3 Overplayed Songs From 1988 You Definitely Still Want To Hear

Most hits become hits by being overplayed. And with the majority of listeners now streaming older music, the classics become ageless as new generations discover them. This is why we have countless (and sometimes overplayed) songs with billions of streams and counting. Part of my job is grappling with why people connect with certain music. It also motivates me to find something positive, even with songs I’d rather never hear again.

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Which left me thinking about 1988. The end of a decade is always interesting, as one expects the unexpected once the calendar flips to the next 10 years. So let’s take a look at three overplayed songs from 1988 you (might) still want to hear. Or some of you anyway.

“When Love Comes To Town” by U2 and B. B. King

When U2 released Rattle And Hum, many critics had grown tired of Dublin’s biggest rock band. Some thought the idea of U2 exploring American roots music was absurd. However, absurdity is exactly what one expects from Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. “When Love Comes To Town” features one of Bono’s best vocal performances. And while many guitarists fire off a hundred notes in any given solo, here, B. B. King and The Edge are proof that you only need a few as long as you play exactly the right ones.

“Cult Of Personality” by Living Colour

You can imagine what it must have been like for early audiences to hear jazz for the first time. Vernon Reid’s guitar riff in “Cult Of Personality” offered a similar kind of insurgency into late 80s rock music. It sounded like nothing before it. Then the rest of the band enters with a funk groove supporting singer Corey Glover, rattling off the names of political figures. Rock in the 80s was glossy. This wasn’t. I remember staring at my speakers when Reid’s first guitar solo erupts. This isn’t a wall of sound, it’s a wall of chaos. (It also negates what I said about playing too many notes in the previous paragraph.)

“I Hate Myself For Loving You” by Joan Jett And The Blackhearts

Joan Jett co-wrote “I Hate Myself For Loving You” with hitmaker Desmond Child, whose credits include Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” and Aerosmith’s “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)”. Backed by The Blackhearts and with help from a former Rolling Stone, Mick Taylor on lead guitar, Jett delivers romantic regret in her familiar commanding voice—bridging the gap between early rock and roll and punk. It’s the perfect, hard-hitting bookend to Jett’s No. 1 hit from 1982, “I Love Rock ’N Roll”.

Photo by David Redfern/Redferns