Top 100: The Greatest Hits Of 1986

restored the Smiths to their rightful place as a mischievious pop presence, and imagined a REVOLUTIONARY FANTASIA ((c) T Ewing)

was rereleased in 1986 and was as good as, or better than, it had been in the late 1970s

disappointed people listening to their wee radios by not entering the top 40 as high as they hoped

but still counts as a 'hit' by some people's standards

was sunny, bright, sweet and lovely

and has sometimes been thought of as my favourite Smiths record

reached at least #15

is moving to me now with its large breathy keyboard introduction

Keep in "In case of student nightclub emergency, break glass".

is and was warm, witty, touching, nicely played, and took the sound of Bragg's records to a new level

if it made the top 40 I'll call it a hit

has that nice 4-chord chorus sequence, and the Nipper told me about it long ago as the model for 'Me and the Major', so when I heard it it meant that much more to me

I don't know if it was 1986 or perhaps 1985

Had that propulsive electro thing going on as good as ever, pretty synth strings, Peter Hook's bass upfront.

'Pretty In Pink'

on a 45 or maybe just on the LP,

and perhaps it became all the more moving for becoming associated with Molly Ringwald, 'Hughes' Best Girl... prematurely middle-aged' (DThomson), etc.

I like the way the new version which runs over the film's credits starts with the band clicking in. I suppose it is a Live In Studio version.

is a marvellous song from a record which I have always believed came out in 1986. I suppose I could be wrong about that, though it doesn't bear thinking about.

I think what I like about it is the pace, the rush, the race, the movement.

'The Boy In The Bubble'

which starts with a really exciting accordion part which then gets thumped on by drums. The song also includes tinkling bells, a jumbled fast lyric that sounds good, and an inspiring chorus; and a non-verbal coda which is modelled on the chorus. I find all of it quite marvellous.

'You Can Call Me Al',

but its fast and snappy lyrics appeal - for instance the lyric about a 'cartoon graveyard' - and it was a relatively big hit.

I do think of 1986 as being a classic year, but unlike him I could not remember all those songs.

It is especially feeble that I could not even remember 'Papa Don't Preach' off my own bat.

Sounded old, maybe centuries old, though in an undefined way.

Evokes several schoolday memories through its lyrics a la Busted.

'Manic Monday'

a great deal for its sweet piano, the timbre of the singer's voice, the tumbling music in the chorus, the busy movement of the bridge.

'Hunting High and Low'

moves from a low-key intro

to a very high-up peak of a crescendo.

I like the accents too, or the way I imagine them.

'Live To Tell'

a masterpiece, maybe the best Madonna thing ever; I suppose this is old news, old thoughts. I find its dramatic musical phrases very dramatic. I like the tune a great deal too, esp. the upward motion of the chorus. The whole song is the most successfully 'dramatic' thing Madonna has done that I can remember.

'Absolute Beginners'

a tremendous and oddly underrated David Bowie record.

I like the intro with those voices; the extraordinary journey through different keys and passages; and Bowie's London voice.

B-b-but Rhythm Nation 1814!

• Personally, 1986 is my annus mirabilis. It was the year I was on top of music for the first time, knowing which radio shows to listen to, what records might be reduced to 49p in Boots, and so on. But looking back with an effort of objectivity, I think The Greatest Hits Of 1986 must have made some effort to portray the year as bad.
• I would hate to see "Driving away from home (Jim's Tune)". "Rise" or "Ain't nothin' goin' on but the rent" excluded from any one hundred.
• Whenever I'm DJing a wedding, and put on Bowie's "Absolute beginners", the people go crazy. I think it's loved when it's heard, but otherwise forgotten.
• "Marlene on the wall" was originally released in 1985. It entered the British charts in March 1986.
• I hate it that "My favourite waste of time" gets regarded as a novelty.
• Does Mojo's Jim Irwin read these boards? If so, I agree about Jefferson Airplane (we don't still have to take them seriously now just because they appealed to influential people 35 years ago), and I adore "Brilliant mind" to this day.

My vote, since "Absolute beginners" has already been bigged-up, is for "Some candy talking". Because it's universal, because everyone has oozed longing. Oh, and the percussion.

I don't think Jim Irwin reads ILM. But you're OTM about Furniture.

I spent the whole of that summer in my room listening to 'The Queen is Dead', then come autumn I started my A levels at a local FE College. There was a jukebox in the student union, full of Jam and Lewis, Princes' 'Girls and Boys', Mel and Kim, but in particular 'The Rain' seemed to be the constant soundtrack to never-ending games of pool.

A lot of my old teachers had told me I was making a mistake by not staying on at the school 6 form and, academically, they may have been right. But in strictly musical terms the choice turned out to be a no-brainer.

stupidly lip-synchin' the intro at highschool dance parties

So: "Camouflage" by Stan Ridgway.

So that you can hear the early work of William Orbit and claim that you can "hear" Adagio For Strings in there.

Because it made me cry without my liking the band, or knowing why.

Because if Georgie Boy produced it himself, he be a master. Who did produce it?

Rumour has it, he was trying to do something like Joy Div's 'Atmosphere'.

Ze German language at its most angular: terrific!

it's rubbish but it does encapsulate the tv-series perfectly (i see boats chasing each other for the duration of the entire song...)

Because it's simple, it's funny and bloody hell it rocks, exactly like it should, and it also saw the great man appearing on his mad mike stand on "Wogan".

Final single by best British singles band of all time.

But fuck it I second Dan Perry's vote for "A Love Bizarre" just cuz it's seriously one of the perfectest songs ever written; the first time I heard it ('twas recently, for I am hermit) I was driving to Cincy at 6 am on ZERO sleep for like 2 days and was worried 'bout passing out and then this came on the radio and it was like a shot of pure energyjoyfun that carried me all the way to Cincy (for the insurance class through which I dozed heavily).

Bassline indeed - huge influence, proto 'Energy Flash' minimalism but with hip hop sensibility, could you really NOT dance to this?

I would have "Sitting On A Fence" for my housemartins pick from '86 - it's the one time the music sounds suitably ANGRY enough for the words

killer riffs, so immediate - the 'duh-do duh-do duh-do do duhnananuh' steals it, bizarre, unorthodox, distinctive, memorable and packing that playful punch

Thanks Matt DC. In that case

'Cut Me Down'

is by Lloyd Cole, whom I like enough that almost anything he releases deserves to be on the putative 100 being established here, even though this is actually one of his weakest 45s ever.

because having it both ways has never sounded so good

one of the best hard rock singles of the 80s (according to ILM and who am I to argue?)

Really, the event of 1986 was Raising Hell though.

In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel - One of the best love songs of all times.

prophetic? and the whole infected video LP thing was worthy

almost pulls off a sensational 'better than the original' coup*

[*well, i'm not gonna get away with 10 words for this one, am I? OK -I especially like that they nod to that year's feedback craze but do something different with it from the rest of the post-JAMC crowd by squeezing it into the place where the guitar break should be. Unfortunately, most ppl took it as a big indie joke at pop's expense, even the ones who voted it to no.2 in the festive 50 (hell, maybe the band did too for all i know. anyway it's grebt!)]

(or "la-de-da-di")
where he and slick rick destroy
the notion of "rap"

only to rebuild
a new paradigm through wit
and infectious groove

also prophetic (of the 80s 'me' generation) but sounds bored(!)

= genius (and if it's knocked out on the grounds it first came out in '85, then 'suburbia' is not a bad substitute)

you might as well face it: that intro, that video...

ewww!

that song was the jam
at the campus parties and
on the raydio

"Best Single - Female", 1986 1st Soul Train Music Awards (OTM)

I drove a Volvo,
listened to AM stations,
worked with kids in parks

my co-worker (cute,
Christian, married, freshly-scrubbed)
loved this song SO much

we'd sing out the bass:
'bah-WOOOOM, bah-WOOOOM' and it felt
like cheating: sexy!

(man I dug that girl
she was fresh for '86
but I had no chance)

Boston - "Amanda": This song kicks ass - u r all rockists.

this sounded magnificent then and it still sounds magnificent now.

bombastic and joyous and dedicated to Nick Drake.. wonderful.

Then Play Long starts off 1986 here: http://nobilliards.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/various-artists-hits-4.html