So if it wasn’t for Clive Dunn and Mark Chapman, Jona Lewie would have had his rightful place at Xmas #1! Love these counterfactuals haha.

10TH JANUARY

 

 

By a quirk of dates this is the final chart of 1980 as it covers sales from 29th December- 3rd January 1981 (therefore more business days in 1980 than 1981) and the public mourning for John Lennon continues. This week his 1975 track "Imagine" storms 9-1 (107,900) to give the ex-Beatle his second posthumous chart topper, the first act to ever achieve such a dubious chart record. The ascent of "Imagine" prevents Lennon's other festive offering "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" from making the top slot as it jumps 4-2 (66,000) to at least give the song a new peak.

 

 

In grabbing the top 2 positions Lennon replicates the feat of the Beatles in December 1963 when "I Want To Hold Your Hand" reigned at No 1 and the group put "She Loves You" at No 2, Lennon has the added bonus of having a third hit in the top10 this week as "(Just Like) Starting Over" dips 2-5 (41,000) in doing so he becomes the first act in chart history to place three singles in the top 5 in a week. A few other records tumble as well, this the 25th chart topper of 1980 making the year a record breaking one for the quantity of chart toppers eclipsing 1965's 24, and it is the first No 1 single to be available on the new format of cassette single.

 

 

There's only one new entry in the top 10 and that comes from Queen who take the theme from the new "Flash Gordon" film and progress 15-10 (31.000) which must come as some relief to the band given that the track seemed to get stuck in a pre Christmas lull just outside the big 10.

 

 

One climber within the top 10 and it's that band again Adam & The Ants, "Antmusic" continues to move upward 7-4 (61,000) but can't quite overcome Jona Lewie who holds No 3 as his sales slide to (66,000) but was within a fraction of making No 2. Elsewhere St Winifred's School Choir tumble from the No 1 spot at Christmas down to No 6 (40,000), The Police drop 6-7 (40,000), ABBA dive 5-8 (35,000) and Madness recede one 8-9 (32,000)

 

1- IMAGINE- John Lennon (107,900)

2- HAPPY CHRISTMAS (WAR IS OVER)- John Lennon & Yoko Ono (66,000)

3- STOP THE CAVALRY- Jona Lewie (66,000)

4- ANTMUSIC- Adam & The Ants (61,000)

5- (JUST LIKE) STARTING OVER- John Lennon (41,000)

6- THERE’S NO-ONE QUITE LIKE GRANDMA- St Winifred’s School Choir (40,000)

7- DE DO DO DO, DE DA DA DA- The Police (40,000)

8- SUPER TROUPER- Abba (35,000)

9- EMBARRASSMENT- Madness (32,000)

10- FLASH- Queen (31,000)

 

And that really is it for 1980- thanks as always to those who have commentated and made the thread what it is!

 

1981 will follow over the summer.

Thanks Gezza, kind of forgot just how retro 1980 is but 1981 will pick things up with the sounds of the decade developing nicely!

Thanks as always gezza, these threads will never get boring for me

 

 

Glad to see Antmusic still on the rise this week, love that song and it's the first of his classic songs for me.

Flash is good, the Vanguard remix in 2003 that was a UK hit I particularly like.

 

I much prefer 1981 to 1980 chart wise so I am looking forward to the 1981 thread although this look at 1980 has brought its share of new musical discoveries to me so thanks Gezza.

Edited May 14, 20241 yr by TheSnake

Thanks Gezza, amazing thread!

Very close between #2 and #3, those Christmas songs could have ended up with peaks the other way around (or if the week before had counted as well, both songs might have peaked one place higher!)

 

However it's difficult to... envisage a world in which 'Imagine' didn't reach #1, even though it took the most tragic circumstances for it to happen.

 

Thanks Gezza for taking us through the entirety of 1980!

 

Cheers Gezza, great thread again - here’s to looking behind the green door of 1981!

 

Obviously it’s a very crude calculation, but an average of the two adjacent weeks gives the following for 03/01/81 Top 5 sales:

 

102,843 There’s No One Quite Like Grandma

102,693 (Just Like) Starting Over

96,024 Stop the Cavalry

84,305 Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

82,000 Imagine

 

Thanks Gezza as always ^_^ very excited for the next one as 1981 is definitely a contender for my favourite year in chart music.

echoing what others said, great thread as per usual, 1980 went soooo fast

 

amazing feat for John Lennon to have 3 songs in the top 5 even though the circumstances were not great of course

Thanks Gezza fascinating info around the charts of 1980, and thanks for all the work! I was glad Flash made the top 10, the movie wasnt much cop but it was popular and very very kitsch/tongue in cheek and Queen's song def helped the film parody of an original kiddie bit of fluff beloved by my parents generation become iconic. "Gordon's Alive!" Brian Blessed still making hay out of that one...

Wow thanks Gezza for such an amazing rundown - was going to say trip down Memory lane but was barely alive during this year. But so so much quality! Looking forward to 1981 as well!

Ahhh, I'd have liked Jona Lewie to sneak a week in. Shame it could only be #3 with those astronomically high sales!