1982 was a very good year for the charts, one of the best in the 80s in my opinion, I mean Duran Duran and ABC at the top of their game, quirky alternative hits including top 10s from the Associates, Blancmange and The Mobiles, great 80s pop rock songs from J Geils Band, Steve Miller Band and XTC, Yazoo's Don't Go, I could just go on...but most of this top 10 best selling list isn't the best of the year in my opinion.

 

However in terms of what did make the top 10, Come On Eileen is great, I Don't Wanna Dance is a good reggae song (Pass The Dutchie also of that genre is good too but I prefer IDWD) - it turns out the early 80s had a brief reggae revival before the one you mentioned in the 90s thread in 1993. A Town Called Malice is good but not one of my favourite Jam songs, Eton Rifles or Down In The Tube Station At Midnight are my favourites from them.

 

Seven Tears is a nice song but sounds a bit dated for 1982. I am not a massive fan of Culture Club they are a bit too poppy for my tastes, but my favourite one from Culture Club is It's a Miracle. Tight Fit Lion Sleeps Tonight I find a bit too cheesy for my tastes and Irene Cara is a very good singer but I am not sure whether I like the lyrical themes of 'Fame' much, same with Bros' 'When Will I Be Famous' later in the decade, just not a big fan of songs about being famous :lol:

 

As for Ebony and Ivory, the lyrics are a good metaphor but the song itself I find a bit boring.

Edited October 11, 20204 yr by ВuzzjackHallowee

Great pick for number 1!

1983 reads like an 80s compilation. Littered with classics. However, most of them don't blow me away.

1983

 

10th place - Spandau Ballet - True

 

4.5

 

 

Perhaps I'm in a generous mood but everything from 1983 gets at least a 4.5. True was the only one that made me wince slightly on a second re-listen. The intro always bring PM Dawn to mind and that sparks joy

- most of the points are earned by that.

 

The lyrics are poor.

 

Sixth best seller of the year.

Edited October 13, 20204 yr by Colm

1983

 

9th place - Lionel Richie - All Night Long

 

5.5

 

 

This is light and breezy and completely over-familiar at this stage. Much like all of the top 10.

 

Tenth best seller of 1983.

Edited October 13, 20204 yr by Colm

1983

 

8th place - Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart

 

5.7

 

 

I'm quite sure most of you would place this higher up the top 10 but some of the vocals are a real challenge to get through for me.

 

The chorus seems to go on forever and she struggles more and more with each line she has to sing :cry:

 

" And we'll only be making it right

'Cause we'll never be wrong

Together we can take it to the end of the line

Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time (all of the time)

I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark

We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks

I really need you tonight

Forever's gonna start tonight

Forever's gonna start tonight"

 

Even if someone else was singing it, I may not like it very much more anyway.

 

 

Fifth best seller of the year.

1983

 

7th place - Billy Joel - Uptown Girl

 

6.0

 

 

 

While listening to this, I noticed how it really could have been written by the Bee Gees. There's a lot of high-pitched backing vocals and the "fi-yi-ine"/"mi-yi-ine".

 

I'd never choose to put this on but I'd probably leave it on - depending on how recently I had heard it.

 

Second best seller of the year.

Edited October 13, 20204 yr by Colm

1983

 

6th place - Men At Work - Down Under

 

6.6

 

 

Not quite a one hit wonder - they had 3 other top 40 hits after this, but I don't recognise any of them. The lyrics are quite unique - vegemite sandwich included.

 

Seventh best selling song of 1983

1983

 

5th place - David Bowie - Let's Dance

 

6.8

 

 

Far from my favourite David Bowie song, it is, however, his best selling single in the UK (as of January 2016 when the Official Charts website stated as much). It's always interesting to listen to but not always enjoyable to listen to.

 

Fourth best selling single of 1983.

 

 

 

1983

 

4th place - Culture Club - Karma Chameleon

 

6.9

 

 

There will no doubt be puzzlement at how some of the Top 4 have managed to be placed higher than Let's Dance and/or Total Eclipse - this is the beauty of subjectivity.

 

:dance:

 

 

I can't stand Bonnie Tyler's vocal performance on 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart' so I wholeheartedly agree with your opinion there :kink: it's fine as a song otherwise.

 

'Let's Dance' and 'Karma Chameleon' :wub:

From 1982,I would put Come On Eileen 1st followed by I Don't Wanna Dance and Do You Really Want To Hurt Me.

1983 overall wasn't as good a year for the charts as 1982 in my opinion, the quirkiness of new wave and new romantic was starting to die out and being replaced by pop (we see that with Spandau Ballet having gone from having hits with Chant Number 1 to True in one year) but I think many of us will agree that the year end top 10 is better overall than the year end top 10 for 1982. My favourite of those so far for 1983 - Let's Dance. True may be cheesy and not as good as Spandau's more interesting earlier songs but is still a good ballad I think. Lionel Ritchie songs I generally find listenable enough (even his later hit My Destiny is rather nostalgic) and All Night Long's African music influenced choir part is my favourite part of that song. Down Under is a nice song but its a bit of novelty hit so I can't really take it that seriously. Total Eclipse.... is a good song but overplayed and Uptown Girl is good but Billy Joel had a more interesting song near the end of the decade, We Didn't Start The Fire which I really like. Karma Chameleon I prefer to Do You Really Want To Hurt Me.

Edited October 13, 20204 yr by ВuzzjackHallowee

well 1982, not as good as 1981, and you've got two major legends getting together, both huge heroes of mine in the 60's and 70's. Yes I'd put Ebony & Ivory last, just not worthy. Not only just not worthy of their back catalogues, not even worthy of the album it came from which had some gems on it, not least paul's tribute to John Lennon, Here Today, and Take It Away which is fab.

 

Another 60's & 70's legend (The Equals and solo) Eddy Grant is another fave - and also not a fan of I Don;t Wanna Dance, just not in any way as good as Living On The Frontline, Walking On Sunshine (NOT the Katrina song, the Rocker's Revenge song from 1982 that was massively better than this) Baby Come Back or Do You Feel My Love.

 

So just above them I'd put 7 Tears which I have a soft spot for - no, not the marsh over the road, I like it's old-fashioned melody - and The Lion Sleeps Tonight, which I knew from earlier hit versions, but the cheese-factor wasn't too overpowering, though fantasy island, the follow-up, was much better.

 

Fame next for me, great single though I bought it in 1980 and I still refuse to associate it with the TV show that made it a hit when it was the movie that came out in 1980 that had the quality.

 

A Town Called malice was a great single, the jam were great, saw them at their peak in 1981, and that Supremes bassline pops up again for Stevie Wonder's Part Time Lover in 1985 who commented on remarked similarities to Hall & Oates Maneater that they all owe The Supremes. As does this one.

 

The rest all topped my chart, so it's just the order to sort: Pass The Dutchie is joyous kiddie reggae, albeit about smoking weed in reality, then I'd opt for Eye Of The Tiger cos as great as it is, it's overplayed. Then Culture Club, smooth, classy and genuinely taking the world by storm and breaking society's boundaries paving the way for so much that followed in culture. Top is Dexy's cos it's just a great record but also for my fab Auntie Eileen who died last year and had to put up with nearly 40 years of people quoting it...

1983

 

3rd place - Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

 

7.4

 

 

 

This top 3 was anyone's game for the last 24 hours.

Billie Jean was the favourite going into this top 10. I went through a phase of this being my favourite MJ song because I really got into funky disco in 2013 when Daft Punk made their comeback. I've actually never been a big Michael Jackson fan at all. I think Dirty Diana was my favourite until I started to appreciate Billie Jean.

 

Eight best seller of 1983.

Edited October 14, 20204 yr by Colm

1983

 

2nd place - UB40 - Red Red Wine

 

7.5

 

 

Obviously, I am a huge reggae fan [/sarcasm]. I am as surprised as anyone at Red Red Wine being in the top 2. It was actually sitting at the top yesterday for a while until I listened to the first place with good headphones.

The 7" version is strange in that it starts to fade out before the 3 minute mark. Normally, short songs just stop.

 

Anyway, I love this. Who knows how long that will last.

 

Third best seller of the year.

Edited October 14, 20204 yr by Colm

1983

 

1st place - The Flying Pickets - Only You

 

7.9

 

 

This breaks one of my most firmly held music rules - novelty cover versions should never be done. Right now, it's an uplifting, enchanting rendering of an already great song.

 

Ninth best seller of 1983.

Loved the Flying Pickets version of ‘Only You’!

Loved the Flying Pickets version of ‘Only You’!

Billie Jean the best for me