Billboard Top 40 of 1988

The following songs made their debut in the Billboard Top 40 in 1988;^[1] they are listed in alphabetical order.

• "1-2-3" - Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine (#3)
• "853-5937" - Squeeze (#32)
• "All Fired Up" - Pat Benatar (#19)
• "All This Time" - Tiffany (#6)
• "Alphabet Street" - Prince (#8)
• "Always on My Mind" - Pet Shop Boys (#4)
• "Angel" - Aerosmith (#3)
• "Another Lover" - Giant Steps (#13)
• "Another Part of Me" - Michael Jackson (#11)
• "Anything for You" - Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine (#1)
• "Armageddon It" - Def Leppard (#3)
• "Baby, I Love Your Way" / "Freebird Medley (Free Baby)" - Will to Power (#1)
• "Bad Medicine" - Bon Jovi (#1)
• "Be Still My Beating Heart" - Sting (#15)
• "Because Of You" - The Cover Girls (#27)
• "Beds Are Burning" - Midnight Oil (#17)
• "Black and Blue" - Van Halen (#34)
• "Born to Be My Baby" - Bon Jovi (#3)
• "Can't Stay Away from You" - Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine (#6)
• "Chains Of Love" - Erasure (#12)
• "Check It Out" - John Cougar Mellencamp (#14)
• "Circle in the Sand" - Belinda Carlisle (#7)
• "The Colour of Love" - Billy Ocean (#17)
• "Da' Butt" - Experience Unlimited (#35)
• "Dance Little Sister (Part One)" - Terence Trent D'Arby (#30)
• "Desire" - U2 (#3)
• "Devil Inside" - Inxs (#2)
• "Dirty Diana" - Michael Jackson (#1)
• "Do You Love Me" - The Contours (#11)
• "Domino Dancing" - Pet Shop Boys (#18)
• "Don't Be Cruel" - Bobby Brown (#8)
• "Don't Be Cruel" - Cheap Trick (#4)
• "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" - Cinderella (#12)
• "Don't Rush Me" - Taylor Dayne (#2)
• "Don't Worry, Be Happy" - Bobby McFerrin (#1)
• "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" - Steve Winwood (#6)
• "Downtown Life" - Daryl Hall & John Oates (#31)
• "Dreaming" - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (#16)
• "Early in the Morning" - Robert Palmer (#19)
• "Edge Of A Broken Heart" - Vixen (#26)
• "Electric Blue" - Icehouse (#7)
• "Endless Summer Nights" - Richard Marx (#2)
• "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" - Poison (#1)
• "Everything Your Heart Desires" - Daryl Hall & John Oates (#3)
• "Fallen Angel" - Poison (#12)
• "Fast Car" - Tracy Chapman (#6)
• "Father Figure" - George Michael (#1)
• "Finish What Ya Started" - Van Halen (#13)
• "Fishnet" - Morris Day (#23)
• "The Flame" - Cheap Trick (#1)
• "Foolish Beat" - Debbie Gibson (#1)
• "Forever Young" - Rod Stewart (#12)
• "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" - Billy Ocean (#1)
• "Ghost Town" - Cheap Trick (#33)
• "Girlfriend" - Pebbles (#5)
• "Giving You the Best That I Got" - Anita Baker (#3)
• "Going Back to Cali" - L.L. Cool J (#31)
• "A Groovy Kind of Love" - Phil Collins (#1)
• "Hands to Heaven" - Breathe (#2)
• "Heart of Mine" - Boz Scaggs (#35)
• "Here with Me" - REO Speedwagon (#20)
• "Hold on to the Nights" - Richard Marx (#1)
• "Holding On" - Steve Winwood (#11)
• "How Can I Fall?" - Breathe (#3)
• "Hysteria" - Def Leppard (#10)
• "I Don't Wanna Go On with You Like That" - Elton John (#2)
• "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" - Chicago (#3)
• "I Don't Want to Be a Hero" - Johnny Hates Jazz (#31)
• "I Don't Want to Live Without You" - Foreigner (#5)
• "I Don't Want Your Love" - Duran Duran (#4)
• "I Found Someone" - Cher (#10)
• "I Get Weak" - Belinda Carlisle (#2)
• "I Hate Myself for Loving You" - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (#8)
• "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" - The Moody Blues (#30)
• "I Live For Your Love" - Natalie Cole (#13)
• "I Remember Holding You" - Boys Club (#8)
• "I Saw Him Standing There" - Tiffany (#7)
• "I Should Be So Lucky" - Kylie Minogue (#28)
• "I Still Believe" - Brenda K. Starr (#13)
• "I Wanna Have Some Fun" - Samantha Fox (#8)
• "I Want Her" - Keith Sweat (#5)
• "I Wish I Had A Girl" - Henry Lee Summer (#20)
• "I'll Always Love You" - Taylor Dayne (#3)
• "I'm Still Searching" - Glass Tiger (#31)
• "If It Isn't Love" - New Edition (#7)
• "In Your Room" - The Bangles (#5)
• "In Your Soul" - Corey Hart (#38)
• "Indestructible" - Four Tops (#35)
• "It Takes Two" - Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock (#36)
• "It Would Take A Strong Strong Man" - Rick Astley (#10)
• "It's No Secret" - Kylie Minogue (#37)
• "Just Got Paid" - Johnny Kemp (#10)
• "Just Like Heaven" - The Cure (#40)
• "Just Like Paradise" - David Lee Roth (#6)
• "Kiss" - The Art of Noise featuring Tom Jones (#31)
• "Kiss and Tell" - Bryan Ferry (#31)
• "Kiss Me Deadly" - Lita Ford (#12)
• "Kissing a Fool" - George Michael (#5)
• "Kokomo" - The Beach Boys (#1)
• "Little Liar" - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (#19)
• "Live My Life" - Boy George (#40)
• "The Loco-Motion" - Kylie Minogue (#3)
• "Look Away" - Chicago (#1)
• "Look Out Any Window" - Bruce Hornsby & The Range (#35)
• "Lost in You" - Rod Stewart (#12)
• "Love Bites" - Def Leppard (#1)
• "Love Changes (Everything)" - Climie Fisher (#23)
• "Love Overboard" - Gladys Knight & The Pips (#13)
• "Love Will Save the Day" - Whitney Houston (#9)
• "The Lover in Me" - Sheena Easton (#2)
• "Make It Real" - The Jets (#4)
• "Make Me Lose Control" - Eric Carmen (#3)
• "Man In the Mirror" - Michael Jackson (#1)
• "Mercedes Boy" - Pebbles (#2)
• "Missed Opportunity" - Daryl Hall & John Oates (#29)
• "Monkey" - George Michael (#1)
• "My Girl" - Suave (#20)
• "My Prerogative" - Bobby Brown (#1)
• "Naughty Girls (Need Love Too)" - Samantha Fox (#3)
• "Never Gonna Give You Up" - Rick Astley (#1)
• "Never Knew Love Like This" - Alexander O'Neal featuring Cherrelle (#28)
• "Never Tear Us Apart" - Inxs (#7)
• "New Sensation" - Inxs (#3)
• "Nightime" - Pretty Poison (#36)
• "A Nightmare on My Street" - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (#15)
• "Nite and Day" - Al B. Sure! (#7)
• "Nobody's Fool" - Kenny Loggins (#8)
• "Not Just Another Girl" - Ivan Neville (#26)
• "Nothin' But a Good Time" - Poison (#6)
• "One Good Reason" - Paul Carrack (#28)
• "One Good Woman" - Peter Cetera (#4)
• "One in a Million You" - Larry Graham (#9)
• "One Moment in Time" - Whitney Houston (#5)
• "One More Try" - George Michael (#1)
• "One Step Up" - Bruce Springsteen (#13)
• "Out Of the Blue" - Debbie Gibson (#3)
• "Pamela" - Toto (#22)
• "Paradise" - Sade (#16)
• "Parents Just Don't Understand" - D. J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (#12)
• "Perfect World" - Huey Lewis & The News (#3)
• "Piano in the Dark" - Brenda Russell (#6)
• "Pink Cadillac" - Natalie Cole (#5)
• "Please Don't Go Girl" - New Kids on the Block (#10)
• "Pour Some Sugar on Me" - Def Leppard (#2)
• "The Promise" - When in Rome (#11)
• "Promise Me" - The Cover Girls (#40)
• "Prove Your Love" - Taylor Dayne (#7)
• "Pump Up the Volume" - M/A/R/R/S (#13)
• "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" - Annie Lennox & Al Green (#9)
• "Rag Doll" - Aerosmith (#17)
• "Red Red Wine" - UB40 (#1)
• "Rhythm Of Love" - Yes (#40)
• "Ritual" - Dan Reed Network (#38)
• "Rock of Life" - Rick Springfield (#22)
• "Rocket 2 U" - The Jets (#6)
• "Roll With It" - Steve Winwood (#1)
• "Rush Hour" - Jane Wiedlin (#9)
• "Say It Again" - Jermaine Stewart (#27)
• "Sayin' Sorry (Don't Make It Right)" - Denise Lopez (#31)
• "Shattered Dreams" - Johnny Hates Jazz (#2)
• "She's Like the Wind" - Patrick Swayze (featuring Wendy Fraser) (#3)
• "Sign Your Name" - Terence Trent D'Arby (#4)
• "Silhouette" - Kenny G (#13)
• "Simply Irresistible" - Robert Palmer (#2)
• "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" - Michael Bolton (#11)
• "Small World" - Huey Lewis & The News (#25)
• "Smooth Criminal" - Michael Jackson (#7)
• "Some Kind of Lover" - Jody Watley (#10)
• "Spy in the House of Love" - Was (Not Was) (#16)
• "Staying Together" - Debbie Gibson (#22)
• "Straight Up" - Paula Abdul (#1)
• "Strange But True" - Times Two (#21)
• "Supersonic" - J.J. Fad (#30)
• "Superstitious" - Europe (#31)
• "Sweet Child O' Mine" - Guns N' Roses (#1)
• "Symptoms of True Love" - Tracie Spencer (#38)
• "Tall Cool One" - Robert Plant (#25)
• "Thanks For My Child" - Cheryl Pepsii Riley (#32)
• "Till I Loved You" - Barbra Streisand & Don Johnson (#25)
• "Time and Tide" - Basia (#26)
• "Together Forever" - Rick Astley (#1)
• "Tomorrow People" - Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers (#39)
• "Trouble" - Nia Peeples (#35)
• "True Love" - Glenn Frey (#13)
• "The Twist (Yo, Twist)" - Fat Boys with Chubby Checker (#16)
• "Two Hearts" - Phil Collins (#1)
• "Two Occasions" - The Deele (#10)
• "Under the Milky Way" - The Church (#24)
• "The Valley Road" - Bruce Hornsby & The Range (#5)
• "Wait" - White Lion (#8)
• "Waiting for a Star to Fall" - Boy Meets Girl (#5)
• "Walk On Water" - Eddie Money (#9)
• "The Way You Love Me" - Karyn White (#7)
• "We All Sleep Alone" - Cher (#14)
• "Welcome to the Jungle" - Guns N' Roses (#7)
• "What A Wonderful World" - Louis Armstrong (#32)
• "What You See Is What You Get" - Brenda K. Starr (#24)
• "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" - Information Society (#3)
• "When I'm With You" - Sheriff (#1)
• "When It's Love" - Van Halen (#5)
• "When the Children Cry" - White Lion (#3)
• "When We Kiss" - Bardeux (#36)
• "When We Was Fab" - George Harrison (#23)
• "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" - Whitney Houston (#1)
• "Wild Thing" - Tone Loc (#2)
• "Wild Wild West" - The Escape Club (#1)
• "Wild World" - Maxi Priest (#25)
• "Wishing Well" - Terence Trent D'Arby (#1)
• "A Word in Spanish" - Elton John (#19)
• "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" - Judson Spence (#32)
• "You Don't Know" - Scarlett & Black (#20)

References