The year 1988 was not an easy time to blast your way to a big pop hit. Many different genres were coming together to make it quite claustrophobic on pop radio. As a result, some worthy songs didn’t make it very far in the US Top 40.
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The following four songs barely made it that high. In fact, none of them went any higher than No. 30. But this quartet of 1988 tracks still sounds fantastic after all this time has passed.
“I Know You’re Out There Somewhere” by The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues scored a major hit in 1986 with “Your Wildest Dreams”. It was their first US Top 10 hit in 14 years, as it struck a nostalgic chord while still sounding modern and fresh. In an impressive bit of foreshadowing, the video for the song ended on a cliffhanger, as if the band knew that they might have cause to revisit it. Sure enough, they were back two years later with “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere”. This song followed the template of “Your Wildest Dreams”, from the synth-laden sound of the music to the lyrical focus on a love spanning time and distance. Maybe it only reached No. 30 because the formula was familiar. But the newer song stands pretty well on its own thanks to sharp songwriting and vocals from Justin Hayward.
“Ghost Town” by Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick was far from the only band that went to the outside songwriting well in the second half of the 80s. Early in their career, they did just fine penning their own stuff. Guitarist Rick Nielsen, in particular, possessed a sharp ear for musical and lyrical hooks. But as the 80s moved on and their favored power pop style lost favor, they wisely accepted the help of those who had the formula down. That led to “The Flame”, a No. 1 in 1988. They followed that up with another Top 5 when they released a gussied-up cover of the Elvis Presley classic “Don’t Be Cruel”. “Ghost Town”, written by Nielsen with Diane Warren, was a subtler effort released at the end of an album cycle, so the fact that it hit only No. 33 was understandable. But it’s a low-key charmer anyway.
“Look Out Any Window” by Bruce Hornsby & The Range
Bruce Hornsby & The Range found a niche with music that acted as an antidote to the more production-heavy songs on the charts in the late 80s. Hornsby and company relied on old-fashioned charms, such as the strength of the writing and the chemistry of the players. That formula delivered a surprise No. 1 hit in 1986 with “The Way It Is”. Two years later, they were back and once again scaling the pop charts, as “The Valley Road” hit No. 5. “Look Out Any Window”, the follow-up single from the Scenes From The Southside album, topped out at No. 35. The song shares some of the same traits as “The Way It Is”. It features the same kind of stirring musical bed. And Hornsby’s lyrics once again take an honest, fearless look at the world.
“Just Like Heaven” by The Cure
When you think of bands that made it big in the 80s, you might immediately conjure up an image of The Cure. But would you believe that they didn’t score their first US Top 40 hit until 1988? And that even then, “Just Like Heaven” crawled its way into the picture at No. 40 before dropping? (The band did much better on the charts throughout the decade in their native UK.) This song finally got them over the hump by emphasizing their pop smarts. Robert Smith wrote the song referencing his romance with the woman who would become his wife. You can hear the band’s interlocked guitar approach, something that would be in evidence in many future US hits as well.
Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
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