It could be argued that 1986 was the year we got closure on the early 80s.
It was the last year we had all of the so called big four groups all have Top 40 hits. After a year away, we saw Culture Club back in the top 10 with "Move Away". Their follow up, "Good Thank You Woman" only managed 31 and that would be the last we'd see of Culture Club in the top 40 until they reunited in the late 90s.
George Michael scored another solo number one with his second single "A Different Corner" and then had a number one with Wham! with their final single "The Edge Of Heaven/Where Did Your Heart Go".
Spandau Ballet failed to reach the top 10 with their comeback single "Fight For Ourselves" but did make the top 10 with their follow up "Through the Barricades" which would be their final top 10 hit.
Duran Duran returned to the charts with the top 10 hit "Notorious" towards the end of the year but this would be the last in their current string of top 10 hits stretching back to 1982.
Once again Madonna was the success story of the year being the only act to score two number ones this year which she did with "Papa Don't Preach" and "True Blue". She also scored two number twos and a number four.
Cliff Richard returned to number one this year with "Living Doll" along with the Young Ones, giving him his eleventh number one and becoming the only act to have a number one in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. He had one further hit this year bringing his total to 86.
David Bowie continued his streak of hits every year since 1972 with two hits this year bringing his total to 41 and remaining third.
Elton John had no top 40 hits this year but remained fourth on 37, Stevie Wonder had one hit this year and remained fifth with 35. Up to sixth was Status Quo who had four hits this year bringing their total to 34.
Returning to the charts after an eleven year gap was Frank Sinatra with "Theme from New York New York". This brought his total to 32 and he joined Elvis and Cliff in having hits in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.
Equalling Frank Sinatra in seventh was Paul McCartney who had two hits this year. Lonnie Donegan was now in ninth with 30 but was now joined by Queen and Rod Stewart.
Lionel Richie was the only Motown act other than Stevie Wonder to have hits this year with "Dancing on the Ceiling" and "Ballerina Girl/Deep River Woman". There was however a reissue of "I Heard It through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye which charted this year.
The Christmas number one came from Jackie Wilson with "Reet Petite" which was originally a hit in 1957. Whilst he has been present in the charts every decade so far, this wouldn’t count as it’s a reissue.
The record Jackie Wilson knocked off number one was "Caravan Of Love" by the Housemartins who had made their chart debut earlier on in the year with "Happy Hour".
We had the first Stock Aitken & Waterman number one the previous year, but we had none this year. This was the year they joined forces with Bananarama to score a top 10 hit with "Venus". They also joined forces with Phil Fearon to have a top 10 hit with "I Can Prove It".
Their biggest hit of the year though was the debut for Mel & Kim with "Showing Out (Get Fresh At The Weekend)" which reached number three. In the lower reaches of the charts they would continue to have hits with Dead Or Alive and the last hits for Princess.
There was another production team putting their mark on the charts this year, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Although not new to the charts, they had previous hits with SOS Band and Change, this was the year it seemed like they truly arrived.
The most notable act to debut from the Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis camp was Janet Jackson. She debuted with "What Have You Done For Me Lately" and followed up with "Nasty" which is said to have got the ball rolling with the New Jack Swing sound. She had a further two singles this year.
The last week of 1985 saw the debut of Alexander O'Neal & Cherelle with "Saturday Love". Alexander O'Neal followed that up this year with "If You Were Here Tonight". We also had the only hit from Force MDs with "Tender Love".
After a couple of years away, the Human League returned to the charts with the Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis produced "Human". This was a move away from the synth pop sound they had previous and was a top 10 here and number one in America. It would however be the last we'd see of the Human League in the 80s.
There was also the return of Ultravox who's music had also become less synth orientated. They only managed to reach 31 with "Same Old Story" and number 30 with "All Fall Down" which would be their final hit.
We also had Howard Jones bidding farewell to the charts this year with "All I Want" which only managed number 35. It was also the last new material in the 80s we'd see from Gary Numan with his final hit "I Can't Stop" doing slightly better at number 27.
It wasn't all doom and gloom on the synth pop front though. The first two number ones of the year were "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys and "The Sun Always Shines On TV" by A-ha with both acts enjoying further top 10 hits this year. There was also the debut of Erasure with the number two hit "Sometimes".
Having been the last act standing from the 2-tone movement started at the end of the 70s, this would be the last we'd see of Madness in the 80s with their final hit being "(Waiting For) The Ghost Train".
From the world of Sophisti-Pop we had the debut of the Blow Monkeys with "Digging Your Scene", Belouis Some with "Imagination", Swing Out Sister with "Breakout" and Curiosity Killed The Cat with "Down To Earth".
With not many acts other than UB40 keeping reggae in the top 40 in recent years, we had a reggae number one with the return to the charts after a 16 year absence for Boris Gardiner with "I Want To Wake Up With You". We also had the only chart hits for Audrey Hall with "One Dance Won't Do" and "Smile". Then there was the debut of Maxi Priest with "Strollin' On".
From the Hard Rock & Heavy Metal scenes we'd have hits for AC/DC, Gary Moore, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden. It was also the year of the Heavy Metal charity single "Stars" by Hear 'n' Aid.
The Damned and Siouxsie & The Banshee would continue to have hits from the Goth scene, but we also saw the debut of The Mission with "Stay With Me". Sisters Of Mercy, the band Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams left to form The Mission, were yet to make their chart debut.
There was a new type of metal making its way into the charts, Glam Metal. This came via the debut of Bon Jovi with "You Give Love A Bad Name" and followed up with "Livin' On A Prayer". There was also a number one coming from Swedish group Europe with their debut hit "The Final Countdown".
Whilst 1985 only gave us one Rap/Hip Hop hit, 1986 was the strongest year for Hip Hop to date. There was the return of Kurtis Blow with "If I Ruled The World". We also had " (Nothin' Serious) Just Buggin'" by Whistle, "Bassline" by Mantronix, "Amityville (The House On The Hill)" by Lovebug Starski and "Bang Zoom (Let's Go Go)" by Real Roxanne with Hitman Howie Tee.
The most significant one from the Rap/Hip Hop scene though was the debut of Run DMC with "Walk This Way".
There was also the novelty rap record "Holiday Rap" by MC Miker G & Deejay Sven which was based on Madonnas "Holiday". Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince also debuted this year with "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble".
The Freestyle scene was kept going by Joyce Sims with "All and All" and Nu Shooz with "I Can't Wait".
The previous year we said goodbye to the Clash, this year we said hello to Big Audio Dynamite, though Mick Jones had already left the Clash in 1983. They had their only two top 40 singles with "E=MC²" and "Medicine Show".
There was a new style of music hitting the charts for the first time, House Music. This came from Farley Jackmaster Funk with "Love Can't Turn Around".
What seemed to have a notable presence in the charts this year was acts who weren’t primarily musicians. Most notable of these was the number one "Every Loser Wins" by Eastenders actor Nick Berry.
Also from Eastenders we had "Anyone Can Fall In Love" by Anita Dobson, based on the theme music. There was also "Something Outa Nothing" by Letita Dean and Paul Medford.
The Grange Hill cast entered the charts this year with their anti-drugs record "Just Say No".
Then there was Page 3 girl Samantha Fox who started here music career with "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)". This wasn’t a one off though, she would continue to have hits the rest of the decade.
From the Levi’s adverts, we had Nick Kamen begin his chart career with the record "Each Time you Break My Heart" which was the first of three top 40 hits for him.
So that was 1986, the year the early 80s comes to an end with a sign of what is to come for the rest of the decade. Or will there be something else we are yet to encounter?
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