← The Liner Notes
The Year in Music

1986

The songs, the screens, the headlines

That's What Friends Are For by Dionne Warwick — cover art

1986 in music: “That's What Friends Are For” by Dionne Warwick topped the year-end chart; Lionel Richie owned the airwaves.

The sound of 1986

That's What Friends Are For
Dionne Warwick
1986
Say You, Say Me (feat. Jason Aldean)
Lionel Richie
1985
I Miss You
Klymaxx
1986
Broken Wings
Mr. Mister
1986
How Will I Know
Whitney Houston
1985
Party All the Time
Eddie Murphy
1986
Burning Heart
Survivor
1985
Addicted to Love
Robert Palmer
1986
Greatest Love of All
Whitney Houston
1986
Secret Lovers
Atlantic Starr
1986

At the movies

  • Top Gun
  • Ferris Bueller's Day Off
  • Aliens

On TV

  • ALF
  • Pee-wee's Playhouse
  • L.A. Law

Headlines

  • Challenger disaster
  • Chernobyl
  • The Oprah Winfrey Show goes national
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