And so that was it- the 80s were over! For my money the decade was ideal in terms of how the charts worked, records debuting low and rising over time, big new entries in the top 10 reserved (normally) for big well established acts, and clearly defined era's normally consisting of 3 or 4 singles. The variety in the top 10 on a weekly basis was immense with Rock, pop, soul, dance all jostling at the upper end and nothing hanging around forever, of course all tinged with nostalgia.

Thanks to everyone who has commented in the thread and indeed on all the 80s threads. I'll be back in July with 1990 and a new decade!

So the top Albums of the year were Jason, then Simply Red then Phil? How much did Jason sell in 89?

2 hours ago, Bjork said:

So the top Albums of the year were Jason, then Simply Red then Phil? How much did Jason sell in 89?

1.45m

Thanks Gezza for taking us through the 1980s with all the commentaries and sales figures! Look forward to 1990 in July - I started following the TOTP adjacent threads a little way into the 90s so missed it last time, and I guess the sales figures from Gallup will be more precise now.

In the mean time, for anyone interested in going back through the 80s in musical form, watch this (forum's) space!

yes thanks for this thread @Gezza by miles always the highlight in this forum <3 <3 <3

Thanks for all the organizing, facts, research, and in-depth treatment Gezza, it's all been fab!

On the last to sneak in at the final, De La Soul were always quirky and engaging, and Hangin' Tough was OK. By their standards it was good.

Absolutely love these threads as they bring back so many memories.

Definitely when the charts were at their best, with defined singles which progressed after proper promo on chat shows, Saturday morning kids shows, TOTP etc.

Looking forward to the next thread 😀

Just checked my Dear Jessie single

And Til Death Do Us Apart was actually the b-side

ImgBB

IMG-5462 hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-5462 hosted in ImgBB

On 21/05/2025 at 23:00, TheSnake said:

Lambada and its vocalist is a bit Sade reminscent. Good song.

Pacific State is arguably the first 1991-2 style rave track to make the charts!

The Jeff Wayne track is fabulously dramatic.

I always did think this last few months of the 80s was like an intro to the new decade with songs like Ride on Time/808 State/Stone Roses/Happy Mondays/Lisa Stabsfield sounding very 90-95!

On 22/05/2025 at 13:06, Gezza said:

Hands up time- I owned the entire top 4!

Always remember the Band Aid 2 vinyl in our house when I was younger, never like it but don’t hate it anymore, it’s very much of it’s time.