3 Overplayed Songs From 1988 You Want To Forget but Can’t

Music is subjective, of course. But many songs, even the good ones, get run into the ground through overexposure. Then there are the tunes one simply dislikes, which only makes their constant rotation even worse.

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Now, there are good and bad things about the streaming era, but one positive change is how we’re no longer stuck with whatever playlist MTV or the radio offers. Below, you’ll find three overplayed songs from 1988 you may want to forget. But you can’t. And I’ve just made it harder because here I am reminding you of them.

“Kokomo” by The Beach Boys

I love The Beach Boys. I do not love “Kokomo”. This song appears in the Tom Cruise film Cocktail and was the band’s first hit in two decades. Brian Wilson isn’t on the track, and Mike Love explained why. According to Love, Wilson was under the “tutelage” of Dr. Eugene Landy, and the doctor wouldn’t let Wilson record with The Beach Boys unless Landy was a co-writer or producer. So “Kokomo” was finished without Wilson (and Landy) and became The Beach Boys’ final hit single.

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I wanna take ya,
Bermuda, Bahama, come on, pretty mama.

“Nothin’ But A Good Time” by Poison

If you weren’t a fan of hair metal but you liked MTV, 1988 was not a good year. Still, even the diehards must have been aware that this glitzy scene was running its course. The screeching guitar of C.C. DeVille opens Poison’s overplayed hit, which became something like a party mantra for the Sunset Strip. While DeVille burns a solo over the intro, singer Bret Michaels shrieks and giggles his way toward the opening verse. Then he says, “Now listen.” Instead, I’d mute MTV until 120 Minutes began.

Not a dime, I can’t pay my rent,
I can barely make it through the week.
Saturday night, I’d like to make my girl,
But right now, I can’t make ends meet, no.

“I Don’t Want To Live Without You” by Foreigner

Keep in mind, Foreigner gave us bangers like “Juke Box Hero” and “Urgent”. And we’ve heard Lou Gramm deliver a great ballad on “I Want To Know What Love Is”. But “I Don’t Want To Live Without You” doesn’t hold a candle to the searching love anthem from Agent Provocateur. Gramm sounds bored on this tune, and the soap opera synths aren’t helping. I don’t think I’m alone in this opinion. Mick Jones’ growing interest in synthesizers created tension with Gramm and eventually led to the singer’s departure.

I ask myself but there’s no explanation,
For the way I feel.

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