1989
The year in music, movies, TV, fads & memories
In 1989, “Look Away” by Chicago topped the Billboard year-end Hot 100 and Cosmic Thing by The B-52's and Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty were on every turntable. Batman, Dead Poets Society and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids were in theaters, and Seinfeld pilot, The Simpsons series premiere and Saved by the Bell were on TV.
The headlines: Berlin Wall falls (Nov 9). New that year: Game Boy launches in US (July 31). Fads of the year: Game Boy / Tetris craze and Batman merchandise mania. Gas was $1.02 a gallon, a stamp was 25¢ and a movie ticket ran ~$4.45. On the shelf: a Fudge Stripe cookie, a can of Hawaiian Punch and a Teddy Ruxpin, with Muppet Babies on Saturday morning.
🎂 What music raised you?
Drop your birthday and we'll rewind to your golden era — the years the songs imprinted for life.
🔙 Backtrack — 1989
The world around the music — what was on screen, and what was on the shelf.
🎬 Set the scene
Back in 1989, the day could start with Voltron, drift into a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, and end with you about to wander the mall food court with nowhere to be.
📼 Saturday cartoons
- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe👕 tee →
- ThunderCats👕 tee →
- G.I. Joe👕 tee →
- The Smurfs👕 tee →
- Garfield and Friends
- The Real Ghostbusters👕 tee →
- DuckTales👕 tee →
- Inspector Gadget
- Voltron👕 tee →
- Muppet Babies
📰 Headlines
- Berlin Wall falls (Nov 9)
- Exxon Valdez oil spill
- Tiananmen Square crackdown
- US invades Panama
- Loma Prieta earthquake
💡 Tech & Firsts
- Game Boy launches in US (July 31)
- Sega Genesis launches in US
- Tim Berners-Lee proposes the Web
- Nintendo bundles Tetris
- SimCity released
🏆 Sports
- A's win the World Series (quake series)
- Pistons win the NBA title
- 49ers win Super Bowl XXIII
- Flames win the Stanley Cup
- Michigan wins the NCAA title
🤪 Crazes & fads
- Game Boy / Tetris craze
- Batman merchandise mania
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Nintendo Power Glove
- New Kids on the Block fever
👖 Clothes
- Acid-wash jeans peak
- Hammer / parachute pants
- Bike shorts
- Neon windbreakers
- Hypercolor shirts emerge
💵 What it cost
- Gas: $1.02/gal
- Stamp: 25¢
- Movie ticket: ~$4.45
- New car avg: ~$14,400
- Median home: ~$93,100
🧸 Toy chest
🍬 On the shelf
Billboard Year-End Hot 100
📊 Full chart →- 1
Look AwayChicago - 2
My PrerogativeBobby Brown - 3
Every Rose Has Its ThornPoison - 4
Straight UpPaula Abdul - 5
Miss You MuchJanet Jackson - 6Cold HeartedPaula Abdul
- 7
Wind Beneath My WingsBette Midler - 8
Girl You Know It's TrueMilli Vanilli - 9
Baby, I Love Your WayBig Mountain - 10
Giving You the Best That I GotAnita Baker - 11
Right Here WaitingRichard Marx - 12
Waiting for a Star to FallBoy Meets Girl - 13
Lost In Your EyesDebbie Gibson - 14
Don't Wanna Lose YouGloria Estefan - 15
HeavenWarrant - 16I'm Gonna Miss YouMilli Vanilli
- 17
The LookRoxette - 18
She Drives Me CrazyFine Young Cannibals - 19On Our OwnBobby Brown
- 20
Two HeartsPhil Collins - 21
Blame It On the RainMilli Vanilli - 22Listen to Your HeartRoxette
- 23
I'll Be There for YouBon Jovi - 24
If You Don't Know Me By NowSimply Red - 25
Like a PrayerMadonna
More from 1989
🎤 Big in 1989
🎚️ 1989 genres
🎛️ Behind the boards & the pen — 1989
The hands behind 1989 — the producers and songwriters who actually shaped that year's records. Madonna was on 4 of them.
🎬 Movies of 1989
All soundtracks →The soundtracks that scored 1989 — every song and where it played.
🎚️ Related vibes
All themes →Themed rooms that lean on the sound of 1989.
🌀 Things 1989 remembers wrong
All Glitch Files →Mandela-effect cases that were on the shelf, the screen or the radio in 1989. Which do you remember?
What does 1989 remind you of?
The drive, the dance, the heartbreak, the summer. Add a memory of 1989.
Community Memories
How well do you remember 1989?
7 quick questions — the songs, the artists, the year. No cheating. 😏
📼 Take this tape with you
Build this in your own Spotify in two taps — free, no account needed here. (For Apple Music or YouTube, open songs one-by-one below.)
Then open the free helper
🎵 1989 albums on vinyl
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📻 80s gear
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