Jimmy Somerville (pictured in 2006) and his group The Communards had the best-selling single of 1986 with their cover of "Don't Leave Me This Way", which spent four weeks at number-one during a nine-week stay in the top 10. Somerville had previously achieved chart success as lead singer with Bronski Beat and would go on to have a successful solo career, but, as of 2021, "Don't Leave Me This Way" remains his only UK number-one single.Actor and singer Nick Berry reached number-one in October with "Every Loser Wins", which became the year's second best selling single. During the summer of 1986, the song featured heavily in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in which Berry portrayed Simon "Wicksy" Wicks.Chris de Burgh scored his biggest hit in 1986 with "The Lady in Red", which spent three weeks at number-one in the UK chart. It went on to become the year's sixth best selling single.
The UK Singles Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling singles of the week in the United Kingdom.[1] Before 2004, the chart was only based on the sales of physical singles.[2][3] This list shows singles that peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart during 1986, as well as singles which peaked in 1985 and 1987 but were in the top 10 in 1986. The entry date is when the single appeared in the top 10 for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).
One-hundred and forty-six singles were in the top ten in 1986. Ten singles from 1985 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while "Cry Wolf" by A-ha and "Is This Love?" by Alison Moyet were both released in 1986 but did not reach their peak until 1987. "West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys was the only single from 1985 to reach its peak in 1986. Forty-three artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 1986. Bon Jovi, Chris de Burgh, Erasure, The Housemartins and Simply Red were among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top 10 single in 1986.
The following table (collapsed on desktop site) does not include acts who had previously charted as part of a group and secured their first top 10 solo single.
Phil Fearon charted under his own name without his group Galaxy being credited for the first time on his number 8 entry "I Can Prove It". Peter Cetera was a member of Chicago from 1967 to 1985, reaching the top 10 with five singles including number-one "If You Leave Me Now". "Glory of Love" was his solo debut hit. Debbie Harry had her only chart entry independent of Blondie in 1986 – "French Kissin' in the USA" reached number 8 in the chart.
A number of songs recorded for charity reached the top 10 in the charts in 1986. The Comic Relief single was a new version of Cliff Richard's "Living Doll" featuring the cast of the television series The Young Ones, peaking at number one on 29 March 1986.
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid, which re-entered the top 10 at the end of 1985, was also in the chart for the first couple of weeks of 1986.
Madonna continued to dominate the UK charts in 1986, achieving a total of six top 10 entries, the most of any artist this year. These included the number-one hits "Papa Don't Preach" and "True Blue".The satirical television puppet show Spitting Image had one of the year's surprise hits with "The Chicken Song", which spent three weeks at number-one in May.Swedish rock band Europe (pictured in 2014) scored their one and only UK top 10 hit in November 1986 with "The Final Countdown", which spent two weeks at number-one.
The following table shows artists who achieved two or more top 10 entries in 1986, including singles that reached their peak in 1985 or 1987. The figures include both main artists and featured artists, while appearances on ensemble charity records are also counted for each artist. The total number of weeks an artist spent in the top ten in 1986 is also shown.
a Released as a charity single by Band Aid in 1984 to aid famine relief in Ethiopia. It peaked at number-one for five weeks in 1984, later re-entering the top 10 in December 1985 for four weeks.
b "Last Christmas" peaked at number 2 on its initial release in 1984. It was reissued in 1985 (with "Blue" as the B-side) and re-entered the top 10 in December that year for four weeks.
d "Wonderful World" originally peaked at number 27 upon its initial release in 1960. It was re-issued in 1986 after being used in a television advertising campaign for Levi's jeans and entered the UK top 10 for the first time.
e "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" originally peaked at number-one upon its initial release in 1969. It was re-issued in 1986 after being used in a television advertising campaign for Levi's jeans.
f Re-released as a charity single for Sport Aid to support famine relief in Africa.
g "Reet Petite" reached number-one in 1986 after being reissued, 29 years after its initial release and two years after Jackie Wilson's death. It originally peaked at number 6 in 1957. This was the longest gap between a song's release and it rising to the top of the charts until Tony Christie's "Is This the Way to Amarillo?" in 2005.
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