My Life Of Music Obsession: 1988

...1988 is the year that Hip Hop was accepted by the Grammy's. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince snagged the award for best hip hop group. The Fresh Prince a.k.a Will Smith went on to become a famous actor and many of today's generation are unaware that he once had a career as a thriving hip hop artist prior to becoming a great on the small screen and the silver screen.

...1988 is also the year that saw Metallica emerge from the underground and bring thrash metal to the masses. Their album "...and Justice For All" has been the subject of much controversy due to the bass guitar being cut out of the final mix. It's also the album that gave them their first hit.

Check Out The Companion Playlist: Spotify, YouTube, iTunes.

...on to the playlist.

1. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - A Nightmare On My Street. - They actually got sued by New Line Cinema the production company of The "Nightmare on elm street" films for copyright infringement. There was a music video produced for this song but an out of court settlement ordered the video destroyed. I would love to see it. I find it strange that New Line were actually considering including this song in the fourth film of the franchise, but decided against it, and ended up suing instead. I think it's way better than the song they ended up using which is covered later in this blog.

I think this song is a great example of how creative Hip Hop music was at one point. I love the Nightmare films and I think it's really cool how they sampled the theme from the movies and layered it over a break beat. This song is really well put together and went on to be a top ten single. I love the line "I'm your DJ now Princey" which is done in a Freddy Kruger voice.

2. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - Here We Go Again.

3. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - Brand New Funk.

4. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - Time To Chill. - This song is another fine example of the turntable mastery of Jazzy Jeff. This song samples pieces of the George Benson classic "Breezin'." Jazzy Jeff would set the precedent for a lot of Jazz pieces being sampled in Hip Hop until the late 90's by taking parts of jazz tunes and mixing them with break beats. He's still to this day my favorite Turntable-ist. He would take an old jazz song, make it new again, and make it his own. He is so talented, and his talent in my opinion, as far as creating break beats go is still unrivaled to this day.

Run - DMC, Beastie Boys, and MTV were instrumental in bringing Hip Hop out of the inner cities and to the rest of the world, but DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince are responsible for stepping it up and taking it to the next level. They should be in the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame.

5. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - As We Go.

6. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - Parents Just Don't Understand. - This became the theme song for every kid in America in 1988. The Fresh Prince told a great story about how lame the school clothes were that parents forced you to buy, taking your parents brand new Porsche for a joy ride while they were away on vacation, being an unlicensed driver, getting pulled over by the cops, and your parents having to come home early from vacation to get you out of jail. I'm sure every kid could relate to the mayhem that ensued in this song because we all did stupid things that got us in trouble with our parents as kids.

7. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble.

8. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - A Touch OF Jazz.

9. Michael Jackson - Bad. - I remember buying this LP at a store called "Hills" in Morgantown, WV. My Parents had just bought me my very own mini shelf stereo with a turntable and cassette deck. I needed some Vinyl to go along with it, and I figured why not start with "The King Of Pop"?

I remember breaking the turntable by trying to emulate DJ Jazzy Jeff. Apparently you couldn't back cue and scratch on a belt drive turntable. This is something I didn't learn until later in life. It makes for an interesting story though that's much better than the lie I told my parents when the turntable broke. Sorry Mom and Dad.

I can't stand this song anymore. It sounds so dated and annoys me.


10. Michael Jackson - The Way You Make Me Feel.

11. Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror. - This is one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs. It's about how positive change comes from within.


12. Michael Jackson - I Just Can't Stop Loving You.

13. Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana.

14. Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal. - The dance moves that were created for this music video had everyone trying to duplicate "The Moon Walk." I see a lot of the moves Michael Jackson created being duplicated by current pop star, Bruno Mars. It's a fitting tribute.

15. "Weird Al" Yankovic - Fat. - A parody of Michael Jackson's "Bad." It's very funny.

16. Los Lobos - La Bamba. - This cover of the Ritchie Valens classic went straight to #1. It was used for the Ritchie Valens biopic "La Bamba." I love the movie and this song.

17. Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy. - This became a widely used slogan in 1988 appearing on everything from Coffee Mugs to Bumper Stickers to T-Shirts thanks to this song.

The thing that amazes me about this song is that all the parts in it including the rhythm of the song are all recorded from one man's vocals. No instruments were used.


18. The Beach Boys - Kokomo.

19. Divinyls - Back To The Wall. - This Aussie act didn't become known for their work in the 80's. They didn't score their first big hit in America until 1991 with their song "Touch Myself."  I love the late great Chrissy Amphlett's voice. It is so cute and raspy.

I heard this song courtesy of its inclusion in the movie "A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master."

20. Metallica - ...And Justice For All. - This is one of my favorite Metallica songs. I love the intricate guitar work between James and Kirk, the progressions, and the awesome time signature changes in Lars's drumming. The only thing that's missing is Jason's bass playing which Lars has blamed on the producer, and the producer has blamed on Lars for telling him to bring up the drum sound by a bunch of decibels drowning out the bass in the final mix of the album. Nonetheless, it's a great song and it would be great if Metallica went back to the master tapes, remixed and remastered the album to include Jason's bass parts one day.  It could make a good album great.

21. Metallica - Blackened.

22. Metallica - One. - This is the song that launched Metallica from underground artists into the masses. This is the first music video by the band. The story in the song is told from the perspective of an injured war veteran who is in a vegetative state.

I remember getting in trouble in my fourth grade class because I would try to duplicate Lars's drum parts on my desk during class with two pencils.

23. Winger - Seventeen. - I love Winger.  Kip's immaculate bass playing and skills on the keyboard mixed with Reb Beach's shredding on the guitar. They are a good group and I'm not ashamed to say I like them.

24. Winger - Madalaine.

25. Winger - Hungry.

26. Winger - Headed For A Heartbreak.

27. Poison - Love On The Rocks.

28. Poison - Nothing But A Good Time. - This song defines what Poison is all about. I think out of all the so called "Hair Metal" bands that they are the best.

29. Poison - Good Love.

30. Poison - Fallen Angel.

31. Poison - Every Rose Has It's Thorn. - I can't think of any other song in Poison's catalog that's iconic as this ballad. It's still used in mainstream culture today. I've heard it in multiple romance movies when a breakup occurs.

32. Poison - Your Mama Don't Dance. - This cover of the Loggins and Messina classic is just pure fun. Every time they play this live anybody who is not on their feet having fun at the concert immediately begins to have fun. It's just a feel good bluesy rock song.

33. Dramarama - Anything, Anything (I'll Give You). - It was hard to find a teenager driving in 1988 who didn't have their car windows down blaring this song.

34. The Fat Boys - Are You Ready For Freddy? - Let me preface by saying I love The Fat Boys and their contributions to Hip Hop. Their first album is an example of a perfect hip hop album. I also love the Nightmare on elm street movies. However, I feel this is an inferior song that the producers of "A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" chose as the theme song over the DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince song that I covered earlier in the blog. The only cool thing about this song is Freddy Kruger rapping on it.

I hope that the current generation will discover the work of The Fat Boys from 1982 - 1987 before they became a novelty act.


35. Sinead O' Connor featuring MC Lyte. - I Want Your (Hands On Me).

36. Traveling Wilburys - Handle With Care. - This might very well be the first super group. They were an amazing band that included Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty.

37. R.E.M. - Stand. - This song was my first exposure to this group. I went back and discovered their earlier work in my late teens.

38. R.E.M. - Orange Crush.

39. Kingdom Come - Get It On. - I'm curious to know how many people heard this song and thought it was Led Zeppelin who performed it?

The lead singer sounds eerily similar to Robert Plant.

40. Midnight Oil - Bed Are Burning.

41. Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians - What I Am. - This is one of those iconic songs that people will always associate with the 1980's.

42. INXS - New Sensation.

43. INXS - Devil Inside.

44. INXS - Need You Tonight.

45. INXS - Never Tear Us Apart.

46. Steve Earle - Copperhead Road.

47. Paula Abdul - Knocked Out.

48. Paula Abdul - Opposites Attract.  - This is easily the coolest song of 1988. The song is cool,  and the video is cool. The first time I heard Bruno Mars's "Uptown Funk" I immediately thought of this song. It seemed like such a throwback to the stellar songs of the 1980's like this one.

49. Paula Abdul - Forever Your Girl.

50. Paula Abdul - Straight Up.

51. The Escape Club - Wild, Wild West. - This is a bad song. I don't know how it became a hit.  I still have the cassette single in a box in a closet at home.  I liked it as an 8 year old, but now think it's one of the worst songs of all time.

52. Van Halen - When It's Love.

53. Van Halen - Feels So Good. - I like very little from the Sammy Hagar era of Van Halen, but this song ranks in my Top Ten Van Halen songs. It just Feels So Good.

54. Van Halen - Finish What Ya Started.

55. Warrant - Down Boys.

56. Warrant - Sometimes She Cries. - I think this song is a prime example of the great songwriter that Jani Lane was.  I think this song could have worked well in any genre of music and been a hit for other people. It still surprises me that it hasn't been covered and become a hit for someone else. I think it's one of the greatest songs of all time.

57. Warrant - Heaven. - I saw Warrant live in 2001, and it was sad to see the late great Jani Lane, extremely drunk and forgetting the words to this amazing ballad.  His battle with alcoholism lead to his untimely death in 2011. Out of all the "Power Ballads" this one is my favorite.

Coming soon... My Life Of Music Obsession: Iron Maiden 1980 - 1990.

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