Classic Rewind’s 1986 Countdown: What They Got Right, What They Missed

Over Labor Day weekend, SiriusXM’s Classic Rewind aired its “40 Cassettes Turning 40” countdown for 1986. If you’ve read my Top 40 Albums of 1986, you already know I’ve spent way too much time thinking about the music from 1986.

As my wife and I barreled down the winding roads to Lake of the Ozarks, we listened to the countdown. My wife, fighting severe car sickness, somehow managed to write down every album as it was announced. Nobody said this would be easy.

There were some choices I agreed with, some that surprised me, and a few that left me scratching my head.

Classic Rewind’s Top 40 Cassettes Turning 40 – 1986

40. Robert Cray Band – Strong Persuader

39. The B-52’s – Bouncing off the Satellites

38. Depeche Mode – Black Celebration

37. Twisted Sister – Come Out and Play (1985)

36. The Pretenders – Get Close

35. Great White – Shot in the Dark

34. Jackson Browne – Lives in the Balance

33. The Rolling Stones – Dirty Work

32. The Georgia Satellites – Georgia Satellites

31. Judas Priest – Turbo

30. Ratt – Dancing Undercover

29. David Lee Roth – Eat ‘Em and Smile

28. Eric Clapton – August

27. George Thorogood & The Destroyers – Live

26. Tesla – Mechanical Resonance

25. R.E.M. – Lifes Rich Pageant

24. Electric Light Orchestra – Balance of Power

23. Billy Idol – Whiplash Smile

22. The Fabulous Thunderbirds – Tuff Enuff

21. The Moody Blues – The Other Side of Life

20. Europe – The Final Countdown

19. Robert Palmer – Riptide (1985)

18. Stevie Nicks – Rock a Little (1985)

17. Cinderella – Night Songs

16. Ozzy Osbourne – The Ultimate Sin

15. The Outfield – Play Deep (1985)

14. Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill

13. Poison – Look What the Cat Dragged In

12. Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The Way It Is

11. Eddie Money – Can’t Hold Back

10. Metallica – Master of Puppets

9. Peter Gabriel – So

8. Steve Winwood – Back in the High Life

7. AC/DC – Who Made Who

6. Boston – Third Stage

5. Journey – Raised on Radio

4. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – Like a Rock

3. Genesis – Invisible Touch

2. Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet

1. Van Halen – 5150

Our lists matched on 20 of the 40 albums, although we didn’t always agree on where they belonged. I had Robert Cray at #4. Classic Rewind had him at #40. I had R.E.M. at #3. They had it at #25. On the other hand, they had AC/DC at #7, while I had it all the way down at #39.

And then somehow Eric Clapton’s August landed at exactly #28 on both lists. I’m not sure what the odds of that are.

Looking at their list, my most glaring omission was probably the Georgia Satellites. I owned the album. I was a fan. I simply missed it. If I did my list again, it probably would have landed somewhere in the high 30s.

I was also a big ELO fan, but Balance of Power didn’t make my list. I thought it was a weak effort from a band that was pretty much running out of gas. As it turned out, they wouldn’t release another album for 15 years.

As for most of the others, they just weren’t albums I was listening to much back then.

Before I get too deep into the rankings, I have to get one complaint out of the way.

Four of the albums in Classic Rewind’s Top 40 aren’t from 1986.

Robert Palmer’s Riptide, Stevie Nicks’ Rock a Little, Twisted Sister’s Come Out and Play, and The Outfield’s Play Deep were all released in 1985.

And this isn’t the first time this has happened. Classic Rewind started these countdowns in 2021 with albums from 1981, and albums from the wrong year have been sneaking in ever since. A few have even pulled off the impressive feat of turning 40 twice.

Maybe that sounds like nitpicking, but here’s why it bothers me. If you’re counting down 40 cassettes turning 40, every album from the wrong year that makes the countdown means one less album that actually turned 40 gets recognized.

It matters even more when you look at the albums that weren’t on the original ballot. There was a write-in option, but not a single write-in album made the final Top 40. Every album that made the countdown was one of the 55 choices SiriusXM put on the ballot. That tells me that if SiriusXM leaves an album off the ballot, it has almost no chance.

Which brings me to the omission I still can’t figure out.

Where the hell is Huey Lewis?

Fore! wasn’t just missing from the Top 40. It wasn’t even on the ballot.

I had it at #5 on my list, so obviously I’m a fan. But this isn’t just about my taste. Fore! was one of the biggest albums of 1986. This is Classic Rewind. If Huey Lewis and the News don’t qualify for a 1986 Classic Rewind countdown, I’m not sure who does.

Huey wasn’t the only one. Queen’s A Kind of Magic, .38 Special’s Strength in Numbers, Paul Simon’s Graceland, Iron Maiden’s Somewhere in Time, Crowded House’s self-titled debut, and The Smithereens’ Especially for You were all missing from the ballot.

I even tried a write-in campaign for The Rainmakers. I didn’t really expect them to make the countdown, but I had to try.

After all my complaining, I have to give the Classic Rewind listeners some credit.

They got the top two exactly right.

#2 – Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet

#1 – Van Halen – 5150

That’s exactly how I ranked them.

Now, about Huey Lewis…

What did you think of Classic Rewind’s 1986 countdown? What did they get right—and which albums do you think they missed?

Leave a comment below.