Here are some obscure and not so obscure songs of the hair metal era, roughly 1987-1992. I'm going to throw in several classics as well. Most of these songs came from my great memories of those days and also this blog: http://www.pastormattsblog.com/blog/2016/7/26/the-top-500-hair-metal-songs-of-all-time
A lot of the songs pastormatt lists aren't really what I would call the main era of hair metal. But many of those songs are great and I want to hear them again. And a lot of these songs I have never heard but I really like, this blog has also reminded me of many other great obscure songs.
However I will say that neither Heart or Michael Bolton- for hell's sake- are even close to being hair metal. If I repeat a song that means you'll just have to enjoy it twice.
52) Poison "Ride The Wind":
53) Bang Tango "Breaking Up A Heart of Stone":
54) Def Leppard "Excitable":
55) White Lion "Wait":
56) BulletBoys "Shoot The Preacher Down":
57) Vandenburg "Burning Heart":
58) King Kobra "Hunger":
Such a great and funny song title and a pretty rockin' song as well. 59) Faster Pussycat "Where There's A Whip There's A Way":
60) The Scorpions "Tease Me Please Me":
61) L.A. Guns "Never Enough":
Best video ever featuring Kate Beckinsdale. 62) Sleeze Beeze "Stranger Than Paradise":
Because I haven't taken on enough projects already I decided I'd start yet one more project. I Googled The Top Songs of the 80s and found a Billboard list, but I didn't want to pay for that. I'm sure that Billboard would call that proprietary information. Next I thought I could do my Top 100 80s songs on my iTunes, but that ended up being too much work. I continued Googling and stumbled across this B101 countdown- they're an 80s and More station out of Providence. Since I found this easily and there's no financial strings attached I'm hoping this isn't proprietary information. Thanks to B101.
There's a lot of great music here in 2021, but the music of the 80s was amazing!!
195) Tracy Chapman "Fast Car":
194) Crowded House "Don't Dream It's Over":
193) Madonna "Dress You Up":
192) Peter Gabriel "In Your Eyes":
191) Heart "Never":
190) Bruce Hornsby and the Range "The Way It Is":
189) Tears For Fears "Head Over Heels":
188) The Stray Cats "Rock This Town":
187) Phil Collins "You Can't Hurry Love":
186) A Flock of Seagulls "I Ran (So Far Away)":
185) Berlin "Take My Breath Away":
184) Belinda Carlisle "Heaven Is A Place On Earth":
183) Eddie Money "Take Me Home Tonight (Be My Baby)":
These are some of the websites that I got these songs from. I don't know why most songs would ever be banned, especially some of these songs. I have posted explanations for why some of these songs were or may have been banned. If politicians can say all sorts of dumb/ controversial things why can't musicians do the same thing?
From themusicaddict: Lyrics and the frequent use of the F-bomb, along with controversial statements have caused this song to be banned. 1) Rage Against The Machine "Killing In The Name":
From themusicaddict: More music than words, what words there are mostly indecipherable. The video seems pretty pointless- not in the least offensive. The people who wanted this song banned must have been bored. 2) Massive Attack "Unfinished Symphony":
From themusicaddict: Explicitly sexual0 but is that any reason to ban a song? Or is because the song is about and an ode to homosexual sex? We all know that people are having sex. 3) Frankie Goes To Hollywood "Relax":
From MSN: "This song called out President Reagan by name, asking the people of the United States to come together and take a stand." 4) Heaven 17 "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang":
It seems the "f-fade away" was too much for some folks. 5) The Who "My Generation":
Like Madonna 25 years before her, Lady Gaga was intentionally provocative to gain her more notoriety. Both are great at that and being performers, being provocative has worked out for both. 6) Lady Gaga "Judas":
The lyrics are suggestive, why yes they are. The most offensive thing about this video for me is how bad the video is. I'm sure it was intentionally camp, but this is just a bad video. 7) Olivia Newton-John "Physical":
What's offensive about this song? Is it too danceable? Is it too good? Those clothes are truly offensive though. 8) Abba "Waterloo":
Offensive: The moans? 9) Lil Louis "French Kiss":
10) Queen "I Want To Break Free":
11) Madonna "Justify My Love":
But he writes "monogamy" on one of the models? 12) George Michael "I Want Your Sex":
From MSN: "But when Loretta Lynn released her song endorsing the pill and applauding it as a victory for women’s rights, it didn’t go over so well with some radio executives. Singing about women being able to finally join the workforce, or go out on the town in whatever clothes they wanted was deemed too progressive and threatening for radio audiences." 13) Loretta Lynn "The Pill":
14) Tom Petty "You Don't Know How It Feels":
Could the reason for the song being banned be multiple sexual references and singing about female genitalia? 15) John Travolta et al "Greased Lightning":
16) Van Morrison "Brown Eyed Girl":
17) The Shirelles "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow":
I have labeled some of these songs as best of the best, the 90s was a tremendous decade for country music. As usual I don't just post the hits, I post the best country songs of that decade.
RollingStone.com has a big article about Generation Z is loving 90s country. Here's the article : https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/nineties-country-blowing-gen-z-142735025.html
From the article:
But the Nineties country resurgence isn’t limited to Spotify. Apple Music, Amazon Music and Pandora have all realized the demand for the subgenre and curated their own Nineties country playlists. Today’s Nashville stars have taken note as well: For the past few years, artists like Luke Combs, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Hailey Whitters, and Midland have been mining the sound, songwriting, and even style of the decade to great success. Blake Shelton based his entire Friends and Heroes Tour around celebrating veterans like John Anderson and Tracy Byrd. And when Joe Diffie, a Nineties icon with hits like “John Deere Greene” and “Pickup Man,” died in March 2020 from Covid-19, our remembrance of Diffie was one of Rolling Stone’s most-read stories ever.
69) Dwight Yoakam "The Heart That You Own":
70) Travis Tritt "T-R-O-U-B-L-E":
71) Mindy McCready "You'll Never Know":
72) Chris LeDoux "Cadillac Ranch":
Best of the best. 73) Billy Dean "Somewhere In My Broken Heart":
74) Clint Black "Like The Rain":
Best of the best. 75) Terri Clark "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me":
Best of the best. 76) Mary Chapin Carpenter "I Feel Lucky":
77) Garth Brooks "Same Old Story":
78) Don Williams "Just As Long As I Have You":
79) Patty Loveless "Halfway Down":
79) Clint Black "Summer's Comin":
80) Lorrie Morgan "We Both Walk":
81) Keith Whitley "I'm Over You":
81) Billy Dean "Billy The Kid":
82) Brooks and Dunn "Lost and Found":
83) Sawyer Brown "Puttin The Dark Back Into The Night":
I have labeled some of these songs as best of the best, the 90s was a tremendous decade for country music.
RollingStone.com has a big article about Generation Z is loving 90s country. Here's the article : https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/nineties-country-blowing-gen-z-142735025.html
From the article:
But the Nineties country resurgence isn’t limited to Spotify. Apple Music, Amazon Music and Pandora have all realized the demand for the subgenre and curated their own Nineties country playlists. Today’s Nashville stars have taken note as well: For the past few years, artists like Luke Combs, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Hailey Whitters, and Midland have been mining the sound, songwriting, and even style of the decade to great success. Blake Shelton based his entire Friends and Heroes Tour around celebrating veterans like John Anderson and Tracy Byrd. And when Joe Diffie, a Nineties icon with hits like “John Deere Greene” and “Pickup Man,” died in March 2020 from Covid-19, our remembrance of Diffie was one of Rolling Stone’s most-read stories ever.
Best of the best. 52) Alan Jackson "Someday":
53) Terri Clark "Suddenly Single":
54) Patty Loveless "I Try To Think About Elvis":
55) The Chicks "Cowboy Take Me Away":
56) Clint Black "Burn One Down":
57) Doug Supernaw "Reno":
Best of the best. 58) Alabama "Once In A Lifetime":
Best of the best. 59) Travis Tritt "Here's A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)":
60) Mary Chapin Carpenter "Going Out Tonight":
61) Clint Black "We Tell Ourselves":
Best of the best. 62) Billy Dean"Only Here For A Little While":
63) Suzy Bogguss "Aces":
64) John Michael Montgomery "Life's A Dance":
Best of the best. 65) Sara Evans "No Place That Far":
The disorganized blog below is what happens when I've been working on one blog all day and then come home and change my mind. I had not prepared to write this blog. But give me 24 hours and I will make it look a lot better. I have labeled some of these songs as best of the best.
RollingStone.com has a big article about Generation Z is loving 90s country. Here's the article : https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/nineties-country-blowing-gen-z-142735025.html
From the article:
But the Nineties country resurgence isn’t limited to Spotify. Apple Music, Amazon Music and Pandora have all realized the demand for the subgenre and curated their own Nineties country playlists. Today’s Nashville stars have taken note as well: For the past few years, artists like Luke Combs, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Hailey Whitters, and Midland have been mining the sound, songwriting, and even style of the decade to great success. Blake Shelton based his entire Friends and Heroes Tour around celebrating veterans like John Anderson and Tracy Byrd. And when Joe Diffie, a Nineties icon with hits like “John Deere Greene” and “Pickup Man,” died in March 2020 from Covid-19, our remembrance of Diffie was one of Rolling Stone’s most-read stories ever.
Best of the best. 35) Travis Tritt "Help Me Hold On":
Best of the best. 36) Garth Brooks "We Shall Be Free":
A great song, but this might be too twangy for Generation Z. 37) Alan Jackson "Who Says You Can't Have It All":
38) John Anderson "Seminole Wind":
Best of the best. 39) Terri Clark "When Boy Meets Girl":
40) Mary Chapin Carpenter "Quittin Time":
41) Patty Loveless "How Can I Help You Say Goodbye":
Best of the best. 42) Mary Chapin Carpenter "Down At The Twist and Shout":
Best of the best. 43) Alabama "Pass It On Down":
44) Kenny Chesney "She Got It All":
Best of the best. 45) Travis Tritt "Drift Off To Dream":
46) Alabama "I'm In A Hurry And Don't Know Why":
Best of the best. 47) Richochet "Daddy's Money":
Best of the best. 48) Kenny Chesney "How Forever Feels":
The disorganized blog below is what happens when I've been working on one blog all day and then come home and change my mind. I had not prepared to write this blog. But give me 24 hours and I will make it look a lot better. I have labeled some of these songs as best of the best.
RollingStone.com has a big article about Generation Z is loving 90s country. Here's the article : https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/nineties-country-blowing-gen-z-142735025.html
From the article:
But the Nineties country resurgence isn’t limited to Spotify. Apple Music, Amazon Music and Pandora have all realized the demand for the subgenre and curated their own Nineties country playlists. Today’s Nashville stars have taken note as well: For the past few years, artists like Luke Combs, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Hailey Whitters, and Midland have been mining the sound, songwriting, and even style of the decade to great success. Blake Shelton based his entire Friends and Heroes Tour around celebrating veterans like John Anderson and Tracy Byrd. And when Joe Diffie, a Nineties icon with hits like “John Deere Greene” and “Pickup Man,” died in March 2020 from Covid-19, our remembrance of Diffie was one of Rolling Stone’s most-read stories ever.
18) Patty Loveless "Blame It On Your Heart":
19) George Strait "Carrying Your Love With Me":
Best of the best. 20) Clay Walker "This Woman and This Man":
21) "Your Love Is A Miracle":
22) Clay Walker "Rumor Has It":
23) Joe Diffie "Third Rock From The Sun":
24) Carlene Carter "Come On Back":
25) Alan Jackson "She's Got The Rhythm, I Got The Blues":
26) Mindy McCready "Ten Thousand Angels":
27) The Chicks "There's Your Trouble":
28) Clint Black "Nothing's New":
29) Brooks and Dunn "My Next Broken Heart":
30) Crystal Gayle "Never Ending Song of Love":
31) Trisha Yearwood "American Girl (X's and O's)":
The disorganized blog below is what happens when I've been working on one blog all day and then come home and change my mind. I had not prepared to write this blog. But give me 24 hours and I will make it look a lot better. I have labeled some of these songs as best of the best.
RollingStone.com has a big article about Generation Z is loving 90s country. Here's the article : https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/nineties-country-blowing-gen-z-142735025.html
From the article:
But the Nineties country resurgence isn’t limited to Spotify. Apple Music, Amazon Music and Pandora have all realized the demand for the subgenre and curated their own Nineties country playlists. Today’s Nashville stars have taken note as well: For the past few years, artists like Luke Combs, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Hailey Whitters, and Midland have been mining the sound, songwriting, and even style of the decade to great success. Blake Shelton based his entire Friends and Heroes Tour around celebrating veterans like John Anderson and Tracy Byrd. And when Joe Diffie, a Nineties icon with hits like “John Deere Greene” and “Pickup Man,” died in March 2020 from Covid-19, our remembrance of Diffie was one of Rolling Stone’s most-read stories ever.
Best of the best. love this song so much. 1) Clint Black "Where Are You Now":
2) Carlene Carter "I Fell In Love":
Best of the best. 3) Faith Hill "This Kiss":
4) Collin Raye "On The Verge":
5) Brooks & Dunn "My Maria":
6) Rhett Atkins "She Said Yes":
7) Suzy Bogguss "Hey Cinderella":
Best of the best. 8) Garth Brooks "What's She's Doing Now":
9) Alan Jackson "Livin' On Love":
10) Terri Clark "Better Things To Do":
11) Trisha Yearwood "She's In Love With The Boy":
Best of the best. 12) The Chicks "Sin Wagon":
13) Faith Hill "It Matters To Me":
Best of the best. 14) Alan Jackson "Home":
Best of the best. 15) Lorrie Morgan "Good As I Was To You":
Best of the best. 16) Lorrie Morgan "Something In Red":
I've tried to do this series of blogs and then given up on it several times. However this time I'm sure I have a better plan and that it might actually work. As of now I'm coming up with my Top 1200ish greatest songs of all-time. Although I might have to go a couple of songs beyond that, thus the ish in the title.
Now I'm working on a list of songs that are no-doubters and will for sure be in my Top 1200. I plan on having 1 list of 1200ish songs as my first tier. I plan on having a second and third tier of 100 greatest songs of all-time (GSOAT). I'm only one person and putting this list together won't be quick. I'll be updating this blog frequently. The artists are in alphabetical order so it's easier to keep track of the songs on this list. The number in front of the songs is my way to keep track of how many songs I've posted.
I don't know if any of these songs will finish in the Top 1200ish songs of all-time or not. Some will, some won't. Even if they don't make it these are still great songs.
Brad Paisley "Alcohol":
Brad Paisley "Mud On The Tires":
Brad Paisley "Two People Fell In Love":
Robert Palmer "Addicted To Love":
Robert Palmer "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On":
Robert Palmer "Simply Irresistible":
Papa Roach "Blanket Of Fear":
Papa Roach "Getting Away With Murder":
Papa Roach "Scars":
John Parr "Naughty Naughty":
Dolly Parton "9 to 5":
Dolly Parton "Here You Come Again":
Dolly Parton "Why Did You Come In Here Looking Like That":
When you think of 70s music, what do you think of? I think of disco, funk, soul and also some great rock bands. The 70s was music anywhere from the mellow Bread all the way through to the mighty Zep. I don't even know if Disco was even on the radar when the 70s started, but it had it's biggest year in 1979. By the next year Disco was on a swift decline. This is a tribute to all that amazing music and all those amazing musicians. I'm going to focus mostly on musicians made by Black people.
1) B.B. King "The Thrill Is Gone":
2) Aretha Franklin "Call Me":
3) Muddy Waters "I'm Ready":
4) Brook Benton "Rainy Night In Georgia":
5) Earth, Wind and Fire "Boogie Wonderland":
6) Charley Pride "Is Anyone Goin' To San Antone":
7) The Jaggerz "The Rapper":
8) The Temptations "Just My Imagination":
9) Billy Paul "Me and Mrs Jones":
10) Isaac Hayes "Theme From 'Shaft'":
11) Gladys Knight and The Pips "Midnight Train To Georgia":
12) Michael Jackson "Rock With You":
13) The O'Jays "Use Ta Be My Girl":
Obviously these guys aren't black, but that singer sounded black. It's a great song so I'm going to keep it on this blog. 14) Rare Earth "Get Ready":
15) The Temptations "Papa Was A Rolling Stone":
16) Smokey Robinson and the Miracles "Tears of A Clown":
he thrill of the chase and the fun of flirting and crushes. I haven't ever heard many of these songs so I grabbed a lot of these songs from this website: https://thoughtcatalog.com/christine-stockton/2013/08/a-73-song-playlist-for-having-a-crush/
In addition many of these songs comes from my musically obsessive mind.
I also selected a bunch of songs from this website: https://www.flavorwire.com/476570/the-50-greatest-crushsongsever#:~:text=The%2050%20Greatest%20Crush%20Songs%20Ever%20Weezer%20%E2%80%94,Wanna%20Be%20Your%20Lover%E2%80%9D%20%281979%29%20Yeah%20Yeah%20
18) Roy Orbison "(Oh) Pretty Woman":
19) Bea Miller "I Wanna Know":
20) Kylie Minogue "Can't Get You Out Of My Head":
21) The Cardigans "Lovefool":
22) "Fade Into You":
The "Romeo + Juliet" version. 23) Garbage "#1 Crush":
24) The Smiths "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want":
I have taken this list from this website: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/best-original-song/ I may or may not use the actual Oscar winning version of the song, generally I'l use the version I like best.
49) From "Alfie" comes Dionne Warwick's "Alfie":
50) From "The Jungle Book" comes "The Bare Necessities":
51) From the 1967 "Casino Royale" comes Dusty Springfield's "The Look of Love":
52) From "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" comes Dick Van Dyke and tykes "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang":
53) From "Live and Let Die" comes Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die":
54) From "Mahogany" comes Diana Ross' "Do You Know Where You're Going To":
55) From "Rocky" comes Bill Conti's "Gonna Fly Now":
How did Debby Boone's sappy "You Light Up My Life" beat out this Carly Simon classic. 56) From "The Spy Who Loved Me" comes "Nobody Does It Better":
57) From "Pete's Dragon" Helen Ready's "Candle on The Water":
58) From "Foul Play" comes Barry Manilow's "Ready To Take A Chance":
59) From "Grease" comes the lovely Olivia Newton-John's "Hopelessly Devoted To You":
60) From "The Muppet Movie" comes Kermit The Frog's "Rainbow Connection":
61) From "Ice Castles" comes Melissa Manchester's "Looking Through The Eyes of Love":
One of the most lyrically genius songs ever. 62) From "9 to 5" comes Dolly Parton's "9 to 5":
63) From "Fame" comes Irene Cara "Out Here On My Own":
Great song, no chemistry. 64) Lionel Richie and Diana Ross' "Endless Love":
65) From "For Your Eyes Only" comes Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only":
66) From "Rocky 3" comes Survivor's "Eye of The Tiger":
67) From "Tootsie" comes Stephen Bishop's "It Might Be You":
68) From "Flashdance" comes Michael Sembello's "Maniac":
