The countdown started at 06:00 sharp on Friday, 1. January 1988 and the number 1 song was not reached until
19:28 that evening. Tracks by South African artists are highlighted in orange.
| # | Title | Artist |
|---|
| 150 | Rage Hard | Frankie Goes To Hollywood |
| 149 | Best Kept Secret | China Crisis |
| 148 | Years Go By | Stan Campbell |
| 147 | Hypnotise Me | Wang Chung |
| 146 | Why Can't I Be You | The Cure |
| 145 | It Doesn't Have To Be This Way | The Blow Monkeys |
| 144 | The Passenger | Siouxsie And The Banshees |
| 143 | Don't Need A Gun | Billy Idol |
| 142 | Sweet 16 | Billy Idol |
| 141 | Hold On | The Passengers |
| 140 | Labour Of Love | Hue & Cry |
| 139 | Loaded | Deacon Blue |
| 138 | Rat In The Kitchen | UB40 |
| 137 | Competition Rules | No Friends Of Harry |
| 136 | I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For | U2 |
| 135 | Back In The Highlife Again | Steve Winwood |
| 134 | Causing A Commotion | Madonna |
| 133 | In Your Eyes | Peter Gabriel |
| 132 | Big Time | Peter Gabriel |
| 131 | Going To The Bank | The Commodores |
| 130 | Ship Of Fools | World Party |
| 129 | Open Your Heart | Madonna |
| 128 | Paradise | Icehouse |
| 127 | I Wanna Be A Cowboy | Boys Don't Cry |
| 126 | Someone | El DeBarge |
| 125 | It's In The Way That You Use It | Eric Clapton |
| 124 | Houdini (Tie Me Up) | Jesse Ray |
| 123 | Keep Me In Mind | Boy George |
| 122 | Lady Soul | The Temptations |
| 121 | Calling All The Heroes | It Bites |
| 120 | Goldmine | The Pointer Sisters |
| 119 | Move Up | Mango Groove |
| 118 | Bad | Michael Jackson |
| 117 | Scales Of Justice | Living In A Box |
| 116 | Seven Into The Sea | Intuanua |
| 115 | Built For The Future | The Fixx |
| 114 | Shakedown | Bob Seger |
| 113 | Land Of Confusion | Genesis |
| 112 | A Whole New World | It Bites |
| 111 | Goodbye Yesterday | Nick Haywood |
| 110 | Open Up The Red Box | Simply Red |
| 109 | Let It Be With You | Belouis Some |
| 108 | La Bamba | Los Lobos |
| 107 | No More Tears | Hollywood Beyond |
| 106 | Coming Around Again | Carly Simon |
| 105 | Died In Your Arms | Cutting Crew |
| 104 | Seven Wonders | Fleetwood Mac |
| 103 | (Keep) Jammin' Me | Tom Petty |
| 102 | Infidelity | Simply Red |
| 101 | World Where You Live | Crowded House |
| 100 | Ain't Nothing Going On But The Rent | Gwen Guthrie |
| 99 | Playing With The Boys | Kenny Loggins |
| 98 | Never Gonna Give You Up | Rick Astley |
| 97 | Down To Earth | Curiosity Killed The Cat |
| 96 | I Wanna Be Loved (But By Only You) | The Steve Miller Band |
| 95 | Great Heart | Johnny Clegg & Savuka |
| 94 | Oh L'Amour | Erasure |
| 93 | Human | The Human League |
| 92 | Rhythm | Tanh Chi |
| 91 | Get That Love | The Thompson Twins |
| 90 | Dignity | Deacon Blue |
| 89 | Sometimes | Erasure |
| 88 | Day In, Day Out | David Bowie |
| 87 | Two Hearts | John Parr |
| 86 | Misfit | Curiosity Killed The Cat |
| 85 | Boy In The Bubble | Paul Simon |
| 84 | I Didn't Mean To Turn You On | Robert Palmer |
| 83 | Running In The Family | Level 42 |
| 82 | Jumping Jack Flash | Aretha Franklin & Keith Richards |
| 81 | Meet El Presidente | Duran Duran |
| 80 | I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) | Whitney Houston |
| 79 | I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You) | Grace Jones |
| 78 | Over The Hills And Far Away | Gary Moore |
| 77 | Hourglass | Squeeze |
| 76 | Throwing It All Away | Genesis |
| 75 | Skin Trade | Duran Duran |
| 74 | Something Inside So Strong | Labi Siffre |
| 73 | When Smokey Sings | ABC |
| 72 | Cry Wolf | A-ha |
| 71 | Ballerina Girl | Lionel Ritchie |
| 70 | Lean On Me | Club Nouveau |
| 69 | When The Wind Blows | David Bowie |
| 68 | Sign O' The Times | Prince |
| 67 | I Wanna Wake Up With You | Boris Gardiner |
| 66 | Living On A Prayer | Bon Jovi |
| 65 | Heart And Soul | T' Pau |
| 64 | Strangelove | Depeche Mode |
| 63 | To Be A Lover | Billy Idol |
| 62 | What's It To Ya | Robbie Nevil |
| 61 | Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone | Glass Tiger |
| 60 | Alone Again Or | The Damned |
| 59 | A Matter Of Trust | Billy Joel |
| 58 | La Isla Bonita | Madonna |
| 57 | Is This Love | Alison Moyet |
| 56 | Mandolin Rain | Bruce Hornsby And The Range |
| 55 | The Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades) | Timbuk3 |
| 54 | What Have I Done To Deserve This? | Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield |
| 53 | Luka | Suzanne Vega |
| 52 | Jane's Getting Serious | John Astley |
| 51 | Wild, Wild Life | Talking Heads |
| 50 | Lil' Devil | The Cult |
| 49 | Wild Horses | Gino Vanelli |
| 48 | Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now | Starship |
| 47 | World Shut Your Mouth | Julian Cope |
| 46 | Hip To Be Square | Huey Lewis And The News |
| 45 | Ruthless People | Mick Jagger |
| 44 | Who's That Girl | Madonna |
| 43 | You're The Voice | John Farnham |
| 42 | Surrender | Swing Out Sister |
| 41 | Lies | Jonathan Butler |
| 40 | Everything I Own | Boy George |
| 39 | Wishing I Was Lucky | Wet Wet Wet |
| 38 | I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) | Aretha Franklin & George Michael |
| 37 | Big Love | Fleetwood Mac |
| 36 | Hymn To Her | The Pretenders |
| 35 | Respectable | Mel & Kim |
| 34 | Waiting For The Ghost Train | Madness |
| 33 | The Motown Song | Larry John McNally |
| 32 | Forever Live And Die | Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark |
| 31 | You Know I Love You... Don't You? | Howard Jones |
| 30 | The Way It Is | Bruce Hornsby And The Range |
| 29 | C'est La Vie | Robbie Neville |
| 28 | Caravan Of Love | The Housemartins |
| 27 | With Or Without You | U2 |
| 26 | The Sweetest Smile | Black |
| 25 | Freedom Overspill | Steve Winwood |
| 24 | Arizona Sky | China Crisis |
| 23 | Amanda | Boston |
| 22 | Change Of Heart | Cyndi Lauper |
| 21 | Living In A Box | Living In A Box |
| 20 | Nasty | Janet Jackson |
| 19 | Paper In Fire | John Cougar Mellencamp |
| 18 | Notorious | Duran Duran |
| 17 | True Colors | Cyndi Lauper |
| 16 | Walk Like An Egyptian | Bangles |
| 15 | Dreamtime | Daryl Hall |
| 14 | It's A Sin | Pet Shop Boys |
| 13 | The Living Daylights | A-ha |
| 12 | Don't Get Me Wrong | The Pretenders |
| 11 | The Final Countdown | Europe |
| 10 | I've Been Losing You | A-ha |
| 9 | Wishing Well | Terence Trent D'Arby |
| 8 | Persona Non Grata | Gino Vanelli |
| 7 | Everybody Have Fun Tonight | Wang Chung |
| 6 | Through The Barricades | Spandau Ballet |
| 5 | Welcome To The Boomtown | David + David |
| 4 | Mary's Prayer | Danny Wilson |
| 3 | True Blue | Madonna |
| 2 | Stuck With You | Huey Lewis And The News |
| 1 | I Just Can't Stop Loving You | Michael Jackson |
