Best Songs of 1988

Can you see the ’90s from here? I can. I have long held that musical eras are best defined not by the round numbers of the decades—cultural boundaries is never quite that tidy—but by smaller chunks, and ones that start on the 8s and 3s, not on 0s and 5s. So this is something of a momentous year, then.

And yet, even in smaller increments, it’s still not as tidy as the human mind wishes it to be. Yes, I can see the ’90s from here, in fits and sparks, hinted at in the burgeoning popularity of “alternative” music, in the softened edges of R&B, and the increasing acceptance of hip-hop. But also, the stereotypical ’80s linger, as they would well into the early years of the next decade.

One trend feels very prominent, though, looking at these songs I have chosen to represent 1988: with a few exceptions, the artists that defined the 1970s and earlier are largely absent. Sure, this is probably just a fluke of the release schedule, or my tastes, but this list displays a new class of artists entering their primes, as the old guard finally cedes the floor. What’s funny to me about this is that, as someone who turned 10 in 1988, I am now old enough to be the old guard.

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 and Apple Music. Sadly all 100 tracks aren't available, but you get the general idea. Track notes to come eventually or maybe never.

Show Grid

Fast Car

Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman

Elektra

Notes
Patience

Guns N’ Roses

G N’ R Lies

Geffen

Notes
Jane Says

Jane’s Addiction

Nothing’s Shocking

Warner Bros.

Notes
Desire

U2

Rattle and Hum

Island

Notes
I Think She Likes Me

Treat Her Right

Treat Her Right

RCA

Notes
Indian Summer

Beat Happening

Jamboree

K

Notes
Love Buzz

Nirvana

Love Buzz 7"

Sub Pop

Notes
Where Is My Mind?

Pixies

Surfer Rosa

4AD

Notes
Birthday

The Sugarcubes

Life’s Too Good

Elektra

Notes
Freak Scene

Dinosaur Jr.

Bug

SST

Notes
Teen Age Riot

Sonic Youth

Daydream Nation

Enigma

Notes
One

Metallica

…and Justice for All

Elektra

Notes
Cult of Personality

Living Colour

Vivid

Epic

Notes
I Hate Myself for Loving You

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Up Your Alley

CBS

Notes
The Look

Roxette

Look Sharp!

EMI

Notes
Simply Irresistible

Robert Palmer

Heavy Nova

Island

Notes
Wild, Wild West

The Escape Club

Wild, Wild West

Hit & Run

Notes
I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)

Proclaimers

Sunshine on Leith

Capitol

Notes
Suedehead

Morrissey

Suedehead 7"

Warner Bros.

Notes
Fisherman’s Blues

The Waterboys

Fisherman’s Blues

Chrysalis

Notes
Balloon Man

Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians

Globe of Frogs

A&M

Notes
Copperhead Road

Steve Earle

Copperhead Road

Uni

Notes
Space Wrangler

Widespread Panic

Space Wrangler

Landslide

Notes
Somewhere South

The Railway Children

Recurrence

Virgin

Notes
Only a Memory

The Smithereens

Green Thoughts

Capitol

Notes
Every Dog Has His Day

Let’s Active

Every Dog Has His Day

I.R.S.

Notes
Walk Through to This Side

Screaming Trees

Invisible Lantern

SST

Notes
Saving Grace

Throwing Muses

House Tornado

Reprise

Notes
Punk Rock Girl

The Dead Milkmen

Beelzebubba

Restless

Notes
Ana Ng

They Might Be Giants

Lincoln

Bar/None

Notes
One of These Days

Camper Van Beethoven

Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart

Virgin

Notes
It’s Only Life

The Feelies

Only Life

Water

Notes
Bitter End

Felt

The Pictorial Jackson Review

Cherry Red

Notes
Inside Out

The Mighty Lemon Drops

World Without End

Chrysalis

Notes
When You Come

Crowded House

Temple of Low Men

Columbia

Notes
Under the Milky Way

The Church

Starfish

Columbia

Notes
World Leader Pretend

R.E.M.

Green

Warner Bros.

Notes
Streets of Your Town

The Go-Betweens

16 Lovers Lane

Beggars Banquet

Notes
Heaven

The Woodentops

Wooden Foot Cops on the Highway

Rough Trade

Notes
Orinoco Flow

Enya

Watermark

Geffen

Notes
Everybody Knows

Leonard Cohen

I’m Your Man

Columbia

Notes
The Mercy Seat

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Tender Prey

Mute

Notes
Eden

Talk Talk

Spirit of Eden

Capitol

Notes
What’s on Your Mind

Information Society

Information Society

Atlantic

Notes
The Promise

When in Rome

When in Rome

Virgin

Notes
Shattered Dreams

Johnny Hates Jazz

Turn Back the Clock

Caroline

Notes
Catch Me I’m Falling

Pretty Poison

Catch Me I’m Falling

Virgin

Notes
Forever Your Girl

Paula Abdul

Forever Your Girl

Virgin

Notes
Dial My Heart

The Boys

Messages From the Boys

Motown

Notes
If It Isn’t Love

New Edition

Heart Break

MCA

Notes
You Got It (The Right Stuff)

New Kids on the Block

Hangin’ Tough

Sony

Notes
Just Got Paid

Johnny Kemp

Secrets of Flying

Columbia

Notes
Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car

Billy Ocean

Tear Down These Walls

Jive

Notes
The Loco-Motion

Kylie Minogue

Kylie

Geffen

Notes
A Little Respect

Erasure

The Innocents

Sire

Notes
Roni

Bobby Brown

Don’t Be Cruel

MCA

Notes
Teardrops

Womack & Womack

Conscience

Island

Notes
Paradise

Sade

Stronger Than Pride

Epic

Notes
Alphabet St.

Prince

Lovesexy

Warner Bros.

Notes
Children’s Story

Slick Rick

The Great Adventures of Slick Rick

Def Jam

Notes
Parents Just Don’t Understand

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper

Jive

Notes
Posse on Broadway

Sir Mix-A-Lot

Swass

Nastymix

Notes
It Takes Two

Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock

It Takes Two

Profile

Notes
Night of the Living Baseheads

Public Enemy

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

Def Jam

Notes
Mary, Mary

Run-DMC

Tougher Than Leather

Arista

Notes
Express Yourself

N.W.A

Straight Outta Compton

Priority

Notes
My Philosophy

Boogie Down Productions

By All Means Necessary

Jive

Notes
Microphone Fiend

Eric B. & Rakim

Follow the Leader

Uni

Notes
The Symphony

Marley Marl

In Control Volume 1

Cold Chillin’

Notes
Ain’t No Half-Steppin’

Big Daddy Kane

Long Live the Kane

Warner Bros.

Notes
Jack the Ripper

LL Cool J

Going Back to Cali 7"

Def Jam

Notes
Nite and Day

Al B. Sure!

In Effect Mode

Warner Bros.

Notes
A Groovy Kind of Love

Phil Collins

Buster

Atlantic

Notes
Forever Young

Rod Stewart

Out of Order

Warner Bros.

Notes
The Valley Road

Bruce Hornsby and the Range

Scenes From the Southside

RCA

Notes
Long Gone (Buddy)

’Til Tuesday

Everything’s Different Now

Epic

Notes
Roll With It

Steve Winwood

Roll With It

Virgin

Notes
What I Am

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians

Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars

Geffen

Notes
Sweet Jane

Cowboy Junkies

The Trinity Session

RCA

Notes
Feels Like Rain

John Hiatt

Slow Turning

A&M

Notes
Ghosts of American Astronauts

Mekons

So Good It Hurts

Quarterstick

Notes
Tugboat

Galaxie 500

Today

Revolver

Notes
Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam

The Vaselines

Dying for It

53rd & 3rd

UK only release
Crash

The Primitives

Lovely

RCA

Notes
Dancin’ Late at Night

Jonathan Richman

Modern Lovers ’88

Rounder

Notes
I Don’t Wanna Go on With You Like That

Elton John

Reg Strikes Back

MCA

Notes
It’s the Money That Matters

Randy Newman

Land of Dreams

Reprise

Notes
This Note’s for You

Neil Young

This Note’s for You

Reprise

Notes
People Have the Power

Patti Smith

Dream of Life

Arista

Notes
Power

Ice-T

Power

Warner Bros.

Notes
Ego Trippin’

Ultramagnetic MC’s

Critical Beatdown

Next Plateau

Notes
Straight Out the Jungle

Jungle Brothers

Straight Out the Jungle

Warlock

Notes
Strictly Business

EPMD

Strictly Business

Fresh

Notes
Tomorrow People

Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers

Conscious Party

Virgin

Notes
Don’t Worry Be Happy

Bobby McFerrin

Simple Pleasures

Blue Note

Notes
(Nothing But) Flowers

Talking Heads

Naked

Sire

Notes
Silvio

Bob Dylan

Down in the Groove

Columbia

Notes
Handle With Care

The Traveling Wilburys

Vol. 1

Warner Bros.

Notes
Waiting for Tonight

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Playback

MCA

1988 recording released in 1995
Changed the Locks

Lucinda Williams

Lucinda Williams

Rough Trade

Notes