Best Songs of 1987

Not that I would ever play them again, but it’s times like these that I’m a little sad I no longer have my cassette tape collection. If I did, I could share with you images of my handful of artifacts from this era, most of them of the cheesy variety. But not only do I cop to having the likes of Exposé, Rick Astley, Basia, and Belinda Carlisle back in the day, I will proudly and confidently include them 30 years later on this list.

Same goes for the 45s—we call them 7-inches now, but when I talk about ones I got back then, I still use the old terminology—that I do in fact still have in my collection: Whitesnake, Richard Marx, and Bananarama.

Somewhere in between cool and uncool were my Michael Jackson and INXS tapes, and my David Bowie and Terence Trent D’Arby 45s. So maybe, in hindsight, this 30-years-after-the-fact selection of my favorite songs from one of the better musical years in the entire decade of the ’80s isn’t as much of a retcon as I thought it would be.

In fact, maybe I have always been able to bridge the populist and the obscure. After all, I feel most comfortable in the space between. Those mainstream radio hits are the ones I use to mark time, and the underground rarities are the ones I use to differentiate myself from the masses. The combination of the two then becomes the epitome of my taste, and my desire to drift between poles of interest. I think all my lists make great use of that push-pull, and these 100 tracks are no exception.

For these year-end lists, I like to undertake the seemingly impossibly task of creating an hours-long mix. The order you see below represents that effort, which you can listen to via Spotify. Sadly all 100 tracks aren't available—curse you Def Leppard!—but you get the general idea. Track notes to come eventually or maybe never.

Show Grid

Gentle Sound

The Railway Children

Reunion Wilderness

Virgin

Notes
Heartbreak Beat

The Psychedelic Furs

Midnight to Midnight

Columbia

Notes
Shoplifters of the World Unite

The Smiths

Shoplifters of the World Unite 7"

Rough Trade

Notes
World Shut Your Mouth

Julian Cope

Saint Julian

Island

Notes
What’s My Scene?

Hoodoo Gurus

Blow Your Cool

Elektra

Notes
No New Tale to Tell

Love and Rockets

Earth Sun Moon

Big Time

Notes
Seattle

Public Image Ltd.

Happy?

Virgin

Notes
Beds Are Burning

Midnight Oil

Diesel and Dust

Columbia

Notes
Love Removal Machine

The Cult

Electric

Sire

Notes
Here I Go Again

Whitesnake

Whitesnake

Geffen

Notes
Alone

Heart

Bad Animals

Capitol

Notes
Heaven Is a Place on Earth

Belinda Carlisle

Heaven on Earth

Geffen

Notes
I Heard a Rumour

Bananarama

Wow!

London

Notes
Never Gonna Give You Up

Rick Astley

Whenever You Need Somebody

RCA

Notes
What Have I Done to Deserve This?

Pet Shop Boys

Actually

Manhattan

Notes
Heart & Soul

T’Pau

Bridge of Spies

Siren

Notes
Soul Food to Go

The Manhattan Transfer

Brasil

Atlantic

Notes
Rhythm Is Gonna Get You

Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine

Let It Loose

Epic

Notes
Who’s That Girl

Madonna

Who’s That Girl

Sire

Notes
Breakout

Swing Out Sister

It’s Better to Travel

Mercury

Notes
Head to Toe

Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam

Spanish Fly

Columbia

Notes
Only in My Dreams

Debbie Gibson

Out of the Blue

Atlantic

Notes
I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Whitney Houston

Whitney

Arista

Notes
Pink Cadillac

Natalie Cole

Everlasting

Manhattan

Notes
Rock Steady

The Whispers

Just Gets Better With Time

Solar

Notes
Casanova

LeVert

The Big Throwdown

Atlantic

Notes
Nobody Beats the Biz

Biz Markie

Nobody Beats the Biz

Prism

Notes
I Know You Got Soul

Eric B. & Rakim

Paid in Full

4th & Broadway

Notes
Pump Up the Volume

M/A/R/R/S

Pump Up the Volume 12"

4AD

Notes
Touched By the Hand of God

New Order

Touched By the Hand of God 7"

Factory

Notes
Day In Day Out

David Bowie

Never Let Me Down

Virgin

Notes
Dude (Looks Like a Lady)

Aerosmith

Permanent Vacation

Geffen

Notes
Don’t Mean Nothing

Richard Marx

Richard Marx

MCA

Notes
Since You’ve Been Gone

The Outfield

Bangin’

Columbia

Notes
What It Feels Like

BoDeans

Outside Looking In

Slash

Notes
Change With the Changing Times

The dB’s

The Sound of Music

I.R.S.

Notes
Things Fall Apart

Guadalcanal Diary

2x4

Elektra

Notes
The Friend Song

Drivin’ n’ Cryin’

Whisper Tames the Lion

Island

Notes
I’m No Angel

The Gregg Allman Band

I’m No Angel

Epic

Notes
I Want You Bad

Long Ryders

Two Fisted Tales

Island

Notes
Wildflowers

Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris

Trio

Warner Bros.

Notes
If I Had a Boat

Lyle Lovett

Pontiac

Curb

Notes
Have a Little Faith in Me

John Hiatt

Bring the Family

A&M

Notes
It’ll All Work Out

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough)

MCA

Notes
Angel Band

Emmylou Harris

Angel Band

Warner Bros.

Notes
I Need You

Eurythmics

Savage

RCA

Notes
Broken Arrow

Robbie Robertson

Robbie Robertson

Geffen

Notes
See How We Are

X

See How We Are

Elektra

Notes
The Factory

Warren Zevon

Sentimental Hygiene

Virgin

Notes
Luka

Suzanne Vega

Solitude Standing

A&M

Notes
Strange Fire

Indigo Girls

Strange Fire

Epic

Notes
Bye Bye Pride

The Go-Betweens

Tallulah

Beggars Banquet

Notes
Rain in the Summertime

The Alarm

Eye of the Hurricane

I.R.S.

Notes
One Tree Hill

U2

The Joshua Tree

Island

Notes
Lips Like Sugar

Echo & The Bunnymen

Echo & The Bunnymen

Sire

Notes
Pour Some Sugar on Me

Def Leppard

Hysteria

Mercury

Notes
Sweet Child O’ Mine

Guns N’ Roses

Appetite for Destruction

Geffen

Notes
Hazy Shade of Winter

Bangles

Less Than Zero

Def Jam

Notes
Let Me Be the One

Exposé

Exposure

Arista

Notes
Looking for a New Love

Jody Watley

Jody Watley

MCA

Notes
I Want Her

Keith Sweat

Make It Last Forever

Elektra

Notes
Push It (Remix)

Salt-N-Pepa

Tramp 7"

Def Jam

Notes
I Need Love

LL Cool J

Bigger and Deffer

Def Jam

Notes
Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

Rock the House

Jive

Notes
I Want to Be Your Man

Roger

Unlimited!

Warner Bros.

Notes
If You’d Be Mine

Shuggie Otis

Wings of Love

Epic

Recorded in 1987, released in 2013
Everywhere

Fleetwood Mac

Tango in the Night

Warner Bros.

Notes
Time and Tide

Basia

Time and Tide

Epic

Notes
Englishman in New York

Sting

Nothing Like the Sun

A&M

Notes
Way Down in the Hole

Tom Waits

Franks Wild Years

Island

Notes
Father Figure

George Michael

Faith

Columbia

Notes
Man in the Mirror

Michael Jackson

Bad

Epic

Notes
Wishing Well

Terence Trent D’Arby

Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby

Columbia

Notes
U Got the Look

Prince

Sign ‘O’ the Times

Warner Bros.

Notes
New Sensation

INXS

Kick

Atlantic

Notes
Tunnel of Love

Bruce Springsteen

Tunnel of Love

Columbia

Notes
The One I Love

R.E.M.

Document

I.R.S.

Notes
Like the Weather

10,000 Maniacs

In My Tribe

Elektra

Notes
I Kiss the Flowers in Bloom

Close Lobsters

Foxheads Stalk This Land

Fire

Notes
Tragedy

The Bats

Daddy’s Highway

Flying Nun

Notes
Never Let Me Down Again

Depeche Mode

Music for the Masses

Sire

Notes
Little Fury Things

Dinosaur Jr.

You’re Living All Over Me

SST

Notes
Behind the Sun

Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Uplift Mofo Party Plan

EMI

Notes
Cherry Came Too

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Darklands

Blanco y Negro

Notes
Progress

Mission of Burma

Forget

Taang!

Notes
Soon

fIREHOSE

if’n

SST

Notes
Bad Love

Meat Puppets

Huevos

SST

Notes
Hidden Wheel

Rites of Spring

All Through a Life

Dischord

Notes
Son of a Gun

The Vaselines

Son of a Gun 7"

53rd & 3rd

Notes
All for the Best

Miracle Legion

Surprise Surprise Surprise

Rough Trade

Notes
Over There

The Connells

Boylan Heights

TVT

Notes
Oasis

Happy Mondays

Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face

Factory

Notes
Just Like Heaven

The Cure

Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me

Elektra

Notes
Get Outta My Cave

Young Fresh Fellows

The Men Who Loved Music

Frontier

Notes
You Are Leaving

Primitons

Happy All the Time

What Goes On

Notes
Come on Let’s Go

Los Lobos

La Bamba

Warner Bros.

Notes
Touch of Grey

Grateful Dead

In the Dark

Arista

Notes
When We Was Fab

George Harrison

Cloud Nine

EMI

Notes
Check It Out

John Mellencamp

The Lonesome Jubilee

Mercury

Notes
Alex Chilton

The Replacements

Pleased to Meet Me

Reprise

Notes