The best year ever

If we wanted to, we could use the 1987 calendar this year, as each day fell on the exact same day of the week. (Obviously, if there's one match and the years in question are both "normal" years or both leap years, all the other days have to match as well). Anyway, 24th August was also Monday back then, which is when new releases come out in the UK, and those included the Depeche Mode single "Never Let Me Down Again" 28 years ago - one of the best songs ever. I wouldn't say that such a treat appearing today is completely impossible, but I do feel that particular year was quite special, and it's not (just) nostalgia, as I was actually too young to appreciate it at the time.


Looking at the big picture, 2 important things come to mind. In Europe, MTV Europe was launched that year, and although it was definitely not flawless, it provided the opportunity for many people all over the continent to discover an incredible amount of music that they weren't previously exposed to through their local media. In the States, this was the year when the (for lack of a better term, let's call it) "alternative scene" finally crossed over to mainstream - R.E.M. released an album that went platinum and included a top 10 hit single, Depeche Mode started a tour that ended in a stadium with a paid attendance over 60,000, and their singles also started to appear on mainstream radio, alongside The Cure, New Order and many others. All these acts started to sell out huge arenas all over the US, with album sales also rising quickly.

Still, however noteworthy these things were, the reason I'm calling 1987 the best year ever is because an incredible amount of artists seemed to be at the top of their game. "Music For The Masses" by Depeche Mode is a fantastic album even by their standards, "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me" shows The Cure at the peak of their creativity, and although I find "Document" by R.E.M. a bit uneven, it's still one of their best. U2's "The Joshua Tree" conquered the world and did so deservedly, "Strangeways, Here We Come" by The Smiths didn't show any signs of a band about to break up, "Actually" by the Pet Shop Boys is not only full of great chart-topping singles but also gems like "King's Cross" (plus resulted in a re-launch of Dusty Springfield's career), "The Circus" by Erasure is one of my favourites from them, and though New Order didn't do a full new studio album that year, the 2 earlier songs re-recorded for the "Substance" compilation ("Temptation" and "Confusion") both beat the originals for me, and the newly recorded single, "True Faith" with "1963" on the b-side (later a single in its own right) would make a strong contender for best combination of 2 songs on one single ever. I don't listen to the widest range of music, so I have to take a look beyond that, but I think it's fair to say that "Faith" by George Michael, "...Nothing Like The Sun" by Sting, "Kick" by INXS, "Bad" by Michael Jackson, "Sign O The Times" by Prince, "Whitney" by Whitney Houston, "Solitude Standing" by Suzanne Vega, "Appetite For Destruction" by Guns N' Roses are all quite well remembered to this very day, and who knows how long this list could go on?