Yes it's far better than their No.1 single and is their signature tune really

 

 

I disagree. I prefer TSASOTV which is also 10/10, obviously.

I love The Sun Always Shines On TV too, both are indeed 10/10 tracks.

1986 is utter tripe. So much MOR eugh....we're talking 1st place getting a 6.5

 

Yip the good and creative 80s years ended with 84/85 - I do like some of the cheese in 1986-90 but other than house there wasn’t much that changed.

1986 is utter tripe.

 

 

Best thing about 1986 was Madonna's best-selling studio album, True Blue.

Dancing in the Street is awful. Good call.

 

 

The original is a million times better.

Glad you like Into The Groove, it's definitely one of Madonna's strongest singles and it perfectly encapsulates the free dance floor type of vibe so I can imagine it having been played all over the place.

 

My other 80s favourites from her are Borderline, Papa Don't Preach, Open Your Heart, La Isla Bonita and Like a Prayer. I also really like 'Til Death Do Us Part which is an album track but it sounds pretty dated now, although it does still have an appeal.

 

 

Into The Groove is my second favourite Madonna song after Like A Virgin. It was hurriedly added to the LAV album but isn't on the re-mastered re-issue.

 

Til Death Us Do Part is great. I love Oh Father too and Dear Jessie is great and like a cute little nursery rhyme.

“Take On Me” is pop perfection, never fails to light up a dancefloor at weddings, and “The Sun Always Shines On TV” is excellent too. Let's forget that the boyband named after a road version ever existed (and outcharted the original).

 

I'll shoehorn in my annecdote about thinking The Sun Always Shines On TV was about the sun shining through the window onto the TV and making it impossible to see when you get a low sun angle. :lol:

:lol:

for me it would have been #1 Madonna- Into the Groove #2 Aha- Take on Me

Into the Groove is probably my #1 song of the 80s, an 11/10 of a song, I can even play it on ukulele :D

regarding A-ha I much prefer Take on Me to The Sun Always Shine... the latter is not one of my fav singles from them... I actually prefer Hunting High And Low from the early singles, and in general I prefer their slower ballads... my fav A-ha songs were a couple singles in the mid 00s, Forever Not Yours and Lifelines, which flopped and did nothing in the UK... I also liked their cover of Crying in the Rain... great band overall

Lifelines is amazing.

Major Earth, Minor Sky is a pretty good album as well from their 00s period. I'd say it's up there with their very best in terms of a complete package of work.

I really must include Lifelines in my review of my Songs of the 00s list. Things have changed in the decade since I last compiled it

Edited November 2, 20204 yr by Colm

1986

 

10th place - Boris Gardiner 'I Want To Wake Up With You

 

4.0

 

 

 

My thoughts on reggae are well known and this is no different. Dreary and limp. I'm totally baffled as to how this was the 3rd best selling single of the year. The mid-80s seemed to be a period of unremarkable songs outselling anything interesting at all.

 

The two that outsold it do not cover themselves in glory either. Not a good year for number 1s.

Edited November 10, 20204 yr by Colm

I have a soft spot for the biggest selling single of the year but I'd agree the #1s in general weren't great. A-ha, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna (Papa) and Falco are my favourites.

1986

9th place - Nick Berry - Every Loser Wins

 

4.1

 

 

 

Not really any more interesting, perhaps just not as annoying is this damp squib which was promoted in an East Enders story-line. For some reason the single entered at number 64 but jumped to number 4 the following week. Maybe there was a distribution problem or the public didn't know it was available to buy during the first week. Does anyone remember why that unprecedented climb happened?

 

Second best seller of the year.

Edited November 10, 20204 yr by Colm

A-ha, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna (Papa) and Falco are my favourites.

 

 

They really do outshine everything else.

Oh god Nick Berry, absolutely abysmal.

 

Surprised that you gave it a 4.1, I'd struggle to give it 1.

Yeh Boris Gardiner likely some so well as it appealed to a larger demographic - I’d call it simply pop rather than raggae, seems like a late 70s no1 by a faceless country singer than something from 1986!

 

 

1986

8th place - The Communards - Don't Leave Me This Way

 

4.8

 

 

 

I'd never really formed an opinion on this - I just assumed I'd like it if I gave it more attention. During this re-listening I did just that. For a few days this really was in 10th place. The chorus is ear ache. The verses are fine and Jimmy is great, naturally.

 

He got around a lot, back in the mid 80s and must have had a huge following for this to come out on top in 1986. There was a lot of moving around of synth pop band members.

There are better version of this song available. The Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes version is preferable. Even the Thelma Houston version is better.

 

I'm sure that some of you will be horrified at what I have placed higher in this top 10.

Edited November 10, 20204 yr by Colm