Tag Archives: Decades

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Song of the Day #6,316: ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ – Huey Lewis and the News

Continuing my look at the albums of 1986…

Huey Lewis and the News were the Hootie and the Blowfish of the 80s. Both bands had massive but short-lived success releasing feel-good pop rock driven by a charismatic frontman’s excellent vocals. And both were largely (and wrongly) relegated to joke status after the shine had worn off.

If 1983’s Sports was Huey Lewis’ Cracked Rear View, then 1986’s Fore! was their Fairweather Johnson — a triple-Platinum follow-up that still lived in the shadow of the bigger hit. The difference is that Sports went 7x Platinum — impressive, but not the Diamond-selling juggernaut Hootie could never escape.

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Song of the Day #6,315: ‘Invisible Touch’ – Genesis

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.

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Song of the Day #6,305: ‘All Around the World (Or The Myth of Fingerprints)’ – Paul Simon

Concluding a countdown of my favorite albums of 1986…

#1 – Graceland – Paul Simon

Like The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead, Paul Simon’s Graceland is one of my all-time favorite albums, and it’s pretty damn high on that list.

My love for Simon’s best-selling and most-lauded album is due to its impeccable music content, of course, but it’s also rooted in nostalgia. This is the one album on my 1986 list that I listened to the year it came out. It was a staple of my childhood, an album my family learned and loved together.

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Song of the Day #6,304: ‘The Boy with the Thorn in His Side (Live)’ – The Smiths

Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1986…

#2 – The Queen is Dead – The Smiths

If you’d told me The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead wouldn’t be my #1 album of the year it came out, I would have called you crazy. And yet, that’s where we stand, with one of my all-time favorite albums serving as salutatorian.

I’ve sung this album’s praises so much on the blog that all ten of its tracks have already been featured, requiring me to post a live version today. But I’ll scribble down a few more words of praise.

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Song of the Day #6,303: ‘Poisoned Rose’ – Elvis Costello

Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1986…

#3 – King of America – Elvis Costello

Last week I noted that Blood & Chocolate was one of two great albums Elvis Costello released in 1986. The other, King of America, might be the best thing he’s ever done.

Costello has had a prolific and wide-ranging career, dipping his toe in every conceivable genre and teaming up with a laundry list of unlikely collaborators. But I’ll be boring and say the early to mid-80s remains the high point of his impressive catalog. My three favorite Castello albums — Get Happy!!, Imperial Bedroom, and this one — all came out during that span.

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