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.