Remembering C86

C86 was a cassette tape compilation released by the British music weekly New Music Express (NME) in 1986 featuring bands like Primal Scream, The Pastels, The Shop Assistants, The Wedding Present, The Mighty Lemon Drops and many more. The name references cassette tapes at the time that came in lengths like C90 and C120. The compilation covered a popular guitar rock style at the time known by different names such as Twee, Cutesy, Jangly Pop and later C86 after the tape. The tape was supposed to be representative of the British music scene of the time and in that sense it failed from a complete lack of diversity. However as a representation of some of the best bands of a specific genre it remains an important document. Without C86 it's hard to imagine the success that Belle & Sebastian would later have or current favorite The Pains of Being Pure of Heart. So if you like your rock nerdy and sensitive you can do much worse than this compilation.