1989 Modern Rock 500

WOXY

The most important songs in Modern Rock, as determined by WOXY staff in 1989.

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1 Smiths - How Soon is Now
2 REM - Its the End of the World
3 Modern English - I Melt With You
4 New Order - Blue Monday
5 Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
6 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Cities in Dust
7 New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
8 Romeo Void - Never Say Never
9 Cure - Lets Go to Bed
10 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
11 Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
12 Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
13 U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
14 B52s - Rock Lobster
15 Bauhaus - Bela Lugosis Dead
16 Nails - 88 Lines About 44 Women
17 Time Zone - World Destruction
18 Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
19 XTC - Dear God
20 Cure - Lovecats
21 Camper Van Beethoven - Take the Skinheads Bowling
22 Icicle Works - Whisper to a Scream
23 Dead Milkmen - Bitchin Camaro
24 Elvis Costello - Pump It Up
25 Love and Rockets - Ball of Confusion
26 Cure - Boys Dont Cry
27 Royal Crescent Mob - Get on the Bus
28 Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
29 XTC - Making Plans for Nigel
30 Clash - Train in Vain
31 Depeche Mode - Blasphemous Rumours
32 Echo and The Bunnymen - Bring on the Dancing Horses
33 REM - Radio Free Europe
34 English Beat - Save it for Later
35 Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
36 Simple Minds - Dont You Forget About Me
37 Yaz - Situation
38 XTC - Senses Working Overtime
39 Special AKA - Free Nelson Mandela
40 Cure - In Between Days
41 New Order - Confusion
42 Clash - London Calling
43 Public Image Limited - Rise
44 REM - Dont Go Back to Rockville
45 Love and Rockets - Kundalini Express
46 Ministry - Everyday is Halloween
47 The - Uncertain Smile
48 Cure - Close to Me
49 Godfathers - Birth School Work Death
50 Berlin - Sex Im a
51 New Order - Love Vigilantes
52 INXS - Original Sin
53 David Bowie - Fashion
54 Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way
55 Squeeze - Pulling Mussels from the Shell
56 Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane
57 Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out With
58 Roxy Music - More Than This
59 Replacements - I Will Dare
60 Killing Joke - Eighties
61 Police - Cant Stand Losing You
62 Midnight Oil - Power and the Passion
63 Tears For Fears - Change
64 Cure - 1015 Saturday Night
65 Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
66 Patti Smith Group - Dancing Barefoot
67 Bob Marley - Jamming
68 Jim Carroll Band - People Who Died
69 Devo - Whip It
70 REM - Cant Get There from Here
71 U2 - I Will Follow
72 Shriekback - Nemesis
73 Depeche Mode - Route 66
74 Adam and The Ants - Antmusic
75 Mighty Lemon Drops - Inside Out
76 Alarm - 68 Guns
77 Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax
78 Cure - Just Like Heaven
79 Smithereens - Blood and Roses
80 Guadalcanal Diary - Watusi Rodeo
81 Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
82 Clash - Rock the Casbah
83 Sinead OConnor - Mandinka
84 Gene Loves Jezebel - Desire
85 Echo and The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar
86 General Public - Tenderness
87 10000 Maniacs - Whats the Matter Here
88 Aztec Camera - Oblivious
89 Fine Young Cannibals - Johnny Come Home
90 Sugarcubes - Birthday
91 Oingo Boingo - Dead Mans Party
92 Bears - Fear is Never Boring
93 Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth
94 REM - Fall on Me
95 Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule The
96 Depeche Mode - People are People
97 Sisters of Mercy - This Corrosion
98 Cure - Killing an Arab
99 Midnight Oil - Beds are Burning
100 Roxy Music - Love is the Drug
101 Big Audio Dynamite - Medicine Show
102 UB40 - If It Happens Again
103 Violent Femmes - Prove My Love
104 Camper Van Beethoven - Good Guys and Bad Guys
105 Jam - Town Called Malice
106 John Astley - Janes Getting Serious
107 Church - Reptile
108 Peter Gabriel - Biko
109 Circle Jerks - Golden Shower of Hits
110 Blondie - Rapture
111 Cult - Love Removal Machine
112 Pretenders - Message of Love
113 Squeeze - Tempted
114 Talking Heads - And She Was
115 Love and Rockets - No New Tale to Tell
116 Talk Talk - Talk Talk
117 Replacements - Alex Chilton
118 Morrissey - Suedehead
119 Split Enz - I Got You
120 B52s - Private Idaho
121 Bryan Ferry - Slave to Love
122 Erasure - Chains of Love
123 David Bowie - Heroes
124 U2 - Gloria
125 Waterboys - This is the Sea
126 Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
127 REM - Superman
128 Simple Minds - Promised You a Miracle
129 Iggy Pop - Real Wild Child Wild One
130 Psychedelic Furs - Pretty in Pink
131 Depeche Mode - Just Cant Get Enough
132 Robyn Hitchcock - Balloon Man
133 Gene Love Gezebel - Twenty Killer Hurts
134 Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go
135 Adrian Belew - Big Electric Cat
136 Smiths - Girlfriend in a Coma
137 Mission UK - Tower of Strength
138 Madness - One Step Beyond
139 Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
140 Adam Ant - Desperate But Not Serious
141 Cure - Hot Hot Hot
142 Joy Division - Shes Lost Control
143 Jerry Harrison - Man With a Gun
144 General Public - Hot Youre Cool
145 U2 - Pride In the Name of Love
146 Guadalcanal Diary - Litany Life Goes On
147 Replacements - Bastards of Young
148 Sisters of Mercy - Lucretia My Reflection
149 Plimsouls - A Million Miles Away
150 Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again
151 Smiths - There Is a Light That Never
152 Sinead OConnor - I Want Your Hands on Me
153 Psychedelic Furs - Heaven
154 B52s - Party Out of Bounds
155 REM - Pretty Persuasion
156 Shona Laing - Soviet Snow
157 Pretenders - Wait
158 Alarm - Rain in the Summertime
159 New Order - Perfect Kiss
160 U2 - Desire
161 Ministry - Work For Love
162 Hüsker Dü - Makes No Sense At All
163 Ultravox - Sleepwalk
164 INXS - One Thing
165 Housemartins - Happy Hour
166 Elvis Costello - Alison
167 Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
168 They Might Be Giants - Dont Lets Start
169 Fall - Mr Pharmacist
170 Minutemen - Cheerleaders
171 Smiths - Queen Is Dead
172 Clash - Police and Thieves
173 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Peek a Boo
174 Shriekback - Gunnin For the Buddha
175 Peter Tosh - Get Up Stand Up
176 Public Image Limited - Public Image
177 Human League - Dont You Want Me
178 Joe Jackson - Im the Man
179 XTC - Generals and Majors
180 Patti Smith - Gloria
181 UB40 - Red Red Wine
182 Devo - Through Being Cool
183 Camper Van Beethoven - Eye of Fatima
184 English Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom
185 Police - Roxanne
186 INXS - I Send a Message
187 New Order - True Faith
188 Psychedelic Furs - Ghost in You
189 Squeeze - Black Coffee in Bed
190 Smiths - Ask
191 Violent Femmes - Faith
192 Echo and The Bunnymen - Killing Moon
193 Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime
194 Waterboys - Church Not Made With Hands
195 Depeche Mode - Shake the Disease
196 Big Audio Dynamite - Cmon Every Beatbox
197 Cult - Rain
198 Duran Duran - Girls on Film
199 10000 Maniacs - Like the Weather
200 Cure - Why Cant I Be You
201 Jesus and Mary Chain - Sidewalkin
202 Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again
203 Sinead OConnor - Troy
204 Gene Loves Gezebel - Motion of Love
205 Pogues - Dirty Old Town
206 Don Dixon - Praying Mantis
207 Elvis Costello - Whats So Funny Bout
208 Simple Minds - Alive and Kicking
209 Adam Ant - Goody Two Shoes
210 Blondie - Rip Her to Shreds
211 Dukes of Stratoshsphere - Vanishing Girl
212 Royal Crescent Mob - Happy at Home
213 REM - Wind Out
214 Pretenders - Precious
215 Public Image Limited - Annalisa
216 Police - So Lonely
217 Sugarcubes - Cold Sweat
218 Depeche Mode - Behind the Wheel
219 B52s - Quiche Lorraine
220 Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia
221 Clash - Death or Glory
222 Erasure - Oh Lamour
223 Smiths - Boy With the Thorn in His Side
224 Iggy Pop - Cry For Love
225 Smithereens - Only a Memory
226 Violent Femmes - No Killing
227 Talking Heads - Burning Down the House
228 Roxy Music - Avalon
229 Jimmy Cliff - Harder They Come
230 They Might Be Giants - Ana Ng
231 Joe Jackson - Got the Time
232 Robyn Hitchcock - My Wife and My Dead Wife
233 Ministry - Stigmata
234 Pretenders - Mystery Achievement
235 Elvis Costello - Watching the Detectives
236 INXS - What You Need
237 Shriekback - Intoxication
238 Police - Next to You
239 Psychedelic Furs - Sister Europe
240 Alarm - Strength
241 Smiths - Reel Around the Fountain
242 Devo - I Cant Get No Satisfaction
243 Primitives - Crash
244 Camper Van Beethoven - Seven Languages
245 Talking Heads - Swamp
246 Hüsker Dü - Dont Want to Know If You
247 Joe Jackson - Cha Cha Loco
248 John Hiatt - Slow Turning
249 Love and Rockets - Mirror People
250 INXS - Dont Change
251 Long Ryders - Looking For Lewis and Clark
252 U2 - With or Without You
253 Big Audio Dynamite - Champagne
254 Aztec Camera - Jump
255 Bob Marley and The Wailers - I Shot the Sheriff
256 Depeche Mode - Black Celebration
257 Echo and The Bunnymen - Bedbugs and Ballyhoo
258 Guadalcanal Diary - Cattle Prod
259 Bodeans - Fade Away
260 Elvis Costello - Accidents Will Happen
261 Bears - Aches and Pains
262 English Beat - I Confess
263 Joe Strummer - Love Kills
264 Midnight Oil - When the Generals Talk
265 Blondie - Hardest Part
266 New Order - Subculture
267 Hothouse Flowers - Im Sorry
268 Smiths - Headmaster Ritual
269 Madness - Keep Moving
270 Psychedelic Furs - Forever Now
271 INXS - New Sensation
272 Talking Heads - Stay Up Late
273 Pretenders - My City Was Gone
274 Public Image Limited - Seattle
275 Ministry - Cold Life
276 Sting - Shadows in the Rain
277 Jesus and Mary Chain - Happy When it Rains
278 Erasure - A Little Respect
279 General Public - Never You Done That
280 Lloyd Cole and The Commotions - Brand New Friend
281 Sicilian Vespers - Baccala
282 Mission UK - Wasteland
283 Tom Waits - Franks Wild Years
284 Graham Parker - Local Girls
285 Devo - Jocko Homo
286 Adrian Belew - Momur
287 Joe Jackson - Jumpin Jive
288 Camper Van Beethoven - Turquoise Jewelry
289 Iggy Pop - Five Foot One
290 Hüsker Dü - Flip Your Wig
291 Smiths - Panic
292 INXS - This Time
293 Cult - Peace Dog
294 New Order - Temptation
295 Echo and The Bunnymen - Cutter
296 Big Audio Dynamite - Rock NonStop
297 Bob Marley - Exodus
298 Depeche Mode - Somebody
299 Sugarcubes - Motor Crash
300 Icicle Works - Understanding Jane
301 Tones on Tail - Go Club Mix
302 UB40 - Rat in the Kitchen
303 Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side
304 Gang of Four - I Love a Man in a Uniform
305 Clash - Lost in the Supermarket
306 Vapors - Turning Japanese
307 Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
308 Boomtown Rats - I Dont Like Mondays
309 X - Burning House of Love
310 Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio
311 Elvis Costello - Everyday I Write the Book
312 Squeeze - Take Me Im Yours
313 REM - One I Love
314 Timbuk 3 - Futures So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades
315 David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes
316 Marshall Crenshaw - Cynical Girl
317 Haircut 100 - Love Plus One
318 Lets Active - Every Word Means No
319 Go Gos - We Got the Beat
320 INXS - Calling All Nations
321 Feelies - Away
322 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence
323 U2 - Bad Live
324 Damned - In Dulce Decorum
325 Jam - Bitterest Pill
326 Eurythmics - Would I Lie to You
327 Howard Jones - Pearl in the Shell
328 Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers
329 Pretenders - Middle of the Road
330 Talk Talk - Its My Life
331 Talking Heads - Life During Wartime
332 XTC - Love on a Farmboys Wages
333 Cucumbers - My Boyfriend
334 Nails - Things You Left Behind
335 Replacements - Left of the Dial
336 Stranglers - Skin Deep
337 Ultravox - Reap the Wild Wind
338 Cure - Caterpillar
339 Orchestral Manouvres in the Dark - Locomotion
340 Talking Heads - Pulled Up
341 Simple Minds - Up On the Catwalk
342 Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes
343 B52s - Planet Claire
344 Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science
345 DBs - A Spy in the House of Love
346 Peter Gabriel - Shock the Monkey
347 Smiths - Is It Really So Strange
348 Screaming Blue Messiahs - I Wanna Be a Flintstone
349 Pretenders - Stop Your Sobbing
350 Hoodoo Gurus - Bittersweet
351 Big Country - In a Big Country
352 Fun Boy Three - Our Lips Are Sealed
353 Trio - Da Da Da
354 Police - Canary in a Coalmine
355 Human League - Lebanon
356 Los Lobos - Will the Wolf Survive
357 Joe Jackson - Sunday Papers
358 Flesh for Lulu - I Go Crazy
359 Church - Under the Milky Way
360 Pete Shelley - Homosapien
361 XTC - Towers of London
362 U2 - Seconds
363 Ramones - Teenage Lobotomy
364 David Bowie - Cat People
365 ABC - Look of Love
366 Jam - Modern World
367 Lords of the New Church - Method to My Madness
368 Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun
369 Thompson Twins - Love On Your Side
370 Del Fuegos - I Still Want You
371 Public Image Limited - This is Not a Love Song
372 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Swimming Horses
373 Echo and The Bunnymen - Do It Clean
374 Elvis Costello - Angels Wanna Wear
375 Squeeze - Annie Get Your Gun
376 Bangles - Hero Takes a Fall
377 UB40 - Sing Our Own Song
378 Wire - Kidney Bingos
379 X - Hungry Wolf
380 Lets Active - Fell
381 Replacements - Here Comes a Regular
382 Clash - I Fought the Law
383 Marshall Crenshaw - Whenever Youre On My Mind
384 Peter Murphy - All Night Long
385 Talking Heads - Take Me to the River
386 Tears For Fears - Shout
387 Oingo Boingo - Stay
388 Royal Crescent Mob - Love and Tunafish
389 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Fight Like a Brave
390 Laurie Anderson - Sharkeys Night
391 Richard Thompson - Tear Stained Letter
392 Peter Gabriel - Modern Love
393 Roxy Music - Oh Yeah
394 The - This is the Day
395 Human League - Seconds
396 Smithereens - Behind the Wall of Sleep
397 Lou Reed - I Love You Suzanne
398 Specials - A Message to You Rudy
399 Elvis Costello - Radio Radio
400 Call - Walls Came Down
401 Orchestral Manouvres in the Dark - Enola Gay
402 Bob Marley and The Wailers - Lively Up Yourself
403 Midnight Oil - Dead Heart
404 Joan Armtrading - Temptation
405 Pretenders - Time the Avenger
406 XTC - No Thugs in Our House
407 World Party - Ship of Fools
408 U2 - Trip Through Your Wires
409 Bears - Figure it Out
410 Smiths - Stop Me If You Think Youve
411 David Bowie - Scary Monsters
412 Pet Shop Boys - Opportunities
413 Talk Talk - Lifes What You Make it
414 Joe Jackson - You Cant Get What You Want
415 Style Council - My Ever Changing Moods
416 Fetchin Bones - Stray
417 Gene Loves Jezebel - Heartache
418 Dead Milkmen - Youll Dance to Anything
419 Eurythmics - Love Is a Stranger
420 REM - Orange Crush
421 Police - Message in a Bottle
422 Howard Jones - New Song
423 A Flock of Seagulls - Telecommunication
424 Pogues - Pair of Long Brown Eyes
425 Beat Farmers - Happy Boy
426 B52s - Legal Tender
427 Damned - Grimly Fiendish
428 Bodeans - Dreams
429 John Hiatt - Memphis in the Meantime
430 Stan Ridgway - Drive She Said
431 Michelle Shocked - Anchorage
432 New Order - Thieves Like Us
433 Squeeze - Goodbye Girl
434 Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper - Elvis is Everywhere
435 Psychedelic Furs - President Gas
436 Elvis Costello - I Cant Stand Up Falling Down
437 Depeche Mode - Strangelove
438 Lloyd Cole - Perfect Skin
439 Feelies - Slipping Into Something
440 Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
441 Meat Puppets - Lost
442 Lone Justice - Ways to Be Wicked
443 Ultravox - Dancing With Tears in my Eyes
444 Simple Minds - Waterfront
445 Stranglers - Always the Sun
446 Clash - Police on my Back
447 Ramones - Sheena is a Punk Rocker
448 Pretenders - Kid
449 Replacements - Ill Be You
450 Dead or Alive - Ill Do Anything
451 Church - Unguarded Moment
452 Circle Jerks - American Heavy Metal Weekend
453 Echo and The Bunnymen - Seven Seas
454 Los Lobos - Shakin Shakin Shakes
455 Talking Heads - Crosseyed and Painless
456 Heaven 17 - Penthouse and Pavement
457 INXS - Guns in the Sky
458 XTC - Mayor of Simpleton
459 David Bowie - John Im Only Dancing
460 Art of Noise - Close to the Edit
461 Cure - Shake Dog Shake
462 Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes
463 Lords of the New Church - Russian Roulette
464 Lets Active - Blue Line
465 Smiths - What Difference Does It Make
466 Thompson Twins - Lies
467 Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized
468 The - Infected
469 Hoodoo Gurus - I Want You Back
470 Orchestral Manouvres in the Dark - So in Love
471 Nails - Let It All Hang Out
472 Jonathan Richman Modern Lovers - Dodge Veg O Matic
473 B52s - Summer of Love
474 U2 - I Threw a Brick
475 X - See How We Are
476 Squeeze - Cool for Cats
477 Souxsie and The Banshees - Arabian Nights
478 Buzzcocks - Different Kind of Tension
479 Marshall Crenshaw - Someday Someway
480 Dancing Hoods - Babys Got Rockets
481 Joe Jackson - Look Sharp
482 Trio - Boom Boom
483 Fall - Cab It Up
484 Book of Love - I Touch Roses
485 Thomas Dolby - Hyperactive
486 Living Colour - Cult of Personality
487 Jam - Here Comes the Weekend
488 Shriekback - Black Light Trap
489 Spandau Ballet - Lifeline
490 Del Fuegos - Dont Run Wild
491 Firehose - For the Singer of REM
492 Janes Addiction - Jane Says
493 Midnight Oil - Kosclusko
494 DBs - Amplifier
495 Big Audio Dynamite - Bottom Line
496 XTC - Snowman
497 Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
498 Elvis Costello - Mystery Dance
499 TBone Burnett - Strange Case of Frank Cash
500 Proclaimers - Im Gonna Be 500 Miles
Other Modern Rock 500 countdowns by year
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009

Note the station did not broadcast a Modern Rock 500 in 2004.

Credit to WOXY listener Craig Froehle for providing the underlying source materials for these yearly lists.

Combinations

Here is one massive combined countdown with all songs from every year of the countdown, ranked by average position (1394 songs in all).

1989-2009 Combined Modern Rock 500