music friday: 1989

Public Enemy, "Fight the Power". An all-time great opening credits sequence.

Madonna, "Like a Prayer". My favorite Madonna song.

The Pixies, "Debaser". I am un chien andalusia.

The Stone Roses, "Fools Gold". My knowledge of Stone Roses begins and ends with "Love Spreads". This is not that song.

De La Soul, "Me Myself and I". Their debut album finished first in that year's Pazz and Jop poll. Counting anthologies, they've reached double digits in albums released.

Janet Jackson, "Rhythm Nation". Wikipedia: "It is the only album in the history of the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart to have seven commercial singles peak within the top five positions. It is also the only album to produce number one hits on the chart in three separate calendar years (1989–1991)."

Electronic, "Getting Away with It". They're a supergroup, but I prefer my Bernard Sumner New-Order Style.

Tone-Lōc, "Funky Cold Medina". So catchy, I never really paid attention to the lyrics, which wander into date rape territory.

Queen Latifah, "Ladies First". The title sums up Latifah's debut ... well, the album title does that even better (All Hail the Queen).

Lou Reed, "Dirty Blvd". This marked the last of many times I saw Lou in concert.

Bonus:

Comments

[Charlie Bertsch]

I think this was one of the great years for popular music. "Fools Gold" is a great song, even if the Stone Roses didn't have much staying power. Needless to say, I'd put something from The Cure's Disintegration on my own list.

[Steven Rubio]

I hear you re: The Cure. If I forced myself on these lists a little harder, the selection would definitely be different. In this case, I'd probably find a place for Paul's Boutique.