POP EYE : A YEAR OF UPS & DOWNS FOR RECORD INDUSTRY

1986 was the year of the compact disc.

CD’s have quickly become the industry’s most potent marketing tool in years, bringing older pop fans back into the record stores and prompting millions of consumers to do the unthinkable--buy a second copy of albums they already own. As one industry exec put it: “CD sales are like found money.”

The CD fever disguised the fact that the industry had another mediocre year. Sales were expected to remain at 1985 levels, but profits were up, largely because CDs are priced considerably higher than cassettes or LPs.

Take away the growth spurt credited to CDs and the industry remains in the doldrums. MTV broke less bands than ever before. Worse still, radio--once the industry’s liveliest promotional vehicle--has largely abandoned new music, preferring to concentrate on its “Back to the Future” format. With radio in an oldies fog, most artists who broke the platinum barrier (selling at least a million albums) were pop veterans, with only a few newcomers (Bon Jovi and Run-D.M.C.) attracting a large contingent of new fans.

Record companies are notoriously uncooperative about releasing precise sales figures (especially when it comes to their flops). So this survey concentrates not on sales but on how the industry’s major labels fared on the charts last year. Here’s the lowdown, in alphabetical order, culled from interviews with a number of industry observers (with assistance from Billboard chart wizard Paul Grein).

A&M; Records: Another surprisingly strong year for one of the last of the industry’s independent labels. A&M;’s most pleasant surprise was the huge success of Janet Jackson’s “Control” album, which had four Top 10 singles and went to No. 1 for two weeks in July. The label also had respectable showings with debut artists David & David, its new Police hits package and the “Pretty in Pink” sound track, as well as a platinum album (“Unguarded”) from Amy Grant. (The label’s Simple Minds album was released late in 1985, but continued to sell well through much of 1986.) Disappointments included albums by Joe Jackson and Joan Armatrading.

Arista: Whitney Houston is the franchise here. She was not only Arista’s top-selling act, but the industry’s as well, as her 1985 album reached the 7-million mark (with 5 million of that in 1986). Billy Ocean’s “Love Zone” album reached the 2-million mark, making it his second consecutive double-platinum album. The label also had the year’s biggest-selling single with Dionne Warwick & Friends’ “That’s What Friends Are For.” Disappointments included new albums by the Alan Parsons Project and Krokus as well as a pair of alleged supergroups: GTR (featuring Steve Howe and Steve Hackett) and KBC (featuring ex-Jefferson Airplaners Paul Kantner, Marty Balin and Jack Cassidy).

Atlantic: You have to wonder if Phil Collins has a stock-option plan here. In 1985, his “Face Value” album was Atlantic’s hottest record (with three No. 1 singles), and this year the label got a repeat performance from Collins’ band, Genesis, whose “Invisible Touch” album went double-platinum and hovered in the Top 10 from July through October. The label (through Island) also had a major hit with Robert Palmer, who had a No. 1 and No. 2 single earlier in the year. That’s more than you can say for the Firm’s “Mean Business” album (which barely cracked the Top 20) or Julian Lennon’s follow-up to “Valotte,” which was a sales clinker. Atlantic also tried--without much success--to revive such aging rockers as Peter Frampton, Ted Nugent, Graham Nash, Alvin Lee and Bad Company.

Capitol: It wasn’t a banner year here either. Bob Seger had a healthy comeback with his “Like a Rock” album (which spent 15 weeks in the Top 10). Freddie Jackson also made a respectable showing in 1986. But Tina Turner’s follow-up to her big comeback album hasn’t lived up to expectations, spending only six weeks in the Top 10. The Capitol crew is still hoping to catapult its long-awaited Steve Miller album in the Top 40, and its new Duran Duran single has already reached No. 2 on the charts. But the return to Capitol--after a decade away--of Paul McCartney proved to be a huge flop, with his “Press to Play” album reaching only No. 30, the worst showing of his solo career. The label also saw the chart demise of once-promising artists like Tom Cochrane & Red Rider, Billy Squier and Katrina & the Waves.

Chrysalis: Huey Lewis & the News’ “Fore!” album has already gone double-platinum and spent four months in the Top 10. Billy Idol’s “Whiplash Smile” also managed five weeks in the Top 10, though it will need another hit single to gain mega-platinum status. Despite those successes, Chrysalis was missing a lot of its punch this year, with only meager success from Icehouse and mediocre performance from UFO, Device and the Divinyls.

Columbia: CBS is claiming 1986 as its best earnings year ever--and judging from Columbia’s chart performance, it’s no idle boast. Even if you took away Bruce Springsteen’s new live album--it’s been No. 1 all five weeks its been on the charts--this label still had plenty of solid hits, including a five-week stay at No. 1 for its “Top Gun” sound track and a three-week No. 1 stint for its Barbra Streisand album. The label also broke new groups like the Outfield (which went Top 10 in May) and the Bangles, who had a pair of huge hit singles and are due to crack the Top 10 next week. Other Top 10 honorees were Billy Joel (who spent 11 weeks there), Journey (who went Top 10 for seven weeks) and the Rolling Stones, whose debut Columbia album was actually a minor disappointment, considering the label’s high expectations (and expenditures) for the aging stars. The label also had a respectable Top 20 comeback album from Eddie Money, which helped offset mediocre chart outings by Bob Dylan, Big Audio Dynamite and Elvis Costello.

Elektra: After a slow start, Elektra made some progress in what was billed as a rebuilding year for the label. Newcomers Simply Red had a No. 1 single with “Holding Back the Years,” while Anita Baker enjoyed significant cross-over success with her platinum “Rapture” album. The label also broke rookie-rockers the Georgia Satellites and had respectable sales success with metal-monsters Dokken and Metallica, despite minimal airplay. On the downside, the label had lackluster outings from Linda Ronstadt (whose oldies formula has finally gone sour), Howard Jones and Jackson Browne, whose much-touted “Lives in the Balance” album never made the Top 20.

EMI/America: It was a very lean year for this label, despite the surprise success of the Pet Shop Boys, who had a No. 1 single with “West End Girls.” Ex-Stray Cat Brian Setzer turned in a poor showing, as did Corey Hart, Talk Talk and Sheena Easton, who had a flop single from the sound track to “About Last Night.” In fact, the label fumbled most of its sound tracks last year, including “About Last Night,” “Labyrinth” and “Absolute Beginners.”

Epic: The cash register keeps ringing for Luther Vandross, who had his fifth consecutive platinum album with “Give Me the Reason.” Sade also hit No. 1 in February with her 1985 album, “Promise.” Other high points included a platinum album (“Original Sin”) for PMRC poster-boy Ozzie Osbourne, four straight hit singles for the Miami Sound Machine and a No. 1 single for Cyndi Lauper, whose album spent a respectable six weeks in the Top 10 (and could return later this month). The label also broke R&B; veterans the Fabulous Thunderbirds as well as “Miami Vice” crooner Don Johnson’s debut album. On the sound-track ledger, the label had a hit (with “Rocky IV”) and an expensive miss (with the star-studded “Ruthless People,” which barely cracked the Top 20). Other flops included ELO, Til Tuesday, Joan Jett and Survivor, whose album barely cracked the Top 50 despite the group’s series of hit singles.

Geffen: After a lousy 1985, this label had nowhere to go but up--and it has begun to move in the right direction, helped largely by the enormous (critical and commercial) success of Peter Gabriel’s “So” album, which spawned a No. 1 single (“Sledgehammer”) and spent 11 weeks in the Top 10. The label also broke Wang Chung, which just notched a No. 2 single. Unfortunately, Geffen had its share of disappointments, including a Rick Ocasek solo flop and a mediocre chart performance from the most recent Neil Young album. Newcomers Berlin had a No. 1 single--but the bad news was that it came on Columbia’s “Top Gun” sound track. Berlin’s own album peaked at a lowly No. 61.

I.R.S.: This adventuresome small label rebounded from a forgettable 1985 with a healthy chart success in 1986, due largely to the success of such contenders as Belinda Carlisle and R.E.M. as well as newcomers Timbuk 3, who have a surprise Top 20 hit with “The Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades.” The label also earned some radio exposure for the Fine Young Cannibals, though it had little success with such label favorites as General Public, the Alarm and Beat Rodeo.

MCA: It was another banner year for this revived label, thanks to a trio of No. 1 records from Boston (whose “Third Stage” album went triple platinum), Patti LaBelle (who, like Boston, also had a No. 1 single) and the label’s “Miami Vice” sound track. A pair of the label’s young black stars--Ready for the World and New Edition--also had platinum records last year. The disappointments included lackluster chart performances by Triumph, the Fixx and a live album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Motown: The label’s catalogue is its strength because, after Lionel Richie, the current roster falls off drastically in commercial value. Richie’s “Dancing on the Ceiling” album went triple-platinum, but otherwise it was very quiet at the old hit factory, which had a particularly dismal showing from the once-potent Rick James.

PolyGram: Bon Jovi may sound more like the name of a perfume than a rock band, but the group gave PolyGram the sweet smell of success in 1986, thanks to its No. 1, triple-platinum “Slippery When Wet” album. The label also broke a new band, Cinderella (which had a Top 10 platinum album), crossed-over funksters Cameo (who also went Top 10) and even revived the Moody Blues, who had a Top 10 album and single. Perennial hitsters Rush and Kool & the Gang also sold well, leaving the label with only a few nagging failures, most notably albums by Emerson, Lake & Powell, Big Country and James Brown (whose big hit, “Living in America,” was on Epic’s “Rocky IV” sound track).

RCA: It’s a mixed report card for this slumbering industry giant, which had solid country music success with Alabama and the Judds (who both went platinum), and a huge, surprise hit with Bruce Hornsby & the Range, who had a Top 5 platinum album. The bad news was that newly signed Barry Manilow had the lowest-charting album of his career, Daryl Hall’s highly touted solo record barely cracked the Top 30, and Eurythmics, despite a lengthy tour, went without a Top 10 album or single.

Warner Bros: This was 1986’s heavy-metal label--as in platinum records. A trio of artists--Van Halen, ZZ Top and Madonna--all went triple-platinum, with Madonna scoring two No. 1 singles and ZZ Top’s “Afterburner” spending eight weeks in the Top 10 at the beginning of 1986. Warners also helped engineer major comebacks for Island Records’ Stevie Winwood (who had a Top 10 album and No. 1 single) and Paul Simon, whose “Graceland” also went platinum. The label also enjoyed a lively competition between its Van Halen offshoots, with the Sammy Hagar-led group easily outdistancing David Lee Roth, whose solo album went platinum but failed to register any Top 10 singles. Warners had its share of flops, most notably albums by Chaka Khan (which peaked at No. 67), John Fogerty, Rod Stewart and a-ha , which couldn’t follow-up on its 1985 video success. Even Prince’s “Parade” album, though it did go platinum, was a disappointment, especially considering his big-selling records of past years.