8 of the 80s: 8/1/13 (1986)...

Well folks, I'm ready to throw it back to 1986, the year the Picasso painting Weeping Woman was stolen and then recovered in a locker two days later in Australia.

The Alarm - "Strength"
from the album Strength (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #61
Songwriters: Eddie Macdonald, Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Nigel Twist

The Welsh rock group went full-Bono with this anthemic record that was a favorite of mine that year.

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The Outfield - "Everytime You Cry"
from the album Play Deep (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #66 
Songwriter: John Spinks

This Bi-national power-pop group was another one I felt should've been way bigger, as evidenced by this grand power-ballad that probably would have been top-10 a couple years prior.

Andy Taylor - "When the Rain Comes Down"
from the album Miami Vice II (Original Soundtrack) (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #73
Songwriters: Andy Taylor, Steve Jones

The Duran Duran guitarist took a detour in 1986 to provide solo tracks to the movie American Anthem and this one for Miami Vice...

John Waite - "If Anybody Had A Heart"
from the album About Last Night... (Original Soundtrack) (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #76
Songwriters: Danny Kortchmar, J.D. Souther

If you could guess which 1986 album I have the vinyl, cassette, and CD copies of, you probably would never guess this soundtrack, but I was infatuated by the movie as well as the music, including this one by the Babys/Bad English singer co-written by soft-rock singer J.D. Souther. And yes, I so wanted my hair to be like John's but couldn't get the style right (though I had the length)...

Animotion - "I Want You"
from the album Strange Behavior (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #84
Songwriters: Rick Neigher, Bill Wadhams

The last charting single for Animotion version 1.0 (with Astrid Plane and Bill Wadhams), before the two left and the band recruited Dirty Dancing's Cynthia Rhodes (aka Mrs. Richard Marx). I always preferred Plane's lineup, line a poppier Berlin.

Robert Tepper - "Don't Walk Away"
from the album No Easy Way Out (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #85
Songwriter: Robert Tepper

The Bayonne native that co-wrote the totally pedo "Into The Night" with Benny Mardones got a big break with Sly Stallone recruiting him for the Rocky IV soundtrack. This one is the followup to that.

ABC - "Vanity Kills"
from the album How To Be A Zillionaire (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #91
Songwriters: Martin Fry, Mark White

I loved this fey little pop number from the suavest guys in the day, who also juggled members oddly in the 80s.

Southside Johnny & The Jukes - "Walk Away Renee"
from the album At Least We Got Shoes (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #98
Songwriters: Mike Brown, Bob Calilli, Tony Sansone

If Springsteen was the musical King of New Jersey, Southside Johnny would be the perennial vice president, well-known and loved by locals but pretty much ignored by the rest of the country. This finds John Lyon and his backing band taking on the classic 60s pop tune.

That's it for this 80s flashback....I'll be back tomorrow with another Song of the Day and my top 100 tunes of the week. Cheers!
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