The Top 100 Songs of 1986*: #60-51

In 1986, the U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger blew up 73 seconds after take-off, killing all seven crew members.  Tens of thousands of school children watched live as teacher Christa McAuliffe was the first civilian selected to be on a NASA flight.  It was later determined that two O-rings failed due to cold temperatures the day of the launch.


Also that year, Great Britain and France announced plans to build the Channel Tunnel, a 31.4-mile rail tunnel connecting Folkestone in the United Kingdom with Coquelles in northern France.  Top Gun, Crocodile Dundee and Platoon were among the top movies of the year, the Chicago Bears won Super Bowl XX while Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova won the men's and women's titles at Wimbledon.


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

#60:

True Blue
Madonna

The song at #60 hit #1 in the U.K., Canada and Ireland and the 10th of 17 consecutive Top 10 hits for Madonna.  Madonna took the title from a favorite expression of then-husband Sean Penn.

#59:

Burning Heart

Survivor

After "Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor was such an iconic hit in the movie Rocky II, actor Sylvester Stallone, who wrote, acted in and directed the Rocky series, once again tabbed Survivor to record a song for Rocky III.

#58:

If You Leave

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

This group, which had been recording since 1979, enjoyed their first worldwide hit in 1986 with a song written for the movie Pretty in Pink starring Molly Ringwald.

#57:

A Matter Of Trust

Billy Joel

This #10 hit of 1986 has picked up steam with huge album sales for Billy Joel in the 30 years since.

#56:

Your Wildest Dreams

Moody Blues

This comeback hit became the biggest song for the Moody Blues since their classic "Nights In White Satin" in 1972.  The group received a Billboard Award for Video of the Year.

#55:

Nikita 

Elton John

At #55, a song about a Soviet border guard whom the protagonist was in love with but never got to meet.  It was already Elton John's 43rd career hit.

#54:

Typical Male

Tina Turner

This artist, who had made a tremendous comeback in 1984, continued to enjoy success with this #2 song of three weeks.

#53:

Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone

Glass Tiger

Here's another #2 song that was helped greatly by the backing vocals of fellow Canadian Bryan Adams.  Glass Tiger was nominated for Best New Artist of the Year at the Grammy Awards.

#52:

Friends Andamp; Lovers

Carl Anderson & Gloria Loring

This song became popular when it aired on Days of Our Lives, a U.S. soap opera which both Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson appeared on.

#51:

I Can't Wait

Nu Shooz

This group from Portland, Oregon originally released this song in Portland in April of 1985.  It became a big local hit but Nu Shooz was turned down by every major label.  A copy of the song was remixed by Peter Slaghuis in the Netherlands and the remix came back to the U.S. on Dutch label Injection Records.  This version attracted the attention of Atlantic Records, which signed the group to a recording contract in January of 1986 and released the single.