Category Archives: Uncategorized

It feels like I should have more to say at the top of the worst list for my least-favorite year for chart pop. But I don’t. 1989 sucked, and these 10 songs sucked the hardest. On with the show! #10: New Kids on the Block- I’ll Be Loving You (Forever) This is probably at leastContinue reading “The Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 1989”

At long last, our trek across the 80s has brought us to the smoldering crater that is 1989. The year it all went wrong. The single worst year of chart pop I have ever had to sit through, worse song-for-song than any other year-end hot 100 I’ve encountered to date. Delving into the reasons whyContinue reading “The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 1989”

Not only was 1988 the first year in a while where I didn’t have to make at least one or two tough cuts for the best list, it also brought an unusually crowded field of worst-list contenders. This is the start of a three-year stretch where a whole lot of songs seemed to be inContinue reading “The Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 1988”

Okay. Yep. Things are officially dire in 80sland. This is the first time since the early ‘60s where I’ve had to really scrape the barrel for an even ten best list picks. Things are petering out awfully fast, and I’ll have more to say about the general trends of the year on the worst listContinue reading “The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 1988”

Ohh-Kay! It’s time to really start diving into the wretched dregs of one of my least-favorite eras of pop music. I’m slightly pressed for time and none too eager to set about the tast at hand, so we’re gonna try and go quick-and-dirty here— think PGTY season 1, no dilly-dallying unless there’s something interesting toContinue reading “The Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 1987”

The second half of the 80s is mostly a downhill slide. Every year the trends get staler and the brilliant standouts grow fewer and further between— except, oddly enough, for 1987! I’d still have a hard time calling this a great year for pop music, but the ‘87 year-end chart managed, at the very least,Continue reading “The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 1987”

Pop Goes the Year is not about numbers. Even the rankings are pretty loose, and my private ratings of each song out of 10 exist, more than anything, to help me remember which songs I hated enough to slap on a worst list. Still, I do, in fact, rate every song that I listen toContinue reading “The Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 1986”

Perhaps it’s only fitting that the center couldn’t hold on the cranked-to-eleven energy of the mid-80s pop scene. The Reagan era was one characterized by excess, and excess is, by its very nature, unsustainable. There were definitely hints of it throughout ‘85 and even a few in ‘84, but ‘86 is where the wheels reallyContinue reading “The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 1986”

1985 was the turning point: both the moment the sounds of the 80s gained too much traction to be sensibly moderated, and the moment I, in my journey through the hits of the decade, realized I might be in for a bit of a rough ride over the next 5-odd years. The best stuff wasContinue reading “The Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 1985”

Already a step down from the neon-tinged high of 1984, 1985 was nonetheless a pretty solid year for the hot 100, with new wave and synth pop in particular still delivering plenty of quality hits. At least in hindsight, it’s clear that by the end of the year the best stuff was more the resultContinue reading “The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 1985”