4 No. 1 Ballads From 1986 That Still Hit Hard Today

There’s nothing like a great ballad to cut right to the heart of things. And the 80s were full of them. Whether you’re talking about the power ballads that go for the gusto or the more soulful slow ones that added some restraint, you certainly didn’t have a hard time finding one on the airwaves near you.

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These four songs enjoyed serious success back in 1986, going all the way to the top of the charts. And they also satisfied the ballad-lover in all of us.

“At This Moment” by Billy Vera And The Beaters

We might never have heard this wonderfully soulful effort from Billy Vera were it not for Alex P. Keaton. For those who didn’t live and breathe 80s pop culture, Alex was the character played by Michael J. Fox on the sitcom Family Ties. On an episode of the show, “At This Moment”, which Vera re-recorded for the show’s producers, played over a crucial scene. Soon, people were hounding the network, wanting to know what the song was. To meet the demand, Vera’s original live version of the song was released, and it shot all the way to No. 1. One of the finest songs without any rhymes that you’ll ever hear, “At This Moment” perfectly captures that devastating final moment in a relationship.

“Amanda” by Boston

No band made its audience wait for the goods quite like Boston. Tom Scholz, the group’s songwriter, producer, and general mastermind, often veered a little off-track in between projects. Eight years elapsed between Boston’s second album and Third Stage. As it turns out, Scholz was spending much of the layoff patenting the amplifiers that made his guitar sound so distinctive. When he and the band came back, they accomplished power-ballad heaven with “Amanda”. Aside from Scholz’s piercing guitar tones, Brad Delp also brought the emotion with his lead vocals. Better late than never, as Boston ended up with their first and only pop No. 1.

“Live To Tell” by Madonna

Madonna was already sitting pretty in 1986 as the queen of provocative uptempo numbers. With “Live To Tell”, her versatility started to come to the fore. She had scored a No. 1 ballad earlier with “Crazy For You”, but that’s one that she had no hand in writing. “Live To Tell” was instigated by Patrick Leonard, who had written the music for a film that the producers ultimately rejected. Madonna took over by writing the piercing lyrics. The song eventually found a home in the film At Close Range, starring her then-husband Sean Penn. It’s early evidence that Madonna could flash vulnerability and pathos to go along with more aggressive attitudes.

“Holding Back The Years” by Simply Red

Simply Red latched onto the neo-soul movement that swept through Great Britain in the 80s. And why wouldn’t they, considering they had a vocalist in Mick Hucknall who could belt with the best of them? Hucknall wrote “Holding Back The Years” with Neil Moss, later saying that the tone of the song likely came from the fact that his mother left his family when he was very young. Beautiful as it is, this isn’t the kind of song that feels like a big hit. Consider its languorous pace and muted trumpet solo. And it didn’t do much upon its initial release in 1985. But a rerelease in ’86 worked like a charm, landing it at No. 1 in America.

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