The article ’88 will go down in the books as the year of George Michael” was written by Jan DeKnock for Chicago Tribune and published on January 1m 1989.
In late 1987, when Billboard magazine came out with its special issue ranking the top records and artists of that year, the awards were nicely spread around, with the top pop prizes going to such varied acts as Bon Jovi, the Bangles, U2, Madonna and Whitney Houston.
For 1988, there is just one name at the top of many of the lists: George Michael, who scored an across-the-board blitz not seen since Michael Jackson’s Thriller swept the magazine’s awards in ’83.
In fact, Michael even surpassed Jackson’s showing by having both the year’s No. 1 single (“Faith”) and No. 1 album (also titled Faith). That hadn’t happened since 1970, when Simon and Garfunkel grabbed both awards with the Bridge Over Troubled Water album and a single by the same name.
How did Michael do it? First, here’s how the winners were determined:
Each artist, single and album was awarded points based on their rankings on Billboard’s weekly charts. Those points were totaled to determine year-end leaders. It’s a system that tends to favor slow-rising records with long chart runs over those that peak quickly. For example, Breathe’s “Hands to Heaven” never quite made it to the top spot, but somehow finished with a higher ranking (No. 9) than Steve Winwood’s “Roll With It,” which wound up at No. 10 despite being the only song last year with a four-week run at No. 1.
Another quirk is that because of the magazine’s deadlines, the 1988 “chart year” actually covered the period from Nov. 15, 1987, through Nov. 12, 1988, (with some pop and country categories counted until Dec. 3). That’s how a song that hit No. 1 in December of ’87 Michael’s “Faith” wound up as the top-ranked single of ’88.
So here are the Top 5 pop artists of 1988 and how they got there:
George Michael:
In years past, as one-half of the duo Wham!, Michael has done well in Billboard’s year-end rankings and even scored the No. 1 single (“Careless Whisper”) in 1985. But in 1988, as a solo act, he did spectacularly. In addition to the No. 1 pop single and pop album, Michael also dominated numerous other pop subcategories and even wound up as No. 4 on Billboard’s list of top black artists. (Billboard’s black/urban charts are defined not by race but by radio stations that classify their programming as “black-oriented”; however, it is highly unusual for a white pop artist such as Michael to make the Top 5 in the year-end totals.) He also placed five songs in the year’s Top 100: “Faith” (No. 1), “One More Try” (No. 11), “Father Figure” (No. 27), “Monkey” (No. 45) and “Kissing a Fool” (No. 91).
Def Leppard:
This heavy-metal group burst into the Top 5 for the first time by combining points for the No. 3 pop album (.Hysteria) with two of the year’s top singles “Pour Some Sugar on Me” (No. 19) and “Love Bites” (No. 30).
INXS:
Another newcomer to the Top 5, the hard-rock group INXS had the No. 4 pop album (Kick) plus the hugely popular single “Need You Tonight,” which placed second only to Michael’s “Faith” on the year-end list.
Michael Jackson:
This perennial power could not quite match the No. 1 ranking of his Thriller year but had a pretty good run nonetheless with his Bad album (No. 5 overall), which produced three hit singles “Man in the Mirror” (No. 21), “The Way You Make Me Feel” (No. 36) and “Dirty Diana” (No. 61).
Debbie Gibson:
In late 1987, Gibson burst onto the scene as part of a new brat pack of under-21 hitmakers; then, throughout ’88, she established her staying power. (Another teen queen, Tiffany, wound up the year at a respectable No. 13 overall.) Gibson scored the year’s No. 7 album (Out of the Blue) and had three big singles “Shake Your Love” (No. 22), “Foolish Beat” (No. 32) and “Out of the Blue” (No. 54).
Here are the top five finishers in some of Billboard’s many music subcategories:
Top Pop Singles Artists (all singles combined):
- George Michael
- INXS
- Michael Jackson
- Whitney Houston
- Def Leppard
Top Pop Singles Artists, Female:
- Whitney Houston
Debbie Gibson - Taylor Dayne
- Tiffany
- Belinda Carlisle
Top Pop Singles Artists, Male:
- George Michael
- Michael Jackson
- Rick Astley
- Richard Marx
- Steve Winwood
Top Pop Singles Artists, Groups:
- INXS
- Def Leppard
- Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine
- Cheap Trick
- The Jets
Top Pop Album Artists (all albums combined):
- George Michael
- Def Leppard
- INXS
- Michael Jackson
- Guns N’ Roses
Top Pop Album Artists, Female:
- Debbie Gibson
- Tiffany
- Whitney Houston
- Belinda Carlisle
- Tracy Chapman
Top Pop Album Artists, Male:
- George Michael
- Michael Jackson
- Richard Marx
- Terence Trent D’Arby
- Steve Winwood
Top Pop Album Artists, Groups:
- Def Leppard
- INXS
- Guns N’ Roses
- Aerosmith
- Poison
Top New Pop Artists:
- Guns N’ Roses
- Rick Astley
- Terence Trent D’Arby
- Taylor Dayne
- Tracy Chapman.
Top Black Singles Artists (all singles combined):
- Michael Jackson
- Pebbles
- LeVert
- Keith Sweat
- Terence Trent D’Arby
Top Country Singles Artists (all singles combined):
- Rosanne Cash
- Randy Travis
- Ricky Van Shelton
- Desert Rose Band
- Reba McEntire
Top Adult-Contemporary Artists (all singles combined):
- Steve Winwood
- Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine
- Whitney Houston
- George Michael
- Rick Astley
