Hot 100 Countdown #89

Although I do try to avoid year songs wherever possible, sometimes the choice is so obvious... and there's so very little else to compete with it... that only one song will do. Rigid Digit grabbed the point first, though I'm sure most of you could have guessed this week's winner.

So while I could have chosen Flight 89 by Hot Rod Circuit or 89 Days of Alcatraz by Emma Gryner... let's be honest, neither of them can compete with this...

89. REM - Pop Song 89

There are those who will tell you that REM lost it once they signed with Warners. That their earlier stuff is much better. And who am I to argue? But for me, those IRS albums can be hard work at times (rewarding though, if you stick with them), while the instant pop thrills of the early Warner records cannot be beaten.

Pop Song 89 updates the Doors ("Hello, I Love You") for the bleak and cynical late 80s, managing to make even the bad times sound good. 1989 was a particularly duff year for popular music, and this was a breath of a fresh air. The video also caused a bit of a stir as it featured a topless Michael Stipe dancing alongside three topless ladies - and although the focus is far more on Stipe's nipples than theirs, it still got banned. Stipe responded by placing black bars across all the exposed chests, his own included. "A nipple is a nipple," he insisted. #metoo, Mike?

Be warned - the unedited version is below, waiting to corrupt you all over again...



#88 was an equally easy choice for me... though it's without doubt the most obscure song I've featured in this series so far. Ten points for anyone who can guess it!