Meanings
- uncountableentertainmentA genre of British rock music most prominent in the late eighties and early nineties, with a lo-fi aesthetic, unconventional instrumentation and romantic lyrics.
From the latest new releases to rare collectables, including indie, punk, grunge, C86 etc.
1999, advertisement for, “www.indiemusic.co.uk”, in CMJ New Music Monthly, page 722 more examples
Ralske, who studied jazz trumpet at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, moved to London around the time the whole C86 scene (with bands like the Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine) was thriving.
1990, SPIN, page 20The same papers that had championed C86 in the middle of the decade then spent years writing off small, pop-oriented bands such as Belle and Sebastian — particularly if they had an air of mimsy or femininity.
2007, Scott Plagenhoef, Belle & Sebastian's If You're Feeling Sinister, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, →ISBN, page 57
Origin
Named after C86, a compilation cassette released in 1986 by NME magazine on which independent rock featured heavily. The album title itself was a play on the labelling and length of blank compact cassettes—commonly C60, C90 and C120—combined with the year 1986.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
C86. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/C86
“C86.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/C86. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “C86,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/C86.
Source: C86 on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.