365 Albums from 1986 - Side 1

    I was in a little bit of a mental rut at the end of last year as I was recuperating from two hip replacement surgeries. I decided I wanted to set some goals of things to do in 2026. 

    One of those things was to taste and learn about wines (not really going that well, wine is just not my thing). 

    One of those things was to try my hand at gardening (going better, in fact I got my first bloom this weekend on my sunflowers). 

    One of those things was to try and listen to 365 albums from 1986. 

    Why 1986? Well, it's the 40th anniversary for one. It's also the year I graduated HS. It was a great time in life. You'll never get that feeling of freedom again like you did the summer you left HS and stepped out into the world and I wanted to feel a little bit of that again.

    Since my budget did not allow me to buy 365 albums in 1986, and now that my budget allows me to easily afford a monthly music subscription, it just seemed like a fun thing to do, and oh how it has been. 

    I've been posting these daily on Blue Sky (if you're reading this you're likely to be on Blue Sky yourself) and I'm now through a full third of the year. 

    I found a list on wikipedia that's sorted by release date and I've been trying to follow as close as I can to listening to them around the same time this year that they were that year. Certainly for the big albums. 

    But what fun is listening to music without sharing a completely subjective poll that no one will agree with?!? 

    Without further ado, here is my Top 10 list from the 1st four months:

1. Bruce Hornsby & the Range - The Way It Is

2. Jackson Browne - Lives In The Balance

3. Janet Jackson - Control

4. Nancy Griffith - The Last of the True Believers

5. Prince & The Revolution - Parade

6. Van Halen - 5150

7. Chris Rea - On The Beach

8. The Triffids - Born Sandy Devotional

9. Hunters & Collectors - Human Frailty

10. The Blow Monkeys - Animal Magic

    Before this started I would've said that Van Halen would easily be in my year end Top 10. It's been a nostalgic favorite of mine for 40 years. Well, knowing what's still coming, it won't even be close. In fact, I don't think there's an album on this list that's a lock for the final Top 10. There are a lot of great albums still to come. 

    I'm going to do 3 separate lists, each covering a 4 month period, so that I can give as many albums as possible their moment in the sun, and then do a final year end Top 10. 

    So look for my next poll to be at the end of August. It's gonna be a great summer and keep in touch!!! 

April 1983

    Continuing the theme that y'all know by now, I added a some fun things from 1983 last month. I know YOU ARE DYING TO KNOW what they are, so I won't waste time!!

6. Cal Ripken

    I pulled out my binders of the three sets from 1983 to look them over (another newfound tradition that I will do each month to make sure I enjoy them at least once a year) and I was surprised to see that this was the only card I was missing. Set is now complete!

5. O-Pee-Chee Baseball & Hockey Checklists

    This is going to be a monthly thing. Where they'll rank each month will be another story. 

4. Game & Insert cards

    Yes, there were inserts in 1983! Not as flashy or cool as in the years to follow, but inserts still the same. The Bonus Runs from the non-winning game cards were used to send away for the 1983 Send In Glossies, which is one of the finest and most colorful sets Topps ever produced. 

    What I wouldn't give to be able to send away $5 for a full press sheet of 1983 Topps! Why isn't that still a thing? I work in printing and it would be easy and cheap to do. C'mon Topps, bring that back!!!

3. Donruss Ty Cobb Puzzle

    I have a monster box full of oddballs that I haven't looked at in forever. I was reorganizing it a couple of months ago and when I got to the Donruss puzzles I was shocked that this was one of the few I was missing! How could that be? (Now that I have one for the puzzle collection, I feel like I need to add another one for the team collection!)

2. O-Pee-Chee Tigers

    I had a handful already and these complete the team set.

    I never gave it much thought before, but since the backs of the All-Star cards highlight famous All Star Game from days of yore, I added the two that featured games played in Detroit, and the backs are front facing on those in my team set binder. Now I will have to hunt down the Topps versions!

1. O-Pee-Chee "Traded Set"

    The thing I love most about O-Pee-Chee sets are the "Now With _____" cards that show players who have changed teams and how they went about depicting that. Instead on new photos like Topps used in the traded sets, O-Pee-Chee just changed the team designation & colors, leading to some interesting looking cards. 

    While I was shopping for the Tigers O-Pee-Chee needs, I checked out Sportlots for the first time in years. I found a seller who had all of the Now With cards at a very reasonable price. I also tossed in some Expos & Blue Jays to get the full Canadian experience! 

    April was fun, but May hopes to be even funner as I track down stuff from 1984.  Not only was it a great year for the Tigers, but the card output in '84 exploded exponentially and there is a lot of great stuff out there for me to track down. See you next month!