december 1986 — total dullsville, with some clunkers.

On the road this weekend, I got to hear virtually the entire countdown from 1986.  While it wasn’t loaded with some of the awful 1989 songs, it did have some complete clunkers, strangely enough alongside a couple of of my favorites from the 80s.  But the main feature was how many Meh songs there were, including a couple of #1s.

It started off with a sad goodbye...the last top 40 hit by the Pointer Sisters, and a good song too that deserved better on a weak chart.  Ditto for Carly Simon and Kansas who had comeback records, but it ended up being their last.

The bad number 1s were on either end.  Billy Vera and the Beaters debuted with a plodding, live record...yuck...and Peter Cetera had his 2nd one in a row with just a stinker.  How it ever knocked out the iconic Bon Jovi song, I’ll never know.  I’m also not a fan of Shake You Down...a fine top 20 hit, but how he hit #1 when Freddie Jackson, Jeffrey Osborne, Luther Vandross, and others never did is beyond me.

The blah songs were many...by artists I generally liked...Lionel Richie, Madonna, Kool and the Gang, Robert Palmer, Daryl Hall, Toto, Billy Idol, Survivor, Steve Winwood, Bruce Hornsby, Glass Tiger...and worse yet, most of these made the top 10!

And then there’s the worse than blah of Huey Lewis (who jumped the shark with this one), Robbie Nevil, Bruce Springsteen, Wang Chung (ugh!), and the worst of all, the first pure rap record for Run DMC.  Painful.  You know it trouble when a 25 year old record is blazing for the top 10!

Besides Bon Jovi, this chart was saved by a great Pretenders record, Human League, late album hits by Genesis and Janet, and a resurgent Eddie Money.  Song of the week is definitely Bon Jovi.  Take that Peter Cetera!

1 4 THE NEXT TIME I FALL –•– Peter Cetera & Amy Grant – 12 (1)
2 1 YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME –•– Bon Jovi – 14 (1)
3 5 HIP TO BE SQUARE –•– Huey Lewis & The News – 8 (3)
4 8 THE WAY IT IS –•– Bruce Hornsby & The Range – 12 (4)
5 10 WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN –•– The Bangles – 11 (5)
6 6 WORD UP –•– Cameo – 13 (6)
7 11 EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT –•– Wang Chung – 10 (7)
8 2 HUMAN –•– Human League – 13 (1)
9 9 LOVE WILL CONQUER ALL –•– Lionel Richie – 10 (9)
10 12 TO BE A LOVER –•– Billy Idol – 10 (10)

11 16 NOTORIOUS –•– Duran Duran – 6 (11)
12 3 TRUE BLUE –•– Madonna – 10 (3)
13 15 STAND BY ME –•– Ben E. King – 10 (13)
14 7 AMANDA –•– Boston – 11 (1)
15 17 SHAKE YOU DOWN –•– Gregory Abbott – 8 (15)
16 19 DON’T GET ME WRONG –•– Pretenders – 9 (16)
17 21 C’EST LA VIE –•– Robbie Nevil – 9 (17)
18 13 TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT –•– Eddie Money – 17 (4)
19 22 (FOREVER) LIVE AND DIE –•– Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – 11 (19)
20 33 WAR –•– Bruce Springsteen – 3 (20)

21 27 CONTROL –•– Janet Jackson – 6 (21)
22 24 YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU… DON’T YOU? –•– Howard Jones – 8 (22)
23 25 IS THIS LOVE –•– Survivor – 7 (23)
24 14 I’LL BE OVER YOU –•– Toto – 15 (11)
25 26 WILD WILD LIFE –•– Talking Heads – 14 (25)
26 28 LAND OF CONFUSION –•– Genesis – 6 (26)
27 30 LOVE IS FOREVER –•– Billy Ocean – 7 (27)
28 31 VICTORY –•– Kool & The Gang – 6 (28)
29 18 THE RAIN –•– Oran “Juice” Jones – 13 (9)
30 35 THE FUTURE’S SO BRIGHT, I GOTTA WEAR SHADES –•– Timbuk 3 – 7 (30)

31 38 SOMEDAY –•– Glass Tiger – 6 (31)
32 20 FREEDOM OVERSPILL –•– Steve Winwood – 11 (20)
33 36 FOOLISH PRIDE –•– Daryl Hall – 8 (33)
34 40 ALL I WANTED –•– Kansas – 6 (34)
35 39 YOU BE ILLIN’ –•– Run DMC- 7 (35)
36 23 I DIDN’T MEAN TO TURN YOU ON –•– Robert Palmer – 17 (2)
37 45 COMING AROUND AGAIN –•– Carly Simon – 6 (37)
38 50 AT THIS MOMENT –•– Billy Vera & The Beaters – 8 (38)
39 44 FOR TONIGHT –•– Nancy Martinez – 10 (39)
40 42 GOLDMINE –•– The Pointer Sisters – 6 (40)