Inside the Rock Era: The Top 100 Songs of 1986*: #70-61

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

The Top 100 Songs of 1986*: #70-61

1986 was dubbed The Year of Peace by the United Nations, the same year that the United States celebrated Martin Luther King day for the first time. The Reagan Administration sold secret arms to Iran in exchange for hostages, a scandal that was named the Iran-Contra Affair.

In music, these songs were among the 10 best for the year:

#70:

Who's Johnny

DeBarge

Here's a song from the movie Short Circuit starring Ally Sheedy. El DeBarge led the family act from Detroit, Michigan, called DeBarge, which enjoyed success in the mid-'80s. El recorded this one solo

#69:

Magic

Cars

In our opinion, these next three songs are still underrated, as people are buying and wanting to hear songs ranked ahead of them. This one stalled at #12 in 1986, but has gained strength over the last 30 years.

#68:

What You Need

INXS

This group from Australia was about to show the world what they were capable of with the album Kick in 1987. They hit #5 with this one.

#67:

Everybody Have Fun Tonight

Wang Chung

Peter Wolf of the group the J. Geils Band was one of the co-writers of this song.

#66:

Love Will Conquer All

Lionel Richie

The song at #66 is part of an incredible streak in which Lionel Richie reached the Top 10 with each of his first 13 solo releases.

#65:

Your Love

Outfield

If you're a man and you like this song, it's probably not wise to admit that to any women friends.

#64:

Hip To Be Square

Huey Lewis & the News

At #64, one of the many great acts of the Rock Era to come from San Francisco. They were red-hot in the '80s.

#63:

You Can Call Me Al

Paul Simon

This one-of-a-kind talent is still going strong at 70. This song is part of the classic album Graceland.

#62:

Nothin' At All

Heart

Although this great group had great material in the '70s, their career stalled a bit from 1981-84. They made a big comeback with their self-titled album--here is one of four Top 10's from that LP.