Flashback: June 14, 1986

 Good morning, everyone. We've made it through another week and we're that much closer to the official beginning of summer. Oh, and Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Also, Happy Juneteenth. I think this is the first year it becomes a national holiday. God's honest truth, I didn't hear about this holiday/observance until I was in the Navy. 

Anyway, for the first time in several weeks, I have a flashback for you. This week, I'm selecting 1986. There's a reason for choosing this year which I'll explain as the countdown progresses. So, without further ado, here were the top 40 songs according to Billboard Magazine for the week ending June 14, 1986.

40. Love Touch by Rod Stewart. As I recall, the video was set in a courtroom because it was off the soundtrack from the movie "Legal Eagles," starring Robert Redford.

39. Digging Your Scene by The Blow Monkeys. One-hit wonder.

38. Out Of Mind Out Of Sight by The Models. Another one-hit wonder, this one didn't even make the Top 20.

37. If She Knew What She Wants by The Bangles

36. The Love Parade by The Dream Academy. Follow-up from their Top Ten classic "Life In A Northern Town."

35. Dreams by Van Halen. If I remember correctly, there was a video of this song that was set to footage from the USAF Thunderbirds.

34. One Hit (To The Body) by The Rolling Stones. This one surprisingly didn't reach the Top 30, peaking at #33.

33. Mountains by Prince

32. Bad Boy by Miami Sound Machine. The video for this was a take-off on the popular Broadway play "Cats," which was dominating Broadway during this time.

31. West End Girls by The Pet Shop Boys

30. What Have You Done For Me Lately by Janet Jackson. The track that helped propel her toward superstardom.

29. When The Heart Rules The Mind by GTR. Lost classic that I thought should have been top ten.

28. Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins. When I was on board the Eisenhower, we would always have an emergency breakaway drill after replenishment at sea, usually with the USS Anzio. The 1MC ALWAYS played this song during the drill.

27. Invisible Touch by Genesis. Genesis was on top of the music world in 1986. Pretty much an extension of Phil Collins' massive success of "No Jacket Required" the year before.

26. Like No Other Night by Thirty-Eight Special

25. Your Wildest Dreams by The Moody Blues. I remember long ago around this time the adult-contemporary station in Raleigh (WRAL-FM) ran a promotion in conjunction with this song. What the promotion was exactly, I don't remember.

24. Nasty by Janet Jackson. GIVE ME A BEAT!!

23. Like A Rock by Bob Seger. This song became somewhat popular years later from Chevrolet's truck ads.

22. Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel. If you remember the video for this, then you likely remember those pre-cooked dancing chickens in stop animation. You're welcome.

21. Rain On The Scarecrow by John Mellencamp

20. Tuff Enuff by The Fabulous Thunderbirds. At the age I was at the time, I thought the name of the group had something to do with a very popular roller derby team at the time, the Los Angeles Thunderbirds. Of course, I was unaware that roller derby was actually sports entertainment, where the outcomes were scripted, like professional wrestling.

19. Vienna Calling by Falco. His follow-up to his number one song, "Rock Me Amadeus."

18. Move Away by Culture Club. When this song came out, it was time to "move away" from the radio or the station the radio was on.

17. Be Good To Yourself by Journey. Sound advice, and as the late Jerry Springer would add, "and each other."

16. Is It Love by Mr. Mister

15. I Wanna Be A Cowboy by Boys Don't Cry. I was unaware of this until a few years ago when I found Spotify, but did you notice that the cover of Boys Don't Cry's self-titled album, there's a topless woman on there. I'm sure it received plenty of outrage from the "moral majority" back in 1986.

14. Who's Johnny by El Debarge. Hilarious video for it. Song is from the movie "Short Circuit."

13. If You Leave by Orchestral Manouevers In The Dark. I think this came from the movie "Pretty In Pink," which I only saw by going to my cousin's birthday party in 1986. Incidentally, I think the band shortened their name to OMD later on because "Manouevers" was difficult AF to spell.

12. Nothin' At All by Heart

11. Holding Back The Years by Simply Red

10. Something About You by Level 42. A personal favorite of mine.

  9. All I Need Is A Miracle by Mike + The Mechanics. Interestingly enough, all I need is a miracle right now. Hell, we ALL could use a miracle if we're being brutally honest.

  8. No One Is To Blame by Howard Jones. This song is easily in my top five songs of all time. Just listen to the lyrics sometime.

  7. A Different Corner by George Michael. This song I think helped launch his solo career.

  6. Greatest Love Of All by Whitney Houston. If not for her cover of "I Will Always Love You" in 1992, this probably would have been her signature hit.

  5. Crush On You by The Jets. No, thankfully not the New York Jets, but I'm talking to you, Samantha.

  4. There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry) by Billy Ocean. A very underrated song in my estimation.

  3. I Can't Wait by Nu Shooz. When this song was released in that spring, there was another song with the same title from Stevie Nicks. Interestingly enough, they would have another Billboard Top 40 hit called "Point Of No Return" later in the year, but about eight months or so before Expose's "Point Of No Return."

  2. Live To Tell by Madonna. Now for the reason why I chose this year for today's flashback. Madonna, just this week, made chart history as she became the second female (Cher being the other one) to have a hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades. As for this song, this was around the time my crush on Madonna started to wane, as she started dating Sean Penn, who I didn't know at the time was famous for "Fast Times At Ridgemont High." I hate my upbringing sometimes.

...and the number one song thirty-seven years ago this week was,

  1. On My Own by Michael McDonald and Patti LaBelle. For the video, the two singers filmed thier portions on opposite coasts. McDonald was in NYC, while LaBelle was in California.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little slice of nostalgia. I hope to be back with more sometime this weekend. Until then, later.

CT