For Some 1989 Hits, It’s Easy to "Look Away"
May 8, 2020 17:48:12 GMT -5
retrodaddy and OnWithTheCountdown like this
Post by JMW on May 8, 2020 17:48:12 GMT -5
The latest "lost hits" article from Sean Ross at RadioInsight:
For Some 1989 Hits, It’s Easy to “Look Away”
Plus, A preview of future articles:
For Some 1989 Hits, It’s Easy to “Look Away”
With such songs as “Funky Cold Medina” finally having their moment again, you might think that recency plays a part in which songs endure at Classic Hits and other gold-based formats. Overall, however, 1989 looks a lot more like the doldrums of 1982 than the big CHR year of 1984. There are 44 songs with a “lost factor” of 1.0 or higher, similar to the 43 in 1982 and higher than the 27 in 1984. There are 26 songs from the year that got 10 spins or fewer in the week prior to my airplay calculations, vs. 23 in 1982 and only 12 in 1984.
Here are the 15 “most lost” hits of 1989, based on points for their standing for the year divided by the number of plays they receive now. In parenthesis is the “lost factor,” followed by the number of spins the songs received in the U.S. and Canada according to NielsenBDS in the week prior to my calculations.
1. Sheena Easton, “The Lover in Me” (lost factor 60, spins last week 1)
2. New Kids on the Block, “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)” (38, 2)
3. Prince, “Batdance” (29, 2)
4. Milli Vanilli, “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” (28, 3)
5. Tiffany, “All This Time” (23, 0)
6. Dino, “I Like It” (23, 2)
7. Boys Club, “I Remember Holding You” (16, 0)
8. Donny Osmond, “Soldier of Love” (15, 3)
9. New Kids on the Block, “Cover Girl” (14, 2)
10. White Lion, “When the Children Cry” (10, 4)
11. Taylor Dayne, “Don’t Rush Me” (9, 7)
12. Bangles, “In Your Room” (9, 4)
13. Breathe, “How Can I Fall?” (7, 10)
14. Milli Vanilli, “Baby Don’t Forget My Number” (7, 10)
15. Samantha Fox, “I Wanna Have Some Fun” (7, 2)
1. Sheena Easton, “The Lover in Me” (lost factor 60, spins last week 1)
2. New Kids on the Block, “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)” (38, 2)
3. Prince, “Batdance” (29, 2)
4. Milli Vanilli, “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” (28, 3)
5. Tiffany, “All This Time” (23, 0)
6. Dino, “I Like It” (23, 2)
7. Boys Club, “I Remember Holding You” (16, 0)
8. Donny Osmond, “Soldier of Love” (15, 3)
9. New Kids on the Block, “Cover Girl” (14, 2)
10. White Lion, “When the Children Cry” (10, 4)
11. Taylor Dayne, “Don’t Rush Me” (9, 7)
12. Bangles, “In Your Room” (9, 4)
13. Breathe, “How Can I Fall?” (7, 10)
14. Milli Vanilli, “Baby Don’t Forget My Number” (7, 10)
15. Samantha Fox, “I Wanna Have Some Fun” (7, 2)
Conversely, these are the songs that punched above their weight with the most spins proportionate to their year-end placing:
1. Soul II Soul, “Keep On Movin’” – It was actually the follow-up, “Back To Life (However Do You Want Me),” that became the enduring song at Adult R&B radio. This only gets a handful of spins, but since it was No. 100 for the year, that’s enough to keep the ratio low.
2. Guns N’ Roses, “Paradise City”
3. Michael Jackson, “Smooth Criminal”
4. Guns N’ Roses, “Welcome to the Jungle”
5. Bobby Brown, “Rock Wit’cha”
1. Soul II Soul, “Keep On Movin’” – It was actually the follow-up, “Back To Life (However Do You Want Me),” that became the enduring song at Adult R&B radio. This only gets a handful of spins, but since it was No. 100 for the year, that’s enough to keep the ratio low.
2. Guns N’ Roses, “Paradise City”
3. Michael Jackson, “Smooth Criminal”
4. Guns N’ Roses, “Welcome to the Jungle”
5. Bobby Brown, “Rock Wit’cha”
Plus, A preview of future articles:
Having looked at the early, mid-, and late ‘80s, we’re going to return shortly with a look at the 50 most-“lost” songs of the decade overall. We’ll also publish a list of the top 15 most-lost songs for each year as well as a separate, behind-the-scenes look at the compiling of the list. Your comments are welcome.
