1990 – the first year of a new decade. The 1980s were officially behind us, and I embraced the new decade – the third decade for TKR – wholeheartedly. Well, the music hadn’t really changed a lot yet, but it would as the decade went on. A lot of different artists had #1 hits on TKR this year – some new, some old. Lou Gramm, John Tesh, Nelson, Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart, David Benoit, Madonna, Wilson Phillips, and Basia were among the artists who hit #1 – what a diverse list that is. Oh…um…yeah…and Laurie Anderson. Yes, you heard that right – performance artist extraordinaire Laurie Anderson had a #1 hit in April. And no, to this day, I still cannot explain what it is about “Babydoll” that I love…I just do. AND…it got airplay on several stations in the Columbus, Ohio radio market – there WAS hope for radio after all. There were a lot of one hit wonders this year as well – Ame Lorain, Michael Penn, and Alannah Myles among them, all with memorable hits you still hear on the radio every now and then as “gold”. Karen Carpenter had her first (and so far only) solo hit with “If I Had You”, from the posthumously released “Lovelines” by Carpenters – the single was billed to Karen alone because it was a track that had originally been recorded for her aborted solo album in 1979. “Lovelines” would also produce the duo’s first #1 TKR hit in six years, and the second #1 posthumous hit as well, with “Slow Dance“, a cover of a song Karen and Richard had heard back in 1978 when it appeared on Kristy and Jimmy McNichol‘s album (Kristy’s version was an LP hit on my chart in 1978); it had originally been recorded for the 1981 “Made In America” album but was shelved due to lack of space for all the songs they did. The aforementioned Nelson broke through in late summer with “(Can’t Live WIthout Your) Love And Affection“; the pop metal group led by twins Matthew and Gunnar Nelson hit #1 on Billboard on their 23rd birthday (and TKR slightly before that), becoming the only act where three successive generations had had number one singles – both grandfather Ozzie Nelson and dad Rick Nelson had also topped the chart in their day. The Party, a group made of five members of the then-new cable TV incarnation of the Mickey Mouse Club – Albert Fields, Dee Dee Magno, Tiffini Hale, Damon Pampolina, and Chasen “Chase” Hampton – signed a deal with Hollywood Records and began churning out a string of catchy danceable hits; they were the first of a number of alumni from that show, later known as simply MMC, that would eventually break out into music stardom – following in their footsteps as the decade progressed would be Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Britney Spears, Ricky Luna, and Christina Aguliera among others. Hair metal was at its peak, with acts like Warrant, Nelson, Winger, Guns N Roses, Poison, and others regularly charting. Rap began to work its way slowly into my chart, initially thanks to Christian rap/hip hop act DC Talk, but joined by others later. Latin heartthrob Luis Miguel had his first hits on TKR this year, all in Spanish, despite the fact that I don’t speak the language. But 1990 is memorable for me for one huge personal reason – I met the love of my life. Well, ok, we hadn’t actually MET yet, and we weren’t in LOVE yet…but we became acquainted when Kim joined a fan club I was running and purchased some fanzines I’d written. We began corresponding, then calling each other, and eventually we would meet and fall head over heels in love…but that didnt’ really have an effect on music for me…not for another year or two at least…heh heh…
JANUARY 6 1990
JANUARY 13 1990
JANUARY 20 1990
JANUARY 27 1990
FEBRUARY 3 1990
FEBRUARY 10 1990
FEBRUARY 17 1990
FEBRUARY 24 1990
MARCH 3 1990
MARCH 10 1990
MARCH 17 1990
MARCH 24 1990
MARCH 31 1990
APRIL 7 1990
APRIL 14 1990
APRIL 21 1990
APRIL 28 1990
MAY 5 1990
MAY 12 1990
MAY 19 1990
MAY 26 1990
JUNE 2 1990
JUNE 9 1990
JUNE 16 1990
JUNE 23 1990
JUNE 30 1990
JULY 7 1990
JULY 14 1990
JULY 21 1990
JULY 28 1990
AUGUST 4 1990
AUGUST 11 1990
AUGUST 18 1990
AUGUST 25 1990
SEPTEMBER 1 1990
SEPTEMBER 8 1990
SEPTEMBER 15 1990
SEPTEMBER 22 1990
SEPTEMBER 29 1990
OCTOBER 6 1990
OCTOBER 13 1990
OCTOBER 20 1990
OCTOBER 27 1990
NOVEMBER 3 1990
NOVEMBER 10 1990
NOVEMBER 17 1990
NOVEMBER 45 1990
DECEMBER 1 1990
DECEMBER 8 1990
DECEMBER 15 1990
DECEMBER 22 1990
DECEMBER 29 1990
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