In the mood for some niche, somewhat forgotten pop hits from 1986? These four songs made it far on the charts decades ago, but today, many listeners don’t remember them. Let’s change that, shall we?
“Digging Your Scene” by The Blow Monkeys from ‘Animal Magic’
This sophisticated and soulful pop jam has just the right amount of jazz elements to stand out. It’s no wonder “Digging Your Scene” by The Blow Monkeys was a hit back in the day, but it’s strange to me that it isn’t as popular today as other hits from that era.
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The sophisti-pop classic “Digging Your Scene” by The Blow Monkeys peaked at No. 12 in the UK and No. 14 in the US.
“Your Wildest Dreams” by The Moody Blues from ‘The Other Side Of Life’
This Moody Blues classic is so beautiful, it’s hard not to get sucked in by those glittering synths and that melodic rhythm. I’d be bold enough to say that this song is one of the group’s finest, considering how ahead of its time it sounds.
“Your Wildest Dreams” by The Moody Blues was a pop-rock hit in 1986, peaking at No. 9 on the Hot 100 and topping the Adult Contemporary chart.
“Sweet Freedom” by Michael McDonald from ‘Sweet Freedom’
Michael McDonald mixed 80s pop, R&B, and adult contemporary sounds into one song and made it sound easy. “Sweet Freedom” got its flowers back in the day. But it’s weird to me that this song would be considered obscure by most people’s standards today.
“Sweet Freedom” by Michael McDonald peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100 chart. It did similarly well on the Adult Contemporary and Dance charts.
“True Blue” by Madonna from ‘True Blue’
Nothing Madonna has ever put out there could truly be forgotten, but this entry on our list of pop hits from 1986 has fallen out of classic radio rotation in favor of enduring hits from that time like “Papa Don’t Preach” and “Material Girl”.
“True Blue” was a decent global hit for Madonna in 1986. The bubblegum pop tune peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 chart. It also reached No. 1 on the UK Singles chart.
Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
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