Songs In Stereo - 1986 Trivia Quiz

Two songs on the Billboard Hot 100 for 1986 mentioned America. John Cougar Mellencamp gave us "Rock In The U.S.A.". James Brown released "Living In America" for the movie soundtrack for "Rocky IV". Not only did the Godfather of Soul release his first big hit in years, James Brown appeared in the boxing film performing the song as a hype track for Apollo Creed.

In 1986 they were called Miami Sound Machine. In future releases, Gloria Estefan's name was on the marquee and cover of the albums. "Conga" is a traditional Cuban dance and the Estefans grew up in Cuba before settling in Miami. "Conga" was the 40th biggest hit of 1986.

"Rock Me Amadeus" was a parody song in 1986 that imagined Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a modern day rock star. Falco sang the song in his native language, German, along with mixing in English words. "Rock Me Amadeus" finished as the 28th biggest hit of 1986 on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart.

Prince released his second motion picture in 1986. "Under The Cherry Moon" wasn't as successful at the box office as "Purple Rain", but the soundtrack's big single, "Kiss", became one of the most successful charting songs of Prince's career. This would be the last album Prince released with his band, The Revolution.

The music video for Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" was a powerful demonstration of the claymation. It won the MTV Video Of The Year and is typically listed among the top five music videos of all-time. Peter Gabriel was the former lead singer of Genesis. "Sledgehammer" was the 23rd biggest single of the year on the Billboard Hot 100.

Movie soundtrack hits were dominating the music charts in 1986. Two hit songs from Tom Cruise's "Top Gun" ended up on the Billboard year end chart. Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" finished number 27. And sitting at number 42 was Kenny Loggin's rocking anthem, "Danger Zone". Kenny's soundtrack hits included "Footloose" and "I'm Alright" from "Caddyshack".

I just couldn't show a picture of a bird's broken wing so hopefully you recognized the plane's broken wing. Mr. Mister had two of the biggest hits of 1986. "Kyrie" and "Broken Wings" each ended on the year-end countdown, ending up at as the ninth and fifth biggest song respectfully. Mr. Mister is often described as a "Two-Hit" wonder.

In 1969, "Venus" was originally released by Shocking Blue, a band from The Netherlands. The dance hit was reinterpreted by a UK girl group called Bananarama and became one of the biggest songs of 1986. Before they released the song as a single, Bananarama had been playing their cover in their live shows.

They got together with a production trio, Stock Aitken Waterman, who turned it into a dance song.

"Oh what a feeling, dancing on the ceiling", I'm not sure how anyone could live up to those groundbreaking lyrics but it was a huge hit for Lionel Richie. It was a huge year for the former lead singer of the Commodores. "Love Will Conquer All" came in at number 99 for the year and "Say You, Say Me" was the second biggest hit of the year.

Prince wrote "Manic Monday" under the pseudonym "Christopher", a name of his character in "Under The Cherry Moon". The song was given to all-woman rock group, The Bangles. It was released on their third album, "Different Light". The Bangles were popular but the single along with "Walk Like An Egyptian" pushed their popularity to the band's peak.