Don’s Top 10 From January 12, 1989

(#11 last week) In the where-are-they-now department, Karyn White has pretty much stayed out of the public eye for many years. White lives in Rocklin, California, a suburb of Sacramento, and runs a successful interior design & real estate business. She recently recorded her first album in 17 years. She was married in the 90s to super-producer Terry Lewis, but is now with second hubby Bobby G.

(#5 last week) A 4-week local #1 single, "Giving You the Best That I Got" was released prior to the Grammy Awards eligibility cutoff date of September 30, allowing it to be nominated for four awards at the Grammy Awards of 1989. The song won in the categories Best Female R&B Vocal performance and Best R&B Song; it was also nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The album "Giving You the Best That I Got" was released in October 1988, meaning that it would not be eligible for Grammy consideration until the 1990 ceremony. There, Baker's album won in the category Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, earning her the same award two years running for a song and album of the same title. Why can't the Grammy Awards be based on the calendar year?

(#12 last week) "Born to Be My Baby" was the second of five singles from the "New Jersey" album to chart in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, the most singles from an album to chart in the Top 10 for a rock band. The video was interesting. Done in black & white, it was shot all in the studio, chronicling the recording process. There is actually dialogue between band members & the band does the chorus again, unsatisfied with the original version. The video prominently features photogenic shots of Jon Bon Jovi singing, as well as the band gathering around a microphone to sing the "na-na-na-na-na" part. The video also features Jon Bon Jovi's wife Dorothea.

(#8 last week) "All This Time" was the first single from Tiffany's second album, "Hold an Old Friend's Hand". The single was Tiffany's 4th & last top 10 hit in the United States. Nowadays, Tiff does TV reality shows & acts in B movies. A prime example of one was the TV movie "Mega Python vs. Gatoroid", which co-starred her former rival on the charts Debbie Gibson. Featured in the movie, ahem, is a protracted catfight waged between Tiffany and Debbie.

(#9 last week) The 4th single from Dayne's debut album "Tell It to My Heart". Her real name: Leslie Wunderman. She should have kept that! Dayne got her big break by being noticed singing Russian folk songs at a Brighton Beach, Brooklyn nightclub! The woman is very smart: She studied music theory & composition at Nassau Community College & also earned a degree of philosophy graduating at CW Post.

(#1 last week) Nowadays, Bret Michaels is more famous for appearing on reality TV shows, but in 1989 he was the lead singer of one of the hot "hair metal" bands, Poison, The band had been playing at a cowboy bar called "The Ritz" in Dallas, accounting for the song's noticable references to cowboys in the chorus, along with the twang in Bret Michaels' vocals, which give the song a country feel not often heard in power ballads composed by glam metal bands. "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" was named #34 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s", #100 on their "100 Greatest Love Songs" and #7 on MTV & VH1 "Top 25 Power Ballads."

(#4 last week) One of my all-time favorite one-hit wonders! Boy Meets Girl were (then) husband & wife duo George Merrill & Shannon Rubicam. They had already sung backup on one #1 hit (Deniece Williams's "Let's Hear It For The Boy") & written two #1 hits for Whitney Houston ("How Will I Know" & "I Wanna Dance With Somebody") when this sweeping pop song hit big. Interestingly, this had also been offered to Whitney but rejected by Clive Davis (I wonder if Miss Houston even knew that). Belinda Carlisle DID record this but then scrapped it for her second solo album. Worked out in the end, though. Postscript: Merrill & Rubicam divorced over a decade ago but still write & perform together.

(#6 last week) One of two 1989 #1 hits that was a 60s Motown homage (the other: "Good Thing"--Fine Young Cannibals), this song from the "Buster" soundtrack (Collins starred in the movie) was co-written with Phil by the legendary Lamont Dozier, of Holland-Dozier-Holland fame. Collins went right to the source!

(#3 last week) Bigger locally than nationally (peaked at #8 nationwide), Samantha Fox was a real-life "fox". A former topless "Page 3" model for London newspapers at the age of 18, sexy Sam parlayed that into a recording career. This was her third & final American hit & was produced by Full Force (Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam).

(#2 last week) Just about the biggest hit of the "New Jack Swing" sound, What was that sound, exactly? It merges hip hop beats with elements of synthpop & soul. "My Prerogative" was written by Brown as a response to the criticism he received for his departure from New Edition. Boy, has he fallen since then He & later-wife Whitney Houston were co-dependent addicts. Sad.