Number One Hits in the UK: 1980s

Every song here made it to the number one position on the UK Charts…this is not an all-inclusive lists of every song, just some of the ones we like.

As always the links go to the Blip where we played the song. And as usual Blip may or may not have the song available.

Some songs may not be included on this list if they are on our other lists.

Number One Hits in the UK: 1980’s

19 Jan 1980   –   Pretenders –   Brass In Pocket – band was led by British-based American Chrissie Hynde

23 Aug 1980   –   David Bowie –   Ashes To Ashes – Continues the story of Major Tom from Bowie’s Space Oddity No 1.

15 Nov 1980  –    Blondie –   The Tide Is High – their 5th UK number one, and the last one till their 1999 comeback

7 Feb 1981   –   John Lennon –   Woman

14 Mar 1981   –   Roxy Music –   Jealous Guy – one of the few covers I actually liked

21 Nov 1981   –   Queen & David Bowie –   Under Pressure – this was written and recorded when the two met up at a German Studio

12 Dec 1981   –   Human League –   Don’t You Want Me

6 Feb 1982   –   Kraftwerk –   The Model

29 May 1982   –   Madness –   House Of Fun – this group had 24 hits over their career, 15 of which made it into the top 10

4 Sep 1982   –   Survivor –   Eye Of The Tiger

2 Oct 1982  –    Musical Youth –   Pass The Dutchie – these Birmingham kids, all aged from 11-16, had short-lived success with this Jamaican reggae song

23 Oct 1982   –   Culture Club –   Do You Really Want To Hurt Me

29 Jan 1983   –   Men At Work –   Down Under

9 Apr 1983   –   David Bowie –   Let’s Dance

30 Apr 1983  –    Spandau Ballet –   True

4 Jun 1983   –   Police –   Every Breath You Take – their 5th and last number one

2 Jul 1983   –   Rod Stewart –   Baby Jane – his 6th and last number one hit

3 Mar 1984   –   Nena –   99 Red Balloons

5 May 1984   –   Duran Duran –   The Reflex

2 Jun 1984   –   Wham! –   Wake Me Up Before You Go Go

16 Jun 1984   –   Frankie Goes To Hollywood –   Two Tribes

18 Aug 1984   –   George Michael –   Careless Whisper

10 Nov 1984   –   Chaka Khan –   I Feel For You – Stevie Wonder played the harmonica and Prince wrote the song

19 Jan 1985   –   Foreigner –   I Want To Know What Love Is

11 May 1985   –   Paul Hardcastle –   19 – about the age of US Servicemen during the Vietnam War

27 Jul 1985   –   Eurythmics –   There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)

7 Sep 1985   –   David Bowie & Mick Jagger –   Dancing In The Street – all the royalties went to Live Aid

10 May 1986    –  Falco –   Rock Me Amadeus

11 Oct 1986   –   Madonna –   True Blue

6 Dec 1986   –   Europe –   The Final Countdown

9 May 1987   –   Starship –   Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now

20 Jun 1987   –   The Firm –   Star Trekkin’ – song making fun of Star Trek

29 Aug 1987   –   Rick Astley –    Never Gonna Give You Up – yep, it’s that guy

3 Oct 1987   –   M/A/R/R/S –   Pump Up The Volume – this hit was sued for sampling too much

16 Jan 1988    –  Belinda Carlisle –   Heaven Is A Place On Earth

26 Mar 1988   –   Aswad –   Don’t Turn Around

8 Oct 1988   –   U2 –   Desire – their first number one UK hit

25 Mar 1989   –   Madonna –   Like A Prayer – her 6th number one

There are 38 songs listed.

You might want to check out our one-hit wonder collection lists:

One-Hit Wonders: Popular and Rare

One-Hit Wonders of the 60’s: Popular and Rare

Top Twenty One-Hit Wonders in the UK: 1960-1999

Top Ten One-Hit Wonders of the 90’s

Top Ten One-Hit Wonders of the 80’s

Top Ten One-Hit Wonders of the 70’s

Top Ten One-Hit Wonders of the 60’s

also our number-one hit collections:

Number One Hits in the UK: 1960s

Number One Hits in the UK: 1970s

Number One Hits in the UK: 1990s

also our hit collections:

Canadian Rock Classics

100 Greatest Rock Classics: 1960-1999

Rock Classics: Remembering the Classics…songs that never made our other lists

Rock Classics: Remembering the Classics…songs that never made our other lists : Part Two

Rock Classics: that almost never get played anymore

Rock Classics: that almost never get played anymore: Part Two

Rock Classics: that almost never get played anymore: Part Three

Weird and Wacky Rock Classics: sometimes NSFW