Whitney Houston released her second album "Whitney" in 1987.
Some of the best pop albums of all time came out in the year 1987.
By 1987, hip-hop had begun to enter its golden era.
Pop music had megastars like Michael Jackson, Prince, George Michael and Madonna.
Even some of the old heads like Stevie Wonder and Lionel Richie still dominated the airwaves.
Therefore, travel back in time with RegalMag.com to an era in which fat gold chains and jheri curls still dominated fashion and superstars seemed out of this world.
RegalMag.com lists its top 10 albums from the year 1987.
Check it out!
“Sign O’ The Times”—by Prince—In 1987, Prince found himself at a crossroad. The Revolution had broken up. His movie “Under the Cherry Moon” had flopped and Warner Bros. did not want to release his triple album, “Crystal Ball.” Instead, Prince released a double album of songs that he had worked on in previous years. The eclectic mix of songs include “Adore” and “Starfish and Coffee,” which has led people to say that “Sign O’ The Times” was Prince’s “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
“Bad” by Michael Jackson—How do you follow up “Thriller?” That question might present a problem to mere mortals, but not the King of Pop. “Bad” was huge. Not quite “Thriller,” but still a smash. But “Bad” always represents the biggest what could have been in pop music history. What if Prince had agreed to appear on the title track? Having the two biggest stars in Black music on one song would have gone down in history. What if Whitney Houston had appeared on “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You?” If those collaborations had come to fruition, “Bad” would have Jackson, Prince, Houston and Stevie Wonder (“Just Friends”) all on one album. Crazy!
“Faith” by George Michael—When “Carless Whisper” dropped, pop music fans knew that Wham would disband as a group, and Michael would reach the heights of some of the biggest pop stars of the 1980s. But when he dropped his debut solo album “Faith,” he dropped an instant classic. The album jammed from top to bottom with masterpieces like the title cut, “Father Figure,” “Monkey,” “I Want Your Sex” and “One More Try” and still goes hard to this day.
“Whitney” by Whitney Houston—People talk about how hard Michael Jackson had to work to follow up on the success of “Thriller.” But Whitney Houston did not have it that easy following up on her self-titled debut in 1985. But when the album “Whitney” dropped two years later, Houston proved that with her voice, the sophomore slump did not have a chance. On her second album, Houston dropped classic singles like “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn’t We Almost Have it All,” “So Emotional” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go.”
“Paid and Full” by Eric B. and Rakim—Hip-hop heads often talk about the debut albums of The Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. However, do not sleep on the debut album by Eric B. and Rakim. Without even using profanity, Rakim dropped some of the hardest bars in hip-hop history. Still to this day, his lyrics seem timely and Eric B.’s beats still sound fresh. The album included the title record, “Eric B. is President,” “I Ain’t No Joke,” “My Melody,” “I Know You Got Soul” and “Move the Crowd.”
“Bigger and Deffer” by L.L. Cool J—James Todd Smith discovered early on how to make a commercially successful rap album. First, he often had a song geared towards the ladies like “I Need Love.” He had a song with a little grit like “I’m Bad.” He had club bangers like “Kanday.” Furthermore, his rhymes often did not include profanity, thanks to his grandmother, so they instantly connected with radio audiences.
“Jody Watley” by Jody Watley—People forget about how big Jody Watley became after she left Shalamar. But for a brief moment, one could say she rivaled the success of legends like Janet Jackson and Madonna. When her debut solo album dropped, hit songs immediately followed like “Looking for a New Love” and “Don’t You Want Me.” Watley continued her hitmaking ways with her follow-up album “Larger Than Life” in 1989, which included songs like “Real Love,” “Friends,” “Everything” and “Only You.”
“Characters” by Stevie Wonder—In the pantheon of Stevie Wonder albums, “Characters” is not one of the best. Nevertheless, Wonder’s worst is better than most people’s best. His 1987 album included “You Will Know,” “Skeletons,” “With Each Beat of My Broken Heart,” “My Eyes Don’t Cry” and “Get It” with Michael Jackson.
“Spanish Fly” by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam—By 1987, Full Force had established themselves as great artists and great producers. So when they wanted to find a Latina singing sensation, they only had to visit Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan to find the next great pop star of the 1980s. On their second album, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam released some bona fide hits like “Head to Toe, “Someone to Love Me for Me” and “Lost in Emotion.”
“The Joshua Tree” by U2—One could not go anywhere in 1987 without seeing or hearing about “The Joshua Tree” album by U2. Bono and the boys of U2 had achieved worldwide fame before 1987. But “The Joshua Tree” found much of its themes from American social issues, literature politics and its inspiration from American and Irish roots music. Classic jams from “The Joshua Tree” included “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Where The Streets Have No Name” and “In God’s Country.”
