My favorite songs of 1986

In 1986 I was 12 years old, finishing up grade six and entering grade seven at a new school. The Beasties, along with Run-D.M.C.’s Walk This Way, got me into rap and I was pretty hardcore into that genre for a couple of years. But later I came to appreciate some of the pop and rock music that was released.

This was also a great year for slow songs. Some of the best ones in history came out in ’86, helping to wed many a couple for years to come.

This was the year that the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame opened, with its first induction ceremony, inducting: Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and record producer Sam Phillips.

Unlike most rankings, I haven’t been simply tossing these up in a numerical order. Because I know better than anybody that on some days, some songs kick more ass than other songs. A song that is ranked 14th today could very well rank 1st tomorrow, if it suddenly comes on the radio during the perfect moment and I start singing along. You understand. So I group them, instead of present a hard-and-fast order:

Awesome
Great
Solid
Not Bad
…with inter-group splitting.

First, video clips of the best from that year

24 Solid Songs from 1986

Brass Monkey  – Beastie Boys

Venus – Bananarama

Don’t Stand So Close To Me ’86 – The Police

This one was the first version I heard (I was about 12 years old). Several years later, when I got The Police Greatest Hits and I heard the other version, I didn’t like it as much (it has since grown on me). Since then I had looked for this version until I started questioning if it even existed and I imagined the whole thing! With the YouTube age, we can truly find anything – this version exists, and here it is…

Lean On Me – Club Nouveau

Higher Love  – Steve Winwood

Everything in my Heart – Corey Hart

A Matter Of Trust  – Billy Joel

Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone) – Glass Tiger

Someday – Glass Tiger

Why Can’t This Be Love?  – Van Halen

Back In The High Life Again  – Steve Winwood

Kiss  – Prince

Sledgehammer  – Peter Gabriel

Open Your Heart  – Madonna

Shake You Down  – Gregory Abbott

Land of Confusion  – Genesis

Invisible Touch  – Genesis

Lady In Red  – Chris de Burgh

Word Up!  – Cameo

Like a Rock  – Bob Seger

(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)  – Beastie Boys

Montego Bay – Amazulu

Brand New Lover – Dead or Alive

Stand By Me – Ben E. King

19 Great Songs from 1986

Wild Wild Life  – Talking Heads

Rise  – Public Image Ltd.

Nobody’s Fool  – Cinderella

Throwing It All Away – Genesis

Walk This Way  – Run-D.M.C.

What Does It Take – Honeymoon Suite

Paul Revere  – Beastie Boys

Manic Monday  – Bangles

Who Made Who  – AC/DC

Crash – The Primitives

Keep Your Hands To Yourself  – The Georgia Satellites

These Dreams – Heart

Superman  – R.E.M.

Live To Tell  – Madonna

In Too Deep  – Genesis

True Colors  – Cyndi Lauper

You Give Love a Bad Name  – Bon Jovi

Walk Like An Egyptian  – Bangles

No Sleep Till Brooklyn  – Beastie Boys

8 Truly Awesome Songs from 1986

In Your Eyes  – Peter Gabriel

Boy Inside the Man – Tom Cochrane and Red Rider

Fall On Me  – R.E.M.

Livin’ on a Prayer  – Bon Jovi

Rhymin & Stealin  – Beastie Boys

I Go Blind – 54-40

Glory Of Love  – Peter Cetera

Wanted Dead Or Alive  – Bon Jovi

I put together a playlist on YouTube with the above great songs for your enjoyment

Follow me on Spotify

Here is the full list of good songs released or popularized in 1986…

Awesome – 1	Wanted Dead Or Alive	–	Bon Jovi
Awesome – 1	Glory Of Love	–	Peter Cetera
Awesome – 1	I Go Blind	–	54-40
Awesome – 4	Rhymin & Stealin	–	Beastie Boys
Awesome – 4	Livin’ on a Prayer	–	Bon Jovi
Awesome – 4	Fall On Me	–	R.E.M.
Awesome – 4	Boy Inside the Man	–	Tom Cochrane and Red Rider
Awesome – 4	In Your Eyes	–	Peter Gabriel
Great – 9	No Sleep Till Brooklyn	–	Beastie Boys
Great – 9	Walk Like An Egyptian	–	Bangles
Great – 9	You Give Love a Bad Name	–	Bon Jovi
Great – 9	True Colors	–	Cyndi Lauper
Great – 9	In Too Deep	–	Genesis
Great – 9	Live To Tell	–	Madonna
Great – 9	Superman	–	R.E.M.
Great – 9	These Dreams	–	Heart
Great – 9	Keep Your Hands To Yourself	–	The Georgia Satellites
Great – 9	Crash	–	The Primitives
Great – 19	Who Made Who	–	AC/DC
Great – 19	Manic Monday	–	Bangles
Great – 19	Paul Revere	–	Beastie Boys
Great – 19	What Does It Take	–	Honeymoon Suite
Great – 19	Walk This Way	–	Run-D.M.C.
Great – 19	Throwing It All Away	–	Genesis
Great – 19	Nobody’s Fool	–	Cinderella
Great – 19	Rise	–	Public Image Ltd.
Great – 19	Wild Wild Life	–	Talking Heads
Solid – 28	Stand By Me	–	Ben E. King
Solid – 28	Brand New Lover	–	Dead or Alive
Solid – 28	Wild Wild Life	–	Talking Heads
Solid – 28	Montego Bay	–	Amazulu
Solid – 28	(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)	–	Beastie Boys
Solid – 28	Like a Rock	–	Bob Seger
Solid – 28	Word Up!	–	Cameo
Solid – 28	Lady In Red	–	Chris de Burgh
Solid – 28	Invisible Touch	–	Genesis
Solid – 28	Land of Confusion	–	Genesis
Solid – 28	Shake You Down	–	Gregory Abbott
Solid – 28	Open Your Heart	–	Madonna
Solid – 28	Sledgehammer	–	Peter Gabriel
Solid – 28	Kiss	–	Prince
Solid – 28	Back In The High Life Again	–	Steve Winwood
Solid – 28	Why Can’t This Be Love?	–	Van Halen
Solid – 28	Someday	–	Glass Tiger
Solid – 28	Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)	–	Glass Tiger
Solid – 28	A Matter Of Trust	–	Billy Joel
Solid – 28	Everything in my Heart	–	Corey Hart
Solid – 28	Higher Love	–	Steve Winwood
Solid – 28	Lean On Me	–	Club Nouveau
Solid – 28	Don’t Stand So Close To Me ’86	–	The Police
Solid – 28	Venus	–	Bananarama
Solid – 28	Brass Monkey	–	Beastie Boys
Solid – 53	Girls	–	Beastie Boys
Solid – 53	Mad About You	–	Belinda Carlisle
Solid – 53	Amanda	–	Boston
Solid – 53	Real Wild Child (Wild One)	–	Iggy Pop
Solid – 53	Danger Zone	–	Kenny Loggins
Solid – 53	The Dead Heart	–	Midnight Oil
Solid – 53	Bizarre Love Triangle	–	New Order
Solid – 53	If You Leave	–	OMD
Solid – 53	Big Time	–	Peter Gabriel
Solid – 53	Everybody Have Fun Tonight	–	Wang Chung
Solid – 53	Patio Lanterns	–	Kim Mitchell
Solid – 53	It’s Tricky	–	Run-D.M.C.
Solid – 53	Bad Day	–	R.E.M.
Solid – 53	Take Me Home Tonight	–	Eddie Money
Solid – 53	It’s In The Way That You Use It	–	Eric Clapton
Solid – 53	The Final Countdown	–	Europe
Solid – 53	If She Knew What She Wants	–	Bangles
Solid – 53	Feel It Again	–	Honeymoon Suite
Solid – 53	You’re the Voice	–	John Farnham
Solid – 53	The Rain	–	Oran “Juice” Jones
Not Bad – 73	Who Wants To Live Forever?	–	Queen
Not Bad – 73	Something So Strong	–	Crowded House
Not Bad – 73	You Keep Me Hangin’ On	–	Kim Wilde
Not Bad – 73	I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On	–	Robert Palmer
Not Bad – 73	Stuck With You	–	Huey Lewis & the News
Not Bad – 73	Typical Male	–	Tina Turner
Not Bad – 73	The Way It Is	–	Bruce Hornsby & the Range
Not Bad – 73	Notorious	–	Duran Duran
Not Bad – 73	Who’s Johnny	–	El DeBarge
Not Bad – 73	Thorn In My Side	–	Eurythmics
Not Bad – 73	Tonight, Tonight, Tonight	–	Genesis
Not Bad – 73	Doing It All For My Baby	–	Huey Lewis & the News
Not Bad – 73	When I Think of You	–	Janet Jackson
Not Bad – 73	Papa Don’t Preach	–	Madonna
Not Bad – 73	True Blue	–	Madonna
Not Bad – 73	You Can Call Me Al	–	Paul Simon
Not Bad – 73	The Next Time I Fall	–	Peter Cetera
Not Bad – 73	Human	–	The Human League
Not Bad – 73	Your Wildest Dreams	–	The Moody Blues
Not Bad – 73	Dear God	–	XTC
Not Bad – 73	Somebody Somewhere	–	Platinum Blonde
Not Bad – 73	Red Rain	–	Peter Gabriel
Not Bad – 73	Thank You For The Music	–	ABBA
Not Bad – 73	Songbird	–	Kenny G
Not Bad – 73	Friends and Lovers	–	Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson
Not Bad – 98	Master Of Puppets	–	Metallica
Not Bad – 98	Rumors	–	Timex Social Club
Not Bad – 98	Crossfire	–	Stevie Ray Vaughan
Not Bad – 98	The Sun Always Shines on T.V.	–	a-ha
Not Bad – 98	Take My Breath Away	–	Berlin
Not Bad – 98	This Is The Time	–	Billy Joel
Not Bad – 98	When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going	–	Billy Ocean
Not Bad – 98	Mandolin Rain	–	Bruce Hornsby & the Range
Not Bad – 98	Strokin’	–	Clarence Carter
Not Bad – 98	(I Just) Died in Your Arms	–	Cutting Crew
Not Bad – 98	Heartbeat	–	Don Johnson
Not Bad – 98	Missionary Man	–	Eurythmics
Not Bad – 98	Rock Me Amadeus	–	Falco
Not Bad – 98	Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You	–	Glenn Medeiros
Not Bad – 98	Hip to Be Square	–	Huey Lewis & the News
Not Bad – 98	Let’s Wait Awhile	–	Janet Jackson
Not Bad – 98	Nasty	–	Janet Jackson
Not Bad – 98	Words Get In The Way	–	Miami Sound Machine
Not Bad – 98	Don’t Get Me Wrong	–	Pretenders
Not Bad – 98	C’est La Vie	–	Robbie Nevil
Not Bad – 98	Sara	–	Starship
Not Bad – 98	You Got It All	–	The Jets
Not Bad – 98	The Edge of Heaven	–	Wham!
Not Bad – 98	Thin Red Line	–	Glass Tiger
Not Bad – 98	Soul City	–	Partland Brothers
Not Bad – 98	What Have You Done For Me Lately	–	Janet Jackson
Not Bad – 98	To Be A Lover	–	Billy Idol
Not Bad – 98	The Future’s So Bright	–	Timbuk 3
Not Bad – 98	Somebody’s Out There	–	Triumph
Not Bad – 98	Emotion In Motion	–	Ric Ocasek
Not Bad – 98	Dreamtime	–	Daryl Hall
Not Bad – 98	Sanctify Yourself	–	Simple Minds
Not Bad – 98	Don’t Leave Me This Way	–	The Communards
Not Bad – 98	Party All the Time	–	Eddie Murphy
Not Bad – 98	Dancing On the Ceiling	–	Lionel Richie
Not Bad – 98	We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off	–	Jermaine Stewart
Not Bad – 98	Only In My Dreams	–	Debbie Gibson
Not Bad – 98	Touch Me (I Want Your Body)	–	Samantha Fox
Not Bad – 98	Sweet Sixteen	–	Billy Idol
Not Bad – 98	Somewhere Out There	–	Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram
Not Bad – 98	Caravan Of Love	–	The HouseMartins
Not Bad – 98	Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back To My Room	–	Paul Lekakis

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