Top 5 Hot 100:- 1. West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys 2. Holding Back the Years - Simply Red 3. Manic Monday - The Bangles 4. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel 5. Human - Human League(their last US hit, and a different take from them - a ballad) Wild Cards :- 1. True Blue - Madonna 2. If She Knew What She Wants - The Bangles 3. Happy Hour - The Housemartins 4. Suburbia - Pet Shop Boys 5. Graceland - Paul Simon
A really strong year but I was 17 and don't a lot of 17 year olds think that? Maybe even in 2022? In no particular order: 1. Hardly Getting Over It - Husker Du 2..A Rainy Night In Soho - The Pogues (on the same EP as The Body of An American, another great Pogues song) 3. Somewhere In China - Shop Assistants 4. It's a Good Thing - That Petrol Emotion 5. Lucifer Over Lancashire - The Fall (though the Bend Sinister LP came out in 1986, my first Fall album and still a favourite) 6. The Trumpton Riots - Half Man Half Biscuit 7. I Know It's Over - The Smiths 8. Sometimes it Snows in April - Prince & The Revolution 9. How Will I Ever be Simple Again - Richard Thompson 10. Kerosene - Big Black
My Top 10: 1. A-HA ´´Manhattan Skyline´´ 2. METALLICA ´´Master of Puppets´´ 3. MIDNIGHT OIL ´´The Dead Heart´´ 4. THE HOUSEMARTINS ´´Caravan of Love´´ 5. THE SMITHS ´´There is a Light That Never Goes Out´´ 6. JEAN MICHEL JARRE ´´Rendez Vous IV´´ 7. PAUL SIMON ´´The Boy In The Bubble´´ 8. DEPECHE MODE ´´Fly On The Windscreen´´ 9. QUEEN ´´Gimme The Prize´´ 10. PET SHOP BOYS ´´Suburbia´´ What a great year... Greetings from Canary Islands.
1986 - The music was all over the place ... but some wonderful songs: 1. World Shut Your Mouth - Julian Cope 2. Sweet Love - Anita Baker 3. Ask - The Smiths 4. Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston 5. Levi Stubbs’ Tears - Billy Bragg 6. The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby & the Range 7. Panic - The Smiths 8. Kiss - Prince 9. Johnny Johnny (Goodbye Lucille #1) - Prefab Sprout 10. Graceland - Paul Simon 11. Greetings to the New Brunette - Billy Bragg 12. Left of Centre - Suzanne Vega 13. Wild Wild Life - Talking Heads 14. Thorn in My Side - Eurythmics 15. Diggin’ Your Scene - The Blow Monkeys 16. I Want You - Elvis Costello 17. Suburbia - Pet Shop Boys 18. Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent - Gwen Guthrie 19. Don’t Give Up - Peter Gabriel with Kate Bush 20. Happy Hour - The Housemartins 21. Word Up - Cameo 22. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel with Youssou N’dour 23. Rise - PiL 24. Some Candy Talking - The Jesus and Mary Chain 25. Higher Love - Steve Winwood 26. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order 27. Rubberband Man - Youssou N’dour 28. Have You Ever Had It Blue? - The Style Council 29. Red Rain - Peter Gabriel 30. Absolute Beginners - David Bowie 31. Take The Skinheads Bowling - Camper van Beethoven 32. Bedbugs & Ballyhoo - Echo & the Bunnymen 33. The Trumpton Riots - Half Man Half Biscuit 34. Holding Back The Years - Simply Red 35. Don’t Dream It’s Over - Crowded House
☆Living inside my Heart☆Bob Seger BB Welcome to the Boomtown~David+David Smoking Gun~Robert Cray Something so Strong~Crowded House Wild Wild Life~T. Heads It's in the way that you use it~Clapton WC's Things you left Behind~The Nails Begin the Begin~R.E.M We're no good together~Tesla Cry for Love~Iggy Pop
1. The Smiths - There is a Light That Never Goes Out 2. Talk Talk - Time it's Time 3. New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle 4. Hüsker Dü - Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely 5. The Go-Betweens - Spring Rain 6. Big Black - Kerosene 7. R.E.M. - Fall On Me 8. Chris Isaak - Blue Hotel 9. The Pretenders - Don't get me wrong 10. Primal Scream - Velocity Girl Voted with Joe, and I'm surprised Kramz is winning by such a landslide!
1. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel 2. Papa Don't Preach - Madonna 3. Overjoyed - Stevie Wonder 4. Nasty - Janet Jackson 5. It's Tricky - Run DMC 6. Sweet Love - Anita Baker 7. In Too Deep - Genesis 8. Hip to Be Square - Huey Lewis and the News 9. Dreams - Van Halen 10. I'll be Alright without you - Journey
Billboard: 1. Live To Tell - Madonna 2. West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys 3. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel 4. True Colors - Cyndi Lauper 5. Kiss - Prince Wildcards: 1. I Know It's Over - The Smiths 2. Who Wants to Live Forever - Queen 3. Sometimes It Snows in April - Prince 4. One Hit (To the Body) - The Rolling Stones 5. Papa Don't Preach - Madonna
1. Greetings to the New Brunette - Billy Bragg 2. I Believe - REM 3. The River Runs Low Tonight - Bruce Hornsby and the Range 4. Calling America - ELO 5. Ancient Rain - Mary Coghlan 6. Word Up - Cameo 7. Now We're Getting Somewhere - Crowded House 8. Don't Dream it's Over - Crowded House 9. Gypsy - Suzanne Vega 10 Welcome to the Boomtown - David and David
@@trickygoose2 I've never heard this duo mentioned by anyone since the song and album were released. Why not?? I love the guitar sound on this by David Ricketts particularly the part just before the chorus.
I'll happily fight Joe's corner when it comes to Welcome Home (Sanitarium). The build up "sleep my friend and you will see" culminating in that awesome, crunching chorus riff blew my mind as a 14 year old and I still get the same feelings listening to it today. My favorite Metallica song by a mile.
Yup. In the 1989 _And Justice For All_ tour, it was at that very point in "Sanitarium" when the giant Lady Justice statue onstage lit up with pyrotechnics & exploded into pieces. Epic.
It's actually really hard to narrow down my top 10 favorite Costello songs from this year alone. Those two albums are incredible. If this was the last year of his golden run, he went out on fire. 1. American Without Tears 2. I Hope You're Happy Now 3. The Jack of All Parades 4. Indoor Fireworks 5. I'll Wear It Proudly 6. The Big Light 7. Sleep of the Just 8. Suit of Lights 9. Battered Old Bird 10. Blue Chair
1. Brilliant Mistake 2. Uncomplicated 3. American Without Tears 4. Suit of Lights 5. Blue Chair 6. Sleep of the Just 7. I Hope You're Happy Now 8. Indoor Fireworks 9. I Want You 10. Crimes of Paris
Real catchy pop never died, in 1986 it just became distilled into its purest essence, The Jets' "Crush On You." C'mon, people, this is a most awesome 80s pop song, and deserves respect!
1986 🏵️ We are hope despite the times. 1. Banks of the Pontchartrain - Nanci Griffith 2. Be Good to Yourself - Journey 3. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order 4. The Boy in the Bubble - Paul Simon 5. Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush 6. My Adidas - Run DMC 7. Oh the Warm Feeling - Van Morrison 8. The Queen is Dead - The Smiths 9. Rhymin and Stealin - Beastie Boys 10. These Days - R.E.M. Tasto 4ever 🎶📢
Great year. Top 30 tracks of 1986 30. Shriekback - This Big Hush 29. Lou Reed - Video Violence 28. Jesus & Mary Chain - In A Hole 27. We've Got A Fuzzbox - Console 26. Laurie Anderson - Language Is A Virus 25. Robert Palmer - I Didn't Mean To Turn You On 24. Pete Shelley - On Your Own 23. Prince - Kiss 22. Anita Baker - Caught Up In The Rapture 21. This Mortal Coil - Tarantula 20. The Pretenders - Don't Get Me Wrong 19. Wang Chung - To Live & Die In LA 18. Pray For Rain - Taxi To Heaven 17. INXS - Kiss The Dirt/Listen Like Thieves 16. Wham - Blue (live in China)/Where Did Your Heart Go 15. The Fixx - Camphor/Read Between The Lines 14. Sonic Youth - Shadow Of A Doubt 13. The Damned - In Dulce Decorum 12. The Chameleons - Tears 11. Queen - Princes Of The Universe 10. Pil - Rise 9. Simple Minds - Alive & Kicking 8. Michael McDonald - Sweet Freedom 7. David Bowie - As The World Falls Down/Absolute Beginners 6. The Flower Pot Men - Beat City 5. Gigi Masin - Tears Of A Clown 4. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Candyman/Cities In Dust 3. The B-52's - Girl From Ipanema Goes To Greenland 2. New Order - The Perfect Kiss 1. The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out/The Queen Is Dead Top Albums *11. _Transformers: The Movie_ Soundtrack 🤘 10. _The Mission_ Soundtrack 9. Beverly Glenn-Copeland _Keyboard Fantasies_ 8. Cocteau Twins _Victorialand_ / _The Moon & The Melodies_ 7. Siouxsie & The Banshees _Tinderbox_ 6. Killing Joke _Brighter Than A Thousand Suns_ 5. David Sylvian _Gone To Earth_ 4. The Mission UK _God's Own Medicine_ 3. Metallica _Master Of Puppets_ 2. Depeche Mode _Black Celebration_ 1. The Cure _In Orange_
Favorites: Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel In no particular order: Lie to Me - Chris Isaak In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel Don’t Give Up - Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush Missionary Man - Eurythmics The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby Sweet Love - Anita Baker Human - Human League Everybody Have Fun Tonight - Wang Chung Don’t Get Me Wrong - The Pretenders Experiment IV - Kate Bush Holy Mother - Eric Clapton First We Take Manhattan - Jennifer Warnes
1. Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely-Husker Du 2. I Want You-Elvis Costello and the Attractions 3. How Will I Ever Be Simple Again?-Richard Thompson 4. Slipping Into Something-The Feelies 5. Raymond Chandler Evening-Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians 6. If She Knew What She Wants-The Bangles 7. Levi Stubb's Tears-Billy Bragg 8. Cactus Cat-Look Blue, Go Purple 9. Hello Cruel World-The Mekons 10. Spring Rain-The Go-Betweens 11. Walk In The Woods-Peter Case 12. Expressway to Yr. Skull-Sonic Youth 13. Flag Day-The Housemartins 14. Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?-The Cramps 15. Blood and Roses-The Smithereens 16. Language Is A Virus-Laurie Anderson 17. Rise-P.I.L. 18. Sacrificial Bonfire-XTC 19. I Like Rain- Jean-Paul Sartre Experience 20. White Elephant-Volcano Suns
1. Depeche Mode - A Question of Lust 2. Cocteau Twins - Love’s Easy Tears 3.Talk Talk - Life’s What You Make It 4. Crowded House - Don’t Dream It’s Over 5. Diana Ross - Chain Reaction 6. Journey - Girl Can’t Help It 7. ‘Til Tuesday - Have Mercy 8. Run DMC/Aerosmith - Walk This Way 9. Madonna - Open Your Heart 10. Cutting Crew - (I just) Died in Your Arms
It's nice to see "Your Wildest Dreams" get some love, I've always loved that song and The Moody Blues. It is a really odd song but definitely has a nostalgic charm. I got some of their earlier 80s records recently and they are really solid. I don't hear much about them. Hot 100: - Prince - Kiss - Berlin - Take My Breath Away - Belinda Carlisle - Mad About You - Janet Jackson - Nasty - Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark - If You Leave Wildcard: - The Bangles - In a Different Light - The Smiths - I Know It's Over - Hüsker Dü- Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely - Metallica - Master of Puppets Worst: Very easy for me this year. Once I found out my Cancon nemesis Honeymoon Suite got into the US top 40 this year with "Feel It Again" that was my pick. I STILL hear this song constantly on multiple radio stations every time I listen to the radio and I don't even listen to the radio that much. I hate it. I can't stand how this guy sings, something about how he enunciates just irks me. Winner: "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" by The Smiths. Easy #1, I've always loved this song. It will never get old for me. Not sure how I am voting yet, I think I will need to give everything a listen.
Hi Vanessa, Your Wildest Dreams almost made my top 10 .. it’s such a pretty & sweet song! Nights In White Satin is one of my favorite songs of the 60s… need to check out more by them
@@Vanessa.P Hi Vanessa & Michele: I'm a huge Moody Blues fan! Your Wildest Dreams is #8 on my list for this year. They've also appeared on other lists: Tuesday Afternoon (1967, #5) Question (1970 SOTY) The Story in Your Eyes (1971, #9) You and Me (1972, #2) I'm Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band) (1972, #10) The Voice (1981, #2) Additionally I have plenty of their songs on my HM lists, including Nights in White Satin which would normally be a top 10 song except that it was released during one of the greatest years of all time (1967).
BILLBOARD 1. *I'm Not the One by The Cars #32* (Actually an album cut from five years earlier. Love the backing vocals and almost lullaby-like synth line to this one.) 2. *Papa Don't Preach by Madonna #1* (Dance pop with a darker edge and a pretty interesting take on young rebellion. That prechorus slays.) 3. *Mountains by Prince and the Revolution #23* (Fun turn for him that is trippy and almost a little jazzy. Those funky horn stabs are infectious.) 4. *Graceland by Paul Simon #81* (Really cool blend of pop, country, and African influences.) 5. *Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money #4* (Actually a pretty exciting AOR jam. The Ronnie Spector (RIP) element adds a haunting quality to the song.) WILDCARD 1. WINNER: *There Is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths* (The definitive Smiths song. Every aspect is pretty much perfect in all its jangly glory.) 2. *Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order [#98, 1995]* (Impeccable synthpop, perhaps their very best. That chorus is so bittersweet and ethereal.) 3. *Dear God by XTC* (The bluntness probably makes this one polarizing for some, but it feels like its own thing for the time. And from there we're left with some top class jangle pop.) 4. *Bigmouth Strikes Again by The Smiths* (More peak Smiths. That sped up backing vocal was an adjustment at first, but now the song would feel missing something without it.) 5. *Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House [#2, 1987]* (Wistful and melodic. One of those standards that just brings a smile to my face. Also, that organ in the latter half is so great.) Top 10 Wildcard HM: Living in Another World by Talk Talk Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (Instrumental) by The Dream Academy Black Celebration by Depeche Mode Master of Puppets by Metallica Billboard definitely felt thin to me compared to past years, though still fun to go through. The best stuff is definitely trending more toward the darker or alternative side of things, and I expect that to continue. Worst TOP 40: Friends and Lovers by Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson #2 (This sappy duet moves along at such a plodding pace, and doesn't have great performances to compensate either.) Worst Runner Up: All Cried Out by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam #8 The Next Time I Fall by Peter Cetera and Amy Grant #1 Glory of Love by Peter Cetera #1
Best Songs Matches: *72 - Kram +2* *59 - Joe +2* 52 - Jason Worst Songs Matches: 5 - Jason 2 - Joe 1 - Kram Top Song Votes: *13 - Joe* 12 - Jason 11 - Kram
Agreed on Friend and Lovers (and those other worsts for that matter). One of the worst things about that F&L song is I don't think there was a video for it -- at least none I ever saw -- in an age of everyone making a video and everyone watching them. So you'd watch the videos, have 'em memorized, and then you'd see the charts and it was "WTF is THIS song?"
@@nightowl1851 I don't see a music video for it either. Apparently its success stemmed from Days of Our Lives. Gloria Loring was a regular on that show and the pair performed it on there.
My favourites for 1986: 01) Kiss - Prince 02) Dear God - XTC 03) Love Comes Quickly - Pet Shop Boys 04) Chain Reaction - Diana Ross 05) The Earth The Air The Fire The Water - Labana 06) Human - Human League 07) Rise - Public Image Limited 08) Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House 09) One Step - Kissing The Pink 10) Stay With Me - Bear Witness
1. Mad About You- Belinda Carlisle 2. Your Wildest Dreams- The Moody Blues 3. We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off- Jermaine Stewart 4. Manic Monday- The Bangles 5. Bonzo Goes to Bitburg- Ramones 6. Sweet Freedom- Michael McDonald 7. True Blue- Madonna 8. Shake You Down- Gregory Abbott 9. If You Leave- OMD 10. Don't Get Me Wrong- The Pretenders HM- Nasty- Janet Jackson This Means War- Joan Jett & the Blackhearts It's In the Way That You Use It- Eric Clapton Bigmouth Strikes Again- The Smiths Modern Woman- Billy Joel Your Love- The Outfield I Wanna Go Back- Edward Money The Finer Things- Steve Winwood Every Little Kiss- Bruce Hornsby & The Range Living With a Hernia- Weird Al Yankovic
In no specific order: - Suzanne Vega: Left of the Center - Pretenders: Hymn to Her - XTC: Another Satellite - Smiths: Bigmouth Strikes Again - Cameo: Word Up - REM: Fall On Me - Prince: Kiss PS: This month I went through the whole McCartney-Wings discography. Press To Play is a disaster (Say Say Say being the only, minor exception)
THIS is a freaking GREAT list! I totally forgot "Left Of Center" came out that year... w/ Joe Jackson on piano! XTC's Another Satellite is brilliant... and R.E.M. put out their best album since Murmur... Tough to pick only one song from that amazing album, but I went "Swan Swan H"
I agree with Jason on Press to Play. One of his lesser albums but still has a few gems. Say say say was on Pipes of Peace though which I do prefer overall.
@@toonhkuitjes6382 I have to apologize for my mistake and amend my comment: I wouldn't save a single song on Press to Play. Paul's 80's are not for me (apart from few tracks on McCartney II and Flowers)
@@mariosandri4010 No need to apologise of course! You cannot argue about taste of course. A Tug of War to me is one of his very best and full of great songs.
I am a Jason-level McCartney fan but I have very little use for his output after “Say Say Say” up through Off the Ground in the early ‘90s (the demo recordings with Elvis Costello being a very notable exception). It’s the low section of his career imo. “Press” is a carnival freak of a song-I keep going back to it out of fascination because of its oh-so-‘80s sound, its grotesque catchiness and its supremely lazy, random lyrics. I kind of hate myself for liking the song.
1986 - Hot 100 Billboard ( US) - Charted - top 5 songs 1. Fall On Me - R.E.M One of Stipe's first songs to deal with environmental issues ( acid rain) , happens to be one of their finest songs ( and my personal favourite of theirs). Their first album produced by Don Gehman ( John Mellencamp's mega selling at the time, Scarecrow album), expanded and filled out their sound, from the "jangle" and mystique ( lyrically ) of their first 3 records. Thankfully the quality that made their previous albums so compelling wasn't compromised and "Fall On Me" with it's majestic chorus with Mills and Stipe ( not for the last time) working brilliantly in tandem with counter harmonies ( Stipe "Don't faalll on meee" Mills' What is it up in the air for" ) still soars and moves me today. " Buy the sky , and sell the sky , and tell the sky" 2. Digging Your Scene - The Blow Monkeys Perfect piece of rnb funk from this British pop group , brainchild of Dr Robert ( Robert Howard). Super catchy with a cool, rnb (but with that English,"Bowiesque" tone ) vocal from Howard, some nice sax, and an infectious groove that made it a huge club favourite, Add to that, the lyrics cleverly discuss HIV and AIDS and the stigma associated with people affected by them ( something I didn't know til years later) , which was a controversial topic at the time to say the least, which just creates another interesting layer to an already great pop song. 3. Skin Trade - Duran Duran. One of their most underrated singles, but one of their finest in my opinion. Nile Rodgers ( a hero of theirs )was brought on board to produce their "Notorious " album, which this was one of the singles off it. Musically , the song references Chic as well as Prince ( singer Simon Le Bon in particular was a big fan of his work, and the falsetto he busts out in the verses are clearly a direct influence of his as well). Great bass and rhythm guitar work very much in the style of their producer with a nice funky swagger to it. The song remains one of their lowest charting singles, but I always loved the fullness of the sound , and as always with this band, hooks for days. 4. West End Girls -Pet Shop Boys Classic 80s pop anthem from Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Catchy of course..it's 80s.., (with its melancholic, powerful chorus, , and it's original , mostly spoken vocal delivery from Tennant ) about the pressures of everyday urban life. The Pet Shop Boys released more fantastic pop singles over the years but ( apart from Being Boring in 1990) never equalled this. 5. True Blue - Madonna Probably written off by critics as cheesy and minor in Madonna's significant pop singles catalogue, but I think this( obviously intentional) pastiche of 50s/60s girl group "lovey dovey" pop songs, if not one of her very best, is certainly one of my singles of 1986. Written for "hubby "( at the time) Sean Penn...not surprisingly she didn't perform it live again , after they acrimoniously split ( over 30 years ago) until just recently , where she now performs it playing a ukelele...go figure. 1986 - Deep cuts - ( chart or non-chart) top 5 songs 1. Greetings to the New Brunette- Billy Bragg Beautiful, moving love song sung with the authenticity and voice of the british working classes. Gorgeous melody , poignant lyrics " Here we are in our summer years , living on ice cream and chocolate kisses, Would the leaves fall from the trees if i were your man and you were my missus". A celebratory love song, but has a way of tearing me up every time. Johnny Marr adds some chiming, soaring guitar bits in the song too, forgot to mention...just to propel the song even further to classic status. Kirsty Macoll ( RIP) also adds her wonderful backing vocals. 2. Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely- Husker Du Single off Candy Apple Grey , not one of my favourite Du records ( still pretty good) though), but this is one of their best tracks and makes my top 5 list for 86. Powerhouse guitars, energy and killer chorus/hook courtesy of the great Grant Hart ( RIP). 3. Happy Hour- The Housemartins More working class , british guitar pop making it's mark at the height of Thatcherism. Paul Heaton and his mates, craft a joyous little pop ditty which sounded a bit like the Smiths, but sung by a gang of socialist, football mad "lads" rather than Morrissey. Lyrics comment on the hypocrisy of young Thatcherite business go-getters and the emptiness of the office drinking binges and sexism that came with that culture...makes sense to me. And man, it's catchy. 4. The Boy With The Thorn in His Side- The Smiths, Speaking of Morrissey, this track, along with This Charming Man, is their best ( in my opinion) from probably their best album . Beautiful melody and guitar work from Marr , and poor Moz in all his beauty sings with all the conviction in the world about how unloved he is..hilarious ..Being narcissistic and self loathing at the same time never felt so good...and if they don't believe me now..will they ever believe me.." you know the rest..yes , you do 5. Grass - XTC More brits again. This time , the superb pop craftsmen XTC with one of my favourite tracks off their masterpiece "Skylarking " record. Written by Colin Moulding not Andy Partridge this time, this funny, clever song of 2 lovers frolicking in the fields on an English summer day , has a classic melody with violins and guitars working nicely together giving the song that special XTC warm quirkiness . Produced by Todd Rundgren who apparently asked Moulding to sing in a higher register as his vocal was sounding a bit "molester" like...brilliant. Honourable Mentions. ( really wanted Costello on my list as he had a big year with 2 excellent LP releases "King of America" and "Blood and Chocolate" and i played those albums to death that year.. But just missed out..today anyway). American without tears - Elvis Costello Brilliant Mistake Blue Chair- Elvis Costello Rise - PIL Sometimes- Erasure Taking the Veil - David Sylvian Wide Open Roads - The Triffids Living too Late - The Fall Mr Pharmacist - The Fall Kiss- Prince Cities In Dust -Siouxsie and The Banshees Worst Chart Song: Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
Although I'm not a fan of some on your list, R.E.M. is pretty damn awesome (It's their best album, IMO), and XTC is fantastic, as well. Elvis Costello's Brilliant Mistake and The Triffids making a nice appearance, too! Billy Bragg is up there for me, but with "God Save The Youth Of America." Well done!
My Top Ten for 1986. 1)Don't Get Me Wrong - The Pretenders 2)Grass - XTC 3)Human - The Human League 4)Back In The High Life Again - Steve Winwood 5)Every Little Kiss - Bruce Hornsby & The Range 6)On The Western Skyline - Bruce Hornsby & The Range 7)The Boy With The Thorn In His Side - The Smiths 8)Smoking Gun - Robert Cray 9)Goin' Crazy - David Lee Roth 10)Cry For Love - Iggy Pop
01 Life’s What You Make It - TalkTalk 02 Behind A Wall Of Sleep - The Smithereens 03 Live To Tell - Madonna 04 Cities In Dust - Siouxsie And The Banshees 05 Fall On Me - R.E.M. Wild Card 01 Grass - XTC 02 Sex Object - Kraftwerk 03 American Without Tears - Elvis Costello 04 Sorry Somehow - Husker Du 05 Lazy Calm -Cocteau Twins
Hey there gentlemen! I'm new to your channel and I just wanted to say I truly love what you all do. I'm a music lover, of course, and it's great to get different opinions on songs, artists, albums, etc. Having severe social anxiety, it's difficult for me to connect with people, so I genuinely appreciate channels like yours that make me feel like I'm almost apart of something. I don't want to sound weird lol so, I'll stop. Just thanks for what you do 💖
Kramzer is born, and I graduated high school, clearly a momentous year. My top 5's... Hot 100: Kiss- Prince Manic Monday- The Bangles Life in a Northern Town- Dream Academy West End Girls- Pet Shop Boys Higher Love- Steve Winwood Wild Cards: Dear God- XTC Sometimes it Snows in April- Prince Guitars, Cadillacs, etc.- Dwight Yoakum Behind the Wall of Sleep- The Smithereens Blood & Roses- The Smithereens
Hello Sweet Peas! There’s so many great examples of the merging of my childhood & adulthood artist & stylistic faves in this list. (Male British Vocals clearly had a hold on this Midwestern American girl from a very young age) Many of these I heard on the radio then, and I still love ‘em now! I’m definitely more of an emotionally based music listener than a technical one, this I know. I LOVE hearing/reading the different perspectives of people born before and after me…thanks for the kicks guys & gals 😘 💙 1986… 1. But Not Tonight - Depeche Mode (the uplifting closer to a decadently dark & sexy album) One of their best, but it is impossible for me to choose a favorite DM album! 2. Two Divided By Zero - Pet Shop Boys 3. Bigmouth Strikes Again - The Smiths 4. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order 5. Push It - Salt ‘N’ Pepa (Get it, Ladies!) 6. Living On Video - Trans-X (Prophetic Pop Perfection) 7. I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On - Robert Palmer 8. Tale Of The Tongue - Peter Murphy 9. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel 10. Touch Me (I Want Your Body) - Samantha Fox The WORST song of 1986 is Hip To Be Square - Huey Lewis & The News Yuck!!! 🤮 I had to tag along when my parents saw them live .. thank god it was a free show
Gotta go with Kramzer's "Don't Dream it's Over" pick. Not on my '86 list, but is in '87 when it charted. Joe and Jason's picks are great tunes too, though I can't believe Jason did Todd dirty and didn't pick something from XTC's Skylarking. Todd is weeping.
Kramzer will get my vote this week for sure. Another pop gem like last years TFF song. I never tire of hearing it. And this time Kramz, no take-backs by me!
I counted it along with Summer's Cauldron because they're connected on the album and also by the ambience at the beginning of Summer's Cauldron and the end of Grass.
1.Paul Simon - Graceland 2.The Rainmakers - Downstream 3.The Stranglers - Nice In Nice 4.R.E.M - Begin The Begin 5.Richard Thompson - Valerie 6.Erasure - Sometimes 7.Iggy Pop - Real Wild Child (Wild One) 8.Green - She's Not A Little Girl 9.Public Image Limited - Rise 10.Roxette - Pearls Of Passion
I like all three of the winners but as a New Order fan, I have to Go with Joe. Plus that song is legit fantastic. 🥇Winner: Time It's Time - Talk Talk UK Charts; 1. Panic - The Smiths (#11) 2. Wasted Years - Iron Maiden (#18) 3. Life is What You Make it - Talk Talk (#16) 4. The Final Countdown - Europe (#1) 5. Fight For Your Right - Beastie Boys (#11) Wildcards; 1. Time it's Time - Talk Talk 2. I Believe - R.E.M 3. Sometimes - Depeche Mode 4. Ballet For a Rainy Day / 1000 Umbrellas - XTC 5. Peace Sells - Megadeth
12. Do Fries Go With The Shake, by George Clinton 11. Notorious, by Duran Duran 10. Not My Slave, by Oingo Boingo 9. Bizarre Love Triangle, by New Order 8. Crocket's Theme, by Jan Hammer 7. Peter Piper, by Run DMC 6. Superman, by REM 5. You Can Call Me Al, by Paul Simon 4. Paranoimia, by Art of Noise 3. Mercy Street, by Peter Gabriel 2. Slipping Into Something, by The Feelies Honorable mention: "Wicked Child (Castlevania, Block 3)" 1. Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes, by Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo
My Top 5 "Hot 100 songs" 1. "Stop To Love" / Vandross, Luther / Album: Give Me The Reason (1986) 2. "Sledgehammer" / Gabriel, Peter / Album: So (1986) 3. "Caught Up In The Rapture" / Baker, Anita / Album: Rapture (1986) 4. "Land Of Confusion" / Genesis / Album: Invisible Touch (1986) 5. "Captain Of Her Heart" / Double / Album: Blue (1986) My top 5 "deep cut songs" 1. "Right And Wrong" / Jackson, Joe / Album: Big World (1986) 2. “Ghostdancing” / Simple Minds / Album: Once Upon A Time (1986) 3. “Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)” / INXS / Album: Listen Like Thieves (1986) 4. "Summer Nights" / Van Halen / Album: 5150 (1986) 5. "Rough Boy" / ZZ Top / Album: Afterburner (1986) Worst song of the year 1. "That's What Friends Are For" / Dionne Warwick & Friends (1986) Song of the year 1. "West End Girls" / Pet Shop Boys / Album: Please (1986)
Chart Hits: Wild, Wild Life - Talking Heads, Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House, Fall On Me - R.E.M., If you Leave - OMD, Your Wildest Dreams - Moody Blues Wild Cards: Don't Let's Start - They Might Be Giants, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths, Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order, A Question of Lust - Depeche Mode Worst Song: True Colors - Cyndi Lauper S.O.T.Y. for 1986 - Bigmouth Strikes Again - The Smiths
Wild card Blood And Roses - The Smithereens Brilliant Mistake - Elvis Costello Earn Enough For US - XTC Begin The Begin - REM Big Mouth Strikes Again - The Smiths
Great, great year! HM - Mandolin Rain, Take Me Home Tonight, Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone, Take a Stand, Your Wildest Dreams, Manic Monday, Somebody Save Me, Cool the Engines, Best of Both Worlds, Love Walks In, In Your Eyes, You Can Call Me Al, Homeless, The Boy in the Bubble, Brothers in Arms, Shot in the Dark, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Getting to the Point, Don't Lets Start, Stay the Night, Talk Dirty To Me (would be in the top 10 except its a total rip off of Cheap Trick's She's Tight) 10. Put Your Hand inside the Puppet Head - They Might Be Giants 9. Summer Nights - Van Halen 8. Silhouettes in Disguise - Kansas 7. Keep Your Hands to Yourself - Georgia Satellites 6. Shy Boy - David Lee Roth 5. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel 4. She's an Angel - They Might Be Giants 3. Little Suzi - Tesla 2. All Is Quiet on the Western Front - the Unforgiven (so want it to be #1 because no one's ever heard of them but can't) Worst - That's What Friend's Are For by a nose over Party All the Time 1. In the Garden - Van Morrison
1986 US Billboard Charts 1. What Have You Done For Me Lately - Janet Jackson ("the cool Jackson") 2. Word Up - Cameo ( Kil- ler) 3. Kiss - Prince ( the little master) 4. Manic Monday- The Bangles ( Prince again but through the voices of 4 cool white chicks ) 5. How Will I Know - Whitney Houston ( Queen of "synthy" , rnb ( but not "too rnb" for mainstream charts and 80s middle America) ,feel good pop. Lovely , lovely voice) 1986 Wildcard Non charts 1, Rhymin and Stealin- Beastie Boys ( "Ali Baba and the Forty thieves, Ali baba and the forty thieves..etc") 2. Battery - Metallica ( or any other track off that friggin beast) 3. Reignition- Bad Brains ( hardcore legends) 4. Raining Blood - Slayer ( thrash legends) 5. Love Missile F1-11 - Sigue Sigue Sputnik ( "shoot it up") Worst chart song- Say You Say Me - Lionel Ritchie ( ' I had a dream...i had an awesome dream"..... 😂)
Ali Baba...also 16 men on the dead man's chest and Zeppelin drums, I fought the law...They started out very promising and kept it interesting until Ill Communication, then they faded out. Now I try to remember if I ever listened to anything from them in the last 15 years. That worst song is a good pick...the ones in the video are so bad that I did not even know them (if I ever heard them then I may just not know it anymore.)
That Janet Jackson song and the Prince tune were on my HM list. Beastie Boys are gonna smoke the competition in 89. Paul's Boutique, what an unexpected masterpiece that was! Just heard a song off it on the radio last night and still can't believe how funky!
10. Bob Dylan - Brownsville Girl 9. The Rolling Stones - One Hit (To the Body) 8. Pretenders - Don't Get Me Wrong 7. Electric Light Orchestra - So Serious 6. Dwight Yoakam - Guitars, Cadillacs 5. XTC - Grass 4. Van Morrison - In the Garden 3. Talk Talk - Time It's Time 2. The Smiths - Cemetry Gates 1. New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
1. Frank Zappa - Jazz From Hell 2. Slayer - Altar Of Sacrifice 3. XTC - That's Really Super, Supergirl 4. Five Star - Rain or Shine 5. The Smiths - The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
10) “On the Other Hand,” Randy Travis 9) “Ballet for a Rainy Day,” XTC 8) “Leaps and Bounds,” Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls 7) “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” The Pretenders 6) “Fall on Me,” REM 5) “American without Tears,” Elvis Costello 4) “Al Bowlly’s in Heaven,” Richard Thompson 3) “Got to Go Back,” Van Morrison 2) “Blue Chair,” Elvis Costello 1) “Graceland,” Paul Simon
**** Best Overall **** - Life's what you make it - Talk Talk Billboard ==================================== 2) In your eyes - Peter Gabriel 3) Live to Tell - Madonna 4) Stay the Night - Ben Orr 5) Something about you - Level 42 6) Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel 7) Holding back the years - Simply Red 8) Is it love - Mr. Mister 9) Fall on Me - R.E.M. 10) Nobody's Fool - Cinderella 11) West end girls - Pet Shop Boys 12) All the king's horses - The Firm 13) Feel it again - Honeymoon Suite 14) Human - The Human League 15) No easy way out - Robert Tepper 16) Love walks in - Van Halen 17) Your love - The Outfield 18) The way it is - Bruce Hornsby 19) Shot in the dark - Ozzy Osborne 20) Take my breath away - Berlin 21) Secret Separation - The Fixx 22) Taken In - Mike and the Mechanics 23) Rough Boy - ZZ Top 24) Dreams - Van Halen 25) Throwing it all away - Genesis 26) Sara - Starship 27) Girl can't help it - Journey 28) When the heart rules the mind - GTR 29) Sweet Love - Anita Baker 30) I can't wait - Stevie Nicks Non Charting ==================================== 1) Mercy Street - Peter Gabriel 2) Living in another world - Talk Talk 3) Ask - The Smiths 4) Dear God - XTC 5) The boy with a thorn in his side - The Smiths 6) Who wants to live forever - Queen 7) Wasted Years - Iron Maiden 8) Cities in Dust - Siouxsie and the banshees 9) Walk in the shadows - Queensryche 10) Modern Day Cowboy - Tesla 11) Live in Peace - The Firm 12) Welcome Home(Sanitarium) - Metallica 13) Bigmouth strikes again - The Smiths 14) The Brazilian - Genesis 15) The eyes of a woman - Journey 16) Cemetery Gates - The Smiths 17) Red Rain - Peter Gabriel 18) I will Remember - Queensryche 19) Spirit of Love - The Firm 20) I don't believe in you - Talk Talk 21) Once you love somebody - Journey 22) Golden Lights - The Smiths 23) Give it up - Talk Talk 24) That's really super, supergirl - XTC 25) Asleep - The Smiths
@@TimeToGetAlone i had forgotten about it until I played a lot of GTA:Vice City. It just never gets old. but honestly this year is really hard to rank and if I made the list again it would probably be different
Terrific year filled with many of my favorite songs of all time. These are my favorite songs of 1986: 1. There Is a Light that Never Goes Out. The Smiths 2.Fall On Me. R. E. M. 3.I Want You. Elvis Costello 4.The Carny. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds 5.In The Garden. Van Morrison 6.Sorry Somehow. Hüsker Dü 7.Bizarre Love Triangle. New Order 8.Don't Give Up. Peter Gabriel 9.Levi Stubb's Tears. Billy Bragg 10.Dear God. XTC 11.Life's What You Make It. Talk Talk 12.Kiss. Prince 13.O Leaozinho. Caetano Veloso 14.Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes. Paul Simon 15.Don't Dream It's Over. Crowded House 16.Happy Hour. The Housemartins 17.Spring Rain. The Go-Betweens 18.Wide Open Road. The Triffids 19.Don't Get Me Wrong. Pretenders 20.Good Thing. The Woodentops 21.So Many Ways. James 22.Oomingmak. Cocteau Twins 23.Swamp Thing. The Chamaleons 24.Wild Wild Life. Talking Heads 25.Blood and Roses. The Smithereens 26.True Colours. Cindy Lauper 27.Don't Let's Start. They Might Be Giants 28.Heartland. The The 29.Manic Monday. The Bangles 30.Rain of Crystal Spires. Felt 31.Guitar Town. Steve Earle 32.On the Beach. Chris Rea
Breakout - Swingout Sister (Great English pop soul tune and a bit of jazz guitar - cool and smooth). Absolute Beginners - David Bowie. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel. Kiss - Prince (3 absolute classics). Why Can't This Be Love - Van Halen (Always liked this song, Sammy Hagar was a great singer). Walk This Way - Run DMC/Aerosmith (probably my favourite video ever). Move Away - Culture Club (love his voice on this). Take My Breath Away - Berlin (yes, I know, but this is the one that takes me right back to 86). Borderline - Madonna (one of her nicest tracks). Chain Reaction - Diana Ross (the Bee Gees really could write a great pop song). Possibly my favourite of the year is The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby and The Range, just a great song with some super piano playing. A couple of absolute stinkers from the UK - Anyone Can Fall In Love - Anita Dobson, the future Mrs Brian May and then star of the soap Eastenders to which this is still the theme tune, with added lyrics - very naff indeed. The Chicken Song - Spitting Image ( a terrible but annoyingly catchy novelty song from a satirical adult TV puppet show).
Shout out to the lovely Sometimes It Snows In April by the Purple One. Also Oh L'Amour by Erasure. Totally agree with Welcome Home Sanitarium), a mighty masterpiece of a cut.
Three great choices for SOTY! I don't think I would have thought so highly of 1986 until I saw your top picks. Bizarre Love Triangle is a wonderful pick and Joe quite rightly notes the effective and powerful contrast of the digitized sound and Bernard Sumner's very human and tender vocals and lyrics. But unlike Joe, I think they have done better. Don't Dream It's Over is a masterpiece and a shining example of Neil Finn's songwriting genius. He had already brought his pop sensibility to the art-rock wannabes Split Enz and written their finest song Message To My Girl. But the win has to go to Brilliant Mistake. The lead-off track on Costello's finest and a masterclass in songwriting. His disillusionment with his own identity and the idea of the USA in an accessible approachable lyric and melody. King Of America is so full of wonderful songs that this could have been Indoor Fireworks or Jack of All Parades or I'll Wear It Proudly or Suit Of Lights and still taken SOTY. FYI - Mitchell Froom and his Hammond play on both the Costello & Crowded House releases
Interesting tidbit about Mitchell Froom! I seriously considered choosing Brilliant Mistake but had to go with DDIO. Kerosene is on my long list. I like a lot of what I've heard from the Fall...I guess their huge number of albums is a little intimidating. Maybe I'll hear them all one day.
@@179rich There were no bad choices in the three winners. The Fall repel more people than they attract, but if you are in that cohort who enjoys them, be wary it can become an addiction very quickly. If you want more info on where to start hit me up!
Not really. Their first two records are greats, but the rest leave a lot to be desired, and of course Thank You is one of the worst albums of all time.
@@curly_wyn Not really. 3rd is very good, Notorious is interesting, Big Thing is a gem, Medazzaland has some very interesting experimentation, the new one from last year is excellent, etc. Would be a really good discography for them to explore. I did a ranking of their discography on my own channel awhile back. But you are right on one thing, Thank You mostly sucks.
My AOTY was by The Smiths, so none of their songs is repeated on my list, instead I have: HM - Church - Myrrh, Stranglers - Always the Sun, Laurie Anderson - Late Show, Siouxsie and the Banshees - Candyman, Pretenders - Room Full of Mirrors 5. Jason & the Scorchers - Crashin' Down (Their sophomore album had some great songs like Good Things Come for Those Who Wait but I like this single as well.) 4. Georgia Satellites - Battleship Chains (A riff like a two ton anchor. Keep Your Hands to Yourself was the big hit although it was almost the weakest song on a classic debut album.) 3. Big Country - Look Away (Another highlight from their third album The Seer was Kate Bush's addition to the title track.) 2. Public Image Ltd. - Rise (John Lydon driven forward by jazz legend Tony Williams' tribal drums, anger is an energy, Steve Vai's guitar for once is put to good use. Believe it or not but this song made it into the NZ charts.) 1. Camper Van Beethoven - Take the Skinheads Bowling (Quote: there's not a line here that rhymes with anything - add to this: or makes any sense at all.)
Good list. That Jason & the Scorchers album was released in 87 here in the US, and of course nothing from them would ever chart here. They might be on my 87 list, but it's a stacked year so no promises. Battleship Chains: yes, heavy tune. Love that line from Skinheads!
Of course, I think Siouxsie should be at the top of your list. Look Away is great; I should have included it. I did have Camper but they got pushed off.
'86 is a subpar year for me,but it's the year where I probably list the most songs that charted; 1000 Umbrellas-XTC Begin the Begin-REM Bournemouth Runner-The Fall Deaf Forever-Motorhead Diamonds in the Soles of Her Shoes-Paul Simon Expressway to yr Skull-Sonic Youth Fall on Me-REM Fight For Your Right-Beastie Boys Grass-XTC I Guess I Showed Her-Robert Cray I Want You-Elvis Costello In Your Eyes-Peter Gabriel Peace Sells-Megadeth Red Rain-Peter Gabriel Right Next Door-Robert Cray Slipping(Into Something)-The Feelies Superman-REM That's Really Super,Supergirl-XTC The Boy in the Bubble-Paul Simon Tokyo Storm Warning-Elvis Costello Top 5; 5)Tom Violence-Sonic Youth(One of SY's early great ones,this stood up over the years. Still a favorite by them.) 4)I Have Always Been Here Before-Roky Erickson(The once great leader of 60's Texas Psychedelic band 13th Floor Elevators had basically disappeared for almost 20 years due to drugs/mental illness,this is a lament for troubled soul as touching as "you can't put your arms around a memory"by Johnny Thunders. A great song) 3)Smoking Gun-Robert Cray(all over the radio of my '66 Mustang in '86,this was a refreshing riposte to all the synth pop of the time. All the love for SRV,but Strong Persuader was the best blues-rock album of the 80's) 2)Tomorrow Today-The Feelies(sounded unlike anything else at the time,influenced by Television/VU,influencing Yo La Tengo later,this is sort of an indie-prog epic. On the excellent Good Earth album) 1)Sledgehammer-Peter Gabriel(the impact of this song was through the roof,and I am not just talking about the video. This was the anthem of the summer of '86,getting people who wouldn't understand Peter gabriel on the dancefloors in clubs and beach parties. Everytime I hear it it brings back such great memories. And it's spectacular on artistic merit as well!)
Yes, Robert Cray is a good pick. Funny thing: I almost bought a 66 Mustang in 86. Couldn't get the bank to loan me the money, and by the time I got the money, the car was gone. Damn. That car would've changed my life.....ah, probably not. But still...
Not a year that I can particularly enthuse about, but here are a few gems that have endured. *UK Top 100 Singles* Rise … Public Image Ltd (UK #11) E= MC2 … Big Audio Dynamite (UK #11) The Promise You Made … Cock Robin (UK #28) World Shut Your Mouth …. Julian Cope (UK #19) Driving Away From Home … It’s Immaterial (UK #18) *Wildcards* Brownsville Girl … Bob Dylan Hardly Getting Over It … Husker Du Brilliant Mind … Furniture I Don’t Believe In You … Talk Talk Dear God … XTC *SOTY*
So I specifically clicked on this video today because I saw 1986 and I’m a huge Crowded House fan so I figured one of you guys had them listed for sure. And I’m watching and I’m watching and Peter Gabriel and Peter Gabriel blah blah blah and it’s getting toward the end and it seems less and less likely anyone will mention Crowded House and I’m all “fuck these guys if they don’t even mention Don’t Dream It’s Over” and then Kram for the win! Well done sir. Almost makes me dismiss your anti-McCartney rants. Almost. Crowded House discography soon I hope? Maybe?
Finally got the time to check this out. I think The Cure (Boys Don’t Cry) and The Smiths (Bigmouth Strikes Again) are right at the top for me when it comes to the charts. An aside: My awesome wife ordered the 3-disc Fleetwood Mac ‘68/Mr. Wonderful/The Pious Bird Of Good Omen package. A nice way to get re-acquainted with that period and I wanna get the Kirwan/Welch-era set later. So you guys got me listening to take 4 of Dust My Broom soon! 😉
In 1986 I signed my life over to Uncle Sam mid-year in exchange for some beans which I proceeded to exchange for many many albums and pretty much stopped listening to the radio. So I don't really have a top five chart list for 18 year old me this year, nor probably into the future. Top Five Chart Hits I Still Want You - the Del Fuegos - ironically, I did hear this one on rock radio in 85, when the album came out. They, along with Jason & the Scorchers and R.E.M., opened my ears up to a bunch of new music that never got radio airplay. Didn't know this song charted but am pleasantly surprised it did. Smoking Gun - Robert Cray - great songs on this album Word Up - Cameo - not as strong of a year for r&b, but this one holds up Walk This Way - Run DMC with Aerosmith - an improvement on the original, in my book, and the original was a good'un. Hip hop is about to get really really good. Welcome to the Boomtown - David & David - I hope this album gets rediscovered. The only one this duo ever made, but what a record! HMs: Prince, Janet Jackson, Simply Red, Fine Young Cannibals, and Pet Shop Boys. Top Five Wild Cards Sightsee M.C. - Big Audio Dynamite - one of several standouts on No. 10 Upping Street. Bass - Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians - absurdist lyrics, weird songs, Lennon-esque vocals; surprised Jason didn't cite anything from Element of Light Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely - Husker Du - Grant Hart's brilliance again Just a Touch - R.E.M. - my favorite R.E.M. song off my favorite R.E.M. album Boston - the Dream Syndicate - the band's shiniest, slickest, rockingest record. The ending to this song gets the blood flowing. HMs: Cowboy Man - Lyle Lovett; Fadeaway - BoDeans; Blood and Roses - Smithereens; Wine - Fetchin' Bones (like the B-52s with rock guitars!); I Think She Likes Me - Treat Her Right (before Morphine, Mark Sandman fronted this band and began experimenting with what he called "the low sound.") SOTY - going with Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely. RIP Grant Hart. Worst - Heartbeat by Don Johnson. Probably not THAT bad, musically speaking, but he should've stayed in his lane. And for an actor, that video perfectly demonstrates how to overact.
Lifes Rich Pageant might be my favorite R.E.M. album. Not sure. Everything from Reckoning to Monster is a contender. I could have went with just about any song from this album as an HM at least.
Just missing out Julian Cope World Shut Your Mouth My 5 UK chart songs are 5 Cyndi Lauper True Colors 4 Bowie Absolute Beginners 3 Elvis Costello I Want You 2 Prince Kiss 1 SWING OUT SISTER BREAKOUT Deep cuts 5 Housemartins Anxious 4 Paul Simon Under African Skies 3 Elvis Costello Crimes of Paris 2 The Bangles September Girls SONG OF THE YEAR: PRINCE SOMETIMES IT SNOWS IN APRIL
1986 not as good as 1985 but… C’mon Every Beatbox-Big Audio Dynamite Strength of Strings-This Mortal Coil Manic Monday-The Bangles Spring Rain-The Go Betweens It’s a Good Thing-That Petrol Emotion Don’t Want to Know if You Are Lonely-Husker Du Sledgehammer-Peter Gabriel These Days- REM (Could choose anything off this album. Still my favourite. Can’t believe it only got to number 43 in UK!) Manhattan Skyline-A-ha Sheep-The Housemartins Don’t Get Me Wrong -The Pretenders Livin’ on a Prayer-Bon Jovi But standing above all of this and more… Bigmouth Strikes Again-The Smiths Another year of dancing in dingy clubs with sticky floors!!
Wild Cards 5) One Simple Thing - Stabilizers; 4) Forever Live and Die - OMD; 3) Julian Cope - Eve's Volcano; 2) Talk Talk - Living in Another World; 1) Husker Du - Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely. Song of the year was: 1) Crowded House - Don't Dream Its Over; 2) Pretenders - Don't Get Me Wrong (good call); 3) Prince -Kiss; 4) Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer; 5) Icehouse - No Promises. Least favorite - Huey Lewis - Hip to be Square.
I had to dig around for favorites for '86 then realised many great songs were from my own backyard. Wide Open Road : The Triffids Expressway To Yr Skull : Sonic Youth Life's What You Make It : Talk Talk Just Like Fire Would : The Saints The Queen is Dead : The Smiths Mercy Street : Peter Gabriel Say Goodbye : Hunters and Collectors Boy in the Bubble : Paul Simon Ostia : Coil Head Full of Steam : The Go-Betweens Tantalized : The Church Also realised I could have picked a bunch of songs by The Smiths, The Church, The Go-Betweens and others above. A strong year though didn't seem so at first glance.
Billboard: 1. R.E.M. - Fall on Me 2. Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls 3. Prince - Kiss 4. Benjamin Orr - Stay the Night 5. Peter Gabriel w/ Kate Bush - Don’t Give Up Wildcard: 2. The Chameleons (UK) - Swamp Thing 3. Hüsker Dü - Hardly Getting Over it 4. Depeche Mode - Stripped 5. Cocteau Twins - Love’s Easy Tears Worst SOTY: Midnight Star - Midas Touch BEST SOTY: New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
I'm on board with Ryan's pick for song of the year , from the great Crowded House . Neil Finn might not be appreciated as a member of Fleetwood Mac , but he's a terrific song writer . He has written one of the best pop songs with Don't Dream It's Over , not to mention I Got You by Split End . Here' s my list in descending order : Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House Back in the High Life Again by Steve Winwood My Baby by the Pretenders Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order Mandolin Rain by Bruce Hornsby Mercy Street by Peter Gabriel Welcome to the Boomtown by David & David Dear God by XTC Don't Get Me Wrong by the Pretenders Human by the Human League Cheers !
Maybe not my favorite year overall, but heck of a top 5 (from the playlist, but don't think I could do any better): 1. In Your Eyes- Peter Gabriel 2. The Queen is Dead- The Smiths 3. Bizarre Love Triangle- New Order 4. Life What's You Make It- Talk Talk 5. Grass- XTC
1986 was a fantastic year for music. Not only is it the year that my 2nd favorite song of all time was released, but also Susanne Sundfør was born this year (Edit: and Kramzer)! Okay okay, but there were many awesome songs and albums put out this year. (Honourable Mentions: ‘Til Tuesday - What About Love, Bananarama - Venus, The Bangles - Manic Monday, Genesis - Domino, Metallica - Master of Puppets) Charting Songs: 5. Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone (US #2, Germany #12, UK #45) [Epic Pop-Rock number.] 4. Genesis - Land of Confusion (US #4, Germany #7, UK #14) [The only Genesis song to make it into my SOTY!] 3. Depeche Mode - Stripped (Germany #4, UK #15) 2. The Stranglers - Always the Sun (UK #30) [Slowly discovering more and more of their catalogue and liking everything so far. Knew this one for a very long time though. Always loved it.] 1. Depeche Mode - A Question of Lust (Germany #8, UK #28) [Perfect melody work on here, but it's only the second best song of the year!] Wildcards: 5. Talking Heads - Radio Head [I heard that a band named themselves after it…but I forgot who it was. 😉] 4. Sonic Youth - Secret Girl [Yes, I love that song.] 3. Siouxsie and the Banshees - This Unrest [I kind of lost track of them after 1982 but came back for ‘Tinderbox’ and this song is amazing. Kind of has some Metal influence in there or am I crazy?] 2. Suzanne Vega - Gypsy [Guess you have to be named Suzanne or Susanne to have a mindblowing voice. But apart from that, also a really beautiful song.] SONG OF THE YEAR 1986: Depeche Mode - Here is the House [I will make an extra comment for this song.]
Will be saving "Don't Dream It's Over" for my '87 picks but voting for Kram. That song just gets better and better. Hot 100: 5. Fall On Me - REM 4. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel 3. Once In A Lifetime - Talking Heads 2. West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys 1. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel Wild Cards: 5. Hometown - Joe Jackson 4. Superman - REM 3. Cities In Dust - Siouxsie and the Banshees 2. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order 1. Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush Worst: Heartbeat - Don Johnson Best: Sledgehammer HMs: Mercy Street (Peter Gabriel), Big Mouth Strikes Again (Smiths), Kiss (Prince and Revolution), The Captain Of Her Heart (Double), Love For Sale (Talking Heads), Always The Sun (Stranglers), Live To Tell (Madonna), In Between Days (Cure), Under African Skies (Paul Simon/Linda Ronstadt), Higher Love (Steve Winwood), There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (Smiths), Cannons (Siouxsie and the Banshees), Mean To Me (Crowded House), Manic Monday (Bangles), Thorn In My Side (Eurythmics), What You Need (INXS), The Untouchable One (Tom Cochrane/Red Rider), Greatest Love Of All (Whitney Houston), I Can't Wait (Nu Shooz), My Love's Leavin (Steve Winwood), Color In Your World (Missing Persons), Don't Want To Know (Husker Du), When I Think Of You (Janet Jackson)
1) "Sledgehammer" - Peter Gabriel 2) "Welcome to the Boomtown" - David & David 3) "Fall on Me" - REM 4) "Graceland" - Paul Simon 5) "Papa Don't Preach" - Madonna 6) "Kiss" - Prince 7) "Walk Like an Egyptian" - Bangles 8) "Bigmouth Strikes Again" - The Smiths 9) "Control" - Janet Jackson 10) "Word Up" - Cameo
Too many people sleep on that David & David album. Great songs, so many great lyrics. I went with Welcome to... on my list also because it charted but Swallowed by the Cracks is my favorite song on the album.
@@bengalgangster they only made 1 album, but it's a great one, at least imo it's great. Good storytelling lyrics. I got it sitting on my turntable right now, as a matter of fact.
Best Track: THE SMITHS - Bigmouth Strikes Again Best Singles: 1. ELVIS COSTELLO - I Want You 2. THE SMITHS - Panic 3. THE ROLLING STONES - One Hit (To The Body) 4. BANGLES - If She Knew What She Wants 5. THE GO-BETWEENS - Spring Rain Wildcards: 1. THE SMITHS - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out 2. THE SMITHS - The Queen Is Dead 3. SLAYER - Angel Of Death 4. METALLICA - Orion 5. METALLICA - Battery Honorable Mentions: CHRIS ISAAK - Blue Hotel TALK TALK - Life‘s What You Make It HÜSKER DÜ - Crystal SLAYER - Raining Blood CAMEO - Word Up
I agree with Jason that good songs are getting better (independent music) whereas the pop hits are getting increasingly wretched. I didn't even know Greetings to the New Brunette until I saw everyone loving it so I listened and added it. I won't vote on your SOTY picks because I think they're all great. I had to listen to the Elvis as I didn't know it. I've got Bizarre Love Triangle in my top 10 this year and the Crowded House high on '87. Brownsville Girl-Bob Dylan-wild card Shanghai Sky-Joe Jackson-wild card In the Shape of a Heart-Jackson Browne-billboard #70 Fall on Me-REM-billboard #94 Life In A Northern Town-Dream Academy-billboard # Bizarre Love Triangle-New Order-wild card (It’s A) Big World-Joe Jackson-wild card Greeting To The New Brunette-Billy Bragg-wild card (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right To Party-The Beastie Boys-billboard # Missionary Man-The Eurythmics-billboard Worst song: Stuck With You-Huey Lewis and the News
My Favorite Singles, of 1986: “Manic Monday” - Bangles “Take My Breath Away” - Berlin “Papa Don’t Preach” - Madonna “Your Love” - The Outfield “If You Leave” - Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark Album Picks + (some singles/previously or in the future will be released): “Stuck with You” - Huey Lewis & the News “Love Comes Quickly” - Pet Shop Boys “True Colors” - Cyndi Lauper “Oh L’amour” - Erasure “Take Me Home Tonight” - Eddie Money Worst single: “Party All the Time” - Eddie Murphy
1. Nigh Songs - Cinderella 2. In For the Kill - Black Sabbath 3. Orgasmatron - Motorhead 4. Caught Somewhere in Time - Iron Maiden 5. Master of Puppets - Metallica 6. The Candle - King Diamond 7. Peace Sells - Megadeth 8. Damage, Inc. - Metallica 9. Shake Me - Cinderella 10. Halloween - King Diamond
cinderella nice , had 3 on my HMs . i have heard my share of cinderella , the drummer fred coury grew up about 15 miles from me! not as famous as dio tho who was 30 miles from me!
Obligatory comment from your fellow from Blighty. I'll give Kramzer the win, 'cos that song effects me on an emotional level I can't even... I love Elvis but some tracks, like Jason's here; it's hard to get past the latent misogyny. And, in regard to Joe's pick, notwithstanding New Order's brilliant lp, 'Power Corruption and Lies', which is a classic, I do feel that after that, New Order were just working up to one brilliant song (Bizzare Love Triangle being a template as it were), that being 'True Faith'. You could do a whole piece on bands that basically had a career on one idea of a song that they did brilliantly and then just kept doing it - for instance - New Order, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Manic Street Preachers... Always love any love for XTC though... now there was a band that diversified. Loves again.
1. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths 2. Wide Open Road - The Triffids 3. Dear God - XTC 4. The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby & The Range 5. Fall On Me - REM 6. Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush 7. Life's What You Make It - Talk Talk 8. Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness - John Prine 9. Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House 10. Graceland - Paul Simon 11. Sledge Hammer - Peter Gabriel 12. Levi Stubbs Tears - Billy Bragg 13. Missee How You Let Me Down - Richard Thompson 14. In The Garden - Van Morrison 15. Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely - Husker Du 16. Cuyahoga - REM 17. Grass - XTC 18. Ship Of Fools - World Party 19. My Old Friend The Blues - Steve Earle 20. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others - The Smiths
Jason, Kramzer, and Joe - 1986 is simple: 1- I've Tried Subtlety - Game Theory 2 - "Erica's Word" - Game Theory 3 -"Regenisraen" - Game Theory 4 -"Crash Into June" - Game Theory 5 -"Never Mind" - Game Theory 6 -"Like a Girl Jesus" - Game Theory The final 4 can be a song from each of these: The Smiths - The Queen is Dead R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant XTC - Skylarking They Might Be Giants - s/t
Not a massive fan of 1986 singles wise although this year did produce 2 of my favourite albums of all time, so I’m going to cheat and put on my list the whole of The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths and the whole of The colour of Spring - Talk Talk 😉 I do have a couple of singles that I love from ‘86: Fall on Me - R.E.M Papa Don’t Preach - Madonna I definitely have a worse song of the year: I can’t Wait - Nu Shooz 🤢 pretty much sums up what was wrong with the cheesy crappy pop of the mid-late 80’s IMHO Cheers! 🇬🇧🇺🇸
there is so much Cowpunk on my ’86 list.. but there you go that is what I dig from that year… Devils River by The Divine Horsemen Tomb of Love by Jet Black Berries Poison Love by Blood on the Saddle Scarred But Smarter by Drivin’n’Cryin (who are gonna be making lists from now on, jut FYI) Shatter City by Color Me Psycho
1986: 🏆 Song of the Year: Don’t Dream it’s Over, Crowded House 🔥 Billboard: There is a Light that Never Goes Out, The Smiths You Keep Me Hangin’ On, Kim Wilde In Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel Mandolin Rain, Bruce Hornsby 😎 Wildcard: Fall on Me, REM Fly on the Windscreen, Depeche Mode Bizarre Love Triangle, New Order Life’s What You Make It, Talk Talk The Boy with a Thorn in His Side, The Smiths 🤮 Worst: The Next Time I Fall, Peter Cetera/Amy Grant
1986 was a very good year for music! A lot of tough choices, and many songs that I cut that I didn't want to. Women singers seemed to dominate my lists this year, and there were a lot of lovely ballads out there. A few HM's - Don't Love Anybody Else But Me- Triumph, It's Not Love-Dokken, Indoor Fireworks-Elvis Costello. Billboard Hot 100 5. Throwing It All Away-Genesis 4. You Got It All-The Jets-If you don't know this song, you should. 3. Live To Tell-Madonna- My favorite Madonna song 2. All Cried Out-Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam- The vocal by Lisa is top shelf! 1. If She Knew What She Wants-Bangles- Great harmonies on this song! Wild Cards 5. Tokyo Storm Warning-Elvis Costello-Two great albums by Costello this year! 4. Spring Rain-Go-Betweens 3. Like An Island-Phil Keaggy 2. Secret Separation-the Fixx 1. See Below Worst Song- Rock Me Amadeus-Falco- Just overplayed to death back in the day. I preferred the version that had a bit of narration at the end, at least it cut down on the incessant "Amadeus, Amadeus" Ugh. Song of the Year- Love at the Five and Dime-Nanci Griffith- Beautiful song! It often makes me tear up. Has the absolute right amount of nostalgia for the older days.
The Pretenders "Get Close" album partly recorded in ABBA's Polar Studios. If I remember correctly reading in interviews from the era Chrissy Hynde thought being in those studios rubbed off on "Don't Get Me Wrong" as it is the most "pop" like The Pretenders had ever sounded.
A step up from 1985, but not quite as good as the following year, 1986 is nonetheless an excellent year in the grand scheme of things. Singles: *1. Manic Monday (3) - Bangles -* Just a perfect pop song. Written by some guy named Christopher, wish he had a last name, so we could know more about him. Who does he think he is Prince? Love the imagery in one of the opening lines “I was kissing Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream” *2. In Your Eyes (4)- Peter Gabriel -* An awesome epic sounding song, lovely and uplifting. *3. Papa Don’t Preach (5) - Madonna -* 90-95% of my favorites songs tend to make it more for the music, but this is one of those exceptions. The music is good of course, with great bass, but the lyrics is really makes the song. Topical but not preachy and definitely leaves open what is right. *4. Wild Wild Life (8)- Talking Heads -* As with most of the best Talking Heads songs, this song is filled with wonderful tense energy. *5. Don’t Get Me Wrong (10)- Pretenders * Chrissie as she so often does, just makes a great song, even without any of the original band members. Perhaps produced a little too perfect, it sounds wonderful to my ears. Non Hits *1. Thunder Road (1) - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band -* Song of the year. The studio version of Thunder Road is among my 25 favorite songs ever, but this piano only version from 1975 from the less than stellar Live 75-85, is fantastic. *2. Indoor Fireworks (2)- Elvis Costello -* one of Costello’s best vocals very delicate. Also song has great lyrics, e.g. “You were the spice of Life, the gin in my vermouth” *3. Guitar Town (6)- Steve Earle -* I’ve always sorta rebelled against country music as it was my mother’s favorite style of music, but of course my mother never listened to anybody like Steve Earle. This track is exploding with energy and fun. *4. Behind the Wall of Sleep (7)- Smithereens -* “She had hair like Jeannie Shrimpton back in 1965” One of the great opening lines. Doesn’t hurt that she is beautiful and has amazing hair. Frustratingly the studio version isn’t on Spotify. *5. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (9) - Metallica -* I go back and forth between Fade to Black and Sanitarium as my second favorite Metallica song, but in ‘84 Fade to Black had no chance, but in this year Sanitarium sneaks in. Menacing but still has a big strong sound. *Honorable Mentions* 11. Don’t Dream It’s Over - Crowded House 12. I know It’s Over - The Smiths 13. Brilliant Mistake - Elvis Costello 14. Fall On Me - REM 15. Don’t Let’s Start - They Might Be Giants Worst song of the year - not a top 40 song, but I don’t care, when it’s one of my least favorite songs ever, I gotta mention it. I pretty much hate all of Reign in Blood from Slayer. The most celebrated track is Raining Blood, which is the album’s best track with a decent riff, but the second most celebrated track is *“Angel of Death”* which I despise. The lyrics are stupidly over the top. The “music” barely qualifies as such. “Battery” from Metallica can at times have a similar hyper aggressiveness, but at least it’s still feels like music.
1) Take the Skinheads Bowling - Camper Van Beethoven (WC). Released as a single in '86, this is just a great, catchy jam. Also has the goofiest call and response lyrics since Iggy Pop's "Success". 2) Dear God - XTC (WC). More like Dear Todd, am I right? With some help from Jason's favorite production wizard, Andy Partridge tears down religion in the coolest way possible. 3) I Want You - Elvis Costello (WC). Great tune from my favorite EC album. I love the false intro, and Elvis' dark, stalker lyrics. The guitar tone rules on this. 4) Panic - The Smiths (WC). My favorite Smiths song. Hang the DJ! 5) Begin the Begin - R.E.M. (WC). Rockin' opener to Lifes Rich Pagent. Peter Buck is really killing it here with the cool guitar riff. 6) In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel (26). Boom box, trench coat, Ione Skye. What more do you need? 7) So Far Away - Dire Straits (19). It's a weird choice as the opening track to Brothers in Arms, but I always loved this track. Mark Knopfler turns in some of his most Dylanesque vocals on this. 8) Kiss - Prince (1). I've never been a big falsetto guy, but Prince totally makes it work on this funky track. The Dynasty reference is super dated, but somehow that makes it even cooler. 9) Your Love - The Outfield (6). Just a great power pop song. It's very Cheap Trick-esque. 10) Wild Wild Life - Talking Heads (25). Probably my favorite late-period Talking Heads song and one of their most immediately satisfying. I still think the 1980s are the best decade for pop songs, but if there's a weak spot, 1986 is it. I still love all these songs, but it was a really thin year outside of these 10 tracks. The Hot 100 is a big step down from the greatness of the last few years.
Oh I didn't consider the Todd connection on Dear God. In any case, great pick that made my list. Your Love, I Want You, and In Your Eyes also in the mix.
Camper Van Beethoven! No millennial or gen-z revival for them because none of their albums are on streaming services. But what a fun band. Smart asses but they brought all kinds of world music influences into their music. Skinheads was on my HM for last year and they might make a list of mine before the decade ends.
Fun fact, I listened to Take the Skinheads Bowling for the first time in my life just this past weekend. I was driving and my album ended and that's what Spotify gave me. I immediately connected with it kept playing it over and over again.
My Top 5 from the year 1 9 8 6 5. Why Can't This Night Go on Forever - Journey The Journey album this year wasn't very great. Too 80's and except for a few songs very forgettable. This ends it on a high note though. 4. Under African Skies - Paul Simon If you only heard the big hits from Graceland by Paul Simon? Give this a try. One of my favorite opening riffs/licks of all time. 3. Love Walks In - Van Halen Cheesy sure but.. Very melodic keyboards. Great guitar-solo. One of Sammy Hagars best performances. Perhaps not the hardrock some wanted at the time but easily one of the best songs of it's kind. 2. Master of Puppet - Metallica Probably one of the easiest progressive metal tracks to appreciate. Powerful in the beginning and the end. Melodic in the middle. 1. Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel featuring Kate Bush At first? I thought it was the most self-indulgent thing I'd ever heard. Makes 80's Lionel Richie seem like a metal band or something. Who listens to this? Well.. I do. Very haunting and beautiful. It really does give you hope! One more thought: Peter Gabriels In Your Eyes? Good on the album. GREAT live.. Longer, gets to breathe and often cool different keyboard solos!
BILLBOARD 5. War: Bruce Springsteen 4. Like a Rock: Bob Seger 3. You Give Love a Bad Name: Bon Jovi 2. Nikita: Elton John 1. Keep Your Hands to Yourself: Georgia Satellites WILDCARD 5. London Girl: The Pogues 4. Down the Road: Steve Earle 3. Golden Light: Georgia Satellites 2. Guitars, Cadillacs: Dwight Yoakam 1. WINNER WORST: Glory of Love by Peter Cetera. Bleh. BEST: Goodbye's All We've Got Left by Steve Earle. Great hook, singalong chorus, gets stuck in your head in the best way.
Apologies for my distorted audio in this one. Hopefully it's not too distracting or annoying for you. Thanks for watching! -Jason
It now matches the content. (Forgive me, I just had to say it...)
The text at the end isn’t easy either (on an iPhone) - pink on purple means I have to reach for the monocle!
Sound seemed to improve after the first few minutes. Or maybe I just got used to it.
@@roxannewalsh ha
influenced by muted guitar in Don't Get Me Wrong?
Top 5 Hot 100:-
1. West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
2. Holding Back the Years - Simply Red
3. Manic Monday - The Bangles
4. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
5. Human - Human League(their last US hit, and a different take from them - a ballad)
Wild Cards :-
1. True Blue - Madonna
2. If She Knew What She Wants - The Bangles
3. Happy Hour - The Housemartins
4. Suburbia - Pet Shop Boys
5. Graceland - Paul Simon
sounds like a drinking game ; every time jason says todd , drink up
A really strong year but I was 17 and don't a lot of 17 year olds think that? Maybe even in 2022? In no particular order:
1. Hardly Getting Over It - Husker Du
2..A Rainy Night In Soho - The Pogues (on the same EP as The Body of An American, another great Pogues song)
3. Somewhere In China - Shop Assistants
4. It's a Good Thing - That Petrol Emotion
5. Lucifer Over Lancashire - The Fall (though the Bend Sinister LP came out in 1986, my first Fall album and still a favourite)
6. The Trumpton Riots - Half Man Half Biscuit
7. I Know It's Over - The Smiths
8. Sometimes it Snows in April - Prince & The Revolution
9. How Will I Ever be Simple Again - Richard Thompson
10. Kerosene - Big Black
My Top 10:
1. A-HA ´´Manhattan Skyline´´
2. METALLICA ´´Master of Puppets´´
3. MIDNIGHT OIL ´´The Dead Heart´´
4. THE HOUSEMARTINS ´´Caravan of Love´´
5. THE SMITHS ´´There is a Light That Never Goes Out´´
6. JEAN MICHEL JARRE ´´Rendez Vous IV´´
7. PAUL SIMON ´´The Boy In The Bubble´´
8. DEPECHE MODE ´´Fly On The Windscreen´´
9. QUEEN ´´Gimme The Prize´´
10. PET SHOP BOYS ´´Suburbia´´
What a great year...
Greetings from Canary Islands.
Fantastic list!
Aha is great. I went with Scoundrel Days this year...such a great start to the album.... 👌
1986 - The music was all over the place ... but some wonderful songs:
1. World Shut Your Mouth - Julian Cope
2. Sweet Love - Anita Baker
3. Ask - The Smiths
4. Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston
5. Levi Stubbs’ Tears - Billy Bragg
6. The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby & the Range
7. Panic - The Smiths
8. Kiss - Prince
9. Johnny Johnny (Goodbye Lucille #1) - Prefab Sprout
10. Graceland - Paul Simon
11. Greetings to the New Brunette - Billy Bragg
12. Left of Centre - Suzanne Vega
13. Wild Wild Life - Talking Heads
14. Thorn in My Side - Eurythmics
15. Diggin’ Your Scene - The Blow Monkeys
16. I Want You - Elvis Costello
17. Suburbia - Pet Shop Boys
18. Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent - Gwen Guthrie
19. Don’t Give Up - Peter Gabriel with Kate Bush
20. Happy Hour - The Housemartins
21. Word Up - Cameo
22. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel with Youssou N’dour
23. Rise - PiL
24. Some Candy Talking - The Jesus and Mary Chain
25. Higher Love - Steve Winwood
26. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
27. Rubberband Man - Youssou N’dour
28. Have You Ever Had It Blue? - The Style Council
29. Red Rain - Peter Gabriel
30. Absolute Beginners - David Bowie
31. Take The Skinheads Bowling - Camper van Beethoven
32. Bedbugs & Ballyhoo - Echo & the Bunnymen
33. The Trumpton Riots - Half Man Half Biscuit
34. Holding Back The Years - Simply Red
35. Don’t Dream It’s Over - Crowded House
Delighted to see number 33, I still have the EP. if only they could have been bothered to leave their houses, they could've broken America✈
Anita baker 🔥🔥🔥🔥
☆Living inside my Heart☆Bob Seger
BB
Welcome to the Boomtown~David+David
Smoking Gun~Robert Cray
Something so Strong~Crowded House
Wild Wild Life~T. Heads
It's in the way that you use it~Clapton
WC's
Things you left Behind~The Nails
Begin the Begin~R.E.M
We're no good together~Tesla
Cry for Love~Iggy Pop
Robert Cray and David and David. Yay! Nice list.
1. The Smiths - There is a Light That Never Goes Out
2. Talk Talk - Time it's Time
3. New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
4. Hüsker Dü - Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely
5. The Go-Betweens - Spring Rain
6. Big Black - Kerosene
7. R.E.M. - Fall On Me
8. Chris Isaak - Blue Hotel
9. The Pretenders - Don't get me wrong
10. Primal Scream - Velocity Girl
Voted with Joe, and I'm surprised Kramz is winning by such a landslide!
1. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
2. Papa Don't Preach - Madonna
3. Overjoyed - Stevie Wonder
4. Nasty - Janet Jackson
5. It's Tricky - Run DMC
6. Sweet Love - Anita Baker
7. In Too Deep - Genesis
8. Hip to Be Square - Huey Lewis and the News
9. Dreams - Van Halen
10. I'll be Alright without you - Journey
Billboard:
1. Live To Tell - Madonna
2. West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
3. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
4. True Colors - Cyndi Lauper
5. Kiss - Prince
Wildcards:
1. I Know It's Over - The Smiths
2. Who Wants to Live Forever - Queen
3. Sometimes It Snows in April - Prince
4. One Hit (To the Body) - The Rolling Stones
5. Papa Don't Preach - Madonna
One Hit (To The Body) is a laughable pick. 1983-1987 Rolling Stones just straight up suck out loud.
@@curly_wyn ....in your opinion 😉
1. Greetings to the New Brunette - Billy Bragg
2. I Believe - REM
3. The River Runs Low Tonight - Bruce Hornsby and the Range
4. Calling America - ELO
5. Ancient Rain - Mary Coghlan
6. Word Up - Cameo
7. Now We're Getting Somewhere - Crowded House
8. Don't Dream it's Over - Crowded House
9. Gypsy - Suzanne Vega
10 Welcome to the Boomtown - David and David
Good call on 'Welcome to the Boomtown' - I'm not sure if I've heard it since it was out.
@@trickygoose2 I've never heard this duo mentioned by anyone since the song and album were released. Why not?? I love the guitar sound on this by David Ricketts particularly the part just before the chorus.
I'll happily fight Joe's corner when it comes to Welcome Home (Sanitarium). The build up "sleep my friend and you will see" culminating in that awesome, crunching chorus riff blew my mind as a 14 year old and I still get the same feelings listening to it today. My favorite Metallica song by a mile.
Yup. In the 1989 _And Justice For All_ tour, it was at that very point in "Sanitarium" when the giant Lady Justice statue onstage lit up with pyrotechnics & exploded into pieces. Epic.
It's actually really hard to narrow down my top 10 favorite Costello songs from this year alone. Those two albums are incredible. If this was the last year of his golden run, he went out on fire.
1. American Without Tears
2. I Hope You're Happy Now
3. The Jack of All Parades
4. Indoor Fireworks
5. I'll Wear It Proudly
6. The Big Light
7. Sleep of the Just
8. Suit of Lights
9. Battered Old Bird
10. Blue Chair
1. Brilliant Mistake
2. Uncomplicated
3. American Without Tears
4. Suit of Lights
5. Blue Chair
6. Sleep of the Just
7. I Hope You're Happy Now
8. Indoor Fireworks
9. I Want You
10. Crimes of Paris
Check out his new album, it came out a few days ago. It is a nice return to the roots - actually it even goes back to his very early albums.
We have a review coming tonight. - Joe
Real catchy pop never died, in 1986 it just became distilled into its purest essence, The Jets' "Crush On You." C'mon, people, this is a most awesome 80s pop song, and deserves respect!
They suck. So does that song lmao.
That song sucks ass, and those family bands from the 80s like The Jets and Midnight Star were all just totally anonymous and terrible.
@@curly_wyn You know you love them and wish you could rock a mullet half as good as they do.
1986 🏵️ We are hope despite the times.
1. Banks of the Pontchartrain - Nanci Griffith
2. Be Good to Yourself - Journey
3. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
4. The Boy in the Bubble - Paul Simon
5. Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush
6. My Adidas - Run DMC
7. Oh the Warm Feeling - Van Morrison
8. The Queen is Dead - The Smiths
9. Rhymin and Stealin - Beastie Boys
10. These Days - R.E.M.
Tasto 4ever 🎶📢
I had a hat . .
Great year. Top 30 tracks of 1986
30. Shriekback - This Big Hush
29. Lou Reed - Video Violence
28. Jesus & Mary Chain - In A Hole
27. We've Got A Fuzzbox - Console
26. Laurie Anderson - Language Is A Virus
25. Robert Palmer - I Didn't Mean To Turn You On
24. Pete Shelley - On Your Own
23. Prince - Kiss
22. Anita Baker - Caught Up In The Rapture
21. This Mortal Coil - Tarantula
20. The Pretenders - Don't Get Me Wrong
19. Wang Chung - To Live & Die In LA
18. Pray For Rain - Taxi To Heaven
17. INXS - Kiss The Dirt/Listen Like Thieves
16. Wham - Blue (live in China)/Where Did Your Heart Go
15. The Fixx - Camphor/Read Between The Lines
14. Sonic Youth - Shadow Of A Doubt
13. The Damned - In Dulce Decorum
12. The Chameleons - Tears
11. Queen - Princes Of The Universe
10. Pil - Rise
9. Simple Minds - Alive & Kicking
8. Michael McDonald - Sweet Freedom
7. David Bowie - As The World Falls Down/Absolute Beginners
6. The Flower Pot Men - Beat City
5. Gigi Masin - Tears Of A Clown
4. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Candyman/Cities In Dust
3. The B-52's - Girl From Ipanema Goes To Greenland
2. New Order - The Perfect Kiss
1. The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out/The Queen Is Dead
Top Albums
*11. _Transformers: The Movie_ Soundtrack 🤘
10. _The Mission_ Soundtrack
9. Beverly Glenn-Copeland _Keyboard Fantasies_
8. Cocteau Twins _Victorialand_ / _The Moon & The Melodies_
7. Siouxsie & The Banshees _Tinderbox_
6. Killing Joke _Brighter Than A Thousand Suns_
5. David Sylvian _Gone To Earth_
4. The Mission UK _God's Own Medicine_
3. Metallica _Master Of Puppets_
2. Depeche Mode _Black Celebration_
1. The Cure _In Orange_
Favorites:
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
In no particular order:
Lie to Me - Chris Isaak
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
Don’t Give Up - Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush
Missionary Man - Eurythmics
The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby
Sweet Love - Anita Baker
Human - Human League
Everybody Have Fun Tonight - Wang Chung
Don’t Get Me Wrong - The Pretenders
Experiment IV - Kate Bush
Holy Mother - Eric Clapton
First We Take Manhattan - Jennifer Warnes
1. Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely-Husker Du 2. I Want You-Elvis Costello and the Attractions 3. How Will I Ever Be Simple Again?-Richard Thompson 4. Slipping Into Something-The Feelies 5. Raymond Chandler Evening-Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians 6. If She Knew What She Wants-The Bangles 7. Levi Stubb's Tears-Billy Bragg 8. Cactus Cat-Look Blue, Go Purple 9. Hello Cruel World-The Mekons 10. Spring Rain-The Go-Betweens 11. Walk In The Woods-Peter Case 12. Expressway to Yr. Skull-Sonic Youth 13. Flag Day-The Housemartins 14. Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?-The Cramps 15. Blood and Roses-The Smithereens 16. Language Is A Virus-Laurie Anderson 17. Rise-P.I.L. 18. Sacrificial Bonfire-XTC 19. I Like Rain- Jean-Paul Sartre Experience 20. White Elephant-Volcano Suns
1) Disposable Heroes- Metallica 2) Devil's Island -Megadeth 3) Wasted Years -IronMaiden 4) Cuyahoga -REM 5) Deaf Forever -Motorhead 6) Foreign Window -Van Morrison
1. Depeche Mode - A Question of Lust
2. Cocteau Twins - Love’s Easy Tears
3.Talk Talk - Life’s What You Make It
4. Crowded House - Don’t Dream It’s Over
5. Diana Ross - Chain Reaction
6. Journey - Girl Can’t Help It
7. ‘Til Tuesday - Have Mercy
8. Run DMC/Aerosmith - Walk This Way
9. Madonna - Open Your Heart
10. Cutting Crew - (I just) Died in Your Arms
Dang it, I thought Girl Can’t Help It came out in 87. - Joe
It's nice to see "Your Wildest Dreams" get some love, I've always loved that song and The Moody Blues. It is a really odd song but definitely has a nostalgic charm. I got some of their earlier 80s records recently and they are really solid. I don't hear much about them.
Hot 100:
- Prince - Kiss
- Berlin - Take My Breath Away
- Belinda Carlisle - Mad About You
- Janet Jackson - Nasty
- Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark - If You Leave
Wildcard:
- The Bangles - In a Different Light
- The Smiths - I Know It's Over
- Hüsker Dü- Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely
- Metallica - Master of Puppets
Worst: Very easy for me this year. Once I found out my Cancon nemesis Honeymoon Suite got into the US top 40 this year with "Feel It Again" that was my pick. I STILL hear this song constantly on multiple radio stations every time I listen to the radio and I don't even listen to the radio that much. I hate it. I can't stand how this guy sings, something about how he enunciates just irks me.
Winner: "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" by The Smiths. Easy #1, I've always loved this song. It will never get old for me.
Not sure how I am voting yet, I think I will need to give everything a listen.
Hi Vanessa, Your Wildest Dreams almost made my top 10 .. it’s such a pretty & sweet song! Nights In White Satin is one of my favorite songs of the 60s… need to check out more by them
@@michelewiese48 I love "Nights In White Satin" too, I also need to listen to more of their stuff - especially from the 60s and early 70s.
@@Vanessa.P
Hi Vanessa & Michele: I'm a huge Moody Blues fan!
Your Wildest Dreams is #8 on my list for this year.
They've also appeared on other lists:
Tuesday Afternoon (1967, #5)
Question (1970 SOTY)
The Story in Your Eyes (1971, #9)
You and Me (1972, #2)
I'm Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band) (1972, #10)
The Voice (1981, #2)
Additionally I have plenty of their songs on my HM lists, including Nights in White Satin which would normally be a top 10 song except that it was released during one of the greatest years of all time (1967).
BILLBOARD
1. *I'm Not the One by The Cars #32* (Actually an album cut from five years earlier. Love the backing vocals and almost lullaby-like synth line to this one.)
2. *Papa Don't Preach by Madonna #1* (Dance pop with a darker edge and a pretty interesting take on young rebellion. That prechorus slays.)
3. *Mountains by Prince and the Revolution #23* (Fun turn for him that is trippy and almost a little jazzy. Those funky horn stabs are infectious.)
4. *Graceland by Paul Simon #81* (Really cool blend of pop, country, and African influences.)
5. *Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money #4* (Actually a pretty exciting AOR jam. The Ronnie Spector (RIP) element adds a haunting quality to the song.)
WILDCARD
1. WINNER: *There Is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths* (The definitive Smiths song. Every aspect is pretty much perfect in all its jangly glory.)
2. *Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order [#98, 1995]* (Impeccable synthpop, perhaps their very best. That chorus is so bittersweet and ethereal.)
3. *Dear God by XTC* (The bluntness probably makes this one polarizing for some, but it feels like its own thing for the time. And from there we're left with some top class jangle pop.)
4. *Bigmouth Strikes Again by The Smiths* (More peak Smiths. That sped up backing vocal was an adjustment at first, but now the song would feel missing something without it.)
5. *Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House [#2, 1987]* (Wistful and melodic. One of those standards that just brings a smile to my face. Also, that organ in the latter half is so great.)
Top 10 Wildcard HM:
Living in Another World by Talk Talk
Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (Instrumental) by The Dream Academy
Black Celebration by Depeche Mode
Master of Puppets by Metallica
Billboard definitely felt thin to me compared to past years, though still fun to go through. The best stuff is definitely trending more toward the darker or alternative side of things, and I expect that to continue.
Worst TOP 40: Friends and Lovers by Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson #2 (This sappy duet moves along at such a plodding pace, and doesn't have great performances to compensate either.)
Worst Runner Up:
All Cried Out by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam #8
The Next Time I Fall by Peter Cetera and Amy Grant #1
Glory of Love by Peter Cetera #1
We are in sync this year. mountains is my fave from Parade. - Joe
Best Songs Matches:
*72 - Kram +2*
*59 - Joe
+2*
52 - Jason
Worst Songs Matches:
5 - Jason
2 - Joe
1 - Kram
Top Song Votes:
*13 - Joe*
12 - Jason
11 - Kram
@@TastesLikeMusic Indeed, lots of artist overlap here. If only we could see eye-to-eye on Glory of Love. Maybe I'll get there some day.
Agreed on Friend and Lovers (and those other worsts for that matter). One of the worst things about that F&L song is I don't think there was a video for it -- at least none I ever saw -- in an age of everyone making a video and everyone watching them. So you'd watch the videos, have 'em memorized, and then you'd see the charts and it was "WTF is THIS song?"
@@nightowl1851 I don't see a music video for it either. Apparently its success stemmed from Days of Our Lives. Gloria Loring was a regular on that show and the pair performed it on there.
My favourites for 1986:
01) Kiss - Prince
02) Dear God - XTC
03) Love Comes Quickly - Pet Shop Boys
04) Chain Reaction - Diana Ross
05) The Earth The Air The Fire The Water - Labana
06) Human - Human League
07) Rise - Public Image Limited
08) Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House
09) One Step - Kissing The Pink
10) Stay With Me - Bear Witness
Forgot about PiL
1. Mad About You- Belinda Carlisle
2. Your Wildest Dreams- The Moody Blues
3. We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off- Jermaine Stewart
4. Manic Monday- The Bangles
5. Bonzo Goes to Bitburg- Ramones
6. Sweet Freedom- Michael McDonald
7. True Blue- Madonna
8. Shake You Down- Gregory Abbott
9. If You Leave- OMD
10. Don't Get Me Wrong- The Pretenders
HM-
Nasty- Janet Jackson
This Means War- Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
It's In the Way That You Use It- Eric Clapton
Bigmouth Strikes Again- The Smiths
Modern Woman- Billy Joel
Your Love- The Outfield
I Wanna Go Back- Edward Money
The Finer Things- Steve Winwood
Every Little Kiss- Bruce Hornsby & The Range
Living With a Hernia- Weird Al Yankovic
I’m looking forward to you doing the Elvis Costello ranking, as well as The Jam, Waterboys, Paul Simon…
In no specific order:
- Suzanne Vega: Left of the Center
- Pretenders: Hymn to Her
- XTC: Another Satellite
- Smiths: Bigmouth Strikes Again
- Cameo: Word Up
- REM: Fall On Me
- Prince: Kiss
PS: This month I went through the whole McCartney-Wings discography. Press To Play is a disaster (Say Say Say being the only, minor exception)
THIS is a freaking GREAT list! I totally forgot "Left Of Center" came out that year... w/ Joe Jackson on piano! XTC's Another Satellite is brilliant... and R.E.M. put out their best album since Murmur... Tough to pick only one song from that amazing album, but I went "Swan Swan H"
I agree with Jason on Press to Play. One of his lesser albums but still has a few gems. Say say say was on Pipes of Peace though which I do prefer overall.
@@toonhkuitjes6382 I have to apologize for my mistake and amend my comment: I wouldn't save a single song on Press to Play. Paul's 80's are not for me (apart from few tracks on McCartney II and Flowers)
@@mariosandri4010 No need to apologise of course! You cannot argue about taste of course. A Tug of War to me is one of his very best and full of great songs.
I am a Jason-level McCartney fan but I have very little use for his output after “Say Say Say” up through Off the Ground in the early ‘90s (the demo recordings with Elvis Costello being a very notable exception). It’s the low section of his career imo. “Press” is a carnival freak of a song-I keep going back to it out of fascination because of its oh-so-‘80s sound, its grotesque catchiness and its supremely lazy, random lyrics. I kind of hate myself for liking the song.
1986 - Hot 100 Billboard ( US) - Charted - top 5 songs
1. Fall On Me - R.E.M
One of Stipe's first songs to deal with environmental issues ( acid rain) , happens to be one of their finest songs ( and my personal favourite of theirs). Their first album produced by Don Gehman ( John Mellencamp's mega selling at the time, Scarecrow album), expanded and filled out their sound, from the "jangle" and mystique ( lyrically ) of their first 3 records. Thankfully the quality that made their previous albums so compelling wasn't compromised and "Fall On Me" with it's majestic chorus with Mills and Stipe ( not for the last time) working brilliantly in tandem with counter harmonies ( Stipe "Don't faalll on meee" Mills' What is it up in the air for" ) still soars and moves me today. " Buy the sky , and sell the sky , and tell the sky"
2. Digging Your Scene - The Blow Monkeys
Perfect piece of rnb funk from this British pop group , brainchild of Dr Robert ( Robert Howard). Super catchy with a cool, rnb (but with that English,"Bowiesque" tone ) vocal from Howard, some nice sax, and an infectious groove that made it a huge club favourite, Add to that, the lyrics cleverly discuss HIV and AIDS and the stigma associated with people affected by them ( something I didn't know til years later) , which was a controversial topic at the time to say the least, which just creates another interesting layer to an already great pop song.
3. Skin Trade - Duran Duran.
One of their most underrated singles, but one of their finest in my opinion. Nile Rodgers ( a hero of theirs )was brought on board to produce their "Notorious " album, which this was one of the singles off it. Musically , the song references Chic as well as Prince ( singer Simon Le Bon in particular was a big fan of his work, and the falsetto he busts out in the verses are clearly a direct influence of his as well). Great bass and rhythm guitar work very much in the style of their producer with a nice funky swagger to it. The song remains one of their lowest charting singles, but I always loved the fullness of the sound , and as always with this band, hooks for days.
4. West End Girls -Pet Shop Boys
Classic 80s pop anthem from Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Catchy of course..it's 80s.., (with its melancholic, powerful chorus, , and it's original , mostly spoken vocal delivery from Tennant ) about the pressures of everyday urban life. The Pet Shop Boys released more fantastic pop singles over the years but ( apart from Being Boring in 1990) never equalled this.
5. True Blue - Madonna
Probably written off by critics as cheesy and minor in Madonna's significant pop singles catalogue, but I think this( obviously intentional) pastiche of 50s/60s girl group "lovey dovey" pop songs, if not one of her very best, is certainly one of my singles of 1986. Written for "hubby "( at the time) Sean Penn...not surprisingly she didn't perform it live again , after they acrimoniously split ( over 30 years ago) until just recently , where she now performs it playing a ukelele...go figure.
1986 - Deep cuts - ( chart or non-chart) top 5 songs
1. Greetings to the New Brunette- Billy Bragg
Beautiful, moving love song sung with the authenticity and voice of the british working classes. Gorgeous melody , poignant lyrics " Here we are in our summer years , living on ice cream and chocolate kisses, Would the leaves fall from the trees if i were your man and you were my missus". A celebratory love song, but has a way of tearing me up every time. Johnny Marr adds some chiming, soaring guitar bits in the song too, forgot to mention...just to propel the song even further to classic status. Kirsty Macoll ( RIP) also adds her wonderful backing vocals.
2. Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely- Husker Du
Single off Candy Apple Grey , not one of my favourite Du records ( still pretty good) though), but this is one of their best tracks and makes my top 5 list for 86. Powerhouse guitars, energy and killer chorus/hook courtesy of the great Grant Hart ( RIP).
3. Happy Hour- The Housemartins
More working class , british guitar pop making it's mark at the height of Thatcherism. Paul Heaton and his mates, craft a joyous little pop ditty which sounded a bit like the Smiths, but sung by a gang of socialist, football mad "lads" rather than Morrissey. Lyrics comment on the hypocrisy of young Thatcherite business go-getters and the emptiness of the office drinking binges and sexism that came with that culture...makes sense to me. And man, it's catchy.
4. The Boy With The Thorn in His Side- The Smiths,
Speaking of Morrissey, this track, along with This Charming Man, is their best ( in my opinion) from probably their best album . Beautiful melody and guitar work from Marr , and poor Moz in all his beauty sings with all the conviction in the world about how unloved he is..hilarious ..Being narcissistic and self loathing at the same time never felt so good...and if they don't believe me now..will they ever believe me.." you know the rest..yes , you do
5. Grass - XTC
More brits again. This time , the superb pop craftsmen XTC with one of my favourite tracks off their masterpiece "Skylarking " record. Written by Colin Moulding not Andy Partridge this time, this funny, clever song of 2 lovers frolicking in the fields on an English summer day , has a classic melody with violins and guitars working nicely together giving the song that special XTC warm quirkiness . Produced by Todd Rundgren who apparently asked Moulding to sing in a higher register as his vocal was sounding a bit "molester" like...brilliant.
Honourable Mentions.
( really wanted Costello on my list as he had a big year with 2 excellent LP releases "King of America" and "Blood and Chocolate" and i played those albums to death that year.. But just missed out..today anyway).
American without tears - Elvis Costello
Brilliant Mistake
Blue Chair- Elvis Costello
Rise - PIL
Sometimes- Erasure
Taking the Veil - David Sylvian
Wide Open Roads - The Triffids
Living too Late - The Fall
Mr Pharmacist - The Fall
Kiss- Prince
Cities In Dust -Siouxsie and The Banshees
Worst Chart Song: Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
At least you picked exactly the right three Elvis songs for honorable mention.
Fall On Me is indeed a great song. I went with Just a Touch, but what an great rock and roll album. Good to see the Fall mentioned too!
Although I'm not a fan of some on your list, R.E.M. is pretty damn awesome (It's their best album, IMO), and XTC is fantastic, as well. Elvis Costello's Brilliant Mistake and The Triffids making a nice appearance, too! Billy Bragg is up there for me, but with "God Save The Youth Of America." Well done!
The chorus in Fall On Me is actually a 3-part melody. Don’t forget Bill Berry’s “It’s gonna faaaaall” 😉
@@AnotherBadSpeech great call 👍..Shouldn’t forget Berry’s vocal contributions which also added to their amazing harmonies 😊🙏
1. I Believe - R.E.M.
2. Blood and Roses - The Smithereens
3. Cuyahoga - R.E.M.
4. Candy - Cameo
5. Happy Hour - The Housemartins
Yessss, I love I Believe!
My Top Ten for 1986.
1)Don't Get Me Wrong - The Pretenders
2)Grass - XTC
3)Human - The Human League
4)Back In The High Life Again - Steve Winwood
5)Every Little Kiss - Bruce Hornsby & The Range
6)On The Western Skyline - Bruce Hornsby & The Range
7)The Boy With The Thorn In His Side - The Smiths
8)Smoking Gun - Robert Cray
9)Goin' Crazy - David Lee Roth
10)Cry For Love - Iggy Pop
01 Life’s What You Make It - TalkTalk
02 Behind A Wall Of Sleep - The Smithereens
03 Live To Tell - Madonna
04 Cities In Dust - Siouxsie And The Banshees
05 Fall On Me - R.E.M.
Wild Card
01 Grass - XTC
02 Sex Object - Kraftwerk
03 American Without Tears - Elvis Costello
04 Sorry Somehow - Husker Du
05 Lazy Calm -Cocteau Twins
Hey there gentlemen! I'm new to your channel and I just wanted to say I truly love what you all do. I'm a music lover, of course, and it's great to get different opinions on songs, artists, albums, etc. Having severe social anxiety, it's difficult for me to connect with people, so I genuinely appreciate channels like yours that make me feel like I'm almost apart of something. I don't want to sound weird lol so, I'll stop. Just thanks for what you do 💖
Thank you kind sir. /- Joe
Kram's face when Jason mentioned Paul McCartney xD
Kramzer is born, and I graduated high school, clearly a momentous year. My top 5's...
Hot 100:
Kiss- Prince
Manic Monday- The Bangles
Life in a Northern Town- Dream Academy
West End Girls- Pet Shop Boys
Higher Love- Steve Winwood
Wild Cards:
Dear God- XTC
Sometimes it Snows in April- Prince
Guitars, Cadillacs, etc.- Dwight Yoakum
Behind the Wall of Sleep- The Smithereens
Blood & Roses- The Smithereens
Hello Sweet Peas!
There’s so many great examples of the merging of my childhood & adulthood artist & stylistic faves in this list. (Male British Vocals clearly had a hold on this Midwestern American girl from a very young age) Many of these I heard on the radio then, and I still love ‘em now! I’m definitely more of an emotionally based music listener than a technical one, this I know. I LOVE hearing/reading the different perspectives of people born before and after me…thanks for the kicks guys & gals 😘 💙
1986…
1. But Not Tonight - Depeche Mode (the uplifting closer to a decadently dark & sexy album) One of their best, but it is impossible for me to choose a favorite DM album!
2. Two Divided By Zero - Pet Shop Boys
3. Bigmouth Strikes Again - The Smiths
4. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
5. Push It - Salt ‘N’ Pepa (Get it, Ladies!)
6. Living On Video - Trans-X (Prophetic Pop Perfection)
7. I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On - Robert Palmer
8. Tale Of The Tongue - Peter Murphy
9. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
10. Touch Me (I Want Your Body) - Samantha Fox
The WORST song of 1986 is Hip To Be Square - Huey Lewis & The News
Yuck!!! 🤮 I had to tag along when my parents saw them live .. thank god it was a free show
Glad to see someone else list Samantha Fox
Forgot Push It, great club song, overplayed for a reason.
But Not Tonight is a great pick. Every song from Black Celebration would be a great pick haha. But I have to say that I kinda like 'Hip To Be Square'.
Hi Niels, this song is equals parts sexy & corny and that’s why it made my list … love it!
Push It is Everything… those ladies were doing somethin’ there … paving the way for WAP
Man I feel old. Kram was born in 86. That's the year I saw my first concert --- R.E.M.
Three years after my first concert. Old enough to make my own kid in 86, fer Pete's sake.
Was that the tour where they had a message projected on a screen that said "Hello (Your City Here)" ?
@@NaughtyVampireGod I think that was the Green tour
@@davidpalmer9014 ah - okay - thx - i love their sense of humor
Gotta go with Kramzer's "Don't Dream it's Over" pick. Not on my '86 list, but is in '87 when it charted. Joe and Jason's picks are great tunes too, though I can't believe Jason did Todd dirty and didn't pick something from XTC's Skylarking. Todd is weeping.
It was my AOTY. -Jason
@@TastesLikeMusic Todd finds that acceptable.
Kramzer will get my vote this week for sure. Another pop gem like last years TFF song. I never tire of hearing it. And this time Kramz, no take-backs by me!
Kram would have had my vote probably if Joe hadn't picked Bizarre Love Triangle. If things keep up, he doesn't need my help though.
So happy about Grass! My favorite song ever. Rarely talked about.
It mostly only concerns the two people involved...not much to talk about the things we used to do on grass.
I counted it along with Summer's Cauldron because they're connected on the album and also by the ambience at the beginning of Summer's Cauldron and the end of Grass.
1.Paul Simon - Graceland
2.The Rainmakers - Downstream
3.The Stranglers - Nice In Nice
4.R.E.M - Begin The Begin
5.Richard Thompson - Valerie
6.Erasure - Sometimes
7.Iggy Pop - Real Wild Child (Wild One)
8.Green - She's Not A Little Girl
9.Public Image Limited - Rise
10.Roxette - Pearls Of Passion
Valerie! What a great choice.
I like all three of the winners but as a New Order fan, I have to Go with Joe. Plus that song is legit fantastic.
🥇Winner: Time It's Time - Talk Talk
UK Charts;
1. Panic - The Smiths (#11)
2. Wasted Years - Iron Maiden (#18)
3. Life is What You Make it - Talk Talk (#16)
4. The Final Countdown - Europe (#1)
5. Fight For Your Right - Beastie Boys (#11)
Wildcards;
1. Time it's Time - Talk Talk
2. I Believe - R.E.M
3. Sometimes - Depeche Mode
4. Ballet For a Rainy Day / 1000 Umbrellas - XTC
5. Peace Sells - Megadeth
12. Do Fries Go With The Shake, by George Clinton
11. Notorious, by Duran Duran
10. Not My Slave, by Oingo Boingo
9. Bizarre Love Triangle, by New Order
8. Crocket's Theme, by Jan Hammer
7. Peter Piper, by Run DMC
6. Superman, by REM
5. You Can Call Me Al, by Paul Simon
4. Paranoimia, by Art of Noise
3. Mercy Street, by Peter Gabriel
2. Slipping Into Something, by The Feelies
Honorable mention: "Wicked Child (Castlevania, Block 3)"
1. Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes, by Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo
My Top 5 "Hot 100 songs"
1. "Stop To Love" / Vandross, Luther / Album: Give Me The Reason (1986)
2. "Sledgehammer" / Gabriel, Peter / Album: So (1986)
3. "Caught Up In The Rapture" / Baker, Anita / Album: Rapture (1986)
4. "Land Of Confusion" / Genesis / Album: Invisible Touch (1986)
5. "Captain Of Her Heart" / Double / Album: Blue (1986)
My top 5 "deep cut songs"
1. "Right And Wrong" / Jackson, Joe / Album: Big World (1986)
2. “Ghostdancing” / Simple Minds / Album: Once Upon A Time (1986)
3. “Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)” / INXS / Album: Listen Like Thieves (1986)
4. "Summer Nights" / Van Halen / Album: 5150 (1986)
5. "Rough Boy" / ZZ Top / Album: Afterburner (1986)
Worst song of the year
1. "That's What Friends Are For" / Dionne Warwick & Friends (1986)
Song of the year
1. "West End Girls" / Pet Shop Boys / Album: Please (1986)
Chart Hits: Wild, Wild Life - Talking Heads, Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House, Fall On Me - R.E.M., If you Leave - OMD, Your Wildest Dreams - Moody Blues Wild Cards: Don't Let's Start - They Might Be Giants, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths, Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order, A Question of Lust - Depeche Mode Worst Song: True Colors - Cyndi Lauper S.O.T.Y. for 1986 - Bigmouth Strikes Again - The Smiths
I had that Bigmouth Strikes Again 12". Gorgeous cover.
Wild card
Blood And Roses - The Smithereens
Brilliant Mistake - Elvis Costello
Earn Enough For US - XTC
Begin The Begin - REM
Big Mouth Strikes Again - The Smiths
Great, great year! HM - Mandolin Rain, Take Me Home Tonight, Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone, Take a Stand, Your Wildest Dreams, Manic Monday, Somebody Save Me, Cool the Engines, Best of Both Worlds, Love Walks In, In Your Eyes, You Can Call Me Al, Homeless, The Boy in the Bubble, Brothers in Arms, Shot in the Dark, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Getting to the Point, Don't Lets Start, Stay the Night, Talk Dirty To Me (would be in the top 10 except its a total rip off of Cheap Trick's She's Tight)
10. Put Your Hand inside the Puppet Head - They Might Be Giants
9. Summer Nights - Van Halen
8. Silhouettes in Disguise - Kansas
7. Keep Your Hands to Yourself - Georgia Satellites
6. Shy Boy - David Lee Roth
5. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
4. She's an Angel - They Might Be Giants
3. Little Suzi - Tesla
2. All Is Quiet on the Western Front - the Unforgiven (so want it to be #1 because no one's ever heard of them but can't)
Worst - That's What Friend's Are For by a nose over Party All the Time
1. In the Garden - Van Morrison
Love your #1!
Can't believe Joe picked Glory of Love. It's sort of a guilty pleasure for me but I'd never think of it as one of the year's best tracks
Great pick Kramzer. As a birthday present I think you've got it in the bag currently with 63% of the vote
I can't imagine my life not hearing Don't Dream It's Over.
1986 US Billboard Charts
1. What Have You Done For Me Lately - Janet Jackson ("the cool Jackson")
2. Word Up - Cameo ( Kil- ler)
3. Kiss - Prince ( the little master)
4. Manic Monday- The Bangles ( Prince again but through the voices of 4 cool white chicks )
5. How Will I Know - Whitney Houston ( Queen of "synthy" , rnb ( but not "too rnb" for mainstream charts and 80s middle America) ,feel good pop. Lovely , lovely voice)
1986 Wildcard Non charts
1, Rhymin and Stealin- Beastie Boys ( "Ali Baba and the Forty thieves, Ali baba and the forty thieves..etc")
2. Battery - Metallica ( or any other track off that friggin beast)
3. Reignition- Bad Brains ( hardcore legends)
4. Raining Blood - Slayer ( thrash legends)
5. Love Missile F1-11 - Sigue Sigue Sputnik ( "shoot it up")
Worst chart song- Say You Say Me - Lionel Ritchie ( ' I had a dream...i had an awesome dream"..... 😂)
Ali Baba...also 16 men on the dead man's chest and Zeppelin drums, I fought the law...They started out very promising and kept it interesting until Ill Communication, then they faded out. Now I try to remember if I ever listened to anything from them in the last 15 years.
That worst song is a good pick...the ones in the video are so bad that I did not even know them (if I ever heard them then I may just not know it anymore.)
That Janet Jackson song and the Prince tune were on my HM list. Beastie Boys are gonna smoke the competition in 89. Paul's Boutique, what an unexpected masterpiece that was! Just heard a song off it on the radio last night and still can't believe how funky!
10. Bob Dylan - Brownsville Girl
9. The Rolling Stones - One Hit (To the Body)
8. Pretenders - Don't Get Me Wrong
7. Electric Light Orchestra - So Serious
6. Dwight Yoakam - Guitars, Cadillacs
5. XTC - Grass
4. Van Morrison - In the Garden
3. Talk Talk - Time It's Time
2. The Smiths - Cemetry Gates
1. New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
My favourite song of the year is 'There is a Light that Never Goes Out', and I choose that song without a doubt.
1. Frank Zappa - Jazz From Hell
2. Slayer - Altar Of Sacrifice
3. XTC - That's Really Super, Supergirl
4. Five Star - Rain or Shine
5. The Smiths - The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Altar of sacrifice and then Rain or Shine ! Music 🤩
Jason reading those lyrics and then Kram’s following comment gave me the biggest laugh I’ve had so far in 2022.
10) “On the Other Hand,” Randy Travis
9) “Ballet for a Rainy Day,” XTC
8) “Leaps and Bounds,” Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls
7) “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” The Pretenders
6) “Fall on Me,” REM
5) “American without Tears,” Elvis Costello
4) “Al Bowlly’s in Heaven,” Richard Thompson
3) “Got to Go Back,” Van Morrison
2) “Blue Chair,” Elvis Costello
1) “Graceland,” Paul Simon
Paul Kelly! Had a Paul Kelly and the Messengers album, maybe the one after this? Nice list!
Great list!
**** Best Overall **** - Life's what you make it - Talk Talk
Billboard
====================================
2) In your eyes - Peter Gabriel
3) Live to Tell - Madonna
4) Stay the Night - Ben Orr
5) Something about you - Level 42
6) Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel
7) Holding back the years - Simply Red
8) Is it love - Mr. Mister
9) Fall on Me - R.E.M.
10) Nobody's Fool - Cinderella
11) West end girls - Pet Shop Boys
12) All the king's horses - The Firm
13) Feel it again - Honeymoon Suite
14) Human - The Human League
15) No easy way out - Robert Tepper
16) Love walks in - Van Halen
17) Your love - The Outfield
18) The way it is - Bruce Hornsby
19) Shot in the dark - Ozzy Osborne
20) Take my breath away - Berlin
21) Secret Separation - The Fixx
22) Taken In - Mike and the Mechanics
23) Rough Boy - ZZ Top
24) Dreams - Van Halen
25) Throwing it all away - Genesis
26) Sara - Starship
27) Girl can't help it - Journey
28) When the heart rules the mind - GTR
29) Sweet Love - Anita Baker
30) I can't wait - Stevie Nicks
Non Charting
====================================
1) Mercy Street - Peter Gabriel
2) Living in another world - Talk Talk
3) Ask - The Smiths
4) Dear God - XTC
5) The boy with a thorn in his side - The Smiths
6) Who wants to live forever - Queen
7) Wasted Years - Iron Maiden
8) Cities in Dust - Siouxsie and the banshees
9) Walk in the shadows - Queensryche
10) Modern Day Cowboy - Tesla
11) Live in Peace - The Firm
12) Welcome Home(Sanitarium) - Metallica
13) Bigmouth strikes again - The Smiths
14) The Brazilian - Genesis
15) The eyes of a woman - Journey
16) Cemetery Gates - The Smiths
17) Red Rain - Peter Gabriel
18) I will Remember - Queensryche
19) Spirit of Love - The Firm
20) I don't believe in you - Talk Talk
21) Once you love somebody - Journey
22) Golden Lights - The Smiths
23) Give it up - Talk Talk
24) That's really super, supergirl - XTC
25) Asleep - The Smiths
Living in Another World just missed my list. Would have if all Wildcards!
@@TimeToGetAlone i had forgotten about it until I played a lot of GTA:Vice City. It just never gets old. but honestly this year is really hard to rank and if I made the list again it would probably be different
If anyone hasn't heard it, I highly recommend the track A Wave Crashed on Rocks by Felt from this year, it's a splendid number indeed.
Terrific year filled with many of my favorite songs of all time.
These are my favorite songs of 1986:
1. There Is a Light that Never Goes Out. The Smiths
2.Fall On Me. R. E. M.
3.I Want You. Elvis Costello
4.The Carny. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
5.In The Garden. Van Morrison
6.Sorry Somehow. Hüsker Dü
7.Bizarre Love Triangle. New Order
8.Don't Give Up. Peter Gabriel
9.Levi Stubb's Tears. Billy Bragg
10.Dear God. XTC
11.Life's What You Make It. Talk Talk
12.Kiss. Prince
13.O Leaozinho. Caetano Veloso
14.Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes. Paul Simon
15.Don't Dream It's Over. Crowded House
16.Happy Hour. The Housemartins
17.Spring Rain. The Go-Betweens
18.Wide Open Road. The Triffids
19.Don't Get Me Wrong. Pretenders
20.Good Thing. The Woodentops
21.So Many Ways. James
22.Oomingmak. Cocteau Twins
23.Swamp Thing. The Chamaleons
24.Wild Wild Life. Talking Heads
25.Blood and Roses. The Smithereens
26.True Colours. Cindy Lauper
27.Don't Let's Start. They Might Be Giants
28.Heartland. The The
29.Manic Monday. The Bangles
30.Rain of Crystal Spires. Felt
31.Guitar Town. Steve Earle
32.On the Beach. Chris Rea
Nice that you found room for The The & The Chameleons !
Love both tracks... and both albums
Fran - We have the same song at #2!
Someone else has I Want You. Such a unique brilliant song
Naughty, so great to see you back!! You've been missed. Those harmonies in Fall On Me are pure gold... Great minds...
Definitely could be a tight race among three quintessentially 1980s songs. It's amazing how much things change over the next five years...
Breakout - Swingout Sister (Great English pop soul tune and a bit of jazz guitar - cool and smooth).
Absolute Beginners - David Bowie.
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel.
Kiss - Prince (3 absolute classics).
Why Can't This Be Love - Van Halen (Always liked this song, Sammy Hagar was a great singer).
Walk This Way - Run DMC/Aerosmith (probably my favourite video ever).
Move Away - Culture Club (love his voice on this).
Take My Breath Away - Berlin (yes, I know, but this is the one that takes me right back to 86).
Borderline - Madonna (one of her nicest tracks).
Chain Reaction - Diana Ross (the Bee Gees really could write a great pop song).
Possibly my favourite of the year is The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby and The Range, just a great song with some super piano playing.
A couple of absolute stinkers from the UK -
Anyone Can Fall In Love - Anita Dobson, the future Mrs Brian May and then star of the soap Eastenders to which this is still the theme tune, with added lyrics - very naff indeed.
The Chicken Song - Spitting Image ( a terrible but annoyingly catchy novelty song from a satirical adult TV puppet show).
Shout out to the lovely Sometimes It Snows In April by the Purple One. Also Oh L'Amour by Erasure.
Totally agree with Welcome Home Sanitarium), a mighty masterpiece of a cut.
Three great choices for SOTY! I don't think I would have thought so highly of 1986 until I saw your top picks.
Bizarre Love Triangle is a wonderful pick and Joe quite rightly notes the effective and powerful contrast of the digitized sound and Bernard Sumner's very human and tender vocals and lyrics. But unlike Joe, I think they have done better.
Don't Dream It's Over is a masterpiece and a shining example of Neil Finn's songwriting genius. He had already brought his pop sensibility to the art-rock wannabes Split Enz and written their finest song Message To My Girl.
But the win has to go to Brilliant Mistake. The lead-off track on Costello's finest and a masterclass in songwriting. His disillusionment with his own identity and the idea of the USA in an accessible approachable lyric and melody.
King Of America is so full of wonderful songs that this could have been Indoor Fireworks or Jack of All Parades or I'll Wear It Proudly or Suit Of Lights and still taken SOTY.
FYI - Mitchell Froom and his Hammond play on both the Costello & Crowded House releases
Interesting tidbit about Mitchell Froom! I seriously considered choosing Brilliant Mistake but had to go with DDIO. Kerosene is on my long list. I like a lot of what I've heard from the Fall...I guess their huge number of albums is a little intimidating. Maybe I'll hear them all one day.
@@179rich There were no bad choices in the three winners.
The Fall repel more people than they attract, but if you are in that cohort who enjoys them, be wary it can become an addiction very quickly. If you want more info on where to start hit me up!
You guys should do a Duran Duran ranking, their discography is great. Their new record is fantastic.
Ramen!
Not really. Their first two records are greats, but the rest leave a lot to be desired, and of course Thank You is one of the worst albums of all time.
@@curly_wyn Not really. 3rd is very good, Notorious is interesting, Big Thing is a gem, Medazzaland has some very interesting experimentation, the new one from last year is excellent, etc. Would be a really good discography for them to explore. I did a ranking of their discography on my own channel awhile back. But you are right on one thing, Thank You mostly sucks.
@@walterevans5658 the newest album blows too lol
My AOTY was by The Smiths, so none of their songs is repeated on my list, instead I have:
HM - Church - Myrrh, Stranglers - Always the Sun, Laurie Anderson - Late Show, Siouxsie and the Banshees - Candyman, Pretenders - Room Full of Mirrors
5. Jason & the Scorchers - Crashin' Down (Their sophomore album had some great songs like Good Things Come for Those Who Wait but I like this single as well.)
4. Georgia Satellites - Battleship Chains (A riff like a two ton anchor. Keep Your Hands to Yourself was the big hit although it was almost the weakest song on a classic debut album.)
3. Big Country - Look Away (Another highlight from their third album The Seer was Kate Bush's addition to the title track.)
2. Public Image Ltd. - Rise (John Lydon driven forward by jazz legend Tony Williams' tribal drums, anger is an energy, Steve Vai's guitar for once is put to good use. Believe it or not but this song made it into the NZ charts.)
1. Camper Van Beethoven - Take the Skinheads Bowling (Quote: there's not a line here that rhymes with anything - add to this: or makes any sense at all.)
Camper Van Beethoven!
Damn, I overlooked those great songs by PIL and Camper Van. They'd make my list
Good call on 'Rise'. I would have included it had I remembered.
Good list. That Jason & the Scorchers album was released in 87 here in the US, and of course nothing from them would ever chart here. They might be on my 87 list, but it's a stacked year so no promises. Battleship Chains: yes, heavy tune. Love that line from Skinheads!
Of course, I think Siouxsie should be at the top of your list. Look Away is great; I should have included it. I did have Camper but they got pushed off.
'86 is a subpar year for me,but it's the year where I probably list the most songs that charted;
1000 Umbrellas-XTC
Begin the Begin-REM
Bournemouth Runner-The Fall
Deaf Forever-Motorhead
Diamonds in the Soles of Her Shoes-Paul Simon
Expressway to yr Skull-Sonic Youth
Fall on Me-REM
Fight For Your Right-Beastie Boys
Grass-XTC
I Guess I Showed Her-Robert Cray
I Want You-Elvis Costello
In Your Eyes-Peter Gabriel
Peace Sells-Megadeth
Red Rain-Peter Gabriel
Right Next Door-Robert Cray
Slipping(Into Something)-The Feelies
Superman-REM
That's Really Super,Supergirl-XTC
The Boy in the Bubble-Paul Simon
Tokyo Storm Warning-Elvis Costello
Top 5;
5)Tom Violence-Sonic Youth(One of SY's early great ones,this stood up over the years. Still a favorite by them.)
4)I Have Always Been Here Before-Roky Erickson(The once great leader of 60's Texas Psychedelic band 13th Floor Elevators had basically disappeared for almost 20 years due to drugs/mental illness,this is a lament for troubled soul as touching as "you can't put your arms around a memory"by Johnny Thunders. A great song)
3)Smoking Gun-Robert Cray(all over the radio of my '66 Mustang in '86,this was a refreshing riposte to all the synth pop of the time. All the love for SRV,but Strong Persuader was the best blues-rock album of the 80's)
2)Tomorrow Today-The Feelies(sounded unlike anything else at the time,influenced by Television/VU,influencing Yo La Tengo later,this is sort of an indie-prog epic. On the excellent Good Earth album)
1)Sledgehammer-Peter Gabriel(the impact of this song was through the roof,and I am not just talking about the video. This was the anthem of the summer of '86,getting people who wouldn't understand Peter gabriel on the dancefloors in clubs and beach parties. Everytime I hear it it brings back such great memories. And it's spectacular on artistic merit as well!)
Got to give it up for Robert Cray! Good choice!
Yes, Robert Cray is a good pick. Funny thing: I almost bought a 66 Mustang in 86. Couldn't get the bank to loan me the money, and by the time I got the money, the car was gone. Damn. That car would've changed my life.....ah, probably not. But still...
Robert Cray was my AOTY #3, so I covered all these songs as well. Motorhead was my #9 album. Roky's Don't Slander Me album was #12...
Not a year that I can particularly enthuse about, but here are a few gems that have endured.
*UK Top 100 Singles*
Rise … Public Image Ltd (UK #11)
E= MC2 … Big Audio Dynamite (UK #11)
The Promise You Made … Cock Robin (UK #28)
World Shut Your Mouth …. Julian Cope (UK #19)
Driving Away From Home … It’s Immaterial (UK #18)
*Wildcards*
Brownsville Girl … Bob Dylan
Hardly Getting Over It … Husker Du
Brilliant Mind … Furniture
I Don’t Believe In You … Talk Talk
Dear God … XTC *SOTY*
Your intro gets a thumbs up from me .. that sentence is incredible!
@@michelewiese48 Thank you! I do love this channel, always interesting to take a fresh look at yesteryear!
So I specifically clicked on this video today because I saw 1986 and I’m a huge Crowded House fan so I figured one of you guys had them listed for sure. And I’m watching and I’m watching and Peter Gabriel and Peter Gabriel blah blah blah and it’s getting toward the end and it seems less and less likely anyone will mention Crowded House and I’m all “fuck these guys if they don’t even mention Don’t Dream It’s Over” and then Kram for the win! Well done sir. Almost makes me dismiss your anti-McCartney rants. Almost. Crowded House discography soon I hope? Maybe?
Finally got the time to check this out.
I think The Cure (Boys Don’t Cry) and The Smiths (Bigmouth Strikes Again) are right at the top for me when it comes to the charts.
An aside: My awesome wife ordered the 3-disc Fleetwood Mac ‘68/Mr. Wonderful/The Pious Bird Of Good Omen package.
A nice way to get re-acquainted with that period and I wanna get the Kirwan/Welch-era set later.
So you guys got me listening to take 4 of Dust My Broom soon! 😉
In 1986 I signed my life over to Uncle Sam mid-year in exchange for some beans which I proceeded to exchange for many many albums and pretty much stopped listening to the radio. So I don't really have a top five chart list for 18 year old me this year, nor probably into the future.
Top Five Chart Hits
I Still Want You - the Del Fuegos - ironically, I did hear this one on rock radio in 85, when the album came out. They, along with Jason & the Scorchers and R.E.M., opened my ears up to a bunch of new music that never got radio airplay. Didn't know this song charted but am pleasantly surprised it did.
Smoking Gun - Robert Cray - great songs on this album
Word Up - Cameo - not as strong of a year for r&b, but this one holds up
Walk This Way - Run DMC with Aerosmith - an improvement on the original, in my book, and the original was a good'un. Hip hop is about to get really really good.
Welcome to the Boomtown - David & David - I hope this album gets rediscovered. The only one this duo ever made, but what a record!
HMs: Prince, Janet Jackson, Simply Red, Fine Young Cannibals, and Pet Shop Boys.
Top Five Wild Cards
Sightsee M.C. - Big Audio Dynamite - one of several standouts on No. 10 Upping Street.
Bass - Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians - absurdist lyrics, weird songs, Lennon-esque vocals; surprised Jason didn't cite anything from Element of Light
Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely - Husker Du - Grant Hart's brilliance again
Just a Touch - R.E.M. - my favorite R.E.M. song off my favorite R.E.M. album
Boston - the Dream Syndicate - the band's shiniest, slickest, rockingest record. The ending to this song gets the blood flowing.
HMs: Cowboy Man - Lyle Lovett; Fadeaway - BoDeans; Blood and Roses - Smithereens; Wine - Fetchin' Bones (like the B-52s with rock guitars!); I Think She Likes Me - Treat Her Right (before Morphine, Mark Sandman fronted this band and began experimenting with what he called "the low sound.")
SOTY - going with Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely. RIP Grant Hart.
Worst - Heartbeat by Don Johnson. Probably not THAT bad, musically speaking, but he should've stayed in his lane. And for an actor, that video perfectly demonstrates how to overact.
Good call on The del Fuegos!
@@frangarcia7774 thanks! A mostly forgotten band, but I loved 'em.
Lifes Rich Pageant might be my favorite R.E.M. album. Not sure. Everything from Reckoning to Monster is a contender. I could have went with just about any song from this album as an HM at least.
Just missing out Julian Cope World Shut Your Mouth
My 5 UK chart songs are
5 Cyndi Lauper True Colors
4 Bowie Absolute Beginners
3 Elvis Costello I Want You
2 Prince Kiss
1 SWING OUT SISTER BREAKOUT
Deep cuts
5 Housemartins Anxious
4 Paul Simon Under African Skies
3 Elvis Costello Crimes of Paris
2 The Bangles September Girls
SONG OF THE YEAR: PRINCE SOMETIMES IT SNOWS IN APRIL
1986 not as good as 1985 but…
C’mon Every Beatbox-Big Audio Dynamite
Strength of Strings-This Mortal Coil
Manic Monday-The Bangles
Spring Rain-The Go Betweens
It’s a Good Thing-That Petrol Emotion
Don’t Want to Know if You Are Lonely-Husker Du
Sledgehammer-Peter Gabriel
These Days- REM (Could choose anything off this album. Still my favourite. Can’t believe it only got to number 43 in UK!)
Manhattan Skyline-A-ha
Sheep-The Housemartins
Don’t Get Me Wrong -The Pretenders
Livin’ on a Prayer-Bon Jovi
But standing above all of this and more…
Bigmouth Strikes Again-The Smiths
Another year of dancing in dingy clubs with sticky floors!!
Wild Cards 5) One Simple Thing - Stabilizers; 4) Forever Live and Die - OMD; 3) Julian Cope - Eve's Volcano; 2) Talk Talk - Living in Another World; 1) Husker Du - Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely. Song of the year was: 1) Crowded House - Don't Dream Its Over; 2) Pretenders - Don't Get Me Wrong (good call); 3) Prince -Kiss; 4) Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer; 5) Icehouse - No Promises. Least favorite - Huey Lewis - Hip to be Square.
I had to dig around for favorites for '86 then realised many great songs were from my own backyard.
Wide Open Road : The Triffids
Expressway To Yr Skull : Sonic Youth
Life's What You Make It : Talk Talk
Just Like Fire Would : The Saints
The Queen is Dead : The Smiths
Mercy Street : Peter Gabriel
Say Goodbye : Hunters and Collectors
Boy in the Bubble : Paul Simon
Ostia : Coil
Head Full of Steam : The Go-Betweens
Tantalized : The Church
Also realised I could have picked a bunch of songs by The Smiths, The Church, The Go-Betweens and others above. A strong year though didn't seem so at first glance.
Billboard:
1. R.E.M. - Fall on Me
2. Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
3. Prince - Kiss
4. Benjamin Orr - Stay the Night
5. Peter Gabriel w/ Kate Bush - Don’t Give Up
Wildcard:
2. The Chameleons (UK) - Swamp Thing
3. Hüsker Dü - Hardly Getting Over it
4. Depeche Mode - Stripped
5. Cocteau Twins - Love’s Easy Tears
Worst SOTY: Midnight Star - Midas Touch
BEST SOTY: New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
I'm on board with Ryan's pick for song of the year , from the great Crowded House . Neil Finn might not be appreciated as a member of Fleetwood Mac , but he's a terrific song writer . He has written one of the best pop songs with Don't Dream It's Over , not to mention I Got You by Split End .
Here' s my list in descending order :
Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House
Back in the High Life Again by Steve Winwood
My Baby by the Pretenders
Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order
Mandolin Rain by Bruce Hornsby
Mercy Street by Peter Gabriel
Welcome to the Boomtown by David & David
Dear God by XTC
Don't Get Me Wrong by the Pretenders
Human by the Human League
Cheers !
Queen's "Princes Of The Universe". Queen at their bombastic best. Featured at the beginning of the Highlander movie.
Maybe not my favorite year overall, but heck of a top 5 (from the playlist, but don't think I could do any better):
1. In Your Eyes- Peter Gabriel
2. The Queen is Dead- The Smiths
3. Bizarre Love Triangle- New Order
4. Life What's You Make It- Talk Talk
5. Grass- XTC
Don't Dream it's over. Wow. Thank you Kram, a great choice. You get my vote.
Big Country's "One Great Thing", one of their best singles imo. It was also used in a tv advert for Tennents Lager (popular Scottish beverage).
1986 was a fantastic year for music. Not only is it the year that my 2nd favorite song of all time was released, but also Susanne Sundfør was born this year (Edit: and Kramzer)! Okay okay, but there were many awesome songs and albums put out this year.
(Honourable Mentions: ‘Til Tuesday - What About Love, Bananarama - Venus, The Bangles - Manic Monday, Genesis - Domino, Metallica - Master of Puppets)
Charting Songs:
5. Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone (US #2, Germany #12, UK #45) [Epic Pop-Rock number.]
4. Genesis - Land of Confusion (US #4, Germany #7, UK #14) [The only Genesis song to make it into my SOTY!]
3. Depeche Mode - Stripped (Germany #4, UK #15)
2. The Stranglers - Always the Sun (UK #30) [Slowly discovering more and more of their catalogue and liking everything so far. Knew this one for a very long time though. Always loved it.]
1. Depeche Mode - A Question of Lust (Germany #8, UK #28) [Perfect melody work on here, but it's only the second best song of the year!]
Wildcards:
5. Talking Heads - Radio Head [I heard that a band named themselves after it…but I forgot who it was. 😉]
4. Sonic Youth - Secret Girl [Yes, I love that song.]
3. Siouxsie and the Banshees - This Unrest [I kind of lost track of them after 1982 but came back for ‘Tinderbox’ and this song is amazing. Kind of has some Metal influence in there or am I crazy?]
2. Suzanne Vega - Gypsy [Guess you have to be named Suzanne or Susanne to have a mindblowing voice. But apart from that, also a really beautiful song.]
SONG OF THE YEAR 1986: Depeche Mode - Here is the House [I will make an extra comment for this song.]
Black Celebration was right there for me as far as Depeche Mode. A Question of Lust also another I love.
Suzanne Vega indeed has a mind blowing voice. So clear and such precise diction, yet warm as well.
Bands named after songs would be a good side 3 video.
Will be saving "Don't Dream It's Over" for my '87 picks but voting for Kram. That song just gets better and better.
Hot 100:
5. Fall On Me - REM
4. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
3. Once In A Lifetime - Talking Heads
2. West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
1. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
Wild Cards:
5. Hometown - Joe Jackson
4. Superman - REM
3. Cities In Dust - Siouxsie and the Banshees
2. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
1. Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush
Worst: Heartbeat - Don Johnson
Best: Sledgehammer
HMs: Mercy Street (Peter Gabriel), Big Mouth Strikes Again (Smiths), Kiss (Prince and Revolution), The Captain Of Her Heart (Double), Love For Sale (Talking Heads), Always The Sun (Stranglers), Live To Tell (Madonna), In Between Days (Cure), Under African Skies (Paul Simon/Linda Ronstadt), Higher Love (Steve Winwood), There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (Smiths), Cannons (Siouxsie and the Banshees), Mean To Me (Crowded House), Manic Monday (Bangles), Thorn In My Side (Eurythmics), What You Need (INXS), The Untouchable One (Tom Cochrane/Red Rider), Greatest Love Of All (Whitney Houston), I Can't Wait (Nu Shooz), My Love's Leavin (Steve Winwood), Color In Your World (Missing Persons), Don't Want To Know (Husker Du), When I Think Of You (Janet Jackson)
Hey! We shared worst songs!
Damn, I get your second wildcard but no vote. If don’t dream it’s over isn’t your winner in 87 I’m going to be upset. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic It very well could win although '87 could be my all-time favorite year.
@@burmajones803 It makes my ears bleed.
Glad someone mentioned "Cities in Dust". That was one of my last cuts.
1) "Sledgehammer" - Peter Gabriel
2) "Welcome to the Boomtown" - David & David
3) "Fall on Me" - REM
4) "Graceland" - Paul Simon
5) "Papa Don't Preach" - Madonna
6) "Kiss" - Prince
7) "Walk Like an Egyptian" - Bangles
8) "Bigmouth Strikes Again" - The Smiths
9) "Control" - Janet Jackson
10) "Word Up" - Cameo
Too many people sleep on that David & David album. Great songs, so many great lyrics. I went with Welcome to... on my list also because it charted but Swallowed by the Cracks is my favorite song on the album.
@@burmajones803 Hmm, I just remember the song, I will definitely check out the rest of the album. Difficult choice between #2 and #1 for me.
hmm dont know david and david
@@bengalgangster One-hit wonder unfortunately.
@@bengalgangster they only made 1 album, but it's a great one, at least imo it's great. Good storytelling lyrics. I got it sitting on my turntable right now, as a matter of fact.
Sanitarium is a great pick. Kind of surprised anybody picked a Metallica track, but I'm glad it was that one!
I like Metallica perhaps more than I’ve let on. - Joe
Happy Hour is undoubtedly the greatest song of ‘86.
Best Track:
THE SMITHS - Bigmouth Strikes Again
Best Singles:
1. ELVIS COSTELLO - I Want You
2. THE SMITHS - Panic
3. THE ROLLING STONES - One Hit (To The Body)
4. BANGLES - If She Knew What She Wants
5. THE GO-BETWEENS - Spring Rain
Wildcards:
1. THE SMITHS - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
2. THE SMITHS - The Queen Is Dead
3. SLAYER - Angel Of Death
4. METALLICA - Orion
5. METALLICA - Battery
Honorable Mentions:
CHRIS ISAAK - Blue Hotel
TALK TALK - Life‘s What You Make It
HÜSKER DÜ - Crystal
SLAYER - Raining Blood
CAMEO - Word Up
I agree with Jason that good songs are getting better (independent music) whereas the pop hits are getting increasingly wretched. I didn't even know Greetings to the New Brunette until I saw everyone loving it so I listened and added it. I won't vote on your SOTY picks because I think they're all great. I had to listen to the Elvis as I didn't know it. I've got Bizarre Love Triangle in my top 10 this year and the Crowded House high on '87.
Brownsville Girl-Bob Dylan-wild card
Shanghai Sky-Joe Jackson-wild card
In the Shape of a Heart-Jackson Browne-billboard #70
Fall on Me-REM-billboard #94
Life In A Northern Town-Dream Academy-billboard #
Bizarre Love Triangle-New Order-wild card
(It’s A) Big World-Joe Jackson-wild card
Greeting To The New Brunette-Billy Bragg-wild card
(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right To Party-The Beastie Boys-billboard #
Missionary Man-The Eurythmics-billboard
Worst song: Stuck With You-Huey Lewis and the News
My Favorite Singles, of 1986:
“Manic Monday” - Bangles
“Take My Breath Away” - Berlin
“Papa Don’t Preach” - Madonna
“Your Love” - The Outfield
“If You Leave” - Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark
Album Picks + (some singles/previously or in the future will be released):
“Stuck with You” - Huey Lewis & the News
“Love Comes Quickly” - Pet Shop Boys
“True Colors” - Cyndi Lauper
“Oh L’amour” - Erasure
“Take Me Home Tonight” - Eddie Money
Worst single:
“Party All the Time” - Eddie Murphy
1. Nigh Songs - Cinderella
2. In For the Kill - Black Sabbath
3. Orgasmatron - Motorhead
4. Caught Somewhere in Time - Iron Maiden
5. Master of Puppets - Metallica
6. The Candle - King Diamond
7. Peace Sells - Megadeth
8. Damage, Inc. - Metallica
9. Shake Me - Cinderella
10. Halloween - King Diamond
cinderella nice , had 3 on my HMs . i have heard my share of cinderella , the drummer fred coury grew up about 15 miles from me! not as famous as dio tho who was 30 miles from me!
@@bengalgangster nice
How could you miss out Candlemass?🤯
@@threestringsomg They're in the honorable mentions with Accept, AC/DC, Queensryche, WASP, Metal Church, Slayer, Fastway and Emerson, Lake & Powell.
Obligatory comment from your fellow from Blighty. I'll give Kramzer the win, 'cos that song effects me on an emotional level I can't even... I love Elvis but some tracks, like Jason's here; it's hard to get past the latent misogyny. And, in regard to Joe's pick, notwithstanding New Order's brilliant lp, 'Power Corruption and Lies', which is a classic, I do feel that after that, New Order were just working up to one brilliant song (Bizzare Love Triangle being a template as it were), that being 'True Faith'. You could do a whole piece on bands that basically had a career on one idea of a song that they did brilliantly and then just kept doing it - for instance - New Order, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Manic Street Preachers... Always love any love for XTC though... now there was a band that diversified. Loves again.
1. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths
2. Wide Open Road - The Triffids
3. Dear God - XTC
4. The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby & The Range
5. Fall On Me - REM
6. Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush
7. Life's What You Make It - Talk Talk
8. Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness - John Prine
9. Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House
10. Graceland - Paul Simon
11. Sledge Hammer - Peter Gabriel
12. Levi Stubbs Tears - Billy Bragg
13. Missee How You Let Me Down - Richard Thompson
14. In The Garden - Van Morrison
15. Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely - Husker Du
16. Cuyahoga - REM
17. Grass - XTC
18. Ship Of Fools - World Party
19. My Old Friend The Blues - Steve Earle
20. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others - The Smiths
Quality stuff, as always. Bravo.
Hornsby rules!! I always liked that song👍
Gee not sure if World Party album came out in 86 or 87. I was always under impression it was 86 but may be I shdve put it next yr
Jason, Kramzer, and Joe - 1986 is simple:
1- I've Tried Subtlety - Game Theory
2 - "Erica's Word" - Game Theory
3 -"Regenisraen" - Game Theory
4 -"Crash Into June" - Game Theory
5 -"Never Mind" - Game Theory
6 -"Like a Girl Jesus" - Game Theory
The final 4 can be a song from each of these:
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant
XTC - Skylarking
They Might Be Giants - s/t
Not a massive fan of 1986 singles wise although this year did produce 2 of my favourite albums of all time, so I’m going to cheat and put on my list the whole of The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths and the whole of The colour of Spring - Talk Talk 😉
I do have a couple of singles that I love from ‘86:
Fall on Me - R.E.M
Papa Don’t Preach - Madonna
I definitely have a worse song of the year:
I can’t Wait - Nu Shooz 🤢 pretty much sums up what was wrong with the cheesy crappy pop of the mid-late 80’s IMHO
Cheers! 🇬🇧🇺🇸
John Farnham's epic power ballad "You're The Voice", which was a Top 10 hit in the UK.
there is so much Cowpunk on my ’86 list.. but there you go that is what I dig from that year…
Devils River by The Divine Horsemen
Tomb of Love by Jet Black Berries
Poison Love by Blood on the Saddle
Scarred But Smarter by Drivin’n’Cryin (who are gonna be making lists from now on, jut FYI)
Shatter City by Color Me Psycho
1986:
🏆 Song of the Year: Don’t Dream it’s Over, Crowded House
🔥 Billboard:
There is a Light that Never Goes Out, The Smiths
You Keep Me Hangin’ On, Kim Wilde
In Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel
Mandolin Rain, Bruce Hornsby
😎 Wildcard:
Fall on Me, REM
Fly on the Windscreen, Depeche Mode
Bizarre Love Triangle, New Order
Life’s What You Make It, Talk Talk
The Boy with a Thorn in His Side, The Smiths
🤮 Worst: The Next Time I Fall, Peter Cetera/Amy Grant
1986 was a very good year for music! A lot of tough choices, and many songs that I cut that I didn't want to. Women singers seemed to dominate my lists this year, and there were a lot of lovely ballads out there.
A few HM's - Don't Love Anybody Else But Me- Triumph, It's Not Love-Dokken, Indoor Fireworks-Elvis Costello.
Billboard Hot 100
5. Throwing It All Away-Genesis
4. You Got It All-The Jets-If you don't know this song, you should.
3. Live To Tell-Madonna- My favorite Madonna song
2. All Cried Out-Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam- The vocal by Lisa is top shelf!
1. If She Knew What She Wants-Bangles- Great harmonies on this song!
Wild Cards
5. Tokyo Storm Warning-Elvis Costello-Two great albums by Costello this year!
4. Spring Rain-Go-Betweens
3. Like An Island-Phil Keaggy
2. Secret Separation-the Fixx
1. See Below
Worst Song- Rock Me Amadeus-Falco- Just overplayed to death back in the day. I preferred the version that had a bit of narration at the end, at least it cut down on the incessant "Amadeus, Amadeus" Ugh.
Song of the Year- Love at the Five and Dime-Nanci Griffith- Beautiful song! It often makes me tear up. Has the absolute right amount of nostalgia for the older days.
I definitely prefer your Costello picks over Jason's (he just made a...brilliant mistake.)
@@roxannewalsh Welll, as they say, some people will pour Coca-cola just like it's vintage wine, but that doesn't make it right!
The Pretenders "Get Close" album partly recorded in ABBA's Polar Studios. If I remember correctly reading in interviews from the era Chrissy Hynde thought being in those studios rubbed off on "Don't Get Me Wrong" as it is the most "pop" like The Pretenders had ever sounded.
She’s not wrong. - Joe
A step up from 1985, but not quite as good as the following year, 1986 is nonetheless an excellent year in the grand scheme of things.
Singles:
*1. Manic Monday (3) - Bangles -* Just a perfect pop song. Written by some guy named Christopher, wish he had a last name, so we could know more about him. Who does he think he is Prince? Love the imagery in one of the opening lines “I was kissing Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream”
*2. In Your Eyes (4)- Peter Gabriel -* An awesome epic sounding song, lovely and uplifting.
*3. Papa Don’t Preach (5) - Madonna -* 90-95% of my favorites songs tend to make it more for the music, but this is one of those exceptions. The music is good of course, with great bass, but the lyrics is really makes the song. Topical but not preachy and definitely leaves open what is right.
*4. Wild Wild Life (8)- Talking Heads -* As with most of the best Talking Heads songs, this song is filled with wonderful tense energy.
*5. Don’t Get Me Wrong (10)- Pretenders * Chrissie as she so often does, just makes a great song, even without any of the original band members. Perhaps produced a little too perfect, it sounds wonderful to my ears.
Non Hits
*1. Thunder Road (1) - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band -* Song of the year. The studio version of Thunder Road is among my 25 favorite songs ever, but this piano only version from 1975 from the less than stellar Live 75-85, is fantastic.
*2. Indoor Fireworks (2)- Elvis Costello -* one of Costello’s best vocals very delicate. Also song has great lyrics, e.g. “You were the spice of Life, the gin in my vermouth”
*3. Guitar Town (6)- Steve Earle -* I’ve always sorta rebelled against country music as it was my mother’s favorite style of music, but of course my mother never listened to anybody like Steve Earle. This track is exploding with energy and fun.
*4. Behind the Wall of Sleep (7)- Smithereens -* “She had hair like Jeannie Shrimpton back in 1965” One of the great opening lines. Doesn’t hurt that she is beautiful and has amazing hair. Frustratingly the studio version isn’t on Spotify.
*5. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (9) - Metallica -* I go back and forth between Fade to Black and Sanitarium as my second favorite Metallica song, but in ‘84 Fade to Black had no chance, but in this year Sanitarium sneaks in. Menacing but still has a big strong sound.
*Honorable Mentions*
11. Don’t Dream It’s Over - Crowded House
12. I know It’s Over - The Smiths
13. Brilliant Mistake - Elvis Costello
14. Fall On Me - REM
15. Don’t Let’s Start - They Might Be Giants
Worst song of the year - not a top 40 song, but I don’t care, when it’s one of my least favorite songs ever, I gotta mention it. I pretty much hate all of Reign in Blood from Slayer. The most celebrated track is Raining Blood, which is the album’s best track with a decent riff, but the second most celebrated track is *“Angel of Death”* which I despise. The lyrics are stupidly over the top. The “music” barely qualifies as such. “Battery” from Metallica can at times have a similar hyper aggressiveness, but at least it’s still feels like music.
Love that Smithereens song, and yes, what an opening line. And yes, not on Napster either!! Grrrr.
1) Take the Skinheads Bowling - Camper Van Beethoven (WC). Released as a single in '86, this is just a great, catchy jam. Also has the goofiest call and response lyrics since Iggy Pop's "Success".
2) Dear God - XTC (WC). More like Dear Todd, am I right? With some help from Jason's favorite production wizard, Andy Partridge tears down religion in the coolest way possible.
3) I Want You - Elvis Costello (WC). Great tune from my favorite EC album. I love the false intro, and Elvis' dark, stalker lyrics. The guitar tone rules on this.
4) Panic - The Smiths (WC). My favorite Smiths song. Hang the DJ!
5) Begin the Begin - R.E.M. (WC). Rockin' opener to Lifes Rich Pagent. Peter Buck is really killing it here with the cool guitar riff.
6) In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel (26). Boom box, trench coat, Ione Skye. What more do you need?
7) So Far Away - Dire Straits (19). It's a weird choice as the opening track to Brothers in Arms, but I always loved this track. Mark Knopfler turns in some of his most Dylanesque vocals on this.
8) Kiss - Prince (1). I've never been a big falsetto guy, but Prince totally makes it work on this funky track. The Dynasty reference is super dated, but somehow that makes it even cooler.
9) Your Love - The Outfield (6). Just a great power pop song. It's very Cheap Trick-esque.
10) Wild Wild Life - Talking Heads (25). Probably my favorite late-period Talking Heads song and one of their most immediately satisfying.
I still think the 1980s are the best decade for pop songs, but if there's a weak spot, 1986 is it. I still love all these songs, but it was a really thin year outside of these 10 tracks. The Hot 100 is a big step down from the greatness of the last few years.
Oh I didn't consider the Todd connection on Dear God. In any case, great pick that made my list. Your Love, I Want You, and In Your Eyes also in the mix.
Camper Van Beethoven! No millennial or gen-z revival for them because none of their albums are on streaming services. But what a fun band. Smart asses but they brought all kinds of world music influences into their music. Skinheads was on my HM for last year and they might make a list of mine before the decade ends.
That Elvis track slotted into my Top 10.
Fun fact, I listened to Take the Skinheads Bowling for the first time in my life just this past weekend. I was driving and my album ended and that's what Spotify gave me. I immediately connected with it kept playing it over and over again.
@@12spanku I highly recommend their 1988 album, Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart.
My Top 5 from the year 1 9 8 6
5. Why Can't This Night Go on Forever - Journey
The Journey album this year wasn't very great. Too 80's and except for a few songs very forgettable. This ends it on a high note though.
4. Under African Skies - Paul Simon
If you only heard the big hits from Graceland by Paul Simon? Give this a try. One of my favorite opening riffs/licks of all time.
3. Love Walks In - Van Halen
Cheesy sure but.. Very melodic keyboards. Great guitar-solo. One of Sammy Hagars best performances. Perhaps not the hardrock some wanted at the time but easily one of the best songs of it's kind.
2. Master of Puppet - Metallica
Probably one of the easiest progressive metal tracks to appreciate. Powerful in the beginning and the end. Melodic in the middle.
1. Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel featuring Kate Bush
At first? I thought it was the most self-indulgent thing I'd ever heard. Makes 80's Lionel Richie seem like a metal band or something. Who listens to this? Well.. I do. Very haunting and beautiful. It really does give you hope!
One more thought:
Peter Gabriels In Your Eyes? Good on the album. GREAT live.. Longer, gets to breathe and often cool different keyboard solos!
I totally agree with you that "Under African Skies" is the best song on Graceland, and one of the best Paul Simon songs, period.
BILLBOARD
5. War: Bruce Springsteen
4. Like a Rock: Bob Seger
3. You Give Love a Bad Name: Bon Jovi
2. Nikita: Elton John
1. Keep Your Hands to Yourself: Georgia Satellites
WILDCARD
5. London Girl: The Pogues
4. Down the Road: Steve Earle
3. Golden Light: Georgia Satellites
2. Guitars, Cadillacs: Dwight Yoakam
1. WINNER
WORST: Glory of Love by Peter Cetera. Bleh.
BEST: Goodbye's All We've Got Left by Steve Earle. Great hook, singalong chorus, gets stuck in your head in the best way.
Funny...two picks from Georgia Satellites and I have the third on my list. Apparently, that was a pretty good debut album.