List of number-one albums of 1989 (U.S.)

The highest-selling albums and EPs in the United States are ranked in the Billboard 200, which is published by Billboard magazine. The data are compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly physical and digital sales.^[1] In 1989, 15 albums advanced to the peak position of the chart.

The Raw & the Cooked, the second album by rock and soul band Fine Young Cannibals, had the longest run among the releases that reached peak position in 1989, spending 7 consecutive weeks in the top position. Selling over two million copies, The Raw & the Cooked included two US number one songs "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing". The title of the album comes from the book of the same name (Le Cru et le Cuit in French) written by French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss.

The cover of Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" originally appeared on the soundtrack for Something Wild three years earlier. Three songs from the album — "Good Thing", "Tell Me What" and "As Hard As It Is" — first appeared in the 1987 film Tin Men, where Fine Young Cannibals portrayed a band in a nightclub.^[2] These three songs have a retro-soul style consistent with the film's 1963 Baltimore setting.

After the band asked MCA Records to get Prince to produce tracks to complete the album, the label countered with producer David Z, who had worked with Prince and is the older brother of Bobby Z of The Revolution. Fine Young Cannibals and David Z recorded three tracks together at Paisley Park Studios to complete the album, including the hit "She Drives Me Crazy."^[3]

The album won Best British Album at the 1990 Brit Awards.

One of the most controversial music events of 1990 had its origins in the 1989 debut album Girl You Know It's True', by the pop group Milli Vanilli. The album spent 6 non-consecutive weeks in the top position.

In 1989, the majority of songs from Milli Vanilli's Europe-only release All or Nothing were repackaged and retitled Girl You Know It's True for release in the United States and Canada on the Arista label. This release was still considered "too European sounding" by label BMG, so it was again repackaged as "All or Nothing (US Remix album)" with a new track "Blame It On The Rain". Milli Vanilli enjoyed success with three #1 hits from the album: "I'm Gonna Miss You," "Baby Don't Forget My Number" and "Blame It on the Rain." Milli Vanilli subsequently won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist on February 22, 1990.

The group's producer, Frank Farian, revealed to reporters on November 15, 1990, that Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus did not actually sing on any of the songs on the album. As a result, Milli Vanilli's Grammy was withdrawn four days later. Arista Records dropped the act from its roster and deleted their album and its masters from their catalog, making it the largest-selling album to ever be taken out of print.

See also

• 1989 in music
• List of number-one albums (United States)

References