EP. 136 Celebrating 40 albums from 1986 PT. 1

Some years don’t just age well, they keep proving their point. 1986 is one of those years, and I’m celebrating the 40-year anniversary by ripping through 20 albums that still deserve a spot in your rotation. Think of this as a fast, listener-friendly guide to building a killer 1986 playlist, with just enough chart history, release-date context, and personal takes to make each record feel like a real moment again. 

The run starts with rock staples and comebacks like Billy Idol’s Whiplash Smile and Boston’s Third Stage, then pivots into era-defining pop power with Janet Jackson’s Control. From there, I hit the polished hard rock side with Ozzy Osbourne’s The Ultimate Sin, plus the messy but fascinating chapter of the Rolling Stones’ Dirty Work. If you love the way 80s production, radio, and image shaped what we heard, you’re going to have a lot to react to here. 

Then we widen the lens: Bruce Hornsby’s piano-driven The Way It Is, Peter Gabriel’s mega-classic So and its MTV video legacy, Europe’s stadium-sized The Final Countdown, Paul Simon’s global masterpiece Graceland, and Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors. I also dig into how singles stayed “alive” back then, why some bands got tagged unfairly, and how momentum could make or break a career. 

I close out part one with more essential 1986 albums including Ratt, Huey Lewis and the News, Bob Seger, Billy Ocean with a surprising Mutt Lange tie-in, David Lee Roth’s post Van Halen statement, Quiet Riot’s turning point, Steve Winwood, Toto, and a deeper spotlight on Cinderella’s Night Songs. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review, then tell me which 1986 album you want me to cover next.

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Transcript

Welcome And The 40-Album Plan

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hey there, what is up, people? Welcome into the Ben Maynard program. Thanks for being here. It's been a couple of weeks, and I um I forget what it is that I'm doing and how I'm supposed to do it. Uh, this is like take number three. Anyway, oh, it's gonna be fun. If you like celebrating music anniversaries like I do, then this particular episode is right up your alley. Uh, we're going to discuss and celebrate some fantastic albums released 40 years ago in 1986. But before we get into it, as you know, this program is available wherever you get your podcasts, and it's on YouTube. So just search the Ben Maynard program and subscribe. You can also follow me on my socials on Instagram, simply Ben Maynard program, all one word, or on the TikTok. It's at the Ben Maynard program. So there are plenty of ways to take in this show for your dancing and listening pleasure, and away we go. Now, the year is 1986, and in the middle of bright colors, um, high hair and shoulder pads, some great music was released. Um, what I did was I randomly selected um 40 albums to celebrate. Now, 40 is a lot, so what I'm going to do is break it up into two episodes. Remember, uh, a little while back, I was telling you there was something I was working on, but it was uh quite an undertaking. Well, this is that right here. If we did 40 albums in one episode, I'd keep you here all afternoon. And um, I don't want to do that to you. So um, yeah, so we're gonna split this up into two episodes, and today will be the first 20, and then in a couple of weeks, I'll hit you with the um the last 20. So um let me do a couple things here, get this adjusted. There's that right there. For those of you who are watching, I put the banner up for those of you who are listening. Just enjoy the my my my dulcet tones here, I suppose. I don't know. Whatever. Like I said, it's been a couple weeks. I can't remember anything, and uh, I forget what I'm doing here. Uh, all right, so so let's just get started.

Early Rock Picks And Comebacks

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Let's get right into this. The first album is from Billy Idol. It's Whiplash Smile. It was released on October 20th, 1986. It's Billy's third studio album, and it's the follow-up to the highly successful Rebel Yell. It uh it reached number six on the Billboard 200 chart, and it was certified platinum. It had similar success to its predecessor, um, though it it did receive some some mixed reviews by the uh the critics. Um the singles, there were uh there were three singles released on the album, uh To Be a Lover, um, Don't Need a Gun, and what was the third one? It was uh Sweet 16. So uh once again, Billy was teaming up with Steve Stevens on this one, and um the guitar work from Steve Stevens is very evident. He's got a um he's got a signature sound, so you you hear all that. Um, but you can also see that this particular album here was um took on a little more like a a new wave, um, or like uh or a technic uh techno direction. Uh so a little bit different from Billy. In fact, he had a couple of albums where he was he was getting into like some techno punk type stuff um in the uh mid late 80s, that kind of thing. So uh it's it's a really good album. Um and uh that's where we're starting. Now I'm just gonna hit you with a few things on each of these albums as as I present them to you because if I like just covered everything, then forget about it. We would never get through this. So I'm just gonna hit a few things and then uh you know send you on your way. And and my recommendation is grab a pen and paper and jot some of these down because maybe you're gonna want to go out there and buy the album. Maybe you'll want to find it on streaming. Maybe you own some of these albums. Some of these I do own, not all of them, um, though. And so that's why I'm not gonna present you with album covers um just because I don't want to have to go buy a whole bunch of stuff that I don't already own. So uh so I don't want to do that. And um, a lot of you are listening, so what does it matter? If you're watching, then you just get to see my pretty face. All right. So let's let's move on to the next one. The next one is uh we've discussed this one a little bit in the uh in the past, and I just bought it on vinyl um a few weeks ago. It's third stage from Boston, released on September 23rd, 1986, and it's Boston's third album. So we see two two uh uh third album releases uh at right out of the gate here. Uh it's it's though it's their third album, it's kind of considered um uh somewhat of a comeback for uh for Boston because it had been eight years since uh Don't Look Back, which of course was their second album. Uh this one is though it's not um as commercially successful as the first uh two albums, Third Stage does feature Boston's one and only number one hit on the Billboard uh Hot 100 or the top 40, and that was Amanda. That one sat in the number one position for uh two consecutive weeks. The second single, We're Ready, uh it reached number nine, and the third and fourth singles were Cool the Engines and Can't You Say You Believe In Me, which those uh both received massive uh airplay on rock radio, not uh not so much on uh on top 40. It's also Boston's first album to not include original members Barry Goudreau and Fran Sheehan. It's a dynamite album, and it still sold uh over four million um four million copies. So to say it was um a failure, not really, but when you compare it to uh their debut album, which I think sold like 16 million copies, and then the follow-up don't look back, that one I believe sold, I think it was six or eight million. So you can see it was you know definitely not as successful as as those two, but four million in any day, in any age, in any era, four million um four million units sold is tremendous. So there you go with that. All right, uh the third one is the uh follow-up to the debut album. It's the second and final album from the firm entitled Mean Business. This one was released uh in February of 1986. It um uh it features the lineup of Paul Rogers, Jimmy Page, uh Tony Franklin, and Chris Slade. Now, the I uh album title, it it was kind of a double meaning, uh, meaning that the music business is a hard one, and that the firm were actually serious about their music. The firm mean business, you know, that kind of thing. Unfortunately, though, that the the band they split up after a brief tour supporting this record. I guess they kind of just figured that okay, we're done. We we you know, we we set out to do what we what we did, and uh we proved our point and it's over. But I don't know. Um it's uh certainly didn't do as well as the the first album from um from the band. But you know, I still thought it was pretty good. The one single that was released on it, uh, what was that? Um all the king's horses, I think. That one was really, really good. I liked that song a lot. And uh it would have been nice to see a little bit more um from the firm. But that was uh that was it. Okay, so the next one is an absolutely huge, huge album.

Pop Breakthroughs And Rock Controversy

SPEAKER_00 10:26

It's also the third album from this artist. We're seeing a lot of third album releases in 1986, aren't we? At least we are so so far to uh to this point. But uh yes, this is the third album from Janet Jackson. It's control. Absolutely enormous album. This one actually it really put uh Janet on the map. This was her breakout album. It was released in February of 1986, and it contains a lot of autobiographical themes as a result of um uh many changes that were going on in her young life at the time. Um, the singles were um, oh my goodness, what were the singles on this one? Well, the the the the title track. Um what else? The they had um nasty, oh yeah, yeah. Um, what have you done for me lately? The pleasure principle, let's wait a while. So there were you know five singles released off of this album. It was, like I said, it was a huge album. It was all over radio for better than a year, and it sold over 10 million copies. So we've got a diamond album here for Janet. I I don't go deep into Janet's catalog, so I don't know any of her follow-ups as far as what they did, but I'd like to believe that this was probably her biggest her biggest selling album. Um, okay, so next, where are we here? Uh let's see. Oh, yes. The fourth studio album from Ozzie Osborne. I'm gonna do something here so I can see myself, people. Sorry. So you at home watching, you know what I'm doing. Those of you listening, you have no idea. Oh, there we go. Now I can see. Now I can see. Great. So the fourth album from Ozzy Osborne was The Ultimate Sin. It was released in January, January 27th, as a matter of fact. The uh it's the highest charting of all of Ozzy's solo efforts. It reached number six on the Billboard 200. Um, it's it's said to be um Ozzy's least favorite of his solo catalog due to um I would say primarily the slick production of Ron Nevison. Um, but that's what Nevison was known for in um in the 80s. He was known for bringing um hard rock bands, uh more radio friendly sound. It just had a little more polish to it. Um so the the the big single on this one was uh shot in the dark. It was written by bassist bassist, sorry, getting a little tongue-tied, uh Phil Soussan. And this album here reached double platinum status. So um, yeah, uh another great output by Ozzy, though not one of his favorites. And I think in the um in the Ozzy world, too, uh fans probably this was one of their least favorites as well, uh, just because it was a little more heavy on keyboards, and when it came to um videos, you know, you see Ozzy has got uh frosted tips and he's wearing sequin robes and that type of thing. And I think it kind of sort of you know left some of the fan base thinking, what this is like the Prince of Darkness here. But um, anyway, so uh the next one, next one here, what number is this? Oh, see, this we're only on six, we're only on six right now. So it uh it's dirty work from the Rolling Stones. Now, this is not a third album, it's not a fourth album. This is the Stones' 18th album. It's released March 25th, 1986. So let me see. This is 86. The Stones broke what I think it was like 64 is when they broke. So we're what, like 22 years into it, and this is 18 albums for them. And these guys are still going to this day. They're getting ready to release a new album. Uh, they've already got a couple of singles out, and the the only thing uh in question right now is is whether they're going to tour to support the new album. Uh, it's said that nothing is happening this year, but maybe um maybe next year. So we'll we'll see what happens. But anyway, this one, um this one here, dirty work. It's it was recorded during a very uh tumultuous time. There was a lot of turmoil going on uh between uh in the relationship between Mick and Keith. Um they were kind of going in opposite directions. This was not a good time for the band. Uh Charlie Watts uh was minimally involved in the recording of it as he was dealing with um alcohol and heroin addiction at the time. Um there were a couple of singles off of the album. The first one was one hit to the body. That's a good song. I really like that song. And then um uh Harlem Shuffle, another one, another good tune. Uh the album did go platinum, which was not um not unusual for the Stones. I mean, these guys could probably um just uh uh you know do anything. As I've said before, during like the the 70s and and and the 80s, that heyday, you could just fall out of bed and sell a million copies. So though uh though a lot of uh you know it wasn't really well received by the critics, um it still went platinum. Okay, um, what do we got next?

Massive 1986 Hits Across Genres

SPEAKER_00 17:09

Got next here the debut album. Uh sorry, messing everything up here. The debut album from Bruce Hornsby and the Range, The Way It Is, released in April, April 24th to be exact. Uh I'm not uh I I was gonna say 1986, but we already know we're talking 1986, right? So I don't need to always give the year. But uh it was led by the the hit title track, which was a smash hit. Um I think that one, did that one go to number one, or maybe it went to number two? I can't recall. But um the other hits, other hits off of this album included Mandolin Rain, Every Little Kiss. The album reached multi-platinum status, and the band happened to win uh Grammy for the best new artist in at the 1987 Grammy Awards. Um so this, I really, really enjoy this album. It was a little something, it seemed, it seemed anyway. It seemed though it was a little something different at the time of its release, but it was just so good. Really, really loved it. It's um um I don't know, it's just you can put it on and just kind of relax. Um sit sit out in the backyard in a chair and uh you know, just you know, take it in. It's just really, really good. I love the piano work on it. Um and uh I don't think that the I don't think that Bruce Hornsby tours with the range so much anymore. I think it's I think he's just pretty much like a solo artist now. But um he had a good go of it there in the mid to to late 80s. So next we have the fifth studio album from uh uh from Peter Gabriel. It's titled So. It's the biggest album of Peter's solo career. Actually, it's his the biggest album in his career, period. Um this album went five times platinum. Huge, huge album. Um critically acclaimed by by the the music industry, by the rock critics, everybody loved this album. The the lead single, Sledgehammer, reached number one on the hot one hundred. It was also accompanied by an incredibly innovative video that won nine, a record, nine MTV uh video music awards. There were four more singles that would follow. Don't give up, big time. Love that song. Such a cool song. Uh, and it has a has a big video to it as well. Uh In Your Eyes, everyone knows that one. And I uh when you hear that one, makes you want to grab your boom box and hold it up over your head in the rain, right? Um, and then the song Red Rain, another, another really, really good song. That one uh was more uh played on rock radio, but you've got you know four or five, I'm sorry, five uh big singles off this album, huge album. Um, yeah, Peter would never um uh reach this level sales-wise on an album again, but um fantastic album and uh just uh a classic one from the uh from the 80s. Okay, so next, the final countdown from Swedish Rockers Europe. This one launched the band into uh mainstream popularity. It's their third album. I didn't even know that when it was uh when it was released, when it had come out. I had no idea it was their third album. I just thought these uh new on the scene. Um this one was a released in May of 1986. It peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200, and this was a massive album with big memorable songs. Um uh Cherokee, the ballad Carrie, and of course the the enormous title track, The Final Countdown, the songs played everywhere, sporting events. Um there were there was even a television commercial. Uh featuring this song and the band too. I'm trying to remember. I think it was one of the auto insurance companies. Might have been Geico or Progressive, something. I don't know. I shouldn't even be plugging those people. But huge album. The band is still making albums and touring to this day. They are huge overseas. But uh and and then of course their sound, they've gotten a little a little heavier as um as the years have gone gone by. But uh yeah, they're still huge in uh Europe. But um yeah, good stuff, huge album. I still remember that, and I love I love that uh that title track on it. It's fantastic. Uh so released in August, August 25th, to be exact, is Graceland, Paul Simon's seventh studio album as a solo artist. Um it became an international smash. The biggest single was the song You Can Call Me Owl. Everyone remembers that song. Everyone remembers the video with uh uh Chevy Chase was in it. Now, the album, this is how big it was. The album sold over 16 million copies worldwide. Um, its success was due to the um the eclectic sounds and uh the South African stylings. Um, it went on to win the 1987 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It was just a huge album. Obviously, um Paul Simon's biggest album, uh, whether it was with Simon and Garfunkel or um as a solo artist. Huge, huge, huge. The uh the second album from Cindy Lopper, True Colors, was released on September 25th. Uh big videos, big songs, and make this the second biggest selling album in her catalog. It has uh it had three successful, very successful singles: Change of Heart, uh, the title track True Colors, and also a cover of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. It went uh it went on to be certified uh two times platinum. Um and it earned uh it also earned two Grammy nominations. Um yeah, big videos for this uh for this album as well. I remember I can't remember what what song it was. I remember seeing in Vegas uh on television. It was on MTV in my Vegas hotel room um back in November. So the album had been out for a couple of months. Um it was probably Change of Heart, because I think that was the that was the single at the time. And Cindy had crimped hair. I had no idea, I'd never seen hair like that before. And then all of a sudden you start seeing other women and girls with their hair crimped, and you start seeing crimpers. Come on, ladies, you know what those are, right? Dudes, we have no idea, we have no clue what those are, but I thought it was uh yep, unique, different. Um that's what I remember. So yeah, and I think Cindy, I think she has finally like wrapped up her um her career as far as uh as far as touring and performing live. I think that I think she did that was that last year, or maybe it was earlier this year. Let me take a sip of water real quick, okay? I'm getting a little dry here. Okay. The next one, we're already up to 12. This is great. This is great because uh um we'll make good time on this. You guys can get on with your business, and um you can start going out shopping for some of these albums. That's the thing. I want to give you a lot of time to do

Ratt And MTV Staying Power

SPEAKER_00 26:44

that. Whether you start to shop online or you go to hit the your local record store, whatever it is, um, and and you start adding these to your uh to your music catalog. Uh so in also September, September 24th, uh hard rock band Rat releases their third studio album. Again, another third album. It's uh Dancing Undercover. This would be um the band's third album in three years. Their debut, I'm not counting, they have it, they have an EP that was released um in the early 80s, uh, but I'm not counting that one. We're talking about full-length studio albums. Um this is the third one in three years. They had their debut in '84, they had their follow-up um in uh in '85. And now this is '86. And they um they uh they bring us dancing undercover. This would also become Rat's third platinum album, three in a row. Um, when the second single, Body Talk, was uh was released in January of 87, the video for the first single, Dance, that's my favorite song, was still in heavy rotation on MTV. And this is what I've talked about in the past, where uh records and songs had just had staying power because radio would get behind them, record companies would get behind them, and they would push the music, they would support it. And so you're seeing, you know, six months after the first single is released, the second single is released, and the first one is still, you know, as far as the video uh goes, still in heavy rotation on MTV, and we know how huge MTV was at the time. They were huge in 1986. Um the the band was so prolific and honestly so good. They really uh in my in my opinion, they don't get the um they don't they don't get the credit they deserve. There's a lot of comparisons made between them and Motley Crew, and not necessarily in their sound, but kind of in in um their uh their path, I suppose. You know, um unlike Motley Crue, Rat's um dysfunction and internal drama, it didn't serve them well. Now for Motley Crue, it did. They were able to capitalize on all of that and become huge. Well, it didn't didn't work out like that for rat. And um uh uh you know, in my opinion, I think that their material is equal to or even better than Motley Crue. Um, you know, my opinion. And I think that if you if you A B those two bands uh and their their songs and their singles, I mean, rat should be right up there as far as popularity, draw, um, success, all that type of stuff, right there with uh with Motley Crue. But like I said, that all that dysfunction didn't really help them out too well. And there was, you know, been multiple lineup changes and and all that kind of thing. And um it's it's unfortunate, and it's just it's just where they are, but uh fantastic band and uh fantastic songs. And again, my my favorite off of that dancing undercover album is Dance. Great song, look it up, just just look it up. It's so good. It's got just a really cool groove, and uh I just I dig it. Uh all right, so next we have four, not as in the number four, as in four, you know, like on the golf course.

Radio Favorites And Producer Trivia

SPEAKER_00 31:18

It's the fourth album from Huey Lewis and the news. It was released uh August 20th. Uh now this album had five top ten singles. The first being Stuck With You, the next being Hip to Be Square. Such a good song. They're all good, actually, but you know, there's certain things uh, you know, I just certain songs stick with you a little bit differently. Oh, they stick with you as in Stuck With You, right? Yeah. Um, so uh Hip to Be Square being the second, Jacob's ladder, great song, great song. I think that one, um that one was, I think, co-written by um Bruce Hornsby, I think. These guys are all buddies, they're all from like the Northern California Bay Area, and uh they're all buddies, and I think that one was was it was either intended for Bruce Hornsby or it was written by Bruce Hornsby, I can't recall. Uh so we got Jacob's Ladder, uh I Know What I Like, and Doing It All For My Baby. The album was uh certified three times platinum, and it peaked at number two on the Billboard uh 200. I still like the sports album a little bit better, but man, this album here four is so good. There's just no way around it. These guys uh were were firing on all cylinders, and uh they were they were at their peak, you know. Huey Lewis and the news, great, great musical talents, great band. Um next, the album Like a Rock is the 13th studio album from Bob Seeger and the Silver Bullet Band. It was released March 27th. Um, and it features a live cover of the Credence Clearwater Revival hit uh Fortunate Sun. Um, but the really big song on it is the title track, Like a Rock. It's a great song, and it's best known for, come on, you guys know this. It's best known for uh being featured in Chevy Truck commercials in the 90s and the early 2000s. Go back and look. Um I think from what I recall, Bob was really he never wanted his music to be um um played in commercials, that kind of thing, wasn't really into it. However, he agreed to this deal with Chevy because it was an American uh automobile company, and you know, GM is out of Detroit. Bob is a uh Michigan guy, Detroit area guy. So, you know, he thought he'd just throw his support behind uh behind Chevrolet, and there you go. So um not one of the more popular though, even though I had a big song on it, but not one of the more popular albums from uh Bob Seeger and the Silver Bullet Band. And you know what's a shame is I never got to see never got to see Bob Seeger live. That would that would uh that would have been something. Yeah. Always a lot of energy, great songs, good stuff. I uh you know what can I say? I can't turn back the clock, although I'm trying to, right? Going down this road 1986, I kind of am trying to turn back the clock. Um, the next one is the sixth album from British singer Billy Ocean. It is Love Zone. Billy Ocean, I remember that dude, Caribbean Queen. This album here uh has been certified double platinum just on the strength of three huge singles. The number one single, There'll be sad songs to make you cry. Come on, you guys know that one. It's a sappy one. It is so good, though. I love all that stuff. I really, really do. I'm just uh, you know, cut me open, and the sap just pours, pours out. Uh the top 10 title track in the love zone. You don't have to be alone. Okay, everyone's the the the uh the phones, the computers, everyone's clicking off right now. So I'll stop. I'll stop. And uh the number the number two single when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I'll bet you didn't know this though, because I didn't. I didn't know this until I started to look it up. But uh I'm sure some of you out there are familiar with the name Mutt Lang. Robert John Muttlang. Huge, big-time record producer. And and actually, one time he was married to Shania Twain. That was in the uh, I think that was in the 90s. But and he was behind her huge success as well. Um but huge producer in in the music business, uh mostly for rock, and that's what makes this one kind of surprising. He um he co-wrote the song, um uh When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going. He co-wrote that song and produced it as well. Uh the thing about the thing about Mutt Lang, and he's worked with so many um so many artists. Uh I mean he for ACDC, he produced um he produced the Highway to Hell album, he produced Back and Black. I think he even produced For Those About to Rock. I can't remember. I don't recall, but produced ACDC. And and and look, when when Mutt Lang produces your album, it's usually a huge album. It usually ends up being enormous. He produced three albums from Def Leopard, uh, the High and Dry album, the Pyromania album, 10 Million Seller, and the follow-up to Pyromania, Hysteria, 10 million seller. Two diamond albums, Mutt Lang. He produced uh the Foreigner 4 album, huge album in the Foreigner uh catalog, and we're gonna be talking about that one coming up on a coming up later, not today, but uh I think coming up next week we'll be talking about that one. Uh, what else did he produce? He worked with Brian Adams, co co-wrote with Brian Adams, produced Brian Adams. Um, I'm trying to remember what album it was. Was it Waking the Neighbors? I think it was. I think it was Waking the Neighbors. I actually worked with him a couple of times. Um Lover Boys, Lovin' Every Minute of It. Uh, just just huge, huge stuff. Big artist, huge albums. Mutt Lang. I was, like I said, I was shocked to see uh his name on there. So I thought I'd throw it out there. I thought that was a neat little a neat little bonus here. Uh all right. Let's see what do we have here? Oh yes.

Big Personalities And Band Transitions

SPEAKER_00 39:45

This one just celebrated 40 years uh earlier this week. It's the full-length debut solo album from David Lee Roth, Eat Them and Smile. It was released on July 7th. And yes, he had the EP beforehand, so this is a full-length album. Okay. Um this one here, uh, as I said, just released earlier this week. Uh, two of the album's original songs were its biggest hits. The first one being Yankee Rose, which was released um before the album's release. I want to say like a uh a week or two. It's uh it's kind of uh a tribute to uh the Statue of Liberty, and um um that one broke into the uh Billboard Top 40. That song there um at the time in 1986, well, I think the Statue of Liberty was uh 100 years old or something, and they were kind of celebrating Statue of Liberty at that time as well that was going through refurbishing and and that kind of thing. So Dave here, you know, writes a song kind of uh in tribute to the old Yankee Rose herself. Um, but that one, like I said, broke into the top 40. Um, I think it hit number 38, I believe. Um the other tune, Going Crazy, reached uh it only peaked at number 66 on the Hot 100. Uh, but both these songs had huge videos on MTV, and the album was certified platinum. Um, so it it's it's I think it's Dave's biggest album in his solo career. Um, the follow-up being skyscraper, that was the next year, and then I think Dave took a little time off, like three years, four years before releasing another album. But um, yeah, this one is like a memorable album. It's um good album, great band featuring um Steve Vai on guitar, Billy Sheehan on bass. If you guys hear that noise in the background, that dinging, I apologize. It's coming from the laptop. Um, you know my buddy Raul. Yeah, he's texting me and my other buddy, Larry Reedy. So uh, yeah, so if you hear that, I apologize. I turned the ringer off on my phone, but I can't shut it off on the laptop. Anyway, so where was I? So we had uh we had Steve Vai on guitar, Billy Sheen on bass, and with Greg Bissonet on drums for the the DLR band. Um great album. And the time, at the time that that that album was released, remember Dave had just left Van Halen the year before, or was fired, or whatever you want to call it. He either quit or they fired him, or it was a mutual uh separation, whatever it was. But Van Halen was what was was putting out an album in 1986. That's the 5150 album, and I'm saving that one for part two of this uh of this journey, you know, celebrating 40 albums, uh uh 40 albums uh from 1986. But um anyway, so they were kind of like, you know, there was kind of this this competition, one to see who could have the better album, the better tour, all that kind of thing. So yeah, really cool stuff. Just uh a great album, you know. Like I said, a great time for uh for music as well. Um, so let's see. So Quiet Riot. You guys remember Quiet Riot? Come on, feel the noise, you know, bang your head, mental health will drive you mad, that kind of thing. Quiet Riot's fifth studio album was titled uh Quiet Riot 3, or some people called it QR 3. Now, the reason why it's three is because they had two, this was like their their third American release. They had two previously previous releases, previous to their uh American debut, Metal Health. Uh those were on Japanese labels, and they were uh not available in the United States except for imports. So this one here is their is their fifth studio album, but in America it's considered their third. It was entitled, like I said, QR3. The album itself reached uh only 31 on the Billboard 200 chart. Um and it failed to even reach gold status for the band. There were no singles, and at this point, the band, you see the band they're really starting to come apart at the scenes. They had huge success with um their American debut, Metal Health. Number one song, Come On, Feel the Noise. Uh, a great follow-up, uh Bang Your Head. And then the follow-up album uh to that was Critical Condition. Not the success of Metal Health, but still it had moderate success. Um, but then there was infighting with the band, Kevin DuBrot, lead singer of the band at the time, uh, just really would like he just he couldn't help himself. Couldn't help himself. He was always shooting his mouth off about one thing or another and just really turning off a lot of people, turning off fans, turning off people in the in the industry, that kind of thing. And so you really start to see the band uh on a downward trajectory at this point, which is kind of sad, um, really, um, just kind of getting into it. And as they're getting their stride, they're also tanking. So um kind of sad, kind of sad, but we've seen that before. Seen that before. Um, and actually, there was another band at the same time kind of going through the same thing, and uh we won't get into it right now. Um, maybe some other time, that band being uh Twisted Sister, kind of doing the same thing. Anyhow, moving on, uh released on June 30th, back in the high life from Steve Wynwood. It's uh his best selling solo album. I think it's his, I think it was the third one. No, it's his uh his fourth, his fourth solo album. But it's his best selling solo album. It reached triple platinum status. Um, the album won three Grammys, and it generated five singles. Uh, it began with um uh higher love, bring me a higher love with a little shock of con on that one, doing some background vocals. Yeah, great song, great song, great album, too. So higher love, that one actually went to number one. Uh Freedom Over Spill, Finer Things, uh Split Decision, and then of course the uh the title track back in The High Life. It's a fantastic album. Uh not only in my well, not only Steve, Steve Wynwood's biggest selling album, but in my opinion, his best solo album as well. Just fantastic stuff. Fantastic. Okay. Uh, next up is the sixth. The sixth album. This one comes from one of my favorite bands, Toto. The album is Fahrenheit. It was released on August the 20th. And this is the first um, the first studio album to feature Joseph Williams on lead vocals. This was after the departure of Fergie Frederickson. Uh, he was fired just uh upon completion of the isolation tour in 1985. Uh, Joseph Williams, son of composer John Williams. Yes, that John Williams, the theme from Star Wars, Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Um, just to name a few. I'm trying to remember some of the others. Um, anyway, but you guys know John Williams. Huge, huge, huge, huge. Hang on, something's on my screen here. Let me get it off. So it's not distracting me. It doesn't distract you because you don't see it, but I do. Anyway, so yeah, that's where Joseph Williams comes from. And um, this is the last album to feature uh keyboardist Steve Picaro. Uh, it was until the Toto 14 album. There were two top 40 singles, I'll be over you, which reached number 11, and without your love, which just broke into the top uh the the billboard top 40 at number 38. Um the the album would only reach gold status. That's uh um, you know, that's the the sad part about it, but um, you know, it's it's a it's a great album, you know. Uh Joseph Williams has done a great job as a lead vocalist for Toto over the years. Um, and uh I love his voice. Love his voice. And you guys, you know, you you've heard me talk about it before. Uh the fantastic musicianship from the members of Toto. Um still out there doing it, still touring. I think they're touring this summer with uh the Romantics. You guys remember The Romantics? It's a it's a three-band bill. The Romantics, um Christopher Cross, and uh, and then Toto. So uh it'd be nice to go see that show. They are playing here locally, but I just don't know if I'm gonna be able to make it. Um, but we'll see what happens. You never know. And actually, they're playing, they're playing at a brand new amphitheater that just opened last month. Brand spankin' new amphitheater in in uh Long Beach. Yeah. And I love Long Beach. Anyway, um, so last but not least, can you believe

Cinderella Night Songs And Image

SPEAKER_00 51:35

it? We already hit number 20. Cannot believe it. But this album, again, a fantastic debut album by one of uh really one of my faves, one of my favorite bands. Uh, seen them multiple times live. Unfortunately, they're no longer together. But if you want to see this music played, then you go see their lead singer. Um that that lead singer would be Tom Kiefer, and you go see the Tom Kiefer band because Tom Kiefer wrote all the songs, played lead guitar on most of those songs. But uh, but the debut album for Cinderella entitled Night Songs. Like I said, a great a great album. Not just a great debut album, just a great album, period. Um the album itself reached number three on the uh on the Billboard um 200 chart in February of 1987. So really like six seven months, seven months uh after release, you see that album had just worked its way up the charts. Um on the strength of some great songs and um some great videos. Uh the lead single Shake Me did not did not break the top 40, but the follow-up single, but they had a great video to it anyway. But the follow-up single, Nobody's Fool, that one reached, I think it was number 13. Um, they had a third uh single, Somebody Save Me. That one uh only reached number 66, but um, but the videos, the videos for those songs, um, you know, just in regular rotation on MTV. Uh again, MTV huge at the time. And so the breakthrough single up for this one was of course nobody's fool with a uh a tremendous video. You know, the band themselves, they got um, they got kind of well, if you guys remember during 85, 86, actually, really from like about 85 through the rest of the 80s, there was this uh quote unquote hair metal or um you know hair band tag put on a lot of these bands. And um really it was unfair. Uh that was just that was just the look, that was the style of that era. That's all it was. But these bands were being uh touted as style over substance, and some of them took a big hit um for it, but that came later on during this time. Um, that like I said, that was just the look. The one turnoff with this album is the album cover. It's got the band, they're all in spandex and their hair's about this high, and you know, they they look of the time, but remember, a lot of a lot of people will judge a book by its cover, or will judge the musical content of an album by its cover. And you know, that that happened a little bit. This was a huge album for for the band Night Songs, huge album, like I said, great stuff, great material on this album, great musicianship, uh, everything. This album album has it all. It it went uh triple platinum, so it did not fail in any in any str uh you know uh any measure at all. But um, because of that album cover, when the band released their follow-up, Long Cold Winter, there are no pictures of the band on uh on the uh front or back cover of the album at all. It's a white cover with the band logo, uh, the band name, the band logo, and the title of the album. That is all it is. And um, you know, rightfully so, because they wanted people to hear the music and not you know eat with their eyes, so to speak. So um this, like I said, Cinderella's always been a tremendous band. Uh, they always were. Uh, they only have four albums in their catalog, but I have always compared them to I've told people, you know, when Cinderella, what? Cinderella, oh yeah, that hair band. No, no, no, no, no, no. Stop, stop, and listen. And I have said that if you like ACDC, you'll like Cinderella because it's uh just a hard, bluesy rock. And uh now with ACDC, they kind of have a signature sound, they don't they don't change a whole lot in direction. Cinderella is different, but if you like that blues-based hard rock, crunchy guitar, all that good stuff, then you will like Cinderella. And uh just a tremendous band, tremendous album, great songs, great musicianship. Tom Kiefer not only uh just very accomplished, uh not only plays guitar, plays piano, plays the saxophone, you know, that kind of stuff. And so just really good stuff. But um yeah, we're gonna leave it right there.

Part Two Preview And Subscriptions

SPEAKER_00 57:43

Our first 20, 20 down and 20 to go. I hope you guys enjoyed this. Uh, if you didn't get out your pen and paper, then you're gonna have to like rewind this episode and start it again. Um, but this is good stuff. And um I I look forward to to following it up with the uh last 20. We're gonna get into that. Um, probably not next week. I've already got two guests lined up for next week. So I'm uh should be getting two episodes out to you next week. Um and then uh maybe the following week, we'll see about that. Remember, I told you uh I told you guys a couple weeks ago that uh about about uh Michael T. Ross um and and the episode we tried to record and just couldn't get it done due to some technical difficulties. Well, Michael reached out to me and he was like, hey, can we get something done this week? So uh so who knows? We'll see. Uh we'll see if we get Michael back in. Uh, like I said, next week will be um should have two two episodes, and then uh we might get Michael in the following week. Who knows? But I'll get part two back to you guys. Got a lot of work to do on it. Uh, there's gonna be some fantastic stuff. I already have all the albums picked out. I I randomly selected all 40 albums, but I needed to split it up 20 and 20, and I think that's fair to me, and it's fair to you, really. I need to look out for you more than anything. So um, yeah, so there you go. So we'll have some fun, some more fun with it when we get back into it next time. Um, yeah, so anyhow, look, as you guys know, this this program is available wherever you get your podcasts, and it's right here on YouTube as well. So just search the Ben Maynard program and do me a favor, subscribe, please. All right. Uh then you can go and follow me on my socials, on uh Instagram. It's simply Ben Maynard program, all one word, or on the TikTok. It is at the Ben Maynard program. I thank you guys for spending some time with me. This was fun. Hope it was fun for you too as well. I will see you guys soon. Be good to each other, all right? This is the Ben Maynard program. Tell a friend.