Poll: What are your top 3 albums and singles of 1986?

Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is" was incredibly different at the time among synth and pop songs. He had a sound that was so unique. I loved it so much.

One thing The Bangles don’t get enough credit for is how talented they were with their instruments, they could really play!

This episode should be mandatory in every middle school so kids can learn that musicians once wrote, arranged and performed their own music on actual instruments.

I love the Bangles cover of "Hazy Shade Of Winter". It was a brilliant idea to change the tempo and make it their own. I am a fan of Bonnie Raitt and saw her live with Jackson Browne, Bruce Hornsby and Shaun Colvin. Great concert!! My first son was born in 1985.

Damn, you've got one of the best music channels on KZfaq. Brilliant content and delivery. I love that you quote your viewers comments to illustrate the era of the song. You need your own show on MTV (you know, back when MTV was actually about music??).

Nice to see Cinderella on the list. Seems like they're overlooked a lot. Totally underrated.

The Bangles are one of the coolest things of the 80s. They were a powerpop group inspired by the sixties garage rock, (which became indie pop a decade later), but because of the big hair and the 80s production, not many people realized that. I strongly recommend Different Light and their first record, All Over The Place. Great songwriting and the beatle-esque vocal harmonies are flawless.

I don't think today's children will remember music and television like we 80s kids did. Great times! ❤

Hoffs and the those side eyes and big hair was so perfect. So many good songs and videos from the 80s

I was so sick of hearing every one of these songs when I was 16, but 35 years later, I still remember all the lyrics and am actually enjoying hearing them.

I was a huge Bangles fan when I was a kid. I drove my parents crazy singing along with that song each time it came on the radio. I loved The Bangles follow-up album Everything as well, which had the hits "In Your Room" and "Eternal Flame." I remember being in shock when the group broke up after that album.

Wow, I cant believe Notorious didnt make it higher at the end. I was a huge Duran Duran fan then and still love their music. Their new album 'Future Past' is really good.

Every single song from the 80's triggers memories in me that i haven't thought about in over 30 years. Sadly our kids will never experience that

This was a true jump back in time. I recorded this week’s American Top 40 from the radio in my cassette player. Of course not all the songs, but the ones I liked and I remember this line up of the top 10. I also had a notebook full with the lists I diligently wrote. That was my weekly ritual when I was 14!

I 🎓 graduated hs in 1984! So thankful I'm a GEN X'ER and was alive to see and hear the great Freddie Mercury, Steve Perry and Lou Gramm in their PRIME! Thankfully Steve & Lou are still with us at the making of this video December 15,2021. 1990 and the Grunge movement killed music....Steve Jobs and his new Apple 🍎 iPhone killed the music industry ~ musicians get NOTHING for downloads of their music.Computer tech and auto tune ruined writers and singers.I don't like my bands like KISS using backing tracks in live concert venues.Saying " see you later" to Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen was tough.

My fiancé left when I was 7 months pregnant in November of 1986. BonJovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name” sadly fit at the time. Turned out that was the best thing that could’ve happened to me. My son is now 34 raised by my husband of 28 years. About Bruce Hornsby. I LOVE Bruce!! I remember nursing my son to Mandolin Rain at 3 a.m. the first night I became a mom. That was very special for me.

I can't think of a lot of bad music from this era. What a great time to hear the radio!

I had the honor of seeing Wang Chung on the lost 80s tour 2 years ago. They had great energy when they played!

Yes, I watched Pee Wee's Playhouse on Saturday mornings when I was an older teenager. My grandmother watched it with me sometimes too! She was a pretty hip ol' gal...she loved music videos a lot! Her favorite was Wild Wild West by Escape Club!

I graduated from senior high school after I sat for my GCE A-level examination in November 1986. I spent my weekend each week then, tuning in to Casey Kasem’s Top 40 countdown on a cable radio station. 1986 was a fantastic year for pop/rock radio music and movies. It’s a special year I still have fond memories of. All I did was listening to the radio a lot, and do my homework. It was such a carefree time, well almost (if you don’t count the inexorable problems that puberty brings).

I didn’t realize that Nobody’s Fool came out in ‘86. I didn’t discover them until my senior year of high school in ‘89 or ‘90. That song is one of my favorites to come out of the hair metal era.

I am a true 80’s child born in 1969 so I was a pure teenager in the 80’s. My kids challenged me to a trivia of 80’s music because they grew up with it and thought they knew. It didn’t go well for them. I said you do know when I grew up and I play guitar so I tried to copy everything. They didn’t listen. It was quite sad. Now they know. LMAO!

There is a mashup of "Hip to Be Square" and "Enter Sandman" on KZfaq, worth checking out; the guy's name who posted it is Bill McClintock. Too bad Huey can't hear music these days; he'd think it's hilarious! I also agree that The Bangles are an underappreciated band; they have great harmonies. My favorite is "Eternal Flame"... Susanna's voice is so beautiful on that song.

I graduated high school in the summer of '86. I was a freshman in college this week in '86. Such a great time. Bon Jovi had a concert at our university and some of the footage in the "Dead or Alive" video is of that concert.

Wang Chung did an excellent job scoring the brilliant film To Live & Die In LA . A must see movie & must hear soundtrack.

Love these revisits of rock era years. 86 was a great year for music. I have to say Cinderella is the most underrated "hair band" era's group! Can't wait for next one professor to see how these songs stood the test of time.

Stand by me - what a great song and great memory. My dad had a vinyl collection, when I was about 6 or 7 I was obsessed with the Elvis records and the Drifters Saturday night at the Movies. I credit both with my musical education and my love of music. Ben E King's voice always reminds me of my dad's record collection, he passed away in 1998, so it's great to hear. Actually in tears as I write this. Thanks for the memory. It's why you do what do, I appreciate it.

Bon Jovi " was the Rock band for my Formative years!!!!! And I still go back in my mind every single time I hear these songs 🎵!!!!!!!" Thanks so much for the awesome videos!!!! God bless you all today 🙏 Shalom

I love these Redux episodes -- it is like a time capsule. When you say back in this week in 1986 - it would be my birthday week and just turned 15 and a sophomore in high school. It like you dropped me right in my small town in WV wearing my Guess jeans that I pegged and wearing my flats and teasing my hair. Thank you for the trip down memory lane.

Bon Jovi and Duran Duran were both plastered all over my little sister’s room. At the time, I was just getting into Metallica and the only music we could both agree upon was the Slippery When Wet album.

You're such a great storyteller, thank you! Keep up the good work!

I met my future husband in March of 86. Married two years later and we are still together. It was a great year in music and for us. Thanks for another great video Professor!

A bit of trivia for 'Next Time I Fall': Amy Grant got the call to do the duet and said, "I thought a nuclear bomb had gone off and wiped out all the other women on Earth" but when she arrived at the studio, well, she had a bad head cold. Between takes, she was plied with lots of hot tea to keep her voice going. If you listen closely, Peter is carrying her (which is sweet on his part). Flash forward many months later and Amy, in passing, mentioned to her then-husband, "Whatever happened to that little song I recorded with Peter Cetera?" Gary gave her a crazy look and replied, "It went to number one." The song will always have a special place in my heart--right behind 'Glory of Love'.

Ben E. King had some classics, didn't he?! Professor of Rock, thank you for going back and getting that history behind the stories. And some of these songs I had forgotten, like that Greg Abbott one. I continue to love the content on this channel.

So happy to see Toto's song up there! I swear I'll be over you is just an incredible love song and Steve Lukather on Vocals is so awesome just like when he was on Rosanna! Crazy how time changes things up!

Wow! What a top 10. We was truly blessed in the 80s. Notorious is a personal favourite of mine. I love the bangles. Who didn't have a crush on miss hoffs back then.😍 Wang Chungs "everybody have fun tonight" is a banger. Wasn't the biggest fan of bon Jovi, but I like some of their songs. I was a much bigger fan of def leppard, motley crue, and whitesnake. Great movies from that year. I loved stand by me. American tail was good too. I remember my mum buying that for my sister when it released. And the three amigos. Man, super funny. Absolute classic. Great work professor. 🤟

Professor this Was very enjoyable episode. I definitely agree with you about Susan Hoffman and her eyes in that video I think we and a lot of other people have the same feeling lol. Cinderella is definitely a Underrated band in it’s time and I was very pleased to see them make the top 10 in the updated version.. I hope you do more videos like this one Professor 🎩👓🤘

The first time I heard The Bangles was the song Going Down to Liverpool with Leonard Nimoy in the video. They were cool, a little folksy and beautiful! We would cover I’ll Be Alright Without You in the local bars with three-part harmony. The vocals will either make or break that song. I’m glad 80s metal is starting to make a resurgence!

Bruce Hornsby was writing for Huey Lewis before he did his own stuff. I remember seeing Bruce early 1986 before this album released doing a free live show on a side street/ alleyway in Grand Rapids during our annual festival of the arts. He hit it huge not long thereafter. Fun to have seen him with maybe 100 people watching standing in the closed public street...

22:00. "The Way It Is" has such a powerful melody that I didn't hear and understand the lyrics for 30 years.

I fell in love with Bon Jovi’s music when I heard their song Runaway on a video show out of Detroit called The Beat with Doug Podel as the host. I got to see Bon Jovi live in 89 in Detroit and their open ring act was Skid Row. The Wang Chung song I grew to hate because it got too much air play on Detroit radio which was the closest stations we could get on fm.

40 years ago music was about evoking an emotion or feel. Today it's about evoking an attitude.

Honestly, these year-in-music episodes would make great college courses... Hell I took a philosophy class on The Sopranos and morality. Incredible work Professor 🙌

Wow this episode really spoke to me. Eternal Flame (and Whiter Shade of Pale) were such awesome Bangle songs but when you flashed up Suzanna Hoffs solo album it hurt my heart. LOVED that whole album but it was the time of New Kids on the Block and my friends thought me a dork for still listening to Hoffs music. But what REALLY got to me was Carly Simon's coming around again. My parents divorced at 2 and in 1986 I was in the 5th grade and rented Heartburn with my Mom. That movie that song somehow opened my heart to why people divorce and that what happened wasn't my fault. The final scene of Meryl singing Itsy Bitsy Spider which fades into Coming Around Again was like a catharsis for me. I've never watched the movie again even though for nearly a decade I told people it was my favorite movie because the memory of sadness but forgiveness I felt that day watching it I don't want to ruin with my own failed relationship history. Of course at the time I didn't understand why I was so in love with that song and that movie but I understand now. The rare times I hear the song it crumbles my walls and makes me cry. Thank you for including it as a near miss.

"Coming Around Again" with "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" in Carly Simon's Martha's Vineyard concert is just excellent. This is one of my favorite memorable times. I hear Gregory Abbott's "Shake You Down" all the time because I play my customized 1986-1987 playlist. Meanwhile, I was also increasing my GI Joe and M.A.S.K. toys collecting, confused about the direction of Transformers, and looking forward to getting Lazer Tag for Christmas.

Love your work, but I have one nit to pick. "Stand by Me" really should get an asterisk because it was a re-release. I imagine "Bohemian Rhapsody", by this logic, is probably the #1 song for some week in 1991.

I almost choked on my coffee when you said that part about Susanna Hoffs. So true!! The shimmery bikinis in the video were another magical part for my brother and I back then. Susanna still looked amazing when she inducted the Zombies into the RRHOF. I love these trips down memory lane. Great stuff.

Back then I was big into country music, but seeing how I not digging modern country, I'm going back and rediscovering and sometimes discovering for the first time these great rock songs. Thanks Prof. for pointing me in the right direction!

The Bangles are under-rated.

Fun fact: The Bangles were one of the bands associated with the Paisley Underground in the early/mid 1980s. The band, Opal, was part of that movement, which morphed into Mazzy Star in the 1990s.

Walk Like an Egyptian is such a bizarre yet cool song. The other week I heard it being played in supermarket, of all places, and more recently I discovered an extended version of the song that's around 5 minutes and 51 seconds long. Thinking back to the music video, that one shot of Susanna Hoffs moving her eyes left and right is honestly haunting.

watching these makes me feel fortunate for being a kid in the 80s...it was the perfect meeting point of the past and what was to come...what a decade it was

I find it shocking that Notorious is not on the top 5. How did some of these other songs beat it in overall streams?

The music industry has changed dramatically, mostly to increase profits but not to improve music.

I was a sophomore in college during this week in 1986. I remember that earlier in the fall one of my friends had bought the first CD player that I had ever heard. And one of the first CDs he bought was Bruce Hornsby and The Range. Suffice it to say that since he only had two CDs (the other one being Boston's 3rd Stage), I heard That's the way it is a LOT! But it has a timeless quality that makes me love it to this day! Thanks for bringing the memories back!

i started listening to the music on the radio in 1985, so many of these I remember. There were a few I didn't care for at the time, but all these years later I love them. You said at one point you missed that time, and I certainly do too. If I had a time machine...

Excellent countdown. Towards the end of 1986 the pop charts were still going strong with great songs.

I really miss being young with such great music, movies, cartoons, etc.. The music today is like a soundtrack to a bad movie. I love Billy Idol’s Whiplash Smile album! Very 80s with more of a synth sound.

Hands down the BEST channel on KZfaq! I can’t get enough Professor of Rock!!!

Thanks for including the Bangles. I have been a fan for decades. They had a song back in 88 that helped me navigate out of a relationship that was going nowhere - but I was afraid to walk away from because it was safe. Complicated Girl helped me see that I needed to walk away and take my chances.

Bon Jovi is like the old school version of Nickelback, lol. Everybody wants to hate on them, but they start singing along after a while. Peace and love y'all 🤟

"What happened to music"? Talent no longer became a requirement, as the industry started producing it's own plastic versions. Music became more about the outside rather than the substance. And it shows by how many people ask this question. The frightening thing is why the quest is still being asked and you haven't figured it out for yourselves. It only shows.. the industry was right all along.

My favorite comment was when you said 'That's when I became a man"! I was newly married that year but when Suzanna Hoffs did that eye roll I felt like I had become a man again! She was the reason I loved the Bangles so much. Man...the 80s...sure do miss those glory days!

I was 15 in ‘86. In some weird way, that year was a hugely impressionable one. Also, the Susanna Hoffs comment is right on.

Shake You Down, in my opinion, is one of the sexiest tunes ever. Great vocals, smooth soul... love it!

The year my wife was born. Great year.

Coming Around Again, Emotion In Motion and I’ll Be Over You are so underrated. I never get tired listening to these.

Big duran duran fan, and when Andy Taylor left I was bummed, but his great American Anthem song take it easy reminds me of a duran duran song!!! I toi fell n love with susanna hoffs... think most boys did lol.....keep up great work Adam

"Walk Like an Egyptian"--the song that was the beginning of the end for the Bangles. Debbi Peterson, their second lead singer and drummer, was not allowed to play the drums or sing a verse on it by the producers, being reduced to miming the whistle and playing a tambourine on the video while a drum machine did the drumming. She was reportedly deeply hurt by this as well as by the rest of the band not standing up for her.

Most of these really takes me back as well. "The way it is" for sure, unforgettable stuff. In Europe we also had some excellent singles by the Stranglers, Genesis, The cure, Pet shop boys, etc. The radio was still on fire

I was happy to see Cinderella move that far up into the countdown. As I recall, wasn't their Long Cold Winter album recorded the same time and studios as Bon Jovi's New Jersey? Today I ride a motorcycle. Songs from both albums and others from all genres make up my playlist for long motocycle trips. Especially LCW. Also, in the Army, working at Abrams tank shop, LCW was blasted loud n proud. That was 2009/10. Thx Tom, and everyone else making THAT album.

Even as a little girl, I always thought The Bangles were by far the best girl group from the 80s. Suzanna Hoffs's voice is superior. And we all were obsessed with the video 🤣 And I'll never be able to think of Bruce Hornsby's The Way It Is without thinking of my father. As a black man who grew up in during the Civil Rights Era, my dad really loved this song. The lyrics resonated with him very deeply, and of course since I was a piano student Bruce's playing was something he wanted in my ear as often as possible.

Thanks for all of this golden nostalgia Adam! It really takes me back.

Another great week, filled with great songs that brings back memories of high school.

Starting off with that badass introduction and right into my favorite movie and song at number 10 thanks professor, you made my day.

You get serious props for pointing out one of the sexiest moments in music video history with Susanna 's 3 look moment. The " moment " you became a MAN. LOL🤣👏Thanks for sharing this awesome time in music. Wang Chung. Bon Jovi. Bangles. All had iconic hits! We will never forget. WOW!!!!!!

Same with me as a kid on that Susanna Hoffs moment… never realized that was so universal! Hahahahah

I heard "You Give Love a Bad Name" on the radio in late summer of '86 and as school started I told my friends that Bon Jovi was going to be huge. I was familiar with a few earlier Bon Jovi songs and liked their work, but I thought they knocked it out of the park with this one. I was saddened that the single didn't really take off of the radio. It was too good to be ignored, but it only got average to low air play. Then, "Livin' on a Prayer" was released and it exploded. That seemed to pave the way for "You Give Love a Bad Name" which finally started to get the air play that it deserved and it became a big hit.

Cinderella was a phenomenal live band, saw them several times. Great classic rock sound

"Walk Like an Egyptian" memory: Two of my best friends from HS & I went to a studio near the mall where you could pick your song and record your own video - how fun is that? My mom still has that VHS tape of us somewhere...in our costumes made of bedsheets and "Egyptian" makeup!😆

So many good songs... I still like to play Billy Idols Whiplash Smile (the To be a lover Album) and turn it up, it has such a good drive. Eccept for Peter Cetera, i know all of the songs, what a good time. Fell in love with the Banlges back then. And thanks for mentioning my memory!

Addicted To Love, Sledgehammer, What You Need, True Colors. 1986 was a big year for some tunes! I was Back In The High Life, 4th row, left of center for Steve Winwood and Bruce opened the show. We dressed to the 9's and sat in chairs. For a concert! It was a civilizing and elevating experience. Can't see enough of these shows, very appreciate your hard work bringing this stuff Prof, thanks.

"coming around again" by carly simon was big part of my childhood.. my parents divorced at that time, i was about 6 years old and even as a child i knew what that song was about and identified and connect with it. it's daily listening for me, much love for that song and it's production too.❤❤❤

Love the Redux POR! Fun to hear the old list, then the modern twister. Sure, 2 bazillion Bon Jovi fans got their way but how about Ben E. King... re-charting in the 80s and then coming up 2nd here in 2021.

Just stumbled on this channel and absolutely loved this show. The walk through my childhood was amazing and it absolutely had the feel of Casey Kasem. Subscribed!!

@19:19, used to love dancing this ballad as the last song played partying on weekends in Acuña, Mexico while stationed at Laughlin, AFB, near Del Rio, TX in the late 80s 🙂

I couldn't agree more about Susanna Hoffs eye movement in the video. It did it for me also. To this day, I still think those suttle eye movements still do it for me. BTW thank you for this channel. Best of the internet! 100% Awesome!

"You either love it, or you're lying about it"... Brilliant, never heard that one before.

I graduated H.S. in June, then started college in the autumn of '86 - a great era for music...both the preceding decades...the music of the period...and that which then followed.

Dude an amazing show, so much knowledge you put into the production of the video

Oh wow! I just remembered how much I used to love that Gregory abbot song. I have t heard it in forever. Thanks! Now I’m gonna play it. Yay!!

What a year that was, in life & music 🎵🎶

It's too bad they don't make music like this anymore. 80s music was and still is the best. A lot of the problem is formulaic song writing and autotune making artists who aren't as talented sound so much better than they really are. I have to agree with you about Susanna Hoffs, she was gorgeous then and still is. The Bangles are underrated.

Next Time I Fall was my favorite song at the time, I was a huge Peter Cetera fan already and that birthday an aunt of mine gave me the Amy Grant cassette, Straight Ahead, so I was already familiar with her voice. I loved the song then and I still love the song. My husband will play the song to get my attention once in a while and it always makes me smile (haha)! The harmonies are some of the most beautiful that came out of the 80s. Thank you for sharing this beautiful song.

It's interesting that you have Bon Jovi and Cinderella in the same countdown because I have a kind of funny story involving them. When Bon Jovi released 7800° Fahrenheit, I became a huge Bon Jovi fan and knew they were going to be big. Later on, Cinderella released Night Songs and I became a big Cinderella fan. When David Lee Roth went out on his Eat 'Em And Smile tour, he had Cinderella opening for him. At that time, they had only released Shake Me and most people weren't even paying attention to the fact that they were on stage. When David Lee Roth came on stage, the audience suddenly realized there was a concert going on and started getting into it. It ended up being a great show and I felt bad for Cinderella because people weren't really giving them any respect. Fast forward a couple of years and Bon Jovi was on their Slippery When Wet tour. They had Cinderella as the opening act and I was really excited because I was going to get to see both of them on the same night! The place was packed and Cinderella had gotten much more popular by then and everyone was glued to the stage while they played. After their set was over, half of the crowd left so it became obvious to me that the crowd was mostly there to see Cinderella, which I thought was an interesting switch from the first time I saw them!

Adam! I can relate to so many things you’ve said over the years, but never have I agreed with you more than when you reminded me about Susanna Hoffs’ eyes in the Egyptian video. My 17-year-old self and my current self are with you 100%. Thx for that memory.

I also roller skated to some of these songs. I used to love to spin and jump in the middle of the rink while the couples were slowly skating around (wishing I would not disturb anyone.)

Walk like an Egyptian was the 1st music video I ever saw. I was 6 years old and it blew my little mind. It was a Saturday morning. I remember my babysitter asking my sister and I if we were allowed to watch MTV. We didn't know what MTV was so we said yes. I asked my mom later that day and her response was. Why not it's just music. My life changed from that day on...

We may differ on musical tastes---Peter Cetera, Toto, Carly Simon, Gregg Abbott----YUUCK!!! Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, Journey, The Bangles, Huey Lewis, Bruce Hornsby, Ben E. king---GREAT MUSIC!!!--This music still holds up today-I miss what music once was!