Billboard #1 R&B Songs Of 1990 Rankdown (COMPLETE)

[#LisaRinna]

Soulsista where you at??

[Soulsista]

Here we are, the final two...

Like "Rhythm Nation", the song at #2 also has no bottom 10s.



2. I'm Your Baby Tonight - Whitney Houston

"I'm Your Baby Tonight" was the lead single from Whitney's album of the same name. At the time, the song and album were much needed for Whitney, as she was in danger of losing her urban fanbase (her name was booed at the Soul Train Awards a year earlier). Written and produced by L.A. Reid and Babyface, "I'm Your Baby Tonight" quickly rose to the top of the R&B and Hot 100 charts. It also topped the charts in 4 other countries and reached the Top 10 in many more.


Stats
Chart Entry: October 20, 1990
Peak Date: December 1, 1990
Weeks At #1: 2
Weeks In Top 10: 7
Weeks On Chart: 17
Hot 100 Peak: #1 (1 week)

Points: 906
Average: 6.76
Standard Deviation: 5.908 (2nd lowest)

B-Boy - 1
divasummer - 1
Jay D83 - 1
Glove Slap - 1
ccarter1023 - 2
#LisaRinna - 2
annoymous1 - 2
.indulgecountry - 2
Ivy Leegue™ - 3
back2blk - 4
jtd Thee Stallion - 4
BB🌕 - 4
Private Dancer - 5
aerodynamite - 5
mamooshka - 5
SHOOTER - 5
312999 - 5

Juanca - 6
jenglisbe - 7
rowellfarm490 - 8
wyckyd - 8
gonecountry - 8
Soulsista - 10

🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 11
Mirago - 12
Ty - 13
Mic Technique - 17
singingrulebritannia - 18


samo🦕 - 26

Observing
razorshark

---

"I'm Your Baby Tonight" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, losing to the song at #1...



1. Vision Of Love - Mariah Carey

Born on Long Island, Mariah got her start in the business singing backup for Brenda K. Starr. While accompanying Brenda to a gala, she handed her demo tape to Tommy Mottola. Tommy listened to the tape on the ride home and liked what he heard so much that he asked the driver to go back to the event so he could find her, but Mariah had already left. Tommy was eventually able to get in contact with her and sign her to a record deal. Her first charted single, co-produced by Narada Michael Walden, topped both the R&B and Hot 100 charts (the first of five consecutive on the latter). Also hitting #1 in Canada and New Zealand, it won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and helped Mariah win the Grammy for Best New Artist. "Vision Of Love" was also nominated for Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year. The song would go on to inspire numerous artists who came after her, including Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Beyonce, and Mary J. Blige.

Congrats to ccarter1023, #LisaRinna, and annoymous1 for a perfect Top 2!


Stats
Chart Entry: June 2, 1990
Peak Date: August 11, 1990
Weeks At #1: 2
Weeks In Top 10: 6
Weeks On Chart: 22
Hot 100 Peak: #1 (4 weeks)

Points: 936
Average: 5.72
Standard Deviation: 6.425 (3rd lowest)

Soulsista - 1
ccarter1023 - 1
back2blk - 1
Ivy Leegue™ - 1
jenglisbe - 1
#LisaRinna - 1
annoymous1 - 1
mamooshka - 2
samo🦕 - 2
Ty - 2
Juanca - 2
Private Dancer - 3
gonecountry - 3
Mirago - 3

SHOOTER - 4
Jay D83 - 4
rowellfarm490 - 5
wyckyd - 5
jtd Thee Stallion - 5
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 5
Mic Technique - 5
BB🌕 - 6
.indulgecountry - 8
B-Boy - 9
divasummer - 10

singingrulebritannia - 13
aerodynamite - 15
312999 - 18


Glove Slap - 30

Observing
razorshark


And that concludes the Billboard #1 R&B Songs Of 1990 Rankdown! Thanks to everyone who participated in our final rankdown of 2021.

More rankdowns are coming up in 2022, but what year should we kick things off with? 1991...or 1978?

[Glove Slap]

Thanks for hosting Soulsista !

[back2blk]

This feels right! Thanks for hosting this rankdown.

1991 would be a whole ass mess with how y'all be playing.

But 1978 might do me some good to revisit/discover hits before my time.

[#LisaRinna]

Thank you Soulsista!!

[Jay D83]

I think its hilarious that both songs lowest ranking was #18. I love VOL but I love LTT more - (It was my first Mariah song).

[Soulsista]

Dec 29, 2021 13:01:51 GMT -5 Jay D83 said:

I think its hilarious that both songs lowest ranking was #18. I love VOL but I love LTT more - (It was my first Mariah song).

Look again.

[Jay D83]

Dec 29, 2021 13:09:51 GMT -5 Soulsista said:

Dec 29, 2021 13:01:51 GMT -5 Jay D83 said:

I think its hilarious that both songs lowest ranking was #18. I love VOL but I love LTT more - (It was my first Mariah song).

Look again.

Oh shit. I'm blind. Lol. Anyways, I vote 1978.

[Glove Slap]

Dec 29, 2021 12:57:21 GMT -5 back2blk said:

1991 would be a whole ass mess with how y'all be playing.

I'm ready to see Pulse deny Whitney her flowers again even though this time she'll be singing about getting filled up by a man.



But '78 would be good too.

[#LisaRinna]

Let's carry on with the 1990s!! #MariahfortheWIN

[Private Dancer]

Let me act suprised at the top 4...

[Private Dancer]

If we do 1978...it has one of my favorites songz ever. That song still gets everyone dancing. It better not be tanked

[gonecountry]

Thanks Soulsista for a great rankdown!  Not surprised by the Top 2, but I was hoping for RN1814.  I'll have to take comfort in a #3 ranking.

I'm all in for 78.  Chaka.  Parliament.  EWF. Commodores. Funkadelic.  Roberta and Donny.  Johnny and Deniece.  

91 would be good too.  We've got Color Me Badd ;)

[annoymous1]

Thank you Soulsista for a great rankdown 🙂! Honestly if IDWC was in the RD it would've been my #1 but as is i'm happy VOL won.Def want to do '78.

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

I was really rooting for Poison to be #1. It would be interesting to see how 91 goes down.

[Ivy Leegue™]

LOL Glove Slap. The right song won, yessss! Great rankdown!!

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

Dec 29, 2021 13:53:18 GMT -5 gonecountry said:

Thanks Soulsista for a great rankdown!  Not surprised by the Top 2, but I was hoping for RN1814.  I'll have to take comfort in a #3 ranking.

I'm all in for 78.  Chaka.  Parliament.  EWF. Commodores. Funkadelic.  Roberta and Donny.  Johnny and Deniece.  

91 would be good too.  We've got Color Me Badd ;)

Me too.

[SHOOTER]

We've had enough senior citizen rankdowns. '91 me, please!

[Private Dancer]

Dec 29, 2021 14:05:13 GMT -5 annoymous1 said:

Thank you Soulsista for a great rankdown 🙂! Honestly if IDWC was in the RD it would've been my #1 but as is i'm happy VOL won.Def want to do '78.

YES I DONT WANNA CRY APPRECIATION! THAT SONG EATS THE BALLADS ON THAT ALBUM!

[jenglisbe]

Lisa Fischer come through for 1991!

1978 is lit!!!!

[singingrulebritannia]

"I'm Your Baby Tonight" all the way at #2 is a head scratcher but this was the only scenario where I could be rooting for "Vision Of Love" to win so whatever

[Private Dancer]

Dec 29, 2021 15:59:33 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Lisa Fischer come through for 1991!

1978 is lit!!!!

HOW CAN I EASE THE PAIN WHEN I KNOW YOUR COMING BACK AGAIN

[Soulsista]

Perfect Rankings:

Soulsista / divasummer - 7
Juanca - 6
annoymous1 - 5
ccarter1023 / jenglisbe / singingrulebritannia / #LisaRinna / samo🦕 / Private Dancer - 4
rowellfarm490 / Mic Technique / B-Boy / Jay D83 / back2blk - 3
gonecountry / jtd Thee Stallion / Glove Slap / SHOOTER / 🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 / .indulgecountry - 2
mamooshka / Mirago / Ty / aerodynamite / Ivy Leegue™ - 1
wyckyd / 312999 / BB🌕 - 0


I'll leave you with two final extras. First, this Hot 100 charttopper was one of 4 Top 20 R&B hits for this pop icon, peaking at #16.

Vogue - Madonna

---

And finally, the first and biggest hit for this rapper from Texas. Topping the Hot 100 and peaking at #6 R&B, it samples the Queen and David Bowie song "Under Pressure", though at the time he tried to deny it was a sample and neither Queen nor David Bowie received songwriting credit until after it was a hit.

Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice

[Ty]

Dec 29, 2021 13:33:56 GMT -5 Private Dancer said:

Let me act suprised at the top 4...

But also what an iconic duo for the Top 2! Thank you for hosting this Soulsista

[mamooshka]

Thanks, Soulsista. I'll be there regardless of which year you choose.  :)

[Juanca]

20. The Secret Garden (20): Another discovery for me. I had it in my bottom 7 initially, as I found it a tad boring— but my pop-leaning ears were at fault. That’s why I like listening to unfamiliar songs a few times, as it gives me a chance to fully appreciate stuff. After a few listens, this one fully clicked and now I consider it one of the sexiest, smoothest songs of the late 80s/early 90s.

19. Sensitivity (28): I thought I was gonna rank it higher due to my familiarity with it. I still like the production quite a bit, but the melody is a bit repetitive and the vocals are kinda weaker than songs I ended up ranking higher. Still, songs in these 20s range were very close in points to me.

18. Lies (19): A good, useful discovery, as I like all the EV singles I’ve heard. This is no exception. Awesome vocals, cool production, nice melody make a great combination.

17. My, My, My (29): Another discovery that didn’t fully convince me. I like the instrumental (thanks, Kenny G) and vocals but the melody was just ok to me.

16. Can’t Stop (35): This has never done much for me. Not a fan of either the instrumental or the melody. Sorry.

15. You Can’t Deny It (10): To me, Lisa represented a new iteration of 80s sophistipop -a genre I loved. This was the third song I heard of her and loved. Great instrumental, vocals and melody.

14. U Can’t Touch This (14): Another PPPP :) This was a huge hit in Peru, and a personal top 3. So it brings back lots of good memories -and frankly I still find it fun and catchy.

13. Ready or Not (30): I liked it more than Can’t Stop, but this is still not a song that grabs me or that I find memorable.

12. Giving You The Benefit (13): I wasn’t much into this back in 1990. I changed my mind when I heard it again for a Pulse RD a few years ago. Quite catchy, interesting instrumental, good production.

11. Feels Good (11): Great PPPP, but could’ve been a great top 10. Love the production, sampling, melody. A unique type of song that deserves a high ranking.


Overall a solid top 10! I’m left with 1-8, 11, 16, so all pretty good tunes.


10. Thieves In The Temple (16): I’ve always liked the production and instrumental of this song. The melody is good enough to secure a spot in my top 20 but not my top 15.

9. Rub You The Right Way (12): Another song I discovered recently thanks to a Pulse rankdown, and I’ve liked ever since. Cool 90s production and melody.

8. Love Takes Time (7): shamefully I wasn’t into Mariah during her debut era, as I was more into pop, rock, and dance. Her first song to enter my personal chart was Emotions, but I caught up during the #1s “era”, when this song reached the top of my personal chart. Great melody and vocals, even if the production sounds a bit dated now.

7. All Around The World (1): Without a doubt my favorite from this list. A song I’ve loved from first listen. A personal year end top 20. I love her vocals, the sophistipop production, the mix of influences from Barry White to Soul II Soul, the lyrics, everything. I also like hearing this often. I’m happy it at least made it this high, although I wish it had made the top 5.

6. Hold On (4): Another great song with great vocals and production. And I think they could’ve made the top 5 instead of one of the diva songs…

5. Poison (5): A classic tune that still sounds cool :) unfortunately neither Peruvian radio nor I weren’t much into NJS in 1990, but I put this into my favorite “dance” songs of the decade.

4. Escapade (8): This was Janet’s second biggest hit in Peru, after WITOY, and it’s one of my top 10 JJ songs ever, even if it’s not in my top 3 of this album…

3. Rhythm Nation (3): … whereas THIS is my favorite of this album. I love the production, and how strong the music and vocals sound. It’s got the most attitude of all the singles in this album IMO, and of course the lyrics are also quite good. Great to see it this high, but I thought this deserved to be higher than Whitney’s.

2. I’m Your Baby Tonight (6): Another song I wasn’t too much into back in 1990, but got around it in the mid 90s. I agree that was a great sound shift for her and a song that added variety to her discography. I like her vocal attitude too, but it’s not in my top 5 Whitney songs. She’s done much better.

1. Vision of Love (2): Great winner. A defining song of the 90s and one of the best debut singles IMO. Another Mariah song that reached the top of my personal chart in the late 90s as I went back to appreciate her catalog. A masterclass in vocals, a timeless production, and a great melody, are a great combination that make it a deserving winner of this RD.

Thanks Soulsista for another great rankdown with lots of great music and information! I’m intrigued about both options for the next RD, so I’ll happily join either!

[divasummer]

Wow Whitney looks beautiful.
They would probably both laugh at the power Lesbian comment. Lol

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

I'm ready to rank "Love Will Never Do Without You" and some Jodeci songs.

[Private Dancer]

Dec 30, 2021 1:57:22 GMT -5 🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 said:

I'm ready to rank "Love Will Never Do Without You" and some Jodeci songs.

I just checked the list and unfortunately Janet didn't make it the list.... But luckily, we got Shanice, En Vogue Vanessa, Karyn, and Lisa Fischer

[ccarter1023]

Awesome results! Thank you Soulsista for another great groovy RD!!