I noticed this era had a few artist who came on super strong during these years with plenty of hits and then promptly fell off the face of the earth

Paula Abdul had SIX number one hits (in a row!) in the U.S. between February '89 and July '91:
"Straight Up" (1989)
"Forever Your Girl" (1989)
"Cold Hearted" (1989)
"Opposites Attract" (1990)
"Rush, Rush" (1991)
"Promise of a New Day" (1991)

Two other songs also peaked in the top 10, and both albums that all these songs stemmed from also reached number one on the Billboard 200. Her third album released in 1995, however, was not nearly as successful.

Roxette is another one.
"The Look" (1989)
"Listen to Your Heart" (1989)
"It Must Have Been Love" (1990)
"Joyride" (1991)

Two others reached number two:
"Dangerous" (1990)
"Fading Like a Flower" (1991)

And then they seemed to disappear. In the U.S. anyway.

New Kids on the Block had 3 number ones over the course of about a year:
"I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" (1989)
"Hangin' Tough" (1989)
"Step By Step" (1990)

Plus six other top 10 hits starting in late 1988 and ending in 1990. And then the hits just stopped.

Was it just a faster-paced music scene back then? I can't think of many other artists who had such a sudden, prolific plateau and inexplicable plummet. It reminds me a bit of Adele who was cranking out hits in 2011-12 and then seemed to retreat into the shadows, but we'll see how her third album does.

Waiting 3 or 4 years to release an album can be fatal for pop musicians who rely on trendy production styles more than actual songwriting. 4 years is always enough time for trends to shift and for once cool things to become watered down.  I think we've seen it throughout other eras as well.

I noticed this era had a few artist who came on super strong during these years with plenty of hits and then promptly fell off the face of the earth

Paula Abdul had SIX number one hits (in a row!) in the U.S. between February '89 and July '91:
"Straight Up" (1989)
"Forever Your Girl" (1989)
"Cold Hearted" (1989)
"Opposites Attract" (1990)
"Rush, Rush" (1991)
"Promise of a New Day" (1991)

Two other songs also peaked in the top 10, and both albums that all these songs stemmed from also reached number one on the Billboard 200. Her third album released in 1995, however, was not nearly as successful.

Roxette is another one.
"The Look" (1989)
"Listen to Your Heart" (1989)
"It Must Have Been Love" (1990)
"Joyride" (1991)

Two others reached number two:
"Dangerous" (1990)
"Fading Like a Flower" (1991)

And then they seemed to disappear. In the U.S. anyway.

New Kids on the Block had 3 number ones over the course of about a year:
"I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" (1989)
"Hangin' Tough" (1989)
"Step By Step" (1990)

Plus six other top 10 hits starting in late 1988 and ending in 1990. And then the hits just stopped.

Was it just a faster-paced music scene back then? I can't think of many other artists who had such a sudden, prolific plateau and inexplicable plummet. It reminds me a bit of Adele who was cranking out hits in 2011-12 and then seemed to retreat into the shadows, but we'll see how her third album does.


Ending in 1990, huh? 
You don't say....  ::)

Ending in 1990, huh? 
You don't say....  ::)


1991...did you read my post?

I want to mention that Paula Abdul had another album/singles in 1995, but I guess that wouldn't make sense since the topic is about music from 1989 to 1991. She did though, and then made a number ones album I think..

I want to mention that Paula Abdul had another album/singles in 1995, but I guess that wouldn't make sense since the topic is about music from 1989 to 1991. She did though, and then made a number ones album I think..


She did but it wasn't as successful.

1991...did you read my post?


I did, but '89 (last year of the late '80s) and '91 (second year of the early '90s) were both the metaphorical bookends to 1990, one of the greatest years in all of history.

I noticed this era had a few artist who came on super strong during these years with plenty of hits and then promptly fell off the face of the earth

Paula Abdul had SIX number one hits (in a row!) in the U.S. between February '89 and July '91:
"Straight Up" (1989)
"Forever Your Girl" (1989)
"Cold Hearted" (1989)
"Opposites Attract" (1990)
"Rush, Rush" (1991)
"Promise of a New Day" (1991)

Two other songs also peaked in the top 10, and both albums that all these songs stemmed from also reached number one on the Billboard 200. Her third album released in 1995, however, was not nearly as successful.

Roxette is another one.
"The Look" (1989)
"Listen to Your Heart" (1989)
"It Must Have Been Love" (1990)
"Joyride" (1991)

Two others reached number two:
"Dangerous" (1990)
"Fading Like a Flower" (1991)

And then they seemed to disappear. In the U.S. anyway.

New Kids on the Block had 3 number ones over the course of about a year:
"I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" (1989)
"Hangin' Tough" (1989)
"Step By Step" (1990)

Plus six other top 10 hits starting in late 1988 and ending in 1990. And then the hits just stopped.

Was it just a faster-paced music scene back then? I can't think of many other artists who had such a sudden, prolific plateau and inexplicable plummet. It reminds me a bit of Adele who was cranking out hits in 2011-12 and then seemed to retreat into the shadows, but we'll see how her third album does.


There did seem to be an awful lot of acts that didn't have much staying power back then. In addition to the ones you listed, there were multiple one-hit wonders during the late '80s/early '90s time period like MC Hammer, Right Said Fred, Vanilla Ice, Marc Cohn, etc. Even Sinéad O'Connor could be technically considered a one-hit wonder, because Nothing Compares 2 U was her only song to reach the Billboard Top 40. And all that is without even mentioning the countless hair bands from that time period, the overwhelming majority of which only had one or two top 40 songs.

Really, though, the entire '90s were full of artists with very short-lived peaks. I mean, anybody remember The Proclaimers? Or Take That? How about Lou Bega, Chumbawamba or Meredith Brooks?

There did seem to be an awful lot of acts that didn't have much staying power back then. In addition to the ones you listed, there were multiple one-hit wonders during the late '80s/early '90s time period like MC Hammer, Right Said Fred, Vanilla Ice, Marc Cohn, etc. Even Sinéad O'Connor could be technically considered a one-hit wonder, because Nothing Compares 2 U was her only song to reach the Billboard Top 40. And all that is without even mentioning the countless hair bands from that time period, the overwhelming majority of which only had one or two top 40 songs.

Every period has its one-hit wonders, of course, not just the 90s or the Bush '41 Era.  I think the surprising thing about the latter period, though, is that so many of these artists seemed like they would become pop cultural legends throughout the ages back when they first came out, yet only a small handful, like Mariah Carey and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, remained successful and relevant for several years following their respective mainstream breakthroughs during the Bush '41 Era.  If anything, the two acts I just listed were just lucky that popular music evolved in their direction, while most other new artists and bands of the time were not so lucky.

I think the reason for all of this is that musical trends evolved at such a fast pace during the few years after the Cold War that acts who attempted to capitalize on their identities upon arrival found themselves completely outdated by the time the core 90s styles were fully developed.  It was just an odd period between the 80s and 90s, two very different decades for music, during which the industry was going through an identity crisis as the 80s industry standards grew stale but record companies were still learning to experiment with significant rising genres of the day like hip hop, new-jack swing, house, and alternative.

Probably the poster child of the Bush '41 Era's curse of short-lived musical legacies is Milli Vanilli, who won the Grammy for Best New Artists for 1989 but had their accolade revoked upon confirmation that the two lead members had lip-synced their music the entire time.  This group was especially notable because they basically epitomized Bush '41-era pop music, blending both regular dance-pop and new-jack swing of the time together with pop hip hop.  While their downfall didn't immediately ruin the careers of other pop superstars of the Bush '41 Era, it definitely tainted the image of pop music as it had been established during the period, thus giving more weight than ever to musical acts who pushed the boundaries of pop, even if only slightly.  Within a year after the Milli Vanilli debacle, you had the debuts of Boyz II Men, Celine Dion, R. Kelly, Jodeci, and Nirvana (not pop but definitely influential to what rock music entered the top 40), all of which remained highly successful and/or influential throughout the rest of the decade in some form; though the latter two broke up in the mid-90s, the former spawned K-Ci & JoJo (one of the premier r&b acts of the millennial era), while the latter eventually led to the Foo Fighters, not that any explanation of their legacy is needed, anyway.  By 1993, gangsta rap and eurodance became the fully-established heirs to artists like MC Hammer/Vanilla Ice and C+C Music Factory/Technotronic/Black Box, respectively.

Really, though, the entire '90s were full of artists with very short-lived peaks. I mean, anybody remember The Proclaimers? Or Take That? How about Lou Bega, Chumbawamba or Meredith Brooks?


Just for clarification, The Proclaimers' I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) was originally from 1988; it just took until 1993 for it to attain success in the United States, though it was already huge in the UK.  Take That and Chumbawamba only had one hit single each in the United States, but their status in Europe is quite different.  Chumbawamba were famous in the UK for Amnesia and Top of the World (Ole, Ole, Ole) in addition to Tubthumping, while Take That have produced several hit singles across Europe since their debut in 1992 and are still going strong today.  Even during their nine-year hiatus, former member Robbie Williams emerged as one of the most successful male solo acts ever in Britain (plus popular in other European territories, as well), again still going strong today.

Just for clarification, The Proclaimers' I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) was originally from 1988; it just took until 1993 for it to attain success in the United States, though it was already huge in the UK.  Take That and Chumbawamba only had one hit single each in the United States, but their status in Europe is quite different.  Chumbawamba were famous in the UK for Amnesia and Top of the World (Ole, Ole, Ole) in addition to Tubthumping, while Take That have produced several hit singles across Europe since their debut in 1992 and are still going strong today.  Even during their nine-year hiatus, former member Robbie Williams emerged as one of the most successful male solo acts ever in Britain (plus popular in other European territories, as well), again still going strong today.


Yeah, the whole thing with the "500 miles" song was kind of weird. I was in, like, Kindergarten when it hit big here in the States so I don't really remember, but weren't The Proclaimers' music being featured in a movie around 1993 or so what caused that song to really explode in popularity here? I knew that song was a bit older than '93, but wouldn't have thought it was as old as '88.

That's a surprise to me about Take That still being so popular today in Europe. I've always remembered that group because "Back for Good" is one of the first songs that I can actually remember when it was popular, as a lot of girls in my class used to listen it in 1995-96, but since I haven't heard anything out of them since, I always thought of them as a consummate '90s one-hit wonder.