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" Close My Eyes Forever " - Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne from the album Lita (1988) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 12 Today's song of the day comes from the heavy metal goddess Lita Ford , who had put her Runaways punk past behind her and delved into the nasty recesses of heavy metal, landing Sharon Osbourne as her manager and signing to a new label, with the result of her Lita album producing her first pop breakthrough hit " Kiss Me Deadly " in the summer of 1988. A second radio single, " Back To The Cave ", had a pop-metal sheen, but while it went to #22 on the rock radio chart (higher than "Deadly"), it missed the pop list entirely. For the third release Lita put out the ringer power-ballad on the album, "Close My Eyes Forever". It was written and performed by Lita with Sharon's husband, Ozzy Osbourne , who had been the lead singer for the iconic goth metal act Black Sabbath from 1969 to 1...

Let's cross the Atlantic one more time to check out the new singles and albums hitting the charts in the UK this week, as finally there's a change at the top... On the singles chart , there's some good news and some well, eh news. After a laborious fifteen weeks at #1, Drake's "One Dance" finally drops (and does it, to #5). Taking its place, though - is The Biebs . Yes Justin Bieber as well as Danish singer MO join alt-dance act Major Lazer for "Cold Water". The first single from their upcoming album Music Is The Weapon is Major Lazer's first #1 in the UK... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Patience " - Guns N' Roses from the album GN'R Lies (1988) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 10 Today's song of the day comes from the Los Angeles hard rock band Guns N' Roses, whose first album Appetite For Destruction had been a huge success both critically and commercially, sending three singles into the top ten on the American pop chart: " Paradise City ", " Welcome To The Jungle ", and the #1 " Sweet Child O' Mine ". In the interim between albums and their touring, the band released GN'R Lies , a record that combined an EP from 1986, Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide with acoustic tracks recorded more recently. One of those songs was the rough but gentle ballad "Patience". Written by lead singer Axl Rose and rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, the plea from a lover to hang on was totally different from all we had heard from them before... "Patience" became the band...

Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 tunes from the previous week. Sia spends a second week at the top, while the reunited Blink-182 (pictured above) slip into the top-5. Songs from Rain Man/OLY, Nick Jonas/Tove Lo, and Rihanna make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Tim McGraw, twenty-one pilots, and the Record Company drop off my list. Stronger together! This Week            Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Cheap Thrills - Sia f/Sean Paul (1) 2. Can't Stop The Feeling! - Justin Timberlake (2) 3. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) - Adele (3) 4. Dark Necessities - Red Hot Chili Peppers (4) 5. Bored To Death - blink-182 (6) 6. Wherever I Go - OneRepublic (9) 7. Don't Let Me Down - The Chainsmokers f/Daya (5) 8. Ophelia - The Lumineers (8) 9. Cak...

" A Shoulder To Cry On " - Tommy Page from the album Tommy Page (1988) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 6 Today's song of the day comes from Tommy Page , a New Jersey native who got discovered very young, getting signed to Sire Records after working in a nightclub. A first being groomed as a "freestyle" performer, his first single, " Turning Me On ", didn't really catch on anywhere. However, his second, the friendzone classic "A Shoulder To Cry On", was a different story. With a melody recalling 70's soft-rock, and his half-whispered delivery got the girls' ears pricked. Page wrote the song himself, not bad for a teen to score his own penned top-40 pop hit... "A Shoulder To Cry On" became Page's first top-40 pop hit in the U.S. in May of 1989. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Let's head Down Under to check out the songs making their way on to the local artists charts in Australia this week. On the singles list , the Veronicas hold at #1 with " In My Blood " (on the main chart, Katy Perry's " Rise " ascends to the top)... Aussie "boy-band" 5 Seconds Of Summer take their theme to the new Ghostbusters reboot film, "Girls Talk Boys", to #4... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Every Little Step " - Bobby Brown from the album Don't Be Cruel (1988) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 13 Today's song of the day comes from singer Bobby Brown , whose sophomore album Don't Be Cruel had already spun off three top-ten pop hits with the title track , " Roni ", and the #1 " My Prerogative ". The fourth single from the album was arguably my favorite of the record, "Every Little Step". Written by the superstar production team of Babyface and L.A. Reid, the mid-tempo new jack swing nugget sported a video that had, erm, that outfit... "Every Little Step" became the fourth top-ten pop hit from Don't Be Cruel in June of 1989. The song also landed Bobby his fourth #1 solo R&B hit. The extended remix climbed to #17 on Billboard 's Dance Club Play chart as well. Internationally, the track reached the top ten in New Zealand (#5), the UK (#6), Australia (#8), and...

Here's the top ten hits in Germany this week, according to their official music singles chart , as French singer Imany remains on top for a third week... 1. " Don't Be So Shy " - Imany (1) 2. " This Girl " - KUNGS vs. Cookin' On 3 Burners (2) 3. " Please Tell Rosie " - Alle Farben featuring YOUNOTUS (4) 4. " Can't Stop The Feeling! " - Justin Timberlake (6) 5. " Ain't Your Mama " - Jennifer Lopez (7) 6. " Don't Let Me Down " - The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (8) 7. " One Dance " - Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla (5) 8. " This One's For You " - David Guetta featuring Zara Larsson (3) 9. " Cheap Thrills " - Sia featuring Sean Paul (9) 10. "No Money" - Galantis (DEBUT) Swedish electrohouse duo Galantis score their first top ten hit in Germany (and their first top-40, for that matter) with their single "No Money" at #10... (Click be...

"Birthday Suit" - Johnny Kemp from the album Sing (Original Soundtrack) (1989) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #36 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 3 Today's song of the day comes from Bahamian-born pop/soul singer Johnny Kemp, who landed a top-ten hit with his weekend jam " Just Got Paid " in the summer of 1988. Two more singles from his second album, " Dancin' With Myself " and " One Thing Led To Another ", also reached the R&B top-40, but missed the pop list altogether. His next move was a contribution to the soundtrack to the movie Sing in the spring of the next year. Written by Footloose scribe Dean Pitchford, who also penned the music to this song-and-dance film, it didn't grab a hold of that current generation's imagination like Footloose did, but the collection of music did draw some big names of that time in adult pop music like Terri Nunn of Berlin, Paul Carrack of Mike & The Mechanics, Mickey Thomas of Star...

Here's the top ten hits in France this week, according to their official singles chart , as Justin Timberlake climbs back to #1 for a fifth nonconsecutive week... 1. " Can't Stop The Feeling! " - Justin Timberlake (2) 2. " Encore Un Soir " - Celine Dion (3) 3. "Rise" - Katy Perry (DEBUT) 4. "Paris C'est Loin" - Damso (DEBUT) 5. " Don't Be So Shy " - Imany (4) 6. " This One's For You " - David Guetta featuring Zara Larsson (1) 7. " Cheap Thrills " - Sia (5) 8. " This Girl " - KUNGS vs. Cookin' On 3 Burners (8) 9. "T his Is What You Came For " - Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna (6) 10. " Duele El Corazon " - Enrique Iglesias (9) Katy Perry returns to the chart at #3 with a song dedicated to the upcoming Summer Olympics in Rio, "Rise"... (click below to see the rest of the post)

" Wind Beneath My Wings " - Bette Midler from the album Beaches (Original Soundtrack) (1989) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 15 Today's song of the day comes from multi-faceted entertainer Bette Midler , who grew up in Hawaii under parents from New Jersey, before heading back east after leaving college to start a career. Besides a few on-and-off Broadway shows, Bette started singing in the notorious/legendary (depending on how you look at it) Continental Baths, a gay gathering place (to put it lightly), where she accumulated a devoted gay fanbase that carries on to this day. With the man who accompanied her at the baths, pianist Barry Manilow, she released her debut album, The Divine Miss M , in 1972. The first single, a lush remake of the Beach Boys' " Do You Want To Dance ", climbed to #17 on the American pop chart, and #8 on Billboard 's Adult Contemporary radio list. Another cover, this take a campy redo of the An...

" Let The River Run " - Carly Simon from the album Working Girl (Original Soundtrack) (1989) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #49 This week's "robbed hit" comes from pop singer/songwriter Carly Simon , who had a resurgence in her career in the mid-80s thanks to her Coming Around Again album, which sold over a million copies. Four singles from that record reached the top ten on Billboard 's Adult Contemporary chart, and the title track also crossed over into the pop top-40 in the winter of 1987. A subsequent live album also went platinum later in the year. Her next studio work would be five contributions to the soundtrack of the Harrison Ford/Meg Ryan/Sigourney Weaver rom-com Working Girl . One of the tracks, the anthemic theme of "Let The River Run", was released as a single for radio as well. Written and co-produced by Carly, it showed her at her best vocal form, as the empowerment ode was a perfect match for the film's premise of female upw...

" Electric Youth " - Debbie Gibson from the album Electric Youth (1989) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 8 Today's song of the day comes from teen singer/songwriter/producer Debbie Gibson , who had landed her second #1 pop hit with the lead single from her second album, " Lost In Your Eyes ", in the spring of 1989. The follow-up release would be the set's title track, "Electric Youth". A squeaky-clean and  bouncy teen-pop nugget written by Gibson and produced by Fred Zarr, it was maybe a little too nice to continue her streak of top ten hits... "Electric Youth" frustratingly stopped right short of the top ten on the American pop chart at #11 for three weeks in May of 1989, and dropped quick out of the top-40 after two months. However, the club remix of the song became her biggest dance hit at #3. Internationally, the song made the top-20 in Ireland (#13), the UK (#14), Canada (#15), and German...

Hey gang, let's travel across the Atlantic yet again to check out the songs and albums making their way on to the British charts this week... On the official singles chart in the UK , Drake remains steady at #1 for a fifteenth consecutive week with " One Dance "... After a seemingly long break, pop queen Katy Perry returns at #25 with a song dedicated to the upcoming Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, "Rise"... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Soldier Of Love " - Donny Osmond from the album Donny Osmond (1989) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 11 Today's song of the day comes from Donny Osmond , who started out with his brothers in a family pop act that emulated the Jackson Five, The Osmonds. With a song rejected by the Motown kings, " One Bad Apple ", they reached #1 on their first trip on the pop chart in 1970. Even as they continued to score more hit singles, their record company, MGM, wasted no time in rolling out Donny as a separate and concurrent solo act, with his first single by himself, " Sweet And Innocent ", reaching #7 less than a year later. He followed that with a cover of Steve Lawrence's easy-listening nugget " Go Away Little Girl ", which became his second total and sole solo #1 pop single. He had three more top-ten pop hits with his brothers, and three more on his own, in the early 70s. As disco and funk became more promine...

" Everlasting Love " - Howard Jones from the album Cross That Line (1989) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 11 Today's song of the day comes from the British synthpop wizard Howard Jones , who was still enjoying a productive decade in the 80s, landing his sixth top-40 pop hit in the U.S. with " You Know I Love You...Don't You? " in the winter of 1986. A second single from his One to One album, " All I Want ", was also a minor pop hit at #76 in America, and his sole top-40 hit from the set in the UK at #35. It would take another two and a half years for Howard's next studio album, Cross That Line , to arrive. It would end up being his last so far to reach the American albums sales chart. The first single, "Everlasting Love", brought back the bubbly midtempo production that made "Life In A Day" so charming... "Everlasting Love" became Howard's fifth song to make the top-2...

Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 tunes from the previous week. Sia finally jumps to #1, while the Chainsmokers and Daya (pictured above) hold in the top-5. Former big hits from Empire of the Sun, Old Dominion, Tony Moran/Jason Walker, and Johnny Gill/New Edition drop off my list, while songs from Charlie Puth/Selena Gomez, Sam Hunt, and the Head and the Heart make some of the biggest moves (jumps of 10+ places highlighted in red ). Lord, save our soul from the Creamsicle... This Week               Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Cheap Thrills - Sia f/Sean Paul (3) 2. Can't Stop The Feeling! - Justin Timberlake (1) 3. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) - Adele (4) 4. Dark Necessities - Red Hot Chili Peppers (2) 5. Don't Let Me Down - The Chainsmokers f/Daya (5) 6. Bored To Dea...

" Rock On " - Michael Damian from the albums Where Do We Go From Here and Dream A Little Dream (Original Soundtrack) (1989) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 13 Today's song of the day comes from actor/singer Michael Damian , whose success had actually started in the latter profession, scoring a minor pop hit in 1981 with a cover of Eric Carmen's " She Did It " (#69) when he was 19 years old. Getting noticed promoting the single, he was hired to play a cabaret singer on the soap opera The Young and The Restless as Danny Romalotti. And like Rick Springfield, Jack Wagner, and Gloria Loring, Michael used his exposure to land a song on a soundtrack featuring two of the hottest teen actors of the time, Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, Dream A Little Dream . It was a cover of a song that went to the top-5 of the American pop chart back in 1974, "Rock On". The original artist, David Essex, was also an actor, and never had ...

Let's head Down Under to check out the songs making their way on the official local artists singles chart in Australia this week, as both that list and the all-inclusive chart are both led by the Veronicas with " In My Blood "... Rapper Illy, from Melbourne, teams up with singer/songwriter Vera Blue at #6 with "Papercuts"... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Seventeen " - Winger from the album Winger (1988) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #26 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 6 Today's song of the day comes from the glam-metal- sans -makeup band Winger , who came together the New York under lead singer/bassist Kip Winger in the late 80s. They released their debut album in 1988, and the track " Madalaine " became a minor rock radio hit at #27. But it was the provocative second single that got them noticed on mainstream radio and MTV. "Seventeen", written by Kip with lead guitarist Reb Beach and producer Beau Hill, walked down the oft-traveled path to possibly indecent exposure with a young woman, but I guess Kip's model-like good looks and the Guns-N-Roses'-like guitar licks eased the pain a little, but dude , he was 27 when this was released... "Seventeen" became Winger's first top-40 pop hit in May of 1989. The song also climbed to #19 on Billboard 's Mainstream Rock radi...

Here's the top ten hits in Germany this week, according to that country's official singles chart , as French singer Imany spends a second week at #1... 1. " Don't Be So Shy " - Imany (1) 2. " This Girl " - KUNGS vs Cookin' On 3 Burners (2) 3. " This One's For You " - David Guetta featuring Zara Larsson (3) 4. " Please Tell Rosie " - Alle Farben featuring YOUNOTUS (7) 5. " One Dance " - Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla (9) 6. " Can't Stop The Feeling! " - Justin Timberlake (6) 7. "Ain't Your Mama" - Jennifer Lopez (8) 8. " Don't Let Me Down " - The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (10) 9. " Cheap Thrills " - Sia featuring Sean Paul (RE-ENTRY) 10. " Wir Sind Gross " - Mark Forster (5) While I was on vacation last week, Jennifer Lopez slipped in to the top ten in Germany with a song co-written by Meghan Trainor that comparably "bombed" in...

" I Wanna Be The One " - Stevie B from the album In Your Eyes (1988) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #32 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 5 Today's song of the day comes from Latin freestyle dance music singer/songwriter/producer Stevie B (aka Steven Bernard Hill), who started out in Miami released his debut independent album, Party Your Body , in 1988. It took its name from the 12" single released a year before that hit the top-40 on the club chart. His success kept growing as the second single " Dreamin' Of Love " landed him his first pop chart hit at #80. The third release, the freestyle classic " Spring Love (Come Back To Me) ", almost scored him a top-40 hit, stopping at #43 in the summer of 1988, and reaching the top-5 on the dance chart. Because of the longevity on local radio for these hits, Stevie was able to complete his sophomore effort in time for the fall of 1988. The first single, "I Wanna Be The One", was a midtempo ...

Here's the top ten hits in France this week, according to their official singles chart , as David Guetta returns to the top spot for a third non-consecutive week... 1. " This One's For You " - David Guetta featuring Zara Larsson (2) 2. " Can't Stop The Feeling! " - Justin Timberlake (1) 3. " Encore Un Soir " - Celine Dion (3) 4. " Don't Be So Shy " - Imany (4) 5. " Cheap Thrills " - Sia featuring Sean Paul (5) 6. " This Is What You Came For " - Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna (7) 7. "Le Lac" - Julien Dore (DEBUT) 8. " This Girl " - KUNGS vs Cookin' On 3 Burners (6) 9. "Duele El Corazon" - Enrique Iglesias featuring Wisin (DEBUT) 10. " Bailar " - Deorro featuring Elvis Crespo (8) Actor/singer Julien Dore, a previous winner of Nouvelle Star , the French version of the Idol franchise, rockets into the top ten with "Le Lac" ("the Lake")....

" Iko Iko " - The Belle Stars from the albums The Belle Stars (1983) and Rain Man (Original Soundtrack) (1989) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #14 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 10 Today's song of the day comes from the all-female pop/ska band the Belle Stars, who came together in the beginning of the 80s in England after the breakup of a previous band, the Bodysnatchers, that several of the Stars were in. Releasing their debut single in 1981, it wasn't until two years later with a cover of a 60s hit from the Dixie Cups that the group found their first success. "Iko Iko" was a pre-rock song from the bayou land of Louisiana recorded by the incredibly un-PC-named act of Sugar Boy and his Cane Cutters (led by songwriter James Crawford) under the title "Jock-A-Mo" in 1953. Depicting the conflict between two Native American tribes, the rollicking beat belied the murderous narrative underneath... The American girl-group Dixie Cups recorded a r...

" Tribute (Right On) " - The Pasadenas from the album To Whom It May Concern (1988) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #52 This week's 'robbed hit' comes from the British soul band the Pasadenas , whose homage to the soul acts of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, "Tribute (Right On)", was written by the vocal group along with actual 70s hit artist Pete Wingfield (" Eighteen With A Bullet "), which also harkened back to the doo-wop era. With leather jacket Grease realness, the quintet was a polished act that didn't seem kitschy (kind of like the Commodores' "Nightshift"), and they reached the top-10 in Europe before trying a go in the States... While "Right On" went on to reach the top 10 of Billboard 's American R&B chart at #8, the single stopped just short of the halfway point on the pop Hot 100 list in April of 1989. The 12" remix version also hit the Dance Club Play chart at #27. Internationally, the song w...

" Cult Of Personality " - Living Colour from the album Vivid (1988) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 9 Today's song of the day comes from the band Living Colour , who came together in New York under guitarist Vernon Reid in the mid-80s. After a shifting lineup ended with Corey Glover taking over lead vocals, the all African-American group released their debut album Vivid in 1988. An amalgam of styles dominated by a hard rock guitar crunch, the record was heralded critically but publicly neglected until the video airplay for the single "Cult Of Personality" got rock radio's attention at the end of the year. It was twelve months after the release of the album that the track, written by the band and produced by Ed Stasium (who engineered work of the Ramones and Talking Heads), reached pop radio, and even though it may have a little bit been noticed by the "new" factor of a black rock band, they certainly had the ...

" Real Love " - Jody Watley from the album Larger Than Life (1989) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (two weeks) Weeks in the top-40: 12 Today's song of the day comes from singer/dancer Jody Watley , who went from being a featured dancer on Soul Train to being a member of influential disco/soul group Shalamar, to earning a New Artist Grammy for her debut solo album. That disc spun off three top-10 pop hits with " Looking For A New Love ", " Don't You Want Me ", and " Some Kind Of Lover ". In the spring of 1989 Jody released her sophomore solo effort Larger Than Life , again collaborating with producer/writer Andre Cymone on most of the tracks, like the first single "Real Love". A sassy "I can do better" club anthem like "Looking For A New Love", it had enough attitude, conviction, and synth muscle to win over all her fans from the first disc, and the David Fincher-directed video was ultra- chic ... ...