Music to My Years: 1986

Much like 1985, the music in 1986 is all absolute class. I am trying to work out whether it was because I was 15 and full of hope for the future, unrequited love, first love, and general teenage confidence! Yet, I look back at all the tracks which were played then and are still played now and there are SO many of them that somehow, I don’t feel I am wrong. With the likes of Eurythmics, Dire Straits, Level 42, Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Queen, David Bowie, Erasure, Peter Gabriel and Wham all having new songs out, how could I be wrong?! What a time to be alive it was!

There were also songs released by the Grange Hill Cast called Just Say No – which I went mad for at the time but listening back now I just laugh at – and The Chicken Song by Spitting Image which my family all sang at the top of their voices and I still find hilarious! Thankfully the good did outweigh the bad!

As I am now a radio presenter on Radio Ninesprings, and I will be sharing my Top 10 all week and sharing 1 track from the list each day, Monday to Friday, on my show from 3pm. Plus, there is now a compilation show on Sunday’s at 6pm.

So, from the year I was born taking me right up to 2021, I am going to be sharing my top 10 chart songs from the year in question.

10. True Blue by Madonna

My strongest memory of this song is walking into school one morning to go and meet up with our friends in the corner by the DT block where we always hung out and asking them if they had heard this track – and then of us proceeding to try and remember all the words and to continue trying to sing it most breaktimes!

We all wanted to look like Madonna and this whole album – of the same name – had great tracks on it! When it was released it was an immediate global success, reaching number one in then record-breaking 28 countries across the world, including the UK. It became the world’s top-selling album of 1986, as well as the best-selling album of the 1980s by a female artist. It spent 34 consecutive weeks at the top of the European Top 100 Albums chart, longer than any other album in history.

This is the third track from the album and it reached number one.

9. What Have You Done for Me Lately by Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson’s album ‘Control’ hardly left my record player when I bought it. It had a red cover with a picture of her and some squiggly lines around her! I can remember it being played so much that, much like Go West, her album went into one of the coveted plastic covers I had! I took it to every party and always made sure it stayed well away from the drinks table!

This song was fab to dance to and me and my friends knew all the words and would sing it at the top of our voices! I think we all wanted to be Janet at one stage or another!

8. Lessons in Love by Level 42

This song was Level 42’s biggest hit in the UK, reaching number 3 on the chart and taken from the fantastic album ‘Running in the Family’. It even got them onto the US chart at number 12.

Level 42 continued to be on my radar with their success the previous year and was definitely a band I could speak to the music fanatic boys I spoke with in school. We always had great respect for their ability!

7. How Will I Know by Whitney Houston

This song summed up how I felt about a boy at the time – the one I eventually got together with at my fifteenth birthday party (more on that later in my chart!) and I think it was one of Whitney’s finest. There is still something about her life which makes me so sad. She could have been so much more and I truly believe, had she been surrounded by the right people, she could have gone on to become an Aretha Franklin or a Tina Turner.

It was her third single and was originally intended for Janet Jackson who passed on it. I think it suits Whitney far better.

6. System Addict by Five Star

I can remember knowing exactly where Five Star lived – as they were not far from me in nearby Sunningdale. I had this album on ALL of the time when it came out and I can even recall our bus driver playing it on our way home one day. This made him totally cool with all the kids!

9 years ago, Ross and I saw Five Star perform at Rewind Festival Henley and they still had ALL the moves and put on a fine show! I think that this was my favourite at the time – and still is. Brilliant song to dance to. Well, to do the Five Star moves to anyway! It reached number 3 in the UK and is their second biggest selling single.

5. No One is To Blame by Howard Jones

This song, even now, still gets played regularly by me. I don’t know what it is about it but I love the way Howard Jones portrays a sense of longing. At the time of it coming out, I really liked a boy in my school who didn’t really know I existed. Years later, it has taken on a different meaning in the wanting certain things that I cannot have.

This particular track was made more radio-friendly when Phil Collins helped to produce the re-recording – and added the drum work at the beginning. It became Howard Jones’ biggest US hit, peaking at number 4. In the UK it only reached number 16.

4. It’s Alright (Baby’s Coming Back) by The Eurythmics

I believe that this is still my favourite Eurythmics song. I used to sing it all of the time. It became their tenth Top 20 hit in the UK where it peaked at number 12 and was the fourth and final single from their album ‘Be Yourself Tonight’. I loved Thorn in my Side too but for some reason, this one has more staying power for me. To me, it tells me about the strength in a relationship. It also won an Ivor Novello award for Best Contemporary Song.

3. Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel

I don’t think I knew anyone who didn’t love this song when it came out! I can distinctly recall having a 15th Birthday party in our back playroom at our house (my parents allowed it!). One of my friends, Sam, (sadly no longer with us) had too much cider and threw up on my parents garden chair – and wrote a letter of apology to them afterwards! I got together with the boy I really liked (hi Sean!) and someone gave me this song for my birthday and it was CONSTANTLY on the stereo! The video was also like nothing anyone had seen before. It was totally brilliant!

It only reached number 4 in the UK – held off the top by The Chicken Song!

2. Sometimes by Erasure

Vince Clarke really did come into his own with his music when he paired up with Andy Bell. I could not get enough of this song when it was released and me and my group of friends went to see the band live on a number of occasions – including Hammersmith Odeon during their ABBA phase!

Andy Bell responded to an advert placed by Vince Clarke in Melody Maker looking for a vocalist and the rest is history! This song was their fourth release and reached number 2 in the charts. It was beaten by Boris Gardiner and ‘I Want to Wake Up with You’. I believe that it has been beaten by a far better song on this occasion!

1. Through the Barricades – Spandau Ballet

Written about the troubles in Northern Ireland, this is my most favourite of all of the Spandau songs. To see them make a sudden comeback in 1986 was fabulous – however, it was very shortlived. This was their last top ten single which peaked at number 6. I fully expected it to get to number one – so I made it so here.

Martin Kemp was recently interviewed and confirmed that this was his favourite of the band’s too. Written by Gary, Martin’s brother, Martin said “It was written about Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland and finding love across that divide but it is also about finding love across any sort of divide that keeps people apart. They’re the sort of stories that touch my heart the most.” Gary wrote the song after the violence unfolding on the streets of Belfast hit the band when their roadie Thomas ‘Kidso’ Reilly died after being shot by a soldier in 1983. It is a fitting and beautiful tribute.