Billboard magazine compiled the top-performing dance singles in the United States on the Hot Dance Music Club Play chart and the Hot Dance Music 12-inch Singles Sales chart. Premiered in 1976, the Club Play chart ranked the most-played singles on dance club based on reports from a national sample of club DJs. The 12-inch Singles Sales chart was launched in 1985 to compile the best-selling dance singles based on retail sales across the United States.
Charts history
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+
!scope=col rowspan=2|Issue date
!scope=colgroup colspan=2|Hot Dance Music Club Play
!scope=colgroup colspan=2|Hot Dance Music 12-inch Singles Sales
!scope=col class=unsortable rowspan=2|
|-
!scope=col|Title
!scope=col|Artist(s)
!scope=col|Title
!scope=col|Artist(s)
|-
|January 2
|"So Emotional"
|Whitney Houston
|rowspan="2"|"System of Survival" (Remix)
|rowspan="2"|Earth, Wind & Fire
|
|-
|January 9
|"I'm Beggin' You"
|Supertramp
|
|-
|January 16
|"Never Gonna Give You Up"
|Rick Astley
|rowspan="4"|"Never Gonna Give You Up"
|rowspan="4"|Rick Astley
|
|-
|January 23
|"What Have I Done to Deserve This?"
|Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield
|
|-
|January 30
|"The Way You Make Me Feel"
|Michael Jackson
|
|-
|February 6
|You Can Dance (all cuts)
|Madonna
|
|-
|February 13
|"Some Kind of Lover"
|Jody Watley
|rowspan="3"|"Some Kind of Lover" (Remix)
|rowspan="3"|Jody Watley
|
|-
|February 20
|rowspan="4"|"I Want to Be Your Property"
|rowspan="4"|Blue Mercedes
|
|-
|February 27
|
|-
|March 5
|rowspan="2"|"Tramp" / "Push It"
|rowspan="2"|Salt-N-Pepa
|
|-
|March 12
|
|-
|March 19
|rowspan="2"|"Thinking of You"
|rowspan="2"|Earth, Wind & Fire
|"Girlfriend"
|Pebbles
|
|-
|March 26
|"Perfect Lover"
|Company B
|
|-
|April 2
|"Don't Look Any Further"
|Kane Gang
|"Father Figure"
|George Michael
|
|-
|April 9
|rowspan="2"|"Pink Cadillac"
|rowspan="2"|Natalie Cole
|"Thinking of You" (Remix)
|Earth, Wind & Fire
|
|-
|April 16
|"Don't Make a Fool of Yourself" (Remix)
|Stacey Q
|
|-
|April 23
|"Prove Your Love"
|Taylor Dayne
|"Out of the Blue" (Remix)
|Debbie Gibson
|
|-
|April 30
|"Blue Monday 1988"/<br>"Touched by the Hand of God"
|New Order
|rowspan="2"|"Nightime" (Remix)
|rowspan="2"|Pretty Poison
|
|-
|May 7
|"Adventure"
|Eleanor
|
|-
|May 14
|"Instinctual"
|Imagination
|"Naughty Girls" (Remix) / "I Surrender (To the Spirit of the Night)"
|Samantha Fox
|
|-
|May 21
|"Like a Child"
|Noel
|"Nite and Day"
|Al B. Sure!
|
|-
|May 28
|"Together Forever"
|Rick Astley
|rowspan="3"|"Just Got Paid"
|rowspan="3"|Johnny Kemp
|
|-
|June 4
|"Divine Emotions"
|Narada
|
|-
|June 11
|"The Promise"
|When in Rome
|
|-
|June 18
|"Just Got Paid"
|Johnny Kemp
|rowspan="2"|"Mercedes Boy"
|rowspan="2"|Pebbles
|
|-
|June 25
|"Trouble"
|Nia Peeples
|
|-
|July 2
|rowspan="2"|"Theme from S-Express"
|rowspan="2"|S'Express
|rowspan="2"|"Supersonic"
|rowspan="2"|J.J. Fad
|
|-
|July 9
|
|-
|July 16
|rowspan="2"|"What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)"
|rowspan="2"|Information Society
|rowspan="2"|"Sayin' Sorry (Don't Make It Right)"
|rowspan="2"|Denise Lopez
|
|-
|July 23
|
|-
|July 30
|"Beat Dis"
|Bomb the Bass
|rowspan="2"|"The Right Stuff"
|rowspan="2"|Vanessa Williams
|
|-
|August 6
|"K.I.S.S.I.N.G."
|Siedah Garrett
|
|-
|August 13
|"The Right Stuff"
|Vanessa Williams
|"K.I.S.S.I.N.G."
|Siedah Garrett
|
|-
|August 20
|"Love Will Save the Day"
|Whitney Houston
|rowspan="2"|"Shake Your Thang"
|rowspan="2"|Salt-N-Pepa
|
|-
|August 27
|rowspan="2"|"Say It's Gonna Rain"
|rowspan="2"|Will to Power
|
|-
|September 3
|rowspan="3"|"Monkey" (Remix)
|rowspan="3"|George Michael
|
|-
|September 10
|"Never Let You Go"
|Sweet Sensation
|
|-
|September 17
|rowspan="2"|"Monkey"
|rowspan="2"|George Michael
|
|-
|September 24
|rowspan="4"|"Never Let You Go"
|rowspan="4"|Sweet Sensation
|
|-
|October 1
|"Sendin' All My Love"
|The Jets
|
|-
|October 8
|"Got a New Love"
|Good Question
|
|-
|October 15
|"Big Fun"
|Inner City
|
|-
|October 22
|rowspan="2"|"Spy in the House of Love"
|rowspan="2"|Was (Not Was)
|"Chains of Love"
|Erasure
|
|-
|October 29
|rowspan="3"|"Big Fun"
|rowspan="3"|Inner City
|
|-
|November 5
|"In the Name of Love '88"
|Thompson Twins
|
|-
|November 12
|"Break 4 Love"
|Raze
|
|-
|November 19
|"Just Wanna Dance"/"Weekend"
|The Todd Terry Project
|rowspan="2"|"Break 4 Love"
|rowspan="2"|Raze
|
|-
|November 26
|"Out of Time"
|Noel
|
|-
|December 3
|"I Don't Want Your Love"
|Duran Duran
|rowspan="2"|"The Way You Love Me"
|rowspan="2"|Karyn White
|
|-
|December 10
|"The Great Commandment"
|Camouflage
|
|-
|December 17
|"Hustle! (To the Music...)"
|The Funky Worm
|"Don't Rock The Boat"
|Midnight Star
|
|-
|December 24
|rowspan="2"|"The Great Commandment"
|rowspan="2"|Camouflage
|rowspan="2"|"Tumblin' Down"
|rowspan="2"|Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers
|
|-
|December 31
|
|}
See also
- 1988 in music
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart