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101 Best Songs of 1986 vs 1996: #1 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths / A Long December - Counting Crows (1 Viewer)

rockaction said:
The Blue Angels part of all this is when Van Halen went from rock band to a sort of lifestyle reaffirming group.
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From today's perspective, it's easy to look at the Blue Angels video as a calculated attempt to appeal to the patriotic crowd. But at the time it was less about calculation, and more about Eddie trying to distance the band from both its own recent past (with the videos for 1984) and from David Lee Roth (who practically lived on MTV in 1985-86). The band vowed not to make any videos for 5150, yet MTV (and Warner Bros.) put massive pressure on them to deliver some kind of video product, and so a compromise was reached with the production of the "Dreams" video.
 
rockaction said:
Van Halen sucked all the more for their move into the sociopolitical, and I'm not sure it wasn't worse than solo and stupid DLR.
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I've always thought it was kind of funny that Sammy and Dave had rock personas which were not only contrasting from each other, but contrasting from their own latter-day personal beliefs.

Sammy liked to put forth a vibe of being a sub-Mellencamp champion of the working man, mixed with psychobabble lyrics and a Jimmy Buffet-esque hippy lifestyle. But he's a Type-A businessman at heart.

Dave, on the other hand, frequently wrote unsympathetic lyrics that appealed to disaffected suburban males, but these days he spends his time reading classic literature and creating Japanese art.
 
scorchy said:
#47

Don't Let's Start - They Might Be Giants

Thanks to being forced to listen to their kids' albums about a zillion times between 2004-12 or so, I have zero interest in hearing any They Might Be Giants at this point. I loved them in 1987 though, as Don't Let's Start - the first single from their 1986 debut album - was one of the first videos I ever saw in 120 Minutes.

Machinehead - Bush

Bush's debut album Sixteen Stone was one of the biggest record's of 1995, selling more than 6 million copies. The band's follow-up, 1996's Razorblade Suitcase proved Bush was up for a repeat, and lead-off single Machinehead continued a string of five consecutive top 10 hits on the Modern Rock Charts (with two more to come by the end of the year). Zero idea what having a machinehead means, why it's better than the rest, or how green-to-red plays into the whole thing.
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Just bought tix for TMBG’s Flood anniversary tour stop here in St. Pete next March. If I mention that I also saw their original Flood tour when I was in high school, does that make me old? :oldunsure:
 
#46

Suburbia - Pet Shop Boys

The biggest single from the Pet Shop Boys’ 1986 debut album Please -that would be West End Girls, which hit #1 in the US and UK - is ineligible for my list because it was originally released in 1994 and then again in 1995 in the leadup to the album’s release. Still plenty of good stuff to choose from. For a long time, Suburbia was my favorite from the album. I’ve since moved on to the chalkier track that will show up later, but Suburbia is still up there.

Teenage Angst - Placebo

Since I was born I started to decay
Now nothing ever, ever goes my way

Placebo is my favorite mid-to-late 90s band that never quite made it. I think their biggest brush with any fame on this side of the Atlantic was when they had a song playing during a big moment in Cruel Intentions (not the kissing scene though). Their sound is a great blend of post-punk, britpop, and a tinge of goth. Teenage Angst was the first of six consecutive Top 40 songs for Placebo on the UK pop charts.
 
scorchy said:
#46

Suburbia - Pet Shop Boys

The biggest single from the Pet Shop Boys’ 1986 debut album Please -that would be West End Girls, which hit #1 in the US and UK - is ineligible for my list because it was originally released in 1994 and then again in 1995 in the leadup to the album’s release. Still plenty of good stuff to choose from. For a long time, Suburbia was my favorite from the album. I’ve since moved on to the chalkier track that will show up later, but Suburbia is still up there.

Teenage Angst - Placebo

Since I was born I started to decay
Now nothing ever, ever goes my way

Placebo is my favorite mid-to-late 90s band that never quite made it. I think their biggest brush with any fame on this side of the Atlantic was when they had a song playing during a big moment in Cruel Intentions (not the kissing scene though). Their sound is a great blend of post-punk, britpop, and a tinge of goth. Teenage Angst was the first of six consecutive Top 40 songs for Placebo on the UK pop charts.
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Love both of these songs for completely different reasons.
 
scorchy said:
Rankings of barking dogs songs:

1. Been Caught Stealing
2. Suburbia
3. Forgot About Dre

[infinite gap]

4. Jingles Bells Dogs
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Okay, so I cheated and looked up dog barking songs on Google.

"Sure Shot" by the Beastie Boys is right up there, and might even approach 94/95/96 territory.
 
scorchy said:
#47

Don't Let's Start - They Might Be Giants

Thanks to being forced to listen to their kids' albums about a zillion times between 2004-12 or so, I have zero interest in hearing any They Might Be Giants at this point. I loved them in 1987 though, as Don't Let's Start - the first single from their 1986 debut album - was one of the first videos I ever saw in 120 Minutes.

Machinehead - Bush

Bush's debut album Sixteen Stone was one of the biggest record's of 1995, selling more than 6 million copies. The band's follow-up, 1996's Razorblade Suitcase proved Bush was up for a repeat, and lead-off single Machinehead continued a string of five consecutive top 10 hits on the Modern Rock Charts (with two more to come by the end of the year). Zero idea what having a machinehead means, why it's better than the rest, or how green-to-red plays into the whole thing.
Click to expand...

If Machinehead comes in the radio while I’m driving, I immediately start driving faster. :drive:
 
#45

Invisible Touch - Genesis

When I was listening to AT40 in the summer of '86 and Casey Kasem mentioned that Invisible Touch was Genesis' 13th album, I was shocked. I guess I had heard a song or two in passing (Abacab, That's All) and Phil Collins' solo stuff of course, but how had they just become so popular this far into a career? GIven there was no internet, I wasn't reading Rolling Stone yet, and my parents would have been of no help, I never thought much more about it. It wasn't until college that I learned Peter Gabriel had been in Genesis - whoa. And then I listened to earlier stuff and hated it.

Invisible Touch the album was massive, spawning 5 top 10 singles, with the title track being their first and only #1.

Big Me - Foo Fighters

I was really happy for Dave Grohl when Foo Fighters' self-titled debut dropped in the summer of '95 to good reviews and lots of airplay - still wouldn't have believed it if you told me they would go on to become the biggest band in the US (and maybe the world) over the next 25 years. Big Me was the fourth and final single from the record.
 
scorchy said:
Invisible Touch - Genesis

When I was listening to AT40 in the summer of '86 and Casey Kasem mentioned that Invisible Touch was Genesis' 13th album, I was shocked. I guess I had heard a song or two in passing (Abacab, That's All) and Phil Collins' solo stuff
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When Peter Gabriel left the band, the record label wanted a front man in the mold of Freddie Mercury/Bon Scott/David Bowie as a replacement. Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks pushed hard and stood by Phil Collins. Phil never forgot that.

Phil's solo career took off at an elite level, and he reached a status where he could do anything he wanted. He used that leverage to regroup Genesis as a payback to Rutherford and Banks for their loyalty when no one else would give him the time of day.
 
scorchy said:
Uruk-Hai said:
Leroy Hoard said:
I love Suburbia just for the best use ever of barking dogs.
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The "Jingle Bells" dogs have to be right up there, too.
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Rankings of barking dogs songs:

1. Been Caught Stealing
2. Suburbia
3. Forgot About Dre

[infinite gap]

4. Jingles Bells Dogs
Click to expand...
Damn, I forgot about Been Caught Stealing, That might be my #1 also.

Hey Bulldog is ineligible due to it being non-canine Beatles doing the barking.
 
scorchy said:
#45

Invisible Touch - Genesis

When I was listening to AT40 in the summer of '86 and Casey Kasem mentioned that Invisible Touch was Genesis' 13th album, I was shocked. I guess I had heard a song or two in passing (Abacab, That's All) and Phil Collins' solo stuff of course, but how had they just become so popular this far into a career? GIven there was no internet, I wasn't reading Rolling Stone yet, and my parents would have been of no help, I never thought much more about it. It wasn't until college that I learned Peter Gabriel had been in Genesis - whoa. And then I listened to earlier stuff and hated it.

Invisible Touch the album was massive, spawning 5 top 10 singles, with the title track being their first and only #1.

Big Me - Foo Fighters

I was really happy for Dave Grohl when Foo Fighters' self-titled debut dropped in the summer of '95 to good reviews and lots of airplay - still wouldn't have believed it if you told me they would go on to become the biggest band in the US (and maybe the world) over the next 25 years. Big Me was the fourth and final single from the record.
Click to expand...
High school me was big into Gabriel-era and early-Phil-era Genesis, and Invisible Touch (the song) was not really what I was looking for from them. The album was the first whose hits sounded interchangeable with Phil's solo work -- though some of the non-singles recalled the older Genesis styles. One of my first concerts was the Philly show of their tour for this album, at the Vet in May 1987 with Paul Young opening.

I was ecstatic when the first Foo album came out. It was such a pleasant surprise, realizing that Nirvana had held a second brilliant songwriter all this time.
 
rockaction said:
scorchy said:
Rankings of barking dogs songs:

1. Been Caught Stealing
2. Suburbia
3. Forgot About Dre

[infinite gap]

4. Jingles Bells Dogs
Click to expand...

Okay, so I cheated and looked up dog barking songs on Google.

"Sure Shot" by the Beastie Boys is right up there, and might even approach 94/95/96 territory.
Click to expand...
“Slow Dog” by Belly, but just at the end, almost certainly non canine since it’s in time and tune

Jingle bell dogs is #1 and the most impactful of any of these tracks. A synth revolution!
 
plinko said:
rockaction said:
scorchy said:
Rankings of barking dogs songs:

1. Been Caught Stealing
2. Suburbia
3. Forgot About Dre

[infinite gap]

4. Jingles Bells Dogs
Click to expand...

Okay, so I cheated and looked up dog barking songs on Google.

"Sure Shot" by the Beastie Boys is right up there, and might even approach 94/95/96 territory.
Click to expand...
“Slow Dog” by Belly, but just at the end, almost certainly non canine since it’s in time and tune

Jingle bell dogs is #1 and the most impactful of any of these tracks. A synth revolution!
Click to expand...
Dogs by Pink Floyd down?
 
scorchy said:
Stuck With You - Huey Lewis & the News

Were Huey Lewis & The News the Hootie and the Blowfish of the mid-80s? Such a strange phenomenon. Their 1986 album Fore! went to #1, sold 3 million copies, and spawned five top-10 singles. Stuck with You was first, followed by the awful Hip To Be Square. Jacob’s Ladder was my favorite of the bunch but wasn’t released until the following January.
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Was there a bigger band in the world in the latter half of 1983 than Huey Lewis & The News? They owned the sweet spot between "Adult Contemporary" and "Arena Rock" and arguably served as a gateway drug for an untold number of kids whose parents wouldn't let them listen to Ozzy or Motley Crue (or Duran Duran) but gave their full approval to the slick, accessible, nonthreatening music of Sports.

They could have stuck to the same script for their 4th album, but they decided to go Full MOR instead -- gaining millions of housewife fans in the process, but losing their fickle grasp on the younger demographic. Oh well, it was probably the smart play anyway.
 
#44

Hounds of Love - Kate Bush

Kate Bush was one of the patron saints of 80s/90s goth girls (with Siouxsie Sioux being the other). The Stranger Things-induced rediscovery of her only US top 40 hit Running Up That Hill (#30 in late ‘85) really came from nowhere. Hounds of Love was the third single from that same album, reaching the top 20 in the UK in spring 1986. Confession: I like it better than the big hit.


Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band

I must have been a little too old for Dave Matthews mania. My last summer working at the beach, it seemed that every other week some 19-year old was asking me to pick up a shift so he could go see Dave. I didn’t get it, but then again, I still fly all over the country to see The Hold Steady, so I can’t really talk either. Not sure if saying Crash Into Me is my favorite DMB song would induce eyerolls from the faithful or not.
 
scorchy said:
I wish we had video of the dude doing a scream-o version of Baha Men that one night at Ottobar's Punk Rock Karaoke. He was really pissed someone let the dogs out.
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My friend was getting married around the time of "Who Let The Dogs Out?" I have a funny story, but you really had to be there and understand the personalities to understand why it's so funny, so I'll spare everybody. But it had to do with the Baha Men and a bowling alley.
 
rockaction said:
scorchy said:
I wish we had video of the dude doing a scream-o version of Baha Men that one night at Ottobar's Punk Rock Karaoke. He was really pissed someone let the dogs out.
Click to expand...

My friend was getting married around the time of "Who Let The Dogs Out?" I have a funny story, but you really had to be there and understand the personalities to understand why it's so funny, so I'll spare everybody. But it had to do with the Baha Men and a bowling alley.
Click to expand...
What else have we got going on? Spill. Or not. No peer pressure or anything.
 
plinko said:
The best I could describe the guy at ottobar, for what I can remember, is Chris Mad Dog Russo does Baha Men
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That's a good description. I was thinking of a gruffer Mike Muir from ST. I'm not sure why I found it so funny, but the performance actually brought tears. Dude totally sold the whole angry dad yelling at the wife/kids about the dogs thing.
 
scorchy said:
Hounds of Love - Kate Bush
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She's so cool.
This version sounds so different than the one I am used to. This is the official? Weird.
scorchy said:
Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band
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I always have a soft spot for DMB, because one festival in Denver that I went to, they agreed to headline, So we were able to catch all the bands we wanted, and then as soon as we heard DMB, we hightailed it to the cars to beat the traffic.

Thanks Dave
 
There are some DMB songs I like. However:

Not long after Crash came out, I heard it in its entirety as it was played over the PA in a record store while I was browsing. I thought it was one of the most boring albums I'd ever heard.

I had a similar experience with Natalie Merchant's Tigerlily.
 
Crash is definitely a popular DMB song. Me personally, I never need to hear it again though. Gimme...Crush, Dancing Nancies, Last Stop, Tripping Billies, Rhyme & Reason, 41, Bartender, Typical Situation, Grace Is Gone, I lost my train of thought.
 
MAC_32 said:
Crash is definitely a popular DMB song. Me personally, I never need to hear it again though. Gimme...Crush, Dancing Nancies, Last Stop, Tripping Billies, Rhyme & Reason, 41, Bartender, Typical Situation, Grace Is Gone, I lost my train of thought.
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The podcast I've been pimping - Bandsplain! - has an episode on DMB. I haven't listened b/c, like I said, I missed out on the whole Dave thing, but it sounds like it could be right in your wheelhouse.
 
#43

Rise - Public Image Ltd

Anger is an energy

For PiL’s 5th album, John Lydon brought in session musicians to create a more polished sound. Nothing seems more anti-Sex Pistols than having Steve Vai play guitar on your record. Rise was the album’s lead single and became one of the band’s highest-charting songs (at least in the UK). Apparently it’s about Nelson Mandela. Had no idea.


King of New Orleans - Better Than Ezra

Friction, Baby, Better Than Ezra’s follow-up to 1993’s platinum selling Deluxe, didn’t move as many copies. To my ears though, it was a much better record - good enough to place two songs in the countdown. First comes lead single King of New Orleans, which spent 17 weeks on the Modern Rock charts peaking at #5.
 
Last edited:
MAC_32 said:
Crash is definitely a popular DMB song. Me personally, I never need to hear it again though. Gimme...Crush, Dancing Nancies, Last Stop, Tripping Billies, Rhyme & Reason, 41, Bartender, Typical Situation, Grace Is Gone, I lost my train of thought.
Click to expand...

:goodposting:

Also, Ants Marching, Jimi Thing, Stay, Spoon, Grey Street, Big Eyed Fish, and Dave's solo album.
 
#42

Yankee Rose - David Lee Roth

Consecutive 1986 featuring Steve Vai. Who’s likely more annoying, Johnny Rotten or Diamond Dave? I don’t even know if Yankee Rose really holds up, but I loved it so much when I was 13 that hearing it now still brings a very Beavis-like “YEEESSS!!!”

CAN YOU HELP ME! MY DOCTOR SAYS I HAVE TO TAKE A LAXATIVE!
Not in my store you don’t!


Thirty-Three - Smashing Pumpkins

The fifth single from Mellon Collie…, released nearly a full year after the album. It was the first release after the death of touring keyboardist Jonathan Melbourne and dismissal of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin.

7-hour Pumpkins podcast fact of the day:

After getting fired by Billy, Jimmy Chamberlin formed a band with Kelley Deal and Sebastian called The Last Hard Men. They actually recorded an album but couldn’t get it released. The only proof of its existence is on youtube. It's not good.
 
scorchy said:
Rise - Public Image Ltd

Anger is an energy

For PiL’s 5th album, John Lydon brought in session musicians to create a more polished sound. Nothing seems more anti-Sex Pistols than having Steve Vai play guitar on your record. Rise was the album’s lead single and became one of the band’s highest-charting songs (at least in the UK). Apparently it’s about Nelson Mandela. Had no idea.
Click to expand...

My thirteen year-old self wanted nothing to do with this song taking up DLR's spot on MTV. It has grown on me over the years. It seemed so stupid back then. I could be white, I could be black. What the hell is this British guy yammering about?
 
scorchy said:
#42

Yankee Rose - David Lee Roth

Consecutive 1986 featuring Steve Vai. Who’s likely more annoying, Johnny Rotten or Diamond Dave? I don’t even know if Yankee Rose really holds up, but I loved it so much when I was 13 that hearing it now still brings a very Beavis-like “YEEESSS!!!”

CAN YOU HELP ME! MY DOCTOR SAYS I HAVE TO TAKE A LAXATIVE!
Not in my store you don’t!


Thirty-Three - Smashing Pumpkins

The fifth single from Mellon Collie…, released nearly a full year after the album. It was the first release after the death of touring keyboardist Jonathan Melbourne and dismissal of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin.

7-hour Pumpkins podcast fact of the day:

After getting fired by Billy, Jimmy Chamberlin formed a band with Kelley Deal and Sebastian called The Last Hard Men. They actually recorded an album but couldn’t get it released. The only proof of its existence is on youtube. It's not good.
Click to expand...
Yankee Rose is basically DLR wankery and Steve Vai's response to it. The Vai parts are what make it worth listening to.

Mellon Collie had a bunch of songs and I don't remember this one much. Non-singles like Porcelina of the Vast Oceans and XYU were probably more up my alley.
 
i loved DLR in that DAVE TV era. The music hasn’t aged super well but Eat Em And Smile is a solid album as is the Spanish version SONRISA SALVAJE

It wouldn’t be hyperbolic to say this song and video changed me a bit. Steve Vai and his shtick, Greg Bissonette and HIS shtick. And Billy Sheehan for good measure. I liked pop a little less and hard rock a lot more after the mid eighties DLR material
 
plinko said:
i loved DLR in that DAVE TV era. The music hasn’t aged super well but Eat Em And Smile is a solid album as is the Spanish version SONRISA SALVAJE

It wouldn’t be hyperbolic to say this song and video changed me a bit. Steve Vai and his shtick, Greg Bissonette and HIS shtick. And Billy Sheehan for good measure. I liked pop a little less and hard rock a lot more after the mid eighties DLR material
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He's one of those guys I understand why people disliked him. I thought he was hilarious, and he took to MTV like a pig to slop.

Never owned one of his albums, but loved when he came on TV.
 
rockaction said:

My thirteen year-old self wanted nothing to do with this song taking up DLR's spot on MTV. It has grown on me over the years. It seemed so stupid back then. I could be white, I could be black. What the hell is this British guy yammering about?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I wasn't much into PiL at the time either, and today, much prefer the first two albums vs any of their MTV-era stuff. But Rise is above average,
 
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