June 15, 1986 At Giants Stadium in New Jersey, The Police headline the last concert on the Conspiracy of Hope tour, which benefits Amnesty International. They have plans to record an album, but scrap them after drummer Stewart Copeland is injured in a polo match. The trio does not tour again until 2007.
June 13, 1986 Big band leader Benny Goodman dies at age 77.More
June 11, 1986 Ferris Bueller's Day Off his theaters. When Matthew Broderick leads a parade through downtown Chicago to The Beatles "Twist And Shout," it renews interest in the group, and the song soon returns to the charts.
June 4, 1986 The first of a six-date Conspiracy of Hope tour is held at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. The concerts benefit Amnesty International and celebrate the human rights organization's 25th anniversary. The shows are headlined by U2 and Sting, and also feature Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Joan Baez, and The Neville Brothers.
June 4, 1986 After a years-long court battle, the producers of The Beatles' tribute Beatlemania! are forced to pay Apple $10 million in royalties.
June 2, 1986 Randy Travis releases his debut album, Storms Of Life. Thanks to the #1 Country hits "On The Other Hand" and "Diggin' Up Bones," it goes on to sell over 3 million copies, establishing Travis as a star.
May 31, 1986 Genesis enter the Hot 100 with "Invisible Touch," joining four acts by current or former members of the group on the chart.More
May 31, 1986 Jeff Krulik and John Heyn film the parking-lot antics of fans tailgating at a Judas Priest concert in Landover, Maryland. The result is Heavy Metal Parking Lot, a 16-minute film that captures the energy and absurdity of heavy metal culture in the '80s.More
May 25, 1986 It's Hands Across America, as millions of Americans form a human chain from New York to Santa Monica to raise money for hunger relief. The project is organized by the same guy who put together "We Are The World," but the theme song is far less ambitious.More
May 22, 1986 Cher, making her first appearance on David Letterman's show, tells him why she declined the many invitations to come on before: Because she thought he was an "a--hole."More
May 19, 1986 Former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel transitions from cult performer to pop star with the release of his fifth solo album, So, which includes the hit single "Sledgehammer."More
May 16, 1986 Top Gun hits theaters with a soundtrack that includes the Kenny Loggins action theme "Danger Zone" and the Berlin love ballad "Take My Breath Away." Both songs are huge hits, continuing a trend of blockbuster movies debuting popular tunes.
May 10, 1986 Paul Simon plays three songs from his upcoming Graceland album on Saturday Night Live. He's backed by South African musicians, including the vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, who perform with him on "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes." With South Africa under a cultural boycott in an attempt to stop Apartheid, its music is sequestered. Simon's appearance with musicians from the country and the subsequent album introduce the sound to a global audience, but also cause problems for Simon when he faces criticism for violating the boycott.
May 10, 1986 "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys, a synthy song about clubbing in London, hits #1 on the Hot 100 five months after going to #1 in their native UK. It's the first of many hits for the duo.
May 3, 1986 Propelled by a memorable video where lookalike models vamp the song, Robert Palmer's "Addicted To Love" hits #1 on the Hot 100.More
April 26, 1986 Van Halen prove there is life after David Lee Roth as their album 5150, their first with Sammy Hagar, hits #1 in the US for the first of three weeks.More
April 19, 1986 You don't have to watch Dynasty to have an attitude: Prince hits #1 in the US with "Kiss." The #2 song is "Manic Monday" by the Bangles, which he wrote.More
April 15, 1986 Nine cops raid Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra's apartment and arrest him for distributing "harmful matter" to minors: a poster of genitalia art included in the band's album Frankenchrist. His case becomes a test of the First Amendment and validates his position that the US government systematically oppresses the poor and outspoken (the band is on their own label and has no corporate backing). It drags on for 16 months before ending in a mistrial when the jury can't come to a verdict.
April 7, 1986 Sade makes the cover of Time magazine under the headline Pop's Smooth Operator. The article lauds her as "a new princess of pop" with a "sophisticated sound, elegant look."More
March 24, 1986 At the 58th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, Lionel Richie wins the Oscar for Best Original Song for his track "Say You, Say Me" from the film White Nights. The song topped three different Billboard charts but didn't appear on the soundtrack album for the movie. It was finally released on Lionel's 1986 album, Dancing on the Ceiling.
March 20, 1986 Country singer Kathy Mattea releases her third album, Walk The Way The Wind Blows, featuring her breakthrough single - a cover of Nanci Griffith's "Love At The Five And Dime." It peaks at #3 on the country chart.
March 9, 1986 Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith go to Magic Ventures Studios in New York, where they record parts of their song "Walk This Way" so Run-D.M.C. can transform it into a hip-hop jam. Neither act is thrilled about the collaboration (Run-D.M.C.'s producer Rick Rubin spearheaded the effort), but the resulting track is a huge hit, revitalizing Aerosmith's career and delivering a new (mostly white) audience to the rappers.
March 3, 1986 Metallica release their third album, Master Of Puppets, featuring an anthemic title track that becomes their most-played live song.More
February 28, 1986 The movie Pretty In Pink, based on the Psychedelic Furs song but with a very distorted interpretation of the lyric, is released in theaters.More
February 26, 1986 Thanks to their hit "West End Girls," Pet Shop Boys land the cover of Smash Hits magazine, which their frontman, Neil Tennant, used to write for.More
February 22, 1986 MTV, which has bought the rights to 45 episodes of The Monkees TV series, airs them all in the "Pleasant Valley Sunday" marathon in honor of the group's 20th anniversary. The shows launch a Monkees revival, and the group reforms to tour later in the year.More
February 15, 1986 The UK band Sade hit #1 in America with their second album, Promise, led by the single "The Sweetest Taboo." Led by frontwoman Sade Adu, their elegant, understated sound finds an audience looking for an alternative to MTV-powered pop music. It's the only album to hit the top spot in 1986 by an act that isn't American.
February 11, 1986 On The A-Team episode "Cowboy George," Culture Club perform "Karma Chameleon" in a cowboy bar while Mr. T enjoys the music.
February 4, 1986 Janet Jackson, 19, asserts her independence on her third album, Control, where she takes on much of the songwriting and production. With five big hits, including the #1 "When I Think of You," it vaults her into a league with her brother Michael.More
January 23, 1986 The first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame include Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino.More
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