1986 Blech?

"But Xmastime", you say in the voice of Craig “Ironhead” Heyward from those soap commercials (RIP), “didn't you ask if 1986 forgot to rock just 12 years ago?"

Sigh. Yes I did, faithful readers, YES I did:

I can only think of a few records from that year that were even noteworthy. Husker Du's Candle Apple Grey is good, but laughable next to the double whammy they gave us in 1985. Soul Asylum's Made to Be Broken was pretty awesome. My personal favorite might be Life's Rich Pageant, by REM. The Ramones put out Animal Boy, which had staggering highs, but mostly was filled with what would become their modus operandi: have a few great songs, then fill the rest of the album with whatever doesn't take more than three minutes to record, and then never play any of the songs live anyway.

1986 was also the culmination of a year spent eschewing the Top 40 radio of my youth, having simultaneously discovered an oldies station out of DC (Extra 104!) and been given the gift of knowing about the whole "Amerindie" thing going on in America, a la Twin/Tone and all the JMU bands I loved, along with bands like The Ramones etc.