MTV's Top 100 of 1988

[Woops]

MTV Top 100 Videos of 1988
100. Keith Richards - Take It So Hard
99. Crowded House - Better Be Home Soon
98. Vixen - Edge Of A Broken Heart
97. Rick Astley - Together Forever
96. Glen Frey - True Love
95. Bangles - In Your Room
94. Michael Jackson - Another Part Of Me
93. Cher - I Found Someone
92. Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind
91. Eric Carmen - Hungry Eyes
90. Natalie Cole - Pink Cadillac
89. Traveling Wilburys - Handle With Care
88. Michael Bolton - Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay
87. Kylie Minogue - The Loco-Motion
86. Henry Lee Summer - I Wish I Had A Girl
85. The Fat Boys with Chubby Checker - The Twist
84. Belinda Carlisle - Circle In The Sand
83. Pet Shop Boys - What Have I Done To Deserve This
82. Icehouse - Electric Blue
81. Van Halen - Finish What Ya Started
80. Whitney Houston - Where Do Broken Hearts Go
79. OMD - Dreaming
78. Pat Benatar - All Fired Up
77. Foreigner - I Don’t Wanna Live Without You
76. Johnny Hates Jazz - Shattered Dreams
75. Jody Watley - Some Kind Of Lover
74. Steve Winwood - Don’t You Know What The Night Can Do
73. Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
72. Kenny Loggins - Nobody’s Fool
71. Terence Trent D’Arby- Sign Your Name
70. Debbie Gibson - Out Of The Blue
69. Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
68. Rod Stewart - Forever Young
67. Prince - Alphabet Street
66. Richard Marx - Endless Summer Nights
65. Europe - Superstitious
64. Belinda Carlisle - I Get Weak
63. George Michael - Monkey
62. John Cougar Mel encamp - Check It Out
61. Heart - There’s The Girl  
60. Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal
59. Huey Lewis & The News - Perfect World
58. Paul Carrack - Don’t Shed A Tear
57. Bobby Brown - My Prerogative
56. Poison - Fallen Angel
55. Bruce Springsteen - One Step Up
54. Whitesnake - Gimme All Your Love Tonight
53. Chicago - Look Away
52. INXS - Never Tear Us Apart
51. Bobby McFerrin - Don’t Worry Be Happy

[Woops]

50. Sting - Be Still My Beating Heart
49. Duran Duran - I Don’t Want Your Love
48. George Michael - Faith
47. Robert Plant - Tall Cool One
46. Eddie Money - Walk On Water
45. Phil Collins - A Groovy Kind Of Love
44. Terence Trent D’Arby - Wishing Well
43. Information Society - Pure Energy (What’s On Your Mind)
42. Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is A Place On Earth
41. David Lee Roth - Just Like Paradise
40. Hall & Oates - Everything Your Heart Desires
39. Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
38. Poison - Nothing But A Good Time
37. Richard Marx - Hold On To The Nights
36. Michael Jackson - The Way You Make Me Feel
35. INXS- Devil Inside
34. Cheap Trick - Don’t Be Cruel
33. Cinderella - Don’t Know What You Got Til It’s Gone
32. Bangles - Hazy Shade Of Winter
31. Foreigner - Say You Will
30. Def Leppard - Hysteria
29. George Michael - One More Try
28. Joan Jett - I Hate Myself For Loving You
27. Rod Stewart - Lost In You
26. Aerosmith - Angel
25. Elton John - I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That
24. Billy Ocean - Get Out Of My Dreams, Get Into My Car
23. UB40 - Red Red Wine
22. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Parents Just Don’t Understand
21. Guns N Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
20. Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn
19. Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana
18. Van Halen - When It’s Love
17. INXS- New Sensation
16. Def Leppard - Love Bites
15. Cheap Trick - The Flame
14. Brice Springsteen - Tunnel Of Love
13. U2 - Desire
12. Whitney Houston - So Emotional
11. Steve Winwood - Roll With It
10. George Michael - Father Figure
9. Robert Palmer - Simply Irresistible
8. George Harrison - Got My Mind Set On You
7. Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine
6. Escape Club - Wild Wild West
5. Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror
4. Aerosmith - Rag Doll
3. INXS - Need You Tonight/Mediate
2. Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me
1. Guns N Roses- Sweet Child O’ Mine

[Woops]

Personal Top 40 (in no particular order, except  the Top 5)

40. Taylor Dayne "Prove Your Love"
39. Bobby Brown "My Prerogative"
38. Terrence Trent D'Arby "Wishing Well"
37. LA Guns "Electric Gypsy"
36. Pebbles "Girlfriend"
35. U2 "Desire"
34. Cinderella "Don't Know What You Got 'Til It's Gone"
33. Belinda Carlisle "Circle In The Sand"
32. Slick Rick "Children's Story"
31. Erasure "A Little Respect"
30. Robert Palmer "Simply Irresistible"
29. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble"
28. Jody Watley "Some Kind Of Lover"
27. Information Society "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)"
26. Taylor Dayne "Don't Rush Me"
25. Def Leppard "Pour Some Sugar On Me"

Note: spent the longest at #1 in "Dial MTV" for 68 days, though a typical concert performance video
24. Taylor Dayne "I'll Always Love You"
23. Debbie Gibson "Staying Together"
22. Michael Jackson "Dirty Diana"
21. George Michael "Father Figure"
20. Poison "Fallen Angel"
19. Johnny Hates Jazz "Shattered Dreams"
18. Guns N' Roses "Paradise City"
17. INXS "Never Tear Us Apart"
16. Bobby Brown "Don't Be Cruel"
15. Poison "Every Rose Has It's Thorn"
14. INXS "Devil Inside"
13. Aerosmith "Rag Doll"
12. Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock "It Takes Two"

Note: Some scenes of the video appeared in the intro of "Yo! MTV Raps".
11. Kylie Minogue "The Locomotion"
10. Def Leppard "Love Bites"
9. Tone Loc "Wild Thing"
8. Debbie Gibson "Out Of The Blue"
7. Aerosmith "Angel"
6. Neil Young "This Note's For You"
Note: released in later 1988, it won Video of the Year at the 1989 VMAs
5. LL Cool J "Going Back To Cali"
4. Bon Jovi "Bad Medicine"
3. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince "Parents Just Don't Understand
2. Michael Jackson "Smooth Criminal" (short version)
1. Debbie Gibson "Foolish Beat"

[Out of the Blue]

I'm surprised that "Foolish Beat" wasn't on their list because that was a really big song, but at the same time I'm not surprised if you know what I mean.  I mean this is MTV here.

[Woops]

"MTV 120 Minutes" Top 20 Videos of 1988

bold= on MTV's Top 100 for 1988


20. Carolyn's Fingers - Cocteau Twins
19. Sometime To Return - Soul Asylum
18. Anchorage - Michelle Shocked
17. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Swans
16. Kidney Bingos - Wire
15. All Night Long - Peter Murphy
14. Orange Crush - R.E.M.
13. Just Play Music - Big Audio Dynamite
12. Inside Out - The Mighty Lemon Drops
11. Only A Memory - The Smithereens
10. Mandinka - Sinead O'Connor
9. No New Tale To Tell - Love And Rockets
8. Eye Of Fatima, Part 1 - Camper Van Beethoven
7. Suedehead - Morrissey
6. Balloon Man - Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians
5. Birth, School, Work, Death - The Godfathers
4. Coldsweat - The Sugarcubes
3. Under The Milky Way - The Church
2. Peek-A-Boo - Siouxsie & The Banshees
1. Beds Are Burning - Midnight Oil 69

Well, back in 1988 alternative was really alternative

[Out of the Blue]

I never watched "120 Minutes."

[Woops]

August 6, 1988: "Yo! MTV Raps" made it's debut (hosted by Fab 5 Freddy and Ed Lover & Doctor Dre...not the rapper), which rap was emerging into the mainstream a few years prior with Run DMC, Beastie Boys, and LL Cool J and the genre would later become more popular in the mainstream.  The show was cancelled in 1995.




In 2008, MTV/MTV2 celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the show and recreated the set for occasion with special countdowns and retrospects for the series

[Out of the Blue]

That one I did occasionally watch.  The two shows that I watched on MTV were "Remote Control" and "Club MTV."

[Woops]

*, ranked on MTV's list, though "Paradise City" (Guns N' Roses) & "Kiss Me Deadly" were both hits ("Paradise City" would be ranked on 1989's list, which according to Wiki was released on the Fall of '88)


Some good selection and mixture of hard rock, glam, heavy, and more hardcore metal.

Also noticed that "Sweet Child O' Mine" (Guns N' Roses) and nothing from Def Leppard aren't listed since they were probably given lots of rotation on the network.

Best of `88 1/7/89

Aerosmith - Rag Doll 4
Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Babies
Britny Fox - Long Way To Love
Testament - Trial By Fire
Poison - Nothin' But A Good Time 38
Iron Maiden - Can I Play With Madness
Winger - Madalaine
Judas Priest - Johnny B. Goode
Anthrax - I'm The Man
Lita Ford - Kiss Me Deadly
Kix - Cold Blood
Jimmy Page - Wasting My Time
Circus Of Power - Call Of The Wild
Scorpions - Rhythm Of Love
Death Angel - Bored
Kiss - Turn On The Night
Cinderella - Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone) 33
Bulletboys - Smooth Up
Megadeth - Anarchy In The U.K.
AC/DC - Heat Seeker
Guns N' Roses - Paradise City
Femme Fatale - Waiting For The Big One
L.A. Guns - Electric Gypsy
King Diamond - Welcome Home
Vinnie Vincent Invasion - Love Kills
White Lion - Wait
Ratt - Way Cool Jr.
Nuclear Assault - Brainwashed
Dokken - Heaven Sent
Faster Pussycat - Bathroom Wall

Like about half of the songs