Adam writes… One of the great things about being a full time tour guide is that I get to see people at their best. On their holiday, on their day off, and very often for a family celebration on a private tour. Birthdays and anniversaries are particularly popular. So I’m launching into 2026 with a series of posts for those of you celebrating a Big One this year, starting with a look at 1986. If you’re having a big celebration this year – 40th birthday or anniversary, for example – and would like to make a London Music Tour part of the fun, drop me a line using the form at the end of this post.
In October 2025, Tom booked a tour for his parents’ 50th anniversary.
“An absolutely brilliant tour of Rock n’ Roll London. We went on a private tour with Adam for our parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Not only was Adam a charming and effortlessly knowledgeable guide but he was a lovely company. My parents are massive music lovers but they received a full education on the music they know so well. I personally look forward to going on another London Music Tour with Adam soon. 2.5 hours absolutely flew by, we would have stayed for 2.5 more. Highly recommended.”
T McConnell Google Reviews October 2025
Find more ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Google Reviews HERE.
In the meantime, here are a few musical dates and trivia bits from 1986…
January
4th Phil Lynott dies aged 36
6th Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys born in Sheffield, England
30th The Rock’n’Roll Hall Of Fame holds its first induction ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio. The first inductees were Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and record producer Sam Phillips.
February
25th At The Grammys Phil Collins wins album of the year with No Jacket Required and We Are The World wins both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
28th The NME Awards for 1986 give a snapshot of what we were listening to away from the mainstream. It was a partuicllary good year for The Smiths who scooped Best Single, Best LP, Best Male Singer and Best Group with Morrissey being voted Most Wonderful Human Being. For the full results of what Indie kids were up to in 1986, check out the NME website HERE.
March
11th Sonny Terry dies aged 74
28th Lady Gaga born in New York City
April
R.E.M record their 4th album Life’s Rich Pageant. It will be their most commercially successful album to date and their penultimate with the IRS label
May
3rd At the age of just 13, Sandra Kim of Belgium becomes the youngest ever winner of the Eurovision Song Contest with J’aime la vie. The contest was staged in Bergen, Norway
June
16th June The Smiths third studio album The Queen Is Dead is released on the Rough Trade label. It reached No.2 on the UK Album chart
July
Madonna has her 2nd UK No.1 with Papa Don’t Preach
August
9th Freddie Mercury‘s final performance with Queen took place at Knebworth
28th Florence Welch born in Camberwell, London
September
22nd Billy Bragg‘s Talking With The Taxman About Poetry album is released. It gave him his first Top 30 single (not including EP’s) with Levi Stubbs’ Tears
27th Cliff Burton of Metallica dies in a bus crash aged 24
October
Q magazine is launched
9th Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera opens at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End
November
Now That’s What I Call Music 8 is released. This long-running series of compilation albums was a major feature of the 80s and a hugely popular Christmas gift. Much derided by serious music journos of the time, they now give a terrific snapshot of the period. Here’s what we were listening to in 1986…
December
12th The Smiths play their final gig, at Brixton Academy, South London
Thank You And Goodnight
The following acts split in 1986…
Jazz Fusion giants Weather Report
The E-Street Band (hiatus)
Electric Light Orchestra
The Clash
Men At Work
Thin Lizzy
Madness*
Flock of Seagulls
The Redskins
Wham!
Hello London!
Bands founded in 1986…
Cowboy Junkies
Bros
The Sugarcubes
Jesus Jones
The Lemonheads
Pixies
Manic Street Preachers
Roxette
The Wonderstuff
World Party
The full schedule of London Music Tours can be found HERE.
