POP MUSIC ’86 : BOSS : Springsteen was the year’s blockbuster, but Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon also made personal, passionate and richly satisfying music

It was a boss year in pop music--and not just because of Bruce Springsteen.

There was the usual sludge clogging up the airwaves--hollow, recycled music by such commercially motivated merchants of pop as Boston, the Moody Blues, Bon Jovi, Genesis, Peter Cetera, Ric Ocasek, Billy Joel, Freddie Jackson, Journey, Heart, Daryl Hall, Van Halen, the Pet Shop Boys, Mike + the Mechanics, Iron Maiden, Starship, New Edition and Wham!

Yet rarely have so many best-sellers played so small a role in shaping the year’s musical character. That’s because of a growing network of artists who exhibited an almost heroic disregard for the mass-market restrictions of the record business. They, too, welcome record sales, but not at the price of their musical integrity.

These artists--ranging from international best-sellers like Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon to Los Angeles-based cult favorites like Peter Case and Phil Alvin--shared a vision: richly satisfying, purposeful albums characterized by individuality and personal passion.

The bonus was that an encouraging number of these LPs found an audience. All but one of the collections on my list of the year’s 10 best albums cracked the Top 100 on either the pop, country or black music charts--and seven made it into the pop Top 30.

Ironically, the artist who has been the most persuasive spokesman for the value of personal passion in music over the last decade was the one who came up with the year’s biggest commercial blockbuster: Springsteen.

One of the most dramatic symbols of pop’s increased artistic independence was last June’s six-city “Amnesty International” tour. On one level, the shows represented the continuation of the public-service spirit of 1985’s Live Aid, Farm Aid and “Sun City” projects. Pop stars were once again using their power to rally support--this time in behalf of the human-rights organization.

However, the tour--headed by U2, Sting, Gabriel and Bryan Adams--wasn’t a case of artists simply donating their services for a single day. This tour lasted two weeks, not counting rehearsal time. It was not a move that was widely applauded by pop businessmen.

“This tour came at precisely the right moment,” declared Bono Hewson, lead singer of U2. “There are those in the rock ‘n’ roll business who wish that the doors that were opened with . . . Band Aid and Live Aid would close. They told me, ‘Can’t we just get this charity business over with?’

“But a lot of us want to keep those doors open. Our goal is to have these events not considered big deals anymore, but a routine part of the rock ‘n’ roll life.”

This was a stubbornly radical and doggedly selfish idea: the thought that rock ‘n’ roll isn’t guided by commerce alone.

The suggestion that pop artists can operate on such a principle sounds naive, given the sales-conscious foundation of the record industry. But it was revulsion over the way industry greed rotted the soul of pop in the ‘70s that led to the punk/new-wave uprising in the late ‘70s.

As the movement broadened in America (with the development of bands like Talking Heads in New York and X in Los Angeles), fans also became more demanding. If the major labels wouldn’t sign these new acts, the fans would turn to independent labels (like L.A.’s Slash) that would. If the top-rated radio stations didn’t play the new acts, the fans would listen to college stations and new “alternative” stations that did. This created a new underground that made heroes of artists, both veterans and newcomers, whose only link was a distaste for the big-time formulas.

This adventurous spirit encouraged artists to pursue unexpected but frequently inspiring paths: Phil Alvin’s sabbatical from the Blasters to explore older, blues-related American music forms (“Un’Sung Stories’ ”), former Plimsouls leader Case’s work with delicate and more innocent folk trappings for some remarkably affecting, spiritually accented looks at the nature of contemporary values (“Peter Case”), and Stan Ridgway’s split from Wall of Voodoo to delve deeper into the tension and ironies of his late-night, B-movie narratives (“The Big Heat”).

At the same time, the American rock renaissance of the early ‘80s continued to flourish--both in the development of past heroes (the Meat Puppets and Husker Du) and in the growing acceptance of another layer of bands, including Lone Justice, the Smithereens, David & David, the Georgia Satellites, Timbuk 3 and the Swimming Pool Q’s. From overseas, the Pogues and Woodentops were welcome breaks from the suffocating trendiness of English/Irish imports.

But don’t think only underground rock groups displayed imagination and growth. Eurythmics and the Bangles continued to make sensational Top 40 records, while a wide range of platinum artists--from Lionel Richie and Madonna to Billy Idol--reached effectively for greater critical acceptance. Even James Brown came back with a vengeance in “Gravity.”

The fact that none of these artists made the final 10 on my list (though many of them are cited by other Times pop contributors: see opposite page) underscores just how rewarding a year it was in pop--and how it was possible to get through a year without even touching the sludge.

Here is my list of the most absorbing albums of 1986--records that varied greatly in content and style, but exhibited the individuality and personal passion that characterized the past 12 months.

1. “Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live/1975-85” (Columbia)--It’s easy to take this album’s success--and achievement--for granted. Springsteen could have satisfied his audience by simply reflecting the celebration and commentary of his marathon live shows. Yet he went beyond the traditional concept of a live album to redefine his own artistic vision in this five-record set.

“Live/1975-85” is an epic statement that outlines both Springsteen’s own story--the move from the youthful innocence of his “Born to Run” club days at the Roxy to the socially conscious observation of last year’s stadium shows--and serves as the portrait of a generation; a generation raised on the American Dream and then forced to grapple with the new perimeters of that Dream in a post-Watergate, post-Vietnam age.

Numerous albums have added to the definition of rock laid down in Elvis Presley’s “Sun Sessions,” but none has summarized or, perhaps more appropriately, updated the definition with the clarity, the conviction and the ambition of “Live/1975-85.”

2. Paul Simon’s “Graceland” (Warner Bros.)--It is sobering to think that Simon was a contemporary of Donovan, Herman’s Hermits and the Monkees. And many of the old fans would like nothing better than to see him to hit the road again each year with Artie. But Simon’s work continues to show sharper craft and deeper insight. By using South African musicians on much of the album, he adds a warm and inspiring message to these songs, but the themes are matters of social conscience and personal serenity that have long interested him. A graceful, embracing work.

3. Peter Gabriel’s “So” (Geffen)--Like “Graceland,” this deserves album-of-the-year honors. From the raucous good humor of “Sledgehammer” to the delicate tension of “Don’t Give Up,” this is a masterful blend of pop sophistication and disarming intimacy. Gabriel is also an example of someone who gave up a successful association (with Genesis) to pursue his own artistic instincts.

4. Elvis Costello’s “Blood & Chocolate” (Columbia)--While Costello’s “King of America” was also a contender for the list, “Blood & Chocolate” was a more striking collection--the first Costello album in seven years to offer the consistency, passion, intensity and unbridled arrogance of his classic “Armed Forces.” Someone called “Tokyo Storm Warning,” one of the key tracks, a contemporary “Highway 61 Revisited,” and he may be right.

5. The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Psychocandy” (Reprise)--A strange yet exhilarating blend of strident guitar feedback and ‘60s-echoing pop-rock romanticism (“Just Like Honey” is the best Phil Spector-influenced record since Spector’s own work on Leonard Cohen’s “Death of a Ladies Man”). But the blend was apparently too unsettling for American ears. The album was a Top 10 hit in England, but it didn’t dent the Top 100 here.

6. BoDeans’ “Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams” (Slash)--This Wisconsin band’s influences are too obvious at times, but it’s hard to argue when the roots range from Springsteen and Dylan to Prine and Petty. “Lookin’ for Me Somewhere” is one of the year’s most engaging tracks--a wistful, acoustic expression of loneliness and hope that underscores the fact that this band has a lot more originality and poignancy than the flippant album titles suggests.

7. Steve Earle’s “Guitar Town” (MCA)--This Texan writes great songs about a blue-collar consciousness, but his mix of country and rock musical strains was supposed to be a commercial kiss of death. So it seemed like a minor miracle when the album went to the top of the country charts.

8. R.E.M.’s “Lifes Rich Pageant” (I.R.S.)--The leaders of the ‘80s American rock renaissance step forth with their most accessible and focused collection. The themes are about traditional ideals and values in a time of moral crisis, and the added snap in the music only adds to the urgency of the appeal.

9. Run-D.M.C.’s “Raising Hell” (Profile)--The success of these New York rappers’ remake of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” represented an even bolder fusion of youthful black and white cultures than Prince’s breakthrough in “Purple Rain.”

10. Beastie Boys’ “Licensed to Ill” (Def Jam)--Kiss, Alice Cooper and other parents’ nightmares of the ‘70s were tame next to these white rappers from Manhattan. They bring together rap, punk and heavy metal in a bratty, self-assured package that combines bits of Aerosmith, Run-D.M.C and the Ramones. The language is sometimes disturbing, but the concept and execution are classic in a zany Bowery-Boys-Meet-the-Three-Stooges fashion.