Farewell 1986

If the years 1981-85 have been comparatively predictable affairs, where familiar Indie royalty regularly bagged the number one spot with occasionally mediocre singles, 1986 was when the snowshaker really flurried. Groups on tiny new labels making scratchy sounding singles could, by a combination of press recommendation, fanzine raves and word of mouth, climb to the top with enthusiasm; the underground was beginning to poke its claws into the rubber membrane of pop again. 

The list of nineteen new number ones below feels tells a headline story not just of C86 or indiepop suddenly finding its way to the forefront, but also The Smiths continued dominance and goth's continuing allure.

1. w/e 15th February 1986 (1 week) - Easterhouse - Whistling In The Dark (Rough Trade)

2. w/e 22nd February 1986 (1 week) - The Sisterhood - Giving Ground (Merciful Release) 

3. w/e 1st March 1986 (3 weeks) - Shop Assistants - Safety Net (53rd & 3rd)

4. w/e 22nd March 1986 (2 weeks) - Half Man Half Biscuit - The Trumpton Riots (Probe Plus)

5. w/e 5th April 1986 (4 weeks) - New Order - Shellshock (Factory)

6. w/e 3rd May 1986 (5 weeks) - We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It - Rules and Regulations EP (Vindaloo)

7. w/e 7th June 1986 (1 week) - The Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again (Rough Trade)

8. w/e 14th June 1986 (3 weeks) - The Mission - Serpent's Kiss (Chapter 22)

9. w/e 5th July 1986 (1 week) - Weather Prophets - Almost Prayed (Creation)

10. w/e 26th July 1986 (1 week) - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Singer (Mute)

11. w/e 2nd August 1986 (1 week) - The Mission - Garden of Delight/ Like a Hurricane (Chapter 22)

12. w/e 9th August 1986 (1 week) - The Smiths - Panic (Rough Trade)

13. w/e 20th September 1986 (1 week) - Depeche Mode - A Question Of Time (Mute)

14. w/e 27th September 1986 (4 weeks) - New Order - State Of The Nation (Factory)

15. w/e 26th October 1986 (1 week) - Half Man Half Biscuit - Dickie Davies Eyes (Probe Plus)

16. w/e 1st November 1986 (1 week) - Soup Dragons - Hang Ten! (Raw TV)

17. w/e 8th November 1986 (3 weeks) - The Smiths - Ask (Rough Trade) 

18. w/e 29th November 1986 (1 week) - New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle (Factory)

19. w/e 6th December 1986 (10 weeks) - Age of Chance - Kiss (FON)

1987 is where things start to get confusing and certainties begin to crumble, and the only solid scaffolding you can reliably cling on to is the continued and dogged presence of the goth scene. The best and most robust of the indiepop acts continue to make their presence felt, but the more delicate and less organised ones either inadvisably sign to major labels, or fall away. If 1986 was a free for all, 1987 is the year where any acts with slightly scrappy or flaky ideas start to become dismissed by both the music press and the public (while maintaining their core cult audiences). 

Sample culture begins to make itself felt not just through the grebo bands, who have had a fine line in 3 second distorted vocal interjections so far, but through club culture as expected. The KLF emerge in their first guise to create huge music press headlines but comparatively few sales, and a smattering of club classics begin to nudge around the fringes of the chart, with the exception of one from some surprisingly old and familiar hands which goes stratospheric (and has the video to match its interstellar ambitions). Let's not spoil the surprise for anyone under the age of 45 who may be reading.

A complete playlist of all 1986's chart entries - or at least all that were available on Spotify - can be found below, with 1987's menu on the right hand side of this page.