US #1s of 1986

Oh come on. West End Girls is not 775% better than Addicted To Love.

Robert Palmer circa Cluees coulda done a decent version of "West End Girls."

xp: I know, and what the fuck is this?

Peter Cetera, "Glory of Love" 2
Janet Jackson, "When I Think of You" 2

Democracy.

haha, my bafflement here is sort of the mirror image of some britisher bafflement i remember when "when doves cry" won the '80s singles poll. ("prince? really?") more surprised at the paltry madonna showing.

I voted for Peter Cetera, just to annoy you all. Sorry.

Wooohoo!! Something beat Kiss!! WOOOHOO!

Well I liked that Pet Shop Boys song back in the day a lot (first year of high school, German class as I recall), but it doesn't do a whole lot for me now. Still I'm happy Kiss didn't win. Most minimal, obvious, boring-as-hell Prince song, ever. It's hardly a song. Nothing adventurous about it at all. No passion. Just this repetitive simplicity. Zzzzz...

Let's not mention Peter C*t*ra. Can't deal with him. Hell I'd vote for Kiss over him anyday!

Also, I'm fully aware of the fact that I could easily have just voted for Janet Jackson in this poll, but in times past, she's been the only beacon I could cling to in some of these awful late 80's #1 polls, so this time it was nice to have some other decent choices.

Can we do 1985 please please please?

Also yeah, Robert Palmer could have done a decent version of "West End Girls".

People who skip "Purple Rain" on the Purple Rain album, though, are absolutely batshit in my opinion. Just sayin'.

No, people who skip "The Beautiful Ones" on the Purple Rain album are absolutely batshit. Not that anyone ever does that, just sayin'.

I'd argue that people who skip anything on Purple Rain are a bit fucked in the head.

enlightening musical discussion

LOLOLOL You guys are all kool kids all around. I love it.

heh. "Sledgehammer" came in 3rd? really???

"West End Girls" is the better song (obviously), but "Kiss" is the purple one's greatest single ever, and, therefore, unfuckingbeatable (except on ilm, natch)!

nothing against "West End Girls", but I'm not sure where it comes within a million miles of "Kiss"

― The Reverend, Friday, February 6, 2009 12:39 AM (13 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^agree - don't think they're the best singles from either artist though

(that would be 'rent' for PSB and um er uh either 'when doves cry' or 'little red corvette' for prince)

I dunno, when I think about the best Prince singles, the songs that come to mind instantly are "Kiss", "Alphabet St" and "Raspberry Beret". (Sometimes "1999".)

"Rent" is kind of impossible for PSB to transcend, though.

I voted for Peter Cetera, just to annoy you all. Sorry.

I did too, because for me it is the very definition of a guilty pleasure. But I wouldn't have voted for it had I known that the best song here, Addicted To Love, would get only five measly votes.

The Human League, "Human" 1

This is criminal.

Not as criminal as the UK #1s of 1986, though.

I think the more interesting poll would be "vote for your 3rd favorite song"

US 86: 20/30
UK 86: 8/18

I rank the top ten!

Oh! I love that Jermaine Stewart song.

The production lets it down.

Hmmm, I'd move "Throwing it all away" and "Human" to Meh, and "Typical male" to The Hague, making space for "Rumours", "Manic Monday" and "Word Up!" in Good To Great; "Nikita" can go to The Hague too, and we'll move You Give Love a Bad Name" and "If You Leave" out of there and up to Solid (maybe "Danger Zone" too). "Life in a Northern Town" and "The Rain" also decidedly not Meh but Solid.

I strongly agree with not including Bruce Hornsby & The Range at all, as it doesn't even deserve as much as a hearing at the ICC.

YOU SENT ME TO THE HAGUE
BUT YOUR MEM'RY I STILL PLAGUE
AMANDA

"Typical Male" to The Hague? I love the bridge, Phil Collins' drumming, and Tina's ferocity.

Oh man, another reason to hate Phil Collins.

1986 is my favourite music year in history, for both nostalgic (it was the year I became a precocious, obsessive radio/Casey Kasem listener) and quantitative (there is just a ridiculous amount of music from that year that I adore) reasons. From the list of US #1s alone, these are some of my favourite songs ever:

Pet Shop Boys, "West End Girls"
Prince and the Revolution, "Kiss"
Madonna, "Papa Don't Preach"
Madonna, "Live to Tell"
Janet Jackson, "When I Think of You"
The Human League, "Human"
Genesis, "Invisible Touch"
Whitney Houston, "How Will I Know"

and from Alfred's extended list:

Genesis – Throwing It All Away
The Pretenders – Don’t Get Me Wrong
Janet Jackson – What Have You Done For Me Lately
Sly Fox – Let’s Go All the Way
Belinda Carlisle – Mad About You
Janet Jackson – Nasty
Phil Collins – Take Me Home
The Bangles – Manic Monday
Cameo – Word Up!
Madonna – True Blue
El Debarge – Who’s Johnny
The Dream Academy – Life in a Northern Town
Timex Social Club – Rumours
Howard Jones – No One is to Blame
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark – If You Leave

If absolutely forced, I'm sure I could sustain on a playlist of just those songs for the rest of my life.

The Billboard charts were insanely white in those days.

Wow, what a year

xpost

I suspect that the further you go back in time, the whiter the charts look. I'll leave it to the Billboard obsessives to confirm or deny that, but I do remember Casey Kasem listing the top songs on the "Black" charts (along with Country, Easy Listening, etc) as a sidenote during each week's countdown.

1981-1982 were particularly bad

Mr. Mister, “Is It Meh or Sound, Solid Entertainment (It Actually Appears to be Both)”

Updated, which gave me a chance to slot "The Way It Is."

"Typical Male" to The Hague? I love the bridge, Phil Collins' drumming, and Tina's ferocity.

― Let's have sensible centrist armageddon (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 9 March 2019 16:27 (four hours ago) Permalink

“Typical Male” is my favorite song from Tina’s post-comeback era: great chorus, especially the synthy horn line (I love how it echoes the underrated '83 Kc and the Sunshine Band single “Give It Up”). There’s also the post-bridge chorus breakdown, where everything drops out except drums, staccato guitar, and that voice (the “WAAAAHHH” that drops in, sax or Tina?), then it rebuilds for a full-instrumentation chorus.

People on Spotify have graciously assembled the Billboard Top 100s from basically every year as playlists. Unfortunately, not all songs are on Spotify, meaning the user is faced with the choice of either leaving it out, or inserting a karaoke or cover version, which can totally derail the playtlist. In the 1986 list, the real “Sweet Freedom” was not available, so we get someone called “Done Again” covering the song, and oh yes – we get a bad Michael McDonald impersonation! I am totally throwing this on the mix for my next gathering, just to see if anyone goes “Dude…wait…that’s not actually… Mic-… seriously, what the FUCK IS THIS!?”
https://open.spotify.com/user/12128872417/playlist/4rhgAIno9OiopUzNhOZDbc?si=AQovrMTcSCCISb8-nWUWpg

"I confess I'm a fool for a man/With a clever m-i-i-i-ind"

Here's just the #1 songs.

Alfred, I need more detail around your hatred of True Colors. Maybe I was a couple of years too young, but I’m trying to imagine hating it.

hd, i just saw your true colors.

shining through.☺

I wouldn't personally say I hate it but 'True Colors' was a pretty tepid single in its context as a follow-up to her first monumental + iconic album (and even as a follow-up to a song about the gahdamn Goonies).

('Change of Heart' is much better.)

Puzzled that “sledgehammer” was a hit , just seems like a nothing song

Puzzled that “sledgehammer” was a hit , just seems like a nothing song

lol over the past 2 or 3 years, after mildly admiring it since 1986, I've converted into thinking it's among the best 5 or 10 songs of the entire decade.

“sledgehammer” is great, the coda!!

just about the only goofball Britsoul pastiche that works

wouldn't personally say I hate it but 'True Colors' was a pretty tepid single in its context as a follow-up to her first monumental + iconic album (and even as a follow-up to a song about the gahdamn Goonies).

― You Can't Have the Woogie Without a Little Boogie (Old Lunch),

this

There’s just no groove to sledgehammer imho. Rhythm is just off

a Teddy Riley remix would’ve been sweet