cheese. Saw this gem the other night I'd forgotten about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8w4YenX1aM

I love the nostalgia too. Seeing how people dressed and how the world looked back then. I was 5 when they originally aired.

I'll not hear a bad thing said about this show.

[sjg]

Songs used to stay in the chart for 3-4 weeks back then (longer now) so over 500 songs a year in the chart. They're not all going to be brilliant or memorable. Even the NOW That's What I Call Music compilations from around that time would be 30ish songs from about 4 months worth, and half of them are duffers.

[bristolbaron]

I’ve just gone through Wikipedia for 1988 and it looks alright to me!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_in_British_mu...

The year’s saved by groovy kind of love alone.

And who isn’t instantly transported back to watching Scott and Charlenes wedding on a faux wooden tv?
https://youtu.be/ODLiWhm9Ssw

• disclaimer - released in 87 in Oz, 88 here.

[Grrbang]

I just sorted my library by year of release. It's pretty well populated for 2000-onwards stuff in multiple genres - rock, metal, electronic, hip hop, jazz.

Although every year had a few dozen songs, I found nothing released in 2010.

Kinda makes sense, 2010 was a bad year for most people.

[Johnnytheboy]

As soon as I saw this thread I thought "mid to late eighties".

[Fittster]

stuartmmcfc said:

I’ve just watched TOTP from 1988 and what a load of crap it was.
I was a trendy young thing in those days (!)but I didn’t remember any of the songs, they were all dull, dreary dirges and when they had the chart run down it consisted of songs by artists which weren’t the ones we remember them for.
Has there been a worse year?

I don't think you were trendy in 1988 as you appear to have failed to notice Acid House.

[selym]

S100HP said:

Hold on there sonny. TOTP on BBC4 on a Thursday and Friday night is the highlight of my TV week. I love watching them back. Some great songs, some forgotten gems and a bit of cheese. Saw this gem the other night I'd forgotten about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8w4YenX1aM

I love the nostalgia too. Seeing how people dressed and how the world looked back then. I was 5 when they originally aired.

I'll not hear a bad thing said about this show.

Have you noticed that Live Lounge has taken the 7.30 slot on a Friday? Now that is a load of ste!

I love a bit of TOTP on a Friday night.

[S100HP]

selym said:

Have you noticed that Live Lounge has taken the 7.30 slot on a Friday? Now that is a load of ste!

I love a bit of TOTP on a Friday night.

Yes, but only for this month, I think. It's not all bad either, I did see Taylor Swift covering Phil Collins which was a treat.

[selym]

S100HP said:

selym said:

Have you noticed that Live Lounge has taken the 7.30 slot on a Friday? Now that is a load of ste!

I love a bit of TOTP on a Friday night.

Yes, but only for this month, I think. It's not all bad either, I did see Taylor Swift covering Phil Collins which was a treat.

A month is acceptable. It's a massive knock to my Friday evening process. Funnily enough the Taylor Swift episode was the one I baulked at - set in my ways unfortunately. The wife isn't happy either because I carry on playing records until later - she says my tastes are pretty st too!

[5pen]

Without looking at the specifics of what was out in a given year, I was going to say 1988 or 1989. It was the height of Stock Aitken Waterman, Bros, Jive Bunny, Milli Vanilli and all sorts of other tat. Cliff Richard had a Christmas No.1!

It just seemed to be a time when the mainstream was dominated by this sort of stuff. There was, I'm sure, still plenty of more credible stuff about, it just wasn't making a big impact on the charts.

[Fittster]

5pen said:

Without looking at the specifics of what was out in a given year, I was going to say 1988 or 1989. It was the height of Stock Aitken Waterman, Bros, Jive Bunny, Milli Vanilli and all sorts of other tat. Cliff Richard had a Christmas No.1!

It just seemed to be a time when the mainstream was dominated by this sort of stuff. There was, I'm sure, still plenty of more credible stuff about, it just wasn't making a big impact on the charts.

Now 11 from March 1988 track listing below. You can definitely see that house music was making an impact in the charts. If you were willing to dig a little deeper than a Now compilation you'd certainly find an explosion of dance music.


1-1 Pet Shop Boys Always On My Mind

1-2 –Belinda Carlisle Heaven Is A Place On Earth

1-3 –Billy Ocean Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car

1-4 –Jermaine Stewart Say It Again

1-5 –Eddy Grant Gimme Hope Jo'Anna

1-6 –Eddie Cochran C'Mon Everybody

1-7 –Morrissey Suedehead

1-8 –Elton John Candle In The Wind

1-9 –Wet Wet Wet Angel Eyes (Home & Away)

1-10 –Johnny Hates Jazz Turn Back The Clock

1-11 –T'Pau Valentine

1-12 –Billy Idol Hot In The City

1-13 –Sinéad O'Connor Mandinka

1-14 –The Mission Tower Of Strength

1-15 –Whitesnake Give Me All Your Love

2-1 –Kylie Minogue I Should Be So Lucky

2-2 –Mel & Kim That's The Way It Is

2-3 –Joyce Sims Come Into My Life (Radio)

2-4 –Jellybean* Featuring Elisa Fiorillo Who Found Who

2-5 –Bananarama I Can't Help It

2-6 –Dollar Oh L'Amour

2-7 –Vanessa Paradis Joe Le Taxi

2-8 –Morris Minor And The Majors Stutter Rap (No Sleep Til Bedtime)

2-9 –Bomb The Bass Beat Dis

2-10 –Coldcut Featuring Yazz And The Plastic Population Doctorin' The House

2-11 –Krush House Arrest

2-12 –Jack 'N' Chill The Jack That House Built

2-13 –Beatmasters* Featuring The Cooking Crew Rok Da House

2-14 –Two Men A Drum Machine And A Trumpet* I'm Tired Of Getting Pushed Around

2-15 –Climie Fisher Rise To The Occasion

[boxedin]

Fittster said:

I don't think you were trendy in 1988 as you appear to have failed to notice Acid House.

TOTP trendy, there's a difference =:-0

Using TOTP as a guide to whether any interesting or decent music was around is a poor baseline.

Start here instead:
https://www.discogs.com/search/?decade=1980&ye...

On the first page is Phase II, Reese & Santonio, Baby Ford, Marshall Jefferson, Fingers Inc. That'll do as an introduction.

[anonymous-user]

88 was a good year. There were some hang overs from 87, but there was a great mix of stuff from Rock to New Age, something you don’t get these days.

Off the top of my head:

Mission - Tower of Strength
Hot House Flowers - Don’t Go
Danny Wilson - Mary’s Prayer
Adventures - Broken Land
Prefab Sprout - King of Rock and Roll
Narada - Divine Emotions
George Michael - One More Try
Belinda Carlisle - Circle in the Sand
Iron Maiden - Can I Play with Madness
Def Leppard - Love Bites
Ziggy Marley - Tomorrow People
Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
Julio Iglesias/Stevie Wonder - My Love
Breathe - Hands to Heaven
Enya - Orinoco Flow
Salt n’ Pepa - Push it
Inner City - Big Fun
Whitney Houston - One Moment in Time.

And of course Jean-Michel Jarre’s Revolutions album.

[anonymous-user]

Nasty time for music, reverb on everything and the majority of music made by the established artists at that time hasn't stood the test of time.

[selym]

Raygun said:

Nasty time for chart music, reverb on everything and the majority of music made by the established chart artists at that time hasn't stood the test of time.

This probably nails it better. There was a lot of good music about, just not much of it penetrated the charts.

[Escapegoat]

stuartmmcfc said:

I’ve just watched TOTP from 1988 and what a load of crap it was.

Eh?

1 George Michael Faith
2 INXS Need You Tonight
3 George Harrison Got My Mind Set On You
5 Guns N' Roses Sweet Child O' Mine
11 George Michael One More Try
17 Whitesnake Is This Love
19 Def Leppard Pour Some Sugar On Me
21 Michael Jackson Man In The Mirror
23 Robert Palmer Simply Irresistible
27 George Michael Father Figure
30 Def Leppard Love Bites
36 Michael Jackson The Way You Make Me Feel
37 Bobby McFerrin Don't Worry, Be Happy
46 INXS Devil Inside
50 Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield What Have I Done To Deserve This?
58 Terence Trent d'Arby Sign Your Name
65 INXS New Sensation
76 Tracy Chapman Fast Car
80 Pet Shop Boys Always On My Mind
91 George Michael Kissing A Fool
95 INXS Never Tear Us Apart
96 Steve Winwood Valerie

From: Billboard - http://www.bobborst.com/popculture/top-100-songs-o...

[stuartmmcfc]

Fittster said:

stuartmmcfc said:

I’ve just watched TOTP from 1988 and what a load of crap it was.
I was a trendy young thing in those days (!)but I didn’t remember any of the songs, they were all dull, dreary dirges and when they had the chart run down it consisted of songs by artists which weren’t the ones we remember them for.
Has there been a worse year?

I don't think you were trendy in 1988 as you appear to have failed to notice Acid House.

Tbf, I was talking about that particular episode of totp.
Many things went wrong in the Hacienda for me

Edited by stuartmmcfc on Tuesday 22 October 13:48

[stuartmmcfc]

selym said:

Raygun said:

Nasty time for chart music, reverb on everything and the majority of music made by the established chart artists at that time hasn't stood the test of time.

This probably nails it better. There was a lot of good music about, just not much of it penetrated the charts.

Have to agree.
And it has to be pointed out that just because 1988 (TOTP’s episode) in my drunken fridays night opinion was the worst doesn’t mean that there wasn’t any really good stuff around. It just wasn’t on that episode!

Edited by stuartmmcfc on Tuesday 22 October 13:55

[Evangelion]

If we're talking about 'popular' music, any year since the Beatles split up.