I chose one song from each of the three moderately impressive music charts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hot_Black_Singles_number_ones_of_1987
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_number-one_dance_singles_of_1987
https://www.rocklists.com/kroq-1987.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_(Alexander_O%27Neal_song)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strangelove_(song)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy%3F_(Public_Image_Ltd_album)
From here on I will preview the charts and decide which one(s) I will select from. It is confirmed, there was nothing on the Billboard charts that knocked me off my feet in 1985. I was definitely listening to alternative music formats. It is (is it)ironic that the most popular songs played on said radio stations did not generate #1 hits.
https://rocklists.com/kroq-1985.html
Somebody should jog my memory. If 1985 was a prolific year in black music, I must inevitably like many of those songs/records. I just don’t recall because I was pre-occupied with alternative rock and all things white in Bellevue, Washington.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_It_On_(T._Rex_song)#The_Power_Station_version
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gino_Vannelli
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_Skin_(Lloyd_Cole_and_the_Commotions_song)
What is the criteria for my three selections?
“Perfect Skin” is an example of a song I remember from 1985 and didn’t appreciate until much later.
The pop charts in 1984 were not impressive in my humble opinion. In retrospect, I wasn’t listening to “pop” other than what I stumbled across via MTV or someone else’s radio. My boombox was tuned to KJET 1600 and my Walkman contained cassette tapes from The Smiths and Inxs for example.
Here are three of my all time favorite records/songs from 1985. 1985 was a powerful year in music no matter what you listened to. I was listening to alternative rock. We have come to a crossroads. Please make a note of it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Across_a_Crowded_Room
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_McQueen_(album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Armoury_Show
Be sure to listen to these records. Yes indeed alternative rock was my favorite music genre for many years constituting the most impressionable years of my life. I was an aspiring rock star in 1985 with three whole years of guitar playing under my belt no less. At least I could hear the guitar in so-called rock music.
I’m already familiar with rap and hip hop in 1985. It didn’t make a strong first impression on me at all.
Between 1982-1983 a lot is happening with me as I become more independent and competent. I am using the classified ads to find my first band mates. I am in possession of the best music equipment made for show biz.
My taste in music is changing. I’m transitioning from a fan of new wave music into a fan of alternative rock. I fell in love with the song “Sat in Your Lap” the first time I heard it on KJET. Kate Bush would eventually become my favorite recording artist of all time.
This is also around the time I stopped listening to funk music from the 70s. Cameo was my favorite band just one year ago. By 1983, the white suburbs will start influencing my aesthetic preferences.
