The Rock of 1989: Doctor, There’s A Great White in My Heartbreaker

Dave and Milt fire up the Top 10 Time Machine and head straight for the week ending May 20, 1989 — but this time they ditch the Hot 100 in favor of the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, because apparently Aqua Net, guitar riffs, and sleeveless denim vests deserved their own economy. Along the way, they revisit a bizarrely packed week in history featuring Gorbachev’s visit to China, the disappearance of Costa Rica’s golden toad, the death of Gilda Radner, and the cultural majesty of See No Evil, Hear No Evil and the Jessica McClure “Baby Jessica” TV movie nobody asked for but everybody watched anyway.

The chart itself is pure late-’80s rock-radio chaos: Saraya crashes in at #10, Richard Marx somehow counts as “rock,” The Outfield keeps “Voices of Babylon” alive long after civilization moved on, and Queen storms in with “I Want It All” while Freddie Mercury quietly battled the illness the public still didn’t know about. Great White shows up with their hit cover and sparks a surprisingly dark detour into the Jack Russell saga and the horrifying Station nightclub fire story.

Elsewhere, Dave and Milt debate whether a bologna bagel is cuisine or a cry for help, obsess over backyard bird nests, argue guitar solos, and somehow spend actual airtime discussing “cricket knickers.” There’s also a Play Date quiz built around songs featuring “once” and “twice,” because this podcast remains the only show brave enough to pivot from Tom Petty to adverb trivia without warning.

The second half of the countdown brings arena-rock comfort food from The Doobie Brothers, The Cult’s swaggering “Fire Woman,” Stevie Nicks’ “Rooms on Fire,” and John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Pop Singer,” which launches a rant about the music industry, authenticity, and probably at least one guy in a blazer named Chip. At #1, Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” becomes the centerpiece for stories about songwriting, arson, stubbornness, and why Sam Smith accidentally wandered into the conversation.

Naturally, there are substitutions, sidebars, forgotten MTV memories, Living Colour and XTC love, and approximately 19 moments where the show completely leaves the rails before somehow steering itself back to the countdown. In other words: exactly the kind of episode you’d expect from two middle-aged men willingly spending two hours inside the cultural fever dream that was spring 1989.

Topics

00:00 The Coldest of Opens

01:04 Bird Nest Obsession

03:37 Guitar Solo Feedback

05:36 Bologna Bagel Debate

06:05 Time Machine to 1989

07:05 Hey Day Memories

08:14 Week in History 1989

17:41 Back to the Charts

17:54 Number 10 Saraya

23:42 Saraya Name Confusion

26:13 Number 9 Richard Marx

32:26 Snickers and Snacks

33:54 Number 8 The Outfield

37:33 Outfield Albums and Legacy

38:13 Cricket Knickers Comedy

40:12 Voices of Babylon Verdict

40:41 Queen I Want It All

41:06 Freddie’s Hidden Illness

41:45 Song Breakdown and Charts

48:14 Great White Cover Hit

49:32 Jack Russell Chaos Backstory

53:31 Station Nightclub Tragedy

59:55 Play Date Once and Twice Quiz

01:06:24 Doobie Brothers Comeback

01:09:52 New Doobies and Nostalgia

01:14:43 The Cult Fire Woman

01:16:13 Fire Woman Breakdown

01:17:32 Cult Legacy And Grunge

01:19:26 Rooms On Fire Story

01:21:42 Stevie Vocal Quirks

01:24:40 Pop Singer Industry Rant

01:28:21 ChatGPT Pop List Game

01:31:05 I Wont Back Down Origins

01:33:28 Petty Songwriting And Arson

01:35:58 Sam Smith Similarity

01:39:27 Chart Recap And Picks

01:42:12 Substitution XTC And Living Colour

01:52:23 Wrap Up And Sign Off