Music of 1990: February

United States

February was owned by Paula Abdul and her fifth major hit, "Opposites Attract," which spent 3 weeks at #1, matching the success of her first top 40 hit, "Straight Up." I've already wrote a whole entry about this song, so I'll move on.

Girl groups were big in 1990, with Wilson Phillips and Sweet Sensation scoring #1 hits. Expose, who'd had a string of hits in the late '80s, continued into the '90s with a few more hit singles, including "Tell Me Why," their 7th top 10 single, which hit #9 in February. They would have one more top 10 hit in 1993 with "I'll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me." The biggest girl-group hit of February came from Seduction, whose "Two to Make It Right" spent 2 weeks at #2, kept from #1 by Paula Abdul. It was the group's second top 40 hit following "(You're My One and Only) True Love," which hit #23. It was later part of the lip-synching scandals of 1990 when it was found that the lead vocal was actually performed by Martha Wash. This was Seduction's first and only top 10 hit, although they had two other top 20 singles, "Heartbeat" (#13) and "Could This Be Love" (#11).



British rocker Rod Stewart, who'd been hugely successful in the '70s and '80s, continued to do so in the early '90s. "Downtown Train," a cover of a song written by Tom Waits, was the first of two hit singles released from his 1989 greatest hits set, Storyteller. The single hit #3 on the Hot 100, and was a #1 hit at top 40 radio. Later in the year he'd have another top 10 hit with Ron Isley on the Isley-Brothers remake "This Old Heart of Mine." Stewart's biggest hit of the '90s would come in 1993, on the #1 collaboration with Sting and Bryan Adams, "All for Love."
Aerosmith's 1989 album Pump produced three top 10 hits, more than any other of their albums. The second, "Janie's Got a Gun," peaked at #4 in February, their third-highest charting single after "Angel" (#3) and "Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (#1). The song's video was one of the most notable of the year. It was directed by David Fincher, known already for having directed Madonna's "Express Yourself" and most of Paula Abdul's videos. In the early '90s, he moved into films, directing a string of visually compelling thrillers--Seven, Fight Club, Panic Room, and Zodiac--before directing last year's Oscar Best Picture nominee, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. "Janie's Got a Gun" has a cinematic visual style, intercutting band performances with a grisly drama that includes actress Lesley Ann Warren.



Finally, February would bring the last hit single from German dance-pop act Milli Vanilli. "All or Nothing" hit #4, completing the string of five consecutive top 5 hits that include three #1 singles ("Baby Don't Forget My Number," "Girl, I'm Gonna Miss You" and "Blame It on the Rain"). Although I do enjoy many of their singles, this is definitely the least appealing. Late in the year, Milli Vanilli would be subject to the year's biggest of the several lip-synching scandals and would be stripped of their Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

United Kingdom

In Britain, Irish singer Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2U" climbed to #1 the first week of February and stayed there all month. The single is one of the most notable of 1990, hitting #1 all over the world, and is one of four singles that hit #1 in Britain that year that were also #1 hits in the US (along with "Hangin' Tough," "Vogue" and "Ice Ice Baby"). It was her only major US hit, and only UK top 10 hit (she had a handful of less successful top 40 singles). The song was written by Prince and produced by O'Connor and Nellee Hooper, who would go on to produce many other hit singles, for Bjork, Madonna and No Doubt. It's a really gorgeous song, with an effecting vocal and lush strings arrangement. I'll write more about it once I get to the time it was a hit in the US.

With "Nothing Compares 2U" lodged at #1 for the whole month, February's second-biggest hit was the second single from Belgian dance act Technotronic, "Get Up (Before the Night Is Over)." Like its predecessor, "Pump Up the Jam," the single peaked at #2 in the UK and was also a top 10 hit in the US. Unlike "Pump Up the Jam," the single's rap and vocal were appropriately attributed to Ya Kid K, who'd missed out when model Felly had been given credit for Ya Kid K's work on "Pump Up the Jam" (see Lipsynching Controversies of 1990). "Get Up" is similar to "Pump Up the Jam," but a bit lighter and more upbeat.



American dance pop singer Lonnie Gordon never had a major hit in the states, but she hit #4 with her first of three top UK hits, "Happenin' All Over Again." It sounds a lot like what Kylie Minogue was doing at the time, so no surprise that it's a Stock Aitken Waterman production. Gordon would later score three #1 hits on the US dance chart, including a remixed version of this song.



And the dance hits keep coming with Black Box's "I Don't Know Anybody Else," also a #4 hit. Were I to pick, this would probably be my favorite single from this group. In Britain, this followed their #1 hit from 1989, "Ride on Time." It was also their second single in the US after "Everybody Everybody." Oh, and it was also subject to a lip-synching controversy, with lead vocal sung by an uncredited Martha Wash.



Lisa Stansfield scored her second top 10 hit with "Live Together," following her #1 hit "All Around the World." It has a slower, mid-tempo feel than most of her dance pop singles. It was not released as a single in the US, where "You Can't Deny" was instead the second single from her album.