1986 was a year graced by pop genius of Prince, The Smiths and Pet Shop Boys, but something kept it from being a truly classic year. Early 80’s had a lot of energy derived from punk/new wave and early synthpop, but that waned somewhat in the middle of the decade. Maybe it was the digital synthetizers with cleaner, stiffer sounds that created a technological shock that in my opinion had an adverse effect in music. (In this respect, 1987 was the low point.) Anyway, excellent music was released in 1986, but not as much I would have wanted. [To make matters worse, Prince removed his tracks from Spotify last summer, five of which were from this playlist.]

My top albums of 1986:

Prince and the Revolution – Parade (removed from Spotify!)

Paul Simon – Graceland

The Smiths – Queen Is Dead

My top-5 songs of 1986:

Pet Shop Boys – Suburbia

Prince – Mountains (removed from Spotify!)

The Smiths – Frankly, Mr. Shankly

New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle

World Party – Private Revolution