The article highlights three rock songs that captured the sound of American shopping centres in 1987: U2’s “With or Without You”, Heart’s “Alone” and Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again”. Their major chart success and broad appeal made them likely fixtures on mall sound systems, reflecting the era’s crossover between rock, pop, soft rock and glam metal.

– U2’s “With or Without You” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and placed in the top ten in several countries.
– Heart’s power ballad “Alone”, originally recorded by i-Ten, also topped the Hot 100 and achieved widespread international success.
– Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” became one of 1987’s biggest glam-metal hits, reaching No. 1 in the US and No. 9 in the UK. David Coverdale said it had originally been recorded several years earlier before being reworked for the 1987 album.