1990

The Top 150 Hits of… 1990

A couple of special cases this year:

“U Can’t Touch This” was a big hit at radio, going as high as #2 on the airplay chart, and would undoubtedly have been a huge seller if it hadn’t only been available on 12” vinyl. And even the vinyl release was delayed by a few weeks. So here’s what I did. First of all, the song debuted on the airplay chart (only 40 positions long at the time) two weeks before the release of the single. I gave it the 8 points for its airplay position for each of those two weeks. For the rest of its chart run I took its position on the Hot 100 and its position on the airplay chart and split the difference for each week. So if it were #3 for airplay and #9 on the Hot 100, I gave it 20 points for the #6 position for that week, which was its peak position for our purposes here. That makes its #37 year-end rank a bit more accurate. I think it would have been even higher if a standard cassette single had been available.

Speaking of standard cassette singles, there wasn’t one for the re-release of “Unchained Melody,” a big hit from 1965 that was revived through its use in the movie Ghost. You could get it on 7” vinyl in Verve Records oldies series, so it was still eligible to chart. Radio ate it up but, not being widely available, the 7” didn’t sell. Seizing an opportunity, Curb Records, the Righteous Brothers label in 1990, decided to get them back in the studio to re-record the song as close to the original as possible and release it on cassette single. Sales went through the roof, but the new version got no radio play. So there were two competing versions of the same song by the same artist on the Hot 100, one a hit at radio and the other a monster seller and neither of them able to make the top 10 without the other. For its year-end rank I combined both chart runs as one song, which put it at #18. Its highest combined rank on the weekly chart would have been #4.

I finally learned how to type accents in Word so Expose is now Exposé and Motley Crue is now Mötley Crüe as they should be. Man, that was bugging me.

1. Love Takes Time – Mariah Carey 302
2. Hold On – Wilson Phillips 297.5
3. It Must Have Been Love – Roxette 289.5
4. Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O’Connor 287.5
5. Vogue – Madonna 286.5
6. Poison – Bell Biv Devoe 284.5
7. Don’t Know Much – Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville 282
8. Vision of Love – Mariah Carey 281
9. Close to You – Maxi Priest 278.5
10. Another Day in Paradise – Phil Collins 274
11. Pump Up the Jam – Technotronic 266.5
12. Hold On – En Vogue 263.5
13. How Am I Supposed to Live Without You – Michael Bolton 262
14. Cradle of Love – Billy Idol 261.5
15. Back to Life – Soul II Soul 260.5
16. Do Me! – Bell Biv Devoe 257.5
17. Blaze of Glory – Jon Bon Jovi 255.5
18. Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers 122+130 = 252
19. Opposites Attract – Paula Abdul 251
20. Black Velvet – Alannah Myles 251
21. I Don’t Have the Heart – James Ingram 250
22. We Didn’t Start the Fire – Billy Joel 248.5
23. Release Me – Wilson Phillips 245.5
24. Escapade – Janet Jackson 244.5
25. All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You – Heart 244.5
26. Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice 244.5
27. All Around the World – Lisa Stansfield 243.5
28. (Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection – Nelson 242.5
29. I Wanna Be Rich – Calloway 241
30. Rub You the Right Way – Johnny Gill 240.5
31. If Wishes Came True – Sweet Sensation 234.5
32. Sending All My Love – Linear 233
33. The Power – Snap! 231.5
34. Don’t Wanna Fall in Love – Jane Child 231
35. She Ain’t Worth It – Glenn Medeiros feat. Bobby Brown 229.5
36. Two to Make It Right – Seduction 228.5
37. U Can’t Touch This – MC Hammer (176) 228
38. Love Will Lead You Back – Taylor Dayne 227
39. Unskinny Bop – Poison 222.5
40. Dangerous – Roxette 219
41. Something to Believe In – Poison 216.5
42. Groove Is in the Heart – Deee-Lite 215
43. Step by Step – New Kids on the Block 214
44. Everything – Jody Watley 213
45. Here and Now – Luther Vandross 213
46. More Than Words Can Say – Alias 210.5
47. With Every Beat of My Heart – Taylor Dayne 206
48. Roam – The B-52’s 203.5
49. No More Lies – Michelle 203
50. Downtown Train – Rod Stewart 202
51. I’ll Be Your Everything – Tommy Page 200.5
52. Rhythm Nation – Janet Jackson 200
53. Can’t Stop – After 7 199
54. Feels Good – Tony! Toni! Toné! 196.5
55. Have You Seen Her – MC Hammer 195.5
56. Alright – Janet Jackson 195
57. Giving You the Benefit – Pebbles 191.5
58. Love Song – Tesla 187.5
59. Come Back to Me – Janet Jackson 183.5
60. Just Between You and Me – Lou Gramm 183.5
61. How Can We Be Lovers – Michael Bolton 181.5
62. Ready or Not – After 7 180.5
63. Black Cat – Janet Jackson 180.5
64. Do You Remember? – Phil Collins 179.5
65. Something Happened on the Way to Heaven – Phil Collins 179
66. Praying for Time – George Michael 177
67. Enjoy the Silence – Depeche Mode 177
68. The Humpty Dance – Digital Underground 175
69. Pray – MC Hammer 173.5
70. I’ll Be Your Shelter – Taylor Dayne 173
71. I Wish It Would Rain Down – Phil Collins 171.5
72. Janie’s Got a Gun – Aerosmith 170
73. Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty 169.5
74. Girls Nite Out – Tyler Collins 169.5
75. Price of Love – Bad English 168.5
76. King of Wishful Thinking – Go West 168
77. I Remember You – Skid Row 165
78. Here We Are – Gloria Estefan 163.5
79. Just Like Jesse James – Cher 161.5
80. Get Up! (Before the Night Is Over) 160.5
81. Epic – Faith No More 160.5
82. What Kind of Man Would I Be? – Chicago 160
83. Oh Girl – Paul Young 159
84. Everybody Everybody – Black Box 154.5
85. Knockin’ Boots – Candyman 154
86. Romeo – Dino 151.5
87. C’mon and Get My Love – D-Mob 149
88. We Can’t Go Wrong – The Cover Girls 147.5
89. I Go to Extremes – Billy Joel 146.5
90. Just a Friend – Biz Markie 145.5
91. Living in Sin – Bon Jovi 145.5
92. What It Takes – Aerosmith 144.5
93. Whole Wide World – A’me Lorain 144.5
94. Whip Appeal – Babyface 143.5
95. When I’m Back on My Feet Again – Michael Bolton 143.5
96. Tic-Tac-Toe – Kyper 142
97. Stranded – Heart 142
98. This One’s for the Children – New Kids on the Block 141.5
99. Forever – Kiss 141
100. Swing the Mood – Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers 141
101. All or Nothing – Milli Vanilli 140.5
102. Jerk Out – The Time 137
103. Without You – Mötley Crüe 137
104. Make You Sweat – Keith Sweat 135.5
105. Mentirosa – Mellow Man Ace 134.5
106. Thieves in the Temple – Prince 131
107. When the Night Comes – Joe Cocker 126.5
108. So Close – Daryl Hall & John Oates 126.5
109. My, My, My – Johnny Gill 124.5
110. This Old Heart of Mine – Rod Stewart with Ronald Isley 123.5
111. Cherry Pie – Warrant 119.5
112. Could This Be Love – Seduction 119.5
113. Tell Me Why – Exposé 116.5
114. Suicide Blonde – INXS 116
115. Peace in Our Time – Eddie Money 115
116. Ooh La La (I Can’t Get Over You) – Perfect Gentlemen 113.5
117. Keep It Together – Madonna 113
118. Love Child – Sweet Sensation 113
119. Baby, It’s Tonight – Jude Cole 111.5
120. Heartbeat – Seduction 110.5
121. No Myth – Michael Penn 110
122. Tonight – New Kids on the Block 109.5
123. All My Life – Linda Ronstadt feat. Aaron Neville 109.5
124. Heart of Stone – Taylor Dayne 108.5
125. Children of the Night – Richard Marx 108
126. Too Late to Say Goodbye – Richard Marx 107
127. Was It Nothing At All – Michael Damien 105
128. Hippychick – Soho 104.5
129. The Heart of the Matter – Don Henley 104.5
130. Tender Lover – Babyface 104
131. Sacrifice – Elton John 103
132. Policy of Truth – Depeche Mode 101.5
133. Sometimes She Cries – Warrant 98.5
134. If U Were Mine – The U-Krew 98.5
135. Fly to the Angels – Slaughter 98
136. I’ll See You in My Dreams – Giant 98
137. Turtle Power! – Partners in Kryme 97.5
138. Your Baby Never Looked Good in Blue – Exposé 97.5
139. Joey – Concrete Blonde 96.5
140. Room at the Top – Adam Ant 95.5
141. Can’t Stop Fallin’ into Love – Cheap Trick 95
142. Love and Emotion – Stevie B 93.5
143. I’ll Be Good to You – Quincy Jones feat. Ray Charles and Chaka Khan 93.5
144. Expression – Salt-n-Pepa 93.5
145. You Can’t Deny It – Lisa Stansfield 90.5
146. Sittin’ in the Lap of Luxury – Louie Louie 89
147. Possession – Bad English 88
148. House of Pain – Faster Pussycat 86.5
149. Say a Prayer – Breathe 85.5
150. Personal Jesus – Depeche Mode 85.5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1990

*EDIT: When I first made this post I had left out “Say a Prayer” by Breathe. The list has been edited to include it at #149 and the 3 songs previously tied for #150, with 85 points each, have been deleted.