OK, the briefest of possible posts tonight but 1986 is here.
A distinctly forgetable music year, genuinely. It was the year of acronym: BAD, REM, ACR – fine albums one and all. Indie stalwarts The Fall were on fine for while the Wedding Present built toward an outstanding debut album. The Style Council rescued Absolute Beginners soundtrack but can’t stop it being a risible film.
It was genuinely was.
There are 80 tracks here but frankly only half-a-dozen albums of note. Thankfully Elvis Costello gave us two of the finest.
My apologies for the brevity but time is precious tonight. Enjoy.
If the playlist doesn’t work for some reason, click here to listen in your browser.
| Title | Artist |
| Ghosts of Cable Street | The Men They Couldn’t Hang |
| Word Up! | Cameo |
| Ain’t Nothin’ Goin’ On But The Rent | Gwen Guthrie |
| C’mon Every Beatbox | Big Audio Dynamite |
| Sheep | The Housemartins |
| Brilliant Mistake | Elvis Costello |
| Strangers When We Meet | The Smithereens |
| Brilliant Mind | Furniture |
| Paradise | New Order |
| Bootsy | A Certain Ratio |
| Kicks | Flamin’ Groovies |
| Dear God | XTC |
| Running Water | Martin Stephenson And The Daintees |
| Let My People Go-Go | The Rainmakers |
| Cuyahoga | R.E.M. |
| TNK (Tomorrow Never Knows) | Phil Manzanera |
| Thru the Flowers | The Primitives |
| Get It On | The Woodentops |
| Help Save the Youth of America | Billy Bragg |
| This Damn Nation | The Godfathers |
| Digging Your Scene | The Blow Monkeys |
| World Where You Live | Crowded House |
| Rat In Mi Kitchen | UB40 |
| All You Gotta Do Is Say | The Prisoners |
| Terry Waite Sez | The Fall |
| Soul Soldier | Throwing Muses |
| Cities In Dust | Siouxsie and the Banshees |
| Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head | Elvis Costello & The Attractions |
| These Days | R.E.M. |
| Long Gone Long | The Rainmakers |
| Broken Promise | New Order |
| Sledgehammer | Peter Gabriel |
| Boat To Bolivia | Martin Stephenson And The Daintees |
| The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul | XTC |
| Behind The Wall Of Sleep | The Smithereens |
| Candyman | Siouxsie and the Banshees |
| West End Girls | Pet Shop Boys |
| I Don’t Know For Sure | Hüsker Dü |
| Rise | Public Image Ltd. |
| Don’t Dream It’s Over | Crowded House |
| The Marriage | Billy Bragg |
| Parted from You | The Men They Couldn’t Hang |
| Sleep Of The Just | Elvis Costello |
| And Then She Smiles | A Certain Ratio |
| Good Ol’ Boy (Gettin’ Tough) | Steve Earle |
| Deceiving Eye | The Prisoners |
| It Can Be Done | the redskins |
| Good Thing | The Woodentops |
| America (She Can’t Say No) | Throwing Muses |
| Levi Stubbs’ Tears | Billy Bragg |
| Tokyo Storm Warning | Elvis Costello & The Attractions |
| Beyond the Pale | Big Audio Dynamite |
| Sweetest Chill | Siouxsie and the Banshees |
| The Meeting Place | XTC |
| We Love The Moon | Royal Family and the Poor |
| Freaky Dancin’ | Happy Mondays |
| The Hunter Gets Captured By the Game | Anna Domino |
| A Gentle Sound – Original Demo | The Railway Children |
| Let It Go | The Bangles |
| Don’t Leave Me Behind | Everything But The Girl |
| Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely | Hüsker Dü |
| Once More | The Wedding Present |
| Into The Groove(y) | Ciccone Youth |
| If She Knew What She Wants | The Bangles |
| Some Candy Talking | The Jesus and Mary Chain |
| Promised Land | The Prisoners |
| Have You Ever Had It Blue | The Style Council |
| Honey Are You Straight Or Are You Blind | Elvis Costello & The Attractions |
| Velocity Girl | Primal Scream |
| This Boy Can Wait | The Wedding Present |
| I Could Be In Heaven | The Flatmates |
| I Was A Teenage Armchair Honved Fan | Half Man Half Biscuit |
| Shirt of Blue | The Men They Couldn’t Hang |
| The Honeythief | Hipsway |
| Guitar Town | Steve Earle |
| Eisenhower Blues | Elvis Costello |
| Higher Love | Steve Winwood |
| Walking The Bluebeat | The Blow Monkeys |
| I’ll Be Your Shelter (Just Like A Shelter) | The Housemartins |
| Dial a Hitman | Big Audio Dynamite |
Dad's Jukebox 