I came across this at Rick’s blog, Caffeinated Adventures and it seemed like something interesting to do. Below is a list of the top 100 songs from 1986, the year I graduated from high school, happens to be the same year as Rick, and I have crossed out the ones I didn’t like. Here is the site that the list is from, just scroll down to the very bottom and pick your year.
Man, talk about memories in these songs! It turns out I remember and liked just over half of these songs. (if it didn’t register as one I could recall at all, I crossed it out.) The music I liked didn’t make it in the top 100 as much, Bon Jovi and Van Halen did make the list at least once though!
Updated: Found a couple that I overlooked that shoulda been crossed off!
1. That’s What Friends Are For, Dionne Warwick, Elton John, and Gladys Knight
2. Say You, Say Me, Lionel Richie
3. I Miss You, Klymaxx
4. On My Own , Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald
5. Broken Wings, Mr. Mister
6. How Will I Know, Whitney Houston
7. Party All The Time, Eddie Murphy
8. Burning Heart, Survivor
9. Kyrie, Mr. Mister
10. Addicted To Love, Robert Palmer
11. Greatest Love Of All, Whitney Houston
12. Secret Lovers, Atlantic Starr
13. Friends And Lovers, Carl Anderson and Gloria Loring
14. Glory Of Love, Peter Cetera
15. West End Girls, Pet Shop Boys
16. There’ll Be Sad Songs, Billy Ocean
17. Alive And Kicking, Simple Minds
18. Never, Heart
19. Kiss, Prince and The Revolution
20. Higher Love, Steve Winwood
21. Stuck With You, Huey Lewis and The News
22. Holding Back The Years, Simply Red
23. Sledgehammer, Peter Gabriel
24. Sara, Starship
25. Human, Human League
26. I Can’t Wait, Nu Shooz
27. Take My Breath Away, Berlin
28. Rock Me Amadeus, Falco
29. Papa Don’t Preach, Madonna
30. You Give Love A Bad Name, Bon Jovi
31. When The Going Gets Tough, Billy Ocean
32. When I Think Of You, Janet Jackson
33. These Dreams, Heart
34. Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone), Glass Tiger
35. Live To Tell, Madonna
36. Mad About You, Belinda Carlisle
37. Something About You, Level 42
38. Venus, Bananarama
39. Dancing On The Ceiling, Lionel Richie
40. Conga, Miami Sound Machine
41. True Colors, Cyndi Lauper
42. Danger Zone, Kenny Loggins
43. What Have You Done For Me Lately, Janet Jackson
44. No One Is To Blame, Howard Jones
45. Let’s Go All The Way, Sly Fox
46. I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On, Robert Palmer
47. Words Get In The Way, Miami Sound Machine
48. Manic Monday, Bangles
49. Walk Of Life, Dire Straits
50. Amanda, Boston
51. Two Of Hearts, Stacey Q
52. Crush On You, Jets
53. If You Leave, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
54. Invisible Touch, Genesis
55. The Sweetest Taboo, Sade
56. What You Need, INXS
57. Talk To Me, Stevie Nicks
58. Nasty, Janet Jackson
59. Take Me Home Tonight, Eddie Money
60. We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off, Jermaine Stewart
61. All Cried Out, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam With Full Force
62. Your Love, Outfield
63. I’m Your Man, Wham!
64. Perfect Way, Scritti Politti
65. Living In America, James Brown
66. R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A., John Cougar Mellencamp
67. Who’s Johnny, El Debarge
68. Word Up, Cameo
69. Why Can’t This Be Love, Van Halen
70. Silent Running, Mike and The Mechanics
71. Typical Male, Tina Turner
72. Small Town, John Cougar Mellencamp
73. Tarzan Boy, Baltimora
74. All I Need Is A Miracle, Mike and The Mechanics
75. Sweet Freedom, Michael McDonald
76. True Blue, Madonna
77. Rumors, Timex Social Club
78. Life In A Northern Town, Dream Academy
79. Bad Boy, Miami Sound Machine
80. Sleeping Bag, ZZ Top
81. Tonight She Comes, Cars
82. Love Touch, Rod Stewart
83. A Love Bizarre, Sheila E.
84. Throwing It All Away, Genesis
85. Baby Love, Regina
86. Election Day, Arcadia
87. Nikita, Elton John
88. Take Me Home, Phil Collins
89. Walk This Way, Run-D.M.C.
90. Sweet Love, Anita Baker
91. Your Wildest Dreams, Moody Blues
92. Spies Like Us, Paul McCartney
93. Object Of My Desire, Starpoint
94. Dreamtime, Daryl Hall
95. Tender Love, Force M.D.’s
96. King For A Day, Thompson Twins
97. Love Will Conquer All, Lionel Richie
98. A Different Corner, George Michael
99. I’ll Be Over You, Toto
100. Go Home, Stevie Wonder
You really don’t remember ALL of those?? Man, I’m totally groovin’ in my head over this list (with the exception of #93). Go over to iTunes, listen to the samples and I’ll bet you the amount of unknowns will dwindle sharply!
By the way, what kind of music were you in to in 86?
Stuart Cowen
Class of ’86
Sweet, man! What a great class ’86 was.
There are some that don’t even ring a bell, I need to go listen because you are right, I’m sure I will recognize them. I was a closet headbanger…..well maybe not exactly closet, I liked Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Whitesnake, Ratt. All those kinds of bands. John Cougar, back before the Mellencamp days, Survivor, after Eye of the Tiger, they had some awesome stuff, Loverboy (Workin’ for the weekend) I still like alot of that music but don’t hear it as much.
I even had long hair, back in the day. I’m glad I enjoyed it when I had it because it is gone now!
Wasn’t there a group called Power Station? They rocked!
There was a group that was pretty much a one hit wonder back in late ’86, I think their album was called Europe, I can’t remember the group’s name, oh yeah their song was called The Final Countdown….remember that? I bought the cassette.
Good stuff!
Once you get some of these songs in your head, you can’t get them out. I guess I might have to put together a list for 1988, the year I graduated.
dj
I’m not sure if you guys listen to the Daily Source Code, but in the past two podcasts, Adam was talking about mash-ups and Jan Polet’s Hit Test trivia podcast creating iTunes business of people downloading older songs or “Back Catalog”. After seeing this list, I did go and download songs from Level 42, and the whole Brothers in Arms ablum from Dire Straits. Yeah, good jams!