Don’t mind me…I might be a bit loopy this week as I’m waking up ridiculously early for Day Job reasons (I’ve transferred to a new shop and need to be in at 4AM for bookkeeping training purposes Monday through Friday). Which means going to bed early and getting up at 3:15ish, making coffee, getting my stuff together and heading over there. Thankfully the commute is quick drive! That, and I’ll be out just in time to come home for lunch and have the rest of the day to do whatever.
Mind you, I have no idea if I’ll be fully coherent, but I’ll give it the ol’ college try.
In the meantime, I’m thinking about what I should blog about next here on the music blog. Should I do another year overview? Should I do a discography series? Talk more about what I’m currently listening to? We shall see…
All told, those twelve months of 1986 were quite the personal rollercoaster ride. I’d gone from a spotty nerd that constantly felt out of place and stuck in a dull social cycle I couldn’t find my way out of, and become an obsessed music nerd whose eyes had been opened to punk ethos and nonconformity. While I never really embraced the physical attributes of that mindset, I felt I didn’t really have to. The most I did was let my spiky ‘do grow out a bit and start wearing goofy pins on my denim jacket. By December, I’d finally found a social circle where I truly belonged rather than just sort-of fit in. Hell, I even made it official just before Christmas break by asking them if it was okay if I hung out, considering they were all a year above me!
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Minutemen, Ballot Result, released December 1986. This posthumous collection came one year after the death of lead singer D Boon, and tied in with what was originally going to be a multi-disc record called Three Dudes, Six Sides, Half Studio, Half Live, and they’d handed out ballots to fans during shows (and also inside their last album 3-Way Tie (for Last)) to vote on what would be included. Instead the two surviving members Mike Watt and George Hurley compiled live recordings and rarities based on the votes as a final record for the fans. I remember seeing a lot of ads and reviews for this record in the music magazines at the time.
Concrete Blonde, Concrete Blonde, released December 1986. I’d gotten a dubbed copy of this from a friend after hearing the great single “Still in Hollywood” on MTV and seeing multiple positive reviews for it. [There was also the fact that they were REM-adjacent, sharing the IRS Record label with them and Michael Stipe suggesting the band name.] I quickly fell in love with this record for its tight sound and excellent songwriting, along with the vocal prowess of Johnette Napolitano (who reminded me a lot of early Ann Wilson at her most powerful). It got a ton of play over the next few years, and also got repeat play during my DPW days mowing cemeteries. It might not be a critic favorite and those drums do sound dated, but it’s a really great record worth owning.
The Coolies, dig…?, released December 1986. In pure 80s post-punk style, the band’s name is of course rather questionable, but their first album is…well, weird enough to be enjoyable. Not too many bands decide their debut will include nine Simon & Garfunkel covers and one Neil Sedaka cover. Each song takes on a different style, with the single “Scarborough Fair” embracing funk. WMUA used to play that one a lot, and I’d eventually find a cheap vinyl copy at Al Bum’s not that long after.
The Lucy Show, Mania, released December 1986. “A Million Things” used to get a lot of play on 120 Minutes at the time, though their album was also notoriously hard for me to find. They might have come from London but they definitely had that LA power-pop feel going on, making their music fun and enjoyable.
KMFDM, What Do You Know, Deutschland? first edition released December 1986. This German industrial band debuted their first official album (with a different cover than shown above) and would get played on WMUA and WAMH during their industrial shows, which is why I recognized their name from that time. I was still a newbie when it came to that genre but I found myself liking it nonetheless.
The Damned, Anything, released 5 December 1986. This venerated punk band’s last album before their hiatus/breakup at the end of the decade was clearly more polished than their previous records, they’d lost Captain Sensible’s manic guitar work some time ago, and it wasn’t their biggest hit. But their amazing cover of Love’s “Alone Again Or” remains one of their most popular singles from that era. I used to see the video on 120 Minutes for a good few years after its release.
We’ve Got a Fuzzbox & We’re Gonna Use It!!, Bostin’ Steve Austin, UK released 8 December 1986. I absolutely adore this album! Like Flaunt It, the album fit in perfectly with my growing love for nonconformity. They got a great bit of coverage in Smash Hits, they were even featured on a Night Flight episode, and 120 Minutes often played the great chunky single “Love Is the Slug”. I bought the US version of this on cassette when it dropped in January 1987 and played it incessantly. It’s surprisingly tight and well produced, even when they’re deliberately at their sloppiest (including a very weird cover of Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” which I used to hear on WMDK!), and unabashedly feminist on multiple tracks. I highly recommend this, especially the CD reissue that came out in 2013. [Side Note: Martin Tracey just dropped an official biography of the band in December and it’s available via Amazon.]
Steve Kilbey, Unearthed, released 19 December 1986. The Church’s lead singer not only had a breakthrough with the Heyday album that had come out at the start of the year, but kicked off his extremely long and diverse solo career with music that could easily have been Church tracks but didn’t quite fit the band’s style at the time. He wasn’t a musician looking for chart hits or popularity, either; you can tell he’s doing this because it’s his calling, and he wasn’t going to compromise. Later solo releases could go anywhere from experimental instrumentals to psychedelic themes and who knows where else. I remember this one getting a lot of positive reviews in the music magazines at the time.
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I may not have known what would be in store in the new year, but I knew one thing: I was in charge of what I let happen for me. I built up my self-confidence by leaning on my creative outlets and exploring how far I could take them. I wore down being overly self-conscious by allowing myself to be myself around my new circle of friends. And of course, I had access to two college radio stations and a local AOR station that kept me constantly inspired and entertained. Most importantly, I fully embraced the idea of social nonconformity, and even then I understood that I didn’t have to be performative about it. To me, it was all about proudly being myself without fear and without obstacle, that’s all. My new friends were a big part of that, allowing me to express myself freely like that. They might be graduating in the spring of 1988, but for now I was going to enjoy the next year and a half while I could.
By the time November rolled around, I found myself thinking less like a clueless mid-teen reacting to everything around me and taking more chances with my creative and personal lives. The ideas within the IWN were taking a much darker and more experimental road, and I’d started writing my first screenplay, coming-of-age comedy inspired by John Hughes. I was also trying out new ideas with a plan of not holding back nearly as much as I had. I felt like I was less of a dork with braces and finally coming into my own as a creative person in training. I had to start somewhere, right? Why not now?
November was also the month when I first made not one but two radio-sourced mixtapes by recording a full side of music while listening to WMUA, the college station of UMass Amherst. Those two mixes (both later titled The Crossover I and II) got a lot of repeat play during the day when I couldn’t always get the station in clearly. [It was around this time that the guy at Radio Shack suggested I purchase a six-foot extending antenna, which I duly bought and used for several years (and radios).] I’d make a few more commercial station ‘radio tapes’ well into 1987, but that would soon come to a close once my obsession grew.
Killing Joke, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, released November 1986. I remember this one getting a bit of flak because it was so slickly produced, the songs weren’t as powerful as their previous work, and it sounded very…well, 80s. It didn’t do too well, but I do remember “Sanity” and “Adorations” getting a fair bit of play on 120 Minutes.
A Certain Ratio, Force, released November 1986. I remember WMDK being a bit excited about this album coming out, as it was their first album in four years (not including the collection The Old & the New which had come out earlier in the year). They’re not your typical British post-punk band; they’re more like post-punk-meets-funk, and the critics loved it.
The Mission UK, God’s Own Medicine, released November 1986. The first album from Wayne Hussey’s new band after leaving The Sisters of Mercy, and you can hear a few similarities between the two groups, though The Mission would be more melodic and less doom-and-gloom. “Wasteland” got a fair bit of play on 120 Minutes and on college radio. They’d be a favorite on Boston’s alternative station WFNX over the next few years.
He Said, Hail, released November 1986. Graham Lewis, the bassist/vocalist from Wire, also had his own solo project at this time (one of many during their hiatus) although it would be a few years before I’d finally get around to picking them up, starting with 1989’s Take Care.
Fishbone, In Your Face, released November 1986. This funk-metal band had a strong fan following for ages, so when their first album finally came out it was an immediate favorite. Even from the album cover you could tell that they didn’t always take themselves entirely all that seriously, and this album shows it: while there are certainly some serious tracks here, there are also quite a few fun jams as well.
Clan of Xymox, Medusa, released November 1986. This is a curious 4AD band that I knew of thanks to seeing them in the bins at Al Bum’s and later at Main Street Records, but I never quite got around to picking up their albums until 1989’s Twist of Shadows. I’d pick this one up on one of my jaunts to the many used shops in Boston during my college years, and “Agonised By Love” became one of my favorites of theirs.
Lone Justice, Shelter, released November 1986. This was a band that straddled the lines between alternative, country and folk, and did surprisingly well not just on AOR but also on pop radio. “Shelter” was the big hit for them and got a decent amount of play all over the place.
Wire, Snakedrill EP, released November 1986. Speaking of…after disappearing at the start of the decade to focus on solo projects, this influential foursome reconvened and began what they would call their “beat combo” era with this teaser EP, with a new album coming in the new year. It’s a fascinating release as all four songs sound completely different from each other despite having a similar style. “A Serious of Snakes” is radio-friendly and catchy as hell even despite its oblique lyrics; “Drill” is their showpiece focusing on lyrical and musical repetition; “Advantage in Height” reminds fans of their first post-punk wave; and “Up to the Sun (A Vivid Riot of Red)” sees the band at their most experimental. This EP would be reissued as bonus tracks on the cassette and CD of their album that would drop in April.
Game Theory, The Big Shot Chronicles, released November 1986. Another band listed in Trouser Press Record Guide that caught my attention, this power pop band were critic favorites and would show up on WMDK quite frequently.
China Crisis, What Price Paradise, released November 1986. This British band showed up on an episode of Night Flight as a band with success in their home country but very little visibility in the States despite being signed to Virgin Records. I’d hear “Arizona Sky” and “It’s Everything” on WMDK around this time, both great singles that really could have fit in perfectly on American pop radio, and I’d soon find this record in the bins at Al Bums.
They Might Be Giants, They Might Be Giants, released 4 November 1986. It’s safe to say I’ve been a TMBG fan since album number one, and I absolutely adore this record for its silliness and relentless oddball creativity. So much so that this garnered a follow-up record review in my school paper! “Don’t Let’s Start” got a lot of play on 120 Minutes, AOR and college radio, as would “(She Was a) Hotel Detective”. [And I would learn later that they were sort-of-once-local, having grown up in Lincoln MA, thus the title of their follow-up in 1988.] I bought this cassette at Strawberries if I’m not mistaken, and it got a ton of play over the next several years, so much so that I can still quote several songs, heh.
‘Til Tuesday, Welcome Home, released 4 November 1986. The follow-up to their mega-huge Voices Carry album may not have been as popular, but as a Boston band they definitely got their fair share of play on local rock radio with the singles “What About Love” and “Coming Up Close”. The latter became one of my favorite tracks of theirs, a song that perfectly encapsulates the closing-down of the year feel of late autumn in New England.
Kraftwerk, Electric Café, released 10 November 1986. Their first new album in five years, this was big news, especially since they were the godfathers of early synth music, which was now at the peak of its current wave. I remember Night Flight and even PBS doing a retrospective on them at this time, and releasing the video for “Musique Non Stop”, which at the time had cutting-edge CGI facial animation work.
Cocteau Twins with Harold Budd, The Moon and the Melodies, released 10 November 1986. This was part of the wave of CT albums and EPs I’d dub from a friend in early 1989 that would end up getting constant repeat plays on my Walkman over the next few years. It’s my favorite of their discography, even despite it being more of an experimental side-project, but its dreamlike ambience is absolutely breathtaking.
Kate Bush, The Whole Story, released 10 November 1986. I picked this one up at Strawberries soon after it dropped, partly because I’d really liked “Running Up That Hill” and partly because of the video feature I’d seen on Night Flight. I’d known how different her music could be from other alternative and pop music, but this felt like it was in a different yet parallel universe. I’d be a longtime fan from here on in.
The The, Infected, released 17 November 1986. This too was something that caught my interest via Night Flight when they premiered the movie Matt Johnson made to promote this album. Like the film, the album is dark, dense and unforgiving and yet with a sense of redemption at the end. Nothing is held back: songs about sex, obsession, war, desolation, politics, death, and going to the brink. I was absolutely floored and immediately bought the cassette at that little record corner inside the department store in Amherst, the same place I’d bought Flaunt It. One lasting memory I have is of a friend borrowing this then giving it back the next day saying “It’s okay, but why do I want to hear songs about ‘piss-stinking shopping centers’?”
Duran Duran, Notorious, released 18 November 1986. After the almost-dissolution of the group and its loss of two core members, Simon, Nick and Andy reconvened with an album with a much slicker production and stylish songwriting. It definitely lost some of their older fans, and I wasn’t the biggest fan of the title track, but the sexy slinkiness of the “Skin Trade” single kept me interested. It’s more of a transitional album than a solid one, but it’s worth checking out.
Bad Brains, I Against I, released 21 November 1986. I remember 120 Minutes making a big thing out of this release as this was the hardcore band’s first album in over three years with a change in sound, moving closer towards funk and metal, and would become their biggest and most popular record. [You can kind of hear a style that Living Colour would adapt themselves a few years later.] I also remember seeing ads for it in the music magazines, and would occasionally hear tracks from it on WMUA and later on WAMH.
The Other Ones, The Other Ones, released 24 November 1986. I gravitated towards this album thanks to the excellent single “We Are What We Are”, which spoke to me at a time when I was still trying to figure myself out. Although it only scraped by to number 53 on the Billboard Top 100, I was entranced by its simple message: we only want to be ourselves / we’re just like everybody else. As a teenager this clarified so much: I needed to get out of my own head and be who I wanted to be instead of constantly overthinking it like I always did. And that I surely wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Despite its slick 80s pop style, this album was just quirky and different enough that I fell in love with it, and it got a ton of play in my room for a good couple of years.
Walk In Silence 