1987年末,当《Billboard》杂志发行了其专刊,排名当年的顶级唱片和艺术家时,这些奖项被很好地传播开来,最热门的流行音乐奖将颁给Bon Jovi, the Bangles, U2, Madonna and Whitney Houston. 1988年,在众多榜单中,只有一个名字排在首位:George Michael,在83年Michael Jackson的《Triller》赢得了该杂志的奖项之后,就再也没有出现过一次全面的包揽各个奖项的
原文转自GMforever.com The article ’88 will go down in the books as the year of George Michael” was written by Jan DeKnock for Chicago Tribune and published on January 1m 1989. In late 1987, when Billboard magazine came out with its special issue ranking the top records and artists of that year, the awards were nicely spread around, with the top pop prizes going to such varied acts as Bon Jovi, the Bangles, U2, Madonna and Whitney Houston. For 1988, there is just one name at the top of many of the lists: George Michael, who scored an across-the-board blitz not seen since Michael Jackson’s Thriller swept the magazine’s awards in ’83.
In fact, Michael even surpassed Jackson’s showing by having both the year’s No. 1 single (“Faith”) and No. 1 album (also titled Faith). That hadn’t happened since 1970, when Simon and Garfunkel grabbed both awards with the Bridge Over Troubled Water album and a single by the same name. How did Michael do it? First, here’s how the winners were determined: Each artist, single and album was awarded points based on their rankings on Billboard’s weekly charts. Those points were totaled to determine year-end leaders. It’s a system that tends to favor slow-rising records with long chart runs over those that peak quickly. For example, Breathe’s “Hands to Heaven” never quite made it to the top spot, but somehow finished with a higher ranking (No. 9) than Steve Winwood’s “Roll With It,” which wound up at No. 10 despite being the only song last year with a four-week run at No. 1. Another quirk is that because of the magazine’s deadlines, the 1988 “chart year” actually covered the period from Nov. 15, 1987, through Nov. 12, 1988, (with some pop and country categories counted until Dec. 3). That’s how a song that hit No. 1 in December of ’87 Michael’s “Faith” wound up as the top-ranked single of ’88.
Michael Jackson: This perennial power could not quite match the No. 1 ranking of his Thriller year but had a pretty good run nonetheless with his Bad album (No. 5 overall), which produced three hit singles “Man in the Mirror” (No. 21), “The Way You Make Me Feel” (No. 36) and “Dirty Diana” (No. 61). Debbie Gibson: In late 1987, Gibson burst onto the scene as part of a new brat pack of under-21 hitmakers; then, throughout ’88, she established her staying power. (Another teen queen, Tiffany, wound up the year at a respectable No. 13 overall.) Gibson scored the year’s No. 7 album (Out of the Blue) and had three big singles “Shake Your Love” (No. 22), “Foolish Beat” (No. 32) and “Out of the Blue” (No. 54).
Here are the top five finishers in some of Billboard’s many music subcategories:各个奖项前五 Top Pop Singles Artists (all singles combined): George Michael INXS Michael Jackson Whitney Houston Def Leppard Top Pop Singles Artists, Female: Whitney Houston Debbie Gibson Taylor Dayne Tiffany Belinda Carlisle Top Pop Singles Artists, Male: George Michael Michael Jackson Rick Astley Richard Marx Steve Winwood Top Pop Singles Artists, Groups: INXS Def Leppard Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine Cheap Trick The Jets
Top Pop Album Artists (all albums combined): George Michael Def Leppard INXS Michael Jackson Guns N’ Roses Top Pop Album Artists, Female: Debbie Gibson Tiffany Whitney Houston Belinda Carlisle Tracy Chapman
Top Pop Album Artists, Male: George Michael Michael Jackson Richard Marx Terence Trent D’Arby Steve Winwood Top Pop Album Artists, Groups: Def Leppard INXS Guns N’ Roses Aerosmith Poison Top New Pop Artists: Guns N’ Roses Rick Astley Terence Trent D’Arby Taylor Dayne Tracy Chapman. Top Black Singles Artists (all singles combined): Michael Jackson Pebbles LeVert Keith Sweat Terence Trent D’Arby
Top Country Singles Artists (all singles combined): Rosanne Cash Randy Travis Ricky Van Shelton Desert Rose Band Reba McEntire Top Adult-Contemporary Artists (all singles combined): Steve Winwood Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine Whitney Houston George Michael Rick Astley