The Cure "Just Like Heaven"

It's no wonder so many artists cover "Just Like Heaven" in concert. Robert Smith calls the upbeat ditty the best pop song and strongest work The Cure has ever done.

Patti LaBelle & Bill Champlin "The Last Unbroken Heart"

Miami Vice only aired for five seasons, yet the crime drama spawned three separate soundtracks of music. Unlike most television shows that aired songs made for the program, Miami Vice paid nearly $10,000 to use popular music within the show. Miami Vice II contained the Patti LaBelle & Bill Champlin ballad "The Last Unbroken Heart" in 1987. 

Kool & the Gang "Special Way"

Kool & the Gang last charted on the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary Charts in 1987 with their ballad "Special Way".

U2 "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

In his thank you card to me following his high school graduation party, my friend Pat expressed hope that I could one day launch his dream radio station: WUII. The station he dreamed up was an all-U2 radio station that played nothing but music from U2 and Bono (duh!). Sorry, Pat. That dream remains unfulfilled.

Billy Vera & the Beaters "At This Moment"

Fans of the popular radio request show "Love Notes" might want to download the Radio.com app so they can tune into Boston's "The Cove" radio station. Why? The HD-3 station's imaging voice is none other than John Symons -- who hosted "Love Notes" in Columbus and Chicago. You'll hear old-school soft rock favorites such as "At This Moment" from Billy Vera and the Beaters -- as I did when I tuned into The Cove. Originally released in 1981, "At This Moment" caught fire years later when it aired on NBC's Family Ties. In fact, it went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in 1987 after failing to chart in 1981.

Los Lobos "La Bamba"

Turn back the clock to June 20, 1987 and you'll hear "La Bamba" playing all over the radio. Not long after, the song went to #1 on the Hot 100 (#4 on the Adult Contemporary Chart). No, it wasn't the Richie Valens version, but rather a remake from Los Lobos. Released 32 years ago today, the song with all-Spanish lyrics coincided with the release of the movie La Bamba -- a box office hit from the summer of 1987.

Steve Winwood "Valerie"

If cats get nine lives, "Valerie" is on her fourth life. Originally released to general yawns in 1982, Steve Winwood remixed the song in 1987 and included it on his Chronicles album. The result: a Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 (#2 on the Adult Contemporary Chart). In 2004, Swedish DJ Eric Prydz remixed the song once again and released his version titled "Call on Me". Not to be outdone, Chris Brown then sampled "Call on Me" in his 2009 release "Pass Out".

REO Speedwagon "In My Dreams"

Safely tucked away in my box of mementos is a Christmas card given to me in 1995 by the woman who was my first boss in radio when I worked (without pay) as an intern. That holiday she gave me a jar filled with Hershey Kisses and a card that read: "If you really want it, you CAN make it in this business.". At the time, I promised myself I wouldn't eat any of the Hershey Kisses until I landed my first radio gig.

About a year later, I walked into my house one spring afternoon and there was my Uncle Bob chatting with my mom. We exchanged greetings and then he mentioned that he was eating some of my candy. "No problem," I said. I assume Uncle Bob grabbed something from the drawer of snacks and candy that my mom kept filled. The drawer was quite popular with most of my friends who immediately went to it whenever they'd stop by my house. I quickly ran upstairs to my bedroom and noticed the jar of Hershey Kisses was open with a couple crumbled up wrappers sitting next to it. Yep, Uncle Bob mistakenly ate the candy I was saving for my first radio job. Oh, well. So much for that idea. In all fairness, we all had a good laugh over it... 

Joe Cocker "Love Lives On"

Someone deserves credit for getting Joe Cocker to agree to sing "Love Lives On" for the Harry & The Hendersons Soundtrack -- an absolute clunker of a movie.

"Hello, Joe?"
"Uh-huh."
"So, I got a call from someone over at Universal Pictures and they loved what you did for An Officer & A Gentleman. So, they want you to do a song for their new film."
"Nice. What's the movie called?"
"Um, Harry & The Hendersons."
"Whaaat?"
"Yeah, so this family runs over Sasquatch and they think they killed it. Turns out, they didn't, so Sasquatch goes to live with the family while they try to hide it from their neighbors and hi-jinx ensues."
"(silence)"
"Joe? You still there?"

This lemon managed to make about $50 million worldwide.

Jennifer Rush w/ Elton John "Flames of Paradise"

With a music video that took its cue from A-Ha's "Take on Me", Jennifer Rush's uptempo "Flames of Paradise" featured Elton John in both real and animated form. You can close your eyes and picture the tune used at the end of an Eddie Murphy film. Critics predicted the duet would hit #1, but instead it flamed out. Rush's duet peaked at #36 on the Top 40 Chart in the US (#32 on the Adult Contemporary Chart).

Dionne Warwick & Jeffrey Osborne "Love Power"

If the Lifetime/Netflix thriller You premiered in 1987, you could add "Love Power" to the show's soundtrack. The Dionne Warwick and Jeffrey Osborne duet touches on two lovers who never quite get over one another -- even a psychic in Los Angeles said so! In the twisted drama You, Penn Badgley plays the lead character Joe Goldberg who falls in love with Beck, a customer he meets at his bookstore. Joe ultimately stalks Beck by using social media to learn everything he can about her, her family and friends. Joe does any and everything (including masturbating in the bushes and committing multiple murders) to make Beck all his (insert diabolical laugh). Shocked at the amount of fans who fell for Joe, the real-life Badgley took to Twitter to remind these troubled souls that Joe is, um, a killer. Love Power: it rules us and fools us.

Richard Marx "Don't Mean Nothing"

A hand-written sign hung over a coffee cup filled with pens, markers and highlighters in the on-air studio of my first radio job. The sign read "Please don't take the pens". Upon closer inspection of the sign, someone had changed it to read "Please don't take the penis". This was my first lesson that radio people are a classy bunch.

The Jets "Cross My Broken Heart"

The only time you hear the words stow, lavatory or deplane are aboard an aircraft. Absolutely no one uses said words except airline personnel. If you're unfamiliar with these terms, I will attempt to define them for you.

stow (verb) -- meaning to put away your reasonable-sized carry-on luggage in the precious overhead bins before some dude wearing ripped sweatpants stuffs his over-sized briefcase and stinky bag of McDonalds in the overhead compartment

lavatory (noun) -- otherwise referred to as the "can" or the "shitter", this is the place people want to go immediately after the pilot illuminates the fasten seat belt sign

deplane (verb) -- whereas some folks take their sweet time boarding the plane, these particular passengers have no patience when it comes to exiting the plane including that one lady from row 37 who pushes her way to the front of the line because she's very important

Eric Carmen "Hungry Eyes"

Renowned chef Wolfgang Puck made his way down the long hallway that separated the two radio stations' studios. Upon Puck's passing our station, the host of the morning show I produced waved. Puck stopped, backed up and entered our studio. The three of us scrambled to say hello and also to let him know that he was at the wrong studio. He didn't seem to mind, but the Marketing Director of our sister station did. He kept making a face that said, "Don't talk to him!". Without thinking, I blurted out: "I love your canned soups! The minestrone is my favorite!!". A few moments later after Puck left, the show's co-host turned to me and let out a huge laugh.

"You meet one of the biggest celebrity chefs of all time and all you can say is...". Laughter took over and she gasped for air to replay my conversation with Puck. "All you can say is: 'I love your canned soup'?!?!?!"

"Was that bad?" I honestly questioned.

More laughter from the room.

To this day, I still buy cans of Wolfgang Puck's soup both as penance and because they're damn good!

Bon Jovi "Never Say Goodbye"

How many New Jersey high schools featured Bon Jovi's "Never Say Goodbye" as their prom theme? The answer: many.

Van Morrison "Someone Like You"

"HELP" read the subject line from my friend Laura.

"I'm calling in a favor," her email said. "We're thinking about wedding songs...do you have any cool ideas for that?" she pleaded.

Laura, who once lived next door to me, hung out with me and my two roommates during the three years we were neighbors. We all lived on the first floor of a two-flat in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood that we lovingly referred to as "Club 1228" (the address was 1228). The building itself was a conversation piece as giant cement gargoyles that wore Cubs baseball caps adorned the top of our building. People were always stopping in front of our apartment to take pictures (long before the term "selfie" existed). Upstairs from our apartment, lived our landlord lived as well as a shady fellow named "Snow Ball" who wore an ankle bracelet after serving time for a white-collar crime. We never asked why he had that nickname out of fear for the answer. That aside, those handful of years contained some of my favorite memories from the carefree days of my mid-twenties.

Even though we rarely saw her date anyone during our years as neighbors, Laura was a catch. She was an attractive and tall blonde who taught Spanish and had a heart of gold. She always wore a smile, had an infectious laugh and never seemed to have a bad day. I knew she'd eventually meet someone who'd sweep her off her feet.

Enter Match.com and a man named Brian. The two connected on Match during a time when online dating was still considered taboo ("We met on Match," Laura once whispered to me when I finally met her fiance.). Online dating was still in its infancy stage and hadn't become socially acceptable as it is today. After months of dating, Brian proposed and the two started planning for their big wedding day.

Selecting a song for the first and father-daughter dance wasn't easy, so I happily provided Laura with a list of non-cliche songs that included "If I Ain't Got You" from Alicia Keys, "Come Away With Me" from Norah Jones, "Forever My Friend" from Ray LaMontagne, and "Someone Like You" from Van Morrison--a 1987 ballad destined for wedding receptions all across the globe.

The following summer, Laura's wedding day finally arrived. Her venue was a charming old barn in the middle of nowhere in Southwest Michigan that had been converted into an event space. In fact, I would return to this barn five years later when my other friends, Jeff and Kristi, married.

After arriving in the nearby town where the hotel sat, my girlfriend and I found a diner and grabbed lunch. Just as we finished eating, a wave of panic hit me. In a hurry to leave on time, I stupidly left my suit hanging on my bedroom door...nearly 3 hours away! How could I forget my clothes for a wedding?!? I quickly paid for our meal and then scurried off to the nearest JC Penney in a nearby shopping mall. With approximately two hours to shop, return to the hotel, get dressed, and then board the shuttle to the wedding venue, there was absolutely no time to spare. After trying on dozens of dress pants that didn't quite fit, I settled on a pair that were about a half-inch too short. I begrudgingly bought the floods, found a shirt and tie, and then headed back to the hotel. After getting ready, we came downstairs to more bad news: we missed the wedding shuttle. After asking the hotel clerk if there were any cabs in town, she chuckled and said, "No" but phoned a chauffeur knew. Feeling like a complete loser who forgot his clothes, missed the shuttle and now stood wearing pants that didn't quite fit, this night had to get better, right? Moments later, I locked eyes with a guy standing in the hotel lobby who looked vaguely familiar.

"Dave?" I asked.

"Todd?" he curiously shot back. "What are you doing here?"

After explaining to him how my suit was hanging comfortably in my Chicago condo and how we hurriedly shopped for clothes and, in turn, missed the shuttle, he and his date laughed.

"Do you need a ride?" he said.

"YEAH!" I told him in a tone much like Laura's subject line of "HELP".

The four of us jumped into Dave's car and made it in time for Laura's big day. (I did, by the way, gave the hotel clerk $20 to give to the chauffeur we never ended up using.)

During dinner, the folks at our table thoroughly enjoyed hearing about my misadventures of the day and kindly complimented my JC Penney outfit. Soon thereafter, Laura and Brian entered the dance floor for their long-awaited first dance. As their wedding DJ fired up "Someone Like Me" from Van Morrison, I gasped. "They're using MY song!" I told everyone at my table (who clearly thought I was nuts). After all the day's drama, seeing the two of them dance made everything right with the world. Today, Laura and Brian have two adorable children, and my JC Penney slacks still don't fit.

Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes "(I've Had) The Time of My Life"

All teenage boys dream of their girlfriends doing a "dirty" dance for them. In my case, it wasn't at all what I expected. For weeks, my high school girlfriend, Missy, practiced a dance for her final high school choir concert. During said concert, all seniors had the opportunity to do something of their choosing. Missy told me she planned to do something from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack. Since I had never seen the movie, I assumed she'd sing and dance to one of the movie's songs. When the curtain went up, she and her dance partner (who happened to be her ex-boyfriend) re-enacted the famous dirty dancing scene from the 1987 movie. A few seconds into the performance, Missy's cousin whispered into my ear, "Are you gonna be alright?". I jealously watched as the two of them did a damn good job up there. There were twirls, jumps, short skirts, and lots of touching. At the end, I wasn't sure how to feel. I swallowed hard and congratulated Missy while silently wondering if there was anything going on with her dance partner/ex-boyfriend. A while later, he announced he was gay.

Kool & the Gang "Stone Love"

Ebony Magazine once crowned Kool & the Gang the "hottest group of the '80s". The honor came with good reason: between 1980 and 1986, Kool & the Gang scored 14 Top 40 singles -- which was more than any other group or artist (yes, even Michael Jackson). Ebony's proclamation was a bit premature as Kool & the Gang's 1987 song "Stone Love" wound up being the R&B group's final Top 40 single.

Roy Orbison & k.d. lang "Crying"

The duet between Roy Orbison and k.d. lang recorded for the 1987 movie, Hiding Out, resurfaced as an Adult Contemporary hit in 1993. The song was one of a handful of song released on King of Hearts, an Orbison album posthumously. Orbison originally hit #1 with the song in 1961.

Bruce Springsteen "Brilliant Disguise"

"Brilliant Disguise" is a more introspective song from Bruce Springsteen that echoed his state-of-mind toward his new bride, Julianne Phillips, at the time. His Tunnel of Love album alluded to unhappiness between the two. "Brilliant Disguise" questions a man's feelings toward his wife who he feels is a stranger. Phillips and Springsteen later divorced leading Bruce to Patti Scialfi who had toured with the band at the time in support of Tunnel of Love. Fans weren't shy about sharing their displeasure on Springsteen's new relationship. In a 1995 interview, he said,

"It's a strange society that assumes it has the right to tell people whom they should love and whom they shouldn't. But the truth is, I basically ignored the entire thing as much as I could. I said, 'Well, all I know is, this feels real, and maybe I have got a mess going here in some fashion, but that's life.'"