Top Songs by Year

Top Songs — 1987

⭐ Appears on Top 750 Songs of All Time

▶ Spotify Playlist

For years, indie rock has been my anchor — The Smiths, The Cure, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements — all the bands I've obsessively back catalogued over time. But in real time, in the '80s? I was all about pop.

And what a scene it was. The '80s gave us synth-pop and new wave, dance-pop, bubblegum, heartland rock, power ballads, and glam metal bands held together by Aqua Net. I loved it all. It all had a place in my tent. I listened to American Top 40 religiously (Shadoe Stevens taking over for Casey Kasem felt like a life tragedy). I'd sit in my room glued to WPLJ, finger poised on the record button, blank tape ready. For Hanukkah in 1987, the two cassettes I asked for were Tiffany's debut album and Faith by George Michael. So when my first-ever concert turned out to be George Michael on the Faith tour, it felt perfect. It was a huge pop event. For a while, I felt sheepish that my first show didn't reflect my later "cooler" tastes. But now I look back with nothing but pride.

1.⭐ Guns N' Roses — Sweet Child O' Mine
2.⭐ The Smiths — Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
3.⭐ The Chills — Wet Blanket
4.⭐ The Vaselines — Son Of A Gun
5.⭐ U2 — With Or Without You
6.⭐ Sinéad O'Connor — Mandinka
7.⭐ Pixies — Levitate Me
8.⭐ Gene Loves Jezebel — The Motion Of Love
9.⭐ The Bats — Calm Before The Storm
10.⭐ The Replacements — Alex Chilton
11.⭐ The Smiths — You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby
12.⭐ Flesh For Lulu — I Go Crazy
13.⭐ Guns N' Roses — Mr. Brownstone
14.⭐ The Cure — Just like Heaven
15.R.E.M. — It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
16.Rush, Aimee Mann — Time Stand Still
17.The Jesus and Mary Chain — Happy When It Rains
18.Belinda Carlisle — Heaven Is A Place On Earth
19.Guns N' Roses — Rocket Queen
20.R.E.M. — Exhuming McCarthy
21.The Bangles — Hazy Shade of Winter
22.T'Pau — Heart And Soul
23.R.E.M. — Finest Worksong
24.U2 — Where The Streets Have No Name
25.Prince — Sign 'O' the Times
26.George Michael — Faith
27.Def Leppard — Pour Some Sugar On Me
28.Eric B. & Rakim, Marley Marl — Paid In Full
29.The Sugarcubes — Birthday
30.The Bats — Mad On You
31.U2 — Mothers Of The Disappeared
32.New Order — True Faith
33.Exposé — Point of No Return
34.The Vaselines — You Think You're A Man
35.Pet Shop Boys, Dusty Springfield — What Have I Done to Deserve This?
36.Men Without Hats — Pop Goes The World
37.Midnight Oil — Beds Are Burning
38.Hüsker Dü — These Important Years
39.The Jesus and Mary Chain — April Skies
40.The Alarm — Rain in the Summertime
41.Starship — Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
42.Whitesnake — Here I Go Again
43.John Mellencamp — Cherry Bomb
44.U2 — Running To Stand Still
45.10000 Maniacs — Don't Talk
46.Suzanne Vega, DNA — Tom's Diner
47.Echo & the Bunnymen — Lips Like Sugar
48.The Go-Betweens — Right Here
49.Suzanne Vega — Luka
50.Tiffany — I Think We're Alone Now
51.Def Leppard — Animal
52.INXS — Need You Tonight
53.The Replacements — Can't Hardly Wait
54.John Mellencamp — Check It Out
55.Jane's Addiction — My Time
56.Bruce Springsteen — Brilliant Disguise
57.Mötley Crüe — Girls, Girls, Girls
58.The Go-Betweens — Bye Bye Pride
59.The Smiths — Shoplifters of the World Unite
60.Pink Floyd — Learning to Fly
61.Red Hot Chili Peppers — Behind The Sun
62.Guns N' Roses — My Michelle
63.George Michael — One More Try
64.Joan Jett & the Blackhearts — This Means War
65.Salt-N-Pepa — Push It
66.Prince — I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
67.John Mellencamp — Paper In Fire
68.For Against — Autocrat
69.Michael Jackson — The Way You Make Me Feel
70.Aerosmith — Angel
71.Joan Jett & the Blackhearts — Good Music
72.The Smiths — Half a Person
73.Audio Two — Top Billin
74.Jane's Addiction — I Would for You
75.Michael Jackson — Man in the Mirror
76.The Smiths — Girlfriend in a Coma
77.R.E.M. — The One I Love
78.Sonic Youth — Schizophrenia
79.Guns N' Roses — Welcome To The Jungle
80.Pet Shop Boys — It's a Sin
81.Belinda Carlisle — I Get Weak
82.R.E.M. — Disturbance At The Heron House
83.Prince — U Got the Look
84.The Bats — Treason
85.Hüsker Dü — Could You Be the One?
86.The Stone Roses — Sally Cinnamon
87.Bruce Springsteen — Tougher Than the Rest
88.U2 — Sweetest Thing
89.10000 Maniacs — What's the Matter Here?
90.The Vaselines — Rory Rides Me Raw
91.Sinéad O'Connor — Drink Before the War
92.Def Leppard — Hysteria
93.George Michael — Father Figure
94.John Mellencamp — Hard Times For An Honest Man
95.Def Leppard — Love Bites
96.The Bats — Made Up In Blue
97.That Petrol Emotion — Big Decision
98.Guns N' Roses — Paradise City
99.The Smiths — Sheila Take a Bow
100.U2 — In God's Country