Billboard 1986: The Rankdown (Winner Revealed)

[Unhinged]

Alright, done for the day...here is a list of the Top 20 (of course not in order)...

Bananarama - Venus
Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name
Eddie Money - Take Me Home Tonight
Human League - Human
INXS - What You Need
Janet Jackson - Nasty
Janet Jackson - What Have You Done For Me Lately
Janet Jackson - When I Think Of You
Level 42 - Something About You
Madonna - Live To Tell

Madonna - Papa Don't Preach
Miami Sound Machine - Conga
Nu Shooz - I Can't Wait
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - If You Leave
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
Prince and The Revolution - Kiss
Simple Minds - Alive And Kicking
Steve Winwood - Higher Love
Whitney Houston - How Will I Know

[Deleted]

OMG rowellfarm490 has the same top 2 as me if I did the list. Your Love and Broken Wings would have been my top 2.

[filthy]

1, 2, 10, 11, 14
21, 25, 27, 29, 33, 39
45, 49, 51, 52, 64
77, 84

96, 97


oof

[singingrulebritannia]

1 2 3 4 6 7 8
11 15 16 17 19
22 24 28 30
42 46 48




100



Well at least "VEESEEBLE TOUCH-EY", "Monday Sunday fun-day run-day" and "real-life mannequins in the video" are gone

[maine]

How did y'all let "Your Love" go out before the top 20??? That would have been my #1.

[Mirago]

I can't believe Addicted to Love is out and Conga is still in!

[newpower]

Conga Top 20??

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

Yay! I'm very happy that Conga made it into the top 20!

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

Aside from losing my three top 20s, I think today's ranking was pretty good so far.

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

Jul 18, 2018 10:54:26 GMT -5 Unhinged said:

Alright, done for the day...here is a list of the Top 20 (of course not in order)...

Bananarama - Venus
Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name
Eddie Money - Take Me Home Tonight
Human League - Human
INXS - What You Need
Janet Jackson - Nasty
Janet Jackson - What Have You Done For Me Lately
Janet Jackson - When I Think Of You
Level 42 - Something About You
Madonna - Live To Tell

Madonna - Papa Don't Preach
Miami Sound Machine - Conga
Nu Shooz - I Can't Wait
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - If You Leave
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
Prince and The Revolution - Kiss
Simple Minds - Alive And Kicking
Steve Winwood - Higher Love
Whitney Houston - How Will I Know

I'm actually pretty satisfied with this top 20.

[Red]

So, this set kind of stunk (multiple top ten losses, personal favorites fall)...but Berlin is gone! Holy cow. I did not expect that song to go out before the top twenty, let alone the top ten. We did it, Sam.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 10
13 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 24
28 | 34 | 41 | 44 | 46
51 | 54 | 56

Nothing below my bottom 40, which is good. It means that I like everything left to some degree. I underranked my 54, admittedly. Not too surprised that my top four survived unscathed into the top 20. Was worried about my #1 a bit, but not so much the other three.

[Butterflies & Hurricanes]

Jul 17, 2018 19:42:40 GMT -5 House Lannister said:

40. Walk This Way (3, 39)---Certainly a one of a kind song that manages to blend rock and rap. Too bad, it's not a seamless transition and it feels like two different songs a time. Fun, though.

...actually...they weren't first to do the rock/rap hybrid...these (John Lydon of Sex Pistols & Afrika Bambaataa) were the TRUE pioneers in genre blending when they released this in 1985.  Probably where Run DMC/Aerosmith got the idea:

[Butterflies & Hurricanes]

Unhinged your ignorance saddens me...Sade EASILY deserved a spot in the Top 20

Sweetest Taboo >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Take Me Home Tonight >>> all 3 Janet songs >>> How Will I Know

[Unhinged]

Jul 18, 2018 15:08:21 GMT -5 Butterflies & Hurricanes said:

Unhinged your ignorance saddens me...Sade EASILY deserved a spot in the Top 20

Sweetest Taboo >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Take Me Home Tonight >>> all 3 Janet songs >>> How Will I Know

Ha, ignorance is a tad rough, no? I don’t get the hype and never will...deal.

[Unhinged]

Final reveal tomorrow, gonna blast through 20-1! Be prepared! :)

[Libra]

Clearly I underestimate just how "Secret Lovers" has not aged well; I thought it would've been even just a bit higher than damn-near-basement #97.

LOL @ "Love Touch" being Bottom 10.

Co-sign with Peter Cetera warranting at least better than Bottom 10. I too prefer "The Next Time I Fall" tho. I don't expect that to do well in 1987, but I won't complain too much because in all honesty it feels like it belongs here in '86 instead of '87.

Would liked to have seen "A Love Bizarre" higher, but c'est la vie.

Awww @ Glass Tiger missing Top 50 (even if not by much).

"Kyrie" @ #43 is a bit surprising too, thought that'd be higher.

"The Greatest Love of All" only #41?!

Disappointed that "True Colors" couldn't even go Top 20, though I don't think #27 is low enough to warrant heads rolling.

Jul 16, 2018 7:47:37 GMT -5 Unhinged said:

#38

Rock Me Amadeus

Falco

Glove Slap  - 100 
Az Paynter  - 100 

(Yeah, I read the '85 Rankdown too.)

That said, the original German version >>> the American Edit.


Probably the biggest dark horse remaining has to be Level 42.

Lastly, I get that 1986 had a lot of ballads to wade through, but... *looks at the sheer number of uptempos/upbeat songs remaining* y'all are BASIC.

I don't really have a favorite among the ones left, I can live with just about any of the rest winning. The only one I want to see leave sooner rather than later is (fittingly) "If You Leave".

[newpower]

The Shep Pettibone remix of Level 42 Something About You is one of the greatest 80s remixes.

[craziaskowboi]

3
11, 15, 16, 19
26, 29
31, 33, 37, 38, 40
43, 47


71, 72, 77
81, 83, 85

[craziaskowboi]

Jul 18, 2018 9:42:31 GMT -5 Glove Slap said:

I go back and forth on TC; Sometimes I think it's really pretty and delicate, and other times it leans too much towards baby talk. Change Of Heart is my favorite single from this album.

WU is amazing.

"Change Of Heart" is Cyndi Lauper's most underrated song. I have it ranked pretty high on my 1987 list. And your assessment of "True Colors" is pretty much the same way I feel. Sometimes I think it's heartfelt, but sometimes I think it's schmaltzy. Overall, though, I like it.

[House Lannister]

Wait, Level 42 made top 20?!? Better question: Addicted to Love is out?!?

30. Invisible Touch (2.5, 55)---It was alright, but I think Genesis had better songs as you'll see in the next few years.

29. Manic Monday (4, 16)---I think we've all been there with life is too frantic, let's find a day where we can calm down and relax, right? Perfectly relateable. The song does a good job at showing both the stresses of the week and the calm of the weekend.

28. Word Up! (3, 51)---This has just the right amount of funk. I just wish the lyrics had more meat to them.

27. True Colors (2, 68)---Like most people, I find this feelings for this song depend on the mood. I found it at its worst in the baseball/cancer animated film Henry and Me which draws every note out for an eternity.

26. Your Love (3.5, 34)---I think Bounce is going to immortalize this song if they get their way. But it's a solid enough rocker which ended up in a good enough spot here and probably deserves more than its fate.

25. Addicted to Love (5, 2)---The woman in the picture says it all. I'm as shocked as anyone why this fell here and didn't compete in the final 5 at least. Palmer manages to convey addiction in such a way as you want to crave more and it's pop perfection with the guitars, drums, and synths. Wow, just wow!

24. Broken Wings (3, 53)---For the life of me, I can't tell a huge difference between these songs. It's kind of earnest and syrupy, but it's uplifting enough that it's passable pop.

23. Danger Zone (3, 49)---I remember using this music as the theme song for one of my wrestlers in the IWA. It certainly sounds and feels of the 1980s, but the lyrics could have been tightened.

22. Sweetest Taboo (3, 47)---I did say that this rankdown allowed me to find some songs improving and others not so much. Hate to break it to some of these fans, but this was one that fared worse than I was expected. Sade has a nice enough voice, but it's a bit thin. It wasn't what I was remembering.

21. Take My Breath Away (4, 19)---Speaking of songs that improved their reputation...this was one of them. I thought it was pleasant enough back in the day, but the synths did give a nice air of drama and Berlin's singing took care of the rest.

Remaining Songs:
1, 3, 5-8, 10, 12-15, 18, 23, 25, 30, 33, 38, 41, 57

I guess I'm doing a lot better than the 2002 Alternative Rankdown.

Round, I wasn't aware of World Destruction. I'll give it a fair go and tell you what I think.

[Juanca]

37. Life in a Northern Town (75): I heard this one for the first time in the early 00s, right around the time a techno version got popular. I do like the dreamy chorus, but the verses felt underwhelming.

36. These Dreams (62): A personal top 5 that was Heart's first big hit in my chart. I liked it much more than Never back then, especially because the music and vocals are all quite melodic, smooth, dreamy... but years later I started to appreciate Never more...

35. Silent Running (52): A personal top 5. I went back and forth between this and AllI Need is A Miracle (37), as songs in this range were quite close in my ranking. At some point I got myself singing Shattered Dreams over the verses of this one, though, which didn't help with my final ranking of this song. AINIAM has had greater longevity though... I have to confess that I haven't paid attention to the lyrics of either song, though, so I'm sure I'm missing a key ingredient here.

34. Talk to Me (49): Another personal top 5 and one of my favorite Stevie's songs. The background vocals in the last verse is A+

33. Never (51): Yup, I really like the buildup in the chorus and the overall rocker vibe of this one. Vocal harmonies are great, too.

32. Tonight She Comes (17): OH, NO!!! One of my favorite Cars songs for sure, and a song that I still use, inclined for long drives and just getting a dose of energy :) A big hit back home and a personal chart-topper

31. Mad About You (31): P-P-P-P-PERFECT RANKING!!! A national and personal top 5. It has a timeless quality to it. The guitar in the bridge gives an extra edge as well.

[Juanca]

WTF with this reveal???!!!! Geesh!

30. Invisible Touch (24): A big hit back home and a personal chart-topper. Loved the energy, melody, music of this one. (They'd have 2 other personal chart-toppers later on.)

29. Manic Monday (30): Another hit and a personal runner-up. Great mainstream debut that still sounds good. The harmonies and background vocals are lovely, and the overall mood of the song fits the lyrics perfectly. I saw them live for the first time last year, and they did a great job with this one!

28. Word Up! (96): Unhinged, you have an error in my ranking... I ranked this at 96 not 9. Oops! Yeah, don't care about this one. The music is ok, the voice is hideous, the song is meh IMO.

27. True Colors (3): This was her 7th topper in my personal chart, and a big hit back home as well. The more I've heard other people covering it, the more I appreciate the original version (although Michelle Chamuel did a pretty good job). She goes from tender to sad to desperate. I connect with her, and the simple melody highlights voice and lyrics in a perfect manner for me. I know Cyndi's voice is not for everyone, but the song itself had enough qualities for a top 20 ranking

26. Your Love (6): Seriously?! This was a 2-week personal chart-topper and one of the classic rocker songs back home. I've always considered this a tight song that doesn't waste any second. It's full energy, great vocals, music, energy... Disappointed, guys...

25. Addicted to Love (46): This is a good song, but I liked I Didn't a bit more. Not mad at its #25 ranking, though, as I do like it quite a bit.

24. Broken Wings (4): LOVE this one as well. It brings back lots of memories of long drives, sunsets, etc. The bridge where the music turns more complex is great. Overall, music, voice and lyrics are a great combo for me, and a good representation of this type of epic pop-rock of the 1980s. A big hit back home and personal chart-topper :(

23. Danger Zone (40): I love the intro, but I think that's the highlight --and then the rest of the song doesn't live up to the initial expectations. It did reach my personal top 5 but it only managed to stay in my personal top 30 for 7 weeks. I've appreciated it more with time (including how Kenny sounds), but yeah overall it's just a bit too simple to get a higher ranking from me.

22. Sweetest Taboo (50): I love the music and Sade's voice, but the song overall is not as strong as Smooth Operator.

21. Take My Breath Away (13): A country top 5 and personal chart-topper that has remained as strong as back in the day. The music and vocal performance are A+ IMO.


So I have left:
1, 2, 5, 7, 8 (geez! only half of my top 10!)
11, 12, 18, 19
22, 23, 25, 27, 33, 36, 39 (all good here, as I do like all these a lot)
48, 57 (ok, too, as I like these and I may have under-ranked them a bit)
67, 73 (WTF are these ones doing in the top 20? >:( Lol)

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

#30. Invisible Touch - Genesis
Classic VH1 music video. This is the more upbeat Genesis that I liked.

#29. Manic Monday - The Bangles
The Bangles were hot. In more ways then the word describes. Susana Hoffs had those mesmerizing eyes. This is a song that I ended up liking a lot more as the years proressed.

#28. Word Up! - Cameo
This song was cool. The lead singer had some really interesting tones to his vocals. The one I really loved was "Candy".

#27. True Colors - Cyndi Lauper
A beautiful Pop ballad with a perfect melancholy melody.

#26. Your Love - The Outfield
I honestly didn't think you guys would go for this one? catchy as fuck and still very popular over here.

#25. Addicted To Love - Robert Palmer
Wow! I'm surprised this didn't make the top 15. It's his best song ever and his best music video ever too.

#24. Broken Wings - Mr. Mister
This is one of the coooooolest Pop songs ever. I always got a perfect image of driving down the coast while this song was on. The song Genesis should have written, but never could. Should have been in everybody's Top 10.

#23. Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins
This one is alright. I never really got into it, the way I did "I'm Free" , "I'm Alright"

#22. The Sweetest Taboo - Sade
This one is decent. "Smooth Operator" is the one I prefer. Funny thing is; back then I was way more into the male vocals, as opposed to now, where I prefer Female vocals. Even in Metal. 

#21. Take My Breath Away - Berlin
I've grown to appreciate this New Wave ballad more, through the years, but when it came to Berlin...you guessed it? "Sex..I'm A" is untouchable.

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

Jul 18, 2018 10:16:43 GMT -5 peacebone said:

What the f**k is my #100 still doing here while a bunch of excellent songs continue to fall??

Like, I'm not that surprised that it beat my #1 (a beautiful, ethereal song, but not the most accessible song here either) and my #9, but that's about as far as I thought it would go over my top 10s, especially knowing that it had another #100.

("Venus" can also go, no idea why that's still in here.)

because its an awesome pop jam with Hi-Energy dance elements and perfect female triple threat vocals works..

[Unhinged]

#20

I Can't Wait

Nu Shooz

Total Points: 1553

Billboard Hot 100: 3⁽¹⁾

Billboard Top 100 of 1986: 26

From: Poolside

First peaking at No. 1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart in late March of 1986, this song soon made its way onto the Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at No. 3.

Sambalada - 87 
singingrulebritannia - 15 
Butterflies & Hurricanes - 16 
filthy - 84 
rgreen0625  - 58 
newpower - 13   
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾  - 13  
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 16 

Tea-why - 27 
craziaskowboi  - 77 
Doc Indie Party Rock - 42 
mamooshka - 78 
aerodynamite - 5 
rowellfarm490 - 35 
Cody Wants Out...  - 45 
Red - 56 

Mirago - 16 
Glove Slap  - 32 
Ky - 17 
House Lannister  - 57 
Az Paynter  - 34 
Juanca - 27 
peacebone  - 15 
Unhinged - 11 

[Unhinged]

#19

You Give Love A Bad Name

Bon Jovi

Total Points: 1588

Billboard Hot 100: 1⁽¹⁾

Billboard Top 100 of 1986: 30

From: Slippery When Wet

Bon Jovi's first No. 1, this was released July 23, 1986 as the lead single from Slippery When Wet.

 Originally written for Bonnie Tyler with the title "If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)" song-writer Desmond Child was not happy with its success and re-wrote the song with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.

Here we finally lose the last of the No. 100 rankings...

Sambalada - 5 
singingrulebritannia  - 100 
Butterflies & Hurricanes - 41 
filthy - 11 
rgreen0625  - 8 
newpower - 32 
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾  - 43 
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲  - 82   

Tea-why  - 55 
craziaskowboi  - 33 
Doc Indie Party Rock  - 5 
mamooshka - 11 
aerodynamite - 79   
rowellfarm490 - 14 
Cody Wants Out...  - 15 
Red - 41 

Mirago - 25 
Glove Slap  - 10 
Ky - 63 
House Lannister  - 25 
Az Paynter  - 11 
Juanca - 25 
peacebone - 100 
Unhinged - 2 

[Unhinged]

#18

Sledgehammer

Peter Gabriel

Total Points: 1592

Billboard Hot 100: 1⁽¹⁾

Billboard Top 100 of 1986: 23

From: So

Peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week ending July 26, 1986, this song was a massive success and is especially is known for its ground breaking music video which won a record of nine awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards.

Red loses his No. 1 and 5 Top 10's fall with this leaving the rankdown...

Sambalada - 69 
singingrulebritannia - 2 
Butterflies & Hurricanes - 10 
filthy - 49 
rgreen0625  - 11 
newpower - 2 
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾  - 78 
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲  - 46   

Tea-why  - 56 
craziaskowboi  - 29 
Doc Indie Party Rock  - 73 
mamooshka - 31 
aerodynamite - 17 
rowellfarm490 - 45 
Cody Wants Out...  - 91 
Red - 1 

Mirago  - 12 
Glove Slap  - 41 
Ky - 62 
House Lannister  - 3 
Az Paynter  - 21 
Juanca - 48 
peacebone - 30 
Unhinged  - 5 

[Unhinged]

#17

Something About You

Level 42

Total Points: 1623

Billboard Hot 100: 7

Billboard Top 100 of 1986: 37

From: World Machine

Released in late 1985, this peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted within the Top 20 in Canada, New Zealand and the UK.

We see another No. 1 leave, sorry House Lannister and a few more Top 10's tumble...

Sambalada - 99 
singingrulebritannia - 28 
Butterflies & Hurricanes - 4 
filthy - 29 
rgreen0625  - 68 
newpower - 3 
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾  - 45 
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲  - 36  

Tea-why - 26 
craziaskowboi - 3   
Doc Indie Party Rock  - 15 
mamooshka - 42 
aerodynamite - 64 
rowellfarm490 - 25 
Cody Wants Out...  - 5 
Red - 17 

Mirago - 66 
Glove Slap  - 64    
Ky - 41 
House Lannister  - 1 
Az Paynter  - 41 
Juanca - 57 
peacebone - 3 
Unhinged - 18 

[newpower]

Lost my #2 and my #3 back to back. Are we going to have 3 Janet and 2 Madonna songs in the Top 10? A little too much (and I'm a big Janet and Madonna fan).

[filthy]

I really want a certain Janet song out now