| The SONG | The ARTIST | The LABEL | The HOURS on top! |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walk Like An Egyptian | The Bangles | Columbia | held over from December |
| Shake You Down | Gregory Abbott | Columbia | January |
| At This Moment | Billy Vera & The Beaters | Macola | January |
| Open Your Heart | Madonna | Sire | February |
| Livin' On A Prayer | Bon Jovi | Mercury | February |
| Jacob's Ladder | Huey Lewis & The News | Chrysalis | March |
| Lean On Me | Club Nouveau | Warner Brothers | March |
| Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now | Starship | Grunt/RCA | April |
| I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) | Aretha Franklin & George Michael | Arista | April |
| (I Just) Died In Your Arms | Cutting Crew | Virgin | May |
| With Or Without You | U 2 | Island | May |
| You Keep Me Hangin' On | Kim Wilde | MCA | June |
| Always | Atlantic Starr | Warner Brothers | June |
| Head To Toe | Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam | Columbia | June |
| I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) | Whitney Houston | Arista | June |
| Alone | Heart | Capitol | July |
| Shakedown | Bob Seger | Capitol | August |
| I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For | U 2 | Island | August |
| Who's That Girl | Madonna | Sire | August |
| La Bamba | Los Lobos | Slash | August |
| I Just Can't Stop Loving You | Michael Jackson | Epic | September |
| Didn't We Almost Have It All | Whitney Houston | Arista | September |
| Here I Go Again | Whitesnake | Geffen | October |
| Lost In Emotion | Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam | Columbia | October |
| Bad | Michael Jackson | Epic | October |
| I Think We're Alone Now | Tiffany | MCA | November |
| Mony Mony "Live" | Billy Idol | Chrysalis | November |
| (I've Had) The Time Of My Life | Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes | RCA | November |
| Heaven Is A Place On Earth | Belinda Carlisle | MCA | December |
| Faith | George Michael | Columbia | December |
Even though the Bangles peaked at #1 in December of 1986, the record was strong enough to give them the "record of the year". The number of weeks at the top do not guarantee that a song will be the strongest of the year..it would depend on the competition for the #1 spot at that moment!