Lopez Blogs

I’m in a weird funk lately. Work has gotten odd (probably due to the layoffs there is a huge focus on making and saving money and I didn’t really get into the care industry for that side of thing – corny as it sounds, it’s all about the quality of life for older people for me) and i’m really fed up with it. My dissatisfaction with work is spilling into other aspects of my life – i’m bored of the same old Saturday night routine (even though we rarely do the same thing!) and crave something new. I’m even in a state of flux with the blog and need to do something with it, though god knows what. So i do whatever I do when i’m having one of my quarterly mid-life crisis episodes – revert back to the past and try to remember happier times. Today – digging out my diary and checking in with my 1989 self...

TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 1989

You know what? I was just as dorky in my musical selections in 1989 as I am in 2009. I guess i have always liked my music to be upbeat, cheesy and cheerful with thoughtful, well crafted melodies and lyrics almost popping in as an afterthought. I was as cheesy as the records i listened to in 1989 – my defining moment was starring in a local am-dram production of Cinderella, where I played Prince Rodney of Charming. I even had a big love duet – the theme tune to home and away. No money in the world will make me put the photos up from that :P Anyway, here is what i was listening to as I got my tunic fitted ;)

10 – London Boys, 12 Commandments of Dance: My god how utterly gay disco was this album? I didn’t really know it at the time because the extent of my gayness was having Kylie and Jason posters on my wall (“For kylie actually” i would whine to my questioning folks!) and having to close one eye while doing what 15 year old boys do in their bedroom to block Kylie out the equation. Requiem and London Nights however were firm faves down the Mormon disco and I quaffed my lemonade and boogied on down in my shiny bomber jacket to every delicious beat. PS, you could totally sing the words to the verse of West End Girls instead over the verses to Requiem and it still works magnificently...
09 – Belinda Carlisle, Runaway Horses: Power pop rules and no one did it better than Bell-Ender in the late 90s. This wasn’t quite as massive as her worldwide breakthrough Heaven on Earth but not only did it contain the epic Leave A Light On For Me (that I did a wicked honky tonk piano version of at the time, but i forget how it went now!) and the sultry Summer Rain, but it also contained the tame We Want The Same Thing which was utterly transformed into something ace with the single remix. Brillo pad. One of my first memorable concerts too!!
08 – Karyn White, Karyn White: Oh just how luxurious was this album? I wasn’t hugely into r’n’b at this point in my life (I honestly thought Salt n Pepa were hardcore hip hop!) but this appealed to my love-of-Whitney (which pretty much ruled my life). I gave in when Superwoman (Girl Power!) hovered at number 11 in the charts for about 4 weeks. While there were some perky upbeat tracks on the album, it’s the delicious Babyface duet Love Saw It that struck a chord with my inner romantic.
07 – Paula Abdul, Forever Your Girl: She was never quite as successful in the UK as she was in the states, but thanks to my utter addiction to Casey Kasem’s top 40 countdown each week on the radio (since replaced by my love of all things Chartrigger) I was au fait with the ‘dule way before she broke with Straight Up. I was enchanted with Forever Your Girl and the octave spanning vocal bits in The Way That You Love Me. True story – Knocked Out was banned from Mormon discos in case it encouraged violence against your future multiple wives :P
06 – Janet Jackson, Rhythm Nation 1814: I adored my brother Martin's girlfriend Becky. She was effortlessly cool. And convinced me that Janet Jackson was worthy of my attention (her return was rather muted in the UK compared to stateside). So while I was very sad that less than 2 months after Martin went on his mission Becky got knocked up by some hot townie, i was always grateful for her nudging me towards the endless single spawning RN1814. It was also one of my fave albums of 1990 thanks to each single release dragging me back into it's fold. The video above (Miss You Much) was a great lead off single and much funkier than the rest of the pop I listened to that year. Get the point? Good. Let's Dance.

05 - Martika, Martika: 1989 Martika was a bit tinnier sounding than the glorious 1991 Martika (I must blog about that album soon) but I loved her ability to churn out an amazing pop chorus with a vaguely latin vibe. Yes of course Toy Soldiers was massive, but More Than You Know was definitely underrated and her cover of Eighth Wonder's Cross My Heart may have been as needless as Same Difference covering I Need A House but she didn't half belt out that chorus. And! I had my first snog to I Feel The Earth Move with a girl called Sarah who had a bit of a tash, up the side of the Bishop's people carrier. Rebel!
04 – Jason Donovan, Ten Good Reasons: Oh sweet lord. I absolutely was totally in love with Jason Donovan once he got his hair cut. Remember that horrible brown shirt he wore in the Especially For You vid? Thought he looked stunning in it :P The album was typical S/A/W fare (though Jase the Face insisted on carrying round guitars in his videos to show he was a "serious" musician) and I remember calling a premium rate number to hear previews of the tracks before it was released!! And it warrented a Smash Hits track by track review, which was a top pop honour back in the day. Loved all the songs but of course Too Many Broken Hearts (above) is a particular fave (not from this album but the same year saw my fave Jase song When You Come Back To Me released. heaven)
03 – Kylie, Enjoy Yourself: It was not cool to like this album at school. I frankly couldn't give a flying fig. Some nice person once passed me a letter in class stating i should go and live in the land of my heroes Kylie and Jason. What a whore :( Anyway, while Hand On Your Heart remains one of my least fave Kylie songs, I can't help but return to the brillo 2nd and 3rd single and lesser known tracks like Nothing To Lose and ace ace Secret Heart. The b-sides from the singles were frankly rubbish (Just Wanna Love You/Meaning of Love) but really it should have included the marvy and groovy All I Wanna Do duet with Jase. Lazy S/A/W!!
02 – Madonna, Like A Prayer/01 – Debbie Gibson, Electric Youth ~ click here for my post from earlier in the year as to why these were my fave albums of 1989!

Special mention: Although the amazing Wild album by Erasure came out in late 1989, it wasn't until 1990 that i completely and utterly fell in love with it as an album (I pretty much just adored the singles in 1989) and it became one of my top albums of that year. But that's another post for another day.

What else was on my sony walkman ~ Waterfront-Waterfront; Prince-Batman OST; Beautiful South-Welcome To The Beautiful South; Donna Summer-Another Place and Time; Prefab Sprout-Protest Songs; Deacon Blue-When The World Knows Your Name; New Kids-Hanging Tough; Bros-The Time; Bobby Brown-Don't Be Cruel