The Pop Life (Published 1989)
- ️https://www.nytimes.com/by/stephen-holden
- ️Wed Dec 27 1989
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- Dec. 27, 1989
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New Voices of 1989
Looking back at the biggest hits of 1989, it is remarkable that a majority of the year's best-selling records were successes that no one could have predicted. Twelve months ago, the names New Kids on the Block, Milli Vanilli and Paula Abdul meant little to the general public. Today they are on the lips of most teen-agers in the country.
On Billboard's annual listing of the year's top pop artists in combined sales of albums and singles, New Kids on the Block, the white soul quintet from Boston, finished first, with Bobby Brown, Guns 'n' Roses, Miss Abdul and Milli Vanilli following. Rounding out the Top 10 were Bon Jovi, Fine Young Cannibals, Madonna, Richard Marx and Debbie Gibson. The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and the Who - all veteran rock acts that won headlines with their multi-million-dollar tours - did not finish in the Top 50.
Although the Rolling Stones' ''Steel Wheels'' album sold a respectable 1.5 million copies, that number is only one-fourth the six-million-plus sales of Bobby Brown's album ''Don't Be Cruel,'' and the New Kids on the Block album ''Hangin' Tough.'' At the end of the year, the popularity of New Kids was still building, with combined sales of the group's three albums exceeding 500,000 a week. How much higher can the New Kids go? If the group has a budding talent comparable to Bobby Brown, who emerged out of New Edition, the group on which New Kids was modeled, then the sky's the limit.
These are Billboard's Top 10 albums and singles of 1989. Albums 1. ''Don't Be Cruel,'' by Bobby Brown (MCA). 2. ''Hangin' Tough,'' by New Kids on the Block (Columbia). 3. ''Forever Your Girl,'' by Paula Abdul (Virgin). 4. ''New Jersey,'' by Bon Jovi (Mercury). 5. ''Appetite for Destruction,'' by Guns 'n'
Roses (Geffen). 6. ''The Raw and the Cooked,'' by Fine Young Cannibals (I.R.S.). 7. ''G 'n' R Lies,'' by Guns 'n' Roses (Geffen). 8. ''Traveling Wilburys,'' by the Traveling Wilburys (Wilbury). 9. ''Hysteria,'' by Def Leppard (Mercury). 10. ''Girl You Know It's True,'' by Milli Vanilli (Arista). Singles 1. ''Look Away,'' by Chicago (Reprise). 2. ''My Prerogative,'' by Bobby Brown (MCA). 3. ''Every Rose Has Its Thorn,'' by Poison (Enigma). 4. ''Straight Up,'' by Paula Abdul (Virgin). 5. ''Miss You Much,'' by Janet Jackson (A&M). 6. ''Cold Hearted,'' by Paula Abdul (Virgin). 7. ''Wind Beneath My Wings,'' by Bette Midler (Atlantic). 8. ''Girl You Know It's True,'' by Milli Vanilli (Arista). 9. ''Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley,'' by Will to Power (Epic). 10. ''Giving You the Best That I Got,'' by Anita Baker (Elektra). Success Stories
Although hard- to heavy-metal rock didn't exert as strong an impact this year as last, it remained the most reliable commercial style of pop. For the second year in a row, Guns 'n' Roses' eight-million-selling album, ''Appetite for Destruction,'' and Def Leppard's nine-million-selling ''Hysteria'' finished in the end-of-the-year Top 10 pop-album chart.