Continuing my look at the albums of 1986…
I pulled together my top ten albums of 1986 pretty quickly, and while I stand behind it (especially the top six), I might make a couple of adjustments with the hindsight two weeks has provided.
One change I would definitely make is to include Genesis’ Invisible Touch in the lineup. It was on my long list, but when the time came to cut down to six it inexplicably missed the cut.
The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ still claimed the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 the week of October 19, 1965. Just behind it was ‘Treat Her Right,’ the debut single by Roy Head and the Traits.
Written by Head and bassist Gene Kurtz, this two-minute blast of blue-eyed soul was an instant hit, missing out on #1 only because it was up against The Beatles’ classic. ‘Treat Her Right’ went on to be covered by a laundry list of performers, including Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Otis Redding, Jimmy Page, and Mae West.
Throwing back to the week of October 18, 1955, we find the usual batch of repeats in the top four (including The Four Aces and The Four Lads in the #1 and #2 spots, respectively). And at #5 is one of the strangest hits I’ve covered yet.
‘The Shifting Whispering Sands’ is a Western song that combines spoken-word poetry and choral singing. Over the years it has been recorded by many artists, including Johnny Cash and Lorne Greene, but the most popular was this version by Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra.
Concluding my ranked list of the songs on Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl…
#1. ‘Ruin the Friendship’
There’s a school of thought that Taylor Swift has never been better than she was on 2008’s Fearless, an album released when she was 18 years old. And perhaps her best song is that album’s ‘Fifteen,’ written when she was just a couple of years older than its subjects.
I don’t necessarily subscribe to that theory — the woman has released a mountain of excellent material over the last 17 years — but I do viscerally respond to the authenticity and emotion Swift pours into her songs about high school.
Continuing my ranked list of the songs on Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl…
#3. ‘The Fate of Ophelia’
Taylor Swift has a history of picking bad lead singles (look no further than the selection of ‘Me!’ to introduce the otherwise phenomenal Lover). This time out she nailed it, dropping one of the catchiest songs in her whole discography.
‘The Fate of Ophelia’ kicks off the album with a burst of adrenaline, boasting a multi-part chorus that digs its hooks in deeper the longer it goes. It has a trademark Swift bridge, too, that downshifts for a spell before shooting back out of the gate. This song deserves all the records it’s breaking, and it might just get some curious listeners to read Hamlet.
Meet Me In Montauk 