CHART ATTACK! #34: 6/4/88
Happy Friday, everybody! It’s time for another fun-filled edition of CHART ATTACK!, this time from one of those weeks where I heard every one of these songs on the radio on a daily basis. Ahh, those were the days. It’s June 4, 1988! Let’s start attackin’!
10. Anything For You – Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine Amazon iTunes
9. Make It Real – The Jets Amazon iTunes
8. I Don’t Want To Live Without You – Foreigner Amazon iTunes
7. Foolish Beat – Debbie Gibson Amazon iTunes
6. Piano In The Dark – Brenda Russell Amazon iTunes
5. Together Forever – Rick Astley Amazon iTunes
4. Everything Your Heart Desires – Daryl Hall & John Oates Amazon iTunes
3. Naughty Girls (Need Love Too) – Samantha Fox Amazon iTunes
2. Shattered Dreams – Johnny Hates Jazz Amazon iTunes
1. One More Try – George Michael Amazon iTunes
10. Anything For You – Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine
I am finding it hard to believe that this is the first time these guys have appeard on CHART ATTACK!. It makes no sense to me. I must admit to you that I have a soft spot for anything sung by Gloria Estefan between 1985 and 1990. I listened to my Let It Loose cassette more times than I care to mention, and I’m pretty sure I own 45s of at least three songs from that album. And I especially love the ballads, despite the fact that they’re the John Williams equivalent of pop tunes. You know how it always takes you a second to remember the themes from Superman, Indiana Jones and Star Wars without confusing them? Yeah. "Anything For You" is "Don’t Wanna Lose You" is "Cuts Both Ways" is "Here We Are," etc. "Anything For You" is one of the few to hit #1, and the only #1 while the band was still receiving name-billing: although Miami Sound Machine has remained her backing band, Estefan essentially became a solo artist following this album.
I don’t want to harp on this, since I mentioned it in regards to Kim Wilde last week, but Gloria Estefan is still quite hot. And she really wasn’t that hot when her career first started. She’s like the Alison Krauss of pop music. (Two! Two analogies in one entry!)
9. Make It Real – The Jets
Oh, The Jets. How I loved The Jets. I actually saw The Jets in concert. Westbury Music Fair. Stacey Q opened. She came out to sign autographs at intermission and fainted. Anyway, great show, at least to my 10 year-old ears. Here’s what I never understood about The Jets. They were a Polynesian family group, right? Here’s a picture of them:
Okay, everybody who’s not an illegitimate child or adopted, raise your hand. NOT SO FAST, WHITE GUY IN THE MIDDLE! I swear, I never could figure out why this guy looked absolutely NOTHING LIKE the others guys and girls in the band. My theory is that he was just hanging out near them one day, back when they were just performing at county fairs and stuff, and snuck in – and because there are so many damn people in the band, nobody ever picked up on it. "What? Oh, yeah, I’m your brother. Seriously, I am. There’s like 17 of us. Trust me, I’m one of them."
8. I Don’t Want To Live Without You – Foreigner
It’s true. I don’t want to live without you, Chart Attack! readers. Live without your (blog) love. You see, I’m lost without your (blog) love. I repeat this line because it took me about 20 minutes to remember which of the testicularly challenged Foreigner songs this was. I do remember the video for this one getting heavy rotation on MTV. You remember how beautiful it was, right? Not only because of the time-lapse nature footage, or the romantic clips of people falling in love, but because Foreigner don’t appear in the video at all? That’s the most beautiful part!
All that 6/4/88 is doing so far is revealing what a pussy I am. I like Gloria Estefan ballads, and I think the pre-chorus to this song ("I’m longing for the time…")
Foreigner are touring this summer with Def Leppard and Styx. Great: two bands with new lead singers, and one band who has lowered every song down about four steps. Where do I sign up?
"I Don’t Want To Live Without You" was Foreigner’s last appearance in the Top 40, ever. And don’t pull that "never say never" bullshit because I can say pretty confidently that Foreigner are not making a comeback.
7. Foolish Beat – Debbie Gibson
When I was 10 years old, I had a huge crush on Debbie Gibson. I just watched the video for "Foolish Beat" and the whole thing just came flooding back. Even the big hair didn’t bother me.
[youtube]OUrB8DnJrF4[/youtube]
I know this argument is null and void now that she’s posed for Playboy, but is it not amazing how clean-cut you could be at 16 and still have a hit back in 1988?
So then I went looking for other Debbie Gibson clips. The best clip I found was her performing "I Wanna Destroy You" with the Circle Jerks at CBGBs in 1990.
[youtube]cNoFAOHAQ94[/youtube]
I’m like two seconds away from going into a tangent about "Electric Youth," but I’ll restrain myself. Instead, I’ll just say that I think we should give Debbie some props. This is the week that "Foolish Beat" entered the top 10. Three weeks later, it hit #1, and at 16 years old, she became the youngest person ever to write, record AND produce a #1 hit. Beat THAT, Tiffany.
6. Piano In The Dark – Brenda Russell (download)
Guilty pleasure alert! Guilty pleasure alert! If you don’t immediately remember this one, just imagine this: if the drum beat from "No One Is To Blame," the bass line from "Sign Your Name," the finger snaps from "Father Figure" and the keyboards from just about every ’80s ballad ever released had some kind of orgy, the love child would clearly be "Piano In The Dark." I like this track, but I know for a fact that Mike absolutely adores this track, so maybe he’ll talk about it in the comments. I don’t have too much to say about it, except for the fact that for a song called "Piano In The Dark," there’s very little piano. There’s a short little piano solo in the middle, but the rest is synth.
You may be wondering: who’s the guy in the middle who sounds suspiciously like Michael McDonald, and subsequently just makes me wish that the song really did feature Michael McDonald? Why, it’s none other than Joe "Bean" Esposito, the star of our very first LOST SOUNDTRACK CLASSICS series! Yes, the man who sings "You’re The Best" also is featured on "Piano In The Dark," and was even nominated, along with Russell, for Best Pop Duo at the 1988 Grammy Awards.
Other than a minor hit in the early ’80s, "Piano In The Dark" was Brenda Russell’s last appearance on the charts. She also wrote "Get Here," which was eventually a hit for Oleta Adams, and is a co-writer of the current Oprah-produced musical The Color Purple. Beat THAT, Tiffany.
5. Together Forever – Rick Astley
Man, do I long for the days where I could just turn on the Lite-FM station and hear this one. Oh, wait, I forgot – I can hear this song every single day of my entire life on the Lite-FM station. This is yet another song that I always seem to specifically hear when I’m sitting in a dentist’s chair. "Never Gonna Give You Up" is considered the more popular of Astley’s two #1 hits, but I swear that I hear this one more often. Or you know what, maybe I’m just confused, since they’re pretty much the same damn song.
4. Everything Your Heart Desires – Daryl Hall & John Oates
I was a big fan of Hall & Oates when I was a kid. Big Bam Boom was one of the first records I bought with my own money. And maybe it’s because I was so young, but the time between Big Bam Boom (1984) and Ooh Yeah! (1988) seemed like an eternity. Furthermore, as a highly astute 11 year-old, I felt that H&O had effectively sabotaged their career by taking a hiatus, as they would never be that big again. I guess I was right on that front – "Everything Your Heart Desires" was their last appearance in the Top Ten. ("So Close" came, uh, so close.) However, as an 11 year-old, I also wasn’t taking into account the duo’s long history and tireless climb that got them to the point where they deserved a break. All I knew was that "Everything Your Heart Desires" was a significant disappointment to me, and seemed somewhat anticlimactic after four years away.
Do yourself a favor: if you haven’t already, go read Jefito’s Idiot Guides to Hall & Oates (Part 1 and Part 2 – ) for the definitive career review on the original Ambiguously Gay Duo.
3. Naughty Girls (Need Love Too) – Samantha Fox
Are you shitting me? This song made it to #3? Really?
I guess I’m just getting lazy, but I don’t feel like I have much to say about "Say It Loud (I’m Trashy And I’m Proud)" or whatever the name of this song is. But here’s something interesting about Samantha Fox. I just looked at the tracklist for her Greatest Hits (of course she has a greatest hits disc! Snow has a greatest hits disc! Hilary Duff has a greatest hits disc!), and 7 out of 18 songs have needless parentheses. I will allow her one exception, as she covers "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction," but it must be understood that this exception is only in regards to parentheses, not the actual cover itself, which frightens me based on concept alone. The others, however, are unacceptable. And I’m not even discussing songs with parentheses that didn’t make it onto the Greatest Hits disc! You know, songs like "Hurt Me! Hurt Me! (But The Pants Stay On)". Hey, wait a minute…that one’s pretty good!
Samantha Fox "live", y’all:
[youtube]pKSSKbk_2TU[/youtube]
2. Shattered Dreams – Johnny Hates Jazz (download)
…and this is pretty much as good as it was ever going to get for Johnny Hates Jazz. Frankly, I don’t know what happened: good song, creative band name…this is it? I know they broke the Top 40 with "I Don’t Want To Be A Hero," but I wouldn’t recognize it if you put a gun to my head. Even Breathe had more than one recognizable hit.
[youtube]VRHLkLFJxaw[/youtube]
I know what you’re dying to know: where are Johnny Hates Jazz now? Good question. I don’t know about most of the band, but I can tell you that if you call lead singer Clark Datchler by his God-given name, he’ll most likely punch you in the face. No, he’s now known as (are you ready for this?) NIGHTFOXX. NIGHTFOXX!!! I love it. If you check out his website for long enough, you’ll eventually hear a sample of a NIGHTFOXX cover of "Shattered Dreams." I can’t believe I stuck around long enough to hear it, actually.
1. One More Try – George Michael
1988 pretty much belonged to George Michael. "One More Try" was the third of four consecutive #2 singles from Faith, and stayed at #1 for three weeks. These days, three weeks isn’t anything impressive, but in 1988, it was the second longest-running #1 single of the year, tied with "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." Of course, being a big George Michael fan, I knew that already, but I learned something new while writing this entry: "One More Try" was the last single to hit $1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart by a white male artist until this year, when Robin Thicke released "Lost Without U."
I always liked "One More Try," but the live version greatly improves upon the original. The song’s tempo was slower, which may sound a bit like torture, but is saved by an excellent gospel feel. Take a listen:
George Michael – One More Try (Live Gospel Version) (download)
And that brings us to the end of another chart attackin’ week! As always, thanks so much for reading and commenting – your comments are the best part of each entry. Have a great weekend and see you next time!
June 1st, 2007 at 5:32 am
Good God, it’s like my bedroom wall in 1988 all over again… Not because I liked Gibson, Fox or Tiffany’s music, but dang… You told your friends that you listened to SCORPIONS! These relatively clean cut chicks would seriously put a cramp in the image I’m trying to foster! When exactly did the ‘pop star as tolerable skank’ trend start anyway? (For what it is worth, Debbie Gibson could have sold me out to the Chinese as a day laborer and I wouldn’t have minded)…
June 1st, 2007 at 6:28 am
Who knew Sammy Fox came out of the closet a few years back? Ruins some boyhood fantasies, don’t it? Or creates new ones. Anyways, her website is one of the most unintentionally funny things I’ve read through (www.samyfox.com). This gem from her bio says it all:In the studio Sam Fox creates an infectious musical style that has placed her in the highest echelons of rock and pop. Sam Fox is the ‘people’s choice’. A young woman to whom everyone can relate. An international personality who possesses a natural and charismatic appeal.
June 1st, 2007 at 6:46 am
Nightfoxx!! I’m so glad you found him, Jason. It really made my day – so hilarious. A lot of UK acts on American charts in the late 1980s, it seems – that’s certainly changed now.
June 1st, 2007 at 7:38 am
Anybody notice the uncanny resemblance between Samantha Fox and Victoria Beckam? Albeit a severly bloated Posh, but if further proves the fem-bot theory!
June 1st, 2007 at 8:52 am
I grew up in Minneapolis and a few friends of mine were cousins to the Wolfgramms (I do not think the Jets would have been quite as successful if they named their group after their last name; you would think the album would consist of a strange classical/polka hybrid). The cousins were of mixed race – half Polynesian, half Caucasian, but they looked the latter. Perhaps Momma Wolfgramm had a tryst with the milk man??? Or that could be a bad picture. I saw the Jets at the MN State Fair and do not remember any red flags waving regarding "One of these things is not like the other". And do not get me started about Boys Club. "I Remember Holding You" was played ad nauseum on the radio back in the day! Thanks to Prince, we really whored our local pop and R&B bands on our radio stations a little too much (The Time, Jets, Limited Warranty, Mint Condition, etc.).
June 1st, 2007 at 9:03 am
Call me a wuss, but I’ve always loved "Shattered Dreams". That’s just pop perfection. The "I thought it was you…" part gets me every time. I can’t possibly be the only one out there…
June 1st, 2007 at 9:04 am
Hey Jason,
Have you seen this?
http://www.stereogum.com/archives/shit-list/40-most-softsational-softrock-songs.html#comments
June 1st, 2007 at 9:48 am
I don’t know if Jason’s seen it, but it’s on my TiVo…
June 1st, 2007 at 9:51 am
Setting it up to record now! Thanks!
June 1st, 2007 at 10:09 am
Piano In The Dark may be a guilty pleasure, but what a gorgeous tune. By far, the best track of this bunch. Well, that’s assuming the five songs I don’t remember are worse than Piano…
June 1st, 2007 at 10:11 am
I like this track, but I know for a fact that Mike absolutely adores this track, so maybe he’ll talk about it in the comments.
He knows me too well. I don’t have any exciting facts to add (Jason’s description is perfect actually), I just love this song, particularly the MMD-esque backing vocal and the chorus ("Oh No! Caught up in the middle I/ cryyyyyy just a little/ when I think of letting go") which is an all-time "I don’t know that song, oh wait!" hook
I was harassing Jason to play this for Acoustic 80’s, or at the very least make a "80’s one hit wonder by women named Brenda" medley with this and I Still Believe, but we’ll see.
I can’t believe you mentioned Shattered Dreams and didn’t mention the unintentionally hysterical LATIN PERCUSSION BREAKDOWN which comes in towards the end of the song. It’s similar to the break featured in "Conga" by the Miami Sound Machine, but all the funnier for being marooned on an isthmus of white guy synth pop.
June 1st, 2007 at 12:58 pm
I worked at a hotel in SF in 1988, and we had an employee cafeteria with a radio tuned to some crappy station or another. No matter what time I went in to have a meal, that damn Debbie Gibson song would come on! I HATED IT! The stupidity of a 16 year old talking about how her life is over and she’ll never love again just drove me nuts. I just puked into my bowl of Ruffles Naturals, thinking about it.And I’m a total hypocrite, because at 16, yeah, I pretty much said the same thing. Sad, isn’t it?
June 1st, 2007 at 1:34 pm
I am so embarrassed to admit that I too went to a Jets concert! And Stacy Q opened (doofus dropped the mic during one of her massive dance routines too!) but she was just "ok". I think I realized then that "Two of Hearts" and "We Connect" are essentially the same song! Anyways, it was a free show because a friend scored tickets from the local radio station, but I guess it’s like the equivalent of going to a Hannah Montana (or any Disney star) concert these days.. I bought the tape for that Brenda Russell song! The tape is long since lost, so what a pleasant surprise to find it here!
June 1st, 2007 at 2:23 pm
"I Don’t Want To Live Without You" was Foreigner’s last appearance in the Top 40, ever. And don’t pull that "never say never" bullshit because I can say pretty confidently that Foreigner are not making a comeback.
That made me laugh. It’s funny ’cause it’s true, no matter how much die-hard fans of any once-popular band want things to turn out differently. But did Hall & Oates’s "Do It for Love" make it into the Top 40 in 2002? I know the song made it to #1 on the adult contemporary chart (and "Casey’s Top 40," for what it’s worth). "Everything Your Heart Desires" was certainly a disappointment in ’88 as far as H&O ear candy goes, but I did like "Downtown Life," although not at the time. Was that from "Ooh Yeah!" or the 1990 album they made? I can’t remember and I’m too lazy to look it up right now.
In the ’80s I felt bad for Miami Sound Machine since their name kept getting pushed into the background as Gloria Estefan’s star got bigger and bigger. But I doubt they cared as much as I did once that dump truck full of money was backed up to the front door of their beachfront condo. (Good point about John Williams, although I’d say the "Raiders" theme is different enough from those of "Star Wars" and "Superman," which are definitely similar-sounding and confusing, even as an adult. Still thrilling, though. In some ways the opening-credits sequence of "Superman Returns" was the best part of the movie.)
"Rocket 2 U" was the only Jets song I liked, but I liked that one a lot. Still do, in fact, partly because it sounds different from any of their other hits. Nickelodeon overhyped those Wolfgramm kids in the mid-’80s.
I discovered Brenda Russell’s "A Little Bit of Love," which was her early-’80s hit, I believe, through Big Pun’s "Still Not a Player," which samples Russell’s song. It’s a nice bit of pop-soul, and I’d forgotten about "Piano in the Dark," which was played too much in the summer of ’88. So was "Shattered Dreams," but both sound better 19 years later. I don’t like "Together Forever," but "Never Gonna Give You Up" sounds great now too, and I don’t even consider it a guilty pleasure.
Nightfoxx? Wasn’t that Dick Grayson’s new superhero identity in the "Teen Titans" comic book after he retired his Robin costume? No, wait, that was Nightwing. My mistake. Clark Datchler had better make sure he puts a legal clampdown on that name before Jamie Foxx records his next album.
I’m glad to see that Robin Thicke’s second album is doing well, even though what I’ve heard from it doesn’t sound as promising as what was on his 2003 debut album, which I liked quite a bit.
June 1st, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Robert, "Rocket 2 U" is my fave as well. I almost went into a tangent about it, but figured I’d probably be covering it at some point as it made the top 10.
June 1st, 2007 at 3:36 pm
You and I traded some sort of "Hey, I love that song too!" comments either here last year or over at Jefitoblog. I know we’ve discussed it before, albeit briefly. It definitely deserves its own Chart Attack! entry, particularly the electronic sound effect of a clogged bathtub drain. Quel genius, Wolfgramms!
June 1st, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I think that’s hysterical that VH1 is having a soft rock countdown. If they were smart they’d have it hosted by the Yacht Rock guys. I’m not especially fond of much on this week’s chart, but I still like George Michael a lot even though he’s apparently through with writing memorable songs. I would have liked to have seen his last tour but it’s highly doubtful he’ll ever perform on these shores again. (Related aside: I made my own "best of George Michael" comp a few years back and utilized a photo of the public restroom he was arrested in for the cover.)
June 1st, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Pete, no joke, the concert I saw during the "Faith" tour was one of the best I’ve ever been to. I’d say there’s probably a chance he’ll perform over here again, assuming that he gets out of whatever current legal trouble he’s in. Also, his music is an important part of an upcoming ABC show (I forget the name at the moment), and if that takes off, he could see a resurgence…
June 1st, 2007 at 4:00 pm
George Michael definitely deserves more credit than he’s received, but he did kind of screw himself with "Listen Without Prejudice" and his refusal to appear in videos at that time. Get over it, man! No one said you were JUST a pretty face.
June 1st, 2007 at 6:35 pm
How could they? He was too busy in the men’s room stuffing their… uh… jamming.. uh… this ain’t gonna be pleasant… l’il help here, people?
June 1st, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Are Samantha Fox and Nightfoxx related?
June 1st, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Foreigner made me grind my teeth. You had this band in the 1970s, kinda Bad Company, kinda proggy but they gave good single too… The proggy side shows in the instrumental breaks in "I Need You" and "Spellbinder", the Bad Company side arguably encompassing "The Damage Is Done", "Lonely Children" and "Headknocker". I can even forgive the 4 album, even though "Waiting For A Girl Like You" is certainly the first nail in a plush, mellow coffin… But man, what happened? It’s as if Satan knocked on Foreigner Office doors one day, reminded them of their little agreement and departed with a giant NPR totebag full of testicles. DwD
June 2nd, 2007 at 11:12 am
I don’t like "Together Forever," but "Never Gonna Give You Up" sounds great now too, and I don’t even consider it a guilty pleasure.
I can’t tell the difference. I have long advocated for Jason to do the "Rick Astley mashup" to prove that all of his songs are basically exactly the same. I will start singing a Rick Astley verse in my head and have no idea to which chorus it belongs.
Yes I sing Rick Astley verses in my head on occasion. Shameful, I realize.
June 2nd, 2007 at 11:29 am
It was charts like this that drove me into the arms of Ratt and Dokken.
A better place to be? Hardly. I know that now. But at least I’d discovered a whole new set of clichés to sink into.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Michael, I can’t defend my preference of “Never Gonna Give You Up” over “Together Forever.” You got me there. But to me, the former is better. “Together Forever” almost gets sing-songy at points, whereas “Never” is a bit more soulful to me.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:23 pm
I still refuse to believe that voice came out of Clay Aiken Sr… Uh, er… Rick Astley (Would have taken an immaculate conception to make THAT scenario happen!)
June 3rd, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Sheesh…I went to the Stacy Q/Jermaine Stewart/Jets concert too! I was 21 at the time and brought my little sister and her friends as my "cover"/excuse.
I always thought Eugene was adopted. I know that the family was devoutly Mormon and there were about 5 more babies younger than Moana (the youngest performer). It’s embarassing how much I know about the Jets. I remember buying their Christmas album and playing "Christmas in My Heart" ad naseum.
I hear that many cousins and maybe 2 or 3 original members occasionally tour as The Jets. I’ve seen them listed at some of the local Indian casinos every so often.
June 3rd, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Its like you were in my head during that time. Awesome post. George Michael, Rick Astley, and Estefan ballads are still as good today as they were back then. In 20 years, when people are posting about todays music, we will be even more thankful for what we had in 88 even if it wasnt as good as what our parents had in the 60s.
June 4th, 2007 at 11:33 am
For me, the difference between Rick Astley’s two hits is that I played “Together Forever” in band. Junior high school band! You better believe that I can still rock that bass line on bass clarinet, even today. Wasn’t as good as the bass line to the B section from the Top Gun theme but what is really?
I’ve sung “Never Gonna Give You Up” for karaoke once at about 3 in the morning. My impression was perfection (and included the backups); alas, it was lost on the ears of drunken family members. No one sees my genius. *sniff*
June 4th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Wow — woodblock and now bass clarinet. Add string bass, clarinet and the rest of the percussion family, and you’ll have everything I ever played in band.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
well as much as I wish your Foreigner comeback embargo was true for all time, it appears that it took them about 13 hours to make a liar out of you – Foreigner plotting new album, live DVD. also, i don’t really have anything substantial to add about the debbie gibson/circle jerks story, but i was doing publicity for the Circle Jerks when that album came out and was at the show. just as bizarre then as it seems now.
June 5th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Bruce, I guess I should have been a bit more specific and said "successful" before "comeback." I’m saying that they’ll never have a Top 40 hit again. I can’t wait to be proved wrong on that one!
(BTW, I checked out your site and am totally with you on the Contour iPod case.)
June 6th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Say what you will about Samantha Fox…wait, that’s pretty redundant advice. Anyway, at least Samy didn’t wait until she was in her thirties and washed up before strutting her stuff on Page 3.
Brenda Russell’s AMG bio includes typical AMG boilerplate: "After the couple’s divorce, Brenda embarked on a solo career." Well, duh.
Screw "Superman" and "Raiders"…"Star Wars" is actually the theme from "Lawrence of Arabia."
I detested Foreigner’s first hit, which seemed to be a compendium of cliches. If opening with "I’d climb any mountain" wasn’t trite enough, the singer goes on to assure us he’d also "sail across the stormy sea." I had almost warmed up to them by the time they were washed up. (For some reason it took me less time to forgive The Cars for that "flowers in your hair" crap.)
National Lampoon had a mock news story in which Rick Astley successfully sued himself for plagiarism, slightly bettering Rolling Stone’s succinct review of Boston’s second album: "Boston figured if they waited three years and released their first album again, no one would notice."