Smells Like Gen X • Billboard Year-End Songs
Top 10 Songs of 1987 That Turned Late-80s Radio Into a Full-Volume Takeover
1987 is where late-80s pop radio really starts flexing. The top 10 songs of 1987 are glossy, huge, dramatic, catchy, and almost aggressively unavoidable — the kind of records that followed Gen X from car radios to mall speakers to MTV blocks to school dances to bedrooms where the cassette deck had exactly one job: keep rewinding the good parts.
This was the year arena rock went nuclear, power ballads got louder, dance-pop got brighter, movie soundtrack hits stayed dangerous, and MTV kept turning singles into full visual events. The Bangles made a silly dance move into a national reflex. Heart detonated one of the decade’s biggest ballads. Whitney Houston delivered pure pop joy. Bon Jovi made working-class melodrama feel like stadium religion. And somehow all of it sounded like it belonged on the same radio dial.
This countdown uses Billboard’s Hot 100 Year-End chart, which means these were the biggest U.S. singles of the year based on chart performance. Not just the songs people remember now. These were the songs that actually dominated 1987 — the hits that moved in, unpacked, and started paying rent in your brain.
This is 1987 in ten songs: The Bangles making weird pop irresistible, Heart going full emotional flamethrower, Whitney turning dance-pop into a mood reset, Bon Jovi giving every kid a chorus to yell, Whitesnake bringing wind-machine drama, and late-80s radio proving subtlety had been unplugged and thrown into a drawer.
Watch All the #1 Hits of 1987
Want the video version of the 1987 chart rewind? Watch the Smells Like Gen X countdown of all the Billboard Hot 100 #1 songs from 1987, featuring The Bangles, Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston, U2, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Tiffany, George Michael, Heart, Whitesnake, and more.
It’s the moving-picture companion to this 1987 songs post — the year arena rock, power ballads, dance-pop, movie soundtracks, and MTV-era pop all fought for the same radio dial.
Listen to the 1987 Smells Like Gen X Playlist
Want the 1987 rewind in your ears while you scroll? Hit play on the companion Spotify playlist and let The Bangles, Heart, Gregory Abbott, Whitney Houston, Starship, Robbie Nevil, Whitesnake, Bruce Hornsby, Bob Seger, Bon Jovi, and the rest of the year drag you straight into late-80s radio overload.
It’s the soundtrack version of this page — power ballads, arena-rock anthems, smooth R&B-pop, movie-theme momentum, glossy dance-pop, and enough mall-speaker energy to make your old Walkman feel personally summoned.
Keep Rewinding 1987
The 1987 rabbit hole does not stop with the year-end chart. This was also the year of Three Men and a Baby, Fatal Attraction, Good Morning, Vietnam, Moonstruck, and Lethal Weapon, plus TV comfort from The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, Murder, She Wrote, The Golden Girls, and Night Court. Add Nintendo, Jenga, My Pet Monster, designer-label obsession, mall bangs, Bon Jovi mania, and 1987 basically becomes late-80s overload with a killer soundtrack.
Keep the same-year rabbit hole going with the rest of the 1987 Smells Like Gen X cluster.
1987 in Review
The full-year nostalgia rewind covering music, movies, TV, fashion, toys, cartoons, commercials, and major headlines.
All the #1 Hits of 1987
The complete Billboard Hot 100 #1 rewind from The Bangles and Bon Jovi to Whitney, Tiffany, and George Michael.
Top 5 Songs This Week in 1987
A June 27, 1987 chart flashback with Whitney Houston, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, Genesis, Heart, and Atlantic Starr.
Top TV Shows of 1987
The Nielsen-ranked shows from the year sitcom comfort, cozy mystery, family TV, and appointment viewing ruled the living room.
Top 10 Movies of 1987
The box-office year of adult thrillers, buddy cops, romantic chaos, comedy hits, and late-80s movie-icon energy.
Top 10 Toys of 1987
Nintendo, Jenga, My Pet Monster, Koosh Ball, Popples, TMNT, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Barbie, and toy-aisle escalation.
Top 6 Biggest Fads of 1987
Designer-label obsession, Bon Jovi mania, California Raisins, mall bangs, Spuds MacKenzie, and oversized accessories.
Explore the 80s Hub
Your main gateway to 80s music, movies, toys, TV, commercials, videos, and Gen X nostalgia.
#10 — “Livin’ on a Prayer” — Bon Jovi
Chart Snapshot
#101987 Year-End Rank
#1Hot 100 Peak
4Weeks at #1
Why it hit
This is a stadium anthem disguised as a working-class soap opera. The chorus is built to be screamed by thousands of people at once, and the talk box makes the whole thing feel like your radio grew fangs. “Livin’ on a Prayer” does not merely describe struggle; it turns struggle into a communal chant with hairspray and a key change.
That is why it became one of the defining rock records of 1987. Bon Jovi took blue-collar drama, arena-rock polish, MTV-ready image, and a hook the size of New Jersey and made it all feel like one unstoppable machine. Tommy and Gina were not just characters. They were mid-80s radio citizens.
Gen X Rewind
This is the song that made you believe you could survive anything… as long as you had a denim jacket and the volume knob all the way right.
Legacy
Still one of the defining 80s rock records — and it hit #1 for four weeks because the decade said, “Yeah, we’re keeping this.”
#9 — “Shakedown” — Bob Seger
Chart Snapshot
#91987 Year-End Rank
#1Hot 100 Peak
1Weeks at #1
Why it hit
Because 80s movie soundtracks were basically cheat codes. “Shakedown” has that slick late-night city-drive groove — part rock, part pop, all momentum. It sounds like headlights, glass buildings, bad decisions, and someone in a blazer running through a parking garage.
The song’s connection to Beverly Hills Cop II and the 1987 movie machine gave it extra cultural fuel, but it worked on radio because the groove did not need a plot. It just moved.
Gen X Rewind
This is the Beverly Hills Cop II era — when sequels were loud, soundtracks were louder, and everyone wanted your money at the mall.
Legacy
Seger’s only Hot 100 #1, and it pulled the trick perfectly: show up, take over, exit before you get tired of it.
#8 — “The Way It Is” — Bruce Hornsby and the Range
Chart Snapshot
#81987 Year-End Rank
#1Hot 100 Peak
1Weeks at #1
Why it hit
This is what happens when a song is gorgeous and has something to say. Piano-driven, emotionally steady, and quietly powerful, “The Way It Is” cuts through the gloss of 1987 like a calm voice in a very loud room.
That made it stand out. In a year packed with power ballads, soundtrack hits, arena rock, and MTV polish, Bruce Hornsby and the Range delivered a serious pop single that still felt accessible. It was thoughtful without being homework, which is harder than it sounds.
Gen X Rewind
This is the song that made you feel like you were older than you were — because it sounded like the real world was showing up whether you were ready or not.
Legacy
A rare serious hit that still lived on pop radio — and it hit #1 because it connected.
#7 — “Here I Go Again” — Whitesnake
Chart Snapshot
#71987 Year-End Rank
#1Hot 100 Peak
1Weeks at #1
Why it hit
Because hair metal figured out the ultimate formula: heartbreak, power chords, glossy production, and a chorus you can belt dramatically in your bedroom like it’s Madison Square Garden. “Here I Go Again” is both a ballad and a victory lap, which is exactly the kind of emotional contradiction 1987 loved.
It also had the MTV oxygen. The song was huge on its own, but the visual identity pushed it into full late-80s mythology. This was the era when a song did not just need to sound big. It needed to look like it had a wind machine on retainer.
Gen X Rewind
This is slow-motion denim. Wind-machine energy. The moment you learned a ballad could still punch walls.
Legacy
A massive crossover hit and one of the signature “1987 owns MTV” tracks.
#6 — “C’est la Vie” — Robbie Nevil
Chart Snapshot
#61987 Year-End Rank
#2Hot 100 Peak
0Weeks at #1
Why it hit
This is bright, bouncy, and engineered to live in your head rent-free. “C’est la Vie” is dance-pop with a wink — pure 80s good mood on demand, even if nobody in the room could agree how to pronounce the title without sounding like a substitute French teacher.
It works because the groove is playful, the hook is immediate, and the production lands right in the late-80s sweet spot: clean enough for pop radio, funky enough to move, and polished enough to feel like it came with matching accessories.
Gen X Rewind
This is roller rink vibes. Bright lights, loud speakers, and someone trying to skate backwards to impress a crush.
Legacy
A massive near-#1 hit that still feels like a perfect time capsule of 1987 pop.
You May Also Remember
the full 1987 in Review video,
the 1987 #1 hits video,
the June 1987 weekly chart rewind,
the TV shows still controlling the living room,
Three Men and a Baby, Fatal Attraction, Good Morning Vietnam, Moonstruck, and Lethal Weapon,
Nintendo, Jenga, My Pet Monster, Koosh Ball, Popples, TMNT, G.I. Joe, and Transformers,
designer labels, Bon Jovi mania, California Raisins, mall bangs, Spuds MacKenzie, and oversized accessories,
and the full 80s nostalgia hub.
Basically: Bon Jovi turning every car into a stadium, Whitney making joy sound athletic, Heart going nuclear, Whitesnake polishing heartbreak until it reflected light, Nintendo taking over the house, and 1987 proving the late 80s had officially entered the “more is more” phase.
#5 — “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” — Starship
Chart Snapshot
#51987 Year-End Rank
#1Hot 100 Peak
2Weeks at #1
Why it hit
This is the 80s power ballad in its most movie-montage form. Big chorus, big promise, big gloss — like romance packaged in shrink wrap and sold at the mall. It is sincere, shiny, and completely committed to sounding enormous.
Its connection to Mannequin gave it that perfectly ridiculous 1987 soundtrack energy, but the song worked because it gave radio exactly what radio wanted: a chorus that felt like a wedding toast, a graduation speech, and a shopping-mall escalator ride all at once.
Gen X Rewind
This is the song that played while mannequins came to life in movies and we all collectively said, “Sure, that checks out.”
Legacy
One of the decade’s biggest soundtrack smashes — and it held #1 for two weeks because it was unavoidable.
#4 — “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” — Whitney Houston
Chart Snapshot
#41987 Year-End Rank
#1Hot 100 Peak
2Weeks at #1
Why it hit
Because it is pop joy with elite vocals. The production is bright and sprinting; Whitney sounds like she could out-sing gravity. It’s danceable, emotional, and perfect — an 80s classic that still hits like it’s brand new.
The genius is that the song is happier than its premise. It is loneliness dressed as celebration, which is why it works so well. Whitney turns longing into movement, and the chorus gives everyone permission to feel good while still wanting something more.
Gen X Rewind
This is the instant mood reset. You hear the opening and your body starts moving before your brain finishes loading.
Legacy
A defining Whitney record — and one of the most durable dance-pop hits of the entire decade.
#3 — “Shake You Down” — Gregory Abbott
Chart Snapshot
#31987 Year-End Rank
#1Hot 100 Peak
1Weeks at #1
Why it hit
This is smooth, slow-burn R&B-pop that climbed and climbed until it owned the room. It’s confident without shouting — like a song that knows it is going to win eventually and does not need to embarrass itself trying too hard.
In a year full of loud choruses and big visual gestures, “Shake You Down” won by being controlled. The groove is silky, the vocal is calm, and the whole record feels like late-night radio deciding to dim the lights.
Gen X Rewind
This is late-night radio. The “keep it quiet or Mom will yell” volume setting.
Legacy
A signature 1987 hit — proof that slow rise can still end at #1.
#2 — “Alone” — Heart
Chart Snapshot
#21987 Year-End Rank
#1Hot 100 Peak
3Weeks at #1
Why it hit
Because it is a power ballad that commits 100 percent. It starts tender, then detonates into a chorus built for dramatic singing in the car with one hand on the wheel and the other hand being emotionally irresponsible.
Heart had the vocal firepower to make the whole thing credible. This is not a fragile ballad pretending to be big. This is a giant ballad that starts quietly only so it can later kick the door off the emotional hinges.
Gen X Rewind
This is the song that taught you the rules of 80s ballads: start soft, then go nuclear.
Legacy
One of the biggest ballads of the decade — and a three-week #1 because everyone was apparently going through something.
#1 — “Walk Like an Egyptian” — The Bangles
Chart Snapshot
#11987 Year-End Rank
#1Hot 100 Peak
4Weeks at #1
Why this was the #1 song of 1987
Because it is weird in the most perfect way. “Walk Like an Egyptian” is catchy, rhythmic, instantly recognizable, and it made everybody do a silly arm move like it was legally required. This is pop culture as a virus — and it spread everywhere.
The song’s genius is that it feels novelty-adjacent without being disposable. The Bangles gave it enough cool, enough vocal personality, and enough pop precision to make the weirdness work beyond the gag. It was fun, sharp, visual, and completely built for the late-80s moment.
Gen X Rewind
This is elementary school, summer radio, MTV, and your brain learning what inescapable really means.
Legacy
One of the most iconic #1 hits of the decade — and the top year-end song because it did not just chart. It took over.
Also Huge in 1987
The full 1987 in Review video,
the Billboard #1 hits that ruled 1987 radio,
the Top 5 Songs This Week in 1987 video,
network TV comfort from The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, Murder, She Wrote, The Golden Girls, and Night Court,
Three Men and a Baby, Fatal Attraction, Good Morning, Vietnam, Moonstruck, and Lethal Weapon,
Nintendo, Jenga, My Pet Monster, Koosh Ball, Popples, TMNT, G.I. Joe, and Transformers,
designer labels, Bon Jovi mania, California Raisins, mall bangs, Spuds MacKenzie, and oversized accessories,
and the decade running at full late-80s volume.
1987 Rewind Verdict
1987 is the sweet spot where pop got shinier, rock got bigger, ballads got louder, and radio felt like a non-stop highlight reel. The year-end Top 10 is loaded with the late-80s ingredients people still remember: big hair, bigger choruses, soundtrack momentum, dance-pop brightness, power-ballad drama, and MTV images that fused themselves to the songs.
What makes this countdown so strong is the contrast. “Walk Like an Egyptian” is weird pop joy. “Alone” is ballad devastation. “Shake You Down” is quiet-storm smoothness. Whitney Houston gives pure dance-pop lift. Starship delivers soundtrack gloss. Whitesnake and Bon Jovi bring arena-sized rock mythology. Bruce Hornsby slows everything down long enough to say something serious. Somehow, all of that fits inside one year.
For Gen X, these songs are not oldies. They are core memory software: mall speakers, cafeteria dances, MTV afternoons, boom boxes, car radios, skating rinks, and the sound of the late 80s turning everything into a hook with a hairstyle.
FAQ: Top Songs of 1987
What was the #1 song of 1987 on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart?
The #1 year-end song of 1987 was “Walk Like an Egyptian” by The Bangles.
What were the top songs of 1987?
Billboard’s year-end Top 10 for 1987 includes The Bangles, Heart, Gregory Abbott, Whitney Houston, Starship, Robbie Nevil, Whitesnake, Bruce Hornsby and the Range, Bob Seger, and Bon Jovi.
Why does this list use Billboard’s year-end Hot 100?
This series uses Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 because it reflects the biggest U.S. singles of the year based on chart performance, not just personal opinion or modern nostalgia.
How long was “Walk Like an Egyptian” #1?
“Walk Like an Egyptian” spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Billboard’s top year-end song of 1987.
How long was “Livin’ on a Prayer” #1?
“Livin’ on a Prayer” spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of Bon Jovi’s defining songs.
How long was “Alone” by Heart #1?
“Alone” held #1 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987.
Which 1987 songs reached #1 on the Hot 100?
Several songs in this countdown reached #1, including “Walk Like an Egyptian,” “Alone,” “Shake You Down,” “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” “Here I Go Again,” “The Way It Is,” “Shakedown,” and “Livin’ on a Prayer.”
Did “C’est la Vie” hit #1?
No. Robbie Nevil’s “C’est la Vie” peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it was big enough to rank #6 on Billboard’s 1987 year-end chart.
Why does 1987 music feel so late-80s?
Because the year blends MTV image culture, power ballads, arena rock, dance-pop, movie soundtrack hits, polished R&B-pop, and highly visual singles that felt built for both radio and television.
Is there a playlist for the top songs of 1987?
Yes. This page includes the Smells Like Gen X 1987 Spotify playlist so you can listen while you scroll through the countdown.
