You may  recall some years ago I attempted this with rough estimates but after actual sales surfaced (thanks to Robbie and Kobyhadrian) I can now present the (almost) official top 100 singles acts of the 80s based on sales.

 

Why is it almost?  Well this is a matter of a couple of factors which are still open to speculation:

1)     the multiplier for 1980-1982 is still open to debate ( I have gone for x13 for 1980, x12 for 1981 and 11.5 for 1982 out of interest)- others may use different multipliers which will give you different figures.

2)     We still don’t have panel sales for the whole decade (it is possible that a track was selling under 5k a year and these would be missing from the final calculations so there isn’t much that can be done about that.  If a song never charted in the weekly top 200 nor in the Y/E top 1000 then it’s sales are not included here.

3)     Sales during the missing chart weeks over New year in 1980/81 and 1982 have not been factored in because sales were not collected for those weeks (some can estimate but for the purposes of this rundown I have stuck to what we “know”)

4)     Panel sales are themselves estimates of the entire market not definitive sales, but they remain the best I think we will ever get.

So now all that has been addressed a note on calculations. In keeping with all my threads if an act is credited then they receive all the sales for that track, so (for example) both Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson get the full sales for “The Girl Is Mine” and “Say Say Say”.

 

Now with all that said we can crack on with the rundown- each act will be revealed with their biggest hit listed and, where appropriate, he biggest selling act of individual years will also be indicated!

Sounds like another good thread coming up. Looking forward to seeing where my faves land 😀

Ooh, I wonder how much this list will vary from the one you previously made - not that I remember the order anyway, so I'll be surprised either way

sounds like a lot of research and work! Well done Gezza! The results will be fascinating though 🤩

100. SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES (1,383,300)

12 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: DEAR PRUDENCE (244,000)

 

Emerging from the remnants of punk in the late 70s , this group changed musical direction to more alternative indie and were rewarded with longevity through the decade.  Whilst they only scored 1 top 10 hit in the 80s (a Beatles’ cover at that) they racked up impressive sales under the radar consistently to sneak into our top 100!  Lead singer Siouxsie Sioux was probably one of the most recognisable front woman of the decade.  

99. JULIO IGLESIAS (1,385,900)

6 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: BEGIN THE BEGUINE (550,000)

Before Enrique there was Enrique’s dad! Former professional footballer Julio is (according to Wiki) the most successful act of all time in his native Spain, and the biggest selling Latin artist of all time. After giving up football he turned to music representing Spain at Eurovision in 1970 (came 4th) and became a star in most of Europe before moving to the US in 1979 and the producing his first English language album in 1983. However in a rare show of tolerance for foreign language tracks in the UK (in the 80s certainly) his cover of the Cole Porter track “Begin the Beguine” became the first song to make No 1 in the UK sung entirely in Spanish.

A strong start to the countdown with Siouxsie and the Banshees 🖤

98. SINITTA (1,390,700)

8 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: SO MACHO (501,000)

 

Another family connection here with Sinitta’s mother being Miquel Brown and her aunt being Amii Stewart (both popstars).  She started out in musical theatre but branched into pop videos (check out Forrest’s “rock the boat”) and attempting to represent the UK in Eurovision in 1984.  Hooking up with Simon Cowell in the mid 80’s helped her into the charts and once she started working with Stock, Aitken, and Waterman the hits started to flow for the rest of the decade.  She can count Cowell, David Essex, and Brad Pitt in her ex’s and these days is better known for her work on “X Factor” and THAT leaf dress.

oh love Siouxsie & The Banshees and Happy House is my #1 from them

Julio, not so much, worst Spanish music export ever

Sinitta I was a fan as a kid and even got her album on vinyl

I haven't got anything from the three revealed so far, although Siouxsie is the clear best of the bunch.

Dear Prudence, This Wheel's on Fire and The Passenger were my favourite Siouxsie songs.

I was a fan of Sinitta, it seems, as I remember having both her albums on vinyl 🫣.

I'd like to think I bought them both in a sale!!

Some Sinitta songs were a bit cringe but the songs she got from SAW were great pop songs

97. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (1,418,900)

11 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: DANCING IN THE DARK (444,000)

 

Some may be surprised by the relatively low position of “The Boss” on the list but that’s probably because he was more of an albums act even back in the 80s.  After a series of band’s which failed to ignite Springsteen finally hit it big stateside in the mid 70s but we were unimpressed until the 80s came around though he garnered a reputation as a songwriter and a live act during that time.  It was 1984’s “Dancing In The Dark” that established him as a major act in the UK with its promo that famously featured a young Courteney Cox in the promo.

96. IRENE CARA (1,420,600)

2 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: FAME (985,000)

 

Another tale of Child star who landed roles in Broadway shows then moved into TV before getting a role in a major film.  That film was “Fame” which was a moderate success and saw the theme track of the same name win an academy award for best original track as well as making at No 4 in the US chart.  Its success was more muted in the UK where the single flopped but when the film spawned a TV series in 1982 it was a different story, the show became a phenomenon in the US and started to get hyped in the UK leading the track to get a re-issue and top the charts.  Cara herself appeared in the film didn’t feature in the TV show choosing to concentrate on film which generated her other main hit “Flashdance”.

95. THE COMMUNARDS (1,429,000)

8 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: DON’T LEAVE ME THIS WAY (694,000)

 

Bronski Beat don’t quite make this list (they sold 1.25 million) but Jimmy Somerville’s next project did even better in the main down to a fortuitous choice of the covers they did which make up the majority of their sales.  Somerville created the act with Richard Coles in 1985 (Coles actually played the clarinet on the Bronski Beat single “It Ain’t Necessarily So”) and they parted ways in 1988 with Somerville going solo and Cole becoming an Anglican vicar and TV personality.  The two common backing vocalists for the group went on to become Banderas who had a top 20 hit themselves in 1991 with “This Is Your Life”.   Not bad sales for 3 years together!

Bruce output in the 80s was great

Communards I hated with a passion,

those falsetto vocals so high they could pierce your eyed

and too much relying on covers

I did buy Banderas and bought the album, think I was the only one :D

My connection to the Communards is that Richard Coles was the chancellor of my University, so he was at my graduation in 2018

I think Banderas being made up of Communards backing vocalists totally passed me by so that was fun to learn.

Pretty impressive for Irene Cara to make it based on literally having two hits!

Awww Rev Richard Coles makes an appearance!

Excited to see who finishes high on this rundown

94.  BROS (1,456,800)

8 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: I OWE YOU NOTHING (278,000)

 

If success could be measured by the amount of screaming young female fans then Bros in 1988 were in a league of their own.  They sold a million singles in that year alone thanks to their good looks and the power of TOTP and smash hits magazine, but the wheels started to come off in 1989 when a second album underperformed, Craig Logan left, and girls moved on to New Kids On The Block.  They reformed in 2017 to perform some concerts and had a successful documentary “After The Screaming Stops”.  Logan had the last laugh becoming head of RCA records between 2006 and 2010 as well as writing hits for Kim Appleby.