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:
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
About adminFormer Freehand Freelance Graphic Illustrator... been online since 2004 ( late starter ), blogging since 2005, presently writing a suspense-thriller e-book that began as a screenplay.
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