This is a summary of 1986 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Summary The first number 1 single of 1986 was the breakthrough hit for London synthpop duo the Pet Shop Boys. Their song "West End Girls" had climbed the charts during late 1985 and reached number 1 for two weeks in January. They would have three more top 20 hits this year as well as two top 20 albums, and were still reaching the top 10 in 2006, twenty years later. Another popular synthpop duo this year were Erasure, with their song "Sometimes" reaching number two in the autumn; this success would be followed by many more hits throughout the decade.
After four successful years, the band Wham! split up in the spring. Made up of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, they finished with a farewell concert at Wembley Stadium, a greatest hits album The Final which reached number 2, and the single "The Edge of Heaven", their fourth number one, and their last until "Last Christmas" finally reached No. 1 in 2021. George Michael also reached number 1 this year with a solo release, A Different Corner, and went on to have a highly successful solo career.
The formation of the charity Comic Relief provided an unusual song from Cliff Richard, a singer with several huge hits in the 1950s and '60s. He teamed up with the cast of the popular sitcom The Young Ones (itself named after a Richard song) for a new version of his 1959 single "Living Doll", half sung by Richard and half shouted by the Young Ones cast. With proceeds going to the charity, it reached number one for three weeks and was Richard's first number 1 of the decade. Another novelty number one was "The Chicken Song", sung by the cast of satirical puppet show Spitting Image. With lyrics such as "Hold a chicken in the air, stick a deckchair up your nose" it was intended as a parody of novelty holiday songs which were popular at the time, and also topped the chart for three weeks.
American singer Madonna had the biggest-selling album of the year with "True Blue". All singles released from it made the top five, including the number 1s "Papa Don't Preach", "True Blue", and "La Isla Bonita" which topped the chart the year after. The biggest-selling single of the year went to The Communards, with a hi-NRG cover of the disco song "Don't Leave Me This Way". The band included singer Jimmy Somerville who had previously enjoyed success with Bronski Beat, and later started a solo career.
The Christmas number one single was something of a surprise, a re-issue of Jackie Wilson's 1957 single "Reet Petite". Wilson had died in 1984, but the song been re-issued after being used in a television advert for Levi's, with a new video made of a Claymation version of Wilson. Having first been released 29 years earlier, it broke the record for the longest time between a single being released and it hitting number 1, a record that would last until 2005 when Tony Christie's 1971 song "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" topped the chart.
Birtwistle's opera The Mask of Orpheus, including electronic music realised by Barry Anderson and a libretto by Peter Zinovieff, was staged in London by English National Opera to great critical acclaim. Michael Nyman also came up with a new opera, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, a chamber work with a minimalist score. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was founded in London by a group of period music enthusiasts, going on to become one of the UK's leading orchestras.
Events January – The Adrian Boult Hall is opened at Birmingham Conservatoire by the Duchess of Gloucester. The Hall was demolished in June 2016. 14 March – Earth Dances for orchestra by Harrison Birtwistle is performed for the first time, at the Royal Festival Hall, London. 15 March – "Heartbeat '86", a charity concert for the Birmingham Children's Hospital, is held at the NEC. Performers include Roy Wood, UB40, The Moody Blues, Electric Light Orchestra and Robert Plant. George Harrison makes a surprise appearance playing Johnny B. Goode with everyone at the end of the show. 11 April – The Chart Show debuts on Channel 4. 10 May – A rare performance of Constant Lambert's 1936 choral work Summer's Last Will and Testament takes place at the Brighton Festival, St Bartholomew's Church, by the BBC Concert Orchestra and Brighton Festival Chorus, with baritone David Wilson-Johnson, conducted by Norman Del Mar. 15 May – The Spanish Lady, an opera by Edward Elgar is performed for the first time, in a concert setting, at St John's, Smith Square, London, approximately 53 years after it was composed. A staged performance has to wait until 24 November 1994. 21 May – The first performance of Harrison Birtwistle's opera The Mask of Orpheus, takes place at the London Coliseum by the English National Opera, Elgar Howarth and Paul Daniel conducting. 7 June – Queen start The Magic Tour, which becomes their final tour with all original members and also their most successful tour.Queen live on tour: Magic tour Queen Concerts. Retrieved June 4, 2011 28 June – Wham! perform a final concert at London's Wembley Stadium just before their split. It is attended by 72,000 people. 28 July – The first performance of the Concerto for Orchestra, op 93 by Peter Racine Fricker takes place at the Cheltenham Festival, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton. 27 October – Michael Nyman's chamber opera The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is premiered at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. 28 October – The first performance of William Wordsworth's Symphony No 8 Pax Hominibus, op 117, the composer's last completed score. It was given by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Jerzy Maksymiuk in Stirling.
Charts Number one singles
Chart date(week ending) Song Artist(s) Weeks Sales 4 January "Merry Christmas Everyone" Shakin' Stevens 1 89,505 11 January "West End Girls" Pet Shop Boys 2 34,697 18 January 59,143 25 January "The Sun Always Shines on TV" a-ha 2 69,972 1 February 75,650 8 February "When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going" Billy Ocean 4 56,780 15 February 115,923 22 February 106,913 1 March 80,342 8 March "Chain Reaction" Diana Ross 3 87,329 15 March 114,138 22 March 76,109 29 March "Living Doll" Cliff Richard and The Young Ones 3 148,002 5 April 175,576 12 April 98,515 19 April "A Different Corner" George Michael 3 83,096 26 April 79,407 3 May 55,641 10 May "Rock Me Amadeus" Falco 1 44,778 17 May "The Chicken Song" Spitting Image 3 73,338 24 May 91,290 31 May 59,296 7 June "Spirit in the Sky" Doctor and the Medics 3 58,276 14 June 81,923 21 June 54,621 28 June "The Edge of Heaven" Wham! 2 61,132 5 July 66,725 12 July "Papa Don't Preach" Madonna 3 80,614 19 July 89,522 26 July 82,518 2 August "The Lady in Red" Chris de Burgh 3 85,221 9 August 112,166 16 August 95,710 23 August "I Want to Wake Up with You" Boris Gardiner 3 109,378 30 August 126,446 6 September 89,403 13 September "Don't Leave Me This Way" The Communards 4 92,208 20 September 121,125 27 September 107,423 4 October 83,878 11 October "True Blue" Madonna 1 102,731 18 October "Every Loser Wins" Nick Berry 3 177,055 25 October 198,577 1 November 107,355 8 November "Take My Breath Away" Berlin 4 72,165 15 November 107,627 22 November 84,286 29 November 64,532 6 December "The Final Countdown" Europe 2 53,210 13 December 67,779 20 December "Caravan of Love" The Housemartins 1 78,115 27 December "Reet Petite" Jackie Wilson 1 129,931
Number one albums
Chart date(week ending) Album Artist(s) Weeks 4 January Now 6 Various Artists 2 11 January 18 January Brothers in Arms Dire Straits 10 25 January 1 February 8 February 15 February 22 February 1 March 8 March 15 March 22 March 29 March Hits 4 Various Artists 4 5 April 12 April 19 April 26 April Street Life: 20 Great Hits Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music 5 3 May 10 May 17 May 24 May 31 May So Peter Gabriel 2 7 June 14 June A Kind of Magic Queen 1 21 June Invisible Touch Genesis 3 28 June 5 July 12 July True Blue Madonna 6 19 July 26 July 2 August 9 August 16 August 23 August Now 7 Various Artists 5 30 August 6 September 13 September 20 September 27 September Silk & Steel Five Star 1 4 October Graceland Paul Simon 5 11 October 18 October 25 October 1 November 8 November Every Breath You Take: The Singles The Police 2 15 November 22 November Hits 5 Various Artists 2 29 November 6 December Now 8 4 13 December 20 December 27 December
Year-end charts Best-selling singles Based on sales from 30 December 1985 to 3 January 1987. Title Artist Peakposition 1 "Don't Leave Me This Way" The Communards 1 2 "Every Loser Wins" 1 3 "I Want to Wake Up with You" 1 4 "Living Doll" & The Young Ones 1 5 "Chain Reaction" 1 6 "The Lady in Red" 1 7 "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" 1 8 "Papa Don't Preach" Madonna 1 9 "Take My Breath Away" (Love Theme from Top Gun) Berlin 1 10 "So Macho"/"Cruising" Sinitta 2 11 "True Blue" Madonna 1 12 "A Different Corner" 1 13 "Rock Me Amadeus" Falco 1 14 "We Don't Have to..." 2 15 "Spirit in the Sky" Doctor and the Medics 1 16 "The Final Countdown" Europe 1 17 "Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town)" 1 18 "Rain or Shine" Five Star 2 19 "Caravan of Love" The Housemartins 1 20 "The Chicken Song" Spitting Image 1 21 "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." a-ha 1 22 "On My Own" and Michael McDonald 2 23 "Walk Like an Egyptian" The Bangles 3 24 "In the Army Now" Status Quo 2 25 "Lessons in Love" Level 42 3 26 "Glory of Love" 3 27 "The Edge of Heaven" Wham! 1 28 "Sledgehammer" 4 29 "All I Ask of You" & Sarah Brightman 3 30 "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)" 3 31 "Wonderful World" 2 32 "A Kind of Magic" Queen 3 33 "Holding Back the Years" Simply Red 2 34 "You Keep Me Hangin' On" 2 35 "Let's Go All the Way" Sly Fox 3 36 "Word Up!" Cameo 3 37 "Manic Monday" The Bangles 2 38 "I Can't Wait" Nu Shooz 2 39 "My Favourite Waste of Time" 3 40 "You Can Call Me Al" 4 41 "Livin' on a Prayer" Bon Jovi 4 42 "Sometimes" Erasure 2 43 "Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)" Mel & Kim 3 44 "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" Cutting Crew 4 45 "You to Me Are Everything" (remix) The Real Thing 5 46 "Happy Hour" The Housemartins 3 47 "Starting Together" 2 48 "Thorn in My Side" Eurythmics 5 49 "Walk of Life" Dire Straits 2 50 "Borderline" Madonna 2
Best-selling albums Based on sales from 29 December 1985 to 3 January 1987. Title Artist Peakposition 1 True Blue Madonna 1 2 Brothers In Arms Dire Straits 1 3 Now 8 Various Artists 1 4 Graceland 1 5 Whitney Houston 2 6 Now 7 Various Artists 1 7 Hunting High and Low a-ha 2 8 A Kind of Magic Queen 1 9 Silk & Steel Five Star 1 10 Revenge Eurythmics 3 11 Hits 5Various Artists 1 12 Hits 4 1 13 The Final Wham! 2 14 Invisible Touch Genesis 1 15 Every Breath You Take: The Singles The Police 1 16 The Whole Story 2 17 Into the Light 2 18 Street Life: 20 Great Hits and Roxy Music 1 19 So 1 20 Picture Book Simply Red 2 21 Once Upon a Time Simple Minds 6 22 No Jacket Required 2 23 World Machine Level 42 3 24 Dancing on the Ceiling 2 25 London 0 Hull 4 The Housemartins 3 26 Slippery When Wet Bon Jovi 6 27 Top Gun Original Soundtrack Various Artists 3 28 Like a Virgin Madonna 3 29 Fore! Huey Lewis and the News 8 30 Be Yourself Tonight Eurythmics 3 31 Scoundrel Days a-ha 2 32 Communards The Communards 7 33 Go West/Bangs & Crashes Go West 8 34 Please Pet Shop Boys 3 35 Greatest Hits Queen 17 36 Different Light The Bangles 3 37 Love Zone 2 38 Live Magic Queen 5 39 Riptide 5 40 Island Life 4 41 The Dream of the Blue Turtles Sting 5 42 South Pacific /José Carreras/Sarah Vaughan/Mandy Patinkin/London Symphony Orchestra 5 43 The Broadway Album 3 44 Rocky IV Original Soundtrack Various Artists 3 45 Luxury of Life Five Star 12 46 Suzanne Vega 11 47 Hounds of Love Kate Bush 6 48 Break Every Rule 2 49 In the Army Now Status Quo 7 50 Every Beat of My Heart 5
Notes:
Classical music: new works Malcolm Arnold – Symphony No. 9 Harrison Birtwistle – Earth Dances Arthur Butterworth – Symphony No. 4